Chương 36: The Cut

The clearing opened ahead of them. The ground sloped upward in a gentle rise, dark soil giving way to patches of exposed stone. The undergrowth had retreated entirely, leaving bare earth and scattered rock as if nothing dared grow there. At the top of the rise, a formation of purple crystals jutted from the ground. Dozens of spires, the largest nearly three meters tall. Something brown and thick wound between the spires, coiled in loops that blended with the earth and stone at the base of the formation.

They looked like roots. Nobody moved. The forest sounds had stopped completely. No rustling. No branches. No hissing. Just the sound of their breathing. Sumi gasped. She was pointing to the left, her hand trembling. Enzo followed the gesture and found the first body. A man sat slumped sideways against the base of a tree at the clearing's edge, legs folded beneath him at angles that suggested he'd collapsed rather than sat down. His throat was gone. Torn open in a ragged wound that exposed the vertebrae beneath.

The skin across his neck and chest had turned a mottled grey-black, the discoloration spreading outward from the wound in branching patterns beneath the skin. Ten feet away was another body. A woman, face down in the dirt. Her torso crushed, arms bent backward at the elbows. Bones jutted through the skin of her forearms where they'd broken. Sumi made a strangled sound. Her hands dropped to her sides. Signe stepped closer to Enzo, her shoulder brushing his.

"Where are the kids?" Nobody answered. Then a sound rose from the formation. Low and deep, a rapid percussive vibration that Enzo felt in his sternum before his ears made sense of it. A rattling. Thick and resonant, building in volume until the crystals themselves hummed in sympathy. The brown shape between the spires shifted, colors rippling as it moved. What he'd taken for roots began sliding across stone with a dry rasp on rock.

Loop after heavy loop uncoiled from the base of the formation, each one as thick as a tree trunk, scales the color of dried earth and old bone, each one the size of his palm. The snake's rattle rose first, a massive segmented structure rising from behind the crystal formation, shaking with a sound that filled the clearing. Then the head lifted, climbing higher and higher until it looked down at them from above the tallest spire.

Broad and angular, almost the size of a car hood, scaled in the same mottled pattern as the body. The heat pits between its eyes and nostrils were dark recesses that Enzo knew were reading every degree of warmth their bodies produced. Its eyes were not purple. Not an Eater. A Beast. Everyone froze.

"Nobody moves," Kenzo whispered. Signe glanced at Enzo.

"Is that…?" Enzo didn't answer. It looked like one of their local snakes, except for it being far larger than any snake on Earth had a right to be.

"Pulse." Mana burst free of him, racing in every direction. The snake didn't react as the information boxes appeared. He tuned out all but two. —'Northern Pacific Rattlesnake — Beast, Venomous —??? //???'

'Mana Crystal — Rift Core — Tier 1 // Arcane,???' —"It is," Enzo said, voice still low.

"And the large crystal spire at the center is the Rift's Core."

"What do we do?" Sumi asked.

"I can hit the crystal from here. I think." Kenzo shifted slightly.

"That'll dump the snake outside with us though."

"Yeah. But the Guide said rift collapse causes spatial displacement."

"May, bro. May cause." He was right. It also said something about temporal displacement, but they were all ignoring the implications of that. There was no second warning. The snake lunged.

"Kenzo!" Enzo shouted. The big man launched forward, shoulders low, weight forward. The snake's head angled toward him.

"Burst." At the last instant, the ground erupted under one of his feet, and Kenzo shot sideways, redirecting his charge. The snake's head crashed into the ground where he'd been standing, sending up a cloud of dirt and debris. Then Kenzo pivoted, Burst a second time, and leapt directly at the snake. A third Burst, mid-air, followed by a punch, his fist wrapped in sharp, rocky earth. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

The snake's eye exploded, blood and liquid spraying outward as it reared up, hissing.

"Spread out," Enzo said, glancing between Sumi and Signe.

"Support Kenzo." Sumi went left. Held out a hand.

"Bolster." Kenzo evaded the snake's follow up attack, visibly quicker with Sumi's improved, ranged version of the buff settling over him. Enzo aimed for the beast's thick middle section. Avoided the rapidly shifting head.

"Power Bolt." A second later, the attack raced uphill and struck the snake where it coiled across the ground. Scales cratered around the point of impact, causing the snake to stumble and roll, its own attack missing Kenzo. To his right, Signe clapped her hands.

"Disorient!" A rippling wave of sound and noise tore toward the snake, passing Kenzo overhead, then sweeping across the snake's head as it tried to right itself. Nothing happened. The snake's tail whipped out, catching Kenzo in the side so suddenly he didn't have time to guard. The big man let out a grunt, then shot across the clearing as if fired from a cannon. He struck a tree, the trunk shattering as he passed through it, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

The snake hissed louder, rising to its full height as it turned to survey the rest of them. It sounded almost victorious. Barely a second later, it lunged toward Sumi.

"Power Bolt!" Enzo's spell tore through the air, missing by inches. Sumi stumbled backwards, throwing up both hands.

