The Jester of Apocalypse
Chapter 86: The Thing Within the Cave

Within a shimmering, nigh-impenetrable barrier, the Great God sat in his mortal disguise, biting his nails, eyes bloodshot and leg bouncing nervously. "How!?" He yelled, but there was no higher existence to answer his question.

Astrador had sacrificed his arms to restrict access to this realm, yet that brat was here anyway, dragging several people with him.

So how?

He turned, glancing down the mouth of the cave behind him. Faint whispers reached his ear, and his teeth gritted harder in response.

It was laughing at him.

“So that’s what you were up to…” he muttered bitterly.

Although his arms in this realm weren’t even real, the power of the curse binding him reached far enough to numb them.

As the grating laughter finally pushed him over the edge, he turned and laughed back., "Hahahahaha! This was your fault, wasn’t it!?" He blamed in a strangled tone, giggling maniacally.

This was no joking matter.

How far was that thing willing to go? This was already far too much, but as if it would care about something as trivial as the integrity of the border between existence and non-existence.

No… it wouldn’t stop at anything. Astrador knew it.

"You’re not leaving this place," he promised. “I will never set you free.”

But his threats didn’t reach its ears. The cackling continued, unceasing, unbothered. Unliving.

He turned away from the mouth of the cave, willing himself to calm down. That child and his little friends weren’t welcome here.

Astrador got up and touched the barrier he sacrificed an eye to create. A frustrated breath rushed through gritted teeth as he confirmed his suspicions. When creating the border, he wasn’t counting on having anything traverse it. It was merely meant to keep that thing contained until he discovered a more permanent solution to the problem and found a way to annihilate this realm.

As expected, he could only leave if he put the border down, making his sacrifice meaningless. But it wasn’t all lost. At least it stopped anything from coming in.

He hadn’t lived as long as he did without growing more resourceful.

There were plenty of ways to stop this situation from snowballing into an apocalypse.

***

Shambling steps took the decaying demon through the neverending maze of obsidian. Yet again, it took a step, inhaled through the rotting holes where a nose should be, and turned directions again.

Its toothy tentacles pulled it through the thick obsidian growth as it shifted like a morphing shadow. Suddenly, it tripped over nothing and crashed into the brush, shattering the bush and tumbling forward.

As the last of the pieces of glass settled with a cling, it shifted again, crawling back to its feet. Gone was the bestial curiosity of a mindless monstrosity. It stood firm, deliberate—and intelligent, observing its body as a hunter admired a new weapon.

The tentacles were retracted back into its body. It walked over to an obsidian brush, breaking off a small branch. It gripped it firmly and felt it crumble beneath its palm.

"ᏔᏔᏔᏔᏔuuuҾҾҾҾҾҾuuuҾҾҾҾҾҾ," it spluttered, spitting black ooze everywhere.

It walked, combing through the thick growth, but it didn’t shift as usual. Now, it just ran. It came across a few thicker bushes. Once it did, it snapped another branch off. It cocked its head as it seemed to be holding up beneath its grip.

Yet, it was to no avail. Soon, this fragile piece had shattered in its palm as well. It walked around, endlessly searching for another shard.

Eventually, a piece of obsidian didn’t shatter beneath its grip. So, it broke off a roughly dagger-shaped bit. Then another. It held one of the daggers in a standard grip and the other in a reverse grip. What could it say?

Old habits died hard.

Then it turned and sniffed, sensing nothing of importance in a place as large as this.

So it ran.

Eventually, it came across a bit of destruction. It turned in one direction, ran, and found nothing along the path.

So it turned back. It picked another path and, yet again, found nothing.

So it turned back again.

It repeated this several times until it finally found a trail worth following, and it took it to a cave entrance.

A single branch on a single shrub had a bit chipped off. Its gaping maw of teeth stretched into a sinister grin, revealing its nasty innards and several eyes peering from within. "ҾҾuuᏔᏔuᏔᏔuҾҾҾҾҾ… ᏔååååᏔå… KᏔuҾᏔuҾ… ꃈꃈꃈꃈuҾ… fuååuunDu uuuu,”it declared as it ran into the cave.

***

Hunter worked much slower with the stab wound. He had received more significant injuries in ordinary spars, however, so this was nothing in comparison.

The thing that was really slowing him down was… shame.

He felt humiliated.

It was natural that he would be furious after that interaction. It took him quite a while to calm down. It was stupid. He was just trying to help.

Yet that stupid excuse of a father clearly didn’t see this for what it was. They were supposed to cooperate and act together, so why wasn’t he reacting appropriately!?

Marven's reaction was one thing since he couldn’t possibly be more biased in this situation, but even that Dukean guy, a complete stranger, and outsider, wasn’t taking his side in this argument.

So… Had he really done something to deserve getting stabbed?

It was an unwelcome thought. One that defied what he knew of rational behavior. Stabbing someone who was merely trying to help you was insane and unjustifiable. No two ways around it.

He wanted to claw his eyes out in anger. Why would they act as if it wasn't a big deal, then!? How did that make any sense!?

A while had passed since the incident. Hunter’s wound had already mostly stabilized. No more blood ran, and it looked to be healing for the most part.

Hunter had picked up the pace with his work, hoping to get his mind off the subject. They were close to clearing out the entire cavern, so they would likely soon be handed another task.

The moment they finished, though, Marven told them to rest a bit instead while he discussed the plans for construction with Gabrias.

Parched, he headed to grab a cup of that bitter excuse they called water and just happened to start at the same time as Dukean. He couldn’t lie. The young master of one of the most significant sects in the empire struck an intimidating figure.

