"What."
"Gyaah!"
"Nyaaa!!"
A moment after, a disastrous sea of light began to sweep away the majority of the structures within this bastion.
That ray of apocalypse appeared to be coming from the east, right where our Bleeding Tree resided.
Just after the majority of us landed face-first into the ground, I looked to the east and found that the upper half of the giant tree was already beheaded, falling to the ground.
Then the loud grizzly thud from the said tree.
Our backup-healing was no more.
"Wake up, wake up! To the west, posthaste!"
Since most of the upper walls were nibbled into non-existent by the sudden wave of light, we cautiously sneaked to the west gate.
Slightly opening the gap, we peeked through, only to be greeted by the sight of terror.
Hundreds if not thousands of armored eldritch cavalries began to pour into the land from the darkest horizon.
Coming right above them were the rippling reverse-sea, darkening the ever-night sky with its abyssal depth and pitch-black darkness.
Their gaze of fire scooped deep into our soul, as they marched radically like a wave of doomsday.
Lupina shuddered like a wet canine. "W-We should escape to the eastern wall!"
Just as she tried to recommend that, the sound of collateral destruction was orchestrated from the east side of the bastion.
It kept getting louder and louder. And most definitely, closer.
"We should leave this bastion and run away!" Tahlia suggested.
"Then those damned cavalries will catch up to us in no time." Verina appeared to be frustrated just by the sound of her tone. Her face, however, remained calm as ever. "Narcissus, can you discern our current threat?"
"... They are Qliphoth Objects."
Qliphoth Object originated from an entirely different source than Calamity Object.
Instead of existing as an aspect of calamity with its own unique interpretation, Qliphoth Objects were nothing but an aspect of accelerated entropy.
They didn't have a dedicated gimmick, nor could they even be reasoned with.
They didn't have any beneficial side nor secret to unfurl.
They were a true existence of evil that sow nihility to every land they invaded.
If a Calamity Object could be said as an enigmatic beast with an instinct to kill and survive, then the Qliphoth Object would be a black hole that suddenly formed out of nowhere without any intent nor reason.
"I apologize for being late into the realization, Narcissus," Verina said with a tone of guilt.
"It's also my fault for not being curious enough, so don't need to blame yourself."
"... That's not how it works," Verina scolded, clearly annoyed by how I tried to trivialize her mistake.
Well, it wasn't much of a mistake and more of a human nature. Besides, I prefer the Verina that emotionlessly enact her schemes with cautious and precision, not guilt.
Lupina looked at me confused. "W-What are you doing, miss Narcissus?"
"Making a shovel." My hands weaved itself into production as I utilized the leftover debris and material surrounding me. "Massive change of strategy, I will inform you of all I know about the two major threats that we are facing as I dig."
Tahlia finally stopped shaking like a turned-on blender. "We're burrowing??"
The information that I got about Qliphoth Objects was severely limited, but it did mention that their appearance was extremely rare.
The fact that there were two of them manifesting at the same was a clear sign that the Hollow Star might have had something to do about this!
As I carved a tunnel deep into the core of Carcosa, Lupina and Tahlia hurriedly scoured to utilize anything that they could get their hands on to close the entrance from the inside?
"You two aren't supposed to be blocking the entrance yet." Verina hissed with annoyance as she gave them the extra shovels I crafted. "Help Narcissus by delivering the dirt outside. When we dig deep enough, we shall close the entrance like a lid."
"I-I see!"
"That should've been obvious~"
Yet the two of you did it anyway.
With two sources of impending doom racing one another to bring judgment day into our front door, our collective digging speed was powered by dread and horror.
"Close it!"
"Hiyah!"
"Don't completely seal it!" Tahlia cried. "We will run out of oxygen!"
"No! Close it, Lupina!" I assured my order. "There might be a slight chance that they notice our breathing, never take a chance against Qliphoth Objects!"
As the entrance was completely shut, we sprinted downward the sloped tunnel.
"This place is merely a temporary shelter. As for our enemies, I'll make it quick." I bitterly chuckled out of distress. "We're fighting two completely different sources of entropy: The Wild Hunt, and the Headless Horseman.
"The Wild Hunt are those creepy armies that are advancing from the edge of the dark horizon. They are quick, with no known weaknesses. If possible, close your ears or trick your brain to deaf when it starts to cry. Those will corrode tour sanity.
"The Headless Horseman is the entity that destroyed half of the structures of our bastion, and the very reason for the destruction wave of light that we evaded. For this one, avoid looking at what is supposed to be its head. In fact, avoid this whole entity altogether!
"Before continuing, if any of you doesn't know what a Qliphoth Object is, raise your hand."
Both Lupina and Tahlia raised their hands.
"As expected."
"What do you mean by 'as expected'!?" Lupina complained.
"We already expected that you're dumb enough to not know of it," Verina casually uttered. "But I'm surprised that Tahlia doesn't know about it either."
"Ahaha…"
"To put it simply, the Qliphoth Object is a no-go, no-interact, no-fight, no-reasoning type of threat." I dumbed it down to be as digestible as possible. "We shouldn't fight with it if we can. We shouldn't even see or even hear its existing physicality. It's the worst kind of calamity to ever exist."
"Then what should we do!?" Verina scratched her hair in confusion.