"S-shield!" It snapped into place in front of her. The snake's fangs slammed into the barrier a fraction of a second later, sliding against it before the energy faltered, cracked, and shattered into dissipating fragments. The angle of the snake's attack was altered slightly, but one of its fangs stabbed through Sumi's outstretched right hand. Sumi screamed, dropping to her knees with the weight of the snake bearing down on her. Enzo ran toward her. Pain shooting up his leg. Hand reaching, fingers pointing.

He invoked Bolt repeatedly as he closed the distance, aiming for the snake's ruined eye. The strikes tore into the damaged, fleshy remains, causing the snake to hiss in pain. Its fang ripped free of Sumi's hand as it recoiled, sending her sprawling across the ground, clutching her hand. His knee buckled as the attempt to sprint caught up with him. Pain tore up his leg and he went down hard onto one knee, cane slipping free as both hands slapped against the ground.

Signe raced past him, sprinting across the clearing and sliding to her knees beside Sumi. The snake shook its head, sending blood spraying in a wide arc from its ruined socket. When it steadied, its remaining eye found Enzo. It glared down at him with something akin to rage. Then its body jerked backward, head slamming into the ground as it was hauled away. The snake's coils thrashed, whipping side to side, but Kenzo didn't let go.

He had one arm wrapped around its midsection, the other gripping where Power Bolt had cratered its scales. He had his feet planted, shoulders low, as he dragged the massive snake across the clearing, one grinding step at a time. Enzo stumbled upright and hobbled toward Sumi. Signe had already torn a sleeve free of her shirt and was wrapping it around Sumi's arm. He reached out a hand. Aimed carefully.

"Power Bolt." Took a step. The spell fired. This time, with Kenzo dragging the snake in a straight line, his aim was true. The attack struck beneath the jaw, punching through the flesh in another spray of blood. The snake recoiled. Kenzo immediately twisted, spinning the snake around before slamming it against the mana crystals, some of which shattered under the impact. Kenzo glanced their way.

"I'll keep it distracted! Help Sumi." Signe pulled the improvised tourniquet tight. Once. Twice. Sumi gripped her own forearm, her injured hand held out in front of her. Her breathing came in sharp, ragged pulls, each one shorter than the last. Her fingers were black. The skin dying as they watched, discoloration spreading down from the puncture wound through her palm and into each digit. As he stood there, the edge of it crept past her knuckles and across the palm and back of her hand. Signe looked up at him.

"What do we do?" Enzo met her eyes. He knew what had to happen. He just couldn't find the words to say it. Sumi found them first.

"Cut it off." Her voice came through gritted teeth, rough and barely held together.

"Before it spreads further. I can't Heal this." Enzo tried to think of another solution.

"Please." It was a plea. Calm as could be, given the circumstances. Made knowing the cost. The question was how. Spear was a piercing thread. It would punch through, not sever. Bolt would take multiple shots at close range on a target he couldn't afford to miss. Power Bolt would likely kill her. He needed a blade. Something sharp and heavy enough to cut through bone in a single swing. But none of them had weapons, which meant he needed a magical solution. A spell he'd never cast before. One that didn't exist yet.

The venom reached her wrist. Enzo closed his eyes. Pulled mana from his reserves. His hands were shaking. But adrenaline was nothing new to him. He knew what to do. He took a breath. Forced the calm. Found his focus. Knife. Too small. Not enough weight behind it. An axe would work, but the form would be complicated. Asymmetric. Too many variables to stabilize. A saw would be brutal, and the geometry difficult. He needed simple. A sword. The threads came fast.

The first was an outer edge, curved to a point at the top, carrying the concept of sharpness, of severing, of a cutting edge that wouldn't blunt. He used Geometric Replication to create an identical version, then rotated it to mirror the first. Added a single thread down the center for structural integrity, to keep the blade rigid through the impact. A fourth formed the base. Two more, rough and poorly shaped, as something to hold. The hilt. Six threads. No elegance. No refinement.

Just function compressed into the simplest shape that would get the job done. He released the spell form. The blade snapped into existence in his hands. Flat, featureless purple, roughly two feet long. It looked like a sword drawn by a child, but the weight of its purpose in his hands denied that. He opened his eyes and limped forward, gripping the blade tight. Raised it over his head.

"Hold it out." Enzo barely recognized his own emotionless voice. Sumi extended her arm. Her jaw clenched as she squeezed her eyes shut, turning her face away. Signe gripped Sumi's hand with her own and held the arm steady.

"I'm sorry," Enzo whispered. Sumi nodded.

"Do it." There was conviction there. Determination to survive. Enzo respected that. Knew what it took all too well. He swung the sword down with everything he possessed. Didn't avert his eyes. He felt the hastily formed weapon cut through flesh, severing muscles and tendons, then carve through bone before coming out the other end with a spray of blood. He'd never forget the sensation. The blade lodged in the ground. Signe gasped as the hand came free, then dropped it as blood spattered against her face.

Sumi screamed. Enzo released the spell. The sword vanished in a scattering of purple fragments. Sumi passed out while Signe raised Sumi's arm, tugging the tourniquet again, ensuring it was tight. Then a shout came from behind.

"Need a hand here!"