Chapter 1234: Grubs in Space

Chapter 1234: Grubs in Space

An exhausted group rushed through the crumbling spatial channel, ignoring the lacerations opening up across their body. Even Zac could feel the sting from the rotten viscera and swirls of resentment digging into the wounds, not to mention the others. The gate collapsed only moments after they emerged.

They were ready this time after a painful lesson from a few excursions. A standby crew erected a sturdy barrier that redirected the final burst of matter and energy that squeezed out of the collapsing world. Zac cleansed his body of scum before jumping into the pod.

Another blockade barring their path was knocked down through effort and teamwork. It did little to raise morale in the shuttle as they flew toward the approaching Yphelion. Zac wanted to raise their spirits, but what could he say? The only things they had to show for risking their lives were a few tainted relics and a handful of dubious D-grade plants that reeked of evil and sets of foreign patterns copied from a wall.

The anomaly was another trove, a standard fragment of an Inner World filled with putrid blood and zombies. They were likely descendants or servants of the ancient cultivator who fell in battle. Their end was likely even worse, seeing the world collapse around them as hostile Dao flooded their home. The dense resentment in the Imperial Graveyard prevented any normal Revenants from awakening, instead turning them into mindless monstrosities filled with killing intent.

"Good job. Get some rest," Zac said before lumbering back toward his quarters.

Catheya had already left, having her own matters to deal with. Zac glanced at the table where they'd had coffee just hours ago, wondering how many such chances they'd get over the coming weeks. Shaking his head, he entered the cultivation chamber to begin another round of practice. Rest was important, but so was diligence.

Days passed one after another, and the pressure on Yphelion and its crew never relented. It only mounted, making Zac long for the calm days at the graveyard's edge by the time another ten days had passed. There was simply no rest to be had as the storms grew increasingly volatile. The ones having the worst of it were Jaol and Mark Marshall, who were responsible for navigating the ship through the troubled waters.

Ogras and Emily both had experience in piloting Cosmic Vessels through turbulent regions, but they were struggling to fill Mark's shoes during his short bouts of fitful rest. The Yphelion's journey seemed stable to the passengers, barring the constant shakes. It was a false safety. The Yphelion was constantly swirling back and forth, making turns so sudden and sharp the centrifugal forces would knock out half the crew if not for the Inertia Arrays.

It was clear that the Beacon was leading them toward one of the most dangerous regions of the graveyard, and their situation was starting to remind Zac of how he tried to avoid the hundred-odd mental tendrils in the Pilgrimage of Faith. Sharp winds could appear out of nowhere, and even the Yphelion's upgraded shield would have trouble blocking many of them.

Thankfully, there was enough good news to keep everyone's spirits up. For one, they were making much better time than they originally planned. The ship's improved shields and speed let them punch through storms that would have forced them to retreat and search for alternative routes with the old Yphelion. Any such maneuver would have cost days of travel, adding to their risk and exhaustion.

There were also a shocking number of seals peppered through the storm. Six of his sealbearers finished their seals over the four weeks after Galau got his, while Kruta got his second piece. The Indomitable Court was the one Zac had been the most worried about as Kator, unsurprisingly, was a Blooddancer like Kruta and Joanna.

Zac's schemes to distract the reaver had proven unnecessary. He'd ceded the first piece of the Indomitable Court after a bet with Joanna. And the Valkyrie had a quest connected to his, so she gave up her claim on the piece in exchange for some rare materials Kruta had brought from the outside.

Most of the seals were uncovered through the scanning array installed without his knowledge. It had almost gotten to the point that Zac had forgiven the Centigrade Pryer and the Creators for installing the spying device.

Their own scanners only managed to spot two when the Centigrade Scanners picked up eight. The reason they'd only seized five was that the paths to the others were deemed too dangerous or would make them lose access to the critical windows they needed to make to progress. They also spotted dozens of spatial fluctuations leading to Mystic Realms or Troves, but Zac chose to ignore everything that didn't hold a seal.

Zecia was crumbling, and there might be nothing left for him to save if they took too long to activate the Foreign Gods. The unspecified 400-day deadline mentioned in Ventus' missive was fast approaching, and Zac was hoping to reach their destination before that. More importantly, his soldiers were using their blood to buy time to let Zac and most of his elites set out on the mission.

Completing designation quests was the source of the two seals they didn't find in the wild. Zac had wondered how they could possibly finish the tasks assigned when their only method of navigation was following the [Centurion Beacon] and making the occasional detour for picking up seals.

It turned out the quest holders would feel a strong pull that sounded a bit like attraction from Supreme Treasures that Zac sensed. Both led into Troves, though the missions were very different. Carl had to sneak inside alone and extract an ancient war bow while they had to help Ra'Klid unearth a set of Life-based scriptures from a haunted temple.

Neither had found a seal inside. Instead, they appeared inside sealed boxes the moment they'd returned to their quarters. The System's immediate handing out of the Reward was a huge relief to Zac. It would have been a huge hit to his plans if he had to return to a Merit Exchange to get his final Flamebearer seal.

While exhausting, they were making steady progress. Until they suddenly weren't.

