The Jester of Apocalypse

Chapter 97: Predators

Several demon bodies lay strewn around the cavern, shredded to bits by floating shards of glass. Yet, one still stood, lurking, hiding in the shadows. Observing. 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 final corpse, currently in the living demon's grasp.

Small, black veins spread from the demon's limbs and absorbed the corpse. The plant wasn’t the only thing that could consume.

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 obsidian bushes.

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 supreme status.

The glass shrub’s 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. As long as the puppet was close to any of the roots, the shrub could easily manipulate it with no problem.

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 an inferior specimen, far from 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 things, 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 within its spirit 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… 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 face in embarrassment. The other two covered themselves and awkwardly twisted their bodies to the side.

Marven lamented the situation, but this was no time for shame.

Gabrias 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 Marven’s 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 Neave. It was… Reverance, almost. What shaped that view, or how it had developed, didn’t matter, but it drastically reduced the possibility that Gabrias was after Neave’s head.

So what was he after, then?

A ridiculous thought crossed Marven’s mind… 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 fear had long ago turned into a phobia, which was 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. However, that did close to nothing to assuage their fears. There was always some argument a phobic mind could conjure to justify its irrational conclusions.

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

Ironically, Marven wasn’t all that scared for Gabrias’ wellbeing. 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 biggest thing Marven was afraid of was something else. They were completely out of the loop about Neave’s plans. However, one thing was clear. Neave had warned them against leaving the cave.

If Gabrias messed something up, Marven was horrified of Neave’s reaction.

He cursed himself and bit his lip. It seemed he had developed his own phobia, which he would purge immediately, even if it were rational. He owed far too much to Neave to live in fear of him.

Neave’s reaction wasn’t the only potential problem. Instead, what Neave 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 now.

“Grab your weapons.”

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 bald girl, stepped out into the darkness.

***

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. Gabrias 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 Gabrias' opinion. It also made sucking up to the glass shrub much easier.

Gabrias 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 Gabrias’ 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 Gabrias 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 Gabrias 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, however. The cave was… Somewhere. Perhaps the puppet would escort him if he asked nicely?

What a silly question. Of course it would!

ҾҾҾҾҾҾ…

Gabrias paused. He heard something in the distance, a whispery echo of horrors that made his skin crawl.

The glass puppet immediately turned and swung the Glass Shard toward the sound. 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.

Gabrias would have shit his pants if he had any. 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 broken branches around the demon.

Those shards flew into the air and turned their points to the intruder. The demon ignored them and rushed toward Gabrias. 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.

Gabrias wasn’t particularly impressed, however.

“... 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. Honestly, 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 even put up a fight, especially with his spirit powers.

They feared causing too much noise would attract unwanted attention. Hence they carefully maneuvered through the obsidian brush, doing their best 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.

“Pfff, bahahahahahahaha.”

“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.