Chapter 57 : Searching For Douglas (2) I followed the charred corpses and combat trails left behind by Douglas' group until I arrived at the foot of the gigantic mountain that overlooked the whole forest. These dead bodies were the same masked fellows who attacked Jerome and me earlier. I was glad to see Douglas killed so many of them, but I started to worry when I noticed the unusual amount of destroyed elite-drones scattered along the way to the mountain. I don't know who sent these assassins here, but they were quite skilled to take down that many drones on their own. Still, I did not believe they were good enough to pose a problem to Douglas... That implied someone or something far more dangerous was hiding nearby. When I came close to crossing the edge of the forest that bordered the mountains, I climbed to the top of a large tree to have a better look around and figure out what happened. From there, I saw a small pond of crystal-clear water surrounding a deep cavern. The water was tinted in bloody red by the myriad of corpses floating at its surface. No matter where I looked, all the trails of battle led me to this place. Once I observed the various traces of battles with a broader view, I could tell the assassins tried to hide in this cave probably thinking that they would be safe for the time being, but unsurprisingly, Douglas quickly found them and a major battle broke out at the entrance. The numerous blaster marks on the walls, the charred corpses floating in the pond and the remnants of elite-drones filled with daggers and arrows stuck inside their joints were proof of how violent the fight has been. The assassins most likely attempted to block Douglas' group at the cave's entrance, but they failed miserably. They've taken down ten elite-drones by themselves, which is a remarkable feat for these natives... yet, it is insignificant when facing a Void Rifter as experienced as Douglas. Even more so when he is such a skilled marksman. I couldn't see any trace of Douglas leaving the cave, nor could I inspect it from outside even with my【Dark Visor】enhanced to the fullest. It felt as though the entire mountain was filled with a weird kind of 'mana' that prevented me from seeing through the rocky walls. 'If something happened to Douglas... it had to be inside this cavern.' While I waited for Jerome to finish eliminating the last assassins and join me with his battle-drones, I decided to carefully scout the area before investigating the cave. If something or someone within this mountain is capable of harming Douglas badly enough for his synaptic link to be severed, it is a serious threat that should not be taken lightly. 'I just hope this isn't the work of the Scylla we previously met, or else... I fear we won't be able to save him.' I had shivers running down my spine when I recalled how even my most concentrated Void Surge didn't even leave a scratch on her ghosty body. "Leader." I was carefully examining the corpses floating in the pond when I heard Jerome's voice behind me. I turned myself, and I saw the gentle giant covered in blood and guts from head to toe slowly walking toward me, escorted by his fifty battle-drones. 'I guess Douglas' disappearance affected all of us...' I'd never seen Jerome as angry as when we fought the beastmen assassins. It was the first time he did let his emotions run wild, and I had to admit, it was a terrifying sight. "Are you done ?" I already knew the answer when I saw his bulky Dark Armor bathed in blood, but I still asked to be sure. "Yes. I made sure to leave no survivors alive. Also, on my way here I sensed Alice getting close to us." I also felt Alice's presence a few minutes ago already. I was glad she decided to help us look for Douglas on her own initiative, but I had other plans for her. 'Alpha Zero, do you remember the coordinates of Aliomeri's capital ?' When I called for him, the reaper emerged from my shadow and kneeled in front of me. 'I. Do. Master.' 'Good. The second proton torpedo is supposed to have hit their royal palace a few hours ago already, but I felt no explosion even with Gladia's help. Bring Alice and go investigate this elven city. Gather as much intel as you can, and see how strong and fortified is this Aliomeri kingdom.' Alpha Zero nodded at me, before asking. 'Can. We. Not... Just. Take. Care. Of. Their. Monarch. ?' Alpha Zero radiated such a strong murderous intent through his golden eyes that I knew 'taking care of the Queen' meant no less than 'slowly torturing her until she begs for mercy'. It seemed that even the cold and emotionless reaper that usually follows orders without asking any question was thirsting for blood today. Despite his superior intelligence compared to his pairs, Alpha Zero was still a reaper. Their race has been designed by the Ancient Scyllas for a sole purpose : protecting their master at the cost of their own lives. Thus, I was surprised to see Alpha Zero question my order for the first time. I guess being left behind while we were fighting against the assassins has been frustrating for him. I know his abilities very well, and the fact that he could overpower Kat and Jerome so easily in the Golden Hangar is more than enough for me to respect his strength. However, that is also the reason why I kept him hidden during the last battle. We should not stand out more than necessary and reveal all our cards when we are dealing with unknown enemies. We already revealed a part of our power to the natives, and we even used two proton warheads the same day we crashed on Lunaris. Now that I know our enemies went as far as sending experienced assassins deep inside the forest, we had to be careful not to reveal too many of our cards. All the other reapers doing well within my shadow, but they are still healing. Uuntil they are all operational, I'll have to keep Alpha Zero hidden and use him exclusively for covert operations. 'If a mere prince had a device that allowed him to escape unscathed from a nuclear explosion, I doubt it would be this simple to get rid of their Queen. Do not be bold, just quietly observe them and report their situation to me when Gladia contacts you back.' 