Calypso snaps his finger.
Again the world spins around me. It is something I could never get used to. Each time it varies just the smallest bit. This time I was able to sense something I was too distracted to before. Among the distortions and blurriness, I could now sense a sort of 'flow'. It is very challenging, but I do chase after it successfully to some degree. The vomit-inducing feeling of vertigo, the wild spinning, and the confused vision–all of it is just the stress of the body and reality manifesting as it is ripped apart metaphysically. The 'flow' is like a river, steering the body through time, space, and reality.
Before I could understand more of his ability, we had already arrived. Our group of I, Emily, Mary, Samuel, Revenant, and Elizabeth had arrived at an entrance to the Altus Opus. Calypso and his group were nowhere to be seen.
This was another metro station with a door to the Altus Opus, but it wasn't the one that we had initially entered when chasing Ferrous Sovereign. Actually, the previous entrance had been blocked off by the policemen. I guess the Spiritual Corrosion reached into the metro as well.
Even though it wouldn't be useful until later, I handed out the map I had made for Ferrous Sovereign's domain plus surroundings. Everyone just took a photo of it on their phones and moved on with it, Emily remarking something about me not having been able to just Air Drop it.
"Who will manage scouting?" Samuel asked.
"We'll just go in and mark the walls so that we can make it back safely, no?" I replied.
Samuel sighed.
"I'll do it then."
He walked to the front of the group and placed his palms on both sides of the wall. After a short moment a kaleidoscope of butterflies spewed out onto the walls–the same kind of moving black tattoos as are all over his body.
It takes about a minute, but then these butterflies return one after another. Their return is slow, with only around one every 5 seconds, though in the meantime Samuel was hard at work. He had taken out a pen and started to hurriedly document the routes each of them took.
Seemingly his Eidolon allows him to do something like that. The map is very nicely done and reaches far. I do notice some paths being suddenly cut off with an X marking these paths, so I inquire about it.
"These are the secret paths leading into the Brass Canopy or Steel Bulwark. My butterflies had been eliminated upon entry."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I can't be, but the likelihood of it being the cause of an Eidolon or something in the Abandoned Delta is low. The butterflies are nimble and quick; besides, they are ink on a wall, so figuring out how to kill them and executing them in such a short time is hard."
"But why would the other areas be that good at it then?"
"It was called the 'Will of something'. Weak things die immediately after a brief exposure to most areas of the Altus Opus. The exceptions are the Abandoned Delta and Altus Opus proper, I think. Don't ask me why."
"So that is why I was told to not go there?"
Revenant cut in to correct something.
"Not quite. Whilst it is true that you wouldn't be able to go there now, the cutoff point technically is somewhere between Link 3 and Link 4. Someone like me or Lis could go there, but we know that even so we shouldn't. There isn't any explanation for it, but it has been passed down for generations of Eidolon Hunters. Well, to be honest, there are explanations, but they're locked behind the government or people of Link 6 to 7, which are the only ones that can survive trips into there."
Somewhere between Link 3 and 4? Could it have something to do with the Miasma? I wouldn't be surprised if variations of the Miasma existed. Considering that even Revenant is speaking in hearsay right now, I don't think I'll figure out this mystery in a while, or ever. If only there was a percentage statistic like '80% of Eidolon Hunters die before they reach Link 5' I could reference.
We use Samuel's map to continue onward. Though simple, he had the experience to tell where his map would connect back to the domain of Ferrous Sovereign. It was an annoyingly long trek, but it seems to be pretty safe, in lieu of the usual dangers expected in this area. No Eidolon or Spiritual Corrosion. At least according to Samuel. Even he didn't manage to find much in regard to booby traps from Ferrous Sovereign since they are mostly built into the floor and walls, so his technique can't really account for that.
Looking around, Emily seems to be lost in thoughts. She probably is thinking of a way to survive after having been 'forced' to participate. Revenant is playing around with magnets, testing which of his things are magnetic or not. His shamshir and stiletto are both magnetic, though his Eidolon isn't. I don't really know much about magnetism, but if I had to guess, I'd wager that anything without iron is likely to not be magnetic. This would be my silver falchion, the gunmetal revolver and its copper bullets, and the pocket watch. I'm not sure of Judge Gauntlet, and the chain shirt is almost certainly steel. My Eidolon is pretty vital for my survival, so I'll take the gamble.
