Irwin's Journey 462: Through the wall

Salezina, still Empress though she hoped not for much longer, stood with arms crossed behind the secret wall, staring at the shade walkers move into her room. The runes covering the wall showed them like rapidly moving clouds, darting back and forth as they searched for her.

"I guess you were right," she said sadly.

"I wish I weren't," Vaidara said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But it was just too big of a risk."

"Do you think the Tutor and the others are alright?" Salezina asked.

"Probably," Vaidara said. "But I will have to teleport you away. Even with the runes blocking us, there is a chance someone finds the secret doors."

"I know. I just wish…"

"That Hilbarin wasn't out there? So you were sure he would be safe to take over?" Vaidara said. "He is powerful and not alone. Besides, there is nothing we can do. Going outside is too dangerous, and we have no idea where-"

The door to Salezina's private chambers was shoved open, and Minerella Silverspring rushed into the room, a long, thin, and curved blade in her hand. She glanced around before cursing.

"Where is she!? Did you let her get away?"

Salezina clenched her hands, glaring at the young Oxarite woman and wishing for once she'd had more actual power. Two of the shadewalkers appeared beside her. Two Magnetizion Shadowguards. Her Shadowguards, the ones supposed to protect her.

How did they manage this, she thought, wishing she could throttle Lord Sachindrian.

"They weren't here," one of the Magnetizion Shadowguards said. "There's also no sign of any cards."

A deafening scream rippled from Minerella, and she slashed her sword through one of the shadewalkers. The man dropped to the ground, without a sound, and a moment later, a small card appeared beside him.

The other Magnetizion Shadowguard froze, and all shadewakers froze for one moment, then the one still there vanished just as the sword came around for him. A moment later, they were gone, only Minerella still remaining.

"I shouldn't have done that…" Minerella muttered, her eyes rolling around. Then she screamed, spittle flying around as she slashed around in a mad frenzy seemingly having lost her mind.

Salezina watched it in disbelief. How crazy had she become?

"Do you think we can kill her together?" she asked, glancing at Vaidara.

"No," Vaidara said, her eyes cold and gleaming dangerously as she glared at Minerella. "How far she has fallen… I am glad that Stravin can't see what she has become."

Salezina sighed as the two of them watched Minerella begin slashing through the air and at the walls. Her fit of insanity lasted for only a few moments before she suddenly stopped moving in the center of the room. Sword low, head back, and eyes closed, she was drawing deep, ragged breaths. 

"I will get that card," she whispered, before looking around. "I will!"

The combination of fear, desire, and anger made Salezina shiver. She watched as Minerella began thoroughly searching the room, ripping open anything she seemed to think the cards could be hidden in. Everything she found, she hurled on the floor, stomping on it. She continued for a while, becoming increasingly agitated again. When she finally stopped, she made a beeline for the door, her face warped.

"If the card isn't here, it has to be with her," she hissed, moving out of the room. "I just have to find her… find her! She thinks she can hide? No… she is helping Hilbarin. It has to be!"

Her crazed voice drifted away as she ran further into the building.

"Now what?" Salezina asked, looking at her most trusted friend. "Do you still want to teleport me away?"

"No… let's see what happens," Vaidara said.

--

Irwin appeared out of the sound waves in the middle of a miniature war, standing on a large section of what had been a building. In the distance, a line of oxarite soldiers had cordoned off the entire area, and a massive wave of insect-like beings was attacking them. 

It was his first time seeing Insectoids, but the descriptions he'd read matched perfectly. Four lower legs, sharp-tipped and digging into the ground, with four arms, each with equally razor-sharp claws. The lower body was covered in interlocking plates of swirling red and black material that looked like metallic lava-rock. The top was made of three sections that seemed to move independently, and a monstrous head sat at the top. A face with two mandibles and an oval mouth in between sat below a faceplate filled with thumb-sized eyes. All of them were swirling around, looking and searching for a target. 

'Okay… why do they look like they are building something?' Ambraz asked, sounding slightly worried. 

