“Now!”

  It was as if they were in one mind, Baskerville’s hounds struck the nearest blobs at the same time, while Pestilence’s cubes surrounded a group of the dark creatures, consuming them until no trace of them were left.

  However, it did not take long, as one that died was repced with two, two repced with four, the creatures keep on multiplying until they created a tidal wave, almost swallowing them whole. Even under the darkened skies, the amalgam of the blob creatures looked darker, swallowing what little light provided by the distant twinkling dots far above.

  Pestilence reacted first, gathering the cubes into one mass with a wave of her hand, and then, with a command, the mass started to widen, creating a structure simir to a net above the three.

  “Get closer!”

  Baskerville and Izabel obliged, and then, blue energy filled the air, brimming with the weight of power that intensified with each word from Pestilence’s lips.

  “I come to bear the weight of the lost lives, the reality of the quest of vengeance I started. As meaningless, endless strings of what-ifs come to the forefront of my thoughts once more, manifest, the reminder of my hatred that has turned into bckened cinders, now a wall that protects my newfound allies. Rise, ‘Bir Aegis’!”

  With the command, torrents of blue light spilled out from the tiny cubes, right as the massive wave was about to crash against them. The ground they stood on shook under the sheer force of the attack. Pestilence gritted her teeth, mustering up the strength, even as the cubes forming her shield started to crumble into bck dust. Even a few seconds felt like an eternity, and it was only when the assault ceased did Izabel take a deep breath, letting the relief wash over her for the briefest moments.

  “We are outnumbered,” Hunter said. “Better to carve a path than endure.”

  “But where? They’re everywhere!”

  “Remember back when the skies cracked, these creatures were mindless, only able to follow, and we can take advantage of that.” Hunter reminded.

  Pestilence shouted something, perhaps a warning, and she wiped the blood from the corner of her lips. From the tears welling at the corner of her eyes, it was clear to all that the shield took a lot of energy, and there would be no end in sight if they continued merely warding them off.

  “We need something, an attack strong enough… Dammit!” Baskerville cursed as she waved her hand, summoning more hounds to repce the ones consumed by the blob monsters. “Hunter! You’re the only one!”

  “We need 10 seconds,” Hunter said to Izabel.

  Izabel gripped the gun on her hand, strengthening her resolve. As she drew more power from Hunter, her eyes started to shift, brown pupils giving way to a brilliant glow in the color of fire.

  “Understood! Baskerville, Pestilence! Distract them for a few seconds!”

  The two nodded. Pestilence adjusted the numbers on her device. Its effect was almost instantaneous, the swarm shifting into a vicious, ravenous dark shape. With the eagerness of starving locusts, they descended upon all the creatures they could reach, burying them until each creature they touched was reduced into almost nothing, what little surviving parts joining the swarm as more cubes. Some of the cube creatures surrounded their master, from afar, the sight created an illusion of an armor, sword, and shield.

  Meanwhile, Izabel stayed put, feeling power start to stir from within her. As the warmth spread from her heart, down to her fingertips, the gun on her hand glowed, its color shifting with each tick of the seconds.

  10… 9… 8…

  From red, the glow shifted to orange, creating waves of heat. From the base of Izabel’s hair, red started to bleed, starting from the roots, slowly overtaking the original bck.

  7… 6…

  It was as if Izabel became the eye of the storm, heat waves converging around her as the environment shifts under the sheer pressure. Along with the storm of fmes, there was a storm of feelings, familiar yet fleeting, images that seemed vivid from afar only to disintegrate into grains of sand between her fingers just as Izabel was about to feel the satisfaction of grabbing one.

  5… 4…

  “Come to me, Phenex, for you are the sole witness of the true timeless ones. Carve my path, for you are a construct that belongs to me, your existence without meaning.”

  3… 2…

  Izabel’s body felt taut, words she has spoken unfamiliar and strange on her tongue, while her stance was alien to her, yet it felt as if she had done this her whole life. With Hunter’s guidance, she lifted her empty hand, power converging all around it until it first formed a handle, then a long, thin katana with a segmented bde. Another fsh of crimson light, and her hands were enveloped with a pair of leather gloves.

  “So, obey my command, unleash your power, the ‘Storm of Superbia’!”

  Her gun was aimed to the sky, and with a piercing shot, a rain of fmes descended down, followed by a fming shadow of a red firebird emerging from the swing of her bde, the creature flying forward right in the brief moment the bde separated into a long, sweeping whip. As the feeling of power started to disperse from Izabel’s body, she felt herself almost enchanted, her feet a statue rooted upon the pce she stood, only able to witness the effect of the storm she called upon with Hunter’s help, her thoughts imprisoned in her own body, bound to chasing the feeling of familiar memories once more.

  Even as the bde faded back into nothing, she was still drowning.

  [Mental Integrity Number Distribution]

  [60 - 40 (Host)]

  [Medium imbance detected. Rebancing…]

  [64 - 36 (Host)]

  [...]

