Chapter 147 – Ghosts of Old Lives

Aki

One thing that constantly amazed me about Lilyth was how during our outings she basically operated in two modes: “very astute” and “absolutely unhinged”. There were no in-betweens. So her theory about someone getting eaten by a tree likely being an example of the former was not how I expected this expedition to go.

We all looked at the mouth of the tree.

‘But how?’ Ren asked.

‘Probably the same way the roots work,’ Caei noted. ‘Or that branch that attacked Aki.’

‘There is a difference between part of a tree moving and it having a functional mouth.’ Rennie insisted.

‘There is a memory of intense agony somewhere deep inside the tree,’ Lilyth suddenly said.

To our collective horror, her hand was on the trunk of the tree.

And there is the unhinged.

I instinctively reached for my swords but nothing bad happened.

‘I cannot exactly tell what happened,’ she continued, oblivious to our horror, ‘but I can sense scars from old repeated fractures around where the mouth is with a lot of residual mana concentrated in that area.’

‘Is this thing still a threat?’ I asked, trying to control my voice.

Lilyth simply shrugged and took her hand off the tree.

‘Don’t know. This was me trying to isolate one voice among the multitude.’

‘Why not try the same thing on us then?’ Deirdee wondered out loud. ‘This is an almost perfect “surprise kill” method.’

Lilyth pointed at the skeleton again.

'Based on the state of the bones this has happened a while ago,’ she explained. ‘The scars around the mouth of the tree are also old. Very old. We are talking decades if not centuries. Not sure what the decay rate of infused mana is, but what I felt inside of the tree… I can’t even fathom why you would do such a thing. This is calling an airstrike to kill a bug level of overkill. ’

It spoke volumes about how much of a turn my life took that I had no issue conceptualising what an airstrike was even if I did not know the specifics.

‘So they decided it would not be a mana-effective way of getting rid of us?’ Caei asked, also seemingly unbothered by the “otherworldbullshit” as she called it.

‘Probably,’ my other wife agreed. ‘Remember, whatever controls this place can see us, and that means it knows it is up against at least four powerful magic-users. I would be stingy with mana in such a case. Not sure whether that is bad or good.’

‘Didn’t we assume that the web takes a lot of mana to maintain?’ Ren reminded her. ‘Maybe that forces the mage to be conservative.’

‘Wouldn’t the web have been around back then too?’ my foxy cutie retorted.

None of us had an answer to that, so with nothing left to discover, Lilyth picked up the magitek carbine and presented it to Caei, who once again was relegated to healer duty. Our potion stocks still weren't terribly good, so it would be risky for Caei to use too much offensive magic.

Still, I raised my hand and said:

‘Wait!’

I turned to Deirdee.

‘Do you want it? I can't help but notice you are a bit underarmed.’

‘It’s fine,’ Caei confirmed. ‘I can manage.’

Deirdee nodded and Lilyth handed her the weapon. The former assassin looked it over.

‘Not much charge left and that thing is in desperate need of maintenance, but it should do for this shitshow.’

Transcript of intercepted transmission ASC/Z5721733/06

X2-01: ASCCOM, we are at the entrance to the objective.

ASCCOM: Roger that, X2-01. Please be advised that L2 confirms that a group of at least three people has entered RB-08-R.

X2-01: Copy that. We will maintain low pro-

[REDACTED] note 1: X2-01 is interrupted by screams of pain. Based on later transmissions the source was identified as X2-08 - PFC Ignas Fendar.

X2-01: Fendar! What's wrong?

X2-08(almost inaudible): My stomach… something…

X2-01: Meril, Stevr! Help Fendar sit down against the wall.

[REDACTED] note 2: What follows are sounds of scuffling and panicked discussions among the members of X2. After about two minutes, X2-08 began screaming in what seemed to be agony.

X2-04: What the fuck?!

X2-07: What's happening to his chest?

[REDACTED] note 3: X2-08’s screams intensify. They are cut short by a loud crack and a wet sound of tearing. Several members of X2 issue utterances of shock.

