107 Ajax Volan (2/2)

I nodded, “Just like this is a start against Yawm. As we need to, we’ll change the plan. Until then, let’s organize this and make it happen.” I raised a hand and clasped it into a fist,

“We’ll learn everything there is to know about him. Once we’ve gotten what we can, we’ll send him to hell and highwater.”

Hod nodded, “Hod think if Super Tree Man like monsters so much, Super Tree Man should live with the monsters.”

Althea grinned, a malicious note infecting her voice, “I like the idea of him suffering for a long, long time.”

“Then we agree.” I shouted, “We’re done ajax.”

Ajax opened the door before pacing in, “What’s your answer?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, based on your history I’m sure you weren’t listening from the start.”

“Hah, I might have told you more about myself than I should have.”

I shook my head, “I think it was just enough. We’ll work with you in the plan.”

Ajax raised his hands into fists, “It’s a rare sight to see reason. Now heal me.”

I shook my head, “Not until after we’ve completed the plan.”

Ajax’s eyes narrowed, “I told you everything. Heal me and I will help you further.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Do you take me for a fool? The moment I take out that eldritch from within you, you can teleport away forever.”

Ajax puffed out his chest, “I would never abandon my word.”

I turned to Hod, “Is he lying?”

“Hod know Tree Man lies. Tree Man leave us after cleansing. Hod sure of it.”

I turned back to Ajax, “There you go.”

Ajax clamped his hands into fists, “This isn’t a part of the deal.”

I spread out my hands, “Look, I’ll clear out all the eldritch after we finish all of this.”

Ajax slammed his hand into a table. It burst through the wood with a loud crash,

“Then what? I’ll be used just as I have been by that insane worshipper of the void?”

I shook my head, “Worst case scenario, you end up having to do my bidding instead. Let’s face it, my track records a hell of a lot better than Yawm’s.”

Ajax growled, “I just want to be free. I just want to be able to wander and do as I want to. Why is that such an overwhelming demand?”

I frowned, my voice turning cold, “Because you decided to follow someone who was insane. You told us about redemption? This is the closest thing to chance you’re going to get.”

Ajax grabbed the sides of his head, the scratch of wood on wood ebbing,

“I don’t have time to do that. I will be consumed-”

A portion of Ajax’s neck bulged out under his bark skin. Ajax shook his head, the deformity dying down,

“I don’t have time to wait until after we’ve banished Yawm. I need cleansing now.”

I stood up from my gravity warp, “Then I can reduce the infestation. Does that sound fairer?”

Ajax’s eyes narrowed, “What? Reduce it?”

I nodded, “Yeah, I’ll take most of it out, but I’ll leave little left as collateral. It isn’t like you have to be at the brink of death during the entire mission. We just need to make sure you won’t teleport away.”

Ajax shook his head, his eyes widening, “You can control how much you cleanse?”

I spread out my arms, “Yeah, of course I can. Hell, I can offer you other stuff as the plan goes further along.”

Ajax’s face tilted sideways, “Really then...that sounds...better. I can deal with that.”

“Exactly. Come on, let’s get that shit out. You look like you’re in agony.”

I walked up to Ajax, but he took a step back.

His eyes narrowed, “I’ve seen you suck the life from monsters...Why should I trust you?”

“I can’t do anything worse than what Yawm’s done to you, can I?”

Ajax glanced down, “Fine. Get on with it.”

I grinned, “This is going to hurt.”

“I’ve dealt with pain before.”

I shrugged, “We’ll see.”

I walked up and placed a hand onto his shoulder. My armor dug into his skin. I controlled what it soaked up though, going for the collections of ambient mana in him. It was like removing dozens of growing tumors. Ajax kept the extent of his condition unknown to those around him. Underneath his skin, the condition was rampant.

It was disgusting. As my armor dug deeper, Ajax’s eyes creased,

“What are you doing?”

“I’m finding the tumors and killing them.”

The needles of armor sapped at the eldritch tumors, destroying them. Several minutes after the process started, Ajax fell to his knees. His hands shook as he seethed,

“It’s worse than I imagined it was. When your armor reformed, was it like this?”

“I imagine it was the same.”

I cleared out the infestation from his head first, several tumors pressing against his eyes and brain. After that, I cleared it out of his organs and muscles. His blood was next. The only portion of eldritch I left was stored inside his bones. It would take a few weeks for it to seep out. That would give Ajax plenty of time to heal his injuries.

Like with the other followers, I found the eldritch runes carved into his bones. It was a way of keeping them hidden from plain sight. It also let him carve the runes on a sturdier surface than someone’s skin. That’s why Yawm did it like this.

By the time I finished the process, a sheen of sweat poured from Ajax’s forehead. Once I finished the process, I took my palm off his shoulder,

“There’s still a little left. Once we kill Yawm, we’ll finish the process.”

Ajax grunted, “Good...I need some time to heal.”

Althea crossed her arms, “How long will that take?”

Ajax murmured, “A few hours in sunlight. I’ll function at full strength by tomorrow morning. Until then, I’ll be crippled.”

Hod nodded, “Hod tired too, so Hod rest.”

Althea yawned, “I’ll take a nap too.”

I nodded, “Alright then. I’ll have a voice chat with Torix and see if I can’t get a grip on what’s going on. We’ll talk in the morning.”

