Chapter 108: Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Ruin/ Corridor out of Cavern Entrance/ Field of Centipedes

Galactic Standard Time / 0655

As he led the way, Oly’xic tried and failed to keep his heart from beating too fast. There was something about this place that just seemed to bother him. He wanted to say that it was just nerves, but there was something here. The fact that this place was most likely built by sentient after the Firstborn died was telling. And it raised all kinds of alarms in his head.

He looked back at Kon’gric and tried to keep calm. This whole situation was starting to bother him. That strange feeling was back in the quiet. There was something about Kon’grix, something that was working against him. He knew what that looked like, and how to recognize it. he wanted to reach out and help the man, but how would he even talk about it? With the prince looking over the man’s shoulder, he couldn’t just say it.

“[How old do you think this might be]?” Ar’thor asked and Oly’xic shrugged.

“[Can’t really tell. The fabric we found must have been eaten by a normal-sized insect. Without anything else and since this is a cave, it could be anything up to a thousand years. Still, the Firstborn couldn’t have made this. No way],” Oly’xic said with a sigh.

He looked at the room and tried to figure out anything. So far, this place was nothing but the remains of something. There were marks here and there that told him that this place hadn’t been abandoned by choice.

“[Any clues to who was here]?” Kon’grix asked and Oly’xic sighed before shaking his head.

“[No, this place…… I can’t tell you anything definite. There are marks here and there that whoever was here didn’t go gently. But why it was here, I can’t say. Maybe it’s to keep those things from attacking whoever built this. But how did they even make it if the centipedes attacked them]?” Oly’xic asked with a shrug.

As they walked into another room, Oly’xic looked around in shock. The room was a good twenty feet long and shaped like a rectangle. There was a slim staircase of solid stone at the center of the room and it seemed to lead to the roof. With a hard look he nodded at Kon’gric. “[Stay here. I’ll go see if we can use that. It might be nothing, but it might be something].”

“[Then shouldn’t we all go then]?” Ar’thor asked and Oly’xic shook his head.

“[If we’re still in range, we might get hit with the acid. I’m just going to check on this o prince. I just need to stick my head up for a moment],” Oly’xic explained before he walked up the stairs.

He came out onto a round chamber with an opening to the side facing the nearest wall. He stuck his head out for a moment and pushed his armor’s sensors to the max. if he could find anything out there. For a few moments, he didn’t register anything but then he heard the sounds of wings. For a second, he thought he had found the food source that forced the centipedes to gain acid spit. But then he remembered that the centipedes were bioweapons!

And then he slowly moved backwards, keeping his weapon pointing at the opening. So far nothing here besides the false mites were friendly. And he expected something that could fly to be a lot worse if it could think for itself. But the sounds of wings went by him, and he thought that he heard at least five pairs.

Looking at the opening as he moved down the stairs he finally got close enough to call Kon’gric. “[Guard Kon’gric, move the prince towards the door at the other end, now. Don’t wait for me in that room]!”

“[Moving]!” Kon’gric called out over the coms. “[What did you find up there]?!”

“[Nothing good! I’ll tell you once I make it down]!” Oly’xic nodded. As he moved down the stairs, he kept his weapon aimed up. Nothing came down but as soon as he made it off the stairs, he turned and ran for where Kon’gric had gone

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As she moved through the building, Je’ndra tried and failed to keep from feeling horror. This place was incredible. The acid-resistant material made it the perfect place to watch the centipedes. But the fact that the Firstborn didn’t make it made her feel that this place was made with blood in the walls. The nearest hole was close enough for the monsters to hit the workers, so how was it made? And the fact that this place was so bare only furthered her bad feelings.

“[So, what do you all think about this place? A mad scientist or a would-be overlord? Cause I’m betting Cult with a capital ‘C’]!” Tar’lroia’s voice over the coms caused Je’ndra to smile.

“[If that’s who made this place, then what happened to them? I mean, think about it. where are the marks of the hero who killed the villain? Or the Monster that broke out after painful experiments]?” Ro’borlar asked with a note of humor in his voice.

All in all, hearing those two could joke made her smile and boosted her morale. As bad as this place was, at least……. Je’ndra stopped talking as they turned the corner, taking in the chamber ahead of them. The chamber was around twenty feet long with a long opening towards the far wall ten feet wide. At the far end of the chamber was an open doorway, but through the opening was the main horror. There was a stone altar, round and at least six feet wide. There was a stake at least ten feet tall there, and there were manacles hanging from chains that started at the top. The chains only went down enough that whoever the manacles were around had to stand up.

“[Okay, I was joking about the Cult],” Tar’lroia said softly.

“[Secure this place now! Ken’tricx, I want you to stay here, watch our backs. Ro’borlar, come with me to the opening. Tar’lroia, check the other doorway],” Je’ndra said softly as she looked around.