As for the other four, uh… Mary will be able to fight without her battleaxe, I think. Emily already mentioned that her knives are magnetic and her Eidolon is useless. Samuel has a weapon made of wood and rock, so he should definitely be fine. Elizabeth I don't know much about, but guessing at how she threw away the lantern last time, she probably has other weapons as well.
The tunnels keep repeating with tiled stone and metal beams. There is always a smell of either mildew or old blood, though sometimes one of steam and metal. Even so, I don't hear any echo from our footsteps or similar. Part of the tunnel is plastered, so that might be the reason.
By now we have traveled for around half an hour until we entered the domain of Ferrous Sovereign. I gave a heads-up to the others, who started to adopt a more guarded stance. Samuel, I, and Revenant each drew our swords; Mary and Emily braced themselves, and Lis took the top of her coffin as a shield and took out a cross-shaped headstone as a sort of weapon.
Even with all precautions set, we were caught off guard almost immediately. A snapping of a wire behind us distracted us, and then a set of portcullis gates split the tunnel into pieces before anyone could react. Our group was split up by a set of metal bars now; nevertheless, we couldn't get time to pass through. The tunnels themselves actively shifted this time, the entire segment of tunnel moving down slowly. The portcullis separating both groups stood on a sort of slit in the stone tiling, which then moved a wall upwards, cutting us off completely.
By now the tunnel was plunged into the darkness, with the exception of Lis' lantern giving us light. I was with Revenant and Elizabeth; the other three likely got caught on the other side. Eventually the tunnel connected somewhere again, the entire mechanism returning to rest with a loud thud. I could still hear the sound of gears through the walls, though, to be more specific, from the wall behind us, where the other group ended up.
At this point the largest fear wasn't Ferrous Sovereign, but rather where we ended up, or even where they could be. What is the likelihood that the exit of at least one of these 'elevators' leads to the Brass Canopy or Steel Bulwark? Certainly they aren't 0, which is quite bad.
The portcullis gates open the way forwards, and it is certain to us that there isn't another way except forwards. Lis illuminates the way forwards, revealing that we have arrived at…
[…]
The contraption finally stopped. It is pitch black with the exception of my glowing 'Sinner's Flame'. The echo returns to a depth of around 50 meters (~165ft). I map out the area past the portcullis on our side, as well as the remaining ones I've set at the other tunnel.
I glance at Emily and Mary; it looks like I'll have to do most of the heavy lifting myself. We wait until I finish the next map. We're lucky all of them returned; we remain inside the Abandoned Delta. Oddly enough, the other group was only dropped around 30 meters (~100ft).
[…]
...the Abandoned Delta. But then, suddenly, something happens to make my blood freeze.
I could hear that voice again.
Ferrous Sovereign was near.
I was not prepared; none of us three were. We don't have half of the team here–no Mary, no Samuel, no… okay, Emily isn't that important, but still.
"Ferrous Sovereign is here."
Revenant and Lis immediately steeled their nerves again, brushing aside other matters.
Even so, we had no other way to go. We had to continue onward, even if we were to head into the maw of the beast; Ferrous Sovereign won't show itself after all.
We stepped out of the hallway into the ominous corridor. A single light stood at the end of it with a large door, and before it a large pit. It had a high ceiling, and it was essentially just a stairway further down. Revenant and Lis took the front for protection, though it was exactly that, which was the worst choice.
I heard a faint whistle of wind above me, which made me look up, but I couldn't manage in time. My vision went completely black, and all my other senses were similarly muffled. All for a fraction of a moment.
Tick... tick... tock... tock…
Adrenaline shot through me, shooting me back to my feet, the floor below me soaked in blood. Again in that same corridor, but without Revenant and Lis. It was entirely illuminated now, revealing the same hole now filled with a stained boulder. Actually, it was more of a cylinder than a boulder, but that is beside the point.
A fizzing noise from my pocket caught my ear. I took out my pocket watch, which dissolved into dust right in front of my eyes. I had died?
"Keep your memories close."
A familiar voice called out, slightly distorted. I looked over towards the origin and saw a tall mirror. Inside was a reflection of me, maybe. The reflection wasn't perfect; rather, it was more of an image. The background was different, and the posture of the person as well as their expression and what they wore didn't reflect me.
"You must be confused. Hmm, how can I help you without breaking the rules? Ah, 'Gula-13-1-411' should help you."
Rattled, I still took out my Eidolon Register and carefully flipped through the pages. 'Mirror of a better World' was the name of this Eidolon. Rank 1 gluttony Eidolon Equipment of the dream domain. After reading through this, I look back up at the image in the picture.
