Chapter 245 – Battlefield Condiments

Savri

An Angel.

This was bad. Very bad. Thanks to my service in the Abyssal Legions, I was privy to some info about the Light’s chief enforcers, and if even half of that was true, we were stuck up Shit’s Creek without a paddle.

There were few of them, but they made up for it in sheer power.

And if Persephone is right, the Harvester plant is using one as a battery.

‘The Angel takes priority,’ I quickly decided. ‘And any other prisoners the leafy fucker might have. I imagine their presence is due to the two Saints you have spotted during your previous visit?’

‘Most likely. The Light sending an Angel to deal with the World tree would make a lot of sense.’

Yup.

‘Will the door you kicked in stay open until the morning?’

‘Insufficient data,’ Lilyth shrugged. ‘I imagine the faster we get there, the better.’

The Angel and their entourage did a remarkable job clearing the path into the building from all the vines and roots blocking it. Judging by the size of their camp, maybe ten people total entered the facility. None of them came back out.

We searched every room we could for bodies, but found none above the ground. In fact, the area was utterly dead: what was left of the vegetation was withered and rotting, and there were no spores in the air.

‘How is this place creepier the second time around?’ Aki moaned.

I had to agree. We clearly weren't welcome in that building, and I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. I had no idea how Akster had the willpower to enter this tomb the second time. I’m not sure I would be able to given all the horrors Task Force Hammer experienced the first time around.

Speaking of…

I threw Caei a furtive look, but she seemed to be handling it well, though she seemed to be keeping close to Lilyth.

I guess she is her Emotional Support Furball. I can relate. I really wish my Emotional Support Airhead was here.

‘I am always with you, Savvie,’ Nyx purred. ‘Even if you can't see me.’

I know. Doesn't mean I can't be a little envious of the lovebirds...

‘I know…’ It was her turn to say that. ‘Don’t worry. We will be together soon enough.’

I guess I now know how the soldiers on deployment felt.

‘And I get the army wife experience,’ Nyx chuckled. ‘I guess I have to get into some pyramid scheme bullshit and start demanding special treatment.’

That made me laugh. I knew exactly the kind of women Nyxie was making fun of. I even met a few and was nice enough to send flowers and a gift basket with some really good candy to one of them after she ended up in a hospital with multiple broken bones due to a freak accident. And it was even after the bitch had the gall to slander me in front of my entire squad by claiming I broke up her marriage by sleeping with her husband. The man claimed to be single and was a lousy lay, anyway, so the way I see it, I did the woman a favour.

My sudden outburst of merriment made my friends look at me with passing concern, but, likely realising I was talking with Nyxie, they decided to give me some space and set up a perimeter, as much as it was possible to do so in a corridor, anyway.

You have no idea how much I miss being with you.

‘We’ll see each other soon, sugar,’ there was longing in Nyx’s voice, which reminded me that there was something I never quite understood.

I knew that Nyx must have had thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lovers by now, and yet… she never acted like it with me.

‘Lovers, yes,’ she admitted, sadly. ‘Actual relationships? No. Those were few and far between. As sad as it is, I think ours is one of the longest, and every day I thank the stars you continue to be with me.’

I was taken aback by the admission.

I would have never… I didn't….

‘It is very lonely at the top, and I was born with the misfortune of needing affection more than most.’

And people abuse it. Fuck, I did at first.

‘I offered. And for us it is very difficult to start a relationship with one of you. Particularly for me, given my track record. So, in my own way, I have to fish.’

‘And Asha’s father?’

‘Another brief fling,’ there was shame in Nyx's voice. ‘Lasted a few weeks before they got “overwhelmed” by the perspective of a relationship with a goddess. After I discovered I was pregnant, I looked them up, but I saw they had a wife and two kids of their own.’

They used you, I was horrified. If I ever get my hands on them…

‘Don’t go down that route, my love. I forgave them. As I did all the others who did that.’

I guess being able to view us as ants makes it easier. You wouldn't get mad at an ant.

‘Highly reductive, our relationship with you mortals is more complex than that, but ultimately the analogy is fairly apt. I care about every single one of you, but when the situation calls for it… I can just turn my heart off.’

That's… sad.

‘Yes. But sometimes necessary.’

It only makes me want to comfort you more. Be there for you.

‘Then focus and survive this mess, my Queen Consort.’

Did you just ask me to marry you?

‘Depends on your answer.’

Yes. I will happily become your wife, I thought without hesitation. I guess we’ll make honest women out of each other.

After my party finished congratulating me on my engagement, and Lilyth finally stopped butchering Mendelssohn's Wedding March, we set off into the dark depths of the building.

‘Babe, I love you,’ Aki began, ‘and do not take it the wrong way, but…

‘...Do something for the Arts and never sing or loudly hum anything ever again?’ Lilyth finished with a chuckle. ‘I am surprised you lasted through the entire thing.’

‘It took a lot of self-control, sister,’ Phosi rasped. ‘I think if you went for a few more seconds you would have either banished me or I would have eaten you.’

‘I would have handed you salt and pepper,’ Persephone muttered.

