The Jester of Apocalypse
Chapter 94: Predators

Several demon bodies lay strewn around the cavern, shredded to bits by floating shards of glass. This had been a common sight for a while. An all-present being—a plant whose roots spread through every wall—kept ritualistically dispatching demons whenever they entered its territory. And there was nothing they could do once they were trapped.

This time, however, one had managed to survive, still lurking, hiding in the shadows. Observing. A familiar air of intelligence permeated its actions as an invader pulled the strings. It could sense the soil and the roots that spread within.

Horrifying yet exciting. Perhaps even thrilling—but dangerous.

The corpses that lay around had all already been cracked into by roots and were being consumed. All but one body that had remained in the living demon's grasp.

Small, black veins spread from the demon's limbs and absorbed the corpse. As the juices from within the body flowed into the living demon, its physique grew more defined. Once the corpse was gone, it stood still.

Waiting.

***

The glass puppet confidently strolled through the cave, casually swinging the Glass Shard to cleave through the pathetic black shrub.

It looked at the weapon with scorn. The puny little thing dared resist its manipulation ability. The sword had come from its own body, yet now, it deigned to defy its command? Unforgivable.

The Glass Shard wasn’t conscious the way the mighty shrub was, and at the end of the day, it was just an object, but the plant couldn’t tolerate threats to its authority.

Its roots spread far and wide in every direction. Master was slightly misguided, which was an intentional move on the shrub’s part.

While the usual, thick webbing of its roots covered an area in the radius of an average ‘forest,’ or whatever that was, it had also spread tiny, minuscule roots far, far further in every direction.

It needed those roots for a straightforward reason. So that it could manipulate the puppet even if it left the radius of its thick root webbings. All it required was contact, and the connection would remain strong.

The glass puppet turned a bit to look at the naked skin creature walking behind it. It was of the same species as Master was, but it was hideous. Clearly, it was an inferior specimen, far below the status of its godlike Master.

The puppet did not need to turn to look at this thing. It relied on its spirit to perceive its surroundings, but it couldn’t resist imitating the mannerisms of Master and his species.

That drive had only gotten stronger after Master granted it that strange power.

This skin being that dared be of the same species as Master assumed that it didn’t know what a ‘corrupt demon’ was. How insolent. Of course it knew what those things were.

Its roots spread through the dead bodies of many of them, even now.

The puppet hesitated only momentarily as it flexed its spirit in full force.

Crack…

ҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾ….. Ҿ… e…

There. That was better. Those demons contained something gross within them, and digesting that was not an easy task, even for its unparalleled might. However, it still did its best to consume that substance. Something that could only be described as wisdom flowed into its consciousness whenever it did.

The obedient little golem that carried its spirit power resonated with that substance, and something from within that creature flowed into the shrub’s spirit.

It was hard to tell exactly what it was. However, it amplified the desire to behave like a… human? No… a person? Not even that. The concept that flowed into it was strange.

The same idea, the same construct, seemed to originate from the faint whispers of potential it adopted into its spirit.

It was a simple, elegant shape.

Upright posture, straight torso, two limbs to grab things, two limbs to walk, and a head. Simple, yet impeccable.

Naturally, more could be added to this basic shape, but its core, the basic formula, should never change. Because it was perfect. Yet… Was it really? Perhaps perfect wasn’t the right way to describe the utility of this formula, but one thing was clear.

For one reason or another, it was alluring and inviting. Something about it was a drug that provided unparalleled ecstasy. Every step closer to perfecting that shape elevated one’s existence to a higher level.

It was a core, a basis, an origin… or better yet, a foundation.

A stone upon which the idea of sapience had been built. The puppet paused yet again. How curious. A part of that thought was its own, yet it wasn’t.

That was irrelevant. It had all the time in the world to muse about the nature of reality or its thoughts. It was time to impress this large, gross human and show it its true power.

Corrupt demon hunt, begin.

***

Marven had shaken everyone awake.

Harel crouched, hiding her bony face in embarrassment. The other two covered themselves and awkwardly twisted their bodies to the side.

The old cultivator lamented the situation, but this was no time for shame.

That crazy bastard had taken the Glass Shard. Nobody could guess in a billion years why he did it or where he had gone with it, but the possibilities made their skin crawl.

It couldn’t be that he was possibly stupid enough to think he could beat Neave with that sword… right?

No, that wasn’t it. Marven knew how Gabrias saw and treated his son. It was… reverence, almost. What shaped that view, or how it had developed, didn’t matter, but it did make an attempt on Neave’s life unlikely—even if defeating Neave was impossible.

So what was he after, then?

Was he perhaps out to kill demons? Preposterous, yet very possible. No, that was almost definitely it.

Everyone, besides Marven, lived in constant fear of those demons appearing. The terror had long ago turned into a phobia, one of the biggest reasons their sanity was suffering so much and deteriorating so quickly.

Marven had reiterated repeatedly that the demons were no threat to them as long as he held the Glass Shard. While the notion of safety helped, it could never make them entirely at ease. There was always some argument a phobic mind could conjure to justify its irrational conclusions.