The background looked like utopia, maybe. Buildings made of chalk-stone and gold, automating racing below the stained glass streets, wisps of fantasy magic providing fire, electricity, light, and other amenities to the people behind him. They all wore abstract clothing, like you'd see at a fashion gala. They are like an optical illusion. They were colored in whichever way was wanted, shifting.
Then there was him. He looked like me, but with more refined facial features free from wrinkles. A soft smile with warm colors that invite and charm anyone. He wore a suit out of the finest silks that somehow held a reflective sheen, glowing faintly in hues of deep blue.
I look back at the Eidolon Register.
"[…] reflects an ideal version of oneself […]"
"So you are Nathan, but from a different world?"
"It is hard to explain, but yes, I am Nathan. As much Nathan as you are at least."
"You are the ideal me? That means that in this world I would never reach an ideal state for myself?"
"There are two problems with that assumption, but you are not necessarily wrong because of them. First, the image of 'Mirror of a better World' varies between space and time, meaning I could just be the future you. Second, just because I am the ideal version of myself doesn't mean that this is the ideal world; others may have suffered for the sake of my success."
"The odds of that…"
"I know. You will likely retrieve me after your battle with Ferrous Sovereign, so let me give you as much advice as I am allowed to. Keep your memories close."
"I don't understand…"
"Odds are that you never will. I am not allowed to elaborate or actively direct you towards it, although maybe it is exactly that, which results in the whims of destiny. Now you should return to your friends. Ferrous Sovereign is cautious of you because of your resurrection, but if you don't join back with them, he will strike."
I wave myself goodbye, then I reciprocate it back at myself reluctantly.
All that was said by that person was cryptic, but I should just act.
I quickly step down the stairs, this time there being an audible echo, before stepping cautiously around the pit and towards the open door. I enter inside.
Revenant and Elizabeth have just finished delivering a killing blow on 'Avaritia-03-5-057', one of its lanterns landing at my feet. Meeting eyes with both of them, Revenant is relieved whilst Lis is overjoyed. She practically leaps at me, though not to express her happiness, but instead to start drinking from me again. Is she kidding me?
"Nathan, thank the stars you're here. I don't know how, but the other group was able to inform us about their situation. They are in the Abandoned Delta and aware of our location. They'll be here in about an hour at most."
"What do you mean–ow! What do you mean that you don't know how they did it?"
"Lis' limbs suddenly moved on their own, informing me in sign language."
They moved on their own? Any incantation that could have such an effect would be way out of range from what I know, so how did they do it?
After a few more jolts of pain from a hurried drinking by Lis, she licked her lips and prepared for battle again. I could definitely see why she would prepare. Considering I hear the voice of Ferrous Sovereign again, this encounter is unavoidable, it seems.
Lis allows me to eat a red macaron for my blood supply to recover, with her and Revenant eating a green one.
Then he shows himself by dropping down from a balcony I would have expected Revenant to teleport on top of.
Again this tall human figure with samurai armor and a tengu mask emerged. The golden crown still stuck to his head as if it were molten. Two massive odachi still rest in his hands, though one now points towards us, inviting us for a duel.
Now we are officially recognized as his opponents.
Each one of us three discards our metallic items to the side, then strides towards him focused, but not overconfident.
Revenant and Elizabeth immediately start to incant, and I join. Both of them charge forward, but I stand back for now with my revolver. Revenant, whilst charging, unveils a jar of green goo, which he unlatches and slathers over his Eidolon, which absorbs it, transforming into a particularly vile blade, now slightly curved, making it less of a longsword now.
The metal scrap behind Ferrous Sovereign shifts, starting to orbit him like a belt of asteroids. Revenant showcases elegant footwork paired with skilled slices and parries of his blade.
Elizabeth just rushes forward with her shield held to one side. To shield herself from the other sides, she also uses her Eidolon; her skin is covered in sanguine-colored, ruby-like crystals, arranged like an armadillo's shell. A piece of scrap impacts, sometimes destroying part of the crystalline shield, but after the impact the growth retreats and restores her body.
I maintain just enough distance to be outside the danger zone. The frame of my opponent is large, so it wouldn't be hard to hit. The issue lies in the metal plating making up his armor. There are small gaps, sure, but with his movement and the amount of debris in the way, I just can't imagine myself hitting such a small target.
