Chapter 310 - An Allied Enemy (Patreon)

Arduously, Zeke climbed toward the top of a huge hunk of coral, his fingers aching and his muscles threatening to seize up. His connection with the earth mana that had been so prevalent on the other side of the gate was already tenuous, and it had grown even weaker as he’d climbed higher above the sandy, black ground far below. He could have augmented his strength by absorbing the demonic atmosphere, but his recent issues with controlling his blood lust brought him up short. There was plenty of power there, but something told him that losing himself in the tide of corrupting energy would be a fatal mistake.

No - Zeke needed to keep his wits about him, and that meant avoiding steering into his demonic power as much as he could.

Which made his traversal through Mal’canus much more frustrating that it should have been. Certainly, his powerful stats gave him an advantage that allowed him to far exceed the peak of human endurance and strength, but even he had limits. And climbing through sharp coral for two days straight had pushed him to the very edge of what he could handle. Soon, he would be forced to stop and rest.

But that eventuality came with dangers all its own. For one, the forest of coral was absolutely teeming with local fauna. Some were humanoid, like the Nikapa, but others were far more animalistic. There was a general theme, though – the Sea of Corruption had been well-named, and all of the creatures displayed characteristics that would’ve been at home beneath the ocean. Demonic fish, wreathed in black flame and sporting wicked horns, were common, but he’d seen black-and-red-shelled crustaceans, manta rays that shot condensed beams of hellfire from their tails, and a race of crab-demons that seemed content to work as scavengers, feeding off the leavings from more powerful predators’ hunts.

In short, aside from the absence of water, it felt like Zeke had descended into some twisted ocean kingdom.

He continued to climb. His fingers had long since cracked, and he left a smattering of red fingerprints in his wake, but he persisted. He endured. He kept going, well after he thought he couldn’t coax one more step. [Metallurgical Repair] was next to useless; it still provided a trickle of energy, but it wasn’t even enough to stave off fatigue, much less heal the annoying injuries of his persistence.

At first, Zeke had attempted to circle the copse of coral, but even after hours, he’d found no end. In fact, another hour of close observation told him that it was slightly curved, and he’d concluded that it functioned as something of a barrier. A natural wall that encircled his destination.

Perhaps there was a gap, but judging by the subtle curve, the circle could have been hundreds of miles across. He’d collapse before he ever completed the circuit.

More than once, Zeke considered summoning his tower so he could rest, but he’d left it standing in the center of the First City. As such, he wasn’t even sure he could dismiss it, much less re-summon it at his current location. In addition, doing so would strand any kobolds who had yet to manage entrance. They’d be left all alone, days of travel from their homes; it wasn’t unlikely that they’d all end up killed by the other natives of the deep earth.

And Zeke couldn’t stomach that.

Killing the kobolds was fine, so long as they attacked him. He wouldn’t feel guilty about that. However, sentencing them to death when he’d promised to save them? That was different. That was so much worse. And if avoiding that meant enduring a little discomfort, then so be it. Zeke would endure, just as he always had.

So, he climbed, hoping to crest the mountain of coral so he could continue on his way.

Notably, he never once considered turning back. Certainly, he felt confident that he could have. But that would mean killing off all the slaves who’d figured out his demonic nature. And just as he couldn’t let the kobolds die – not by his actions – he refused to consider killing the people who were guilty of nothing but being slaves who’d been thrust – against their wills – into a situation they didn’t even begin to understand.

Besides, Zeke still needed to find the black adamantite, and he suspected that wouldn’t happen until after he overcame his current obstacle.

Slowly, Zeke made progress. Thousands of feet, he climbed, but he drew no closer to the roiling sea of flames above him. For the first few hours of his ascent, he’d been forced to endure a plethora of attacks from opportunistic creatures, but the moment they’d discovered he was no easy prey, they’d fled. However, once he’d reached a certain point, the coral landscape had grown even more desolate than ever.

At first, Zeke had found the cessation of attacks to be a pleasant change, but soon enough, the monotony of the climb began to eat at his patience. Still, he pushed on. Hour after hour, he continued. Days passed. Then weeks. Then months. Time lost all meaning, and his persistent climb continued into eternity.

It was never ending.

At some point, Zeke’s mind retreated into itself in an attempt at self-preservation. And at first, that worked. Unthinking, he only expended enough mental power to keep going, one handhold after another.

His body withered. His organs shut down. And his skin wrinkled and rotted. And all the while, the demonic power beckoned. It could solve his problems. It could give renew his body. It would give him the strength to reach the peak.

