Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 212

The bad feeling intensified as we headed deeper into the cavern. I felt as though something watched me, though no matter where I looked, I couldn’t see whatever it was. Still, my guard was most definitely up as we trudged through the water.

“So you wanted a Magus to lift the water?” The Inquisitor easily put together why I wanted him down here with me. He wasn't an Inquisitor for no reason.

“Chek. CI said it blocked out the magic circle.” I waved a hand to the murky water. “Can you do it?”

“No problem.” The Inquisitor went silent, seemingly communicating with the sprite as the cute shark went still. A moment later, the Aether condensed as it started to cast magic. I felt that familiar tingle of Insight as its magic took shape.

The surrounding water moved back like a wave emanating from where Inquisitor Varus stood. It receded entirely, pushing out in a fairly large circle before settling into a wall of water, leaving perfectly dry ground behind. As the water moved, the dust and debris in it lay left behind, slightly covering the ground in a layer of filth.

Below that, though? Intricately carved lines branched out from the center of the storage cavern, going off a ways before vanishing under the dozens of crates scattered around. They were almost an exact copy of the ones under the other arcology. I felt a stone drop in my stomach as I took in the sight.

To think, I stumbled across a ritual site oh so long ago and hadn’t realized it… were the soldiers the human sacrifices for this one then? Was it all a setup? If it were, than they’d been planning this for a long, long time. At least a decade. What else was hidden below the streets of the city?

How was Fedra related? The terrorist organization had most definitely been guarding this place. Were they part of the Circle? Or just working with them? The Circle were terrorist scum, so it'd make sense if they partnered up... So many questions. Ugh- I hate how finding a place that should've given answers instead raised more questions.

With the ritual runes exposed, I could finally see them with Aetherial Perception. They were supercharged with energy, although the energy seemed to have a slight repelling effect on the surrounding Aether. And under all of that? The etherial emanations of Mother. It was weak, extraordinarily weak, but I could still make them out.

I felt a pain in the back of my neck. My hand slapped on instinct, catching a mosquito as it tried to escape. I looked down at the splattered blood on my hand with a frown. Mosquitos down here? I guess it made sense… they lay their eggs in water, right? How annoying.

“Hmm…” The Inquisitor crouched down, running a hand along the engraved lines as my attention refocused on him. “Looks like your CI was right… Two ritual circles like this don’t bode well. From my understanding, they work in threes. Must be another somewhere.”

”What do you think it's supposed to do?” I asked the guy. He seemed as though he had a working understanding of all of this- this magic bull shittery.

He helplessly shook his head. “No clue. Could be water purification for all I know… still, there’s something… unnerving

”Can we just break the ritual lines?” It seemed an easy enough solution to our current problem.

”No. It might activate prematurely, or it might explode. This kind of power stored up has to go somewhere… it’d be like setting a nuke off under an Arcology."

"That'd be bad..." Still, though, nothing like that happened when the cavern under Lang Tower collapsed? Did that mean the ritual circle down there was still active? 

"If we had time, a bunch of Adepts and Magi could probably set something up to leach the energy away, but it’d take a while.” He ran a finger down the length of one of the engravings. A spark of magic seemed to emit from his hand, quickly followed by the shark sprite as it joined him.

I left him to watch and touch the runes as I mentally conjured up a map. He said there were supposed to be three of them, right? I marked this one and the one under Lang Tower mentally. Assuming they were all equal distance from each other, that’d put the third… either out in the Outlands pretty far or just outside Aythryn City’s Bay Area. 

Neither of those answers felt right. I mean, the Underground was sprawling, but it didn’t reach out under the ocean. Unless maybe they dove down and found a cave or something… but how would they get the sacrifices over? Too much of a hassle. 

The Outlands weren’t much better. Sure, it would be easier to access, but the triangle formed by the three ritual circles would mostly be out over the Outlands. Over barren space. I had a feeling whatever the Circle planned was for the whole city though. Something still wasn’t adding up-

”Ah!” The Inquisitor cried out, his voice shaking slightly. “It’s a Fallen.”

”Fallen?” I asked.

