The Infinite Bk. 05 Ch. 06

Noah followed them through the room, listening to their conversation, but he was careful to maintain a safe distance. Every time Carthace stepped on a thread, he could see mana surging through it and spreading to every other line she touched. Not only was she obscenely powerful, but Noah suspected that if he stepped on an energized thread, she would sense his presence just as Tysinger had.

"Are there any side-effects with the new parasites?" Carthace asked.

"In a way. In exchange for resistance to Uther's poisons, the bonding process is a little more... active. Please, observe."

Noah pursued the Profane out of the nursery and up a flight of stairs. Though the male ghoul climbed the steps as he did, the spider woman walked up the wall itself. Each of her eight legs, flat and sharp like serrated scimitars, was remarkably flexible and fast, and could individually support her weight and let her climb any surface and incline easily. A single knife-like tip touching the wall gave her enough purchase to move in all three dimensions as if the laws of physics didn't apply.

They arrived in a circular chamber above the nursery, with a large pit in the middle of the floor, like an empty swimming pool. The walls were made of metal and concrete and featured more technology than anywhere else in the palace, incorporating scientific designs and runic inscriptions. The sides of the pit were lined with cylindrical incubation tanks, like the ones Noah used to store his test subjects in his lab, and each was occupied by a prisoner. Floating in yellow liquid, they all had parasites and breathing tubes attached and beat their fists against the inside of their tanks. Several more low-level ghouls were in lab coats, calibrating the magical tech and examining data on the test subjects.

"Before, the parasites would latch onto their hosts immediately and begin to feed in return for producing venom. In order for the newer generations to last so long between lab and host, they remain in a dormant state, and need to be energized and provoked into bonding." the ghoul said as he approached a control panel and pulled a lever.

A mechanical device, tipped with a metal diode, descended from the ceiling like a clockwork icicle. Runes lit up throughout the room, and a bolt of black lightning arced from the diode and met with each tank. The prisoners inside writhed in agony and silently screamed as the dark power electrocuted them, scarring their bodies and souls. The parasites activated, feeding on their hosts' blood while their root-like tendrils buried into their flesh and began pumping out venom.

The prisoners began to mutate as the venom surged through their veins, distorting their flesh and bones into monstrous shapes. The tanks opened before their growing bodies could cause a rupture, and the deformed men and women staggered out. Now, they could scream out loud and voice their inner and outer agonies. As their bodies changed, all sense of reason left their anguished cries, and they gave in to madness. With their newly acquired claws and razor-sharp fangs, they turned on each other.

Their transformation required a lot of energy and stamina, driving them not just with rage and pain, but insatiable hunger. They tore each other to shreds and fed greedily, filling the pit with a slurry of blood and eviscerated bodies. The more heavily deformed prisoners, those who reacted badly to the parasites and received detrimental transformations, were easy prey for those empowered by the venom. One such prisoner had her head ripped off and knocked towards Carthace like a foul ball. She examined the deformities and huffed in disappointment.

"We still can't improve the odds of successful bonding unless we specifically design them based on their host," said the ghoul. "When mass-produced, only about one in ten subjects can properly harness the power of the parasites."

Before replying, Carthace tossed the head over her shoulder. It landed on the ground behind her, and she promptly pierced it with a long stinger growing from her abdomen. Eight legs grew from the shredded neck, and a spider's head revealed itself. The new minion scurried off past Noah.

"I suppose the leftovers provide a perfect meal for the younglings below. How long will it be before the army is completed?"

"Destroying Uther will be no easy task, but Master Curcio believes he is on the cusp of the next stage. Adwith Tarnas is still absent, and without the Wassengel to protect them, Colbrand is doomed."

"To think the Liege would demand such a fate for his own country in return for his assistance, such delicious hatred. I bet he'll have a good seat to watch the destruction. I may join him."

