Chapter 61 : Katarina's New Skill "Leader !" I was repairing the broken mechanical leg of a battle-drone when Kat's voice sounded behind me. "Welcome in yet another hive, Kat." I stood up to face her. She passed through the crack in the wall, her slim silhouette clouded by her force field. It wasn't a good omen... I knew her body was passively releasing her force field whenever she couldn't control her emotions. I couldn't see her face through the dark glass of her helmet, yet I could tell how angry she was. "How is Jerome ?" I asked, curious to know if his idea to remove the poisonous mana from his body had been fruitful. "He suffered a bit, but he is fine." I felt frustration in her voice. She probably wanted me to explain why I left her behind to guard the flagship while the rest of the squad was on the move, but we didn't have much time and I didn't want to worsen her already bad mood. "Alright. It's good to know you can heal us from this mana, Douglas will most likely need your help once we rescue him." "Is he still... alive ?" Kat asked me with a small voice. No matter how mad she was, she still cared for her comrade. "Yes. I'll explain everything later, but for now... we have to deal with this." I pointed my finger at the large dome made of rocks and organic matter towering in the center of the cave. "What is this ?" Kat knew that I was also poisoned, so she didn't waste any more time in useless talk and went directly to the point. She came closer, so I can brief her about our situation. "We call this the inner nest. Gladia suspects the one controlling the worms is hiding inside. Whatever lurks behind these walls is closely guarded by five alpha specimens. Without your unexpected arrival, taking care of it by myself would have been much more difficult." "We just have to kill what's inside to find Douglas ?" Even though I hadn't told Kat about my encounter with the reptile eye, she deduced on her own that we needed to clear the cave first in order to find Douglas. "Exactly. Unfortunately, I lack energy for another Void Surge. I was preparing to launch an all-out assault to force my way inside with the drones, but now that you came... I doubt the alpha worms and what they are protecting can survive your ability at its full power." Once she figured out the current situation, Kat didn't say anything else and walked alone toward the inner nest. With each step she made toward her target, the blurry aura that surrounded her body expanded a few meters larger, until it engulfed the entire dome. I couldn't directly feel her force field because I wasn't within its active range, but I could sense the air pressure inside the cave dangerously rising. Kat's ability would never cease to amaze me. In a large circle around her, the muddy ground flattened, the worms' carcasses littering the cave disintegrated at a visible pace, and even the air particles dislocated. With her slender body covered in the darkest armor, calmly walking amidst pure devastation... she looked like an angel of death. Her ability looked the same as usual, but after a moment... I felt something different. I didn't notice it at first, but Kat wasn't using Singularity energy. 'Don't tell me...' I quickly enhanced my visor with the little Void energy I had left and activated all my sensors to make sure I wasn't wrong... what I witnessed blew my mind. Numerous tendrils of energy formed from thin air and rushed to her figure, as if they were aspired by her body. This flow of energy didn't come from the Singularity, nor did it come from the Void : it was the same unknown energy the people of this world call 'mana'. This was the same energy that even the best sensors of our flagship couldn't analyze, and yet... she was manipulating the ambient mana particles present inside the mountain as if it was child's play. 'Ahah... she already learned how to control it...' I was stunned. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. Gladia just theorized that we could use this energy as a replacement, and Kat already found a way to manipulate it. [It seems so. She really is a genius after all.] Even Gladia wasn't expecting Kat to learn how to use mana so fast. We just arrived on this planet, and she already adapted herself to this unknown environment. Rather than the usual calm and oppressive feeling, her force field was now excluding a volatile but extremely intense aura. "[Annihilation]." When she pronounced this word, the air in her force field glowed and gradually turned bright red. The temperature quickly rose in the room, before the aura bubble wrapped around her emitted a low whistling sound. *phishhh...* It sounded like extremely hot vapor under high pressure. A second later, the air around Kat combusted, resulting in a huge explosion that echoed throughout the cave. *BANG!* A cloud of dust formed and engulfed the entire underground cave. I used the last bit of Void energy I had to see through the cloud of dust with my enhanced visor, but the entire cave was now densely filled with mana particle remnants ; I couldn't even see the shape of the dome anymore. The only thing I saw inside this cloud of dust was Katarina casually walking back to us, as if nothing happened. "It's done, Leader." I was too stunned to respond. When Kat unleashed her attack, even the fearless drones behind me took a step back. 