Chương 93: Chapter 91 – Back Together.

"When do we start the ritual?"

"Patience, we will begin once the high priest arrives!"

"But…"

"Hush young one, I know that you are eager but we must not question the high priest, we must assemble as many offerings as we can before the deadline!"

"I… I understand…" Two men spoke to each other, ignoring the moans of discomfort coming from the nearby cells. A lone creature hid behind a pile of rubble, watching them converse in words she didn't understand. Her insect-like eyes and antennae peeked out slightly, fixed on the iron helmet one of the men held.

"(⚆ – ⚆) …"

"It would be better to bring Rusty's head back to his body, but perhaps it might be better to wait it out…" A black orb of faint light talked to the ant that was there, its voice sounding unnervingly calm, as though Aburdon was savoring the craziness of it all. Gleam, however, felt no such enjoyment. Her gaze darted between Rusty's helmet and the ominous figures before her.

She was well aware of her limits; her mana reserves were practically depleted, and in her current state, any spell-casting would likely draw attention. But waiting too long could spell disaster for Rusty." (` ω ´) …" She chittered softly, her antennae quivering with frustration. She wanted to charge forward, snatch the helmet, and scurry off, but she knew she'd have no way to escape undetected.

"Hold your ground, my dear Gleam, let those fools chat away and your mana recharge, Rusty will be fine. Remember, at any time he can access one of his loadouts, oh but I suppose you weren't there when he attained that skill?" Aburdon murmured as he tried to keep Gleam from doing something stupid. In his mind, she was still just a child and children were prone to emotional outbursts. It was best if she remained hidden and only moved when a chance presented itself.

"They'll leave it unattended eventually. These kinds of rituals are often theatrical. You'll have your chance and if not, then there are probably ways to shift their attention…" His spherical form turned toward one of the holding cells. Most of the people inside were half-dead, but a few looked like they might cause trouble for the guards. If they managed to set these captives free, the ensuing chaos could provide enough distraction to slip past unnoticed.

However, this approach was risky - they lacked crucial information about their enemies. Dozens of guards could potentially arrive to block their escape. For now, it seemed wiser to remain hidden and find a way to sneak out without raising an alarm. Gleam's antennae twitched in agreement as they decided to wait. Hidden behind the rubble, her gaze stayed fixed on Rusty's helmet. She watched as the two men eventually ended their conversation and moved into a different corridor, which she cautiously followed.

She stuck to the shadows, though her body reflected a bit of the torchlight here and there. Luckily, only a few prisoners noticed her movements, and their shouts and questions went ignored by the guards. In the next chamber, Gleam spotted a raised altar smeared with dried blood and littered with body parts from humans and other beings. The man with a particular fondness for Rusty's helmet set it aside on a table near the altar.

The two men then turned to face a grotesque amalgamation of body parts sewn together in a twisted form. They began chanting in a language Gleam couldn't understand, but she sensed this might be her chance to snatch Rusty's helmet and make a quick escape while they were distracted.

"Blood and guts… This is truly a cult of some evil god, Could it be the Lord of Torture and Despair Skuldar? Those do seem like his runes…" Commented Aburdon while Gleam's mandibles clicked impatiently, signaling her increased feeling of dread at the sight of the bloodied patchwork. She could feel her mana trickling back at a frustratingly slow pace, each precious drop of magical energy like a lifeline she could barely grasp.

Her gaze never left Rusty's helmet as it lay, unattended and tantalizingly close, on the table by the altar. The dark, throaty murmurs of the cultists filled the chamber, their voices blending with an unsettling echo that seemed to rattle the walls. Every instinct in her tiny body screamed to move now - grab the helmet and flee before things escalated further.

"Patience little one, let your mana come back and then we strike, the time is almost there." Luckily, Aburdon was there to dissuade her from rushing in. Instead, she took a few steps back, retreating from the chamber. She waited for a few minutes as the men continued their strange chanting, until she had enough MP to cast the silencing spell once again. It was now or never. She let the veil of soundlessness envelop her body once more and slipped back into the gory chamber.