  Unknown to her, the device strapped on her wrist was lit up.

  As the storm started to let up a little, what remained of the creatures started to stir again.

  “Hunter!” The familiar voice of Pestilence pierced through the haze, and with it, Izabel was jolted back into reality. “We have to run!”

  “Allow me,” another voice, Baskerville, spoke up. With a gesture, her remaining skeletal hounds fused, turning into a bigger one. Observant ones would perhaps be able to notice that now, instead of two glowing orbs in hollow skull sockets, now, there were four pairs of sockets, each sporting glowing orbs with a mixture of myriad colors, and the hound itself was sporting eight limbs. It looked like a haphazard creation of a fool whose idea of life was skewed beyond common sense, yet it nudged Izabel to rest upon its back with a gentle bump of its head, without letting Izabel see but a glimpse of its massive fangs.

  Two more creatures were spawned, and then, with Baskerville’s commands, the three hounds ran, dodging the waning fire rain and the creatures that still, in endless persistence, refused to stop moving, still chasing them despite how their only strengths were boundless vitality and the ability to follow anything that managed to lure them. As time passed, they disappeared at the edge of the horizon, their speed slowing, unable to catch up as Baskerville controlled her hounds into weaving through the earthen spires and the massive, dark cracks in-between them.

  When they saw the distant tree now looked a little closer, they finally stopped, Though half of Baskerville’s face was covered with the skull half-mask of hers, from the sweat dripping from her chin, it was clear that the action took a lot from her, and as the three disembarked, she dismissed the two other beasts with a sigh of relief, letting them crumble into pieces of bone that disintegrated into dust. The st beast separated again into a pack of smaller ones, each trained at different directions.

  “What are they doing in this pce?” Pestilence spoke first. “If we’re the first one who know of this pce, does that mean this entire time, we’re living with these things just outside and the domes are the only thing separating us from them?!”

  “That seems to be the case,” Baskerville replied. “But that’s not our main concern right now.”

  “The spire,” Izabel reminded, “Remember, there’s nothing of interest in the area we’re assigned to search. By elimination, the spire is likely to be here somewhere.”

  “I think the better question is where in here it is,” Baskerville said, “There’s nothing but barren ground, those monsters, and that dried tree, and for the st thing, it’s too far. We can’t just go there right now.”

  “Why not?” Pestilence asked. “It’s the most interesting thing we have here so far. There must be a clue there.”

  “Baskerville is right,” Izabel nodded. “We weren’t prepared, and we didn’t bring anything other than ourselves and our Mirror Avatar weapons. Either we alter the spire like Cordis wanted and come back, or we look for information then come back.”

  “I can help you survive without sustenance as long as you alter and keep your Integrity Number Distribution above a certain threshold in the duration. However, an extended period of any number configuration above the default might be a little dangerous,” Hunter said. “Not to mention, I do not think the others possess a simir ability.”

  “That’s useful in an emergency. I’ll keep that in mind, Hunter.”

  “To be honest, I didn’t think of that, either,” Baskerville sighed. “I don’t think any of us went anywhere without a nearby system.”

  “But for now, we’re not in too much danger. We can look for it, and after, say, three system-cycle hours. we can try to go back. How about it?”

  “It might be risky.” Baskerville said.

  “I don’t mind taking it,” Izabel answered. “We either make progress here, or come back with information. No matter what happened, we get something out of this.”

  “We can also get eaten here, like what happened to the people back when the skies cracked,” Baskerville reminded.

  “Or we can win and bring back good news! Come on, Baskerville, no need to be so negative,” Pestilence said in a sing-song voice.

  “There’s still the question of where we’re looking for the thing, though…” Izabel said.

  “I believe I can give you an answer to that.”

  An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind them, causing them to jolt and turn towards the source. All three materialized their respective weapons, ready to strike. Then, they saw a mass writhing on the ground, something like boiling liquid with blue veins. No one moved, all eyes fixed on the mass as it started to bubble up and form limbs, turning into a humanoid, blue form with glowing, electric blue veins all over its body. From his back, several silver, cable-like tentacles extended all the way until they dragged on the ground, each slithering independent of each other.

  With a thought, the humanoid being formed the tentacles into a makeshift seat, then sat on it. His silver hair looked brilliant, a pair of metallic horns extending from his head, and sometimes, sparks jump from between the horns. His golden eyes were eye-catching, capturing attention with its stark glow.

  “Rex, I won’t attack you. I don’t think Vivi will like that.” He said with a smile. “Anyway, call me T,” he offered. “I can help you find what you want, but in return you’ll owe me a favor. How about that?”

  “Tell me who you are,” Izabel responded first. “What if you’re with them? We can’t be sure you’re not leading us into a trap.”

  “Whoa, whoa, of course not,” T raised both of his hands. “I think Vivi would kill me first before that could happen– No, scratch that, I think you’re more familiar with the name Cordis, am I right?”

  Evinoran