Dante immediately thought of the crystal behemoth that they had seen yesterday. There was no fighting that thing, especially not with Ren unconscious and Dante immobile. He could only think of one thing that they could do.

  “We need to hide!” He hissed to Pauwna.

  “And where do you suggest we do that!”

  She had a point. There was nothing around save for flooded craters and the small strips of dry land in between.

  “The pool!”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  Pauwna growled, then waded into the pool, dragging both of them along with her. The sludge parted around his aura and revealed that the bottom was covered in an unbroken sheet of crystal. As they moved deeper, Dante could see the sphere shrinking near the bottom as the pressure began to win out against the force exerted by his field. It was narrowing at an alarming rate, which slowed down when it reached the denser aura construct. They hadn’t even submerged three feet yet.

  Godsdammit. Whatever this is, it is a lot thicker than air!

  “Stop!” He called as he sensed the fluid was about to cross out of the condensed aura and Pauwna halted immediately. They had gotten about five feet deep, which meant that they were hidden as long as they crouched.

  The rumbling was getting stronger and causing the waters above to grow turbulent. He was about to suggest moving a little shallower when the swarm suddenly thinned and the pressure on him diminished. In the distance, he could see a titanic figure the size of a small skyscraper moving closer.

  It had three long willowly legs that sprouted equidistant around a torus-like central body. Each leg was craggy, formed of many large hexagonal purple crystals jutting out of each other. The central body was similar and had many … mandibles lining the bottom around something Dante thought might be a mouth. It moved stiffly, like a robot with rusty joints.

  It was heading straight for them.

  What do we do? There is no way we can run faster than this thing. I don’t think we can fight it either, especially without Ren. We can only hide. I wish I had trained [Chameoline] or any stealth skill …

  Dante looked at Pauwna to gauge her reaction, and saw that she her hand was inching towards her dagger. He shook his head and one cheek eye darted to him. The hand froze and she gave him a slight nod. The behemoth was nearly upon them and he held his breath as it took one more massive step and loomed directly over them.

  Dante nearly cursed as the impact caused an especially large wave which caused a wave to briefly submerge them, spiking the pressure. A burst of foul fluid escaped at the bottom, spraying Pauwna’s boots and his sleeve which began smoking. With a blur of motion, Pauwna sliced away all afflicted areas. The scraps fell to the ground, where they were quickly dissolved into a charred black goop.

  Dante swallowed, eyeing the perilously held-back liquid with new respect.

  The creature crouched over them as they dare not even to breathe. The mandibles opened and many somethings fell out of the central body. Pauwna moved to dodge one of the somethings, moving shallower so the waves would not cause another leak. One of things drifted close by and Dante nearly yelled.

  It was a human.

  A singular dead sightless eye gazed back at him from above the surface. Bellow it, the skull was clearly visible as scraps of skin were eaten away by the caustic fluid. Another bumped into the barrier as more were dumped. This one was a snake-like Ahsmati with visible ribs and guts spilling out. They were followed by more, bodies of all races in varying states of dissolution.

  The deluge of corpses ceased as the titan closed its jaw and then it lumbered off into the distance. Still they kept silent, as the bodies around them rapidly dissolved. Not even metal was spared from the sludge's touch.

  Dante couldn’t help it. He vomited, emptying his stomach at the grotesque sight and the thought that he was surrounded by what used to be people. That all of these pools around him used to be people.

  How many had to die for all of it?

  Pauwna patted his back during the ordeal, making sure he didn’t get any of it on him. Deadened as he Dante had become to violence, this was a step beyond and he had a feeling this would become a frequent addition to the nightmares. Even Pauwna had paled at the sight.

  “Those were fresh.” Pauwna duly noted.

  “What?” Dante had finished vomiting after there was nothing left to come up and wiped his mouth with a sleeve.

  “The bodies. Those weren’t from the battle we fought in. Those couldn’t have been more than a day old. There is still active fighting going for both the Empire and the Ahsmati.”

  Dante latched onto that information, anything to keep from concentrating on the sights around them. “That means that there is a safe place somewhere nearby. Though, that thing didn’t come from the direction we were traveling in.”

  “Let’s not get too discouraged yet. There are other reasons why it could have come from that way. Perhaps it was an easier route.”

  “I hope you are right. Can we get out of here? This place, I can’t, won't stay here any longer.”

  “Say no more. I am eager to depart as well.”

