Chapter 22: Dead Lands

Sunless's POV:

Later, after having traveled a few hours in the opposite direction of where the millipede had gone upon finishing its meal, I was finally able to spend some time finishing the initial map of the place, as well as sobering up from the fruit.

As we continued searching for the exit, my mind kept circling back to our encounter with the translucent millipede. More specifically, how the beast's insides had completely disintegrated the bodies of the monkeys it had devoured, somehow leaving only the soul shards within its body.

Subjective hours passed uneventfully as we combed through the ethereal forest. We ran into a few more flytrap beasts, their fruit was tempting me every time we passed by them.

Knowing the trick now, I was able to kill them quickly and silently, avoiding drawing the giant millipede's attention a second time, as well as gathering more fruits.

The farther away we went from the center of the ethereal forest, the dimmer and darker the forest became. We walked through the ethereal forest until it could no longer be called ethereal.

Dead and dry trees were scattered all around us, turning the once beautiful landscape into a resting place for the dead.

The farther we walked, we slowly lost sight of the flytraps. Which also meant that there were no fruits left.

While the first bite had been an exhilarating experience that very well could've gotten me pass out as if drunk, the subsequent bites made it seem like it was all worth it.

It was truly addictive.

I offered the fruit to Nephis after I explained to her that it contained essence, but she was reluctant to accept it.

'Considering our experience with the Soul Devouring Tree, it was only natural to be skeptical about any essence-filled fruits.'

Although Nephis still couldn't control essence or feel it, I thought that she would be able to sense and track the changes using her runes.

"Give it a try. It's filled with essence."

Neph looked at me strangely.

"How do you know that?"

Her questioning nature was still the same as I remembered. Although her choice of words hasn't given me a choice like it usually did, the current Neph isn't yet aware of my flaw, So I didn't mull over the matter.

"You can feel it. Just try it and you will know what I mean."

At my response, Neph seemed to hesitate a little but eventually took the fruit. Seemingly aware of my previous reaction, she started off with small nibbles, afraid that she might get drunk from the surge of essence.

Although the fruit itself wasn't poisonous, its flesh was grape-like, flavourful, sweet and sour, full of nutrients, and addicting enough that one would wish to eat it for the rest of their lives. And the juices alone were very addictive and intoxicating.

The essence it gave was merely a bonus on top of that.

I can also feel some preservable qualities in it.

'If I managed to make a wine out of this....'

I could just imagine the mountains of money it could bring to me!

Turning my attention back to Neph, I witnessed a peculiar sight. I could see that she had experienced an overwhelming sensation of heat spread throughout her body and coalesced back into her soul core.

I watched her two cores becoming brighter as the flood of essence poured in. Nephis wept her face to the side staring into the air, seemingly reading her runes. After that, she hungrily tore into the fruit as her cores devoured the essence.

But she soon suffered the consequences.

Her face flushed red, all the way down to her nape.

She was drunk to her wits.

'No way....'

Nephis was drunk?

I had quite a hard time trying to comprehend what I was seeing. The only time I saw Neph drink alcohol was at Valor's banquet, and it was merely a cup for aesthetics and appearances. She also was already a Master by then. So I never saw her get drunk at all.

Awakened could not get drunk unless they heavily tried to, and it was even harder for Masters. Basically, the higher one's rank is the higher the recovery rate of his or her body. Their body would eventually work against the alcohol and it would either drive the alcohol out or break it down before they could even get drunk.

It was a rare sight to see her drunk and clumsy like this.

Her drowsy and clouded eyes coupled with her clumsy steps only made my assumption clearer.

I couldn't help but stare at her in utter disbelief.

No matter how cute and defenseless she looked, I couldn't help but grimace in helplessness. Her steps were overlapping over each other, as her upper body swayed with each step she took. Nephis was struggling to even keep her balance and walk properly.

A sigh escaped my lips.

Neph in her current state couldn't be of help if things went south.

Getting closer, I held my palm open close to her face and folded three of my fingers leaving only the index and the middle finger unfolded.

"Neph....can you see me?"

Her unfocused, cloudy, and half-opened eyes were directed toward my general direction reflecting my figure but never finding my eyes.

"Sunny? Why are you standing so far? And what's wrong with your hand?"

'I'm pretty sure that there are only two steps between us.'

I held the words from escaping my mouth.

After taking a small bite of the fruit I barely managed to sober myself up from the overflowing essence after a couple hours. And I didn't consume much of its juices to the point of making me drunk.

But Neph has eaten up the whole thing.