Irwin grunted as he saw the three large Insectoids nestled in the runes behind what remained of whatever buildings they had crashed through. They looked like thicker, larger versions of the small ones, with legs covered in black cords. One was surrounded by a circle of Oxarites, all of them either heartcarded or soulcarded, among which were Hilbarin. The other two seemed to ignore whatever was happening and were constantly coughing up masses of dark orange material, which they were slathering across the grounds, grabbing debris, and gluing it together. 

'I don't know what they are doing, but we need to stop this before that queen comes up.'

'Kid, I think those three are queens… I have no idea what that other thing is.'

Irwin didn't know either, but there wasn't any time to figure it out. All around him, the lines of Oxarites were being pushed hard, and too many dead already lay amidst the Insectoids. 

He took a deep breath, focusing on the soulforce he had available, planning something he could only do because he could return to the chamber with the Ancestral Coperrion. 

If he hadn't known the insectoids were mostly immune to fire and heat, he would have focused on his fire, but as it was, he knew there was only one truly good way for him to do something about the situation quickly. A way that would cost a lot of soulforce upfront, but also let him rampage without too much worry afterward. Something he'd planned for, but hadn't tried yet.

'Let's hope this works,' he muttered to Ambraz.

Without waiting for the answer, he focused on his giantself, pulling on it to come outside. As close to instant as the transmission should be, for him, time seemed to slow as a pressure grew on his soulscape, making it feel like something was squeezing him tight. He felt the intense desire to bring his smaller self into his soulscape, but he knew he couldn't. If he did that now, all of him would be inside except for the one in Eluathar, and he had no idea what that would cause. Rip him back to Eluathar? Slowly move him there, causing… he had no idea what. 

So he waited as he felt his soulforce start to swirl and drain, his soulscape tremble.

It took less than a second, but to him it felt like an eternity until an enormous figure loomed over him. Only then did he move his smaller body into his soulscape, instantly moving all of us his focus into his giant body.

His head was throbbing, his soulscape felt ragged and compressed to half its normal size, and he'd dropped another quarter of his soulforce, but as he raised his head and looked around at the suddenly tiny surroundings, Irwin knew he'd made the right choice. 

The backlines of the Insectoids had stopped dead in their tracks, their innumerable eyes focused on him, while the two giant things, queens if Ambraz's guess was right, had paused their building efforts. 

The only fighting still happening was along the suddenly far less pressured frontline, and where Hilbarin and the others were attacking the third of the queens. 

Irwin knew he had two options, and he hesitated for only a moment on which to take. Then he took a deep breath and leaned forward slightly.

Let's start with the masses.

--

Rinbus stopped dead in his tracks, not sure what he was looking at. He'd just moved out of the building, reaching a position where he could see the crumbling chaos and the fighting. There had been a flash of light, a rumbling, and the next thing he knew, there was a giant version of Irwin towering over all but the biggest buildings. He looked almost the same as the Tutor had before, but was wearing black boots, odd leather pants, and a flowing shirt that was tied to his waist by a metal cord that could have held up a drawbridge. 

What… what is going on?

Nothing answered his question as the giant leaned forward, his moves seeming slightly slow and cumbersome, before taking a step forward, followed by another. A moment later, Irwin was running through the ruined buildings, reaching the mass of Insectoids. The monstrous beings reacted as a nest of ants would if Rinbus himself had stomped on it. They scattered, some trying to crawl on his legs only to be swatted to paste. A hammer the size of a small building appeared in the teacher's hands, and it was swung around with devastating results.  Whatever had managed to remain standing of the walls was shattered, debris mixed with blood, gore, and orange chitin spraying the stunned line of defenders as everyone watched in silent disbelief as the giant exterminated a host of beings that would have likely overrun the defenders, killing untold numbers of Oxarite.

I… I need to tell him about Minerella!

Rinbus shot forward, moving along the shadows as he kept an eye on the Insectoids. Some were known to have shadowrealm traversing abilities, and although rare, if one saw him, they would start chasing him. As he closed in on the raging giant, he saw the ground tremble, debris dancing up and down, sometimes jumping up a dozen feet when Irwin struck the ground with his hammer to flatten dozens of Insectoids.