But as they walked together, and Hunter prepared to open his mouth, Dukean sped up a bit.

Wha—!?

Was this arrogant prick avoiding him?

They had removed all the branches, but there were still a few trunks, fat chunks of obsidian that had to be removed, which was likely their next task. Dukean walked over and around them as if they weren’t even there, but Hunter nearly tripped on one in his disbelief.

Eventually, they reached the semi-storage room. It was a small cave opening placed at a dead end. Neave had cleaned this room back when they first arrived. It had taken him mere moments, and not even a speck of dust remained behind.

Once they were at the cistern, Dukean grabbed some water using one of the glasses they had placed next to the container. He turned to Hunter, paused for a second, then grabbed a second glass and filled it up as well.

A movement as mundane as grabbing some water was performed with such grace and perfection that it humbled Hunter. After receiving the perfectly filled glass of water, he briefly bobbed his head and looked around, wondering where to go next.

Hunter was about to sit with his back against the cistern, but he hesitated for a second too long, and the young master got the jump on him.

He instead turned around and started for the entrance, but Dukean sighed. "Please, just sit beside me."

The burly teenager half-nodded awkwardly and sat not too close to Dukean.

There was a considerable size difference between them. Although Hunter was two years younger than Dukean, he was over half a head taller and significantly bulkier. Yet, it was hard to tell, as he made himself as small as he could while sitting beside the opulent young man.

Dukean took an elegant sip of water, frowning less now as he was already getting used to the horrid water. With his eyes turned to the entrance, where Marven and Gabrias could be barely seen pointing at a wall, he spoke, "You look like you want to ask me something."

Hunter jolted a bit and nodded meekly,

Dukean waved a hand. "What do you wish to know?"

Hunter opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Dukean gave him an encouraging nod, and Hunter finally spoke, "Back then… What did I do wrong?"

Dukean frowned and responded, "Look, kid,” he said. “I don’t care about the petty squabble of children."

"I wouldn’t call getting stabbed petty…"

With another sigh, Dukean asked, "You like that girl, no?"

"What!? No, I… She is…” Hunter averted his gaze and scratched his cheek. “She used to be my betrothed, so I just…" he trailed off as he lowered his head and distractedly twirled a finger around in the dust on the ground.

Dukean shook his head, "Dude, wrong place, wrong time." He sighed again and patted Hunter’s shoulder, "You weren’t offering help. You were flirting… badly."

"No!” Hunter denied. “I really wanted to…"

"You wanted to help her do what? Carry a branch? A twig light enough that a child could pick it up?” Dukean sneered. “And you wanted to help her do it? By doing what? Grabbing it out of her hand? Carrying it for her despite there being a room full of twigs you could pick up instead? Simply doing your job better would have been more helpful since we would have finished our task sooner."

Hunter paused, looking away from Dukean and frowning, "I…" He closed his mouth, deepened the frown, and grabbed the back of his neck, rubbing it slightly, "She could have just…"

"... Said no?"

Hunter froze.

"I'm pretty sure she even told you to piss off." Dukean couldn’t help but chuckle as he could quite literally see the realization set in. "Oh, wow, you really had no idea, did you?" Dukean got up and patted Hunter on his head. "Give up, man. As I said, this isn’t the time and place for romance.”

"Well, she didn't have to fucking stab me.”

"I don't think she wanted to do that, judging by her reaction…” he said, concealing a slight tremor in his hand. “I know from experience that this place… It doesn’t take long to realize that you’re not nearly as in control of yourself as you want to believe.”

The younger boy didn’t have much to say to that.

Dukean got into a squat and put an arm around Hunter’s neck. "Don't beat yourself up too much. Nothing wrong with being a horny bastard at your age."

Hunter spat the water in his mouth and coughed violently. Dukean pulled back with a laugh and got up. "Besides, I recommend you give up on her even after we return outside."

There was much Hunter wanted to say in defense. For a moment, he harbored suspicion that this boy was after Harel and tried to confront him. But all he could manage was a meek, "Why?"

"She is a strong woman,” Dukean said, “and you are a weak man."

Hunter wanted to get angry at that. He tried to retort… Yet those words rang true.”

Dukean continued, "I don’t mean that she is just more powerful than you either, I…"

"I know," Hunter said as he felt his shoulders sag. “I know.”

"I see… Well, best of luck to you anyway. There is no shortage of women in this world. Pursuing childhood crushes isn’t worth it. I know from experience."

Hunter frowned, this time in confusion, "How old are you again…?"

Dukean grinned and winked at Hunter, then walked out of the room and left him alone.

He sat there for a while, absent-mindedly rubbing the wound on his chest. It itched deeply as it entered the final stage of healing. Just as he was about to meditate as he waited for the recovery to finish—

ҾҾҾҾ… ҾҾҾ… ҾҾ….

"What was that!?" He lifted his head. Shuffling and muffled whispers came from outside the room. He ran out, only to spot Marven standing in the middle of the room, facing a cave with a black branch in his hands.

Harel left her room, peeking behind the edge to try and see what was happening.

The old cultivator kept his eyes locked on the pitch-black cave opening. He got in a stance and whispered under his breath, "Dukean…” he said, tightening the grip on the makeshift weapon. “Go find Neave. Now."

ҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾ

The noise abruptly stopped.

Dukean got up and started running. Harel, Hunter, and Gabrias grabbed a branch in panic, scurrying to hide behind Marven.

Soon enough, footsteps could be heard coming from deep within the cave.