‘Ketchup too,’ Deirdee added.

I hated how rare ketchup could be on Dwynveia due to the supply chain issues. Whenever I was with Nyx, she would keep me supplied, but some of our rations could have really used some to kill the god-awful taste.

Wait a moment…

‘Lilyth, can you make ketchup?’ I asked.

‘Let me check my cookbook.’

What cookbook?

Her eyes flashed cold purple. Shortly afterwards, she snapped her fingers and a small cloud appeared in front of her. She sent it my way with a flick of a wrist.

On it, I saw a small paper napkin with a piece of bread covered by a red substance on it.

I picked it up and sniffed cautiously. It smelled weird, but not unpleasant, so I wolfed the offered snack down. The ketchup tasted wonderful, and oddly enough, different from the one Nyxie made for me.

‘It is zucchini ketchup my mom used to make,’ Lilyth explained. ‘Ere gave me a whole bunch of recipes when she taught me the [Create Food] ability. Usually, they are hard to modify since I need to know the ingredients, but in this case there was a strong enough emotional imprint, I could… replicate it based on vibes alone. It probably tastes better than it actually did, because it is based on memories, but…’

She simply shrugged.

‘Your mom made mad great ketchup,’ I said and saw a glint of tears in Lilyth's eyes, only made more prominent by the beam of my flashlight.

Some things there is just no replacing.

‘Can I try it?’ Aki asked, and Lilyth happily obliged, providing a similar small piece of bread to everyone in our party.

A gut instinct told me to stop the Furball before she depleted her mana reserves, but I smothered it. Some things were more important than combat readiness. We would just have to pick up the slack for her, something I was more than happy to do. Especially once I saw how much it pleased Lilyth to see the others enjoy her mother's cooking.

There was a barrier blocking us from going down to the second level below ground. As it was transparent, we discovered it when Aki slammed into it and was violently thrown back, slamming straight into Deirdee, sending them sprawling.

After I was done treating them, I joined Persephone in examining the pesky energy wall. There were now silver stars and those weird sigils that Ren mentioned - a silver downwards-pointing triangle with three evenly spaced vertical bars coming out of its base, giving the whole thing a diadem shape, as well as cracks that I could swear were arranged in a vaguely Aki-shaped pattern.

‘Any way past it?’ I asked.

‘We can break through,’ the sorceress replied. ‘I was just waiting for the go-ahead really.’

Now she wants one…

‘Do it,’ I nodded, and Persephone, Ren and Caei began their onslaught, forcing their way through in seconds.

The deeper we went into the facility, the more freaked I was, probably due to the fact that I could only experience the place through the light of the flashlight attached to my gun.

As Akster would put it: “stupid lack of [Darksight].”

Still, even those who could see were noticeably unnerved.

‘Fuck, it’s getting really hard to breathe in this place,’ Deirdee choked as we were approaching the entrance to the third level.

‘It’s not that bad,’ Caei muttered. ‘It gets much worse the lower we go. There are also other things… Other smells…’

I remembered the mentions of the carnivorous plants on level three that were strong enough to entice people.

‘Stay sharp, everyone,’ I yelled, though I could see that everyone who had been in the building before was sharper than a monofilament blade.

I turned out to be the one needing that advice the most as the sweet smells were proving themselves to be quite… irresistible. I only realised I was enthralled when Lilyth and Aki dragged me away from a flytrap the nectar of which I wanted to try. Then we had to drag Ren and Deirdee away from traps of their own.

‘If it makes you feel any better,’ Caei gave them a sour smile,’ the smell is actually stronger this time around. Which only bodes well for the fourth level.’

Fuck.

It was on the third level that we found our first corpse. The desiccated body was missing its lower right arm and lay on its back covered in vines underneath one of the pitcher plants. It was in such a bad state that, at first, I had thought that Strike Team Hammer missed it during their first pass through the building, but then we noticed the mostly rusted out scale mail with some blue peeking out here and there which made us think it was once a Temple Dragoon.

Even in the dim light I could see Caei blanching at the sight, as that nearly was her fate.

‘I know that at this point it might sound redundant,’ I said, doing my best to control my voice, ‘But…’

‘... Don't touch anything?’ Deirdee finished for her. ‘Waaay ahead of you, Pinkhair.’

Two more Dragoons and, judging by what was left of their robes, either an Inquisitor or a Saint met their end on the third level. One of the soldiers fell victim to another plant trap, while the other and the priest appeared to have simply collapsed and died, their bodies twisted in agony.

The spores, I surmised.

‘I’m surprised they kept going,’ Caei shook her head. ‘Four of their numbers died and they just kept going.’

‘This is likely a suicide mission for them,’ I sighed. ‘Kill the tree or die trying.’

‘So when one fell…’ Lilyth began.

‘The rest continued,’ Deirdee finished for her. ‘Serrated Blades work the same way on larger deployments. Finish the job no matter the cost.’

I wonder if we have reached the point of this being an attitude necessary for us as well.

I hoped we didn't, but I couldn’t shake the feeling we wouldn’t get another chance at storming this place