Chapter 567 (2/2)

There was a ringing in Randidly’s ears; he recognized that voice It was tinny and full of distortions, but that voice… that was the Creature.

Narrowing his eyes, Randidly reached forward. “Grasp of Lava.”

But the insectoid spun, and dashed away, scuttling on the ground. The Grasp missed, and Randidly roused Lucretia, almost trembling with something akin to excitement. For so long he had wandered through this Zone, getting whiffs of her. But now, finally-

He broke into a run, following after the strange metallic insectoid. He was annoyed to see that it was entirely mechanical, so he couldn’t just wreck the runic boards that ran it like he could with a drone. Instead, he had to physically overpower it.

For a second, he hesitated, as Lucretia rushed to join his consciousness, and spread around for signs of the Creature’s Aether. Then he gritted his teeth, and the entire pathway for the next 30 meters was crushed by a flood of plants that wormed their way into the facility. Now isn’t the time for subtlety. If he could catch it now-

Randidly, I can’t… I don't’ feel her Aether. Lucretia said, sounding puzzled. It’s almost like… could this be a trap? Someone understands your fixation, and-

Who would know, aside from the Creature? Randidly growled back. Then he leaped forward, ripping through the plants to follow the insectoid, with the Lava Golem hot on his heels. By some miracle, the insectoid had squirmed its way through the crowded passage. But then it disappeared down a side hall, and it was up into a vent. Each time it turned, Randidly smashed its path with plants. But each time it accelerated, moving even faster towards the center of the facility.

Fury building in his chest, Randidly seized his Mana and prepared to completely destroy the entire middle of the facility, but then he realized with a start that he wasn’t able to. His plants scrabbled for purchase, but there was a dome in the center of the facility where they could find nothing. In addition, the metal there had a strange electromagnetic charge that destroyed his plants when he pressed them against it for too long.

“Fine, let’s do it the hard way,” Randidly grunted, and his Lava Golem sprinted forward. Without the insectoids knowledge of the facility, it took some time to work his way through the labyrinth of operating rooms and lodgings. But it a short four minutes later, Randidly was standing in front of a sealed door.

Randidly glanced at the Lava Golem. It began smashing its hands against the metal of the door, tireless and mindless. Very quickly, the strength of the blows and the heat conspired to render the door structurally unsound, and it was broke open. As it did so, there was a puff of stale air out of the inner room.

Randidly frowned. This place… hadn’t been opened in quite a long time?

But finally-

It was the Creature’s Aether. It still wasn’t… strong, but it was unmistakable. It was flowing weakly out of the opening. After the Lava Golem had ripped a large enough hole in the wall to step through, Randidly followed with his senses on high alert.

The inner area of the room was dim, but not dark. At the center, there was a glowing cylinder that went from the floor to the ceiling, 20 meters up in the area. The entire room was about the size of a football field, with plenty of smaller desks and monitors along the sides of the room. Even now, the displays were filled with numbers and readings, monitoring what was occurring in that cylinder.

The cylinder itself was teal, and the glow was constant. As was the humming.

From the base of the cylinder, there were thick cables running out into the wall. These cables were so thick that even Randidly felt shocked when he saw them. There was no sign of the insectoid at all, or any being. The Creature was nowhere to be seen. The room was filled with dust as if it had been quite a while since anyone had been inside of this room.

“This is…” Randidly paused, looking around. The buzzing, the cables, the strange displays… “...a power plant?”

Before Randidly could consider further, he received a message from Dinesh. Increased enemy presence. A different variety of exosuit, but similar make. Likely same faction. Much more powerful. Are we holding?

Randidly blinked. Will remaining be a problem?

There were a few seconds of silence. Then: No. But one made it through.

That caused Randidly’s eyebrows to rise. One had made it through the combination of the Lava Golems, Dinesh, and Tykes? Perhaps more came than they had been expecting. He checked in on the Lava Golems, and they all seemed to be fine, so Randidly shrugged and focused on the room.