Cato turned in a circle, gazing up at the truly massive cavern. It was impossibly wide, and he couldn't even see the ceiling that was shrouded in gloom. Greenery grew from cracks in the stone floor, leading to a lush carpet of plants that spread as far as the eye could see.
Vines and trees grew up the sides of the walls near him, and even the air felt purer and more refreshing. Pallas had told him this was a basic sign of increased mana density in an area, and Cato wasn't surprised.
The nest would surely be more mana dense, as thousands of eggs were laid here and needed a suitable environment to grow to their full potential. Rare fruits and plants with many valuable uses were visible in every direction, but Cato focused now on destroying any eggs.
He didn't want to get sidetracked by all the plants and let these eggs hatch more enemies. The first few eggs he came across were nestled into the foliage, but they were destroyed. Cato found this strange, as nothing in the burrower colony would destroy their own young. As he came across more and more eggs, he discovered the same thing.
As he wandered deeper into the chamber, the plants grew more dense, and the air grew even purer. At the same time though, he began to smell a slight hint of blood. The sweet smelling flowers almost completely masked it, but he could almost taste the iron on his tongue.
He walked along a path of crushed vegetation, warily taking in his surroundings. In the sea of green, the blackish eggs and neon green blood of burrowers was easy to spot. After what seemed like hours of walking, he came upon a large pale rock that speared through the ground.
Cato was surprised it hadn't tipped over yet, as it was extremely top heavy, and he carefully went around it. It was a strange shape, with a slight curve to it, and large pitted holes on one side. Cato ran his hand down the rock, and felt how strange the material was.
It was extremely smooth, but wasn't cold, as he expected the rock to be. Rather, it was almost warm, and he marveled at the strange material. After a few minutes of examining it, he continued on, continuing to look out for any dangers.
----------
Bon paced around a plaza, glancing around occasionally as he pondered many things. His clawed hands tapped in a peculiar pattern against his leg as he strode back and forth on the smooth marbled floor. He circled around a grand dining table that was a smooth black rectangle that stretched to the edges of his vision.
He ran a hand along the wood, tracing the whorls and lines in it, his mind absent of his surroundings. Then a voice broke through his thoughts, a deep sound that seemed to resonate in his chest. "How are the new arrivals progressing? I hope managing them hasn't been too strenuous."
A man approached slowly, walking in measured strides, his shoulder length crimson hair jingling with gold trinkets interwoven into it. His languid gold eyes ran over Bon as he grinned, revealing sharp, pronounced canines among his rows of gleaming gold teeth.
He sat down on a couch nearby, his red shirt fluttering loosely as he settled down. He beckoned Bon over, a relaxed, easy smile covering his face. Bon shuddered, nervously walking over. "What brings you here today, your Grace?", he asked.
The man chuckled and turned his head, giving Bon a glimpse of the abyssal black horns peaking through his hair. "Oh, I just grew bored and decided to come down to this layer. Things are so boring at the moment, and I wanted to catch a glimpse of the new talent."
Bon was incredulous. Boring? Gehenna was in a tremendous amount of upheaval on many layers at the moment, and tensions were running high. However, considering who this man was, it wasn't surprising he considered it all tame.
"Well your Grace, they should soon be finishing their tests on grasping mana, and will be thrust into the final test, which is a shallow excursion into the Abyss. Many have already gained sponsors to help them when they return." Bon relayed all the information he could, and the man once again smiled.
He looked up at Bon, who saw the mesmerizing patterns of his eyes. Winding runes of the darkest black filled his eyes where pupils should be, showing a beautiful contrast between the gold of the irises and the black sclera.
"Why so on edge, Bon? Although you weren't in my service in the past, my fellow Dukes and I miss your company. I hope this new job is treating you well?" Bon stiffly nodded, before bowing his head. "Many thanks for the concern, but I am managing just fine. It's an honor to be missed, your Grace. Send my regards to the other Dukes."
The man's smile widened, and he chuckled. "Oh of course dear Bon." Then his smile turned feral, as his eyes grew cold. The air around him felt heavy, as Bon felt a massive pressure build on him, forcing him to his knees. His vision grew blurry as his throat began to feel constricted.
The man looked down at Bon with a hint of amusement, tapping his clawed finger against his alabaster skin. "It's truly amusing to have one of our own working on the side of that celestial bitch. How shocked I was when I heard you'd switched sides so abruptly! And now you've regressed to a mere imp! Just outrageous!"
