Chapter 57: Chapter 57

 

Fine! You want it, you got it!

I'm coming!

Here I am!

Before my sense of reason can catch up with me I form a thought and teleport over.
A blink later I find myself on a yellow planet.
I look around if I can spot anything noteworthy now that I came.
And am confused.

 

"Why here?" (I)

 

• Here!
   
• Here!
   
• Here!

 

Okay, at least I know that that's the right place.
The presence of this incorporeal voice got so much stronger that it isn't ignorable anymore.
Yet this isn't what concerns me.
It's what I see when I look upwards.
Above me are several planets, connected into a necklace.
Whatever this message was and whoever sent it, it led me to the same plane where everything began.
The planet I'm standing on has a distinctive yellow to it.

I look further around for the one who supposedly invited me, but can't find anything out of the ordinary.
Which isn't including all the monsters running in my direction.
I know that they're no threat, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to fighting them.

It's a small horde of those maw monsters.
At least three dozen.
This worries me deeply, considering my presumed reaction.
Those were quite hard to endure in the past and even now I'm certainly not looking forward to exploding into billions of tentacles.
I already ponder if I should simply teleport away to avoid the whole conflict.

But before the monsters reach me something else happens.
From behind a small hill, a big pack of hellhounds rushes out.
I expect them to jump at me at any moment.
Yet instead of doing so, they go for the maw-monsters.
While those have greater numbers and in my opinion a more durable build they cannot keep up with the speed of the hounds.
The hounds circle them, pick targets, jump at their backs, bite their calves, and retreat, ever repeating this same pattern.

Just when it seems as if the maw-monsters can regroup, and actually form some kind of resistance, winged horrors crash down from the sky.
Some kind of malformed bats with mouths with too many teeth, and appendages that seem to mostly consist of claws.

And together with the bats a winged demon descents.
Its sword, grown out from its arm, slashes gashes into the mass struggling bodies, barely discerning between friend and foe.
What the hounds didn't take yet the bats either finish off or distract till the hounds can do it for them.
And well, the demon takes care of any rests which might resist.

Why do they work together like this?
That they form packs is nothing novel, but since when are different kinds of them teaming up?

That's new.

That's no fight, it's a one-sided slaughter.
The way they attack in a coordinated way and systematically take the maw monsters apart is concerning at best.
Blood is spilled, limbs torn, bodies shredded.
I know it's stupid to do so, but as this is a sight you'd only find in the sickest slasher movies I avert my gaze.
Otherwise, I might throw up, which won't make this situation any less gruesome.

And then it's done.
No more maw-monsters left to form any kind of opposition.
The bats take the corpses they can carry and lift with them all off in the same direction.
Yet the demon and the hounds advance on me.
I am rather sure I can take them but feel still bad to cause a massacre, even if they apparently had no issues to do so just now.

They're just a few meters away when they suddenly stop.

And kneel.
Or whatever the dog-equivalent for that is called.

Uh, what!?

 

"Ehm, wh-what is this about?" (I)

 

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They're not moving for some time until the demon looks up at me and points in the direction the bats left to.
I almost believe to see something like insecurity in his cracked mouth.

 

"O-okay. Did I get it right that whoever called me waits for me in this direction?" (I)

 

A nod.
Seems like I was right.

Then, the demon spreads its huge wings and starts flying in the direction he pointed, while the hounds run behind it on the ground.
Yet the demon only moves for a short distance, and then looks at me.
Oh, I guess I shall follow.

I contemplate if I could grow wings and fly as well, but don't feel good about making too extreme body adjustments.
Instead, I switch to my demon form, which I became more familiar with by now.
Maybe I could also utilize short-distance teleportation, but I guess running is the way I'd prefer to move here.
Especially as I feel how strong my beastly legs are.
They're catapulting me in the direction I want, crossing the plane in a blink.
The hounds have almost no way to follow and even the flying demon is troubled to keep up with me.

 

We travel for a short while like this and I notice that we're moving to the connection point between the planets.
Then I become aware of a change in the ground and unpleasantly realize that some kind of crawling vile mass spreads everywhere.
I slow down and cautiously step on it, to verify if it's safe.
Already the feeling at my bare feet, as unnatural they are at the moment, is creeping me out when the stone is replaced with flesh.
The covered area is incredibly vast and my speed decreases significantly on it as I'm too disturbed to move quickly.

There are now significantly more monsters around.
Especially those bats and hounds, but they either ignore me or bow in reverence.

And then I see it.

Where usually a tower bridge, or whatever you'd call it, would connect the planets a giant mass of flesh formed, connecting the planets in an hourglass shape.
I'm not even sure if there's a tower beneath, but the most likely assumption is that it got covered by this vile flesh stuff.
The most disturbing is that this whole thing moves.
It's wriggling, twitching, pulsing.
It doesn't look conscious, but still, in some way it's alive.

I see bats carrying smaller corpses to that thing, letting them fall into the structure, where they get slurped away.
On the ground, more weird almost humanoid beings are dragging bodies towards several holes into this thing.
And out of this literal nightmare factory, more and more creatures emerge.
All kinds of forms, all horrifying.

I get serious doubts if all this is a good idea.

Little humanoid creatures almost entirely consisting of bone blades, feral beasts in different sizes, something like a troll, even some without any visible appendage or only consisting of tentacles.
The shapes are barely classifiable.
And foremost there are more demons.
But all of them don't dare to come close to me, moving out of my way and lowering themselves while I approach this literal nightmare factory.

And then in the middle of this gigantic mass a gaping hole forms, granting access for me straight to its center.
Just the terrifying interior of this hellhouse, combined with the distressing feeling of my feet, which sink a bit into this blood swamp, is enough to make me lose it.

While my brain as well as all my more natural instincts scream that I should get the fuck out of here, I have already come so far.
So I have no choice but to walk slowly in there.
Zika said I shouldn't displease whatever is here.
And after an obvious invitation, turning around and leaving right at the doorstep would certainly be considered rude.
And I don't want my family and friends to have to deal with the backlash of this.
So I take my courage together and soothe myself with the knowledge that I can teleport out of this dimension at any moment.
And it really takes all my mental strength, which was never too great to begin with.
Light only pierces through several small holes, the ceiling dribs, and all the walls pulsate.
My feet, embedded in that bloody, fleshy ground, feel every single pulse and I just want to turn around and walk in the other direction.
Or better, just leave this whole dimension.

The passage stays as grand as it was, leading first to a passage and then to some kind of flesh plaza.
I panic internally at what is going to happen now.
This is definitely the place where I will meet the one calling me and considering its taste regarding the preferred medium for decorations this one has obviously severe personality issues.

Promptly something happens.
In the middle, gathers flesh, tendrils from the wall, the ceiling, and the mass from the ground itself coalesces and forms something.
It slowly takes shape, gaining features, looking more humanoid by the second.
When it's done I stare paralyzed at the form in front of me.
It opens its eyes and speaks.

 

"Finally! Took you long enough!" (Iori)

 

Huh!?

 

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