But he resisted its call. In his state, he couldn’t quite remember why he would refuse such a ready source of strength, but whatever was left of his mind screamed in warning. So, he pushed that easy path away, focusing on the climb before him.

Like that, he persisted.

He endured.

Even after he’d become nothing more than a skeleton powered by raw stats and his tenuous connection to [Metallurgical Repair], he continued his climb. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else could matter. The climb was all that existed.

And the tantalizing power that promised to solve all of his problems. Reflexively, Zeke pushed it away. In his state, he didn’t know why, but he didn’t need to. He’d become a creature of instinct, and he lacked the mental capacity to overcome the deeply ingrained natural impulse, even if it made his primary directive – the climb – that much more difficult.

Finally, Zeke dragged himself over a craggy lip of coral, and he could move no more. His bones quivered with effort, but they refused to obey his commands. Mentally, he screamed that he needed to keep going, but his body – or what was left of it – was completely unresponsive.

At last, his instinctive disdain for the demonic power crumbled, and he let his defenses fall away. A surge of demonic power washed over him, and, in only a split second, Zeke’s thoughts came rushing back. Suddenly, he was whole and healthy, as strong and powerful as ever.

Had it been a vision?

Had something been messing with his mind?

Or had he really spent an eternity climbing a mountain of coral? Had his flesh truly rotted away, only to be reformed the moment he’d embraced the demonic power now flowing through him? A thousand such questions raced through Zeke’s mind, but he had no ready answers.

Not until a flicker of realization flashed across his mind.

Mouth agape, he looked around, and he didn’t recognize his surroundings at all. For one, the surface was clearly artificial, and to him, it looked like white marble streaked with green veins. But upon closer inspection, Zeke saw hints of glittering gold in the white portions.

Above him, a pergola loomed. Made of black wood – again, with hints of gold – it looked both ominous and serene, an impression supported by the surrounding garden. Zeke recognized mundane flora like roses, orchids, and azaleas, but there were plenty that either were not of earthly origin or beyond his admittedly limited botanical expertise.

With surprising vigor, Zeke pushed himself to his feet. His confusion muted the aggressive tendencies that came with the demonic energy, but he knew from experience that wouldn’t last long. Still, he clung to it, reasoning that it was the only reason he’d clawed his way free of what he expected was an illusion.

“A visitor,” came a high-pitched voice, and Zeke jerked his attention back to the area beneath the pergola. There lounged a child clad in a white robe. Around her waist was a thin belt of braided gold, but that was her outfit’s only adornment. “How novel.”

Zeke shook his head when he realized that there wasn’t an inkling of power wafting off of the young girl. In fact, she exceedingly ordinary – which was strange, considering that Zeke had met so few humans since ascending to the Eternal Realm.

Plus, a quick glance at the sky told him that he was still within Mal’canus, which made her appearance even more suspicious. Looking back the way he’d come, he had to suppress a shiver. The coral mountain looked ordinary, but it was absolutely littered with skeletons and the rotting corpses of thousands of demonic creatures.

Retreat felt like an impossibility.

So, he squared his shoulders and strode forward. He did summon Voromir, just in case, though.

“You need not be afraid,” said the girl, her voice easily carrying across the garden despite the hundred feet that separated her from Zeke. “I wish you no harm.”

When Zeke reached the pergola, he stopped before passing under the black slats and asked, “What are you?”

The girl cocked her head to the side, then smiled broadly. Then, she pushed a stray lock of chestnut hair behind her ear and said, “Directly to the point, as expected.” She sat up. “But I think the more pertinent query would be what I wanted.”

Zeke sighed. Already, he didn’t like the person behind the mask. She might’ve looked like a young girl, but he wasn’t naïve enough to believe that was anything close to her true appearance. Immediately, his mind went back to the night hag he’d fought near the Lake of Flames. She’d seemed harmless, too, but she’d turned out to be a dangerous monster. Zeke had no doubt that the girl was the same.

“I am not, by the way,” she said.

“You’re not what?”

“A night hag,” the girl answered. “No – I do not read minds. Not truly. I simply have a sense of your thoughts.”

Zeke didn’t believe that for a second. The girl had probably chosen her form because she thought it would make him lower his guard, and he was determined not to make that mistake. It wouldn’t be pleasant, caving her face in, but –

“Oh, goodness – so violent,” she said, giving a dramatic shiver as she sat up. After pushing herself to her feet, she continued, “Since you refuse to ask the proper question, I will simply have to take matters into my own hands. My name is Evaline. Yes – that is my true name, though not the title my captors have given me. No – do not speak. You had your chance to do this the right way. Now, you must endure the consequences of your decision to eschew polite conversation.