We finish our incantations, Revenant blocking the flanks of Ferrous Sovereign with ice, Elizabeth shooting out branches in the direction of it from her hands, and me conjuring a growing and blood-hungry tree below his feet.
Revenant continues to rush forwards with Elizabeth, pressuring Ferrous Sovereign into action, hopefully whilst off-guard due to our incantations distracting him.
A series of metal debris whizzes past my face. Once they pass, I notice Ferrous Sovereign is free, Elizabeth and Revenant jumped back a step, and one of Ferrous Sovereign's odachi was flying towards my throat.
My legs immediately start like a spring, the rest of my body focusing on just moving, no matter where. The blade cuts slightly into my shoulder, and I feel firsthand the sting of his paper-cut-thin slices. My heart sinks as I realize the implications of a metal blade near my body.
Elizabeth reacts by shooting out a large array of these sanguine crystals in the shape of blades towards Ferrous Sovereign, who just needs his debris and a singular odachi to parry.
But he had underestimated Revenant due to his distance. He stops muttering again, finishing another incantation, and through his speed I just see a blurry violet line from a thrown stiletto followed by a parry attempt, though then Revenant appears right up with the vulnerable Ferrous Sovereign.
I can only feel a burst of pressure from Revenant; his eyes flash that deep crimson color of his, and then blood–a lot of blood. This tainted, ichor-like blood flows out in bursts, dragged out and coalesced further into strings by a craving sword.
The second odachi returns to his hands instead of further cutting through me, and I try to capitalize on this situation somehow, firing a volley of one, two, three bullets. Each shot recoils me in a bad way due to my improper stance, and it also sends jolts of pain through my cut shoulder. The loud banging covers these stifled screams of mine.
Two make shallow impacts into his armor, and the third ricochets off of some metal debris mid-air; a shame, but I wasn't expecting much.
Revenant's blade has grown to the size of one of his odachi, and due to some property of it, it doesn't weigh any more than the original longsword, so Revenant can almost stand toe-to-toe with Ferrous Sovereign.
After I steady myself, I take one more shot, which is quickly blocked by more debris again. This really isn't working, so I finally switch to my blade and start another incantation, the same as Revenant.
With my falchion drawn, I tentatively start to encroach upon Ferrous Sovereign's space, giving me some time to think whilst Elizabeth and Revenant are held at a standstill.
It won't make a reckless move like throwing his sword again with both of them close. He likely remembered the stiletto being able to teleport but didn't know of Revenant's recalling incantation. Another opening like this will be hard to achieve. The only things it is still unaware of are my Ittan-Momen call, my single strike, and Revenant's smoke. Meanwhile, I know that Ferrous Sovereign likes to use traps; he can freely move around what feels like any number of metal objects in three-dimensional space. He likes to use his metal debris for offense and defense, but also to obscure our vision. All things considered, he is a simple opponent when compared to us and our large number of various Eidolon Equipment, Incantations, and Sin Equipment.
I approach further to heighten the pressure on him. He has yet to move from his starting position with his back facing a wall. He might be insecure about being stabbed in the back, quite literally, due to the voices I'm hearing. He thinks of himself as a person that used to fight honorably in one-on-one duels but was often betrayed for wanting a fair fight.
In a flash, Ferrous Sovereign's odachi was swinging towards me as soon as I was in range, which was a distance I had misjudged. I raised my blade to parry it, but the impact landed on the flat of my sword near the tip, greatly damaging the tip of my falchion, making a terrible sound, and getting me a shallow cut across my chest after a nimble retreat.
"Edge alignment, Nathan, dammit!" Revenant called out.
"Sorry, I don't have much experience with this."
"Why did you pick a falchion then? A falchion is not a beginner weapon; it needs good edge alignment to work. There were a multitude of other things wrong with it, but we'll talk later."
Who could've guessed that Revenant was this enthusiastic about swords? Okay, he is someone that has studied the blade for likely years; he probably just developed an allergy to people being bad with swords. Also, I picked out this falchion because of its Sin Equipment ability; and because it looks cool.
Revenant had interrupted his incantation to tell me this, so it came out late. Incantations can be interrupted, but it is a bit complicated to 'reconnect' to them. His smokescreen comes out to cover himself, forcing Ferrous Sovereign on the defense. In the meantime, Elizabeth had secretly let her blood flow into the puddle of Ferrous Sovereign's blood, now resulting in these crystals sprouting from the earth like bamboo.