As the Accentii reached Irwin's feet, he shot up along the shadows that the giant cast until he reached his head. His hope was that Irwin would sense him, as he usually did, and his hope wasn't broken.

Irwin slowed down his flailing and hammering, starting to kick and stomp on the remaining Insectoids, sometimes slapping his own legs or chest to kill one that had managed to climb up.

"Rinbus?"

The voice that rumbled out was like a mountain crumbling, deep and rolling, and it took Rinbus by surprise. The Tutor always had a deep voice, but this was beyond that, and almost hard to understand.

He hesitated, but Irwin had raised one hand, like a plateau, and he rushed to it, landing on the slightly sticky palm and trying to ignore the ichor.

"Irwin, those guards were in on it! They brought Minerella to the Empress' private chambers and unchained her. Some tried to capture me," Rinbus quickly rattled, hoping his soft voice would be audible to someone with a head bigger than his body.

"Dammit!"

The snarled word, followed by a dangerous glare, told him all he had to know. He had been heard, and Irwin wasn't happy.

Rinbus had never been very sensitive to the ambient soulforce of the world, but ever since he'd started following Irwin, he'd found he could occasionally feel what the other was doing. Again, so now, as a wave of soulforce rolled away from the giant, flooding out into the city like a rapidly expanding bank of mist.

"The Empress is fine, and Minerella is moving up to us. Stay with me and keep an eye out," the giant whispered. 

Rinbus shivered as the soft, barely audible whisper reached his ears. It shouldn't be possible for someone that huge to talk so softly, but he had seen Irwin do odd things with his voice before. Why should he be surprised now?

He moved into the shadows, and the giant continued his rampage.

--

Irwin gritted his teeth as he swatted annoying insectoids. It was like standing in an ant's nest, and they kept crawling over him. As many as he killed, it was hard to hit more than a few each time, and he was rapidly approaching the point where he wanted to try something else. Looking around, he saw, as slow as it had felt, he'd killed or hurt over half of the insectoids, and those that remained were scattered. Any that approached the defense line of the Oxarite soldiers were mercilessly killed, who had taken the time he'd given them and used it well.

This should be enough, he thought, turning to where the two enormous insectoids had resumed building. 

He could almost feel their eyes on him, or at least some of them, and he guessed they likely thought they had a few moments left. Too bad for them.

Irwin clicked his tongue, and his giantself vanished into the sound waves to reappear behind one of the two insectoids. 

He expected resistance, a movement. Some immediate response.

Instead, his hammer slung down, crashing into the armored back, which, cracked and split apart, the body below squished into the ground. Chunks of gore and ichor flooded from between the cracks, and he sensed the soulforce flicker and vanish.

'That was easy…' he muttered.

'I think you are underestimating your own strength,' Ambraz grunted. 'These things have the strength of a normal two-soulcarded. You have the power of a normal six-soulcarded and a physical strength beyond that. That said, I would suggest you hurry up with the other two and get the others clear before that big one appears. Whatever it is, it's definitely on par with you right now.'

Irwin frowned, clicked his tongue, and reappeared behind the second one. It had gotten up and was scuttling away rapidly, heading for the hole, only for him to appear in front of it and kick it back, jump after it, and hammer it into the ground. It took two hits to make the soulforce signature vanish, but as it did, he faintly sensed something new. Something that he'd suspected was how things worked, but had never felt. 

A large portion of the soulforce swirled and condensed in a single rapid motion to create a small squarish shape that hovered a foot above the body, before falling down.

'A card!' Irwin said in disbelief. 

He knew more cards dropped in Scour than what he was used to, but as he saw the powerful signature of a ruby-ranked card, he spread his senses, only now detecting the dozens, if not hundreds, of cards that lay within the fleshy, goey mess he'd made of the tens of thousands of insectoids.

"Rinbus, grab it," he hissed, knowing the shadewalker was close by and in a better shape to pick up the tiny card than he was.

He felt the shadewalker race through the shadows before appearing on the ground. Rinbus snatched up the card and vanished again.

'That one looked pretty interesting,' Ambraz said, sounding excited. "I think it was a summon!'

Irwin hummed, looking around.

"Rinbus, grab as many cards as you can; there are hundreds," Irwin said.