“In any case – the question you should have asked,” she went on as she began to pace, her hands behind her back. “What do I want? The answer is simple. Freedom. I wish to escape my prison. I –”

“You’re a demon, aren’t you?” Zeke asked, interrupting her.

She fixed him with an annoyed glare, then tilted her head to the flaming sky and sighed dramatically. “Yes. Obviously,” was her response. “I had an entire speech planned, and now you’ve ruined it. I should push you back down my mountain and make you climb it again.”

“You could try,” Zeke muttered, his grip tightening on his hammer.

“Oh, please – you couldn’t hurt me if you swung that thing at me a thousand times, so just relax,” she said. “I can’t hurt you either, just so you know. I’m only an illusion.”

Zeke didn’t miss the shift in her speech patterns. Was that because she thought it would make him more comfortable around her? Or was it really the result of her being thrown off guard.

“I’m not used to talking to people, if you must know,” she huffed, collapsing onto the padded bench. “It’s been ages and ages since I’ve had a visitor. And now I get you.” She threw her hands up in frustration and fell back onto the bench. “It’s a divan. Not a bench, you big idiot.”

Zeke resisted the urge to roll his eyes before saying, “Just get to what you want, okay? I’m not here to talk about furniture.”

She let out another dramatic sigh, then said, “Fine. Have it your way. I need you to free me.”

“And?”

“Oh, good – you’re amenable,” she said, smiling broadly. “Now, just run over to –”

“There is absolutely zero chance I’m going to help you,” Zeke said. “You have to realize that, right? Creepy little kid on a mountain in the middle of a demon realm? Yeah – there’s no way you’re not incredibly evil.”

“Well, that’s just rude,” she said, crossing her thin arms over her chest and poking her bottom lip out. “But that’s okay. Fine. Run along, then.”

As she spoke, she flicked her fingers out in a shooing motion.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. You don’t want to help me, and I can’t force you to do the smart thing,” Eveline said. “No point in trying to convince you, so I’m done with you. You’re dead to me.”

Zeke hesitated for only a moment, then strode in the direction opposite from which he’d come. That was the way to the giant pillar in the distance, after all, and that was still his goal.

Just as he passed the pergola, Eveline released another long, deep sigh before saying, “It’s too bad, really. You’ll never get what you want on your own.”

For a second, Zeke considered simply ignoring her, but then he thought better of it. Turning back to face her, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

“That quest from the great oppressor,” she said. “I can feel it gnawing at your mind. Black adamantite. Silly name, by the way. I tried to convince the others to call it stygian iron – much better, I think – but the so-called Framework threaten to sanction me, so I had no choice but to abandon the –”

“Get to the point,” Zeke chided.

Eveline huffed again, then rose from the pergola. In less than a second, she was only a foot from Zeke. Once she was close, she said, “You are a terrible conversationalist. The proper response would be to agree that stygian iron is an objectively better name. Then, we could gossip about all those…sheep…who follow the Framework as if it is an immutable natural law. But no, you refuse to participate.”

She went on, saying, “Such is my curse, I suppose. The one champion who managed to climb my mountain is a dour idiot with the conversational skills of a hairless ape.”

Zeke groaned, then said, “Great. Good talk.”

Then, he strode away, only getting a single step before Eveline shouted, “Wait! Stop! I apologize!”

He turned around and asked, “Just tell me what you want and why I should help you. Plain, simple words, too. You can read my mind, at least to some degree, right? You should know how little patience I have with that kind of thing.”

“Asking me to do that is like asking you not to hit things with your club,” she pouted.

“And yet, here we are.”

“Very well,” she said. “I need you to release me.”

“Let me guess – you’re imprisoned in that pillar,” he said.

“It’s not that simple,” was her answer. “Six pieces of my soul, scattered throughout the Sea of Corruption. This is the first, but there are four others you need to release before going to the Spear of Dominance and releasing my physical body.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Two reasons,” she said. “First, this.”

She waved her hands in a flourish, and a moment later, a gleaming box appeared in the center of the pergola. It was held in place by thick, black chains.

“Those chains are made of black adamantite. And as it happens, that is exactly one-sixth of the amount you need,” she stated. “Free this portion of my soul by destroying the lock and opening the casket. Do it five more times, culminating in my freedom, and you will complete your quest. And before you ask the question on the tip of your brain, no – you will not find enough black adamantite to complete the quest any other way. Not within the next hundred years. It is an exceedingly rare material, and what little has been found is jealously guarded.”

