Chapter 58: The Void

  The true size of the Razor Basilisk remained a mystery to me.

  Back when it attacked me in the shortcut room, it had already seemed impossibly large. But now, its massive body coiled across at least a fifth of the pit, with the rest of it disappearing into the ink-like portal on the ground – a portal that led to god knows where.

  “Distract it!” I commanded Goren as we both ran toward it, a plan hatching in my mind.

  There was no approaching the creature head-on without either being smashed by its sheer size or skewered by its blade scales. To stand any chance, we had to weaken it from a distance, breaking its scales to uncover more weak points and strike at those. Right now, its single remaining eye was the only exposed vulnerability – and it was elevated far above us together with its giant head. Reaching it would be difficult under the current circumstances and hitting it from afar already proved to be impossibly hard.

  I also wondered what Goren could do. I had no real idea what he was capable of. My past selves had likely seen some of his skills, but not me.

  I wanted to learn the extents of his abilities. Somewhere deep inside, perhaps I knew our confrontation was inevitable, despite my attempts to prevent it. I tried shaking these thoughts off, focusing on ending Erebus as quickly as I could and returning to Yana, but I also had to be practical and realistic. With how things stood at the moment, there was no escaping it – we’d have to fight with our very existences on the line. And all because of a timeless grudge between two godlike deities.

  Just moments ago, Goren had hit the monster with enough force to send it crashing into the wall – and emerged unscathed from the encounter. That alone proved he had the strength to contend with the creature’s bladed body, unlike me. And yet, he had admitted to struggling against the Razor Basilisk for a while. And despite being nearly thirty levels above the creature, he was the one to offer to team up. This meant one of two things: he had his limits too, or he was lying. I’d bet on the latter to be the correct answer.

  Either way, I reminded myself that his safety would not be my priority in this fight. If Goren died, he died. I don’t care.

  “Gotcha.” Goren said, blinking forward repeatedly, appearing and reappearing from black smoke.

  Déjà vu tingled in my mind, likely reminding me I’d seen this skill of his before.

  The Razor Basilisk didn’t wait, snapping its jaws at the approaching Goren, who continued to evade effortlessly in bursts of black mist.

  Good. Keep it busy.

  Meanwhile, I turned to my side of the job – ripping the snake’s scales off. Now, that it was fixated on Goren and ignoring me, I had just the tool for it.

  I swapped to the Astral Spear, charging Shooting Star, and hurling the spear at the snake’s body.

  The spear hit, exploding on impact and tearing several of its bladed scales free.

  It was reassuring to see the spear manage its task, but there was a problem. If each Shooting Star spear removed such a small amount of scales, I’d need Goren distracting it until the end of the day.

  Time we didn’t have.

  Time I didn’t have as the monster switched its focus to me.

  It roared furiously and twisted its massive body, coiling briefly before firing itself at me. I used Enhanced Dash Step together with Wind Rush for a quick evasion and it flew past me, crushing the ground and raising debris.

  “Sorry, Spellsword.” Goren called out, shrugging dramatically. “This thing isn’t as stupid as you thought it was.”

  Before I could retort, he summoned a golden bow into his hands. He pulled the string back and a shining magical arrow appeared as he channeled what seemed to be a powerful shot.

  “Now it’s your turn to distract it.” He said, smirking. “Don’t fail me now.”

  “Goren, that wasn’t the agreement!” I snapped, furious, but there was no time to argue.

  The Razor Basilisk lunged at me again, forcing me into a frantic series of dodges as its massive head crashed down, blades slicing through the air aimed at me.

  Of course he proves he can’t be trusted. Annoying idiot.

  I continued dodging and evading the Razor Basilisk’s relentless attacks as Goren released the bowstring, firing the gleaming magical arrow. The projectile struck the beast’s side and exploded, tearing off several blade scales – like the Astral Spear did – and momentarily halting its advance.

  Like hell I’d be your decoy, Goren.

  Taking advantage of the creature’s brief respite, I swapped to Silverfang and began channeling Unyielding Charge. This ability had already proven it was able to break armor when I attacked the scorpion version of the monster.

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  I shot forward, closing the distance between us in an instant. As I got closer, the blade scales reacted again, rising sharply to skewer me.

  But this time, I was ready.

  I activated Wind Fortification.

  The protective winds surrounded my body and clashed with the incoming blades, creating a shockwave of air as I powered through and Silverfang connected with the snake’s side. It tore through the blade scales, crushing and ripping them off in an explosion as the glaive plunged deeper into the snake’s exposed flesh.

  The monster roared in pain, thrashing wildly.

  “My, my, Spellsword. You’re suddenly amazing.” Goren chuckled mockingly. “But I’ll finish it off.”

  He leaped into the air, likely going for the snake’s remaining eye.

  “No, you don’t! I said it’s mine!” I shouted, activating Flight and hurtling upward to intercept him.

  The surprise on his face was worth it as my body collided with his, and we both went crashing to the ground.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, scrambling to his feet. “I had it!”

  I couldn’t risk letting him land the final blow. It wasn’t just the XP. If the Razor Basilisk dropped something important, I couldn’t trust Goren not to take it for himself.