The undisguised fury in the man's voice shook Bon's body, as he struggled to remain conscious. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. The pressure only seemed to increase, as a smell of sulfur gradually filled the room.
Suddenly, a flicker of flame appeared on the man's finger, a single plume of violet flame that danced on his finger. The heat of the room began to heighten at a staggering rate, as Bon felt trickles of sweat begin to accumulate on his body.
His eyes darted to the flame and widened. In the depths of the purple flame were small bits of black flame, fading just as fast as they appeared. "Oh, so it looks like you remember this, huh?" The man's gloating voice didn't reflect the rage seen on his features. "Should I give you a taste?"
His revelry was interrupted by a voice that seemed to originate from everywhere around them. "Bael, you maggot, stop masquerading as someone you're not!" The voice thundered forwards, as a man stepped forward. Two pairs of wings spread out from his back, and a simple white cloth covered his face, held in place by a silver ringlet.
On his back sat a transparent Flamberge, adorned with a silver hilt. His hands tensed, ready to withdraw it as he strode towards the two. The man, Bael, frowned, as the flame flickered away. He turned to the man and sneered. "This is the business of the Dukes. This imp is suspected of being a traitor, and having important information. Nothing the likes of a cherubim should concern itself over."
The utter disdain with which Bael uttered this last part seemed to send the Winged man over the edge. He began to laugh, but the pure rage behind it was evident. "Never did I believe a lowly mimic would have the guts to talk to an angel that way, in the house of the Goddess. The nerve!"
The angel drew the blade on his back, wielding it with a practiced ease that spoke of great experience. Even Bael seemed hesitant to face him, a frown forming on his face. He turned to Bon, and glared with a malevolence that chilled him to the core.
"You've committed a grave error today, Caphrael. You and your wretched Goddess aren't as just as you lead people to believe and you know it. Perhaps I'll pass the time by exposing certain practices of your church in the lower layers, hmmm?"
A wicked smile grew on Bael's face as he sneered at Caphrael, giving one last look at Bon, before disappearing with a crackle of purple flame. Bon fell to the ground, gasping. The dreadful pressure had finally left him, but he felt weak.
As he struggled to regain his breath, Caphrael looked coldy down at him. "Your presence in this place is already a violation of the Goddess's will. If you cease to provide any benefit, you won't be so fortunate to escape as that rat Bael. Remember that."
With a flutter of his wings, Caphrael exited the chamber, leaving a still gasping Bon to his own devices. "What a shitty start to a morning", he muttered.
----------
Cato groaned as he sat down, his back resting against a thick tree trunk. His legs ache terribly, and his stomach growled incessantly. He rummaged through his pack, pulling out a piece of bread, he turned to the concoction he'd made.
In a smooth stone bowl was a jam of sorts he'd made by mashing berries he'd found in the queen's forested nest. He dipped a finger in and licked it, savoring the sweet but tangy flavor of the pink berry.
Cato spread it onto the bread before digging in. He'd been wandering the nest for about a day, but the expansiveness was truly shocking. Such a cavern could only make sense underground, as its true size seemed to rival entire sections of the forest above, if not bigger.
He hadn't seen any burrowers in that time, which wasn't exactly puzzling. Normal burrowers rarely had a need to visit the queen, and thus the eggs and the queen herself stayed here, along with guards.
That was the strange part though, as he hadn't run into any guards, nor the queen. All the eggs he'd found were destroyed, which made him worried. Whatever could destroy so many eggs unmolested must've had the confidence to take on the queen, as it was a sure way to attract her ire.
Cato tapped a finger impatiently on his leg. The deadline before Pallas decided to teach him mana or not was coming up, and he wanted to ensure he came back with something spectacular this time around. That was the main reason he'd insisted on venturing deeper, even though he'd already completed his mission.
He'd read that the core of a burrower queen held a great many beneficial properties, as did almost every part of its body, from its eyes down to its claws. Apparently, its webbing, when mixed with a certain mixture of herbs, cured infertility.
Cato shuddered at that, as he could only imagine the reaction he'd have if he offered something like that to Pallas. He'd likely be thrown off the top of the tree. He shouldered up his back and dusted off his backside, turning to grab his trident.
He picked dried blood off the prongs, the result of him fishing with it earlier in a stream he'd found. It was truly a good find, as he'd found the water as well as the fish seemed to be infused with mana, albeit a tiny amount.
The water was refreshing and energizing, so Cato had a canteen of it that he would refill again when he had the opportunity. He took a large sip, feeling a cool rush down his throat as he set the canteen down. A glitter flashed in the corner of his eye, on top of a leaf.
