NOVPUB
Chapter 236
With Joshua supplying me parts, I quickly managed to get one of the consoles up and running. A bit more effort after that, and I finally sent the command to raise the blast shields that covered the windows looking into the cargo hold.
The metal shields groaned and creaked as they lifted, about half of them jamming as plant matter gunked up into their mechanisms. Enough pulled away to get a proper look at our target though.
The cargo hold beyond was a literal jungle. The metal floor and walls were almost completely hidden by a carpet of greenery. Through the gaps of trees and bushes, I spotted the red lines of a ritual circle. This was the place.
The middle of the cargo hold had a wooden pyramid built in it at some point. The pyramid pulsed as if alive, with countless trees and vines entwining together all throughout its structure. It radiated a nauseating feeling, and Insight constantly thrummed as if resonating with the magic emitting off the pyramid.
Corpses covered the pyramid, with dozens of Adepts scattered around casting and maintaining different kinds of ritual magic. At the top, an altar made of corpses entwined with roots seemed to glow with malevolence.
An Adept wearing ornate robes oversaw the whole thing as he worked and sustained his own magic. A higher up in the cult, no doubt. His face hid behind a writhing wooden mask as if a mockery of the Crusade’s style. His hands though- they didn't look natural. Almost wooden?
On the edges of the room, a fierce battle took place. The frontal assault of the Crusade struck the cargo hold hard, but the Circle definitely had enough time to entrench. HMG emplacements, warped plant entities, and even massive ents like the one I saw with Inquisitor Varus blocked the path forward.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the Adepts across the pyramid cast spells constantly as if they had an endless supply of magic. Any attempts to shoot down one of the Adepts was blocked by various wards.
Fires raged across the jungle, filling the entire cargo hold with acrid smoke that lowered visibility. Bullets flashed, pelting both sides in sprays of gore, bark, and sparks. Magic flared, cascading into waves of destruction across the entire cargo hold.
The Crusade was making progress, but it was slow and uncertain. The longer they took, the more they were pelted by magic. Unless something happened, the frontal assault looked doomed to fail.
”Damn!” Autumn stepped up towards a section of the window, looking down onto the battlefield. “Get the main doors open now!”
“Chek.” I turned away, glaring at the others who were trying to appear busy setting up defenses. Why was it always just me having to do everything?
I moved between consoles, trying to find where the original controls for the cargo hold's main door were. With everything full of bullet holes, it was a process. I didn’t even really know where to begin. Most of the stuff in here was for the various cranes and mechanisms of the cargo hold in the first place.
It was by complete luck I managed to find the control panels for the shields blocking the windows in the first place. No way I could ever-
“Is thish it, shquire?” Inquisitor Ligh asked me as he poked at one of the consoles. He had his flask out and open as he took a drink, sipping casually.
I walked over and checked it out. “Yah, but it looks completely scrapped-“
I cut myself off as Inquisitor Ligh tripped over his own feet. His flask spilled out over the console, which emitted an electric hum as smoke poured out into the room. The console flared to life momentarily.
Flashing lights in the cargo hold drew my eye. Through the half-covered windows, I spotted one of the walls start to rise up. Water poured over the revealed edge, putting out some of the fires as the bay area beyond was revealed.
In the distance, Aythryn City twinkled without a care in the world. The corporate drones had no idea such a massive battle was happening just outside of the city limits. How enviable.
Bright blue and red flashes showed dozens of Crusade flyers ambling about just outside of the Supercarrier. As the door raised fully, four Waymakers forced their way into the cargo hold, hovering just inside its perimeter. Spells flashed and roots arced up to attack the flyers. For a moment, it looked like they might be taken down…
And then the Waymakers started firing. The guns across them spun to life as countless bullets rained down onto the cargo hold, absolutely eviscerating the surrounding jungle. One of them fired its main cannon, causing the entire flyer to rock as a massive shell shot out at the pyramid.
The shell blew up just outside of the pyramid, hitting an invisible barrier as fire lanced out. Although the pyramid was protected, its surroundings weren’t. The explosion devoured an entire chunk of ents and the jungle.
As if that was the tipping point, the Crusade on the perimeter started pushing even harder than before. If before they were just casually attempting an assault, now they moved with a fury. Large AOE spells flew from the Crusade line, cleaning entire pathways for the frontal fighters to push through.
Another couple Waymakers joined in, flying deep into the cargo hold in a display of pure piloting skill. They hovered over the Crusaders, acting as both the heavy firepower and vanguard to push the assault even further.
They continued to pour out mayhem into the cargo hold, attempting to break through the shield protecting the pyramid to no success. Eventually, the heavy cannons stopped as the assault forces started making their way toward the pyramid.
“As ever, Inquisitor, you are impressive.” I muttered under my breath as I watched the battle unfold. Here I was worried about getting everything working when I could’ve just dragged Ligh over here. Seriously what was going on with his-
”Nice going!” Autumn moved over to us and clapped me on the shoulder, making me nearly fall to the ground. “Now we-“ n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
”Enemy assault!” A Squire called out from the main doors into the control room. Everyone’s attention shifted as we moved to defensive positions.
