章 10: The Beginning Of The Ordeal
A gargantuan cosmic tendril began to crept into the darkening sky, holding the same luminescence as what a moon was to Earth.
In fact, this one was much brighter than the moon on a clear night sky.
"And that's supposed to be the moon of Carcosa, huh."
Spinning, and spiraling with madness, was a starfish-shaped white that nearly covered half of the sky as it tried to position itself into the newly-wed cosmos.
If one focused on the detail of its tendrils, it could be seen that those arms weren't connected to the base of the moon at all. Rather, the tendril itself was composed of millions if not billions of tiny moons of its own.
For the entire night, this eldritch moon should be the witness for our attempt at survival.
[The Ordeal of the Midnight will be approaching in 12 hours_]
"I hope that I overdid the defenses, instead of doing the barebone."
I had already prepared numerous traps of all kinds in every direction of this walled wooden fortress except for the west, the direction where I'm currently gazing at.
Verina and Lupina had some experiences in dealing with the Ordeals of the Dusk, albeit they were doing it together in a large group. Still, it should be enough for them to increase our chance of survivability.
"This sense of paranoia…"
It reminded me of my first time killing a person over my severe obsession with faces.
The fear and discomfort that I had to ensure that my breath won't be in a rancid smoke.
All of it was starting to resurface in front of me, right after my consciousness crash landed on the land of Carcosa.
[A special type Calamity Object have been manifesting within the vicinity of your bastion_]
[Attempting to analyze its property and identity_]
Right, seeing how I possessed the access to the detail screen of individuals, I also got this feature that was supposed to be only available to the Storyteller, a.k.a the Player Character.
If only that, this game made me a pseudo Storyteller with all power and features that a normal Player Character have, instead of a half-assed NPC with a broken notification system.
—
[The Hollow Star]
[Description: A cold, lifeless star hovers just above the bastion's horizon, casting no light but drawing the gaze of those who look upon it. Its presence fills individuals with a deep, inexplicable dread, as if it is watching and waiting for something to happen. At night, the star seems to pulse with a faint, malevolent energy, and whispers of forgotten constellations echo in the minds of those who stare too long]
[Hint: The Hollow Star's pull is irresistible, but it drains the life force of those who study it, leaving them as hollow as the star itself]
—
"It's been a while since the Hollow Star appeared," Verina commented, suddenly appearing out of nowhere after uncloaking her invisibility spell. "Just to be safe, don't look up for too long, in case you don't know about it, miss fairy."
"Are you sure that you want to use that invisibility willy-nilly? Don't your Tending Hands isn't specialized in it?"
"Refracting the light around me isn't the most brain-consuming spell, so it doesn't matter whether my Tending Hands accommodate it or not."
"Hmm, I guess my perception of the power to turn yourself invisible made me think that it's a hard thing to do."
"What is your perception of it, miss fairy?"
"I see it as an effective spell that allows me to escape a lot of problematic situations."
Especially when it comes to kidnapping and leaving no evidence after I stripped the 'mask' of someone when I'm still living on Earth.
"Verina! Miss Narcissus!" Lupina shouted on the north side of the outer wall. "Something was caught in the log trap!"
The two of us scurried over to see what was up.
Well, it looked like one could say that a certain Calamity Object got itself trapped in a woody situation.
"Bloody hell!"
The moment Verina saw a glance of the victim of my log trap, she didn't waste a single moment to aim her musket and shot at the head of the supposed Calamity Object.
The projectile was imbued to combust a high amount of temperature when it hit its target, effectively crippling the Calamity Object.
However, Verina unhesitantly pulled the trigger once again after reloading the chamber with a fresh spell made from her lifeline, disintegrating the Calamity Object almost completely.
Before it completely disintegrated into dust, I attempted to open its equivalent of a detail screen, hoping to find a hint of what was going on.
—
[The Fractured]
[Description: A shattered figure made of broken, mirror-like shards that floats just above the ground. The Fractured emits a high-pitched, keening wail that causes intense pain to those nearby. Its body constantly shifts and reforms, each shard reflecting a different version of the individuals from the targeted bastion—some hopeful, others twisted and ruined. The reflections seem to speak, pleading for help or warning of impending doom]
[Hint: The Fractured reflects alternate timelines, and its wail can split the bastion into different realities, each one more dangerous than the last]
—
"That thing must be killed on-sight, no hesitation, no question asked," Verina said as she performed a check-up on her magic musket. "I was once in the same group who didn't finish that wretched hollow fast enough, and it started to scream that it can affect the entirety of the landscape and your perception of reality."
"Damn…" Lupina felt a hint of regret for not dealing with it sooner instead of shouting to call us here. "That's a lesson learned for me. I feel bad for not swinging my sword first and foremost."
"Well, the walls are five meters tall, it's easier to shoot it than to fight it with a sword," Verina replied. "Besides, that thing will be greatly alerted when a shadow of a humanoid person is reflected on it."
"In the end, calling us right away turns out to be the best course of action, is that what you're trying to say?" I snickered.
Verina nodded.
Then, I pointed my finger toward the ready-to-use ballista that was sitting right beside them.
"I put them there for a reason, you know?"
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