There was a flash from the shadewalker, and Irwin saw him rush down, appearing and snatching something from within a chunk of goo. He would likely not be able to find most because they weren't on the surface, but that was a problem for later.

'Now, let's get the final one,' Irwin thought, turning to the third queen, which was trying to ignore the over a dozen heartcarded and soulcarded Oxarits that were pelting it with attacks. 

A quick scan below showed the giant being was now only a minute from the surface, while Minerella was standing on the edge of the battle zone, hiding within a building. 

Let's finish this and get everyone to back away, Irwin thought, playing with the idea of appearing above Minerella and squishing her. She'd escaped ones, and he couldn't let her escape again… The problem was that he still wanted more time with her card. 

He clicked his tongue, streaked across the soundwaves, and a movement later reappeared behind the last queen. She tried in vain to turn around, but Irwin slammed his hammer down on her, crushing her already heavily mutilated chitin armor. 

All around him, the Oxarites backed away, some using movement techniques, others jumping or running with power beyond that of a normal carded.

Hilbarin was the only one who remained behind, looking up at Irwin with a weary grin. Streaks of blood and ichor covered his face.

"Did we shrink, or did you somehow grow really big?" he shouted.

Irwin sniffed. "No need to shout, I can hear you perfectly clear," he said, keeping his voice as soft as possible and using his control to limit how loud it was. "There's something really big and dangerous coming up, and it will be here in under thirty seconds. Get everyone out of here and wait near the edge. I'll try to kill it quickly, but something tells me that might be difficult. If you see me struggle, start evacuating the city."

Hilbarin looked at him, disbelief and fear flitting across his face momentarily. Then he sighed.

"I'll get it done."

"Good," Irwin said, hesitating before using the limited control he had over the soundwaves he produced to make what he said next mostly audible to Hilbarin. It was the limit of what he could do, as his main ability was making his voice very loud, but it was good enough. 

"Minerella got free and she's hiding on the bottom of the tall building to your left," he said, hoping there weren't any people around with ears like Greldo's. 

Hilbarin's eyes narrowed, his posture turning slightly rigid, looking ready to snap at something.

"I'll take care of it," he said, his voice tense.

"If possible, I want her alive," Irwin said, before hesitating. He'd made this mistake once before. "But only if you are sure you can stay with her. Don't take any risks."

Hilbarin nodded, then turned around and headed to the other heartcarded his eyes promising violence.

'I hope he keeps her alive,' Ambraz grunted. 'I really want to examine her card for a day or two.'

Irwin didn't answer, instead focusing on the massive soulforce signature that was rushing up. The ground had started to tremble and shake, and buildings in the distance swayed slightly.

'What if I use my earthquake stomp?' he said, looking around the city. 

He'd barely ever used it, and sometimes he even forgot he could do it. When he did recall, he always wondered what the use of it was.

'And bring down the city? That should be the absolute, last resort,' Ambraz said.

Irwin agreed, moving a few steps away and ignoring how he crushed some of the buildings. The soulforce signature was almost there, and he summoned his hammer, staring at the spot he knew it would burst out of. 

'No sense in waiting,' he said, taking a quick look at his soulforce reserves, finding his soulscape still close to three-quarters full.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped up, the ground shattering behind him, and with a two-handed overhand swing, aimed at the spot where the ground was bulging up. A split second before hitting, he pumped soulforce into his hammer, enlarging it to be almost comically large even for him. There was a sign of something black and shiny, then his hammer slammed down, causing a tremor and a spray of debris and stone, while black dust billowed up and away.

Irwin felt the hammer connect with something. There was a sound of cracking, followed by a deafening screech as the ground below him burst outward in a spray of earth and rock. Irwin's ears rang as he landed on the ground, shrinking his hammer as he saw an enormous black gleaming head poke out of the ground. It was instantly clear that it was similar to the Insectoids, with dozens of eyes below thick ridges, and four mandibles that were spread out. The screech was coming from the dark opening between them, and the being pushed itself up with blade-like limbs that ended in serrated edges.  

Irwin took a step back as the ground below him began swaying.

