I only had 20% of my Sanity left.
That stupid prank dealt a massive amount of damage to my mind, it was insane. I almost lost myself to the theories and implications of what that ssage ans going onward from now on.
However, that should be my task for another day.
Right now, the current objective was to reduce the amount of casualties as much as possible.
And subdue the Drowned Revenant.
Not outlast, avoid, or escape.
But subdue.
As such, I need to maintain this horrible threshold of Sanity that I had left. This includes relying on self-suggestion, communicating with others as much as possible, and focusing on one task at hand without overwhelming myself.
It should be hard and even impossible, but that doesn't an I can try.
"Climb the cabin!" I shouted as my people were rallied according to my will.
Humans had always turned the impossible into sothing possible through dedication and sheer will.
I want to apply that here, and give myself a good share of that hope and faith.
"I knew it, trying to survive the ordeal with a bastion less than twenty people is insane!" Erika bluntly cried.
"Looks like you still have a lot of energy left, birdie," Callista stressedly grinned.
"Naosi, catch!" Kara threw her pike before using her strengthening Theotech implant to jump to the top of the cabin.
"Gyah!"
"All of the looted resources, preserved foods, and the workshop itself are safely secured~" Kuzunoha signaled as she gracefully floated her way to the high ground, mirroring Verina who had no problem flying around thanks to her prosthetic. "
"You sure are calm amidst all of this," Verina quipped.
"Calmness is a virtuous aspect to have as a person, Verina." Kuzunoha answered with a smirk.
Sotis, I forget that they live in this world longer than .
A deep, unnatural chill gripped the air as the entity approached the bastion. The once-firm earth beneath began to darken and soften, saturated with a sluggish, creeping tide that seed to rise from nowhere. It was as if the Twisted Mariners reappeared but worse.
The whispering wind carried with it the thick, pungent scent of decay—salt, rot, and the suffocating stench of sothing long dead and forgotten beneath the waves.
The distant sound of dripping water echoed in the stillness, each drop amplifying the oppressive weight that pressed down upon the atmosphere, making it feel as though the very air had thickened into sothing wet and heavy.
The ground around the bastion quivered and slowly flooded, an unnatural tide creeping forward with each silent, deliberate step of the unseen force.
The world itself seed to hold its breath, the quiet tension pulling taut as the cold, encroaching presence continued forward—relentless, inevitable, drowning the hope of those within the periter in an abyssal weight that promised no escape.
Thankfully, that Qliphoth Object is really taking its sweet ti.
"Kuzunoha," I signaled.
She snapped her gloved fingers, prompting an arcane spell that only allowed our voice to be shared amongst , Verina, and herself.
"Do the two of you have so idea of what we're about to face?"
"... It's a Qliphoth Object, isn't it?" Verina answered with a sunken tone.
My gaze shifted to Kuzunoha. "Seeing your usual deanor, I assu that you possess the knowledge of the Drowned Revenant."
Kuzunoha's crimson eyes glead with a sharp, predatory interest as she watched the creeping flood swallow the earth beneath the bastion. Her lips curled into a small, almost imperceptible smile, and for a mont, the tension in the air seed to amuse her. She twirled a lock of her long red hair between her gloved fingers before responding, her voice a mix of cold indifference and genuine intrigue.
Though, I still have the feeling that her mind was loaded with the incident with the prisoner. A drop of fear and hurted pride. However, she knew that our current objective was much more important.
"The Drowned Revenant…" she echoed, her tone dripping with intellectual curiosity, as if the dangerous entity approaching was little more than a fascinating specin. "A relic of sailors' nightmares... manifested by myths, yet far more real than any children's ghost story."
She paused, her gaze shifting briefly to the darkening tide creeping toward them, as though contemplating how the entity fit into the broader web of horrors she had encountered. Her voice, now tinged with a hint of excitent, continued.
"It's no ordinary Qliphoth Object—this one is a walking calamity, destined to drag its victim into a slow, agonizing fate. It doesn't kill you outright; no, that would be rciful. Instead, it makes the very air you breathe heavy, each mont a struggle, drowning you while you're still on dry land.
"Those trapped in its wake will feel their lungs tighten, as though they're sinking deeper into the abyss with every breath. A fate worse than death, really~" Kuzunoha's smile widened slightly, the gleam in her eyes betraying the depths of her morbid fascination. "This Revenant isn't about to let us simply fight.
"It's bound to its curse. The designated opponent and the creature itself—neither can die, not by any conventional ans. No, it's a trial of endurance, a twisted dance with the inevitability of drowning."
She tilted her head, looking directly at my eyes, her voice softer but no less cutting. "It's not about winning. It's about outlasting. How long can we hold our breath, I wonder?"
"So it's still sothing that we can't defeat then. And seeing that you didn't order us to move out." Verina held her chin, adorably pushing her thumb to her own cheek. "The most efficient option is for to take reign and protect the recruits while the two of you focus on dealing with the Qliphoth Object."
"Seems like you already know what I was about to say," I amusedly smirked.
"Of course, our bond might be young, but it is stronger than a Vorrathite," Verina imdiately glanced at Kuzunoha, as if she wanted to boast about it. "As such, I shall start briefing the recruits and manage them."
Verina skated the air away from us and to the recruit, which cued her voice to be disconnected from the two of us. Her deadpan expression was facing Kuzunoha the entire ti.
Kuzunoha rightfully ignored it. "So, what's the plan?"
"Kuzunoha, rember when you say that you want to utilize the Qliphoth Object for your own amusent and benefit." With a tired half-lidded gaze, I mustered the most villainous smile I had ever used. "Do you want to do it?"
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