The two Profane split up, and Noah decided he had pushed his luck far enough. He slipped out of the prison and journeyed back to Valia and Shannon, who were having a heart-to-heart chat.

"Look, I don't blame you for feeling the way you do about Noah, and I'm not angry at you for wanting to get closer to him," said Valia. "It's just... this complicates things for he and I, and things between us are already complicated enough."

"I swear, I don't want to cause discord between you and him or to get in the way," Shannon replied, hugging her knees to her chest. "I couldn't live with myself if I ruined the love you two share. But I understand if you don't trust me or want me around Lord Noah. Once I'm reunited with my tribe, I'll be out of your hair."

"Don't talk like that. You're our friend, not a burden to be rid of. Things can't progress beyond that, but I don't want you to be anything less."

"Since the night my tribe was taken, I've dreamed about returning to them and my old life, and yet now I so desperately wish to stay with you. You and Lord Noah saved me, guided me, taught me, empowered me, and I want to pay you back, body and soul. Every time you two were... together... part of me wanted to join in, if only to serve and assist, perhaps with my mouth? Ah! I can't believe I'm saying this! You must think I'm so dirty!"

Valia let slip a small laugh. "Oh honey! Look, I'm not going to warn you to stay away from Noah, I just need you to understand that the relationship you want can't happen. Noah told you about how he wants to break his curse, correct?"

"Yes, of course."

"Did he tell you what he'll do after he succeeds?" Shannon shook her head. "I thought so. The truth is that he has a child waiting for him."

Shannon gazed at her in shock. "Really?"

"It's true. I won't tell you who the mother is, only that she is an elf in Sylphtoria. Once Noah breaks his curse, he wants to return there and spend his final life, his final years, with her and their child. The mother and I have a... let's just say we have an arrangement, but he can't go back to Sylphtoria saying, "this is my love-slave, Shannon. Do you mind if she lives with us?" The mother and I are immortal, but you and Noah aren't. Someday, we will all have to go our separate ways, whether by choice or inevitability, and when that happens, it's better you say goodbye to a friend than a lover."

"I understand. If it can never be, then I won't waste my time hoping. But if you don't mind, could I remain his steed a little longer?"

"Just as long as I don't catch you moaning while he rides."

Noah soon returned to their shared relief.

"Did you find them? My kin?" Shannon asked with desperate hope.

"Honestly, I don't know. It's dark and packed to the brim with captive beastmen. The prison is ruled by a very powerful fiend by the name of Carthace, and guarded by countless Pack members and other minions. They're using this place to turn beastmen into fiends and are building an army to conquer all of Handent and then wipe out Uther."

"By the spirits," Valia gasped.

"So what do we do?" Shannon asked.

"I have a plan." Noah crouched down and began drawing a map of the compound in the dirt. "That cover isn't simply to keep the prisoners in, it's to keep the sunlight out. As a true Profane, Carthace can't be out in the sun, and I doubt her twisted progeny can handle it either. If we destroy the cover, we can use the sunlight to force her and her minions underground, then free the prisoners."

"How do we destroy something that big?" Valia asked.

"Alchemy. The cover is made of webbing and I took a sample. Deep inside the prison, I found the lab where they are administering parasites, and there is a machine in there that generates large quantities of energy. I can write a formula to break down the webbing and use that machine to power it. Once we have the sun on our side, you two can start freeing the prisoners. There will be a lot of fiends getting in our way, but the more prisoners we release, the more allies we'll have in the fight." Noah looked up at the bleak, gray sky. "It's too overcast right now. Let's do it tomorrow."

That night, they camped far away from the prison. Noah busied himself writing out the alchemy formula while Valia helped Shannon hone her combat skills in preparation. The next day brought a clear sky, the best they could hope for.

"I'm off," said Noah. "Once the cover disappears, it'll cause havoc among the fiends. Work fast, before they reorganize themselves. I'll launch flashbangs to signal to you that I've escaped the palace."