A moment later, the being before him burst out, a dozen legs on each side pushing it up to stand before Irwin, and as Irwin watched, it pushed its upper body up until it towered over Irwin. Six legs on each side, and six limbs that looked like arms with blades on the ends were attached to a body that was made up of multiple segments, some of which had hints of the same orange that the smaller insectoids had. The soulforce that wafted from it was powerful and oppressive, and to Irwin, it almost felt like a fog was starting to hover across the surroundings. 

'Kid… that thing is monstrous. Whatever you do, don't let it bite you. I'm not sure even your skin can withstand that.'

'Yeah…'

Irwin took another step back, then jumped forward, spinning his hammer around, enlarging it to make his body follow it, aiming for the side of the thing's head. 

The giant Insectoid's arms raised with an almost lazy uncaringness, and Irwin felt like he'd slammed into the side of a mountain of metal. His hammer clanged and bounced back, while the enormous thing stumbled two steps to the side. Irwin wasn't sure if it was actually conscious, but it was clearly intelligent enough to be surprised. Its head snapped to Irwin, the eyes glowing with an inner orange light.

Irwin didn't bother waiting for a retaliation, but he clacked his tongue, rode the sound waves, and appeared above and behind the creature, aiming at its hind legs. He moved with blinding speed, but halfway through, the head of the Insectoid behemoth snapped all the way around, its mandibles clicked open, and Irwin had barely enough time to use those soundwaves to dodge away as a massive spray of thin orange fluid ejected from its mouth.

Irwin reappeared a few dozen feet to the side, and at his current size, that meant he was almost within hitting range.

An orange, vaporous cloud glided away toward the city, the drops attaching to any surface it came across, causing a hissing sound as it seemed to eat into the stone and rock. 

Don't get touched by the orange cloud, Irwin thought, as he instinctively tried to control the air around him, creating steam in the orange cloud's path to push it back. He couldn't see if his attempt was a success, as a sense of panic from Ambraz made him click his tongue and dash sideways. 

He was just in time, because when he reappeared, he saw a second cloud pass through where he'd just stood. The Insectoids behemoth was already looking at him again, and this time, he saw one of its body sections inflate and deflate just in time to watch another spray rush him.

Need to stop this before there's no place to dodge, Irwin thought as he rode the soundwaves and appeared above the creature. 

To his surprise, it was already watching him.

Can it sense where I'm going?

Irwin growled, then began humming an old song. He needed the constant sound waves in case he had to dodge again. Just before he disappeared, he dropped his hammer, letting it grow to its largest size.

Reappearing to the side, he watched the building-sized hammer slam down on the Insectoid, which had raised its arms to block the incoming attack. Its sharp legs were shoved into the ground, but Irwin was already moving. Summoning his gauntlets, he reappeared beside the creature fast enough for its mouth not to be pointed at him. He grabbed two of the enormous mandibles as if they were wooden window coverings and shoved the head down and sideways before another spray could be aimed his way. 

The only warning he had was a cry from Ambraz, then something jabbed into his shoulder with a sharp pain. It didn't penetrate very deep, but even the few inches were a startling shock.

Irwin growled as he wrenched at the mandibles, dragging the head sideways and causing the much larger thing to move a step, then two. As he did, he realized something. He was smaller, yes, but he was still heavier. 

Trying to ignore the jabbing pain in his shoulder, Irwin tried to drag the creature of balance, but its many limbs made that impossible. 

'It's building up to something,' Ambraz hissed.

Irwin blinked, suddenly feeling the soulforce in the thing move and bubble. He'd not noticed due to the strain, but as he felt it, he saw the orange light in the eyes start to glow brighter, pulsing. He clicked his tongue and vanished as the world turned orange. 

Twenty feet away, he reappeared to find that a section of the city beside that which had been turned to ruins was cut through as if by knives. The massive Insectoid screeched and clicked, still partially stuck below his massive hammer, angling its head in an unnatural way to watch him again.

'It's got beam eyes!'

Irwin grunted as he clicked again, reappearing high in the air, far above the creatures.

'Ideas?'

'Its body is sturdy, it's almost as strong as you,' Ambraz listed. 'I think the weak point will have to be its joints. That thing is way too flexible.'

