It's all useless — my effort.
Piercing Ox was promising. If I can't find an exit, I'll make one. I got that idea from seeing Gojo 'solve' a puzzle maze from a cereal box. It was a labyrinthine maze, full of dead ends if you were lazily pathing with a pencil.
However, Gojo just drew a neat single line, from start to end. Then flaunted it in front of me, stating that he was a genius for solving the maze puzzle.
I applied that here, but it didn't work.
After building up the proper speed and force, I ordered Piercing Ox to charge in a single line and not stop. To the shikigami's credit, it was very effective in destroying walls and pillars.
I followed behind, saddling Round Deer.
Piercing Ox was still building speed and power as it charged, becoming even more powerful with every step. Although I lagged, Round Deer was not built for speed or mounting. I didn't mind, so long as the ox was providing us with a clear, albeit rigid, path.
Now, after some time, Piercing Ox went from obliterating walls to completely obliterating rooms. There was this one room, for some reason, that had a lot of tables. There were even tables in the ceiling, like they were glued.
Piercing Ox obliterated the whole room, leaving only dust and splinters.
I don't know how, but there were tables in the walls, conjoined. Like they've phased through but stopped halfway. I stopped for a moment to investigate, since the scenery was like the ones Gojo plays on his computer.
Where an object or furniture clashes against a wall or ground, and it starts to erratically and rapidly shift, producing loud thumping or clanging sounds.
Then an unsatisfying feeling came over me. I knew what this was. My shikigami had died, and it was obviously Piercing Ox.
I ordered Round Deer to increase its speed, and I could faintly make out in the distance a wide hole, and it was all black beyond it. I arrived, and I stepped out of Round Deer and leaned into the void.
There was a big yellow square a distance away in front of me. I couldn't see its edges. It encompassed almost the whole void, from left to right and top to bottom.
The color scheme was the same in this room. Again, there was no bottom nor top, just the empty black void. Piercing Ox might've fallen in and died.
I could summon it again later, no issue.
So it was all useless, my effort.
I collapsed underneath a pile of rabbits, breathing heavily. That has to be a big yellow cube in front of me, and inside it are also infinite hallways and corridors with the same sickening colors as this one.
I hate this, I have no other options left... other than biting my own tongue.
I heard a shuffle behind me, someone stepped on rubble. I instantly rose and prepared, my rabbits charged forward without an order, already scouting ahead or gauging the threat of whatever that was.
"Makima...." I whispered, the last person that I want to meet in this place.
The sound of metal clanging against flesh echoed, then several dozen more clanging. It wasn't that woman, but it was something else, something strange. It then revealed itself as a large skeleton-like entity with very thin black limbs.
Actually, it was all black. It was vaguely humanoid, repeatedly killing the rabbits left and right.
"A cursed spirit?"
No, it doesn't have any cursed energy. I couldn't even sense something from it. More rabbits have arrived from the original rabbit shikigami. Whatever this skeleton thing was, it didn't handle being overwhelmed well.
It doesn't seem particularly strong either.
The rabbits have now surrounded the entity. It stood completely still for a few seconds before crawling on all fours. It then tried to escape. I ordered my rabbits to chase it down, and although they're fast, they couldn't phase through walls.
That thing dived straight into a wall and then disappeared. I quickly investigated the wall, and there were large cracked openings. That thing can apparently morph its body and shape to go inside crevices.
Based on that kind of ability. It's great for escaping or stalking and it doesn't handle close combat well.
So... it's a stalking, patient predator. It looks for vulnerable moments before it attacks.
A powerful water blast exploded behind me, knocking back that creeping skeleton thing. It struck its back against the yellow wall before letting out a strange screech and finally retreating for good.
Quite a simple yet clever creature. When that skeleton thing dived for that cracked opening, it must've thought that I thought that it fled. I've already secretly summoned Max Elephant while it was getting slowly overwhelmed by the rabbit army as some countermeasure.
I half-expected it not work when I went to 'investigate' that wall, but it's nice to be proven wrong sometimes.
Another weird feeling came over me. A rabbit, extremely far away from me, was witnessing some encounter. I couldn't tell what it was, but there was some fight going on somewhere.
Well, whatever it was. I want no part of it. I saddled Round Deer again and ordered it to follow the leading rabbits.
Now that I think about it. I have never once dispelled my rabbit army. So there are probably a lot of lost, wandering rabbits out there. "Whatever. They're like very distant ears, anyway."
As Round Deer made a turn, the whole environment changed. My surroundings changed in an instant, from yellow to a room with a pool of serene water.
"Huh?"
My rabbits were here, and I was still riding Round Deer. I rubbed my eyes for a moment.
"Shit..."
This place was the same as before, at least in terms of scale, instead of the yellow, sickening walls, carpeted floor, and buzzing fluorescent lights. The whole place was tiled, likely ceramic, and the colors were neutral grays.
My eyes adjusted for a while before finally settling in the ambient lights. My head didn't ache, nor did my eyes suffer from vertigo. This place was most likely still a prison, but at the very least, it was easy on the eyes.