He managed to free himself easily again, but these crystals grew unnaturally, each individual growth bent and went a different way, like that one screensaver; their goal was to shoot the debris out of the sky, which succeeded partially. It was a deterrence great enough to back Ferrous Sovereign further in a corner.
Elizabeth then slid, skating over blood as if it were ice, ending up inside the smokescreen.
Revenant increased the pressure with strike after strike after strike. Ferrous Sovereign could only react with the smoke. He has to move to force Revenant out of that cloud, but he is surrounded by walls of sanguine crystals and cannot rely on his swarm of debris.
I calculated from afar. I delayed my incantation and waited for the perfect moment. I know that Elizabeth and Revenant can't take him on alone; he just has something about him.
As if to confirm my suspicion was true, his armor started to shift, the sharp metal plates being able to block any potential strikes with another blade and adapt to any other threats.
Elizabeth had used her silent step to reappear out of seemingly nothing again and swing her headstone hammer directly into his back; nevertheless, it failed.
Multiple layers of metal plates blocked the impact, being dented by the impact, then disarmed Elizabeth's shield, and lastly shoved her lightweight body away to the side, throwing her into a wall.
She cried out in pain but took the impact gracefully.
At the same time, Revenant was also forced back from the swarm, out of the screen, and then got pursued further. Revenant was slicing through these plates, but it just made the issue worse for him. His great edge alignment cut these sheets into perfectly straight blades again, making one floating enemy become two.
I had positioned myself behind the smokescreen. With Elizabeth using more of her stored blood and Revenant pressured, I, likely disregarded, decided to strike.
Spools of durable cloth grew from nothing, entangling the debris and ensnaring Ferrous Sovereign. My foe was cautious. Revenant could maybe teleport again, but he didn't know that the cooldown still had around 10 more seconds to go. Elizabeth could use her incantation to drain blood or use the blood pooled at his feet and the crystals around him as offense, but he didn't know that she was running low on blood reserves. Maybe he acknowledged my presence out of his sight, but he knew my swordplay and marksmanship were sloppy at best.
All this culminated into my moment–my sole contribution to this fight. I held my falchion high over my shoulder and used single strike.
My muscles groaned from strain, and I could hear sinew, muscle, and skin tearing. This wasn't from the single strike, no; it was the blade correcting itself to be aligned forcefully so that it may cut.
The sound was akin to pressurized steam hissing like a snake mixed with an electrical fault. Sharp, deadly, and quick to pass.
Pushing past the pain of my body tearing itself apart, I saw it through tear-struck eyes. One of Ferrous Sovereign's arms lay motionless on the floor beside it, and his torso had been severed through the middle with the same diagonal cut.
Revenant and Elizabeth rushed in, though both looked worried rather than focused.
The response of Ferrous Sovereign was to cocoon itself in metal instead of attempting to strike me. Why? I had jumped backwards, landing on my shoulders.
Then I looked behind him. I saw what lay behind his back. It was just wallpaper. There wasn't actually a wall; there instead was an alcove behind him. Although the alcove wasn't empty, inside of it was a severed Eidolon. An Eidolon that looked like a floating chrysalis, cut in half from my single strike, and it bled. It bled something that wasn't blood. It bled a sort of blue sap that started to fly everywhere.
Revenant and Elizabeth retreated fast in shock. Even they weren't expecting another Eidolon, or maybe not that kind of Eidolon.
"Nathan!" Elizabeth called out, even knowing that I couldn't run in my prone position.
The sap landed on and around me. My vision immediately blurred, not from my tears, but from that sap.
"Dormant Morpho got Nathan!" Revenant had called out as a matter-of-fact.
I think I remember that one. 'Acedia-00-0-246' is the code of this butterfly chrysalis. Its sap slows down those near it, to the point of paralysis and potentially death. Death was extremely unlikely, but I knew that Ferrous Sovereign wasn't dead yet. He was close, and both Revenant and Elizabeth could kill it on their own, but they can't approach due to the sap.
Given the shield of Ferrous Sovereign, it would also not be exempt from the effects. He emerged from his cocoon and walked up slowly; whether by choice or necessity, I don't know. He held an odachi in both of his hands high above.
"Nathan, no!" Elizabeth screamed in a self-loathing tone, as even she couldn't know what to make of this loss.
And in the silent tunnels of the Abandoned Delta, the Sovereign's crown gleamed brighter than the dying lantern light; my flickering flame extinguished.