Azure_Fog I’m renaming the “what lies in its wake” chapters. Also, thanks for 400 ️s! :D

Chapter 27 — Lab Exploration

Editors: PROCRASTINATOR & GREETER

 

[Ei’s POV]

 

After passing through a not-so-giant pair of blast doors, we entered the main part of the lab. Well, I think it is at least.

 

“Of course the first thing that we reach is a fork in the road. Any idea which way we should go?“ (Ei)

 

“Should we split the party?” (Nadia)

 

“If ya think ya can handle it, I’m not opposed to it. Meet back here in an hour?” (Kurui)

 

“Hmmm… I think we’ll be fine!” (Luna)

 

“““Yeah, probably.””” (Everyone else)

 

“I’ll go with Luna, Nadia, go with Kurui.” (Ei)

 

“Understood.” (Nadia)

 

We went to the left. 

 

“Ah… I can finally stretch my wings! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to keep them away for like a week straight?!” (Ei)

 

We’ll just ignore those guys I beat up. Besides, having my wings out for less than two minutes doesn’t count.

 

“I do not. However, we shouldst focus on the task at hand.” (Vadina)

 

“Oh, hi Vadina. I guess you must be feeling similarly?” (Ei)

 

“Indeed.” (Vadina)

 

“Well, let’s get going!” (Luna)

 

We come to a door in the side of the hall, once again protected with a keypass. That won’t stop us however, so I pull out my claws, grab the door, and throw it down the hall.

 

“Was that really necessary?” (Luna)

 

“It looked cool.” (Ei)

 

“But no-one was watching!!!” (Luna)

 

“Eh.” (Ei)

 

The room we reach is… odd to say the least. There’s a bunch of multicolor supersized vials lining the walls. They’re clouded over at the moment though.

 

“You finally went to a place where I could talk to you again, vermin. Even if I don’t have visuals, I know where you are!! Now prepare to die! You failures failed so hard that even my failures could easily overtake you! I’ve already killed off your friends!” (Francis)

 

That stupid scientist again!! And there’s no way Kurui would lose…

 

“Vadina, freeze the room.” (Ei)

 

“As thou commandeth.” (Vadina)

 

The walls freeze over and I think I hear some circuits shorting. Nice. Well then, let’s trash the place.

 

“scra-gAAAA” 

 

“HAAAAAAGGGG BLRRAAGGG RAGGG NOGGG AAHHHGGG”

 

One of the vials explodes and a brain with tentacles and a mouth along with a singular eye. It dashes along the floor towards us.

 

“What the hell IS THAT THING?!” (Luna)

 

“No idea! I don’t like it though!” (Ei)

 

“BLARRAAAGG HOORRRAAA GABABABABA!!!”

 

The thing jumps at me and latches onto me.

 

“Gah! It’s eating my hand!” (Ei)

 

“EH?? [Windblade]!” (Luna)

 

A blade of wind slams into the brain thing and sends it flying into the wall. Its two halves collapse to the floor.

 

“That wasn’t very fun… although it couldn’t pierce my skin.”

 

“How is that possible exactly??” (Luna)

 

“Anyways, Vadina and Luna, can you help me make an antipode bomb?” (Ei)

 

“Sure!” (Luna)

 

“As thou wisheth.” (Vadina)

 

“Oh, but before that, Luna, get near me so I can protect you in my wings.” (Ei)

 

I wrap my wings around Luna. Alright, let’s do this.

 

“[Absolute Zero].” (Luna/Vadina) (A/N: Not actually absolute zero)

 

Brrr! That’s really cold! Well, bigger explosion then, I guess. (P/N Still pretty cold though.)

 

“[Hellfire Storm].” (Ei)

 

*fwoop*

 

****BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM****

 

The room is filled with a flash of light, and the only thing left behind is a massive crater.

 

**rrruuummmbbbllleee**

 

“Let’s get out of here before this cavern collapses. Run!” (Ei)

 

We dashed back into the destroyed hall and kept running down the hall. We kept running until we ran into some stairs.

 

“These stairs seem dangerous… Let’s head back to the meeting point. The explosion probably is going to make them want to check up on us.” (Ei)

 

“Good idea!”

