Re:Cursed

Chapter 155 153: War

"What is going on?" Nyxila demanded. "Where have you been?"

The surroundings blurred around her as Tarchon's mech continued to accelerate them through Coral's depths. A wide plume of fire rocketed out behind him before stretching to impossibility. Whether it was the speed they moved, or the thick corruption, Nyxila didn't know.

They slingshot around a corner. Space twisted in just the right way for the massive war-machine to navigate the looping halls while never adjusting its thrust.

Tarchon tossed his fist out — not the one gripping Nyxila — and grated it through a wall. The steel barrier fell like dust. Their momentum shifted. Not much. Just enough to go careening through a vault door that had not been there a moment before.

The Technocultist twisted his body, facing the hatch with his mech's shoulder while tilting the thick hand that held Nyxila behind his back.

Nyxila had just enough time to take in the expansive rituals decorating every visible stretch of wall surrounding the vault before she felt a jolt and it went flying.

Sealing rituals.

Tarchon was fast enough that by the time the vault door struck the ceiling, Nyxila had a perfect view. It ricocheted, barrelling through one of the dozen towering silhouettes that lingered in this corrupt chamber. It burst; a pillar of dust flowering in a stunning series of fractals under dull light.

The petals scuttled.

Intense revulsion spun through Nyxila's chest as she watched what she thought was a tower crumble into billions of tiny disgusting bugs. Roach-spawn. They were a swarm species like skitter-spawn, yet a million times worse.

Each tiny bug chased them. Alone, they were slow, but here they were many. The roach-spawn flooded the ground, their kin scuttling over their backs, and more on theirs. Despite how fast Tarchon moved, he wasn't moving quick enough for Nyxila's taste. Those bugs spilled over each other and rose into the shape mimicking Tarchon's mech.

Roach-kin were smart.

That alone was bad, but it wasn't what disgusted Nyxila. Roach-kin spread by laying their eggs in flesh. It only took a touch, and you could be an unsuspecting host for the vile things.

They were the only spawn that wasn't limited by the dead population of their living counterparts.

Noticing that the rest of the swarm was on the chase, the eleven other bug towers collapsed. Each formed a mech of insects. Tarchon crashed through another wall, allowing the roach-spawn to flow free.

Nyxila was about to complain that he'd just made this area of Coral all the more difficult to traverse safely… when she realised that might be the intent. There were a lot of cultists back in the Grand Sacrificial Chamber. It was far too optimistic to think they'd all kill each other.

Through shattered steelwork surrounded by flickering, broken pentagrams, Nyxila saw something that made her blood run cold. Tarchon turned a corner, and the dark chamber was gone, but she could still see the dozen — inhuman — pairs of eyes that opened. One for each mound of roach-spawn.

"Tarchon!" she shouted.

"I know." The metallic scrape of his voice was so good to hear again.

He brought his arm forward again, giving Nyxila just enough time to see the floor lift to welcome the mech. They rolled up and around the curved walls before slowing to an abrupt stop. Considering their speed, the deceleration must have been insane… yet Nyxila hadn't felt it.

"Good." Tarchon was already interfacing with a series of lights within a square pentagram. "We haven't been followed."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The tight grip fully encasing her finally let her go, and she found her feet beneath her once again. If she didn't have such good balance, she would have fallen over.

Nyxila recognised this tunnel. It was the Technocult's moving transport. Apparently, there was tech in it that told the Technocultist if there were others with them.

She wondered if it would detect Lysyra.

"You think someone could?" Nxyila's eyes trailed to the set of blackened rockets sat embedded in the mech's back, then to where she thought the roach-kin swarm might be. "Really?"

"Never assume you know all that is possible," he said, before turning to walk down the corridor. "The possibility remains that we were followed by someone who could keep up and hide from our sensors, but the statistical likelihood in this scenario is low enough to be negligible."

Her eyes flicked to both sides of the tunnel, expecting something to pop out. It was such a sudden jerk. The Trials, the war, even Tarchon's rocket-boosted escape from the Grand Sacrificial Chamber. And now… they were walking as if nothing had happened.