I waved Althea and Hod off. Ajax walked outside before sitting beneath a tree. I followed him. The glow that ebbed from his skin dissipated as rested. His back and legs dug into the dirt as his eyes closed. Moments later, he looked like a deformity on the surface of the tree.

It was a quick, effective means of hiding himself while resting. I walked back inside before walking into Hod and Althea’s room. We all understood that I would be guarding them while they slept. It would stop Ajax from grabbing either of them and teleporting them to Yawm. That’s why Yawm came here in the first place anyways.

It was to get back Althea. I wouldn’t let that happen unless it was over my dead body. To really drive that point home, I widened my awareness with Tactile Cognition. It let me get a grasp on Ajax’s position. If he decided to disappear, I would run off with Hod and Althea in that instant.

Once in the room upstairs with the others, I raised a palm. My obelisk melted up and out of my armor. I opened it, a sphere of white surrounding me. Once the screen loaded, a green forest with a chattering creek surrounded me.

With the sounds of crickets in my ears, I said aloud, “Call Torix.”

The obelisk obeyed, calling him while I waited. Seconds later, a portion of the screen opened. Torix’s dry face and fiery blue eyes stared at me. He raised an eyebrow,

“Level 2,406? So you did slay Elijah. Excellent.”

I nodded, “That’s nothing compared with Yawm.”

Torix frowned, “Indeed it isn’t. He destroyed Moloth and a few other of my pets with his attack. The Steel Legion and I escaped, Kessiah as well.”

I raised my eyebrows, “How did you get out of there?”

Torix moved his hands together, “I forced the army into the space where I store my summons. It wasn’t a fun time for them, but they are alive. Using one of my imbued flies, I showed them the wreckage Yawm left behind. That silenced any complaints about sleeping with my monsters.”

“I imagine so. We met with Ajax. I don’t know what he’s been doing, but the Ajax you’re following isn’t the real him?”

Torix cupped his chin, “Really now? Odd...It must be a doppelganger. It was my mistake in intelligence.”

I raised a palm to Torix, “I wouldn’t go that far. Ajax has been spying on us since we were in BloodHollow. I can’t stress how much he’s seen of us. I couldn’t even sense a gravitational flux in his mass. I’m guessing he slips in and out of our dimension or something like that.”

Torix frowned, “Well...that’s difficult to even imagine.”

I spread out my arms,

“It’s real, real as the air we’re breathing...well, that I’m breathing. Regardless, he wants to help us kill Yawm. Apparently he’s the sentinel’s spear that Yawm owns. How? I have no idea. Here’s the thing.”

I raised my hands in front of me, “He’s infused with eldritch, and Yawm sustains him. That’s why Ajax does his bidding. Ajax has become angry, and he saw me cleanse Kessiah of the eldritch. I’ve already cleared some of the eldritch form from him-”

Torix’s eyes narrowed as he snapped, “You didn’t cleanse him entirely, did you?”

I shook my head, “Hell no. I’m not that naive.”

“Excellent. As expected of my apostle.”

I shrugged, “More like of someone who’s dealt with people like this before. Anyways, we’ll be laying low for a few days on the...Northern side of town. We’ll rendezvous once Ajax and the others have slept. Does that sound good?”

Torix raised an eyebrow, “You mentioned killing Yawm...How?”

I weighed my hands back and forth, “Not really killing him. Ajax will rip open dimensions, then we’ll shove Yawm in there. It’s like our plan, except way more mobile since Ajax can teleport and go unnoticed.”

Torix frowned, “How is anyone supposed to shove Yawm exactly?”

I pointed a finger up, “By bartering with Ajax’s life, even Althea’s if we have too, though I’d rather not. After that, I’ll learn some eldritch runes from Yawm before pulling him into a trap. I just need help with talking to Yawm...yenno, without dying.”

Torix glanced off in the distance, “Well, it looks like we’ve hit an impasse...I think we could send a messenger before your arrival. One of us could approach him and warn him of your coming. I have many summons that could do the job. Once he knows, you can walk up and speak with him.”

I nodded, “I’m thinking of playing myself off as someone like Yawm. Ajax recommended that approach.”

Torix frowned, “I wouldn’t trust everything that Ajax said.”

“I don’t. I trust him like I trust an eldritch.”

“That’s the correct approach. You mentioned him being infested with them. They could have planted themselves into his mind. Considering how malignant the eldritch are, I wouldn’t put anything past him. Be ready and waiting for chaos.”

I raised a fist, “I am. Good luck torix.”

Torix nodded, “Good luck Harbinger. We’ll discuss the rest of the details after each of us has some time to dwell on the matters at hand.”

Torix snickered at the term while I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm. I closed my obelisk before glancing at the eldritch runes on my left forearm. It had been a long time since I could work on the runes. After seeing a few of Yawm’s creations, I gained a better understanding of what they did.

They didn’t influence reality. They changed it. With it, I could create anything. With how my current rune setup worked, I transfered my mana into extra stats over the long term. My mana generation would increase over time, so why stop there?

Schema created all my trees, stats, hell he created everything with the dimensional cipher. He created the sentinels and spears that could cleave through time and dimensions. Extra stats were child’s play compared with that. Schema was recreating the fabric of reality with the dimensional cipher. I could as well. I wasn't changing the fabric of space-time.

I was changing me.