  Pauwna reseated him and Ren on her shoulders, then moved to leave. She had barely made it two steps when she froze, her long ears twitching. Dante was about to ask her what was wrong, but she put a finger to his lips. He obediently fell silent, wondering if the behemoth was coming back. Though he felt no vibrations.

  A few minutes later, he heard it. It was clearly audible over the sound of the diminished swarm. A collection of piercing, sweet notes in perfect rhythm. Whereas the swarm could be compared to dumping a crateful of tuning forks down a flight of stairs, this was an orchestra. This had to be a Chausus of some kind, the notes were too crystalline for anything else.

  Of course, the notes were getting louder.

  Am I a magnet for misfortune or something? What are the chances? I hope that these will also leave.

  It was a few minutes more until they came into sight. There were two of them. He nearly thought that they were centaurs before they resolved more clearly. Rather than having the bottom half of a horse, it was a four-legged praying mantis. The upper portion was shockingly similar to a human, though an emaciated one. They cared long staff with two prongs at the end that were made out of the same purple crystal as them. However, it was much more refined than any other of their kind he had seen yet, having fewer random protrusions.

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  One chimed something in those musical tones to the other and Dante realized that they were sentient. With their long forked poles, they began probing into the sludge, sometimes pushing floating bodies to the bottom and other times bringing the tip up to inspect it. After a little bit of this, they took handfuls of something from a bloody pink sack and began scattering it into the pool. Dante had an inkling of where they had gotten the material for their sack …

  Monsters. Are they responsible for all of this? That makes all of this a lot more dangerous if there is an intelligence behind it.

  One of the objects that the monsters were scattering bounced off his barrier and slid in the sludge beside them, revealing that it was a perfectly round purple crystal the size of an apple seed. It caused the sludge to bubble upon contact and Dante swore that it had grown bigger by the team it was swept out of sight.

  Maybe this is some sick form of agriculture? Though I can’t imagine what these monsters eat given they have no mouth. Or eyes, which is perhaps why they haven’t spotted us? I mean, we are definitely in visible distance. Whatever they use to navigate, apparently the swarm and sludge shield us.

  The monsters stopped the scattering of the balls and then turned to go. Dante took the chance to alleviate his burning lungs and take a shallow breath, which they didn’t seem to notice. That was fortunate, as he had no desire to learn what they could do. They had faded to silhouettes when a void pierced through the gloom.

  “Gaaah! My head is killing me! Where in the name of the — mphh!” Dante had covered her mouth as quickly as he was able and turned to see if the monsters had heard.

  Please be as deaf as you are blind.

  He was answered by a piercing whistle and a hail of razor sharp crystal spikes impacted his barrier. They visibly slowed and Pauwna deflected the dangerous ones. She burst from the pool and sprinted in the opposite direction of the monsters.

  Dante pointed at the abominations and screamed, “Ren, blast them!”

  Without hesitation, a magic circle blossomed over one of Ren’s hands and Dante hastily threw up an arm to protect his eyes. Burning white light illuminated the area accompanied by a blast of heat for three seconds. A pair of screams like shattering crystals followed quickly after. Once it died down, he took a look and saw no trace of monsters. Pauwna was covering ground quickly, no longer caring if they strayed slightly into the pools. Dante dared to hope they would escape before catching more attention.

  An orchestra of chimes answered the monster's death rattles, sounding from all around.

  Pauwna skidded to a halt and whipped her head around. She stayed like that for a few seconds, ears twitching with every call. She chose a direction and continued running.

  Dante yelped as she leaped, sparing into the air as a forest of spikes sprouted where they had been running. It tracked underneath them as they flew through the air. Pauwna flailed as she struggled to alter their trajectory but there was nothing to push off of.

  He had to do something.

  A spike of pain went through his head as Dante stretched his remaining aura through half of the spikes below. It altered their fall just enough for Pauwna to near the side of one, large spike. She pushed off, accelerating them enough to outpace the spikes. Dante sent his aura downwards to slow their fall a hair.

  Hitting the ground was still a bone-shattering experience. Dante nearly flew out of Pauwna's grip before Ren tethered him. Traveling at these speeds was not good for Dante.

  Running into the spawn increased the strain on him by his aura. When he let out a labored breath, he struggled to breathe back in. It felt as if he had been punched in the solar plexus and was permanently winded. If it weren't for his superhuman endurance, he thought he might have already passed out.

