Chương 51: 50. Temple in the Jungle

The trial worlds remained a mystery. Initially, I had thought them to be fictional bubbles of existence created by Harlequin at the behest of the deities. It was obvious that they contained structures from Earth and its works of fiction, built solely to house the trials we were given. After a while, a pattern started to emerge. Some of the areas were one and the same: the elf jungles, the desert reaches, the crystal fields… I had asked Sparta about it once.

Having a pact with Mercury, she knew more about things than most people. She had only laughed, saying that as long as we're close to Eden, it didn't really matter. I had never figured out what she had meant, but looking at the ruins made me think. The temple had been made to create the impression of being a remnant of a once glorious civilization. Having the size of a small city, it was shattered to bits and consumed by the jungle.

Occasional aether lines spread from the temple center into the jungle like ancient power cables. Sometimes they ended in a small cluster of light, though most often they simply disappeared into nothingness. The structure towards which the blades were directing me could only be described as a dome smack in the middle of a rectangle. In some ways, it reminded me of the underwater city of the previous trial.

Completely overgrown, it has somehow managed to withstand the advances of nature, remaining partially defiant in a sea of vegetation.

"It's in there," I said, my eyes focusing on the heart of the dome.

"And it's large." Curious that Eleonor hadn't told me the exact nature of the trial boss. Naively, I had hoped that I would be facing something similar to the aelf of the goblin city. Instead, I was looking at a monster almost the size of the Blade Serpent. There was no way I could defeat anything of the sort. The strength of its aether clearly made it out to be highly magical and likely a Grand Arcana holder.

"The goal isn't killing it," the goth girl said in a dispassionate voice.

"The entire temple is a nesting area. We just need to get our five hawks without getting it agitated." My opinion of her drastically changed from last night. I knew that she was still using me to further her deal, whatever that was, yet the reason she had stopped me wasn't to claim my reward, but to save my life. Looking at the shape of the gigantic centipede in the temple, there was a good chance that I would have been killed if I had recklessly attacked it.

"How do you know these things?" Cathy looked at her, arms crossed.

"I saw it in a dream," the goth smiled.

"As if." Cathy frowned. Getting that from me was one thing. Getting it from several people was probably a straw too far.

"I don't see you complain about the dreams you had last night." A provocative smile formed on Eleonor's face.

"Tell me—" she went up to her "—was it everything you hoped for?" Briskly, Cathy pulled away in a display of anger. It was difficult not to notice the slight shade of red on her face as she did so. Clearly, Eleonor had been messing around in other people's dreams again. Part of me couldn't help but wonder whether that was a response to me turning her down. I already knew she wasn't someone who was used to being contradicted.

"Anything else useful from your dreams?" I asked, bringing the topic back on track.

"There's a massive nest in the ruins." Eleonor tapped her chin as she spoke.

"Actually, it's not exactly the nest. The hawks feed on aether, so they'll always perch near the closest source. When Harlequin said that there would be more beasts, that wasn't only to make the trial difficult. It was the requirement to make more hawks to gather there." I kept looking at her eyes while she was talking. These weren't Hypnos' words, but there was no way that she could have come up with the knowledge on her own.

I had heard stories that magical creatures were attracted to magic, though never considered that would apply to phoenix-hawks. At the time, it was far more efficient to create a ruckus and shoot them from the sky than any alternative.

"They're inside the centipede," I said, seeing what she was going for.

"A perfect symbiotic relationship. They feast on its magic and it feasts on them, which doesn't particularly matter since they always come back to life."

"You'll saying that we must kill the creature to get the birds?" Cathy's face wrinkled.

"Of course not." Eleonor looked at her the way a cat looks at a mouse.

"We're too weak to kill it. We'll have to get the ones that have gone through its system."

"You want us to go through shit to—""Or you can pluck the ones perched on its body," the goth interrupted.

"That also works. You'll just have to be very fast about it. Do you think you can?" Hawks in a boss monster, I thought. Not the most absurd trial I had been to. I still couldn't see the reason for the elves being here, probably just something Harlequin had thrown in to make it more amusing.

"There's no need to fight." Time to put some of my cards on the table.

"I'll put it to sleep. The phoenix-hawks as well. Once I'm done, Cathy will go in and fetch the birds." It was a terrible plan. There were too many unknowns and far too much could go wrong.

"Me?" Cathy asked.

"I don't trust her. You come in first and get the birds. Then, we'll see."

"I'm fine with that." The goth shrugged.

"If you think you can manage, I'm all for it." At least she was sticking to our deal. That got one issue out of the way and left half a dozen more. For one thing, there was one other person I didn't trust who had remained suspiciously silent during the entire exchange. Carl wasn't the type to keep quiet about anything unless he was being ordered to. His patron deity had to be involved, though for what purpose I had no idea.

"Cover your ears," I said, mentally preparing myself.

"I'll slice up part of the jungle when it's safe for you to come."

"Do you think we're five?" Carl grumbled.

"I don't want you to fall asleep along with the monsters," I explained it to him. Maybe it would have been better if he'd fall asleep, though. It wasn't like it would be any worse than if he were awake. Possibly it would even be better. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I disappeared into the jungle. The vegetation in the area was relatively sparse. Even mostly buried, the ruins hindered large trees from growing, making it easier to approach. I can take it, Serp insisted.

You'll see. I'm a lot stronger now! It would have been nice to be true. Serp had a tendency to exaggerate. Also, unlike me, he was indestructible. Listen to me, old man! There's no way you'll put that thing to sleep!

