Chapter 281: Jade is Here!

Kilian stared at Gideon, his jaw tightening as the white mass continued to churn around the unstable rock beneath their feet.

"You’re insane," Kilian said flatly. "What if you get trapped in an illusion? What if you can’t find your way out? You should be looking for the Hive Mind’s core instead! It’s a parasitic aberrant. It has to have one!"

Gideon turned toward him, his brows lifting at the suggestion. "I know. I’ve been thinking about that, too. If it doesn’t have a core, then we need to find another way to kill the Eagle Union member hosting it. The problem is, how exactly do you suggest we do that?"

He swept one hand toward the seemingly endless expanse of white tissue surrounding them.

"Look around, Kilian. We’re standing on a fucking rock in the middle of a parasite ocean. I can’t even see Climber Rift anymore.

"Where do you want me to start looking? Should I dive in and ask the thing politely to show me its core?"

Kilian’s mouth tightened. "Don’t be ridiculous!"

"I’m not the one suggesting we search for a tiny organ in a sea of flesh!"

"Then stop arguing and think of something!" Kilian snapped, throwing an exasperated hand toward the mass.

"I’m trying!" Gideon shot back. "Listen, I don’t think the hive mind is able to influence me inside the illusion. Maybe, it will bring me somewhere else."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe I can meet the host. Based on information I gather from Issac, the hive mind is supposed to be inside the body before it turns this big..." he turned toward the settlement again, thinking, "If we found a way to go into his consciousness inside this giant thing, we might be able to stop this."

Before Kilian could retort, something suddenly closed around Gideon’s ankle.

His expression changed instantly. He looked down, his body tensing as his hand moved toward his sword.

The pale fingers wrapped around his boot were almost indistinguishable from the parasite tissue beneath them, and for one brief moment, he wondered whether the Hive Mind had found another way to attack.

Then a second hand emerged from the mass, followed by a head covered in long, bright red hair.

Gideon stared. "...Jade?"

Kilian froze beside him, his anger momentarily forgotten. "What the hell?"

Jade’s fingers tightened around Gideon’s boot as she struggled to pull herself free. Several white tendrils dangled from her mouth, writhing against her cheeks while she desperately tried to spit them out.

The sight snapped both men out of their stupor.

Kilian dropped to his knees and seized one of her arms, while Gideon immediately grabbed the other.

Jade’s upper body finally came free, and she immediately twisted to the side, coughing violently as she tried to dislodge the strands still caught in her mouth. Her face was pale, her eyes watering, but she was alive.

That was enough to make Gideon’s chest loosen with relief.

Unfortunately, the rock beneath them chose that moment to shudder violently. A sharp crack ran between his feet, and a large section of the ledge broke away, disappearing into the churning mass below.

"Shit!" Gideon tightened his grip around Jade. "We need to move!"

There was no time to ask how she had survived, much less celebrate their reunion. He scooped her into his arms just as another section of rock collapsed, then leaped toward the next ledge.

Jade instinctively clutched his shoulders, still struggling to pull the remaining tendrils from her mouth as Gideon bounded across the unstable rocks.

Kilian followed close behind, his boots scraping against the stone as he jumped the widening gaps.

The three of them barely reached the opposite ledge before the rock they had occupied crumbled completely, swallowed by the white mass without leaving so much as a trace.

Gideon landed hard, his knees bending to absorb the impact. He steadied himself before lowering his gaze toward the woman in his arms. Aaron lay unconscious a short distance away, still exactly where Gideon had left him.

Carefully, Gideon lowered Jade onto the stone.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she slapped him across the face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Gideon’s head turned with the impact. He remained still for a second, one hand hovering near his cheek as he slowly looked back at her.

"Nice to see you too."

"Don’t you dare!"

Jade seized the front of his clothes before he could take another step away. Her hazel eyes blazed with fury, and the tendrils still clinging to the corner of her mouth did absolutely nothing to make her look less threatening.