Irwin thought quickly as he plummeted to the city below. From above, it was clear just how much devastation had been done to the small area below him, but compared to the massive sprawling city, it was but a pinprick. The Insectoid behemoth sat in the center, its head moving around… searching.

It can't find me? Irwin thought, his eyes widening in realisation. 

The thing had only a short range of what it could sense! 

Not sure how it would help him beyond getting away if he had to, he rushed across what his cards could let him do. He'd not yet used fire because everyone had told him it wouldn't work, nor his sound, or-

Steam? Maybe it can't see me in it?

Irwin pulled on his soulforce, trying not to use too much, and condensed a massive cloud around him as he fell. It rapidly trailed after him, while he used his soulforce senses to see through the rapidly increasing murkiness. 

He aimed for the Insectoid's neck and slammed into it with a sickening crunch. The thing screeched as Irwin condensed more fog. He grabbed the sides of its head, larger than his upper body, stradled its back, and pinned it to the ground. His first plan was to hold it with one hand and pummel it with the other, but he instantly realized it was too strong. 

Fire, he decided, pulling on his first flame.

Whatever he had expected, it wasn't the excruciating scream and flailing of limbs in blind panic that happened. Nor the sudden influx of soulforce into his soulscape. Within two seconds, before he even fully realized what had happened, a torrential rain of soulforce clattered down on his soullake. Then a dozen pains blossomed from his chest and back, and the enormous Insectoid forcefully twisted its limbs, ignoring whatever damage it did to its own ligaments, as it began stabbing him. 

Irwin gritted his teeth at the pain and funnelled more power into his flame. 

'They are like the imps!' he shouted at Ambraz.

'Good, but you are being stabbed! Kid, are you okay? You are bleeding!'

Irwin gritted his teeth, ignoring the warning, only to see something horrendous.

The hole through which the giant Insectoid had come began writhing, and a moment later, a torrent of small insectoids came rushing up. They flooded away from him, towards the city.

Irwin didn't hesitate and spread his flame outward, causing it to billow away, burning the water vapor and steam away, and rolling over the mass of Insectoids. It cost more soulforce than he had planned, but the influx he gained from the Insectoid Behemoth more than made up for it.

Pain billowed from his cheek, and he yanked his head sideways as two more serated tips were jabbed at it, one glancing from his forehead, the other getting tangled in his hair for a moment. 

'It's going crazy,' Ambraz screamed. 'Continue, but look out that you don't get blinded!'

Irwin snarled, moving his head around to dodge the thick, sharp-tipped legs as the behemoth went completely crazy. The Screech tore through the city, likely audible far beyond it, while Irwin felt more and more holes being prodded into his body. As strong as his skin was, it couldn't stop it, and only the toughness of his flesh prevented the jabs from piercing deep enough to do true damage.

Time went by excruciatingly slow, and at one point, he wondered if the Insectoid behemoth had infinite soulforce. Only after what felt like hours, but was likely a few minutes, did the movements of the arms go from a flurry to a slower jabbing, only to finally slow to a crawl and stop.

Irwin was breathing raggedly, his soulforce close to overflowing, and only his constant flame raging outward, covering the entire ruined area, presented enough drain to prevent him from straining his soulscape to the point of danger. Blood leaked from thousands of holes in his flesh, and he knew his clothes had been ripped to shreds. 

Below him, the behemoth's eyes gleamed a final time, then the soulforce faded with a final woosh. Irwin instantly cut off most of his flame, leaving only a section above the hole. As he got up, he felt a lingering soulforce within the behemoth congeal, and he froze. It wouldn't…

A card formed next to his harm, ticking down on the unmoving Insectoid behemoth. 

Irwin pinched it with his too-large fingers, ignoring the blood as he pulled it into his soulscape. Only then did he rise, swaying as he felt the pain from all over his body.

'Well… that was interesting,' Ambraz said.

Irwin let out a snort, sensing the seemingly unending horde of Insectoids from below slow down before turning around and heading back into the ground. 

I need a bath and sleep, he thought, looking at a hole in his arm, slowly closing.