No wonder her sense of distance had become inaccurate.

With a sigh I answered, waving my hand in front of her.

"I'm close enough Neph, and I wanted to ask you something about my hand. Tell me, how many fingers am I holding up right now?"

Neph squinted her eyes, a small frown resting between her eyebrows.

"Four....wait there's Six...how are you—"

A little hiccup escaped her lips, leaving both me and Neph stunned. Soon a second one followed. Nephis hurriedly covered her mouth with both of her hands.

Neph's shoulders shook up and down with each suppressed hiccup that tried to escape her lips. With her eyes slightly wide Nephis turned around in an attempt to hide her face away from me.

An uncontrollable smile made its way to my face, as a muffled chuckle escaped my lips. Thankfully Nephis was too busy trying to calm herself down to hear it. Apparently, the wave of embarrassment she felt had slightly cleared her mind. Judging by the redness of her nape, she must be feeling very embarrassed at the moment.

'Even though I found it quite comical and cute. We need to find a way out of here, but first I need to find the statue.'

I turned my attention back to our surroundings. My Shadows were scattered across the place keeping an eye on the Fallen Tyrant and for any signs of danger. Thankfully no Nightmare Creatures were populating this area which gave us a chance to rest and collect ourselves.

It seemed like this place was also labeled as inhabitable by the Nightmare Creatures.

Summoning the Eternal Spring I hand it to Neph as she hungrily chugged it down. As Her mind cleared a bit more, the rest was taken care of by her healing flames.

Looking around through my shadows I Finally found an enormous Tree Trunk that had a slight caved-in space at its base that could comfortably host us both.

Getting closer, she stretched her hand out holding the Eternal Spring. She gave me a long look.

"Sunny...."

"No, I will not."

I cut her off as I snatched the Eternal Spring and started to make my way toward the Tree that would be our resting place for a while. Her face turned grim but soon a defeated sigh escaped her lips as her shoulders dropped.

Neph soon followed my lead from behind, as she kept her distance. Watching her through my Shadow, a smirk made its way to my face as I noticed the pink-tinted tips of her ears.

'There's no way I would pretend to forget that Neph.'

Never.

*******

I found it difficult to keep track of time, which ceased to have any meaning. With little need to sleep and no sun overhead, my internal clock had almost become all but useless.

We rested intermittently, each taking a watch. But it was mainly so that I could sit down and concentrate on making a mental map of the landscape.

Eventually, I discovered a few things.

First, there was a large area in the center of the ethereal forest that was collapsing into a vast, familiar, seemingly bottomless chasm. That terrifying abyss was filled with darkness that even Sunny's sight couldn't pierce.

From high above, it looked like a giant black hole in a river of stars.

The chasm was no less than eighty meters across and stretched far into the distance to both sides. That chasm was at least twice the one in the catacombs.

And there were two of them at that.

The other one was around twenty minutes ahead, of where we were originally headed to. Although that one was relatively small compared to the one in the center, it bordered the vertical wall that marked the edge of the cavern.

The second thing I discovered was the den of the Fallen millipede.

It bordered the other end of the ethereal forest.

But not the forest on the ground.

But the one above.

The Statue also resides within its den.

'Just great.'

Not only was I stuck in the haunting grounds of a Fallen Tyrant with Neph but I also have to kill it in order to have a chance in escaping this damned bunker.

And if my estimations were right.

We only have two hours before sunset.

This means that would we also have to be wary of the Dark Sea that will fill up the chasms.

And if we were lucky enough…

It won't flood the whole cavern.

Looking down, I was met with Neph's head which lay on my thigh. With her face facing upwards, she seemed almost harmless, and peaceful. With her softened facial expression, she looked quite relaxed.

I could barely stop myself from staring too much at her, since she might sense my gaze and wake up.

I didn't want to interrupt her peaceful sleep. but it seems like it was already too late.

I noticed a slight change—a flicker—in her right eyebrow, it seemed like she had already been awake for some time now.

"How much do you plan on pretending to sleep?"

I said, flicking her forehead.

Neph straightened up with a frown and rubbed the area between her eyebrows. Turning to look at me from over her shoulder she answered with the-so-like-her answer:

"I just woke up."

Standing up and stretching my numb body I handed her the Eternal Spring and looked at the distant, glowing, ethereal forest.

"Good Then, we have a Fallen Tyrant to hunt. You better be ready."

My thoughts went back to the millipede. If my thoughts were correct, then even at the risk of my life—

No. I had already decided that I needed to risk my life in order to overcome the challenges and the changes that I would and will face the moment I got out of here.

