Chapter Twenty Nine: Inescapable, Magic Catalyst

“Maybe… This is the inevitable.” The moment Shadow’s words were heard, Waynev felt the familiar cold drop of sweat crawling on her back.

Looking around, Waynev was still in the ditch, still had a young teen to protect and the burns still ached slightly as Waynev quickly poured what left of her waterskin on her arms.

“Did we get teleported? Why is th-” Waynev’s whispers were interrupted by two speakers.

Quickly putting on a tone of ‘Are you okay?’ Shadow spoke fast, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“Don’t you remember? Giant portals opened in the sky-where thousands of demons came out-we rescued her before you fell into the ditch, bumping your-”

“W-w-why is this happening,” A mousey squeak came from below, surprising the duo.

“I-” Her voice stopped with the loud bellow that surrounded the valley, into the forest.

Coming from Aestern sounds similar to sirens began to echo and pound the eardrums of those nearby.

Three strong pulses of what sounded like energy repeated with one lesser pulse restarting the cycle.

“Gods-i** t*e A**-” Even with her shouting Waynev could barely hear the woman’s cries.

“It’s the what?” Waynev shouted, getting closer to her, ducking her head within the ditch.

“Th-the ADP, annual demon portal-why did it happen two months early,” She began sobbing as Waynev tried to get the facts straight and Shadow remembered what Leer had said.

‘That wasn’t for two days… They must’ve gotten it off earlier than even they predicted.’ Clearing up the misunderstanding in her head Shadow quickly made a plan and prioritise what they needed to do next.

“Wayne, this isn’t the inevitable. It was a false scare, we can deal with the demons but we need a stronger weapon, we need to build the Catalyst now,” Shadow worked herself up.

“Before people start fleeing to the forest!” Finishing in a shout.

Grabbing her bag from her back, Waynev tried to get everything out but was quickly restricted by the small space around her.

Flinging the pack back to its place Waynev grabbed the walls before Shadow interrupted.

“Don’t forget about her. She was this close to getting killed by those demons, I don’t have time to rant but we can’t grant them any chance to kill her.”

A small grimace reached her face before it was wiped away with her poker face.

Turning to the watching teen Waynev walked towards her so she could hear without having to shout.

“Hey, uhm, miss we’re going now. So if you want to follow us-me, then stay close.” Backing away from her ear Waynev grabbed the edge of the small ditch and pulled up.

Reaching the hearty soil she gave one look to the girl behind her and began walking, despite the sirens blaring nonstop.

“...”

Despite it being the ‘right’ choice Waynev could feel Shadow looking at the corner of her eyes, slightly anxious.

It wasn’t often when she let her emotions leak, but when they did come through the bond, they never ceased to surprise her.

“It’s fine, you saw her too. She will come or she will hide in that ditch while the situation in Aestern gets better.” Waynev said to Shadow as much as she did to herself as she plopped down her pack nearby.

“This close?” Shadow tried to hide her surprise, the blaring noise forgotten.

“We don’t have to go far, we’re already deep in the forest right?” Offhandedly said, already unpacking the ingredients.

“...Sure.” Her voice was strangely neutral but Waynev shrugged it off, as she heard the sirens in the distance slowly weaken.

Bone Knuckles

DUR (Durability)

7.9/10

ATT (Attack)

8.00

PRO (Protection)

0.00

UPG (Upgradable)

Royal Slime, Self-Hardened Bone-root, [Hollowed] Imp ribcage.

Craft now?

“That’s everything.” Placing the knucks next to the pile of what seemed like random items, Waynev was looking at the craft option before she felt a sharp edge poke her back.

Flashing around she saw the young woman holding her left arm close to herself move back and sit down.

“I-I’m Blake. Please don’t leave me here, I want to come with you.” Her face covered in tears, dirt and grime felt like a mirror except where Waynev was stout with short brown hair, Blake was a bit plump and hair curly and black.

“I’m Waynev, I need to build this Catalyst to help defend ourselves and get out of the demon po- the ADP.” Waynev pointed at the items, which Blake widened at.

“I need someone to watch u-me while I do this, can you let me know if any demons come close.”

Eyes widening even more Blake turned back to Waynev nodding almost frantically.

“Hopefully crafting this won’t take long, something tells me it’s going to take all of us.” Shadow’s words felt foreboding as Waynev returned to the menu.

UPG (Upgradable)

Royal Slime, Self-Hardened Bone-root, [Hollowed] Imp ribcage.

Craft now?

Mentally clicking the craft now button, Waynev’s hands moved on their own, and with it her perception of time.

The knucks in the middle Waynev and Shadow watched transfixed as the components were disassembled and recreated.

The royal slime was first, the hands washed themselves with the amber fluid then with the rest of the flask poured a small circle around the bone knuckle.

The root was next, grabbing it by the stem the hands slowly broke it apart through crack, expertly placed squeezes and twisting the root in what seemed to be random patterns. The result was the bone root seemingly falling apart in her hands, the majority of the dust falling upon the knucks however the rest feathered downwards on the perimeter and circumference of the circle.

