[TWS] Chapter 305 – A Sudden End

After Asterios helped Selene up, she smiled at him mischievously and briefly took her arm away from her bust as she summoned her dress back. She caught him glancing down for that brief moment and shot him an even bigger grin, to which he shook his head and pulled her in for a quick peck.

“What about the patterns?” she asked after they parted.

“I think they should be reusable at least once more so we’ll clean them up later. Unless they bother you?” He raised a brow at her.

“Not in the slightest, my Lord.”

“Great. Let’s get moving, then. I’ll transport Althea and Civienne with me. Join us as soon as you can. Hopefully, we’ll be fast enough to act before the person in the room wakes up and raises an alarm.” Asterios nodded at her and exchanged glances with the girls.

As soon as they prepared themselves to jump right in, he approached the queen and her Dragon friend, taking their hands. With one last look at everyone, Asterios dove into his mind and tried using Selene’s memories as a guide to his ability. He didn’t sense anything worrisome and entered the shadows.

In just a moment, the trio resurfaced in the dark emerald room, quickly spotting the sofa with the sleeping woman. He instantly crouched down and drew Alcove of Serenity on the floor, surrounding them with a silencing barrier. A bunch of crimson gates arose from the ground next to him and the girls hastily made their own entrance.

Noticing Ast’s spell, Selene flared her mana and caught the sleeping woman with her spiritual energy, dragging her up by her bound wrists. Surprisingly, even that didn’t wake the noctis. She just dangled comically in the air with her head hung low. Selene didn’t even have to squeeze her throat shut as she had been aiming to.

“What do we do with her?” Miria asked.

“She’s a noctis. And a cult member. It’s obvious that everyone is here by their own choice. They all deserve to die,” Civienne replied calmly, though they could spot a note of anger in her voice.

Asterios stared at the sleeping woman wearing the same robes as all the other people Selene had seen in the corridors. “Let’s just make sure first. I understand your feelings, though, Your Majesty.”

“We should keep using my disguised name throughout this operation. You never know who might be listening in,” she added.

“Got it, Cini.” He nodded. “Selene?”

A loud slap echoed throughout the room as the fox lady spiritually palmed the woman’s cheek and she startled with a surprised jerk.

“Wha...? I wasn’t sleeping! I was just thinking over the inform—” The woman looked around in panic before noticing the group in front of her, causing her to frown. “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck is this? INTRUDERS! INTRUUUUUUDEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!”

She began shouting as she attempted to break her magical restraints, but another slap forcefully shut her up from the sheer force of the impact.

“Silence,” Selene commanded. “No one can hear you.”

The woman paused her thrashing, her face twisting into a feral scowl, until her eyes suddenly turned into saucers.

“Queen? How?” she muttered.

Asterios glanced at Civienne. “Looks like your disguise is already compromised.”

The queen tightened her fists and walked up to the noctis, grabbing her by the collar of her robes.

“You will tell us everything you know this instant or suffer for eternity,” Civienne said firmly. “How did you break the seals? What are you doing here? Since when?”

All that answered her was spit in the face as the dark-skinned woman growled back. “Fuck you! No matter what you do to me, I won’t betray the Matriarch! Do your worst! Our nervous systems have been altered not to feel any pain! Your beloved tree stump will be done before you can shove one of your favorite branches into your cunt deep enough to feel anything!”

A punch to the gut silenced the woman once more. The queen put so much strength into it that the noctis threw up, barely missing her, as she stepped aside just in time, separating herself from the splash with a thin barrier of wind. The cult member cackled madly while continuing to glare at her. Before the woman launched more expletives out of her literally dirty now mouth, Selene tightened her lips with a wisp of her energy.

“That doesn’t sound like she’s here against her will,” the fox lady commented. “What now?”

“We kill her. She’s of no use.” The queen grabbed the woman’s throat and squeezed.

The girls glanced at Asterios and he sighed with a light shrug. “Let’s at least try to read her memories. She might not feel anything, but we might at least get some information out of her before her brain turns into jelly.”

Civienne backed off and he asked Umbra to join them for a moment. The Lord of Shadows was by their side in a blink and immediately got to work. It seemed that whatever had been done to the cultist noctis, didn’t exactly cover the mental pain caused by Umbra’s mind scraping. They watched as the woman squirmed in agony until her body went completely slack, drool dripping down her chin.