 

Well, first we need to clear the rocks blocking our path…

 

“Ei! I have an idea to get through these rocks!” (Luna)

 

“What is it?” (Ei)

 

“Watch!”

 

She starts glowing…

 

***SLAMMM!!**

 

An ice spike rams into the rocks and just keeps going and going… And Luna did chantless magic! That’s awesome!

 

“Okay, now melt the center and we should have free passage! I just shot the ice spike until it hit something harder, so it probably stopped at the other wall!” (Luna)

 

“Smart. Well, I’ll start melting through it.” (Ei)

 

I conjure up a blue flame and get to melting. Chantlessly, of course.

 

 

[Nadia’s POV]

 

After taking down that ridiculous golem, we decided to split up. I’m with Kurui now, probably the most normal out of the group. They are a human, but they are ridiculously strong… almost as strong as I am!

 

It is incredible how they know all the passwords to this place. Perhaps all the passwords are the same. However, how did they get them in the first place? Am I being lured into a trap? I had best keep my guard up. If I went missing, it would be extremely troubling, for many people.

 

Well, we have arrived at the first room for us to investigate. Inside the room was a bunch of tubes filled with an odd liquid. It seems dangerous. Right as we were to move to destroy them, Francis’ voice rang out.

 

“You foolish idiots split up! Now then, prepare to taste death! This room holds my masterpieces, and they will tear you to shreds like the failures you are! Entertain me! I’ve already killed your friends, maybe you can scream better than they do!” (Francis)

 

“Ha. In your dreams, crazy scientist. Ei could have beat your precious guard dog alone if she tried. Like hell, she’s dead.” (Kurui)

 

Alone? Not even I could do that… How powerful is Ei truly?

 

“You…! I’ll kill you!” (Francis)

 

One of the tubes drains.

 

“Seems like we’ve got company!” (Kurui)

 

Some… thing steps out of the tube. It has the face and half of the torso of a human. Connected to that torso is a giant tentacle to replace the arm, scaly skin for the bottom half of the torso, and two mismatched legs. One is an eagle's, the other is a wolf’s.

 

“K..ill… m…e…” (Chimera)

 

“Gladly.” (Kurui)

 

Kurui swings their sword and it falls down headless. The head rolls on the floor before stopping at my feet. Why did it have to stop here? But more importantly…

 

“What the hell was that?” (Nadia) 

 

“Some sort of chimera. I’d expect more, so get ready.” (Kurui)

 

“Bah. That one was a failure anyways. DIE!!” (Francis)

 

Three more tubes drain. Three more horrific chimeras step out… I would rather not describe them. They were vaguely humanoid, but certainly not humanoid anymore.(P/N Lasy :P)

 

“How… long…” (Chimera 1)

 

“...the…. Pain…” (Chimera 2)

 

“I…. can’t…” (Chimera 3)

 

The only mercy for these things is death.

 

“Kurui, ready?” (Nadia)

 

“Let’s do this!” (Kurui)

 

****BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM****

 

“What the hell was that?!” (Nadia)

 

**rrruuummmbbbllleee**

 

“Surprised enough to break your noble training? Ha… that was probably just Ei.” (Kurui)

 

“...Who is she, really?” (Nadia)

 

“Why don’t ya ask her later. For now, time to fight!” (Kurui)

 

I load my crossbow and shoot at the first chimera, but it dodges.

 

“Oh… the misery…” (Chimera 2)

 

Flying at me, claws extended, dashes its friend. I may use crossbows, but arrows are a fine weapon as well.

 

“Take this!” (Nadia)

 

Catching it as it dodges, I slam it to the ground and retrieve a lightning arrow, before slamming it into its face.

 

**cra-CRACK**

 

*BANG*

 

Lightning explodes from the arrow, crawling over the chimera, turning it to a blackened crisp. The lightning crawls up my arm too, but it will not get past my skin.

 

Kurui uses the distraction that the explosion provided to slice the head off of another.

 

“My… HEAD!” (Chimera 3)

 

The head screams while the body flails about.

 

“The pain… the pain… THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN THE PAIN!!!¨ (Chimera 3)

 

“No more pain for you. [Soul Rend].” (Kurui)

 

Soul rend? That sounds really bad…

 

“The… pain…” (Chimera 3)

 

The chimera finally stops screaming, one left.

