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Chapter 285: 285
Keles crossed her arms, her expression unreadable. "You’re worried."
She walked closer, standing beside him as they both watched Phantom’s glowing form high above the outpost. "Change is coming, whether we’re ready or not. Zarvok’s not the only one playing a dangerous game here. The spider queen, whom we know so little about, is surely making her move, and we are caught in the middle."
Keles shrugged slightly, her gaze distant. "She has no choice. Zarvok’s ahead in this race. If she doesn’t disrupt his plans, she’ll lose before she even gets a chance to compete. And that’s something she can’t afford."
Ikenga frowned, considering the implications. "If the spider queen is truly Zarvok’s equal, then when she strikes, she won’t do it directly. She’s too cunning for that. She’ll try to weaken us, destabilize the alliance before we can even set foot in that world, or hamper our progress."
Keles smiled faintly, a rare expression of warmth. "We’ve come this far together, Ikenga. We’ll see this through. But we have to be careful—Zarvok is ambitious, but he’s not the only one with ambitions. We have our own goals, and we can’t let his desires overshadow ours."
Ikenga turned to look at Keles, his gaze softening as he took in the warmth of her smile. It was a rare sight, one that always seemed to catch him off guard, no matter how many times he’d seen it. There was a strength in her, a quiet resolve that he had always admired. But in moments like this, when her guard was down, he saw something more—something that made his heart beat just a little faster.
"We’ve always had our own goals," Ikenga said, his voice quieter now, almost intimate. "But it’s different this time. The stakes are higher. The risks... greater."
Keles turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting his. There was a flicker of something in her gaze, something that made the air between them feel charged, electric. "We will find our way through it together."
Hearing her words, Ikenga stood up as if compelled, his hand reaching out to the hood covering Keles’ head. He hesitated for just a moment, but seeing no resistance from Keles, he gently pulled the hood down.
Ikenga raised a brow at the sight before him. Her skin was as pale as could be, almost translucent, giving her an otherworldly glow that contrasted starkly with the shadows she commanded. Her hair was long, cascading down her back like a waterfall of midnight, deep and dark, absorbing the light around her.
Her eyes were mesmerizing, a deep, inky black that seemed to hold the secrets of the afterlife within them, drawing him in with an unsettling allure. Her lips, a soft shade of crimson, stood out against her pale complexion, like the last drop of life in a dying world.
Her voice, cold but filled with warmth, said, "You are the second person to see the face beneath the hood."
Ikenga, surprised, asked, "Who was the first?"
"Crepuscular," she answered. Ikenga paused for a moment as he looked at her. "We had our moment. We were born earlier than the others, and exploring our bodies was something that naturally occurred."
Ikenga’s hands pulled away for a bit, but they were held back by a cold hand. He looked at Keles and said, "If we go any further, we’ll both hurt those we care for—Mahu and Crepuscular."
Keles’ grip tightened on Ikenga’s hand, her cold touch sending a shiver down his spine. A brief silence fell between them, thick with unspoken emotions and the weight of their shared history. Her dark, enigmatic eyes searched his face, as if trying to decipher the thoughts racing through his mind.
"You’re right," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible. "We both have ties that bind us to others, and stepping beyond this moment... it would be a betrayal to them."
Ikenga nodded slowly, his heart heavy with the truth of her words. Mahu and Crepuscular were more than just allies; they were partners in a world where bonds were rare and precious. To cross that line would be to risk everything they had built, not just with each other. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
"We’ll carry this with us," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "But it doesn’t have to define us. What we have—our alliance, our friendship—is too important to risk."
Keles nodded, though her expression remained conflicted. "You’re right," she said, her voice steadier now. "We can’t let our personal feelings get in the way of what needs to be done."
There was a pause, and then she stepped forward, closing the distance between them once more, but this time with a different purpose. "But that doesn’t mean we have to forget," she added, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked up at him, her eyes full of unspoken promises. "It just means we have to be careful."
"Careful," he echoed, a faint smile playing on his lips. "That’s something we’re good at."
Keles returned the smile, though it was tinged with a sadness they both understood. "We’ll have to be," she replied. "For the sake of everything we’ve worked for."
With a final glance that spoke volumes, Keles pulled her hood back up, once again obscuring the face that had only just been revealed to him. The moment passed, and the air between them shifted, returning to the familiar, albeit strained, camaraderie they had always shared.
A week passed after Ikenga and Keles were invited to Zarvok’s castle. Ikenga was in his room, floating cross-legged in mid-air with his eyes closed, when suddenly, he frowned and opened his eyes.
He felt the energy fluctuations in the abyss growing stronger. Floating to his window, Ikenga saw, not too far from Zarvok’s castle, the air crackled with red lightning.
The lightning was followed by the sound of something being forcibly ripped open. Soon, in the place of the lightning, a huge red portal appeared, similar to the one that had pulled Ikenga and Keles into the abyss.
Ikenga walked out of his room, his senses pinpointing Zarvok’s location. Along the way, Keles joined him in silence as they made their way to Zarvok.
Outside his castle, Zarvok stood, surrounded by his entire demon army. Ikenga sensed millions of first and second-stage energy signatures surrounding them, followed by thousands of third-stage entities.
Ikenga and Keles moved swiftly, their expressions grim as they approached Zarvok. The air was thick with the anticipation of battle, the charged energy of the red lightning still crackling ominously in the distance. As they neared Zarvok, the sheer scale of the assembled demon army became even more apparent. The ground trembled beneath the weight of countless demons, all focused intently on the massive red portal that had torn its way into their world.
Zarvok stood at the forefront, his presence commanding as he surveyed the scene. His eyes, glowing with a malevolent light, flicked briefly to Ikenga and Keles as they arrived beside him.
"You’re just in time," Zarvok said, his voice a low rumble that carried an edge of satisfaction. "The portal to the goblin and ogre world has opened. The time has come for the invasion."
Ikenga’s eyes narrowed as he studied the portal. "I didn’t expect it to open so soon. What triggered it?"
Zarvok’s lips curled into a smirk. "The abyss moves according to its own will. The portal opened because it was time."
Keles glanced at the portal, her expression unreadable. "And the army? Do you plan to send them all through at once?"
Zarvok glanced at her before shaking his head. "I sometimes forget this would be your first invasion experience."
"If it were possible, I would send out my entire army to start the invasion, but the existence of Order makes things different. When it comes to invasion, the first move is more strategic and focused on ’Erosion.’"
Zarvok anticipated the question that would come from the two gods, so he continued, "Erosion stems from the fact that an invasion is a forceful entry. Just as this abyss layer suppresses you both as foreign entities, so too will the invaded world suppress us."
"When an invasion begins, so does the process of erosion," Zarvok explained, his voice calm yet commanding. "This erosion is carried out by the cannon fodder. They will be sent in first, not to win battles but to reclaim lands and erode those lands with the breath of the abyss."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "The eroded lands are crucial. They allow us, the invaders, to move forward without being suppressed by the world’s will. In those eroded areas, the world’s defenses will weaken, making it easier for us to establish our foothold."
Ikenga and Keles listened intently, absorbing Zarvok’s words. The concept of "Erosion" was new to them, but it made sense in the context of a world invasion. The idea that the world itself would push back against foreign invaders was a natural defense mechanism, much like how the abyss layer they currently inhabited suppressed them as gods who didn’t belong.