Asterios and the girls merged their minds with their shadowy companion to view the most crucial memories. A few minutes later, they returned to reality and shared an anxious look before turning to their new friends.

“Things are not looking good,” he began. “She wasn’t exactly a higher-up, but it looks like almost everyone in this place is filled in on most things. There are hundreds of noctis in here. As we predicted, this is their main facility, where all the work on the poison gathers. She isn’t old enough to remember how they broke in, but she knows what they are doing. Right at this moment, the Tree is continuously fed their experimental toxins and analyzed. It’s been going on for decades if not longer.”

The queen cursed under her breath while Althea assumed a sorrowful expression.

“They aren’t yet fully confident in their creation, but they are sure that the Tree would not survive for long after they throw at it everything they currently have in store. Since they aren’t exactly pressed on time, they prefer to continue their research until a perfect solution is developed,” he continued. “We’ve rattled them a little bit with our sudden attack on their facilities, but it didn’t worry them too much. They feel safe here, right under your nose. But, they are ready to do as I said when something critical happens. Otherwise, they don’t mind taking many centuries more to make sure that not a speck of the Tree’s lifeforce remains after they administer their final super poison.”

There was a quick, quiet whoosh, and something thudded on the ground. They found the woman’s head staring back at them from the floor, dripping dark blood onto the emerald stone. Civienne swung her rapier once more to clean it off and sheathed her weapon, taking a deep breath to compose herself.

“Do you know where the laboratories are? Is there a cure?” she asked with tense lips.

“We do. I also think we should first help Althea. Or at least find some antidotes and store them away in case they try to destroy everything,” he answered. “We also know how to get to the hall with the Tree and all the contraptions feeding it poisons. That should be our next target. But, before all of that, we should ensure that no one flies during the chaos.”

“And how do we do that?” Althea glanced at them.

“We don’t know how they broke in, but we know that they found the control room of this sanctum and disabled the rest of the traps. We might be able to take it back, then reactivate the defenses. One of them is a powerful barrier that seals the entire complex off, from both sides. They wanted to use it in case of getting discovered and being raided by your army,” Asterios explained.

“Then, after dealing with the Tree, we slaughter them all,” Civienne stated with a tone that could freeze hellfire.

Asterios nodded. From what they had gathered, only the elite was located here, so the chances of any outsiders being forced or brainwashed to work on the poisons were close to zero. They hadn’t learned about any prisoners or test subjects other than the Tree itself so they didn’t have to split their attention to a rescue operation this time. This entire place could go down without a worry on their conscience, and what most likely was going to happen, judging by the queen’s mood.

He glanced at Silvia and she smiled at him gently. With a snap of her fingers, the woman’s body burst into amber flames and turned into dust in just a second. The fire ate away all the blood too, leaving no trace of the noctis behind.

“We can’t really use this method for everyone we stumble on. It’s a bit too flashy.” Grea hummed.

“We can just quickly throw them through the portal if they are dead, no?” Miria tilted her head.

“Who is going to store hundreds of bodies in their home, though?” Tina shuddered.

Bryn raised her hand. “I think I can volunteer. My home has a spacious terrace that looks down upon a quite wide gap in the ARK’s structure so that I can gaze at the faraway ground. We can just push them off and let them fall. No one will really be able to find them with all the Scourge around.”

“That’s so vicious!” Grea giggled to herself. “I like it!”

“If you really are alright with this.” Asterios looked into her golden eyes with gentle concern.

“It’s nothing, Master.” She smiled back at him. “Let me just arrange for someone to take care of the pushing part so that I can remain by your side.”

And with that, she jumped through her gate and disappeared. Asterios and the girls exchanged glances before chuckling together at the insanity of this situation. Before their Valkyrie friend returned, he filled Civienne and Althea in on some other things they had learned from the dead woman, including the general layout of the temple and such. As the Dragon lady had been there during its construction, she chimed in with a thing or two too. She might have not remembered all the details since she had helped only with bits of it, but every piece of useful information was helpful.

Umbra returned to the surface, tasked with waiting for the signal. He would start the elimination of the traitors the moment they managed to turn the barrier on from the control room. Then, if that didn’t interfere with his movement, he was to return below and aid them. If it did, he was to keep an eye on the things within the city.