  Bursting out of the swarm on his left side, came one of the strange quadrupeds. It stabbed out at them with its pronged spear. Pauwna saw him, but hesitated and Dante recalled something she had said.

  Let me have both hands full when something happens.

  And it had happened. Left with no other choice, Dante thrust both of his arms out in an improvised block and trusted in [Martial Arts]. One prong punched through his hand, instantly filling his damage buffer from [Mana Body Foritifation]. It continued, piercing his opposite forearm and pinning it to his shoulder. A series of cracks followed soon after as several bones broke. The monster attempted to draw back its spear and Dante reflexively curled his fist, yanking the weapon out of its grasp.

  Then his world turned red. Pain was all Dante knew and he lost his grip on everything. He lolled limply in Pauwna’s grasp, trying to make sense out of things.

  You have acquired [Pain Resistance]

  The pain did not diminish, but his thoughts became a little more clear. It was enough for Dante to take back up the reigns of his aura construct. If was already decaying, despite [Aura Fortification], and he had to fight for control.

  After that, his vision of the outside world became flashes. There were bursts of light, weightlessness, and an all consuming pressure that narrowed his vision. All the way to a pinprick. Dante began to wonder if he was dead again when it began to expand again.

  He was laying on something hard. Loud voices sound above him. They sounded angry. Dante grunted as the redoubled, then there was the feeling of emptiness. Vision returned and he saw Pauwna stinking her finger inside the hole in his shoulder. He slapped the hand away feebly, and she lifted both hands up.

  “Hey there, I am just checking for bleeding. I haven’t seen a wound like that before.”

  Dante was almost afraid to look, but he mustered up the courage and raised his pierced hand in front of him. There was a hole about the size of a quarter punched straight through. The only reason it wasn’t discharging blood upon him was that the edges were encrusted with crystal. The same was true for his forearm wound and shoulder. Dante let his hand fall back to the ground, grimacing as the movement caused pangs of pain. He had definitely broken multiple bones.

  “Thanks for taking that shot for me.” Pauwna inclined her head to him. “I am sorry, but the crystal is slowly spreading.” “I would have removed it, but I am nearly out of medical supplies. You would bleed to death.

  That’s just great. I am infected with a magical, fantasy disease now. What is it going to do? Turn me into one of those things?

  He didn’t let his rising panic show. Time was now of the essence. “We better get moving then. The sooner we find the Empire, the better.”

  Pauwna couldn’t meet his eyes. “We can’t. I lost track of our direction during the chase.”

  That did wonders for his nerves. Here in their isolated little bubble, what hope did they have of picking up the direction again? Refusing to give up yet, he tilted his head and scanned his surroundings.

  They had taken shelter in a burnt-down cottage. The only things that were left standing were the soot-smeared cobblestone floor, a fireplace, and a few charred beams. It was stripped bare. Entirely useless.

  There has to be a solution to this. I can’t die here.

  “I could shoot my light into the sky,” Ren suggested. “The swarm can only be so high and it should be visible for many miles around. We are closer to the front lines, so the Empire has to see it. I can even make it more visible.”

  Pauwna snorted. “And bring those creatures back down upon us? They are closer. I don’t fancy our chances holding them back while the Empire, presumably, fights its way to us.”

  “You have a better idea? Are you content to let Dante die?”

  “I say we pick a direction and go. We have a good chance of it being the right one and if it is the wrong one, we will hit the Ahsmati camp again. In that case, at least we will have our bearings again.”

  “That would take too long! He is injured, we can’t be relying on chance for this!”

  Dante let their voices wash over him as they began to bicker about the merits of their plans. Neither sounded feasible to him, but he did not want to get drawn into that and waste time. Instead, he ran over what was available to them.

  Ren has virtually nothing aside from a few magical powders and liquids for magic. I have my dagger, crossbow, water flask, journal, and writing supplies. Pauwna has a medical kit. Needle and thread, some poultices, and bandages. There has to be something in all of that which can help us.

  He began running through combinations of items, trying to get something that could work.

  Maybe if I began mapping out the terrain as we go. Perhaps that will reveal some landmark that we can recognize. Though the area we can see is too small for that work. Or maybe … no. Ah, it’s maddening! Our target is an entire half of the horizon. All we need is some direction!

  Dante froze, some half-remembered memories surfacing from his childhood.

  That … that could work.