'She really is a monster...' [That's probably what the Scyllas were expecting from their High Lethality Vector after nurturing them for a century. If they saw her achieving this in less than a decade, their researcher minds would have become crazy.] Gladia's words made sense. I've never grasped the meaning behind the monolith assessment in the Scylla mother-ship. I had no idea about which criteria this artificial intelligence used to classify us into different vectors of lethality, but today... I got my answer. The monolith evaluated our capacity to grow and our latent potential, but in the end, what mattered the most was our ability to cause death. Kat checked all the boxes to perfection. "Are you sure you got them all ?" When I came to my mind, I asked her. I couldn't see through the cloud of dust because of how many mana particles have been expulsed into the air. "Yes. I left nothing behind, as instructed. Now that this issue has been solved, can you tell me how killing these disgusting worms is supposed to help us finding Douglas ?" It seemed like passing her nerves on the worms wasn't enough, she still looked angry at me for leaving her behind. "Well, you see..." I was about to answer, when the projection of a giant reptilian eye materialized right between us. I wasn't as frightened as the first time I saw it, but it wasn't the same for my companion. The moment the eye materialized, Kat released her usual force field and rushed back to my side. She was ready to fight in just a second, waiting for my order. "Don't worry, this isn't an enemy. In fact, it is our pass to find Douglas." I tried to reassure her, while putting my right arm in front of her so she does not anger our benefactor. Just this simple projection was emitting such an intimidating aura that I knew its owner could crush both of us with his pinky finger if he wanted. I couldn't accurately estimate its strength, but based on the energy wavelength my sensors detected, it was no less than a Scylla in its original form. No matter how strong is Kat's new force field, it wasn't an opponent we could face yet. 'Thou have kept thy words... so shall I.' The very low-pitched voice once again resonated inside my mind, before a beam of golden light struck the ground right in front of us. When the light faded off, a humanoid shape appeared at the place where it hit the ground. Douglas was lying on the floor, his body covered in bite marks and dried blood. He was so bad in shape that his black matter completely retracted inside his body, leaving him naked with only his rifle in hand. When I recognized him, I couldn't contain my emotions. "Douglas !!" I instantly dashed forward and checked if he was still alive. I already witnessed my comrades' visages and bodies without their Dark Armor when they were in the healing pods, but I was so used to seeing them with their armor that I felt bad whenever I saw them without it. The only moment when the black matter completely retracts inside our body is when we are seriously injured, so seeing any of my squad mates without their Dark Armor always reminds me of their weakest state. Surprisingly, despite his bad shape, Douglas' face didn't show an ounce of pain. He had the same usual cold expression. If he wasn't bathing in blood, we could have thought that he was peacefully sleeping. When I went closer to examine his body, I felt a heartbeat ; it was weak, but at least, he was still alive. Three elite-drones have also been transported with him, and they immediately woke up from their emergency stasis when they felt my presence nearby. 'I casted a recovering spell on thy comrade to keep him alive, but now that he left my lair, the effect of my spell will fade off and he will soon wake up. He has also been heavily poisoned by the Vermintide Worms, so thou should treat him quickly if thou want him to survive.' I didn't know why this unknown entity helped us, but he was indeed our benefactor : he saved Douglas' life. "Kat, bring him back to the flagship and put him inside a healing pod as soon as possible. Take the remaining three elite-drones from his regiment and twenty additional battle-drones as an escort. Hurry up !" Kat, who was as surprised as me to see Douglas appearing out of nowhere, didn't wait before carrying him on her back and leaving the cave in a rush. "The rest of you, patrol the tunnels and eliminate any of those worms still hidding within this mountain." I also ordered the battle-drones standing still behind me to clear the area. These worms had a fitting name, they truly are vermins. After everything has been dealt with, only me and the giant eye remained in the cave. "Thank you for saving our comrade... If you didn't treat him when you found him, he would have died by now... Please, tell me how we may repay this debt." 'I already told thou, little cub, I didn't do this out of charity. I just exchanged one life for another. Thou saved my dumb disciple, so I did the same with thy comrade. Thou already paid your debt when you accepted my deal and removed this colony from my mountain.' I had no idea who was his disciple, but I was glad we didn't antagonize him. "Wait, wait... Is your disciple perhaps... a young but athletic elf lady, with strange runes tattooed on the shaved side of her head ?" 