I turned to Neph and spoke with iron in my voice.

"We're going to kill that millipede."

******

This was why, an hour later, we found ourselves standing just under the giant millipede's den, clad in black and white armors.

"It's not too late to back out,"

Neph whispered into my ear. A teasing smile on her face.

Knowing that I wasn't a one to back off, I concluded that she meant it as a joke to ease the tension.

But seeing her smirk a sudden thought emerged in my head.

'Was that just now…a tease?'

Woah

Isn't she progressing quite well?

I replied with a smirk of my own.

"Didn't take you for one to back off from a fight."

Her smile widened slightly.

"Me neither. Let's get out of here after we kill that thing."

She whispered back as we climbed our way up to the entrance of the den.

I knew what it meant if I couldn't kill it, but the possibility of impending death was a sobering reminder that reconfirmed my priorities. Getting out of this bunker wasn't my top priority. Even if I might be able to make it out right at that moment, the first and the only reason I got into this place was getting to the bottom of the cause that changed the course of this timeline which was my top priority.

The accident that occurred in the underground chamber of the ancient cathedral was an eye-opener for me to be wary of the possible consequences of my regression.

'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.'

Wasn't that murty something law?

'Well I don't know what his name is but he sure did leave some useful words behind.'

As we climbed up into the entrance of the den, we reached a certain cliff that straightened our path straight into the wall itself, Thankfully.

As we traversed deeper inside the giant hole that spiraled into the wall, it grew dimmer and dimmer the further we dove into the darkness. There was a faint crimson sheen that clung to the ground, walls, and ceiling of the winding tunnel.

We refrained from using any light-producing memories and Neph's flame to light up our path. And since I could see perfectly in the dark, I took her hand and led her into the tunnel.

A few splinters of crimson coral could be seen growing from the ceiling every few meters ahead.

As we walked forward with me taking the lead, The tunnel split into two paths, My Shadows had scouted both routes, and our —hopeful prey— resided at the slightly wider one on the left side. It was wider in diameter, and also slightly dimmer. It only took a few minutes to reach what we were looking for.

Strewn all over the ground were… soul shards.

A lot of Awakened soul shards.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I inspected the glowing soul shards, littered in front of me like trash. Neph quietly picked up a fist-sized shard and consumed the essence from it until it turned into a cloud of ethereal dust.

After Neph was done consuming one more fist-sized shard, I stored a couple of smaller ones in my Covetous Coffer before moving forward. I could always come back for the rest after my fight was over.

As we continued deeper into the millipede's territory, the tunnel gradually became brighter. A cyan hue was slowly lightening the cavern. I let go of Neph's hand as the surroundings became a bit brighter.

The farther into the tunnel we looked, the brighter the cyan-coloured light became.

Nephis and I exchanged a tense glance before continuing. My heart pounded against my chest and my palms grew clammy at the thought of fighting against the giant millipede. Being this close to the Fallen Tyrant with little to no knowledge about its minions and in its own home, my body could sense the pressure radiating from within the tunnel.

Taking deep, calming breaths and steadying my gait, I walked forward, stepping into the bright embrace of the cyan light.

I tensed, alert for any sudden movements, but it took several rapid beats of my heart for the glare to subside. The tunnel opened into a massive cavern with a domed ceiling. The entire expanse was bathed in a sea of blue emanating from the mountains of glimmering soul shards piled upon one another.

'Damn it! Just how many are those??'

Despite practically salivating over the scores of money—some even larger than my forearm—my attention was forced onto something a little more immediate:

the giant millipede.

The towering figure of the Fallen Tyrant was hunched over in a tall arch while its entire body convulsed. Then, just as I was beginning to think it might explode, a waterfall of soul shards gushed out the back end to form a small hill alongside the other mountains of shards.

The Soul Shards of the Creatures it has consumed over the years.

And somewhere behind it and between the piles of soul shards, stood the graceful figure of the headless Statue that belonged to the Slayer.

It was like a scene straight out of a fairytale—except instead of a giant dragon guarding its mountain of treasure, it was a millipede guarding its mountains of… excrement?

Something else that I immediately noticed the moment I looked away from the giant millipede, was the countless small holes that littered the walls, ground, and the ceiling.

Almost right after the millipede laid….it's crap.

Countless large, disgusting worms madly made their way out of the holes and dove toward the newly laid soul shards.

All of them were of the Awakened rank and varied from beasts to monsters.

The Fallen Tyrant was Nurturing its minions.