It was likely that Gabrias had finally completely lost it, so he grabbed the sword and ran off to fight the demons himself.

That sword was probably enough to keep him safe, at least from the demons. It was simply too powerful. Well, safe unless he accidentally killed himself by misusing it.

No, the most significant thing Marven was afraid of was something else. They were entirely out of the loop about Neave’s plans. But his warning had been clear—do not approach him unless absolutely necessary.

He couldn’t help but fear his son’s reaction if that lunatic messed something up.

Cursing himself, he bit his lip. It seemed he had developed his own phobia, which he would purge immediately, even if it were rational. There was too big a debt to repay to his son for him to be afraid of him.

Neave’s reaction wasn’t the only potential problem. Instead, what he was doing could be rather delicate. If Gabrias disrupted something important, how long would they have to wait in isolation, sitting around in this cave of nightmares, waiting to be consumed by insanity?

That had to end, and it had to end at that moment.

"Grab your weapons,” he said to the others. “This is no time to be ashamed.”

They had spent much time sitting around in this cave and had prepared properly shaped branches. They were fragile and weak, but at least their shape permitted sword qi techniques.

Time was running out. Finding Gabrias had become a top priority.

Within moments of grabbing their shoddy weapons, three naked, bald men, accompanied by a horribly skinny, bald girl, stepped out into the darkness.

For some reason, Marven didn’t feel particularly confident.

***

Gabrias followed the glass puppet, maintaining a respectful distance behind it and keeping a submissive posture. He wasn’t new to sucking up to superiors. Hell, that was basically what his life came down to when he was a spy for the Bentheta sect.

The two unusual hunters began their wacky hunt, and many caves found themselves clean of obsidian growth. He noticed that the Glass puppet almost intentionally went out of its way to clear all the obsidian shrubs it could.

That was a crucial detail. This must mean it hated the obsidian bushes, which was logical in his opinion. It also made sucking up to the glass shrub much easier.

He picked up a fatter branch and went out of his way to wreck as many shrubs as possible.

The puppet seemed pleased, or at least positively surprised, by this behavior.

It wasn’t long until the duo made their way onto the surface of the nightmare realm. Once up there, it was only then that he began to feel truly naked.

In the caves, more often than not, there was only a direction or two one had to keep an eye on.

Out here, however, the void of hazardous darkness was omnidirectional, and one’s back was always turned to the dark.

Gabrias hadn’t seen any when they first entered the realm, but now, the short, glass shrubs seemed to be growing everywhere. Was that part of Lord Neave’s plan, perhaps? His mind sparked with ideas. Could it be that Neave needed these plants for something?

Maybe he should water a few. Not that he had any water with him, but he could easily retrieve some from the cave.

If he could find his way back, that was.

That was no problem. The cave was… Somewhere. Perhaps the puppet would escort him if he asked nicely?

What a silly question. Of course it would!

ҾҾҾҾҾҾ…

A sudden, whispering echo of horrors sounded in the distance, causing him to tense. He would have turned in its direction, but the echoing seemed to be coming from every direction.

The glass puppet immediately turned and swung the Glass Shard. A small section of the obsidian forest was cleared of growth, and the demon was revealed. The slash had cut its body all over, but it was far from seriously injured enough to die.

The glass puppet suddenly stopped, going entirely inert.

If he had any, Gabrias would have shit his pants at that moment. However, almost immediately, as the puppet went inert, countless shards of glass began floating off the ground. The small glass shrubs caught in the attack had broken apart and spread their branches around the demon.

Those pieces flew into the air and turned their points to the intruder, who ignored them and rushed toward the naked man. Instantly, the branches shot out and skewered its body, twisting and splattering gore and black fluid around the mangled corpse.

The floating shards of glass fell to the ground, and the glass puppet moved again, shrugging and moving on to another target.

But as yet another demon was felled through brutal means, he grew impatient.

"… Such mangled skin won’t make for a good couch."

Maybe the next demon wouldn’t be dispatched so violently.

***

Marven led the charge into the darkness. If he weren’t worried about his safety and sanity, he would have left Hunter back at their base.

Hunter was simultaneously the weakest link and the biggest target in their formation.

The other two could at least fend for themselves, and Dukean could likely even put up a fight, especially with his spirit powers.

He feared causing too much noise would attract unwanted attention. Hence, they carefully maneuvered through the obsidian brush, trying to avoid skewering their private bits on a piece of sharp glass.

And, sadly, failing.

Hunter whimpered and moved his hip back, keeping his mouth shut and trying not to scream.

Dukean and Harel both nearly laughed at the sight. Dukean almost immediately calmed himself, yet Harel was actively fighting the desire to burst into laughter.

All three of the others gave her a death stare, and she suddenly found the strength to hold herself back.

Until they walked a bit further, and Dukean impaled his ass as well.

"Pfff,” she cracked, “bahahahahahahaha,” and a vociferous laughter escaped her mouth.

"Harel! Be silent!" Marven whispered, making his way back to put a hand on her mouth.

In the absence of her laughter, shifting could clearly be heard in the dark.

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