With her silencing spell activated, Gleam approached the table, every move measured to avoid detection. Rusty's helmet sat within reach now, its dull sheen reflecting the flickering torchlight around the room. The chanting of the cultists grew louder, their voices rising in a rhythmic, ominous crescendo. Aburdon's spectral form floated beside her, urging her to stay calm and focused as she crept toward the helmet.

"Careful, Gleam… They're distracted, but if they sense us, it's over."

"(• ̀ω •́)" Gleam's mandibles clicked softly in recognition. The sound around her was gone but her body was still visible. Her shiny silvery exoskeleton needed to avoid all the lights as it could reflect the light and alert the guards to her position. This was not an easy feat but she was determined to save her friend. Her small ant legs skittered forward, going up the walls and even on top of the ceiling as she moved cloer and closer to the table where Rusty was.

But then, as fate would have it, one of the cultists paused in their chanting, his gaze shifting just as a faint glint of light bounced off Gleam's carapace. His eyes widened.

"What was that?" He hissed, narrowing his gaze as he instantly turned around and scanned the room with his eyes.

"(˶° ㅁ °)!!" Gleam froze while on the ceiling. Some wind entered the chamber and blew on the torch making the light hit her body. She quickly skittered into a darkened corner but could not move anymore. The cultist took a cautious step forward as he attempted to see if there was an intruder there. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"It's probably nothing, come, brother, we must not stop the chants, or the high priest will punish us."

"It was probably nothing, you are right as always…" The cultist hesitated, casting one last glance around the dimly lit chamber before turning back to the ritual. Gleam remained perfectly still, her mandibles tightly clenched as her body pressed flat against the ceiling's dark crevices. She watched, breath held, as the men resumed their chant. The rhythmic sounds filled the room again, echoing through the stone chamber and this was her cue to move.

She seized this narrow window of distraction, slipping silently down the wall until she was positioned directly above the table where Rusty's helmet lay. With the help of her sound-concealing spell, she dropped down, her face now level with that of her long-lost friend. She hadn't existed in this world for very long and had nearly lost hope while captive among these strange humanoid creatures. But now that her dear friend had returned for her, she was determined to repay him by rescuing him when he needed it most.

"Gleam, what are you doing here!?"

"(•̀ - •́)""You came to save me?" Gleam nodded, extending her small, dexterous legs to brush against Rusty's cold surface. The helmet felt heavier than she remembered and looked slightly different, but she didn't care. Even with the added weight, it was manageable. She grasped him firmly with her forelimbs, lifting him into the air before scurrying off the table in a hurry. Holding her breath, she zigzagged through the shadows, carefully dodging patches of torchlight as she made her way out.

"Hold steady, little one. We don't want to make any hasty moves now that we're so close." Aburdon commented as Gleam ran towards the exit and Rusty quickly replied, his head bouncing around while being held up in the air.

"Aburdon is with you? So it did actually work!"

"Did you ever doubt me, my dear Rusty?"

"Well, after they carried me off… I kind of did." Rusty answered Aburdon as he noticed his presence with Gleam. The ant kept her pace swift, darting along the shadows with Rusty in tow. Her loyalty outweighed her exhaustion and every small step brought them closer to freedom. Eventually, they made their way out of this strange occult chamber and arrived back at the corridors.

"Gleam, you're incredible. I was supposed to save you but you saved me instead!"

"(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)" Encouraged by Rusty's words of gratitude, Gleam's antennae gave a proud little twitch. Her silencing spell was still active, though just barely, and she knew she'd only have one final burst of speed before her reserves were fully depleted. They rounded the corner, and she moved as quickly as her insectoid legs could carry her. By the time they returned to the room with the captives, her spell had faded, but it didn't matter now.

Rusty's body was already in one of the open cells among the other discarded prisoners, standing upright as though ready. She was surprised to see a pale human figure inside, though she recalled Aburdon's mention of this earlier as it seemed this human form was now part of Rusty's new self.