Valia stepped forward and kissed him. "Good luck."

"Please, be safe, My Lord," said Shannon with a bow.

Noah patted her shoulder and departed, crossing the barren wasteland surrounding the prison. The fiends were outside performing combat drills. Having received the unholy powers of the Profane, their old lives no longer mattered. Regardless of how much they suffered in the prison or what had happened to their home or loved ones, their minds and souls belonged to the darkness. Driven by bloodlust and a desire for more power, they would follow any order their wicked masters gave them.

Noah passed them by, beyond their ability to detect, and infiltrated the prison. He made his way to the lab built into the old dwarven palace. The ghoul Noah spotted the previous day was there, busy transforming fiends with his many accomplices. He had to take them out so that he could modify the machine. Fortunately, they all appeared relatively weak, at least compared to Tysinger, but each was superior to a human being, and there was no telling what kind of magic they possessed. He had to kill them all quickly while avoiding drawing attention with gunshots and flashbangs.

Black lightning stretched from the machine overhead into the holding tanks, scouring the prisoners inside. Noah waited patiently for the tanks to open, and when the prisoners staggered out, screaming and mutating, he made his move. Noah snuck up behind them with his sword as the ghouls observed their test subjects. The first beheading was easy, his blade slicing through flesh like a roll of wet paper towels. The other ghouls didn't notice until the head bounced into the pit. By then, Noah had already slain the second. The third turned and began to shout, but he was silenced.

"Sound the alarm!" the fourth shouted before he, too, lost his head to Noah's invisible blade.

The fifth ran towards the wall, reaching for a large button, but a throwing knife buried itself in the side of his head and brought him down just before he could press it. Noah then finished him off, and as the sixth turned to flee, he kicked him down into the pit, where the deranged fiends welcomed the arrival of fresh meat. Noah tossed the other slain ghouls in with him, letting their prisoners continue feeding.

Noah didn't know how long he'd have, so he wasted no more time and got to work. He moved to the main control panel and started typing on a rudimentary keyboard. This machine was just like the magical tech he had collected in his lab, and he knew how to use it as needed. That said, it wasn't as simple as pressing a few buttons. He had to type in the runic sequence for his alchemy spell and recalibrate the machinery, doing everything from runecrafting the hardware to opening it up and working on the interior with a wrench. He might as well have been converting a nuclear reactor into a particle accelerator.

Unfortunately, he was short on time. The fiends down in the pit, driven mad by the process and yet to be indoctrinated into serving the Profane, climbed out and escaped the chamber. As they rampaged through the palace, it wasn't long before the alarm started to ring. If guards showed up, he could hide and maybe conceal his work, but if Carthace appeared, there was no telling what might happen. Soon, his worst fear came true. He was typing on the keyboard, putting in the last few formulations, when she arrived. He was hidden, but his alterations to the machinery were clear as day, prompting her to approach.

Noah kept typing, working as fast as he could. If he finished before entering her range, he could destroy all her threads and deprive her of her sensory abilities. However, beneath his feet, the lines lit up with her mana. "Who's there?!" she demanded.

Noah kept his eyes on the screen before him, but the appearing runes drew her ever closer. He put in the last sequence and reached for the activation lever, but was stopped when a webbing net was thrown over him. Each thread felt like a live wire, burning him, and even worse, Noah's mana dissipated, and his concealment broke. Bound by the web, Noah was pulled away and thrown to the ground with Carthace standing over him, letting him better examine her human-arachnid form. Unlike the centaurs, whose human bodies stopped at the waist, Carthace still retained her original legs in a manner of speaking. Past her knees, they had transformed into sharp fangs, resembling an arachnid's pincers, with the hem of her black dress hanging between them.

"Who the fuck are you?" Carthace hissed, glaring at him with eight eyes.

The situation was bad, but not hopeless. Noah could activate the device if he could return to the control panel. Getting Carthace to lower her guard and let him stand up was the challenge.