'Thou finally recognized her. Had thy companions killed her when they met, I would have unleashed all my wrath upon thou.' "..." I was speechless. 'I'm so glad Kat and Jerome didn't follow code 2 at that time... If Douglas lives today, it's in part because they brought her back alive to the natives' camp.' [Imagine what would have happened if we had to deal with such a powerful entity...] 'I better not. Dealing with a Scylla in its original body is enough trouble, let's not make yet another mighty figure that defies logic as our ennemy for now.' As the cloud of dust dissipated, the mana interference reduced and I once again felt how powerful was the aura being emitted by the mere projection of this reptilian eye. I was about to thank this mysterious benefactor when suddenly, a bold idea struck my mind. "If such a powerful entity as you asked us to clean this place, does it mean that you cannot do it yourself ? I do not know your circumstances, but... may I propose you a deal that could benefit both of us ?" 'Speak.' "We crashed on this planet just recently and we have nowhere to go, at least until we deal with the elven kingdom of Aliomeri. If you have no use for this part of the mountain, could me and my crew use this place as a temporary base ?" The eye didn't answer me immediately, so I continued to speak while cold sweat ran down my back. "We will not go any deeper than the tunnels dug by the worms, and we will not disturb the surroundings. We merely need a location to store our flagship's pieces until we can repair and rebuild it. In exchange, we will prevent any more parasitic monsters from infesting your territory, and I may even assign some of my drones to regularly clear the monster in the forest around this mountain. " 'Umu... Alright, but I have a condition.' The first time the owner of this eye contacted me, he seemed as though he wasn't thrilled to see any outsiders enter his domain. I didn't expect him to agree to my bold proposition so easily. I knew this was a daring idea that could have offended him, but fortunately, I have been right to try my luck. "Sure, please tell me your condition ! We would do our best, as long as it is within our capabilities." 'Then, take care of my disciple for three years.' I wasn't expecting such a request at all. "Uh ?... Is that perhaps... all you need ?" 'Yes.' I didn't meet this young elf myself, but from what Jerome and Kat told me, she was very strong for a native. It wouldn't be difficult to take her under our wing. Three years seems to be long, but it is a very short period of time for us, Void Rifters. Thanks to our black matter, the aging process of our body has been greatly reduced ; it also means that our notion of time is a little bit different from a normal human being. 'Now that I think about it, it could even be beneficial for us...' Because she is the young daughter of the Ravaleth clan's patriarch and these weird elves worship us like madmen, being on good terms with her would solidify our relationship with her clan. It would give them another reason to be loyal to us, much more trustworthy than a simple prophecy. Having another group of natives backing us in addition to the King of Lyssandra is not such a bad idea. [Don't you think that... this is too advantageous for us to be true ?] 'I do, but honestly... we can't refuse. Even if this mysterious being is hiding something from us, its request is too good enough to be rejected.' I had the same concerns as Gladia since, despite being our benefactor, I couldn't trust the owner of this eye yet. At the same time, this mountain hidden in the deepest part of the forest was the perfect place to set up a base. The King of Lyssandra offered me territory and even a noble title if we accepted to live in his kingdom. It was also a very good option for us... but I straight up declined. Living in Lyssandra would put shackles on us and we will be tied to this kingdom. While the King of Lyssandra has always been friendly and helpful toward us, I refuse to be under his orders. Be it a King or an Emperor... we already had our share of servitude with the Scyllas. After thinking for a bit, I finally took my decision. "I gladly accept your condition." 'Very good. Then from today onward, as long as thou do not break thy part of the deal, I shall authorize thy presence inside this mountain.' "Thank you." Compared to the Kingdom of Lyssandra, this forest was a better place for us. The various beasts and monsters living there acted as a natural barrier protecting us from invaders, and except for taking care of a young lady, the reptilian eye didn't ask for anything else. The projection of the reptilian eye dissipated, and I also departed from this cave filled with dead worms' bodies. 'Gladia, send a bunch of drones here to burn the corpses and renovate the tunnels. I want this place to be clean when we come back. Also, order some drones to investigate what was inside the dome, if there is any remains left...' [Sure.] I left the tunnels, hopped across the pond of bloody water, and sprinted as fast as I could to my flagship. My mind was so preoccupied with Douglas' situation that I failed to notice the pair of tiny eyes spying on me, peering through the dense foliage of a bush near the cave's entrance.