Varus dropped his easygoing attitude entirely before rapidly shaking his head. He seemed to panic slightly. “We- we need to get out of here! I met its eye. It saw me.”

”Woah, woah, woah… slow down. What do you mean a Fallen?” 

He paused for a moment, sweeping the entire area with his gaze. “L-look- Fallen

Fallen… She Who Grows? What the heck was a Fallen in the first place though? Something of the Aether? No- that can’t be right. The Aether itself seemed to reject Mother’s presence from what I’d seen. And the eidolons didn't seem to like Fallen much…

But, to be honest, She Who Grows hadn't seemed all that dangerous. Sure, I haven’t seen her up front and I’ve mainly just ambushed her troops, but as far as actual danger? Hadn’t felt it. At least not yet. I’ve always managed to get away before she showed her presence, at least. And the Circle itself seemed like a small scale cult more than anything. I'd yet to see more than five of them at a time... maybe they were just good at evading pursuit though.

A buzzing noise filled the air. It was a horrid, uncomfortable sound that seemed to worm into my ears. I couldn’t quite pinpoint where it was coming from. No- not buzzing. Vibrations. It was something vibrating rapidly. I glanced down- the runes pulsed slightly as if meeting my gaze.

A flash of Insight hit me as if something was moving through the Aether. I glanced back to check if it was the Magus-

I used Burst Step to throw myself to the side. From out of nowhere, a vine whipped through the space, quickly followed by the rest of a massive body as the Aether ripped behind me. A large creature, made of black wood and oozing corruption, stepped out of the Aether.

”Watch out!” The Inquisitor called a moment late as he likewise moved to dodge a thorn whip. “It sent a protector!”

I backed away, drawing my rifle and firing before I even got a clear look at whatever it was. About half my shots seemed to plink off the thing’s bark as if it were steel, and the other half embedded into its surface, barely burrowing in.

The creature appeared roughly humanoid, though it was massive. It looked like a giant wreathed in a large leaf dress, with wooden armor poking out from under it. It appeared like one of those ents I'd seen in fantasy works- or at least a heavily feminized version. And indeed, if I squinted really hard, I could make out a body shape that looked vaguely female. Or maybe that was just the leaf dress influencing my perception

Its face was a horrible maw of serrated wood, with a thorn vine acting like a tongue. The barbed vine dripped with purple saliva. Poison? It opened its maw and screeched sharply. “LEEEEE!”

I felt a wave of pain wash over my mind- a mental attack. I flashed Cold-Blooded to keep myself centered. It somewhat worked, clearing out a fog that started to settle in my head.

A high-pressure burst of water sprang up from the surroundings, slamming into the giant tree-looking creature with the force of a tsunami. It staggered under the heavy blow, unprepared for resistance as it nearly fell over. It took several steps back with four large roots shaped like legs, regaining its balance.

I ran back while firing, repositioning myself down one of the paths made by the stacks of crates. As my gun finally clicked, I ducked out of the way and behind a stack of crates, losing sight of the massive humanoid tree. From the heavy crashes and high-pressure whines of water jets, the fight still raged with the Inquisitor.

I stopped to reload for a moment before clambering up the rotted wood of the crates. There were more than enough hand and footholds to exploit, allowing me to climb up onto the stack in record time. As I pulled myself up and over the last lip of the nearly two-story stack of crates, the enemy came back in sight.

The battle had shifted at one point, with the massive tree slamming through hundreds of containers as if they weren’t there. The plant’s ferocious movements shook the air as it swung heavy blows with its arms, scattering debris.

A needle-thin water jet launched out from behind cover. Although it lacked the heavy concussive force that the wider jet had, the thin one pierced through the bark ‘armor’ of the creature, cutting a pen-sized hole clear through one of its arms. Unfortunately, it was big enough the injury didn't matter.

”Le! Leee le- la!” The plant sang, its maw splaying wide. It sounded like a once harmonious singer who’d spent decades smoking and yet still thought they had a perfect voice. It grated against my eardrums and mind.

I dropped my rifle, searching through my bag for Molotovs. They were becoming a staple and something I was hesitant to leave home without considering my current enemies. As I filled and lit one, I lined up the throw and launched it perfectly.