"It worked on the Blade Serpent," I hissed as I continued walking. That shut him up. The brighter the aether got, the more I became aware of how large the creature actually was. Even from this distance, the glow was radiating through leaves, vines, and trees, indicating that the monster had a high affinity for magic. As more remains of the temple became unobscured, I also started to notice brighter aether dots scattered throughout it.

If those happened to be phoenix-hawks, there was a good chance that we might complete the challenge without issues. Still, it very much depended on whether I could do what I had promised. Using my Bard skills to put someone to sleep was easy. Beasts, even large ones, could also be dealt with. I had to admit, I had never had much practice with that particular type of skill, but I had seen it used often enough to know the basics. Plus, things had worked out fine so far.

There was an argument to be made that insects couldn't be affected by songs. Given the size of the entity and that it was categorized as a boss creature, that might or might not turn out to be true. For that purpose, I wasn't going to rely on a single skill alone. Fifty feet from the ruined building, I stopped. Even covered in dirt and vines, they looked magnificent. Constructed entirely from green marble, the building must have been at least as grand as the Jade Dragon Towers or Saturn's citadel.

Columns the size of massive trees held up the crumbling flat roof, leading all the way to the dome further in the complex. Aether was everywhere. If only the magician card had been upgraded, the fight and the trial would have already ended. Here goes. I started singing. Aether strands spread in all directions. Waiting a second, I then used the Fourteen of Rings to reinforce them and the Symbiont to pair the sounds with insect pheromones. Even if singing alone wasn't enough to put the centipede to sleep, this would.

Just in case, I summoned Serp. If it came to it, I could use his speed. Carefully, I made my way through the columns to the entrance of the outer complex. If there had been doors, they had long rotted away, leaving only openings. The floor, once marble, was now covered with dirt, leaves, and insect carcasses. Still singing, I walked on. Soon, the structure of the dome was before me. I could see the massive outline of the centipede curled up inside the structure like a snake in an egg.

It was truly massive—from this distance it seemed even larger than the Blade Serpent. Less than a hundred feet separated me from the monster. If things got to a fight, it would be now. Tightening my grip on the saber's hilt, I continued onwards. Already, I could feel the presence of dozens of creatures. I couldn't be certain that they were the phoenix-hawks; I needed to see one reference to make the connection, but there was a good chance that they were.

The moment I stepped into the dome chamber, my pulse quickened. The moss-covered body of the monster filled the entire space. At one point, there had to have been dozens of rooms there, connected through a multitude of stairwells and staircases. Now, all that was left was one massive hollowed-out space turned into a lair by the centipede. The monster must have been using it for quite a while, for it had left just enough fragments of floors and stairways to comfortably coil up all the way to the very top.

LIGHTNING JUNGLE CENTIPEDE Level: 20 Cards: Emperor Special: Swallow, Poison Touch Weapon: None The Emperor? I wondered. Not a card that I would have associated with the creature. Given the size, I was expecting it to be a Grand Arcana holder, not that it made things easier. Thankfully, my singing was keeping it at bay. It took me less than a second to spot a phoenix-hawk tucked into a thick layer of moss that covered the monster. The bird was comfortably sleeping, as if this were its very own nest.

Soon enough, several more became visible, like fiery spots on a mass of brownish-green. At least we weren't going to go through its droppings. Measuring every step, I continued further in. Strike! Serp shouted in my head. Just do it! I ignored him. The only thing I needed now was to reach an opening in the dome with an unobscured view of the jungle. Unfortunately, with all the stairwells gone, the only way to achieve that was to climb onto the monster itself.

For over a minute, I walked about in the hopes of finding an alternative route. Sadly, there was none. My mouth was starting to dry up. Even with the Bard card, this was the most uninterrupted singing I had done in my life. Provided that it was the only thing keeping me alive, I endured. SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! A deity wants you to get one of the centipede's eyes in exchange for a Ring of Speed. Just a Ring of Speed? Whichever deity this was, it probably took me for an idiot.

The centipede's eye alone was a lot more valuable than a dozen Rings of Speed, not that I would even try cutting it out. Left with no other alternative, I climbed onto a pile of marble rubble, then jumped onto the centipede. It felt soft, as if I were still in the forest. Just one quick thrust straight down! Serp persisted. Come on, old man! Shut up! I thought, losing my concentration for a moment. My song came to an abrupt end. I froze, expecting the worst. The interruption was too sudden.

If the centipede had become aware of my presence, all my efforts would have gone for nothing. A second passed. Then another. When nothing followed, I finally relaxed.

"Do that again," I began in a whisper, "and I'll leave you here to rot. Clear?" The threat must have worked, for Serp didn't respond. Step by step I climbed up the body of the monster. The openings I passed by were too low to provide a view of the forest. In the process, I had spotted fourteen phoenix-hawks, all of them ready for the taking. It would have been so easy to snatch five of them and complete the trial, but Cathy had to do that first. Past the midpoint, I reached what I was searching for.

The opening was high enough to let me see above the jungle all the way to the mountain in the distance. Right now, the other participants were probably there, rushing to capture the elusive birds before anyone else could. If they were smart, they would be working together. I extended the saber and unleashed a thread strike outside. The line of aether cut into the forest, slicing through like a knife through a soft cake. The signal had been given. All I needed to do now was wait until the others arrived.