Without a word, her team followed her orders. As she jogged to the opening, Je’ndra felt a spark of fear. They reached the opening and Ro’borlar grabbed her arm.

She looked at him and was about to open her mouth when he started speaking.

Stolen novel; please report.

“[I can share what my rifle sees, that way we can stay under cover boss],” Ro’borlar said softly.

Je’ndra looked at him before she nodded.

Ro’borlar nodded before pointing his rifle back towards where the centipedes were. In a moment, the view that the rifle scope saw was revealed. To Je’ndra’s horror, there was a large path that led from the pole to an open space. From a few marks on the ground, centipedes came for whatever was put there.

“[Sacrificial altar confirmed. So this was definitely not the Firstborn. Great],” Ro’borlar muttered softly.

Je’ndra wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. The few records they had showed that the Firstborn destroyed the ideas of ‘Gods’ before they took to the stars. But if this was from the last time of the Firstborn, some of them grappling for the past wasn’t out of the question. Could the builders of this place have been the degenerate descendants of the builders of this structure?

“[And we can’t tell when it was last used…… and if it had something alive],” Je’ndra muttered as Ro’borlar moved his rifle upwards.

As she was looking at the screen, something flew past it. “[WAIT! Possible contact]!”

“[I SAW IT, I SAW IT]!” Ro’borlar barked as he moved his rifle around, trying to find what had breezed past the scope. In the distance, they saw a group of five creatures flying away.

And to Je’ndra’s horror, they looked like humanoids.

“[We need to get to the door, now! We have to find the Princde]!” Je’ndra declared as she canceled the link to the rifle scope.

Without a word, Ken’tricx dashed forward and met Je’ndra and Ro’borlar as they ran to Tar’lroia.

Tar’lroia meanwhile had stopped and opened the door. She looked around for anything that might be on the other side before calling out. “[Another hallway, but it curves towards the wall on this side]!”

“[Move now! This place has to link up to the other side! All it takes is for us to find the right way]!” Je’ndra snarled.

“[I’ve got our six. Everyone else, move]!” Ken’tricx said in a hard and focused tone.

“[Right behind you boss]!” Ro’borlar called out as he let Je’ndra pass.

As she ran down the hallway, all she could think of were the creatures she had seen from the scope. The very idea that flying sentient life would create something like this was insane. But then that was only if the sentient life was normal, and not influenced by anything. Those with bodies that could fly were either weak or had tricks to get around their weight. And if they were Aether users, all of them, then how did they get by the centipedes to build this? And who and why would any being even think about giving sacrifices to those monsters?

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As he flew towards the end of the Harvesting field, Aplirix could only laugh as his wings carried him. The new potion that augmented his other form had worked beyond his wildest dreams! With arms, legs, and wings he could fight harder than ever before! There was talk amongst the others about finding specialized training for everyone. Something that might be needed once the new potions were finally created. For now, it was only for the officers, then the greatest fighters then the rest.

As he flew over the field, he looked down at the giant centipede holes. They were a bit spooked but he couldn’t see what the leaders were thinking. There hadn’t been anything that could even try to cross the field in generations! It had taken the Cult creating the Flight Form for the Cult to even think about crossing it. The records showed that only a giant hive of bugs that couldn’t fly awaited anyone who dared to try.

And the Cult was only now slowly rebuilding their power. To risk everything while they already had a plan in the works was the height of folly! And all he could hope was that the ambush worked perfectly. The ones to be fed to the Great Beast had already been chosen beyond a few last-minute choices. But still, the very act would prove to everyone that they were a force to be feared. When they had the Kingdom on the back foot, then the others would attack those who held the Front Line. Once they were all dead and they were the ones to end the war, then the rest would fall into line.

“What are we here for anyway boss?” One of the Flyers following behind him asked.

Aplirix let a bubble of laughter erupt and grinned as he answered. “The three bosses said the little beasts are active. We’re going to see why and if we want the remains! So keep a lookout for any scraps from the bugs!”

Aplirix expected nothing but then he heard a cry from one of his own causing him to look up and stare. He saw a strange-looking metallic bird above the centipedes dodging their acid. It had a straight and smooth body, a sleek tail, and two strange round talons on its wings of all things! Aplirix had never even seen a creature shaped like this thing, and it was beyond anything that he had ever seen. It flew around the blasts of acid and seemingly dodged the acid in a way to let the blobs hit the centipedes. For a second he thought about how but then he realized that this thing must be using a skill to control the wind! That and the speed it showed, proved that this thing was perfect! The way its wings were rigid and it dodged and flew with such grace! This one was worthy of serving the Great Beast, and its blood would strengthen the all!

