MAGUS INFINITE

There was no doubt that there were a lot of mysteries in this facility, but I did not want to go through it, not now. I had suppressed everything that would alert the Sovereign easily to my presence, but I knew that would not last for long since he inevitably finds me.

I glanced around before I focused back to the floor. ”When there is no way, then you make one,” I muttered to myself.

I thought of heading down, but from what I had glimpsed of the facility, it would be faster for me to leave if I headed up and not down; besides, a bulk of the vats were clustered more thickly below, and I should have a relatively straight shot out of here if I went up.

Soul-Forge would have been cleaner, but I needed something behind as a last-ditch measure in case I was discovered. If the Sovereign believed my rate of progress was a bit slow, then with a last burst of Soul Forge, I may be able to quickly tear through the barriers.

It was always the wisest option to keep something aside, especially when you are about to undertake a new action inside an enemy’s territory. No one taught me this; I just figured it out after dying many times.

So I used lightning and heat and a Master Engraver’s hand to burn a hole through the roof of my own prison; it was almost cathartic.

I put a column of white lightning straight up into the ceiling and held it there; now and then, threads ran through the lightning, and I used it to engrave inscriptions on the metal: Soften, Brittle, Break... and in a few seconds the ceiling glowed, before it sagged and began to fall.

Some parts fought me; they were threaded with Inscriptions that I could not understand, but that was where Join entered the picture, and those inscriptions were dragged into a chaotic mess that chewed through the structure they were holding together.

Damn, this was makin too much noise, but I had not felt any changes in the darkness essence around me, and I still had time.

I rose through the hole as I made it; it was easier than I expected as I floated on lightning. This should be a result of my Title and the fact that I was now an Arcanist; gravity held less sway over my body.

Entering the upper floor, I burned the next ceiling, rose again. Floor by floor, straight up, molten slag hissing down past me into the dark below.

Whatever was keeping the Sovereign distracted should hold his attention, since this was almost too easy. Then I realized that perhaps Seed was focused on the war that was happening outside this place, and any sense of joy I had at the ongoing ease of my easy escape vanished.

Right, the conclave was attacking the entire continent. Was it because I stopped the Sovereign from releasing the Pale Matron that he decided to wipe out the continent using other methods, or was it always going to happen in this manner?

I recalled that when the pyramid was activated, the Conclave already had soldiers blocking the Academy from reaching it. Which meant that we had already been invaded for a while now, and the pyramid was just the match to light up the flames of war.

However, these thoughts briefly flash through my mind, as I cannot help but think of my home. Then I think I hit the last shell, since it was far thicker than all the rest, so I did not hold back the power of my lightning, and I began to place more channels into the effort.

From a few dozen channels spitting out lightning, I pushed it to hundreds, and the metallic shell before me began to slowly melt.

However, that was when I felt the darkness around me shift, and I knew that my actions had finally caught the attention of the Sovereign.

From the darkness, I heard a sound of surprise, ”Oh...”

But I was no longer listening. Bringing out the silver flame of my Soul Forge, the thick shell in front of me shrieked before the hull tore open, and the wind came in.

The wind was enormous, as if a tornado had been unleashed in front of me, and it was a good thing that my innate sense of balance and stability as an Arcanist held me in place, else I would have been blown away by its sudden, unexpected presence.

Darkness began to press down upon me, and I felt it shift, detecting the flavor of a demonic presence within it, and I understood that this was most likely Sad pushing through and awakening, and when I heard the voice of the demon next, I knew I was right. However, I had already pushed through the gap, and I arrived outside my prison.

”—leaving?” Sad’s voice, arriving behind me, followed by a tide of darkness, boiled up to the torn edge of the facility, and stopped.

I hung in the wind and looked back. The demon stood at the ragged lip of the hole I had burned, in the dark, and did not come out. I could see its tentacles worked, and those unpleasant yellow eyes fixed on me.

But the darkness that had ruled every hall of that place hit the open air and thinned, and he did not cross into the wind, and I understood that the Sovereign and this demon had been chained inside this facility.

For a moment, something flickered under the yellow; maybe it was Seed. I did not care to find out, as I looked away from the trapped demon and focused on the prison that had held me for too long.

It resembled a bird without a head, and it was very massive, like a small mountain that was floating in the air without any visible sign of propulsion. The structure looked familiar, and when I thought about it for a moment, I recalled that I had seen something like this in one of the murals inside Caelith Mourne.

This structure... this prison ship was celestial in origin; maybe it was the reason it could be powered by the heart of a Gate Warden. This knowledge changed everything, and I kept a firm picture of this ship in mind, and I looked down.