As Bryn came back, they used Selene’s senses and Aura’s gas form to scout ahead of the room they were in. Equipped with the stealthiest abilities in mind, and still silenced by the air cushions under their soles, they stepped into the dark green hallway.

The first cultist they stumbled on was taken care of by Miria. The panthergirl rushed ahead and mercilessly sliced the male noctis’ throat while piercing his heart with the other blade. She spun around and quickly launched the dead man into a portal opened by Bryn. Selene made sure that no drop of blood reached the floor, catching all the blackish liquid within a spiritual bubble.

Bit by bit, they moved forward, getting better and better at coordinating their strikes. Soon, they worked like a well-oiled machine, without even having to communicate mentally. One or two girls dispatched the enemies, Selene sealed the evidence, and Bryn skilfully placed her portals at the best angles to deal with the limp bodies.

Naturally, the queen joined the efforts of the strike squad, quenching her thirst for blood just a little bit. Hopefully, no one would notice the missing cultists before they activated the barrier. While the corridors weren’t exactly crowded with people, they weren’t exactly empty either. Up until the moment Ast’s group reached the vicinity of the control room, they had disposed of about thirty cultists.

“Alright. We are here,” Asterios said as they stood in front of an emerald stone slab that was supposed to slide up and reveal the chamber. “Let’s be quick before someone walks in on us. How many inside?”

Pinkish mist floated up from the ground and formed a feminine figure.

“Seven individuals spread throughout the chamber,” Aura replied with a soft smile, already finished scouting. “One of them doesn’t look like noctis. His skin is pale. He seems to rank higher than the others.”

They frowned together. It was the first time they found a different subrace of elves in the temple.

“I’ll use my Spellslinger ability to stun them the moment Selene breaks through the door. Find your targets and eliminate them before they get up. Ready?” Asterios looked into everyone’s eyes and received nods in response, starting his preparations.

Selene came closer to the stone slab, placed her left palm on its surface, and drew her right fist as it began glowing thanks to the activated external circuits. Her tails shook violently. Asterios slotted a few tokens into the hollows, wondering if he could now use multiple spells at once. He decided to give it a try, prioritizing the stunning one just in case.

When his vulpine mate grunted with effort, he grabbed his greatsword like a javelin and prepared to throw. Selene blasted the entrance into pieces with a single punch, sending a myriad of stone fragments flying into the room. Pained shouts of shock and surprise answered back, thankfully muffled by the silencing spell Asterios had put down ahead of time.

With his enhanced sight, he located the different man and flexed his muscles, filling them with his draconic mana. Activating the concussion spell first, he attempted to use the second one too. To his joy, the greatsword lit up with a blue crackle, and he immediately launched the weapon forward with a crack of lightning.

The blade whistled through the air like a lightning bolt, flying straight at the target. But, at the very last moment, a violet crystal emerged from the ground and the weapon pinged off it, cracking the mineral slightly. Nevertheless, the first sigil activated and a wave of force burst out of it while the sword spun in mid-air, passing through everyone save for the weird elf. The other six people were sent flying and crashed into the walls and stone furniture, completely immobilized.

Ast’s team wasted no time. Ignoring the unexpected crystal for now, they went after the vulnerable cultists.

Tina drew the bowstring of Hydran in a bow shape and sent a ferocious arrow of mixed wind and water mana into one of the poor noctis, tearing him to shreds in a blink. Grea also launched a projectile at another member, which then simply exploded on contact, obliterating the woman’s entire torso.

Miria lunged forward with Civienne by her side, each of them masterfully piercing their opponents’ throats next to each other. While Althea and Bryn remained by Ast’s side, Selene and Silvia also joined forces to deal with the last fallen duo. The fox lady set a small barrier around the two remaining noctis while the princess released her fire without constraint, burning them to cinders.

Asterios retrieved his sword and shoved its tip into the emerald stone, using a third sigil. A rocky wall sealed the entrance, preventing anyone from coming to the rescue and the last enemy from trying to run away. The women gathered around him as they continued to observe the violet crystal, staring at the dark, blurry silhouette on the other side.