 

“Let us kill this final chimera quickly.” (Nadia)

 

“Agreed.” (Kurui)

 

Kurui grabs the last chimera with their sword and throws it at me. As it flies, I send the crossbow bolts at it, slamming it into the wall, then I throw another lightning bolt. (A/N: haha funny pun)

 

**cra-CRACK**

 

*BANG*

 

“I never want to see one of those things again…” (Nadia)

 

“I’d rather not either, I think we should regroup.” (Kurui)

 

 

[Ei’s POV]

 

We made it back to the fork we were at earlier. Kurui and Luna were already waiting there.

 

“So, did you find anything?” (Ei)

 

“Just some chimera. We were gonna explore more, but ya caused a massive explosion so I thought we should check back.” (Kurui)

 

“Well, we found some stairs that go somewhere. Should we go follow those?” (Ei)

 

“Sure.” (Kurui)

 

“So you did cause the explosion…” (Nadia)

 

“Welp, let’s go!” (Kurui)

 

We began our backtracking. 

 

“Are you telling me that you made an explosion large enough to collapse an entire hallway?” (Nadia)

 

“We went a bit overboard… but the things in there needed to die.” (Ei)

 

“So ya ran into some horrid chimeras too?” (Kurui)

 

“Yep. It wasn’t fun.” (Ei)

 

“And you an ice spike as long as the hall… just who are you three?” (Nadia)

 

“A funny pirate.” (Kurui)

 

“Your average half Elf B rank adventurer.” (Ei)

 

“Just an old Elf with some spirit friends!” (Luna)

 

“That really does not answer the question… I suppose I shall just let you have your secrets. You have not asked about mine, anyways.” (Nadia)

 

“We’re at the stairs!” (Luna)

 

We climbed the stairs and came to another blast door.

 

“Kurui, can you get through this?” (Ei)

 

“I don’t think so. This one has biometric scanners.” (Kurui)

 

“*sigh* Okay, stand back then. I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” (Ei)

 

I pull out my glaive and infuse it with blood again. Using its flaming blade, I slash a square hole into the door and kick it. The rest of the door crumbles from the momentum of the kick. The square cutout is hanging ominously in the air.

 

“You failures actually managed to reach me.” (Francis)

 

The door square gets thrown across the room, which is about the size of the entrance, revealing Francis standing behind it.

 

“Your time is up, buddy. We’re here to take you down.” (Ei)

 

“Like I’d let you do that. You vermin understand nothing of planning. Did you really think that I would let you here without a plan?” (Francis)

 

“We can handle it. Give up, and we won’t have to beat ya up.” (Kurui)

 

“Haha… Like hell I’d do that. Do you realize who you stand before, plebeian? I am Francis von Enolc XVI, ‘The Scientist’, second of the Seven Cardinals.” (Francis)

 

Shit.

 

“And you, dear shitheads have fallen directly into my trap.” (Francis)

 

“Eh?” (Ei)

 

****BANG****

 

Four mithril boxes fall from the ceiling onto us and collapse inward.

 

“You idiots get to be the test subjects for the new ‘Iron Maiden’ I’ve made. Although second rate adventurers like you could never manage to tell the difference, it’s made out of mithril and coated with an antimagic field rated at the strength of a young dragon.” (Francis)

 

“Why capture us instead of killing us though?” (Ei)

 

“My pet needs some toys and I thought you vermin would be suitable.” (Francis)

 

Francis, or “The Scientist” takes a few steps back.

 

“Behold my true masterpiece, based upon the God of Insanity, Aleph Null!” (Francis)

 

Something falls from the sky…

 

“GGOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!”

 

It’s a black wolf with a mane of red octopus-like tentacles. On its back, there are two neon green wings. Finally, its tail is like a scorpion’s, but it ends in 16 stingers.

 

“Well, see if you can entertain him a bit. Not that you can do much, trapped in mithril boxes. I’ll enjoy watching you scream… and once you’re finally broke… I’ll kill you all.” (Francis)

 

Azure_Fog Hehehe… Cliffhanger go brrr. I definitely didn’t run out of stock and thus am not posting the next chapter immediately. 3 days until Halloween… heheheh

Please leave all tricks, treats, and candy in the comments! 

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