Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 717: Brother... Brother

Chapter 717: Brother... Brother

Within the valley that served as the birthplace, death ground, and resurrection site for the Broken Saintess, three individuals found themselves faced with an overwhelming task: Preventing the completion of the Jester’s ascension and killing the Jester, neither of which were the slightest bit simple to accomplish.

"How do we find the Carnival?" Alex asked as Victoria helped him to sit on the dirt, an unfortunate attempt to help him rest in a bid to gather as much strength as was needed for the uphill task ahead of them.

The Fixer took out his golden compass and remarked. "Under normal circumstances, I would say no, the reason being that the Jester makes any attempt to locate his divine kingdom fall prey to the effects of his fooling."

"And now?" Alex pressed.

"Now, he would be the single largest beacon in both the material and immaterial. Even if he doesn’t want to be found..."

"The energy levels can be tracked."

"Indeed." The Fixer nodded.

Saying that, he turned the dial of the compass prompting Alex to ask.

"What is that?"

"I refer to it as the Golden Compass. It allows me to travel between dimensions as I please."

"You created it?"

The Fixer nodded. "With the aid of the Goddess."

"So you plan on using it to find the Jester?"

"If we are lucky, it should be able to take us straight into the Carnival." The Fixer remarked as he cautiously calibrated the compass.

He did not wish to end up stuck in the space between dimensions or worse, in a hostile plane, all because he tried to breach the space into the Unending Carnival.

This would not be the first time that such an attempt was made and he did not wish to recall how the other attempts had ended for those that tried it.

Taking a deep breath, the Fixer intoned. "Done."

Alex could detect a slight hint of caution in the Fixer’s statement, leaving him wary as he got to his feet with Victoria’s aid.

"Master..." Victoria called out, having also detected it.

Alex replied. "Are you sure about this?"

The Fixer hesitated, his expression shifting slightly before he swiftly regained his composure.

"Yes." He said, deciding to believe in what he’d done.

Alex and Victoria exchanged a look before the former remarked.

"Prepare for damage control."

"As you wish," Victoria replied as she swiftly weaved a link between her and Alex while the latter snapped, causing his form to switch from material to an immaterial form that alternated between black and white light.

The Fixer held no offense to their actions as it was never wrong to be cautious.

"Go ahead," Alex remarked with the Fixer nodding as he proceeded to activate the compass.

A moment later, they were engulfed by a bright light.

***

Slow and steady.

That was the phrase Ana repeated in her head as she focused on bringing Ulysses back from the brink of complete collapse.

His body was incredibly fragile so the slightest mistake could turn him to dust, leaving him unable to return to normal.

Ulysses managed to remain silent even as his eyes were filled with tears, brought about by the agonizing pain he was experiencing.

The urge to throw it all away came up once or twice, no doubt egged on by the constant whispers that came from the Everlasting.

That dastardly entity was merely waiting for Ulysses to crack at which point he would not hesitate to devour him.

A frightening fact, that a singular mistake would lead to irreversible damage.

But Ulysses wasn’t about to give up... not when Ana was doing her best to save his sorry ass.

And so, he persevered.

Standing at the side was a silent Elena, who could have left yet decided to stay.

Just then, she sensed something causing her expression to sour.

Something was coming... something powerful.

Her form flickered and she appeared outside the submarine, taking the time to look ahead only to freeze at the terrifying sight.

She’d seen the entity once and... what had Ulysses called it?... Ah yes, the Corroded Queen.

A 2nd-class Otherworldly that held authority over the Domain of Corrosion, the inverse of the Steel Domain.

The pyramids oscillating around it while spinning like tops, paused as it seemed to discover the submarine on the mushroom island.

A second later one of the pyramids left its side and shot forward like a bullet, leaving very little room for evasion.

Elena didn’t dare to take the creature head-on as she immediately returned to the submarine and, without warning, caused it to phase, allowing the pyramid to pass through without damaging the ship.

But this was only the beginning of their woes as the other pyramids shot forward as well while the Queen unleashed the full extent of her Authority, causing the entire area to be immediately blanketed by a corrosive wind.

As the submarine began to creak and moan, the brass used to forge it swiftly falling prey to the effects of corrosion, Elena acted yet again... or at least, she tried to.

The Corroded Queen held an Authority surpassing hers by quite a bit, so the chances of utilizing her abilities under the effects of the Corroded Queen’s Domain were little to none.

Of course, Elena was not about to accept defeat even as the pyramids pierced varying locations of the submarine, pinning it in place and preventing it from leaving as it did the last time.

"Elena!" Ana cried out in a panic as she struggled to maintain focus on the task at hand.

If she stopped now, Ulysses would end up dead, and their efforts to save him would be for naught.

For that reason, she couldn’t stop, even as the chances of dying at the hands of an Otherworldly increased by the second, slowly reaching the realms of inevitability.

"I’ll handle this," Elena said in a reassuring tone as she proceeded to channel her connection with Ashtyx.

Though she had not mastered what went into being the Proxy of a Branch, Elena hoped to make use of it to save them from the impending doom.

But just as she made to act, the weight of Ashtyx weighing down heavily on her being, a voice was heard once again, this time louder and even more pronounced than the last.

Brother... Brother!