  “I told you, I’m going to be the one to kill it!” I snapped back.

  He pointed his finger behind me. “Now look what you did!”

  I turned around just in time to see the snake retreating, its massive body slithering back into the ink portal.

  “Now neither of us gets it. I hope you’re happy!” Goren added, his voice full of anger.

  “Fuck!” I cursed, sprinting after the monster. But I couldn’t make it in time. Its enormous body was swallowed whole by the portal, which rippled once before closing entirely, leaving no trace behind.

  Arriving too late, I punched the ground furiously, then turned to Goren. “So much for ‘I’ll do everything you tell me’, you piece of shit!”

  Goren laughed but his gaze remained furious. “Someone’s feeling ballsy this run. You’ve come a long way from getting killed by me eight loops in a row, but don’t forget – I can still add another death of yours to my tally. Watch your tongue!”

  “I’m not scared of you!” I shouted, rising to my feet and stepping closer until we were face to face, glaring at each other with murderous intent.

  There was still time until the 64th run, but if he wants to fight me now, then so be it.

  Then, Goren just broke into laughter and stepped aside, shaking his head.

  “Damn.” He said between chuckles.

  “What’s so funny?” I demanded, still angry.

  “It’s nothing.” He sighed, shaking his head and calming down. “Anyway, don’t worry. All is not lost. I know where that portal leads. I know where we can find it.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “Even if you do know, you’ve already proved to be a liar.”

  “And you’ve proved to be a greedy asshole, yet you don’t see me crying about it.” He retorted, shrugging with a grin on his face. “So, do you want to know where it went, or not? But fair warning – it’s likely the scariest place you’ve ever seen in your entire life.”

  I sighed deeply, weighing my options. I wanted nothing to do with him, especially after his stunts just now, but if he truly knew where the Razor Basilisk had escaped to, he was my best bet.

  “Where did it disappear to?” I asked reluctantly.

  His grin widened. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  ***

  Through the tunnels above, we made our way back to the dark corridors of the tomb, where Goren led me into the secret shortcut room.

  He approached the edge of the massive hole in front of us and pointed at it.

  “Some runs ago – while saving your ass, by the way, no need to thank me – the snake dragged me down to its home down there.” He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his gaze distant as if recalling actual horrors. “That place is a nightmare incarnate.”

  I joined him by the edge and peered into the abyss, but outside of pure darkness, I couldn’t see a thing.

  “What did you see there?” I asked, pressing for details.

  Goren shrugged. “Where do I even start?” he chuckled, still looking deep in thought. “Honestly, it’s better if you see it by yourself. But again, you need to be prepared for what you’re about to see. I think even your amnesiac mind won’t be able to forget this.”

  I rolled my eyes, growing impatient. “Stop talking in riddles. Just tell me what’s down there.”

  “You won’t even let me have a bit of fun, huh?” Goren sighed, visibly annoyed with me.

  Good. Be annoyed.

  “Fine. It’s the Void.” He finally said.

  “The Void?”

  Goren nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t it cross your mind that most of the monsters here have ‘Void’ in their names? Void Spiders, Void Centipedes, and the like? Well, there you have it – that’s where they come from. The Void.”

  I frowned. In this run, I’d only encountered Void Spiders so it’s not like I could piece this out myself. Still, I didn’t understand why he tried to paint this place as so important – or terrifying.

  “Okay, and?” I asked, unimpressed.

  “What do you mean ‘and’?” Goren asked, baffled. “Don’t you want to know where these bastards come from?”

  I glanced down again, my curiosity rising despite what I wanted to answer. “I assume you already know the answer?”

  “Why, of course.” He grinned, his tone smug. “Trust me, what’s waiting down there is going to leave you shocked.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. I had to go down there. Whatever awaited below, it didn’t matter. The Razor Basilisk was still likely there, and I couldn’t let this run end without finishing it off. I’d already burned too many important cooldowns to leave empty-handed.

  “So, how do we get there?” I asked cautiously.

  Goren gestured as if diving in headfirst. When I narrowed my eyes at him, he laughed and said. “You’ve got your flying ability, right? Just descend. But don’t underestimate the distance – it goes deeper than the thirty-five levels of this tomb.”

  “You’re telling me it’s even deeper than everyone originally thought?” I asked, in disbelief.

  He nodded, grinning wide from ear to ear. “Yup. Even deeper than Gaelith’s Darkness.”

  I didn’t recall the name, but Déjà vu screamed in my mind, sending a feeling of dread through my body.

  Goosebumps covered my skin, and I attempted to change the subject. “And what about you? How will you get down there?”

  “Oh, I have my own ways of getting around.” He grinned, his voice sounding like a taunt. “See you down there.”

  Before I could say another word, he vanished in front of my eyes, as though he’d never even been there.

  I looked down into the darkness again, taking a deep breath to steady myself. Whatever was waiting below, I’d face it.

  I set a new anchor for Checkpoint.

  [Checkpoint Set: Your progress has been saved at this point in time]

  [Checkpoint lvl. 8: Time left until Anchor expires – 01:59:59]

  Then, I jumped, hoping whatever I find down there was going to be worth it.