'Yes. Master.' The reaper nodded, but I noticed the smoke around his body slightly flickering. Could he also be... angry ? Perhaps Douglas' disappearance affected him as much as it affected the squad members. I always considered the reapers devoid of any emotions, but it seems that crossing the dimensional rift changed something within them. I know their limitless loyalty and I trust them as much as I trust my squad, but if they start to get emotionally unstable... it might become troublesome. I'll have to keep an eye on them. 'Alice will have to blend into the masses and spy on these elves for a longer period of time. Even though we learned a lot from the Lyssandra King and the village chief, we still lack too much information about the people living on this planet. Planting a spy to live among the elves of Aliomeri seems to be the best choice for now.' 'I. Heard. The. Elves. Are. Extremely. Xenophobic.' Alpha Zero worried about Alice's appearance, but it wasn't a problem. 'Don't worry, Alice can shape her black matter to appear like one of them. She is the only one among us able to spy on these natives for a long period of time without getting caught. As for the identity problem, she can either kill and replace a powerful noble to infiltrate the highest levels of their government, or join one of the guilds the King told me about.' I recalled what the King and his scholar Duke said about the clans, guilds, sects, and other groups active on Lunaris. A plethora of organizations that are neutral and unaffiliated are operating on the continent and all countries, even the poorest kingdoms, have at least one of them on their territory. 'Let me think...' [Merchant Union, Adventurer Guild, Mercenary Guild, Mage Academy, Knight Order, Pleasure Sect, Underworld, and the four main Churches. Those are the most widely spread throughout the continent.] Seeing me struggling to recall their names, Gladia helped me out. 'Thanks. If Alice can't infiltrate their government, tell her to join whichever of these organization that is present in Aliomeri and has enough influence to make her job easier. Now, go.' 'Yes. Master.' Alpha Zero nodded, then vanished into thin air. After he left, I briefly contacted Alice to notify her of his arrival. ___ I was now left alone with Jerome, both of us facing the entrance of this eerie cave that Douglas entered but never left. "Tell your drones to guard the entrance and patrol the perimeter. Follow me." I jumped into the pond of bloody water that was filled with charred bodies and shredded limbs, and I swam to reach the other side. [Wouldn't it be safer to send a few battle drones to explore first ?] Gladia wasn't wrong ; normally, it would have been more prudent to send disposable drones to scout before we enter the cave. But this time, I didn't think it was a good idea. We didn't know if Douglas was still alive yet, but we knew that something or someone was powerful enough to, at least, make him lose consciousness. 'As far as I know, Douglas is either dead or held hostage. If I send a drone and it reacts automatically to a hostile presence by attacking it, it may endanger Douglas' safety.' [It makes sense... Just be careful.] When Jerome and I stepped inside the cavern, we carefully analyzed the traces on the walls before engulfing ourselves further inside. Thanks to our acute vision, we could see every detail perfectly well even in pitch darkness. The ground and walls were made of granite and another mineral we didn't know. This unknown mineral was the reason why we couldn't see through it from outside : it was densely filled with mana. The main entrance of the cave led us to a wide naturally formed room with a circular shape. This place reeked blood, as assassins' corpses were scattered everywhere. After examining what was left of their dead bodies, I noticed they haven't all been killed by energy weapons. From the visible injuries they had, I was able to deduce what kind of beings killed them. Some of them have been grossly bitten and had crescent-shaped holes at least a meter large on their bodies, while others got their limbs and heads violently ripped off. "Leader... This tunnel reminds me of the swarmling hive on Kar'goth..." "Yeah, me too..." I thought the same as Jerome. The Hive was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw all the scratches on the walls and the viscous fluid scattered on the ground. At the far end of the room, we found a path leading further into the mountain. This tunnel, compared to the cave entrance, didn't look natural and Gladia informed me that it has been dug just recently. [From the composition of the rocks, there is a 97.4% chance that this path has been dug not long after our arrival. The most probable scenario I can think of is a herd of indigenous creatures migrating into this cave when its original owner left. There is a high chance for them to have a colony-type social structure.] "As long as these fuckers are not swarmlings or Giant Ants..." The further we progressed through the dark and narrow galleries, the more destroyed elite-drones we found. They were all in a pitiful state, with their broken armor covered in mud and viscous fluids. Gladia tried to access the memory chips of those who still had their neural cortex intact, but for an unknown reason, they were unreadable even for her. "What the hell happened here ?..." I could not help but have a bad feeling rising inside my guts. Seeing how even the sturdy elite-drones have been violently crushed and how their armor made of exotic metal has been corroded by these fluids, I started to fear Douglas was more than just unconscious... "Leader, I detect multiple life signatures below our feet." After walking through the dark galleries for a while, our sensors finally detected something : a group of hostile creatures was rushing straight to our position from underground. "Prepare for combat. Take the front, I got your back." "Roger." Jerome's massive body stepped in front of me and conjured his【Dark Sword】, while crimson red lines appeared on my armor when I released my thick【Red Mist】. I realized something after our fight with the Scylla called 'the Oracle' : while Singularity energy is extremely scarce on Lunaris, mana and Void energy are abundant. Gladia had a theory about it ; she thinks that it could be possible for us to replace Singularity energy with the 'mana' present in this world. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to do so yet, so until then we had to limit our usage of Singularity energy. Douglas'【Dark Rifle】and Jerome's【Dark Sword】were originally the alien weapons the Scyllas gave us when we first got deployed to Kar'goth. Despite being significantly modified by Douglas and Jerome, they were still derived from an existing weapon. As a result, they didn't waste as much Singularity energy as our standard 【Dark Blade】that we have to materialize from our black matter. This made Douglas' rifle and Jerome's sword the most efficient weapons to use for the time being, at least until we can find a way to replenish Singularity energy or replace it with mana. As for me, even if I stop using my Singularity energy-based skills, I still have access to Void energy. If I need a melee weapon other than my【Dark Blade】, I can momentarily wield my most powerful【Void Blade】instead. The only problem is that, like all of my Void energy skills, it is incredibly unstable and I can't keep it active for too long. One minute at best, which is already sixty times better than when I conjured a【Void Blade】for the first time on Kar'goth and I couldn't keep it up for more than one second. Hence, unless we meet a fearsome creature, I chose to rely mostly on my Red Mist and only use my right hand when fighting in melee. It should be more than enough to take care of the creatures living in this forest. This situation gave me another reason to understand how this 'mana' works and to find a way to manipulate it. Supplying or replacing our low reserve of Singularity energy will be of the highest priority if we plan to stay on this planet for a long time. Else, we'll end up using the same primitive weapons as the natives. "Incoming!" *shrieeek!* We heard low-pitched growls reverberating within the walls, and then sharp teeth sprang out of the ground all around us. Jerome clenched his longsword and patiently waited for the monsters to show themselves, while my【Red Mist】gradually filled the whole tunnel. Soon after, long and disgusting heads started to pop out from the many holes they dug. These monsters were about two meters long, had a gigantic mouth filled with a swarm of sharp curved teeth, their entire body was protected by large-sized green scales covered in sticky fluid, and a cluster of minerals sparkled on the tip of their tail. They looked like gigantic earthworms, but with horrific features. "Engage!" I shouted as the first monsters came to us. Jerome didn't wait for my signal before stabbing his blade into the head of a worm emerging from the ground just next to him. *pulch!* Keeping his momentum, he dashed forward and slashed at the swarm of worms that had now taken up the entire passage. Because of the close space between each wall of the tunnel, the worms that came out at the same time got entangled with each other and formed an unsightly wall of flesh in front of Jerome. "Take advantage of the lack of space ! They can't move well if they are stuck to each other !" I said loud enough for him to hear me, before turning myself to face the worms that appeared behind us. Despite their frightening appearance, these worms appeared to be quite stupid. Instead of taking us by surprise and attacking us one by one from different directions to exhaust us, they just emerged at the same time until they even entangled their long bodies between each other. As I was gathering Void energy in my left arm, I condensed my【Red Mist】to buff both Jerome and me. I never understood why my mist also affected my companions, but I knew the more they breathed it the better were the effects on them. I used the terrain to my advantage : because the worms blocked one path and the tunnel was narrow, the mist my body produced got concentrated in the air very quickly. While I was waiting for the worms behind us to get closer, I suddenly felt a presence getting closer and I instinctively jumped as high as I could without crushing on the low ceiling. At the place I was at just a second ago, I saw a hole filled with razor-blade teeth waiting for my legs to fall inside. I didn't know yet if these worms' mouths were strong enough to break our Dark Armor, but I didn't want to take the bet with my own body. I kicked the wall on my left in mid-air with all my strength to push me away from the worm waiting for me. "【Void Step】!" The moment my feet touched the ground, I teleported myself right in front of the worm that was wriggling to get out of the hole and I punched the top of his head with all my strength to crush it on the ground. *sproch!* As expected, its scales weren't resistant enough to protect his body from the force of my punch and its head got flattened on the ground, spurting a mush of fluorescent green gore on my armor. When I looked up, there were already more than five worms that got their entire bodies out of the holes they dug, and they were all rushing toward us from the way we came in. Behind me, Jerome was fighting more than ten worms by himself. Despite his high proficiency in close-quarter combat, he still got injured as I noticed blood flowing out of a large circular bite mark on his right shoulder. I needed to clear the worms that sneaked behind us quickly if I wanted to help him push through the wall of flesh blocking our path. I originally planned to only fight barehanded with the help of my red mist, but considering the critical situation we were in, I didn't have the leisure of not using Void energy. "Jerome, prepare for a gravitational pull !" Creating a micro blackhole underground in such a closed space will dangerously raise the risk of the ceiling crumbling on us, but I didn't have a choice. I had to clear as many worms as I could in a single strike. *pulch!* "pant... Roger! ...pant" The exhausted Jerome, covered in green blood from head to toe, removed his sword from the cluster of worms blocking the path and leaped a few steps back toward me. He then lowered his body, and firmly planted his hands inside the walls. Once I confirmed he was ready, I redirected all the Void energy I gathered up until now through my left arm, before slightly lifting my index finger and conjuring my most powerful attack. "Begone !!【Void Surge】!!"