'That was way too close.' Rusty observed his body standing there, and now that Gleam had brought his helmet over, he could both see it and feel it once more. Though he could move his body without his head attached, his vision remained limited to what his helmet could see. His body pushed aside a few reeking cadavers, finally reaching out to take his head from Gleam's tired grip. He could tell she was exhausted as her MP was down to exactly one point.

"You've worked hard, Gleam, now leave the rest to me!"

"\ (•ᴗ•) /""I'm glad to see you too!" Once his head was back on his shoulders and securely attached, Rusty took a moment to assess his surroundings. The damp, cold air of the chamber pressed against him as he felt restored. His body shifted as he activated one of his loadouts to change him back into his regular twilight form. Previously he had shifted the Albert armor into one with twilight armor included as he had been planning to use his darkness element from the start.

Now he shifted back into his regular form, with no human body on the inside to hold him back. Gleam safely scurried up his arm to rest on his shoulder and finally, the duo was truly reunited." ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜""We aren't quite out of trouble yet, we need to get out of here in one piece, did you perhaps spot any ways to move out of here or not?"

"(╹ -╹)""You didn't? But there are many corridors here that we could use?" Now that Rusty was back in his main body and equipped with a loadout, Albert's remains were safely stored in his inventory. They didn't need to use the main exit to get out of here; if Gleam found a corridor wide enough, she could carry his helmet out again. Alternatively, they could hide somewhere together while she dug an escape route.

As he considered their options for getting out, Rusty noticed something intriguing: someone familiar was here.

"Isn't that girl here again? This is the third time now, isn't it?" It wasn't the halfling girl he had rescued before, but someone else he knew - Layla, the girl who had helped him kill his first human enemy. She had been part of the adventurer party that helped him during the exam. For some reason, she now found herself in one of the cells. Unlike the lifeless bodies scattered around, she was leaning weakly against one of the prison bars.

"Ah, now I remember!" Before he could formulate a plan, Aburdon's voice interrupted him. Alexander was not with him at the moment as he couldn't have his bright, luminous form wriggling inside his body while these people were transporting him. It was good to know that he could give Gleam one of them to instruct her but for now, Rusty needed to focus on whatever Aburdon was saying.

"You remember what? A way out?"

"No, I remember where I saw that moon and scythe symbol! It was on the man who tried to attack this girl! bI probably couldn't recall it as it was before the Soul Forge was fully activated." Aburdon proclaimed this revelation in a joyous tone, as if a great mystery had just been unraveled. This event had occurred even before Rusty's first evolution, but his memories remained linked with his guides. It seemed Aburdon had finally managed to rekindle the connection to those long-forgotten memories.

"It was?"

"Indeed! Now it all makes sense. I bet the person who set off that trap in the dungeon was part of this cult! They even went to the trouble of bringing her here to finish her off. With this, the mystery is solved!"

"I see… but does it matter?"

"My good rusty, I would be glad to explain to you the joys of making sense of mysteries but I think we have more pressing matters at hand." Rusty's gaze shifted to Layla, who remained slumped, barely conscious, behind the bars. Her disheveled appearance spoke of days, if not weeks, of confinement. He could see the faint rise and fall of her chest, indicating she was still alive, though weakened. It seemed that she had been captured not long after they completed the adventurer examination.

The significance of her presence in this cult's hideout was an enigma, but rescuing her might add another ally to their side. Gleam, perched on his shoulder, noticed his focused look and tilted her head curiously.

"(•̀ - •́)""A friend? I'm not sure…" Before he could make a decision, Gleam asked him a question about Layla. Rusty hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Gleam was his friend, but he didn't truly consider any of the humans in the city as allies. His presence here was temporary, driven solely by the mission to rescue his friend, and now that he had accomplished it, retreat seemed like the wisest choice.

The identity of their potential enemies was uncertain, and perhaps leaving Layla behind was the safer, more logical option - a point that Aburdon also agreed on.

"The girl will only slow us down, we should get out of here while we have a chance."

"(ó﹏ò)" Gleam seemed confused by this situation so he would need to decide. Would he help her out now and perhaps also set the other people free, or should he just sneak away while no one was looking?