— — —
By the time the fighting in the cargo hold died, we repelled four different assault waves. By we, I mainly mean Autumn and Darren. They were good at attacking, but the two were even better in a defensive situation. Especially since Inquisitor Shin actually joined in.
The fighting grew even easier once the Crusaders in the cargo hold finally pushed through the pyramid and broke the illusion and spatial distortion magic. With clear sightlines, the Waymakers no longer held back. One of them even flew over to the window looking out from the control room and helped our defense, mowing down an entire swathe of cultists.
With the fighting intensifying, the illusion broken, and the Circle’s defenses finally shattering, the Crusade claimed control of the cargo hold and its surrounding area. There were still Circle cultists all over the ship, and plant monsters were rampant, but we had control. Hunting squads grouped up and headed out to steadily clean up the stragglers.
With the fighting, at least in this part of the ship, over, Crusaders came up to relieve us as they were put on guard duty. Not that I was complaining. I followed the Inquisitor down to the cargo hold, regrouping with the larger assault force.
I was grouped up with Inquisitor Ligh and his Squires, looking out over the dying embers of the battlefield. The pyramid was gone—totaled by the destructive might of the Crusade. Only the smoldering embers of the jungle remained.
Hope moved up next to me, nudging me with her arm and rubbing ash all over me. “Good job. I wouldn’t even know where to begin with those consoles.”
”It was easy.” I shrugged it off. “The Inquisitor did most of it.”
”If you say so.” She took a deep breath, breaking into a slight cough as she inhaled pure smoke. “Ugh- still."
”Looksh like we shtopped them from completing the ritual.” Inquisitor Ligh rubbed at his mask, his voice as cold as ever as he crouched over one of the faded lines of the ritual.
”Sure does, sir.” Joshua moved ahead to walk in pace with him. “Mind if Dev and I make ourselves busy helping with… logistics?”
”Go ahead. Shtay close though. We’ll be leaving shortly.” Inquisitor Ligh waved him off. The two left us. More accurately, Joshua left dragging along Dev to help with logistics.
Inquisitor Ligh paused ahead of us and brushed aside a thick mound of ash. The engraved lines of the ritual circle were fully revealed underneath. “Sho, doesh it look familiar?”
I crouched down, pushing more of the ash aside as my hand turned black. “I mean, kinda? It’s hard to tell with just this much revealed.”
I certainly looked similar. It didn’t feel similar though. I didn’t know. It was hard to put into words. Just didn’t feel as… malevolent? That didn’t really make sense. And I definitely still felt the malevolence of Mother in the air. Did we really stop it? Weird… I mean I know it was hard fought, but it almost felt a bit too easy?
”Hmm…” Inquisitor Ligh tilted his head down as he stared at the circle. He nodded his head and then walked off toward a gathering of Crusaders.
I shared a look with Hope and then followed after him. The Inquisitor barged into the middle of their conversation, waving his hand lazily towards one of the Crusaders. “Inquishitor Ronald, I need your help.”
One of the group nodded to the others then split off towards us. “What do you want, Ligh.”
”Just a bit of magic. Can you clean up the ash and debris? Need a look at the ground.” Inquisitor Ligh shifted the ash aside with his foot, revealing a line of the ritual circle.
The man shifted from foot to foot hesitantly. “Fine. But only a section. I'm already about to fall over.”
Insight was probably tingling as he worked his magic, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of magic in this place. A minute later, wind swept into the place, billowing through the area as ash and debris were pushed aside by the wind. A large area cleared off as the wind directly flung the ash into the ocean. I mean, the oceans were already fucked, so I guess it didn’t matter. Still, though…
With the ash gone, I got a clear view of the ritual circle in all its fell glory. It looked… off. Just a bit. It didn’t have that overwhelmingly evil feel that the others had? It was hard to put into words.
And where was Corvin? That malevolent Greater Crow Sprite was surely teamed up with Mother, so why wasn’t he here? This was the last of the ritual spells, no?
I fell into thought for a moment as I stared down at the circle. Ah, whatever. Fuck it. What’s the worst that could happen?
I flicked on Aetherial Perception, immediately getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of magic and magic traces contaminating the surroundings. It was hard to see anything through, though I did spot something odd. The ritual circle was still. It shouldn't be completely still though. Not if they were just casting it...
I looked around, feeling a sinking feeling in my gut. Insight was still tingling. If the ritual circle wasn’t here, then where was it? Was the ‘holdout’ all just a distraction? If not here, then where?
I turned to the Inquisitor to say something-
A burst of malevolence radiated through me as the sensation of being drained made my entire body feel weak. The burst came from directly below, down below the bay. An uneasy feeling went through me as the interface popped up.
「Request - Stop Mother - Received
Mother’s ritual has finished. Her Descent is upon us. Find and stop her before its too late.
This request has been forwarded to all Eidolons’ Magi and affiliate groups.
Reward: ?」
A shout came from all around me as several Magi went stock still and the sprites went ballistic-
A bright flash from the city drew my eye as a scream seemed to fill the air. It was a feral, triumphant sound that drove me to my knees as my head throbbed in agony. Following the scream, Insight tingled like never before.