He initially wrote it off as morning dew, but remembered he was underground. He walked over to the leave, examining it. Cato saw a thin line of thread running across the leaf, glistening with water.
He prodded it with the trident, and encountered surprising resistance, as it repelled the sharp blade and vibrated. It almost reminded him of webbing. A cold sensation suddenly filled Cato, as he traced the string visually, soon noticing it intersected with another string fifteen feet away.
The vibration spread to that one and kept going, as Cato's heart sank. He had perhaps finally found what was so off about this nest, as he heard trees shaking in the distance. Cato shot to his feet and took off in the opposite direction, as his unease deepened.
Now that he was looking for them, he saw many strands of webbing crisscrossing the forest, previously almost invisible. He jumped, dove or dodged the webs, as he didn't have the confidence to cut through them.
Meanwhile, he continued to hear trees being smashed or knocked aside as the creator of the web grew closer. Cato shot through the trees, weaving in and out of the trunks in the hopes of losing whatever was behind him, but it didn't seem to be working.
As he was scrambling up a rock, his foot caught on a vine and he slipped, sending him flying over the side. He rolled through bushes and low hanging branches, painfully rolling down a decline.
He even collided with a line of webbing that bounced him upwards, causing him to finally slide to a stop in front of a cave entrance. He stumbled to his feet, hearing a scuttling noise that sounded like it was right around the corner.
In his desperation, Cato took refuge in the cave, running down the unknown dark tunnel, more willing to face whatever was inside than what was stalking him through the nest. His footsteps echoed down the tunnel as he ran on, barely managing to navigate in the dim light.
Thankfully, he didn't hear any scuttling behind him, but Cato still gazed back with trepidation. Whatever that creature was, he certainly didn't want to clash with it. He had a vague idea of what type of creature it was, but he didn't feel the need to confirm, as he should just get out of the nest alive.
While this certainly dampened his hopes of surprising Pallas with something unordinary, he knew it was certainly better to return empty handed than not at all. However, Cato had to be careful about his getaway. The webs everywhere seemed to act as sensors, sending vibrations toward a central point where the beast likely resided.
His best bet was either dodging the webs entirely, or setting off a decoy to distract it while he made a getaway. He decided on the second option because it gave him much more time. Now, how exactly to pull it off was the real question.
Cato had no idea where he was currently located in the nest, and he couldn't really scout without the possibility of jeopardizing the whole attempt, in case the creature was still in the area. He decided to go further down the tunnel and see if there was another way out.
Cato walked carefully down the tunnel, running a hand along the smooth rock wall. It was cool to the touch, and the wall was a dark shade of onyx, with glittering little white rocks interspersed into the wall to provide a pattern almost like a night sky.
While the light was scarce, the white rocks provided a faint glow that made navigating the tunnel manageable. Just in case though, Cato held the trident in front of him as a way to feel out the terrain in front.
As he walked on, the patterns on the walls seemed to change, growing more and more prominent, as the white sparkles became faint lines, and then clearer patterns as he progressed down the hall.
A hand over the now clear glowing patterns revealed they were warm to the touch. Cato wondered whether they were natural or artificial as he moved on. He slung the trident over his shoulder as the light increased, and the tunnel gradually turned into a gentle decline.
He followed the tunnel until the surroundings began to change, becoming more open, as the patterns grew larger and more complex, filling the walls around him. Soon, he came to a large open doorway.
He looked through and found himself in a large chamber. It was circular in shape, with many tunnels, crevices and holes leading into it. The material of the cave was the same as the tunnel, a dark stone that shimmered with the light reflecting off of it. The patterns filled the walls and ceiling of the cavern, swirling waves, straight lines and jagged patterns filled it like a canvas.
Glimmering white stalactites hung from the ceiling, as the patterns seemed to bleed off the walls into them, which released a gentle light in the cavern. Looking down, Cato noticed the cavern lead down to a large depressed area where a massive black stone lay. It was covered in the green blood of the burrowers, and thousands of destroyed burrower eggs littered the ground around it.
Cato looked around the cavern, but found no burrowers in sight. He slowly climbed down from the doorway, gaining a foothold in the stone wall before descending. He took a glance at all the tunnels, but there was nothing to indicate where any of them led. He sighed, before making his way towards the gargantuan stone in the middle of the floor.
