Chapter 163 - A Very Bad Place

Zeke reached the edge of the tower’s aura, but he hesitated to cross the threshold. In addition to the transformation the building had undergone, the aura itself had been affected by the demon realm. It didn’t feel like a passive thing anymore, but rather, it had turned into an aggressive deterrent. He hadn’t seen it in action, but he suspected that if something tried to attack, the tower’s aura wouldn’t limit itself to suppression. Instead, Zeke got the feeling that it would subject any intruders to vicious attacks. That, more than anything, gave him enough peace of mind to venture further and further away in his attempts to find the ingredients Tucker needed.

He reached down, scratching Pudge behind the ears. Despite how much the bear had changed, Zeke had been comforted to discover that Pudge was still possessed of the same personality. It gave him hope for his own situation.

Being half-demon – or what the Framework had dubbed a cambion – was troubling, and not just because it had been thrust on him without his consent. Rather, it also came with plenty of implications. Demons were, in every sense of the word, evil. Zeke wasn’t certain how any of it worked, having only gotten sparse explanations from Tucker and bits of information from Oberon, but all the evidence suggested that they were the great antagonists of the universe.

And he was now part of that.

It was enough to send a shiver up his spine, even if he hadn’t felt any ill effects. In fact, he’d experienced only positives – not least of which was his ability to withstand the caustic environment of the demon’s realm. And given how often he’d been injured in the past three weeks, he appreciated the pain resistance almost as much. Without it, he’d have probably died a dozen times over.

Before, Zeke had considered himself a pretty tough guy. He’d endured quite a lot of pain, and he thought his tolerance was fairly high. And it was, for a human. However, almost every monster he’d encountered in the desert of Mal’araxis had been equipped with an attack that caused far more pain than it should have. Without his increased pain tolerance, the shock alone would have been enough to cause a brief hesitation, which, in the middle of a fight, would usually spell his doom. With it, though, he had no issue forging a path through the pain.

And that wasn’t even considering his ability to augment his own attacks with soul damage. Some of the more powerful demon beasts could withstand it, but the less evolved among them couldn’t escape the agonizing soul attacks, which left plenty of openings for Zeke to exploit.

By all rights, he should have been thankful, and it some ways, he was. Certainly, he and his friends would be dead without the transformation of his race. However, that gratefulness was in a constant war with the demon blood now running through his veins.

Not for the first time, he was reminded of how similar his situation was to what Talia had gone through. Like her, he’d had an unwanted transformation thrust upon him, turning him into what, by almost every measure, could be considered a monster. Coming to terms with his new reality was a difficult task, and one which he knew he might never fully accomplish.

He let out a sigh, pushing those thoughts out of his mind. The moment he stepped out from the shelter of the tower’s aura, he would be in mortal danger, and dwelling on existential questions concerning his new race was a good way to end up in the belly of some demonic beast. So, he cleared his mind as best he could, then started the journey which he hoped would end with him acquiring the means to keep his friends alive in the demon realm’s caustic environment.

“Come on, Pudge,” he said, striding forward, watching for any movement. Mal’araxis’s beasts were, by and large, ambush predators. Many lived under the sands, but some even used active camouflage. So, even when Zeke was vigilant, he was often surprised by their attacks. It was only because of his insane durability that he’d survived as long as he had. It was too bad that he didn’t have some kind of perception skill, because that would’ve made things a lot easier.

Zeke continued along his way, his eyes constantly darting this way and that, straining to see any hint of an incoming attack. However, his efforts were in vain because, after only a hundred yards or so, he was bowled over by an insectile creature. It was only the size of a wild boar and quite a bit lighter than its size might indicate, but it packed enough of a punch to send Zeke sprawling. Even as he skidded through the sand, another of the same monsters pounced on him, sending spear-like legs into his torso.

Even as the thing’s natural weapons tore his innards to shreds, Zeke only grunted in mild discomfort. But even if the pain had been muted to almost nothing, the damage was real, and he knew that he could only last so long before it reached a point of no return. So, with a mighty heave, he threw the insectile beast aside. It screeched as it flew through the air to collide with its fellow, and the pair collapsed into an unruly heap.