Now covered in white both the hands and the knucks were encrusted in a screen that stuck itself to the knucks but freely fell from the hands.

Finally, all that was left were the ribs of the imp.

Already beginning to decay Waynev grimaced as the hands went to work without slowing down, each bone was take out of its socks along with the meaty substance surrounding it, one by one the ribs were moved and carefully placed between each knuckle.

Soon the number of rib bones in-between each knuckle doubled with the last two ribs placed on top and beneath the array. With the rest of the meat the hands grabbed the small slab and used it almost like a hand towel, removing all specs of the root and any of the royal slime left onto the now white-speckled slab.

Placing the slab beneath the knucks the circle now glowed a mix of yellow and red though heavily muted from the red sky above, a reminder that time was of the essence.

Waynev’s left and right hands and were placed either side of the knucks, before her eyes slowly closed.

The two only felt heartbeats for a few moments before they were met with the sight of hands grabbing a slowly mutating, almost alive amalgam of the knuck’s along.

An eagle’s view, Waynev and Shadow could feel the other in the space but also could feel one hand each.

Waynev, the right.

Shadow, the left.

“Its not done… it’s missing something,” Shadow could feel the intent, the need for something they both had.

“I’m feeling a pull, similar to mana but different. It feels more personal than the particles in the air.” Shifting in space she got closer to the hand.

Already feeling in the right state of mind she pushed into the hand.

The circle surrounding the crafting of the catalyst glowed a purple hue, as the Waynev could feel herself slowly pushing her innate power into the catalyst.

Slowly the circle began filling.

Far too slowly.

“Crap. This solution, could be our execution if the process is this slow. Let me try-” Shadow moved towards the left hand and began pushing her innate mana into it but as she did they both felt a sharp pain and gasped.

“Motherfuh-Shadow, this will burn if we do it at the same time. Just be patient we’re well hi-”

“No, we’re close to the portals, tired enough as is and we are both required to save Blake. We can’t fail to save her too.”

Grimacing at the insinuation, Waynev could only look back down at the hands before whispering two words.

“Do it.” Pushing her power back into the hands, she prepared for the influx.

Focusing her presence, Shadow waited only a second before pushing power back into the hand.

The circle around her turned from the mix of yellow, red and purple to yellow, red, purple and cyan.

Small screams came from the two as the circle glowed and began slowly working it’s way through the formation.

With each push of power the knucks began remoulding themselves slightly to accomodate for the new additions, holding fast Waynev could feel the pull from the power slowly being pulled from her fingertips to her hands to her arms-

As Shadow held to the sight above, having the same experience as Waynev she tried to distract herself with the reassembling and bright light and runes that were slowly being carved and filled with purple and cyan lights.

As the two held on, unbeknownst to them, Blake had other plans.

…

The sirens in the distance began slowly dying down in sound that I could hear my own breathing again.

Fast and frantic, glancing to the woman nearby who had two hands on the gruesome weapon Blake sighed before trying to slow down her breathing.

Looking to Waynev and her slow breathing slowed hers down but not before she heard a screech come from nearby.

Ducking to the ground, nature surround the two.

Listening again, she waited a few moments before giving a sigh of relief.

“Gods. Why did this ha-” Blake’s pity was interrupted a bellow so loud she thought it would wake Waynev.

But she was still unreactive on the ground nearby.

Looking at the direction of the bellow, Blake looked back to Waynev before slowly walking through the numerous bushes and trees blocking her way.

Making sure not to make any noise, within a few moments she quickly was able to find the source of the bellow.

A robed man stood tall with a crooked smile on his face, staring directly at a slave.

Blake’s eyes darted to the armband that was illegally woven into the skin of her right arm.

All around her were other slaves with distraught or thousand mile stares on their faces.

“So,” His face unable to hold back the trembling smile of obvious glee continued.

“You want me, to take you and you alone. Because you would rather be my wife than be scarified?” Bellowing again the deep chuckles seemed to wash over the surrounding slaves, affecting even the beautiful woman in the middle of the bodies sourly.

“It’s just me-I-I won’t tell anyone, I can’t! Please, I’ll never try to escape and I’ll make love to you every-”

Interrupted by a bellow her face fell as his grew almost from her misfortune.

“You don’t seem to understand you position do you? The succubus I could summon would be much more enjoyable especially after sacrificing you.” Laughing again, Blake began to back away before she spotted a massive red circle beyond the slaves.

Watching almost entranced, as the robed man began ordering each slave to walk to each interval and stand still with knives being handed out.

“Don’t feel scared, people of all ages. You’re sacrifice will serve to summon the largest demon yet-the one which will finish Aestern and begin-THE INEVITABLE!” He screamed, but the only faces that changed were the youngest of slaves while the others hadn’t changed once.

The scream snapped Blake out of it as she began backing away almost running away back to Waynev.

She didn’t want to die, and maybe if it was Waynev-

The sight of imps surrounding her only to be massacred within seconds by the stoic adventurer blurred her sight.

Maybe--No.

She will save them.