Aplirix pumped his wings as he gripped his spear in his right hand. He looked at the creature and flexed his talons in anticipation. He looked at the other fliers and smirked as he saw them fly with wings in place of arms. He might have been the only one who had taken the booster potion, but the others were savage fighters. “Attack formation! Get that thing in our talons and then fly down the hallway! Once we’re far enough that the creatures can’t touch us, we’ll examine it. and to make it fun, the one who gets it I’ll put forward for the booster potion!”

“Yes Leader!” The others roared and flew at the metallic creature.

As they all called upon their Skills to fly faster or hit the creature, Aplirix smirked. Let the others all fight for the prize, if he took it down then he didn’t have to put anyone forward after all.

With a screech of victory, one of the fliers flew ahead and angled his body to grab the creature with his claws. But the creature flew away, angled upward, and climbed into the air.

Aplirix watched with hunger. That kind of speed even climbing, as a Flyer he wanted it! Perhaps he’d be the one to try the new merge potion once this thing was captured? The sheer power that this thing might have was mouthwatering.

Flying upwards with his own Skill, he looked at it as it climbed. It’s back was to him and it wasn’t even reacting, surprising. He raised his spear at the metallic beast and started to gather Aether. But then it suddenly flipped over and blinded him with blue light from its claws.

He screeched and dropped a foot as the thing started to climb higher before it flew away and along the ceiling. It was actually trying to escape back towards the caverns.

He grinned as he didn’t feel anything wrong with him as he started to fly again.

“Leader!” One of his soldiers cried out.

“Our prey is smart! After it!” Aplirix called out in glee. The best hunts were the ones that were challenging after all.

As the group flew after the creature, he wondered just what this thing was. A new kind of Insect from the hive that was finally trying to breach the centipedes again? Or something that was a part of a pack that had found its way underground? All in all, Aplirix was looking forward for this fight!

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As he was carried along, Ar’thor tried and failed to calm down. So far this entire situation was bothering him. The way that Sir Olv’xic was reacting, showed fear. And he hated to admit it but he felt the same thing here and now. But then it was smart to fear the unknown in a Ruin, but this was beyond that. It was almost like something was hunting them. Like when they found that three-legged thing before the false mites. And he hated to say it but the very walls seemed to be full of malice and wickedness. He didn’t believe in the supernatural, but there was something here that he didn’t understand.

“[Kon’gric, don’t react. I’ve set a solo channel to you],” Ar’thor said softly.

“[My prince]?” Kon’gric asked softly.

Ar’thor tried to keep calm as he swallowed. “[I don’t want to worry you, but there’s something about this place. Maybe it’s my nerves, but I can feel it].”

Ar’thor felt better finally saying something was wrong. But the very act of saying something was wrong seemed to make the feeling grow stronger.

“[I know my prince, I feel it too. I don’t think this from the Firstborn. This must be from whoever made this place….. I don’t like it here],” Kon’gric said just as softly.

Ahead of them, sir Olv’xic led the way, and he looked all around trying to find anything that might threaten them.

Ar’thor tried to keep calm by looking over his own internal databases. The Empire had to have found something like this in its history. It was impossible that this kind of building was something new! But then his people had never found a culture that grew within a Ruin before……. “[Oh].”

“[O prince? Is something wrong]?” Olv’xic asked over the general coms line and Ar’thor blinked.

He looked at his mask and blushed, he hadn’t thought it was set to general broadcast. For a moment he thought of what he had realized and tried to figure out if it was possible. It made sense, but then where did the materials of this building come from?

“[I think…. Whoever built this place? they had to have grown in the Ruins],” Ar’thor said. He saw Olv’xic go still and felt Kon’gric tense for a second.

He didn’t want to say it, but it made so much sense. The one thing that he had been trying to figure out was why this place was built inside a Ruin. How whoever built this place braved the Ruin and the monsters in the caverns to get supplies here. But if they came from the other side of the door, it all became a lot easier.

Olv’xic turned around and looked right at Ar’thor. He stayed still and seemed to be lost in thought.

“[Oh by the past and the future, the blade of all! That makes sense]!” Olv’xic breathed out in total horror.

“[Wait, I have a thought. Were the Firstborn actually dead when these people made the Ruin their home? And how would that even work? I mean to live in a crumbling structure? I wouldn’t want to raise my children in a decaying house]!” Kon’gric cut in

Ar’thor nodded and sighed. “[Yes, that’s the one thing that doesn’t make sense if you think about it. But still, it makes sense otherwise].”

“[No, it makes perfect sense]!” Olv’xic said bitterly as he looked around at the walls again.

“[I thought we agreed that no one would raise their young in a destroyed building if they couldn’t]!”

“[We did. But who says that the Ruin is destroyed in the first place],” Olv’xic asked with a bitter look.