They had carved two pieces of meat from the exposed portion of the dead Titan Centipede's body, hurrying to avoid missing the period they could begin the assimilation process within.
Mercury bit into the chunk of raw crimson flesh without hesitation, a metallic taste like resounding gunshots in his mouth. It was a violent taste.
His whole body suddenly convulsed, a dull pain spreading throughout his limbs and torso, causing his muscles to unconsciously spasm. He let out a nervous chuckle.
It was a feeling he had experienced the last time he had assimilated. However, this time, it was different. It was much worse.
He keeled over, clutching at his abdomen. 'Is it the case that it gets worse each time?'
He could almost sense the process itself. In each part of his body, a malleable, incorporeal white mist seemed to gather, spreading itself around. To the tips of his fingers, and to the soles of his feet, this 'mist' felt heavy, like metal, but also light, like feathers. It was a contradictory, paradoxical substance.
And it was extremely hot, like molten liquid. Intensely painful. The dull sensation quickly worsened, becoming far more pervasive.
He fell flat on the ground, curled up in a ball as he tried to fight against the waves of burning heat and sharp biting torment that sliced into him from within.
Letting out a groan, his feet slid against the dirt underneath, trying to prop himself back up, a failure of an idea. He remained on the ground, helpless. Mercury had never felt like this- well, as far as he could remember. It was humiliating, but somewhat familiar.
Oddly enough, the incorporeal force that spread out within him reminded him of the black mist that morphed into the 'Shades' he often fought.
Mercury glanced over towards Quincy between the bouts of intense agony, but having taken a bite of a chunk of the Titan Centipede's flesh herself, she was also battling the same pain. Unlike Mercury, who experienced a dull yet violent pain, Quincy seemed distant, almost ascetic. The pain she experienced, surely agonising, etched itself onto her face. But her eyes were different.
They seemed hollow, devoid of herself, as if she had distanced herself entirely from the world. That pain she felt was something she experienced, but at the same time, she knew nothing of it. She had entered a state of tranquil silence, not making a sound.
After a time, the pain abated for Mercury, and he propped himself back up, exhausted. Still, Quincy remained in her ascetic state, silent and far-off. So, he knelt beside her, waiting. Five minutes passed, and then five more, and suddenly, as he stopped paying her attention, she placed a hand upon his shoulder, signaling his return.
"Did you fall asleep at the wheel?" Mercury teased, grinning.
Quincy shook her head. "No… this is a method of avoiding pain. It's something that Looking Glass came up with. It's a technique that he taught to me and our Trickster, Cicero. Although my brother, Castrelle, was too preoccupied with his studying to pay it any mind, it's saved us quite a lot of trouble. When we get back to Camp Deralise, I'll teach you too. It's very good for abating the pain of Assimilation- or rather, a way to deal with it easier."
"It sounds quite useful. It could help in the future." He recalled the agonising pain he felt from the ability of the Miasma Imp, which caused searing burns to plague his palms. Without the use of Vita, it still left dull pain pulsing underneath the bandages. However, Quincy's medical ingenuity had saved him from an even worse agony.
"I'm sure. Looking Glass doesn't say things for no reason. In the same way, everything he teaches us has a specific use. He's meticulous and thorough like that."
"If this 'Looking Glass' person is sure to save your brother, then why interfere and interrupt his plans? Couldn't this cost you everything?"
"I've already considered that much." Quincy suddenly grew serious. "It's not that I don't trust Looking Glass, nor do I want to put him or others in danger, it's just that I don't exactly trust my brother to survive this situation."
"You think he'll be killed by the Demon keeping them prisoner?"
"No, I'm sure Castrelle will survive physically. It's just… his forte, it worries me. He has this strange ability… whenever he's killed, he revives after a short period of time."
"That sounds quite powerful. Then why are you so worried about him? If he can't die, he'll definitely survive this. Shouldn't you wait for Looking Glass to finish his preparations?"
Quincy shook her head, a bit distressed. "No, it's not that."
"Then what is it?"
"That period of time before he revives… I can't be sure what happens to him. No one can. That's just how the discussion around fortes are. But when he emerges, there's always something… off about him. He gains new wounds and scars on his body, and his mind always seems shaken. He grows distant for a while, and sometimes he's permanently changed as a consequence. It's like with each death, he becomes less and less like himself."
"Death is very consequential to our mental states. We all know this. We've all been executed, haven't we?" Mercury smiled warmly, tapping the side of his head where he had been shot in a jestful manner.
Quincy nodded in response, pursing her lips. "Still, I wish to get to him before he can die any more. I hope that we can save him before his mental state declines too much."
"I understand. Then, let's do that. Don't worry yourself too much more."
'The ability to revive after death. It sounds something like mine. However, that 'period' before I can capture a shade is a duel to the death. Is it something similar? If he spends a significant portion of time before he revives, and it visibly affects him, it could be the case that there's a condition for his revival- a trial, like mine. How interesting. I would love to ask him, but he definitely can't answer that.'
'First things first, let's save him.'