Zeke sprang to his feet, simultaneously summoning his mace and activating [Life Scythe]. With a swing, he sent a blade of red energy slicing through the air. Dancing through the red was a web of black lightning that Zeke recognized as a soul attack. When the skill hit the monsters, they wilted as their vitality was sucked away. An instant later, Zeke felt his innards retracting back into his abdomen and his flesh mending itself back together. It was a powerful burst of stolen life energy, and when it finished, there was nothing left but a shallow wound. However, the thing’s attacks had left his leather armor in shreds.

With a sigh, Zeke wished his real armor would have survived. When he’d bought the spares back in Beacon, the leather was adequate to stop some attacks. But now? His power had spiked to the degree that his skin was far more durable than his replacement armor.

Voromir in hand, Zeke faced off against the insectile creatures. They were common enough, considering that he’d been forced to fight their like a handful of times over the past three weeks. Even with that passing familiarity, he still found himself shying away from their grotesque forms. Calling them insectile was giving them a little too much credit. Sure – they had some of the right characteristics. Antennae. Faceted eyes. Chitinous exoskeletons. It was enough that a passing glance might peg them as overgrown roaches. But the moment Zeke’s gaze lingered for more than a moment, he saw a dozen discrepancies.

Everything about the creatures just seemed a little shifted in the wrong direction. There was nothing symmetrical about their appearance. Legs were differing lengths, eyes were different sizes, and there were far too many of both. On top of that, they were dripping with black ichor. If any creature ever qualified for the moniker “miscreation,” then these demon roaches certainly did.

In the brief moment Zeke took to gather himself, the creatures regained their lopsided balance and skittered toward him. Mandibles clicked and clacked as unearthly screams came from their mouths. Zeke took his mace in both hands, activated the [Leech Strike] portion of his evolved skill, and set his feet.

The first monster that reached him received a herculean, overhand strike for its eagerness. The thick carapace covering gave a satisfying crack as it shattered. Acidic black goo splashed across Zeke’s body, stinging slightly as it ate through his exposed skin. He ignored it – not because it wasn’t a problem, but rather because even a second’s distraction would spell his doom.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zeke saw the expected ambush. The third insect had waited for just this moment, and it sprang through the air, its misshapen wings fluttering, to attack Zeke from the side. Having committed himself wholly to his own attack, Zeke knew he couldn’t recover in time to meet the flanking beast.

But he didn’t need to, either.

A gout of black-and-red flame engulfed the insect. It screamed as it was cooked alive, but its momentum carried it even closer to Zeke. However, just before it reached him, a ball of red-streaked fur the size of a car hit the much smaller beast, sending it off course and into one of the nearby dunes. Once it hit, it didn’t get up.

A wave of pride came from Pudge, but Zeke ignored it. Instead, he stalked forward to deal with the last remaining demonic bug. It only took a few seconds to finish it off, with Zeke using the opportunity to steal more vitality from the monster. It wasn’t enough to heal his wounds completely, but it was plenty to keep him going. He’d had to get used to being at least partially injured; otherwise, he would’ve never made any progress.

“Good job,” he said, glancing at the infernal bear, who was happily jumping up and down on the insect he’d downed. Without Pudge, the outcome probably would have been similar, though Zeke would’ve taken a couple more wounds. And given how far he still had to go, he knew just how much even the smallest injuries could add up.

Stowing his mace, Zeke checked himself for further injuries. More than once over the past few weeks, his pain tolerance had masked grievous wounds. It was only through sheer luck that he’d recognized the danger and taken one of Tucker’s healing potions in time to stave off serious problems. Luckily, after he wiped away the insect’s acidic blood, he found that he was mostly unhurt, and what injuries he’d sustained were far from enough to make him turn back. So, after looting the corpses, Zeke and Pudge resumed their journey.