“What a surprise…” A slightly hoarse, gravely voice reached their ears as a pale-skinned hand appeared on the edge of the crystal. “I must say, I don’t think anyone expected Little Civienne to infiltrate our humble base of operations without anyone noticing anything… It looks like our allies have grown a bit complacent in the recent years…”

A man entered their sight, dressed in similar, dark robes as the other cultists. But, as Aura had reported, he wasn’t a noctis. His skin was deathly pale, and his irises emanated a faint crimson glow. Even so, he wasn’t as skinny as they expected, and they could tell that the man was more or less in good shape, save for his bald head, wrinkled face, and deep shadows under his eyes.

“You!” The queen sneered in disgust.

“Me!” The man cackled.

“Him?!” Miria gasped, then tilted her head. “I’m sorry, who?”

“He’s the deceased Elder,” Althea explained with a tense expression. “Though, with a bit less hair and a much worse state in general. What did you do to yourself, child?”

“A necessary sacrifice to free myself from your silly magic, Dragon,” he chuckled nonchalantly. “I’ve not only escaped your control but also became much more powerful than I was while alive!”

“Alive?” Civienne frowned at him.

He shrugged. “The oaths bind to death. How to better break them than to just die for a few hours and then return as a new man? Well, almost new. I have you to thank for my current state, you stupid woman.”

The man growled at her before calming down a bit.

“Everything would have gone perfectly according to the plan if you hadn’t taken your sweet time with the ceremonial burial and departure! Why the fuck did you wait three more days before that? The Matriarch’s magic almost failed to bring me back because of you! I never thought I would get a chance to get my revenge on you after that, but then you oh so graciously walked right into my grasp.” The man grinned.

In less than a blink, a cone of extremely sharp pikes surged from the ground, made of the same purplish crystal. They surrounded the queen, poking into the skin of her throat from all around, completely pinning her down. The others immediately took offensive stances but he only laughed more.

“A little bit faster than before, right?” He waggled his brows. “Just the prospect of getting rid of that stupid tree was interesting enough, but this is a nice boon too. It’s always been the source of our problems. We shouldn’t have saved a splinter of it back then.”

A flash of light illuminated the chamber behind the man and something made a sharp ping. He glanced over his shoulder at the piece of crystal which had expanded from the main one by his side and covered for the sudden attack in the form of a golden, ethereal spear. Bryn’s gem embedded in her tiara shone faintly.

“Nice try, won’t work. As I said, I’m much stronger than when I was alive. And that includes my magic.” He smirked.

“The crystal not only responds to his orders but also acts on its own. Surprise attacks will be of no use,” Civienne explained while glaring at her assailant.

“That’s right. I’m glad you still remember me.” The man winked at her. “I’m afraid this is where your little infiltration ends. It was a good idea to place someone strong in the control room. If only half of these disgusting abominations were half as smart as the Matriarch.”

Before Asterios called for Umbra to attack the man’s mind, something fell from the ceiling. A yellowish dust slowly descended onto them, filling the air with a fresh, flowery scent. Bits of the weird pollen already covered their hair and shoulders when they all noticed it, including the man, causing Miria to sneeze violently.

He opened his mouth to say something but didn’t get the chance. His body went rigid, and he flopped forward like a plank, slamming face-first into the floor. The violet crystals started cracking and breaking into pieces, freeing the queen. Everyone stared at the man’s lifeless corpse with confusion.

“That’s it?” Miria asked while rubbing her nose.

Althea chuckled softly. “The Elders are under the strongest oaths, and I don’t interact with them a lot, but it’s only natural that I know every single person taking such an important position inside out, including their strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention, I guided his training when he was young.”

“And his weakness is… pollen?” Tina asked with her brows raised.

“Not any pollen.” The Dragon lady smiled. “His condition was special. There was something in his blood, some kind of spiritual element that created this weird, sentient crystal. It enters a strong reaction with fertilization magic. He almost died by running into the field his parents tended to, as they had told me, but he might have been too small to remember such a thing. The moment he inhaled my pollen, his blood vessels turned into crystal, killing him on the spot.”

“Talk about anticlimactic.” Grea snickered.

“Well, that confirms he wasn’t undead,” Bryn commented. “Too bad we weren’t able to learn more about what they did to him and this Matriarch he mentioned.”

“I’m just glad Queen Civienne is alright,” Asterios said. “We have to work with what we get. Let’s try to turn on this barrier and be on our way.”