"How did you even manage to get this settlement into this situation?!" she demanded.

"Technically, I didn’t plan for any of this."

"Oh, really?" Her eyebrows rose dangerously. "Then please enlighten me!"

Gideon sighed, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender.

"The Hive Mind is smarter than we expected. It can manipulate our perceptions, regenerate almost instantly, and trap people inside illusions. Fighting it directly was pointless, so I had to find another way."

Jade’s grip loosened slightly, although her expression remained hard. "And what happened to the others?"

Gideon hesitated. It wasn’t a question he particularly wanted to answer, but he wasn’t going to hide the truth from her.

"Jasper betrayed us. The Hive Mind used his dead brother to manipulate him, and he tried to kill me."

His gaze briefly shifted toward Aaron’s unconscious body before returning to her.

"Aaron was controlled by the parasite and nearly shot me, too. I had to knock him out before he could do any more damage."

Jade’s anger faltered. Her eyes widened a fraction, and for a moment, she seemed to forget about the hand still twisted in Gideon’s clothes.

"Shit! What actually is this thing! I thought it would be an easy mission!"

"I think we all thought so." Gideon sighed, "I truly sorry for your settlement, but don’t blame everything on me, Jade."

Jade’s eyes softened. "I know I shouldn’t. I’m sorry, I was really worried and shit, you see what happened to my people. I just, I can’t..."

Her hands trembled in anger, her eyes sharpened again, mouth tightened.

"We need a way to destroy this thing." she turned and focused on the white mass in front of them, "I will tell you where the core is, you need to prepare."

Gideon and Kilian widened their eyes at the same time as they asked, "You know how?"

Jade nodded, "Just wait, I need to concentrate.

She stepped toward the edge of the canyon without another word. Before Gideon could ask what she was doing, she lowered herself over the ledge and disappeared from view.

"Jade!" Gideon rushed forward, peering over the edge. "What the hell are you doing?"

Kilian hurried after him, his face paling when he saw her descending toward the writhing mass below. "Has she lost her mind too?"

"Apparently, everyone has!"

Gideon jumped down after her, landing on the slanted roof of a building that remained partially exposed above the Hive Mind’s white tissue.

Jade was already there, crouching near the edge with one knee against the roof and her other foot planted firmly on the tiles. She seemed completely unconcerned about the parasite shifting beneath the building.

Gideon approached cautiously, keeping his sword within easy reach. "Would you mind explaining what you’re doing before you get yourself swallowed again?"

Jade ignored him. She extended one hand and pressed her palm against a thick white strand crawling across the roof.

The strand jerked violently, splitting into several thinner tendrils that wrapped around her wrist and climbed toward her forearm.

Gideon drew his sword halfway from its sheath, his muscles tightening as he prepared to cut her free.

Then a faint light appeared beneath Jade’s skin.

The glow spread from her palm along her fingers, illuminating the tendrils wrapped around her hand.

The parasite tissue trembled, its movements becoming increasingly erratic as though something were interfering with its usual control.

Gideon stared at her hand, momentarily forgetting the danger surrounding them.

’She has power?’

He had known Jade for long enough to realize that she was hiding something, but he had never expected this. She had never used such an ability in front of him, nor had she mentioned possessing one.

’What the hell? If she could do this, why didn’t she use it earlier? Could her power actually help us fight this thing?’

As if she had heard every thought running through his head, Jade spoke without looking back.

"I’ll explain everything later. For now, just fight the monster."

Gideon blinked. "What monster?"

A sudden tremor shook the building.

Something enormous pushed its way through the white mass in the middle of the settlement.

A sudden tremor shook the building.

Something enormous began to rise from the white mass in the middle of the settlement. Its long, serpentine body twisted through the writhing tissue, pushing aside thick strands as it slowly lifted its head above the surface.

Gideon’s expression stiffened.

He recognized that shape immediately. The elongated body, the overlapping scales, and the vicious fangs lining its open jaws were unmistakable.

It was a Verdant Devourer.