"The Liege sent me."

She glared at him. "And what are you doing here?"

"According to Lord Tysinger, Lord Curcio hid something in this machine that he doesn't want the others to know about. I'm here to recover it before it sinks the group."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"After the last meeting, didn't someone contact you? It was a code, a warning. Curcio can't be trusted. His subordinates here were ordered to eliminate you if you got in the way. You've been set up."

"If I got in the way, huh? And I'm supposed to believe a human?"

"Sometimes it's better to have an asset with a certain amount of free will, someone whose thoughts aren't controlled by one of those parasites. My apologies for all the cloak and dagger, but I was under strict orders not to involve you until the package was secure."

"And what is this package?"

"A relic from the time of Zyrga, something that could change the entire power structure of the Profane. Those bloodsuckers are a powerful weapon, but how easy would it be for that weapon to be turned on you? With a piece like that on the board, who do you really think is most likely to win this game?"

"Prove it."

"Gladly. Just let me finish what I was doing and then you and I can figure out where we go from here."

Carthace hesitated and then began cutting away the webs, but stopped. "Wait a second." She brought her face close to his, smelled his neck, and then licked his cheek and sneered in amusement. "You smell like... elf. Ah, I see now. A powerful human swordsman traveling with an elf woman. You're Noah, the Wandering Spirit. So, you're the one who gave Tysinger so much trouble. To think that a fly would so eagerly land in my web."

Noah chuckled. "You've heard of me! Pleased to make your acquaintance, madam, I am as you say. That's an impressive nose you got."

"Flattery won't save you."

"No, but maybe this will."

As Noah spoke, he conjured a small bottle from within his ring, flicked off the cork with his thumb, and sent it bouncing onto the ground next to him. Monster repellent flowed out, and it began to vaporize and spread upon contact with the air. Struck by the smell, Carthace staggered back, dry-heaving and unable to open her eyes. Noah scrambled to his feet and hobbled towards the control panel. The webbing wouldn't let him walk, but he could still hop. He reached the panel, grabbed the lever with his teeth, and pulled it down.

Throughout the room, runes lit up as the machinery activated. Power surged from the generator overhead, but rather than linking to the tanks in the pit, it arced to the webbing throughout the room. The webbing carried the current like copper wire, spreading to every single thread in and around the complex, and causing them to simultaneously break down into their base elements. Every line was dissolving, causing the tent over the prison to disintegrate. Sunlight poured in, blinding the fiends who had grown accustomed to the darkness and burning Carthace's spider minions. The dark mana that saturated the city and weakened the uncorrupted was also purged.

The anguished snarls of the fiends were then smothered by a thunderous impact as the main gates were ripped off their hinges by a mighty blow from Valia. She zoomed into the complex at super speed, slashing and carving every fiend she could find. Blinded by the sun, they couldn't react in time and were easy prey, with limbs and heads sent flying with every swing of her blade. As Valia kept the guards occupied, Shannon galloped in behind her and went to work freeing the prisoners. She'd kick down doors with her equine legs and give the beastmen inside the weapons of the slain guards.

"Go! Fight for your freedom! Everyone is getting out of here!"

The spiders, having hidden in the buildings to escape the sunlight, lunged for her with pincers and stingers ready, but after fighting on the frontlines alongside Valia and receiving her tutelage, she was more than capable of defending herself. She quickly cut the spiders down and led the prisoners into the light.

While this was going on outside, Noah's predicament inside had worsened. Though the webbing that bound him was gone, he was now pinned to the wall, with two of Carthace's legs stabbing him through the hands like crucifixion nails.

"I'll make you suffer for this," she hissed.

"You can try, but at this moment, my friends are freeing all the prisoners and slaughtering your guards, and as long as the sun is out, you won't be stepping onto the battlefield anytime soon."

"Maybe so, but if your friends want to see you alive, they're going to have enter the darkness, and I'll be ready."