He weaved through the destroyed eggs and came to a stop before the stone. Only upon getting up close did he finally realize it wasn't a stone. Before him lay the corpse of the burrower broodmother, a massive creature that filled a quarter of the floor of the cavern by itself.
Its massive body shocked Cato, as the legs were taller than him, black blades that were all sharp points. The jointed legs connected to a thin abdomen and a massive stinger sat right behind it, slashed to pieces and missing the point of the stinger.
These seemed to be old wounds though, as Cato immediately spotted what seemed to be the killing blow. The queen's head was gone, and Cato noticed it among the eggs, blending in as it was about the same size.
The cut looked clean, and with the lack of any signs of confrontation in the cavern, Cato concluded it must have been sneak attacked. He walked closer to the body, before witnessing a gaping wound on the bottom of its abdomen.
It looked to have been the work of another animal, as the corners of the wound were jagged and seemed to be the work of some creature's mouth. He looked into the cavernous cavity of the queen, finding all the organs had been partially devoured at the least, with the heart completely gone.
Cato felt queasy looking at the inside, but managed to quench his disgust as he examined the damage. He was concentrating, and almost missed the small noise to his left. Hearing a sound, he whirled around to find a strange creature looking at him from atop one of the destroyed eggs.
It had similarities to the burrowers, but was more arachnid-like than the typical insectoid burrower look. Four pairs of legs supported its small thorax, as a large abdomen rested behind it, significantly bigger than the rest of its body.
This must've been the creature chaed.
Cato gulped, as he backed up a bit. He'd assumed it was poison, but it seemed more acidic than anything, melting through the stone with ease. He'd tried to measure the strength of the stone earlier and couldn't produce a scratch.
This assured him that it would be a terrible idea to allow any of the acid to touch him, so he had to steer clear of its mouth. He backed up hesitantly, his trident swaying in front of him.
The spider cocked its head, eyeing Cato curiously.
It then shot a tendril of webbing at Cato, which he rolled out of the way from. The webbing shot off behind him, as he warily regarded the spider after the sudden attack. But rather than an attack, it seemed more like it was feeling him out.
The spider spit webbing two more times, with Cato dodging both times. The spider seemed annoyed, as it stood still and a strange noise came from its throat. Suddenly a massive glob of webbing shot out, encompassing a five foot radius.
Cato had no time to dodge, so instead he tried to parry it. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated the weight of the ball of webbing, as it sent him skidding backwards, the ball sticking to his trident.
As he tried to free the webbing from the trident, the spider struck. With an extreme burst of speed Cato wouldn't have expected, it slashed down with one of its forelegs, narrowly missing his shoulder and clipping his side.
The cut burned, and Cato glanced down to note the flesh around the cut was slightly tinged green. He could deduce that the leg was poisonous, and panic flooded through him. EVen if he managed to defeat this monster, which was highly uncertain, who knew if he could even reach Pallas in time to get an antidote?
Worse yet, what if Pallas didn't have a cure for this poison? The spider clearly seemed to not be a regular inhabitant of this area. All the uncertainties made Cato inwardly panic, and he thus missed the next attack, which saw the creature slam into him full force with one leg.
The force behind the blow was extraordinary, as Cao was lifted off the ground and flew several feet, rolling to a stop near the queen's corpse. He groaned, as he felt several broken bones and an unsettling numbness at his hip.
He shakily got to his feet, gazing cautiously at the spider. It hadn't moved from its attacking position, regarding him with a blank gaze. Then its mandibles started clicking, and if Cato didn't know better, he would have sworn it was laughing.
It slowly crept towards him, continuing to click its mandibles. Cato grit his teeth as he fought to stay upright with the searing pain all over his body. The cut hadn't worsened yet, but Cato didn't know how long that would last.
With a particularly sharp throb of pain, Cato stumbled a bit, and the spider chose that moment to pounce. It leapt forward like a black bullet, hurtling towards Cato with its razor sharp legs outstretched. Cato rolled underneath it as its forward momentum carried it forward, thrusting into its side.
The trident raked along the spider's side, incapacitating one of the legs. The spider smashed into the ground, unable to land properly with the sudden loss of a leg. It clumsily tottered around, before wheeling to face Cato.
Its eyes, previously apathetic, seemed murderous. It clicked its mandibles angrily as it gazed at Cato. It looked at his trident with a new look of caution, unwilling to taste its points again.
It steadied itself, favoring its other legs as the wounded one was drawn up. As it got ready to pounce again, it looked directly into Cato's eyes. A blue glow seemed to emanate from them, and Cato's mind went blank.