With the last bit of his strength, Mercury tore away at the flesh of the Titan Centipede once more. He had thought it odd when they had first cut away the pieces of meat that they had eaten for the process of assimilation to occur. He had felt something hard, alike to the carapace armour on the outside of the creature.
Surely enough, buried underneath several layers of flesh and muscle tissue, there were bones. It was strange that a bug had bones, but then again, it was strange that a bug was five times his size.
"Hey, let me borrow your knife." Mercury reached out his hand as he stared inside of the creature, as if it were no problem for her to do so.
Curious, she complied, handing over the thin silver dagger. As soon as it entered his palm, he felt an overwhelming feeling to commit violence surge up within himself. It made him chuckle inwardly, passively resisting the feeling.
'Is this another instinct of a Reaper? Will a weapon make me want to kill even more? I wish to kill because fighting seems fun, not because I have some innate instinct to do so. You cannot tempt me, Beast.'
He dug into the creature, cutting away at it until he was able to pull out one of the creature's ribs, snapping it away from the spine. It was elongated, flat, and pointed. It was almost like a blade meant for stabbing, a rapier.
"Do you have any more of those bandages?" He asked of Quincy, handing the silver knife back to her. She nodded, reaching into her bag and handing him a bundle of white cloth strips. He took those, wrapping it around the base of the bone blade, creating a grip that would allow him to easier stab at enemies.
It was a perfect weapon. It was suited for killing the Lower Demon that plagued the Quarry.
"What will you do with that? Cook some meat?" Quincy teased, smiling warmly.
Mercury's face twisted, mocking her before replying. "Do not demean my prized weapon. Now my feelings are hurt. I may just cry." He sulked sarcastically, beginning to follow her down the ravine once more.
Strangely, they didn't encounter another Demon or monster after killing the Titan Centipede. Whatever had caused the Demons and Titan Centipede to act symbiotically had seemingly drawn all Demons to it, which caused them all to be killed by the falling of the rocks from above.
That means that in one instance, they had managed to clear out the entire ravine, leaving the path ahead as a good period for renewing the energy lost during assimilation.
Soon, they reached a cliff-face overlooking a portion of the quarry floor. In the distance, they could see lanterns suspended from caverns hanging high above the quarry floor. While there was a mining area in the center of the floor, there was also a suspended ridge covered in the remnants landslides and tall pine trees.
Trickling sounds could be heard in the distance, as if a stream were rushing far below them on the suspended ridge. They followed the stream with their eyes, seeing a shadowy figure emerged from behind a patch of rocks plastered against the bottom of the cliff.
They watched as a ghoulish patchwork man with stark-black hair emerged from the patch of rocks, holding a rusted sword in his hand, his face and body covered in thick sheets crimson.
"Castrelle!" Quincy called out excitedly from above.
Castrelle's gaze shot upwards, his pupils dilating as he spotted his sister. His expression became a mixture of anxiety and elation, quickly signaling her silence. However, it was already far too late. Hearing the commotion from a distance away, the Lower Demon who had begun to lead the Reaper Prisoners up the quarryside pathway to their resting zone came tearing through the quarry floor.
Trees were uprooted as rumbling echoed throughout the quarry, and suddenly from the depths arose a great, terrifying beast. It was five-times as big as a normal person, with a bulbous stomach covered in massive boils that swirled with red-hot pus. It had five eyes positioned vertically in a row on its face, and thousands of needle-like teeth protruding from its lip-less mouth.
"Tenebris… must be saved… the box, it must… be found. The crystals… feed the crystals to the trees… quickly…" It mumbled underneath its breath. Then, it locked its gaze on the quivering Castrelle, who raised the ancient rusted Jian, trying to steel his heart and fight the Demon without fear.
Mercury and Quincy watched in hushed horror as the beast grabbed Castrelle between its grubby fingers as thick as logs and carried him into the distance. Castrelle shot a glance back at the two on the cliff-face as he was carried away, placing a finger against his lips to warn them, despite his ever-present fear and pressing concerns.
"Damn it!" Quincy whispered, understanding and abiding by her brother's warning. "Can he really hear from that far away? Did I just endanger Castrelle by being stupid? F-ck…"
In the distance, they heard distinct cooing noises echo through the line of trees surrounding the quarry. A large black-patterned owl stretched out its massive wingspan, making its presence known.
Quincy's eyes widened. 'Looking Glass's owl is here? If Gaelis is here, is Looking Glass closer to enacting his plan than I previously assumed!? Well, even if that's the case, being spotted by Gaelis means that Looking Glass will learn of what we're doing here, and come to our aid during the battle in order to make sure we don't die! It's all going according to plan!'
Despite seeing her brother be captured due to her ineptitude, she grinned maniacally, resembling a monster more than a person. The thought of killing the Demon triggering her killing instinct, crazed bloodlust surging through her body.
"We're going to save Castrelle. Are you prepared, Mercury?"
Brandishing the sharpened bone spear, Mercury nodded his head.
"Sure. Let's go kill a Demon."