Chapter 311: A Clever Bug (2/2)
”I'm melting us down. I can survive that, but you guys might not.”
Helios leaned back, ”How is this going to even work?”
I leaned my head against two of my fingers, ”Alright, never mind. Don't worry about it.”
Lifting a hand, I generated steel from mana, making a bubble of metal around us. On the top, a quintessence crystal lit our surroundings in white light. At the same time, another mind melted the stone below us and pulled us down with gravity. Yet another psyche cooled our inner sanctum while reinforcing it with an antigravity well, so it didn't crumble under the weight of Svia.
Florence marveled as we fell down this makeshift elevator shaft, ”Now this is something special.” Florence put his hand on the smoothed bubble around us, ”This is what magic is all about, isn't it?”
Florence grinned at me, ”Hah, you remind me of Obolis at times.”
I raised my eyebrows, ”Let's hope so. We'll need something absurd for Plazia.”
Around us, the plating rumbled as we descended. Ringing taps rained down in an instant once we passed a certain depth. It reminded me of being under a tin roof while it rained bullets outside. Dents began forming over the steel covering us, and Amara slumped her shoulders,
”Are...are we going to be alright?”
I nodded, ”For sure. We're going to be fine.”
Event Horizon spread outwards in all directions, the shifting aura evading my allies but smothering the area around us. The denting sounds evaporated before I pulled an arm back. Pushing it forward, I pulled my fingers together before stabbing through the steel. Feeling around outside, magma pooled around my fingers, verifying my suspicions. I winced,
”Ok, so Reason might not be quite as ridiculous as I thought. We're in magma country right now, yet bugs are swarming outside. How? I have no idea.”
My team members gawked at me, each of them stunned. Even Helios blinked his blind eyes a few times, his relaxed demeanor cracking a bit,
”We...we're surrounded by magma?”
I scoffed, ”What? Of course. We're like...at least a few miles deep by now.”
Cold sweat dripped from Florence and Amara's brows before our friendly eldritch mumbled, ”Miles...Of magma?”
I waved the fingers of my free hand, ”Oh, most certainly. Now that I have you trapped here, all of you, prepare for your doom.”
Florence and Amara took my joke like I stabbed them through the chest. Each of them pushed their backs against the steel covering around them. Florence gulped, ”It was all for this moment then...To think I trusted you.”
I burst into laughter, ”Hah, what? You're going to be fine. Damn guys, it's a joke.”
Helios peered at his nails, still casual, ”You may find yourself more humorous while in a more casual atmosphere. Death is looming around them at all angles while you laugh about it. That is creating a cognitive dissonance that's ruining their immediate judgments.”
Helios lifted his hand, the albony bored, ”I'd recommend making them feel safer if you're willing.”
Leaning back, he was right. I shook my head before sighing, ”Huh. Sorry guys, I just forgot this was, I don't know, unusual, I guess? I've been swimming through magma for a long time now. Years maybe?”
Florence raised a hand as if he had a lot to say,
”I...yes.”
Yup, they needed a break. I spun my finger in a tiny circle before stabbing my other hand into the steel sphere around us. As I pulled it aside before Florence and Amara cringed away from the rupture. Helios remained unperturbed. Beyond the steel, igneous rock surrounded us. Florence stared at it,
”You chilled the magma?”
I stared at a hand, ”I did. It's something I've meant to do more of. I can control temperatures, but I've never really abused the cooling part of that. I've always stuck to heating objects more.”
Stretching out a hand, I materialized steel outwards while jerking stone away. This let me walk forward into a smooth tunnel supported by saturated gravity wells. I took a few steps before turning to the others, ”You guys coming?”
Even Helios took a sharp breath at that. The ice mage leaned back in disgust, ”How are you even doing this?”
I gave him a thumbs-up, ”Cascading magics. Come on, let's go.”
We took a few steps out before the rain of insects returned. Event Horizon destroyed them once more before I turned to the others, ”Guys, I'm going to go outside for a second. Can you keep this structure safe, Helios?”
He nodded, ”Void ice is extremely dense and hard. It may support us for a time, but we'll warp away if you're gone for more than a few minutes. I'm not dying out here because you're forgetful.”
I lowered myself into a molten pit of the steel, ”I wouldn't expect you to. Keep them safe.”
I prevented the lava from erupting into the steel tunnel with gravity, and I cooled my helmet while I kept reading. Like that, I fell into the endless sea below, and I marveled at its size. I hardened the melted steel above before swimming through this vast, heated ocean. The immense pressure weighed on me like a blanket. The thick, liquid rock flowed over me like a summer breeze. Even the heat only seeped through like I dipped into a warm bath.
The ambient white noise of rushing magma also rung out in all directions. It was like I surrounded myself in a waterfall, the pour so loud it silenced everything else. I enjoyed the peace of the place. I might even spend more time under the mantle on Earth after this, but now wasn't the time for thinking up leisure activities. Pulling myself back into the moment, I retracted Event Horizon. From this lava, living blots crashed into me from all angles.
I formed pictures with my gravitational sense, making out the shape of these insects. They composed entirely of the surrounding lava, with no actual shells or blood making them up. From another perspective, I reached out with my sense for mana, finding they weren't truly alive, though they held a physical form.
It was the same technique that Obolis used for his living magic, but simply far more developed. Plazia had embedded mana under Svia's crust, bringing these magma insects to life here, and these magical constructs prevented others from diving this deep. Considering the amount of mana required for this planetary enchantment, I smiled.
Plazia was strong. Very strong.
They darted in from all angles, their tiny minds fueled by their creator's commands. I tried grasping one, but it squeezed between my fingers before returning to its previous form. Several even fused together, rushing me like a world worm, battering at me like a raging bull. This enchantment would be challenging to handle for many people.
But not me. I silenced the massive worm with Event Horizon, its life ending in an instant. For the other insects, I telepathically linked with many of them, discovering more about the magic. These weren't purely magical constructs; Plazia implanted the minds of his insects into the magma. That's how they retained permanence so well.
This also meant Plazia still controlled them, and I found an enormous consciousness interacting with them from a distance. That subtle tethering reminded me of Lehesion's vast link. That wasn't because of this tether's strength but due to its toughness. Even if I jerked on these seemingly subtle connection points, they didn't snap.
Considering how minuscule these bug's minds were and how large mine was, that was absolutely incredible. Testing a theory, I let loose on those anchoring points. No matter how I pulled, they stayed taut. They were unbreakable. Getting Plazia-Ruhl's attention, I jerked on those connections like a child yanking on pigtails.
Seconds passed as the magma insects bit at me from all angles. They shattered claws, snapped teeth, and broke wings on my skin, unable to even scratch me. I found it fascinating how large the magic enchantment was, and it sparked my curiosity. I wasn't the only one curious, however.
The enormous psyche from afar closed the gap, sending over a small fragment of itself here. This piece of Plazia's mind acted as an initial scout. Considering it ruled this underground domain, it must have found my presence baffling.
Once it landed, I seized the mind's fragment around my own conscious, smothering it. It reached out with an insidious curiosity,
”You who crawls beneath the mantle...Who are you, and how have you not perished amidst my inner sanctum?”
I grinned, ”Me? I'm Daniel Hillside.” I spread my arms,
”And I'm alive because I'm hard to kill.”