“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it?” Zeke asked.

“Yes,” she said without even a hint of shame. “Besides, there is another reason you must help me.”

“And what’s that?”

“Because you have almost no hope of escaping this realm without my guidance,” Eveline said. “I know what you’re thinking. You can simply retrace your steps and walk through that delightful little doorway the dwarves have built, right? Wrong. You will never make it before the sea descends. When it does, you will lose yourself. Already, you can feel it, can’t you? It’s gotten worse since you entered Mal’canus, hasn’t it? By the time the fires come, you will become a mindless beast hellbent on destroying anything you find. You may survive until the flames recede, but you will be forever changed. That balance you’ve struck is tenuous. You are half-demon, half-human, but that can change in an instant. If you remain in this realm without protection, you will descend into demnhood without even knowing you’ve lost your humanity. If you emerge, you will be more like one of us than one of them. I can give you the protection you need. I can shield your humanity from the fire.”

Any other time, and Zeke might have labeled Eveline a liar. Despite her appearance, she was a demon, after all. However, he’d felt the proof of her words ever since he’d taken that first step through the portal. Twice, he’d lost himself, and he’d already begun to suspect that things would be much worse when the fires descended. When he’d set out, he had hoped he could avoid experiencing that eventuality, but as the days passed, he’d come to realize that that was a fool’s hope. He would have to endure, so long as he remained in Mal’canus.

“I can’t trust you,” Zeke said.

“I am aware,” Eveline said. “That is why I’ve prepared a guarantee.”

With another flourish, she produced a simple piece of parchment, which she handed to Zeke. Upon flipping it over, he saw that it was covered in text. No – not just any text. A contract.

“Indeed,” Eveline said. “A Framework-enforced contract outlining an agreement between us. No small print. No caveats.  A simple exchange of services. You free me, and you get your black adamantite. In addition, I will guide you through this realm, protecting your mind and soul from the effects of the descending flames. Once it is done, we will go our separate ways.”

Zeke still didn’t want to do it.

It didn’t just feel like a deal with the devil – which never ended well in any story he’d ever heard. It literally was one. However, he didn’t really see much in the way of options. His back was against a wall, and the only way to progress was to trust the demon.

“You’re wrong,” Eveline said. “You aren’t trusting me. You’re trusting the Framework. If I try to break this agreement, I will never survive the backlash. Splintered as it is, my soul is too weak. You, however, will recover in time, albeit with a slight decrease in your overall potential. If anything, it’s me extending trust to you.”

The problem was that Zeke was too ignorant to make an informed choice. Everything he knew about the situation, he’d learned from her. And though Zeke wasn’t a suspicious person by nature, even he could see the dangers in relying on Eveline to provide context for the situation.

Still, the facts were the same. His whole purpose in coming to the demon realm was to gather enough black adamantite to satisfy his quest. And there was a store of it only a few feet away.

But still, he couldn’t do it.

So, he handed the contract back to Eveline and said, “Only way I’m doing this is if you add some clauses in there to protect me. I’m not an idiot, and –”

“Done,” she said.

“W-what?”

“I agree,” Eveline reiterated. “Whatever addendums to the contract you require, I agree. So long as you don’t want to enslave me, of course. I won’t agree to that. But within reason, I will consent to any restrictions you deem necessary.”

“Wow. You really want this, don’t you?” Zeke remarked.

“You have no idea. I have been trapped here for millennia. Escape is all that matters,” Eveline said.

“Then…then, I guess we have a deal,” Zeke said. “Provided I have my assurances, I mean.”

With that, Zeke tried to think of every way Eveline might betray him. As he did, she dutifully altered the contract until it was four pages long. Finally, Zeke felt reasonably certain that it was airtight. Of course, loopholes almost assuredly existed, but he simply wasn’t capable of thinking of everything. So, he had to be satisfied with the contract prohibiting deception, mind control, and betrayal of any kind. In addition, he added a brief period of truce during which she couldn’t attack him after she was free. There were a couple of other addendums, but most were variants of the already-established parameters.

When it was finished, Zeke took the contract and said, “I really hope I’m not making a huge mistake.”

“You aren’t,” Eveline said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “Neither of us will regret this. You’ll see.”

Zeke didn’t respond. Instead, he summoned a sharp dagger from his spatial storage, pricked his thumb, and pressed it against the bottom of the parchment. And with that, the alliance was sealed.