Over the next ten hours – or at least, Zeke judged it was something close to that – they encountered a veritable army of beasts. Some were huge and solitary, which Zeke preferred, but others came in packs. He and Pudge dealt with them all without much trouble, picking up only minor injuries along the way.

As Zeke passed one of the floating crystals, he averted his eyes. On his second day, he’d made the mistake of peering too deeply into one of them, and he’d vowed never to do the same again. Inside was a scene not dissimilar from the one where he’d been tortured by the demoness, though on a far grander scale. The crystal had somehow contained hundreds of people being slowly tortured into insanity by a group of cackling imps. It was gruesome enough to stave off any curiosity he might’ve felt about how the crystals, which were only about ten feet tall and half again as wide, contained such a sprawling space. Even if there was a part of him that wanted rescue the people who were being tortured, Zeke had no desire to investigate the phenomena any further.

Oberon had called them the Damned, and it wasn’t difficult to infer that their actions in the old world had relegated them to such a hell. Besides, he wasn’t so deluded as to think he could actually help them; the demoness who’d tortured him had been far beyond his power. Reason suggested that these new torturers were possessed of similar might, which meant that Zeke stood no chance against them. Even if he could somehow invade the crystals, he’d just be serving himself up for slaughter.

So, as he passed the crystal, he pointedly ignored it. Pudge did the same, picking up on Zeke’s aversion. Eventually, they found themselves approaching their destination – a small forest of blue, crystalline trees. It wasn’t very big – just a couple of square miles – and amidst the ubiquitous black sands, it stood out like a sore thumb. The trees themselves were shaped like palm trees, with orange crystal trunks and blue leaves, and in their vicinity, the black sand had lost a little of its darkness. Zeke couldn’t see far into the copse of trees, so he had no idea what it was like further into its interior. What he did know was that the closer he came to it, the less his skin tingled, signaling that whatever had corrupted the air was less pervasive in the small oasis.

Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking. Either way, it seemed a great place to search for ingredients, if for no other reason than because it was different from everywhere else he’d looked.

Slowly, he approached the crystalline oasis, keeping his eyes peeled for any danger. However, he reached the edge of the small forest entirely unmolested. More than that, as he drew closer, he felt as if some important component was missing from the air.

Very bad place, came Pudge’s thought.

“I don’t know, buddy,” Zeke said, his voice low as he put his hand on Pudge’s back. The infernal bear was trembling. Sensing that Pudge was terrified, Zeke said, “You can stay out here if you want. I have to go in, though.”

Pudge responded, Pudge is not scared.

Zeke said, “I know that, buddy. I need a lookout, though. I need someone brave enough to stay out here alone and warn me if anything’s coming.”

For a moment, Zeke thought that Pudge might see through the obvious ruse. However, a moment later, Pudge thought, Pudge will watch. Be safe.

Zeke nodded at his companion, who immediately turned to watch the black sands. For his part, Zeke took a deep breath before trudging into the oasis of crystalline trees.

After a couple of minutes, during which the feeling only got worse, they found themselves in a clearing, which was dominated by a crystal clear lake. However, as incongruous as that was, Zeke only had eyes for the clearing’s other occupant.

“So, little demon,” rumbled a voice from the other side of the clearing. “You braved the trees, did you? Pity you did so only to…wait…you are no demon.”

Zeke shook his head, “Sorry to disappoint, but no. I’m not a demon. What are you?”

It was a valid question, because the creature standing only thirty yards away was, in a word, bizarre. With four arms, stumpy legs, and a face that looked more like a vortex of energy than anything else, it was unlike anything Zeke had ever seen before. And that wasn’t even considering that it was composed entirely of the same blue crystal that comprised the leaves on the oasis’s trees.

And even though it was sitting on a rock beside the lake, it was at least thirty feet tall.

The thing laughed. “You’ve never seen a purifier before?” it rumbled. “We are nightmares for little demons like you. Or not-demons, I suppose. Either way, your presence corrupts the very ground you walk upon. I will not have it.”

It rose to its full height and took a thundering step forward.