X2-01: What the fuck is this thing?

[REDACTED] note 4: The unknown entity lets out a high-pitched shriek. There are more sounds of struggle and several discharges from Magitek weapons.

X2-04: Get it off me! Get it off me!

[REDACTED] note 5: Several more shots interspersed with X2-04's moans of agony. The transmission cuts off shortly thereafter.

Final observations:

1. This was the last transmission intercepted from ASCST X2. ASCCOM repeatedly tried to reestablish contact with X2, but no response was ever received. Recovered documents indicate that the team was declared MIA, presumed dead. To the best of our knowledge, no search and rescue operation was launched likely due to a decision to write the team off, likely due to the severe shortages of manpower and resources. It remains unknown why ASCCOM decided to launch the high-risk expedition into RB-08-R to begin with.

2. There were no confirmed occurrences of the known detrimental psychological effects of RB-08-R recorded during the expedition. Any outward signs of distress among ASCST X2 members are not substantially different from what would be expected to occur during an operation of this type. The cause behind this inconsistency remains unknown.

3. None of the intercepted transmissions mentions ASCST F2 following X2 infiltration of RB-08-R. This is notable as ASCCOM uses the F-designator for their Anti-Magical Warfare. As X2 experienced multiple magical events during their operation F2's input would have been anticipated. Recovered documents make no references to their fate. As ASCCOM reuses their designators it is impossible to track their activities before or after the incursion into RB-08-R.

Recommendations:

1. Maintain long-distance remote monitoring of RB-08-R.

2. Delay manned expeditions into RB-08-R indefinitely.

Aki

There were two skeletons by the entrance to the cave that Ren was able to lead us to. Our objective was located in a small grassy gully and hidden behind bushes. If it wasn't for the skeletons there was a good chance we would have missed it. One, it had a massive hole in its ribcage, was sitting against the wall of the gully next to the entrance and the other was sprawled next to the bushes. Its bones seemed damaged.

We are in the right place, it seems.

Lilyth knelt on one knee next to the skeletons and examined the one with the hole. She seemed to have noticed something as she reached towards the ground and picked up a long and thin bone.

‘Piece of a rib?’ she wondered out loud.

‘Seems so,’ Deirdee confirmed.

‘There are a bunch of shards like this around the body,’ my wife pointed to several spots.

Oh no.

Lilyth leaned over the other skeleton.

‘There are some fairly deep scratches in the bones of this poor SOB. Claw marks, I guess?’

‘So… something came out of one of them and killed the other? ‘I asked, putting my hands on my swords for reassurance.

As if in response to my question high-pitched screeches started coming from down the cave.

‘Two… maybe three small things,’ Lilyth said in a tired voice, not even bothering to look towards the entrance. ‘Hard to say.’

Two shadow orbs appeared over her shoulders and shot into the cave. Shortly after that, there was a high-pitched, pained screech.

Lilyth winced and repeated the barrage.

‘Yeah,’ she said after another screech of some monster’s agony. ‘There were just two. The acoustics in the cave are a bit fucky.'

She got up and patted the dirt away from her knees.

'Anyway… let’s get this shitshow over with,' Lilyth sighed.

The Painter

Lendaria was close to panic. Not only did the interlopers find the entrance to her lair thanks to the skeletons of the soldiers she didn't think important enough to clean up, but they also killed both freshly gestated Kisamzo without even one of their group getting hurt. It would take her forever to find proper hosts for new ones. Assuming she had a chance, which with every passing minute was looking less and less likely. She would gladly give her life for… no. Some long-dormant remnant of her humanity was screaming at her to run. To leave this place and try to reclaim her life. But then her programming reasserted itself. She had a job to do. And that… that… last shard of Lendaria, the peasant girl, interfered with it, so it had to die. The Painter of Misery didn't weep for the life that was. The life that could have been. All that mattered to her was to serve. And serve she would.