"Again, I would like to congratulate you. I understand this was more of a challenge than anyone could have predicted, but you have fulfilled your word. You have proven you have what it takes, and the Technocult shall support you in your ambition."

Nyxila didn't know what to say. To have an entire group backing her intent to take down the other cults made it no longer a single person against the world. Her goal seemed all that more achievable. And they'd already more in this life than they'd achieved in her last. Though… had they really put together this entire scheme to set the cults against one another?

"Why was it so important that I win the Trials?" Nyxila asked. "It wasn't just to solidify my position in the Technocult, was it?"

"Of course not." Tarchon placed his massive hand at Nyxila's side just in time for the the deceleration of the tunnel to press down on her. "We need the Grand Sacrificial Chamber if we intend to war more than the Machine God Worshippers."

"Why?"

"Mainly to keep it out of the other cult's hands. The rituals that can be done there exceed the capabilities of any other chamber. Only the peripheral islands of Coral allow something close, and they are designed to be severed should the ritual go wrong."

"But you have rituals of your own you intend to perform?"

Tarchon paused to give her a subtle smirk. No other answer provided.

What an unsatisfying response. Nyxila wanted to press him, but Tarchon rarely showed such visible emotion across his features. He was too smug about this to share with her. Not until he got to show her, at least.

"Will you even be able to use it?" she asked. "I mean, a war is being fought there. The amphitheatre was all but destroyed."

"It's a part of what makes that chamber so important. The place is beyond mortal understanding. Damage and alterations fail to stick. Before long, the battlefield will be forced outside its borders."

Nyxila was prepared for the jolt of the tunnel coming to a halt. What she wasn't ready for, was the complete change that had overcome the Technocult's temple in the short time since she'd last been.

There were no guests weaselling for them to come and fix their problems. There were no shelves of countless mechanical components. No, what had replaced the warehouse, was an armoury the likes she'd never imagined.

And the entire place was empty. Not a Technocultist in sight.

"Where…?"

"Assaulting Coral AI."

Nyxila had to glare up at him to get him to continue.

"Ta̽'Ș͑t̕r̊a͑ḷa̾͆n͙͂o̼͗v͐͐̿͝'r̝͇͎͓͜ leads the attack on the Machine God that the Worshippers devote themselves."

"Did you really plan this war?" It was clear that this was why they'd been hidden away on the lead up to the final Trial.

Tarchon shook his head, but locked in the mech as he was, his head barely budged. "We only leapt on the opportunity given to us. If anything, it was your actions that pushed the cults to the point of war. Our efforts simply evened the playing field."

"What," Nyxila started, trying not to get too hopeful. "Are the chances that the Bodytwisters, Scriptures and Fleshsmiths all kill each other off?"

He looked down at her, knowing just what she wanted to hear. "It depends on how long the war continues. Higher tiers have a tendency to be difficult to kill, even in the worst of battles. Far too many have methods to escape from the verge of death."

"But they will be distracted with each other?" She wouldn't look past such an opportunity.

Tarchon nodded with a knowing look, and twisted on his immense metal feet. He reentered the tunnel. "S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ can't touch you here. Until Coral calms down, do not leave."

Nyxila bristled at the idea of sitting still. "You're going to join the rest of the Technocult, aren't you? I can fight."

"I said it before, didn't I? The assault is a distraction. If it were that simple to take down Coral AI, we would have done so centuries ago." A rune lit up across the neck of his mech. "I'm off to do some errands. Oh, and don't be too concerned about what you might lose. Sometimes, you have to knock down a building to make way for a tower."

And with that, he was gone again. The walled off tunnel ripped through the hall fast enough to tear off her hand should she make the mistake of touching it.

Errands. Sure.

Well, Tarchon's advice reminded her. She had another evolution to claim.

She spun on her feet. There also happened to be countless weapons just asking to be taken. And there was nobody to stop her. Nyxila grinned. Tarchon would regret not taking her with him.