Back at the cavern's entrance, Gawain found Carn still rooted in place, where curious spiders were observing him from the walls. Gawain ignored the curious spiders and reported his findings.
"My lord, the tunnel ends in a collapse, but it doesn't feel natural. Sothing's beyond that rubble, and I sensed a lot of Aether. Might be another hostile entity or sothing from our world."
"That sounds indeed very fishy."
"What do you think it is, my lord?"
Carn had a few ideas. But first, he had a more imdiate problem to address. Carn ordered Gawain.
"I need these pests to stop staring at . Can you petrify them, Gawain? I'd rather not waste my Aether."
Gawain sighed, shaking his head. "My lord, petrifying one of these spiders costs at least 10 silver marks. One teleportation? Barely one silver mark. I even gave you 300 silver marks earlier. Do the math, please."
Carn scowled. "Fine."
Reluctantly, Carn tapped into his Aether reserves. With minimal effort, he vanished in a flicker of light, teleporting back to the dead end Gawain had discovered.
.
The collapsed area was deserted. Without spiders, Carn could move freely, and he took the opportunity to inspect the rubble up close.
He crouched near the debris, reaching out to brush away loose dirt, his fingers tingling from the residual energy that pulsed faintly in the stones.
His eyes narrowed as he recognized the distinct signature of the Aether. This was the presence of a strong vengeful spirit, one that had evolved into a wraith. Demon Lord Fleur also had once been like this, but the Aether here was more raw and primal, lacking the refinent she now possessed. It's not quite on her level yet,
Carn expanded his Aether senses. Closing his eyes, his Aether penetrated the collapsed earth and rubble, scanning the space beyond. A rough 3D image began to form in his mind's eye, forming a subterranean tunnel map. At its center was a broken, incomplete subway system that looked decades old, abandoned mid-construction.
After pinpointing the exact location beyond the rubble, Carn teleported through. He reappeared inside the remnants of an unfinished subway station.
The station was a picture of halted progress. Beyond the single platform, dug-out caves and piles of construction materials lay forgotten. Rusted tools, broken spotlights, tangled wires, and corroded generators remained in the area.
Ignoring the debris, Carn attempted to teleport deeper into the structure. Yet, as he concentrated, a force of resistance struck him. Sothing, or perhaps soone, was watching him.
From the thick black haze that swirled around the platform, a translucent blob of sli slithered into view, hastening toward him. At its center, a singular, unblinking eyeball fixated on him like a predator locking onto its prey.
Carn recognized it, "A wild mimic?"
Yet, sothing was off. The mimic sli wasn't the source of the black haze. Instead, it seed to feed on the Aether mist.
The creature oozed closer and climbed onto Carn. Without hesitation, the sli engulfed him, encasing his stone body entirely in its digestive fluids.
Carn didn't react. He stood still, patient, as the creature's acid failed to dissolve his rocky form. He was waiting, watching as the sli's eyeball focused intently on him.
Monts later, Gawain appeared in a flash of light, teleporting onto the platform. His gaze fell on the scene before him.
The knight smirked, unable to suppress his amusent. "My lord, is that one of your subordinates?"
Carn's voice rumbled from within the gelatinous mass. "No, it's probably an Earth-born sli. It's trying to eat and copy my abilities instead of opening with a conversation. I didn't raise them for sure."
Gawain chuckled. "Well, I can see it's wild. Need a hand, my lord?"
"Nah, let's wait. It should start calling their friends by now."
"Friends…? Oh."
Gawain paused as realization struck him. He recalled the natural traits of slis.
Wild slis, regardless of variants and species, communicated and summoned reinforcents through chemical gas. Whenever one encountered prey, it would excrete a signal to call others to the feast. After the al, they would mate by rging together into one mass and give birth to sli cores. Then, they would split, multiplying until all slis were separated. Only the dostic mimic slis worked individually.
As if on cue, more slis began to erge. From the shadows, small and large blobs crept toward Carn, their colors ranging from pale green to deep violet. Ceiling slis dripped down like thick glue, joining the fray. Within a minute, over a hundred slis sward him, piling on top of one another in an attempt to consu him.
Gawain watched the spectacle, baffled, "Why are you letting them swarm you, my lord?"
Carn's telepathic voice echoed. "I'm waiting for their alpha to show up."
"…Ah. Right. The wild ones have a pack leader."
Just as he spoke, the ground near the railway shifted, and a humanoid sli erged, rising fluidly from the soil like molten glass. Unlike its kin, it had ten floating eyes within its mass, each darting in a different direction, scanning its surroundings.
Gawain noticed sothing floating within the alpha sli's body.
There was a blue crystal, radiating radioactive hues. The black Aether mist thickened around the creature, exuding a suffocating presence.
Carn scoffed without turning to face it. "There it is, the adult mimic. Definitely the cause of the collapse or the reason this area was sealed off."
Gawain's gaze flicked to the glowing crystal within the sli's body. His voice tightened. "And that crystal… Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah. Sothing mankind should never have touched."
Having seen enough, Carn stopped playing around. He teleported directly into the alpha sli's body, bypassing its defenses. The sudden intrusion sent all ten eyes flying out of the creature's gelatinous mass, leaving it vulnerable.
Carn wasted no ti. Spending five silver marks, he summoned a dozen iron spikes from the ground, each one piercing and destroying the dislodged eyes in a single strike. The humanoid sli convulsed violently before collapsing, dissolving into a pool of acidic green liquid. The glowing crystal was ejected, clattering onto the platform.
As the alpha sli perished, the swarm scattered. The lesser slis retreated in fear, slipping into cracks and crevices. Within seconds, the platform was empty, and the black haze dissipated like smoke in the wind.
In its wake, the spirits of those who were consud by the alpha sli began to erge. Scientists, researchers, and workers in the firefly forms floated toward Carn, their savior. Everybody expressed their gratitude with a bright smile before they bestowed their Aether upon him. They passed on afterward.
Carn's left arm glowed white as over a thousand silver marks flooded into him, restoring his reserves. He stood in silence, watching the light fade, before turning his attention to the crystal.
Gawain approached, crouching to inspect the object. It was the size of a basketball, its surface slick with radioactive residue. Picking it up carefully, he turned to his master.
"My lord…"
Carn sighed, "Aetherium. A demon lord's corpse. Mankind's been ddling with sothing they should've left buried."
"So… Are we gonna use it to awaken a new demon lord?"
Carn laughed, "Or rather, use it on myself to regain my title?"
Without hesitation, Carn injected Aether into the crystal and directed its energy into him.
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