Chapter Seventy Five - 075

Chapter Seventy Five - 075

The earth shook and trees toppled all around them, forcing Harn to pull a few of the slower Guilders out of the way of a massive rotten trunk. Screams echoed all around him, both from the Guilders and the creatures in the fog.

"What in Avet's name was that?" Harn turned, pulled off his helmet and squinted into the distance. They had climbed the foothills outside the ruined city, nearly into the narrow pass between the valley and the rest of the Foglands. If it were normal terrain Harn would have been able to see for miles. As it was, he was barely able to see a massive plume of smoke rising from the city center...exactly where the Risi encampment had been.

"Harn! Something's happening!" Harn whipped toward the voice and saw Atar braced against the trunk of a rotting tree, he was staring all around him with wild eyes. He looked up at Harn, and the warrior could tell the kid was terrified. "There's something happening in the ambient Mana, something, I don't know. Being removed."

Suddenly, the omnipresent fog flickered rapidly before it just vanished. In an instant, the thick fog was gone and Harn's eyes were blinded by beams of sunlight. Blinking at the brightness, Harn realized the sky was blue and unclouded, that the temperature had risen twenty degrees at least, and the forest...the forest had changed utterly. Where before the trees were rotting, corrupted stumps filled with grotesque shapes and withered vines, now they were full and lush. Fruit hung from branches all around them, healthy and delicious looking. Grass, weeds, wildflowers, all of it had sprouted beneath their feet as if it had been there the whole time. A carpet of greenery that extended in all directions, and even the seemingly-rotten trunk before him resolved into a healthy, if uprooted, growth.

"I-I can Analyze!" Someone shouted gleefully.

"Herbalism is working too!" Another had picked a fruit from a tree and was staring at it in fascination.

"Atar? What's goin' on?" Harn looked at the mage, hoping for an answer. Atar stared around him with wide eyes, no doubt reading System prompts. "Atar!"

"The interference in the Foglands has disappeared, completely. All Skills work normally," the mage blinked and looked up at Harn. "He was right," he said in a quieter voice.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

"Who was right?"

"Felix. He said it was all an illusion, remember?" Atar looked up and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of sun on his skin. "They must have deactivated the artifact!"

Harn frowned, then looked back at the city. He could see it now, the ruined landscape crystal clear in his vision and enhanced senses. The center of the city was a mass of dust and debris, and it looked as if most of it had collapsed even further; the sinkhole there had expanded by several miles. Harn couldn't make out much more, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut.

His gut was rarely wrong.

"What happened?" Harn turned to see Evie standing there, staring out into the distance. He face was pale, her jaw muscle jumping as she nervously clenched and unclenched. "Is...is she--?"

"I don't know," Harn said, softly. "Hopefully Callie finds her. But we have to keep going."

He gripped the kid's shoulder tight. Evie stood there a while longer before turning away from the ruined city. He pretended not to notice her red eyes and running nose, instead spinning around and shouting at his impromptu crew.

"Move out, folks! Double time!"

"On the outside!"

"Switch!"

The clang of battle was loud, but much softer than only minutes before. Callie and her crew had taken the fight to the Risi army that had assembled in these narrow halls. While the giants could only field three abreast, her entire group could navigate with room to spare, all attacking simultaneously. The giants were strong and many, but more than anything, it simply cost them time.

Something had happened ten minutes ago, however, something literally and figuratively earth shaking. As the once terrifying Labyrinth's ceiling opened up to the blue sky and the fog dissipated, something broke inside the giants. Many of them fell to the ground, twitching and bleeding from their eyes, and more still had half their Health disappear in an instant. Her team had pushed the weakened giants back into a large central chamber, one that was absolutely littered with corpses and metal clubs.

As her team finished the last stragglers, Callie stepped away, moving slowly but steadily through the debris strewn battlefield. Pure sunlight streamed down into the maze, banishing the darkness that clung to the edges and illuminated a slaughter. Dozens of bodies were turning to greasy black smoke where they laid, and it seemed many more had already dissolved, leaving clunking iron armor among the obstacles in her path.

Eye for Gold.

Callie activated her Perception Skill, useful for finding treasure among dross. Luckily, Magda's shields were made of an expensive alloy, worth enough to trigger her ability's auto-tagging feature.

Found: Mithril Kite Shield x1

The tag hovered over the object in question as Callie clambered over the spindly mountain of iron scrap. She slid down the other side, using her mobility Skill to its utmost. Coming to a stop, Callie pulled Magda's kit shield out from under a slagged pile of iron ore, grunting with the effort.

The shield was broken in half.

"Grimmar has already perished," said the voice, its timbre steady and unchanged. "He was too weak for the Mother, and the Mother herself is vanquished."

"Who! Who did this?!" The voice was one among the crowd, faceless, but it was taken up by almost every giant there.

"A creature that should not be, and that no longer is. Felix Nevarre perished along with the Mother." The voice rose in volume, quelling the whispers. "If you seek strength, then come. Come to my Domain and be set free."

The tunnel was lit with a crimson light from far below, and the metal creature gestured to it.

"Your new Father awaits."

Vvim watched as the giants, one by one, filed down into the darkness.

Within the black expanse of the Void, there was nothing.

And then there was something.

"UNF!"

Landing face first upon featureless, non-extant yet very real ground, Felix Nevarre broke his nose. Blood gushed for a moment, dripping down his face and spattering against the black.

Shit, that...hurt? Felix looked up, fighting off vertigo as he did so, the lack of anything proving more than his inner ear could handle. I'm alive?

With the rustle of wings and clack of hard talons, Pit landed next to him far more gracefully.

Pit! Felix threw an arm around his Companion's shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. Pit's wings batted excitedly against Felix's back and shoulders, trilling a series of bright chirps. A moment later, Felix stood up with a grin and looked before them. For as far as they could see, the world was a featureless black. Only Pit and Felix himself were lit with a sourceless glow.

Where are we? It looked like the void where he had battled Grimmar for the shard, and where his Lessons of the Past Skill...He shook his head.

How did we get here, Pit? Weren't we--?

New Quest!

Escape the Void!

You have saved the Continent from the Maw, but all choices have consequences. As a result of becoming the Maw's Vessel, however briefly, you have been banished to the Void!

Find a way out, if you can!

Rewards: Freedom, Title, Varies

Good Luck!

Felix closed his eyes and sighed. At least we have each other for company, buddy.

A slap and clatter sounded behind him, and a voice let out a growling, high pitched whine.

What is this?! Where am I?!

Felix whipped around, heart beginning to pound as he found the Maw, gaunt and shaking in the guise of Lhel. It was barely standing up, yet it pinned Felix with furious blue-green eyes.

What hell have you wrought, Felix Nevarre?