"What are our chances if we force our way through?" Zac asked as he looked at the gargantuan storm formation blocking their path.

It was, by far, the largest one they'd seen, more than a dozen times larger than any individual cluster they'd encountered so far.

"I give it ten percent at most. And that's just based on the sections we can actually scan. It's probably lower if there's a high-energy cluster in the middle holding everything together," Galau said with a shake of his head. "Our shields are too worn down to take the risk."

"Look at it from the bright side," Ogras said. "We would have turned into space debris if the Ruthless Heavens hadn't equipped its favorite son with a stronger skipper."

"Not necessarily," Galau countered. "Much of the drain comes from taking dangerous shortcuts to save on our manpower. Our shields would have been in roughly the same state as the old ship as well, except we wouldn't be this far in."

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"Anyway, crossing isn't an option," Zac surmised. "Find another path."

Ibtep nodded, lifting something that looked a lot like a beehive. It was a custom-made beast-holding tool for Ibtep's pets, fulfilling the same function as a World Ring. Ibtep also had a special space similar to the Shrine of Kanba from his class. It was reserved for the Grub Knight's steed, which also came with certain benefits.

Six streams of pebbles poured out of the hive, forming blue shimmering rivers that expanded the further they went. The pebbles were the adolescent larvae Ibtep had prepared. They released minute spatial ripples as they instinctively moved toward their food source. The streams left the shielding, and larvae died by the thousands when exposed to the unforgiving environment.

Zac looked at Ibtep with worry, only calming down upon seeing the tranquility on the Zhix's face. Their confidence was soon proven well-founded. The spatial winds didn't rip apart most of the larvae who died. They curled together and darkened, resembling actual pebbles. Zac didn't exactly understand how, but the small carapaces solidified space around them.

The effect wasn't strong and definitely not enough to stabilize the fractured space enough to create a safe harbor that could provide the much-needed rest. It did, however, provide a foothold for their brethren outside the barrier. Zac looked on with interest as the first round of larvae began absorbing green streaks of spatial havoc.

The frontrunners only needed half a minute to grow from the size of a grain of rice to a finger, and they showed no sign of stopping. The larger the space-eating larvae grew, the more voracious their appetite became. Their auras increased in step, though they more resembled the unfocused energy of a Cosmic Crystal than that of a beast or cultivator. It made sense, considering their only purpose was to eat Spatial Energy and store it in their bodies until they died from overeating.

Cracks started to appear across the bodies of some of the gluttons by the time they reached the size of an arm. Then they shattered, turning into large rocks with far greater stabilizing properties than the small pebbles. These were the ones with the weakest talent for devouring spatial energies. The rest kept growing. They were like locusts, advancing further and further from the ship while leaving a curtain of increasingly large carapaces in their wake.

"What's their limit? Just how large can they grow?" Zac eventually asked.

"That's... A good question," Ibtep nodded. "The size of a hive? Maybe more?"

"A hive?!" Zac exclaimed, looking at the thousands of feasting critters with a mix of fascination and alarm.

Even the smaller Hives were decent-sized settlements, while the expansive system of tunnels and chambers ruled by Rhubat dwarfed most cities on Earth.

"Of course, that's in ideal conditions," Ibtep continued. "The impure feed impacts their absorption."

"Impressive. But what's the catch?" Ogras said, looking at Ibtep with suspicion. "Why haven't the Kan'Tanu done something like this already?"

"It's only borrowing time," Zac said. "It'll be paid back in full later."

The Spatial Larvae was Ibtep's top-secret project, initially meant to help with the war effort. Zac was one of the very few in the know, having received current reports. He'd be lying if he said he understood the unique critters' ins and outs, but he did know of their strengths and drawbacks.

"Paid back how?" the demon asked with suspicion.

"The carcasses are chock-full of energy. Right now, they're acting like weights holding down the buckling spatial layers and creating a safe zone," Zac explained. "But how can some body parts resist the forces of nature? It only works for now because Ibtep is controlling them and supplementing their numbers. When we stop, the winds will quickly push back."

"I haven't figured out how to permanently make the absorbed energy inert. It might not be possible," Ibtep added. "The stabilization will fail, and all the trapped energy will come bursting out."

Ogras scanned the expanding barrier of dead larvae. It already surrounded the Yphelion and grew by the second. In a few hours, it would have formed an asteroid field more than a mile across. All that energy, unleashed at once... Zac could see the thoughts running through the demon's head as he turned toward Zac with his signature look of disbelief and exhausted acceptance.

"You..." Ogras sighed. "You could have kept me in the dark, you know?"

Zac was about to answer, but Ipbtep preempted him.

"Oh, that's not good. You should get ready."

"Not good? What's going on?" Zac said, not remembering any part of Ibtep's explanation that required his participation.

"I told you. The grubs were better off dead than tainted. And now, some of them are tainted. They have no mind of their own, so their basic drive for food will be replaced with whatever desire is trapped in the clouds. You need to deal with the troublemakers before they cause a mess."

"And by mess, you mean a dimensional eruption that will send us straight to the afterlife?" Ogras sighed.

"Well, the weather has calmed at least," Zac said, taking out his axe. "Call the others. I guess we have some possessed grubs to deal with."