Chapter 427: Negotiations (1/2)

Gold-rankers, silver-rankers and even a few bold bronze-rankers went storming into the dome as it broke down. Once it was entirely gone and the transformed area revealed for all to see, even more followed.

Gerling still stood patiently, observing. Usually, a transformation zone turned an area into a supernatural reflection of its original state, but the Slovakian farmland had turned into a town from an animated movie, with colourful cloud houses, flowers and trees everywhere. It wasn’t even the same as it had been while Gerling was inside.

Even as Gerling observed, he sensed the bronze-rankers all turn back and leave the zone. Many of the silver-rankers were doing the same and Gerling moved to meet one returning to the American Network camp. Gerling led him into the prefab building that held the camp bar, went behind the counter and poured them a stiff drink each.

”Thanks, Jack,” the man said and they both knocked back their glasses with a gulp. Gerling poured them another glass each.

“What did you run into, Clint?”

“I’m not sure,” Clint said. “As soon as I entered that weird town it felt like I was trespassing. The sense grew as I didn’t leave and there was this growing sense of dread. More than that, though, it was like I was, I don’t know. Setting myself up for retribution? The worst part, the thing that got me the hell out of there, is that I kind of felt like I deserved it. That creeped me right out and I bailed.”

“Like you deserved it? That retribution you felt coming?”

“Yeah. It’s like… I’m not sure how to describe it. It was as if I knew that my own choices were wrong and whatever happened to me, I had coming.”

“Like a sin,” Gerling said.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Clint said. “I never grew up religious, but yeah. It’s like trespassing on that place is a sin. How does that work?”

“Sin is one of Asano’s essences,” Gerling said. “He did that to you.”

“I’m going to leave that guy to you,” Clint said. “He’s clearly above my pay grade, and my pay grade is pretty damn good.”

Cleary opened the door and walked in.

“Wagner,” he said, looking at Clint. “Why did you go in there, only to turn around and come right back?”

“It’s dangerous,” Gerling said. In a blur of gold-rank speed, he moved around the bar and interposed himself between Clint and Cleary. Cleary took a step back, still shaken from his last conversation with Gerling.

“We’re missing our window.”

Gerling tilted his head as he concentrated on his aura senses.

“The first silver-ranker just died trying to get back out,” Gerling said. “The others are running for it but he went too deep.”

“Died?” Cleary asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t one of ours.”

“Goddamn it,” Cleary said, running a hand over his mouth. “Wagner, the place is really that hostile?”

“Just walking in there felt like a sin,” Clint confirmed.

“Sin?” Cleary asked, sharing a look with Gerling. “Asano?”

Gerling nodded.

“He’s clearly in control,” Gerling said.

“Couldn’t you have taken control while you were in there?” Cleary asked. “You’re stronger than him.”

”You may have noticed, Cleary, but Asano is neck-deep in mysteries. He had enough control from the start to be in control of whether we came or went. As much as I loathe to admit it, I wouldn’t have gotten out of there without him.”

“And now he’s what? Built a magical town in the European countryside?”

Cleary shook his head with a sigh.

“Alright,” Cleary continued. “I’m going to put a moratorium on our people going in until we learn more,” Cleary said. “No point sending our people to die when we don’t even know what’s in there. In the meantime, could you get closer and see if you can glean any information about the place? Your senses are better than most of the tests our ritualists can do.”

Gerling nodded.

“I’ll go take a look.”

Jason sensed the two elders of the Slovakian family taking on sin afflictions and mentally removed them from the list of people being attacked by his spirit domain. It seemed that Nikoleta wasn’t kidding about her grandparents thinking ill of him.

He could feel the intruders suffering the effects as they moved into the astral space. Some were turning back quickly while others only did once the ominous feelings they experienced became necrosis eating away at their flesh. Only those who had charged in towards the pagoda and then ignored the damage they were taking suffered greatly and the silver-ranked ones amongst them turned back.

The silver-rankers had no trouble escaping if they left promptly and the gold-rankers could endure far more. Only the bold bronze-rankers who ignored the ominous feelings and kept going until the damage kicked in were killed.

It was only a matter of time before the multiplicate effects of the damage overcame even the gold-rankers, but they were an order of magnitude tougher than even silvers. While the defensive measures of Jason’s domain ignored rank disparity, they were still silver-rank effects. The gold rankers would be able to hold out for a considerable time.

Two gold-rank essence users and three vampires approached the pagoda through the air. One of the essence users was Chen, who Jason already knew, while the other was white, which meant American. Chen was flying freely, while the other essence user was held aloft by mechanical wings. Two of the vampires were standing on a cloud of blood mist, while the last was on the back of a giant raven that had no trouble beating its wings to hover in place.

They lined up in the air in front of the pagoda, where Jason and his familiars were lined up in turn. Jason pushed the hood back to reveal his face.

“Something I can help you with?” he asked casually.

“Mr Asano,” Chen said. “How much control do you have over this place?”

“Mate, when was the last time you have a little tug-a-lug?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, took a solo flight. Picked a pound of meat. Rubbed the lamp until the genie came out.”

Chen took on an incredulous expression.

“Are you talking about…?”

“Yep,” Jason said.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Based on how you kicked off this conversation, I thought that questions the other person definitely won’t answer was the dynamic we were going with.”

”Why bother letting this weakling prattle,” one of the vampires said. ”I will make him talk.”

“No–” Chen said but the vampire had already leapt off the blood cloud at Jason. Vampires lacked the magical senses of an essence user, so it hadn’t noticed the invisible bubble Jason had encapsulated the pagoda’s roof in. It was a feature of his cloud constructs, just a normal wall with the transparency maxed out.

After it had already jumped, the vampire’s gold-rank sense of touch realised the bubble was there from the way air was moving around him. He shifted to landed gracefully on the dome instead of smacking into it and immediately started hammering on the slightly squishy, invisible dome of cloud-stuff with his fist.