Even from here, the sudden brightness of the exploding bottle stung my eyes. The fire wasted no time spreading, catching the frilly leaves that covered the bark armor on fire. It was doing damage, though at the moment it seemed restricted to cosmetic damage. Its bark was somewhat resistant, at least.

If anything, though, it only seemed to enrage the tree creature even more as thick vines wormed all over its body. The vines spread out like an expanding sphere, smashing everything around them. From the way things just vanished as the vines impacted them, I had no doubt that there was quite some force behind the lashing thorn vines.

I barely caught a shout over the destruction as the tree creature slammed all around itself in a rage. “Buy me some time!”

How exactly am I supposed to do that?! The beast seemed as though it had lost its senses entirely, attacking indiscriminately even at thin air. My hand dropped to my pistol. While I waited for the wrist launchers, I’d gone ahead and loaded all eight Blaze rounds into it. Should I whip it out here?

No- too far. It’d still hit and do some damage, but I should try and lure the creature over here. They weren’t a strong enough caliber, nor did I have too much hope in their capabilities against something so massive. How do I bring it over though?

I thought for a moment before whipping out the flashlight I’d used earlier in the day. As I flicked it on, casting bright light into the cavern, the tree creature flicked toward my direction, small beady eyes glaring maliciously as it started to move. I dropped the light, keeping it pointed at the plant, and used Burst Step to immediately vacate the space. I threw myself across several paths between crates.

I glanced over my shoulder as I sailed through the air several aisles over. My weakened legs nearly gave out as I landed on top of the stack, though I managed to keep myself mostly stable by transitioning into a roll.

The same couldn’t be said for the stacks I had just left. The ent rammed through the crates, crashing through my previously vacated space in a spray of rotting wood and rusted metal.

Another Molotov? No- I won’t have enough time to fill it up. I dropped my rifle, going for my pistol loaded with Blaze rounds. Please, please have a good effect! 

“La! LEEEEEEE!” I lined up a shot with the thing’s face as it turned toward me with a screech. It’s maw split wide, dripping with purple saliva. Its mental attack hit, though it had no effect thanks to the flushes of cold pouring from my heart.

Although my skill with firearms still wasn’t high, I was much, much better at shooting than I was just months ago. That being said, my accuracy was good enough to hit a wide-open maw. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.

In a blink of an eye, a Blaze round slammed into the back of its throat. The bullet immediately exploded into a small burst of a thermite-like substance, coating the back of its throat in bright fire. 

The creature staggered back, smoke pouring from its maw as it covered its head with one massive arm. It slammed its leg-like roots into the ground, a vibrato seemingly filling the air as the ground vibrated-

A cold phantom pain of something massive stabbing up through my torso ran through me. I flung myself to the side with Burst Step one more time, feeling my muscles twist and burst in my leg. I was seriously approaching my limit-

Giant roots thrust up through the space I just held, four of them piercing up in a pattern that would’ve caught me if I’d been a moment slower in my movements. I turned the rest of my unstable momentum into another roll, feeling splinters try and fail to penetrate through my poncho as I threw one of my cheap knives out mid-roll.

The knife flew true through the air, slamming into the giant tree creature’s arm. A bullet couldn’t get through its arm, let alone a knife. That wasn’t the goal though.

The knife banked off the arm, deflecting at the perfect angle to get past the other arm blocking its face from me. I couldn’t see it, but from the way the creature flinched and wailed, the knife perfectly deflected into its eye. Throwing Weapon Master wasn’t just hitting my target every time. Trick shots like deflections were also heavily taught, though I hadn’t needed to use them till now.

”La la- LEE LEEEEE!” Its horrid voice sang in pain as it moved upright. I spotted my knife impaled into its eye, dripping out a disgusting green ichor. A vine reached up and ripped the knife out. Already, its pierced eye slowly started to regrow as if the injury didn't mean anything to it. No- it just made the creature even more berserk.

The vines all over its body twisted and turned sinisterly. Another vine burst? Too close. I’m way too close. I didn't pause for a moment as I turned tail and ran, hearing the crash of countless crates behind me.