Eternium ~ 46!

There had been so many people! I felt so swollen and bleh! Ugh, was this what Hans felt like after eating cheese? Now I understood his groaning in the middle of the night after gorging upon fondue. How much more did I need to go through? I turned my attention upward, moving my mind slowly to avoid hurting myself. When I arrived, I got some great news.

“That’s everyone.” Barry announced to the group after the portal onto Mountaindale had been unused for a few hours. “The A-ranker’s crates were a success, so you are truly the last that will ever cross inward! If there is anyone else out there, then they are unable to make it through the portal at this time; which means ever. The rest of you, get through to the new world. I’ll see you all soon, and if not… celestial-speed to you all! Get moving!”

The Mages surrounding the area saluted with tears in their eyes, knowing that it was impossible that Barry would ever be able to fit through the portal. He was far too powerful, and they had already had an example of him failing to escape the oncoming desolation. Reluctantly, the last few guards and all of the remaining members of the Guild took their turn and marched through the portal.

Barry watched them go, nodding at each of them as they vanished. When the last had passed he looked around carefully and examined his surrounding. Seeing and sensing no one in the immediate area, a smile began to grow on his lips. “Three hundred seventy-four thousand, four hundred and seventy-three people have gone through the portal… plus or minus a few extra sneaky Dark Elves. I’m so glad we we able to save so many.”

This was a side I hadn’t expected to see from Barry… was he acting? Did he think there was someone watching that was going to act against him somehow? I decided that this was a better use of my time than watching Dale and Minya struggle against the Golems in my depths again.

Barry looked up at the sky, which was almost entirely covered by the moon. There was a small filter of blue that could be seen through the varied shards, but it was obvious that time was nearly up. The S-ranked man looked around at the frozen abyss-scape below him, noticing that the monsters and creatures in the area were becoming agitated. They were even… fighting? They were fighting for dominance! Whatever had been keeping them in check had obviously begun to fail, and the power fluctuations were causing massive turbulence in the area. 

“It seems that we are moving again, hmm? The dungeon must have caught on that things are getting worse here.” Barry sat down and looked around, then pulled out a pendant and passed some energy into it. The jeweled surface darkened and warped, releasing a scream like a tortured soul. The air seemed to resonate, then the ground… then the sound vanished. Barry waited a moment, then looked around in annoyance. His eyes locked with a hypnotic pair of orbs that were inches from his own face, and he cursed and jumped back. Barry was not used to being snuck up on.

“Oh, well, it seems that you did as requested!” A body began to materialize around the eyes that had seemed to be hanging in the air. In a flash, Xenocide was standing before Barry in the flesh.

“It was simple after using the technique that you passed onto me, Master.” Barry bowed to the man, but Xenocide had already pressed against a building and fondling the door. “The Wisp never even knew that it was me forcing the impulse to turn to the northern lights.”

That sneaky son of a-

“Such high-quality construction! Feel this wood, it's Inscribed so beautifully!” Xenocide moaned as he pressed himself against the frame of the door, which started to crackle and splinter from the pressure, Inscription or no. “Why? Why have people bound their power like this for a door? Why would they do this to themselves, or force their wants on the world like this? Don't worry, little door… soon all shall be cleansed!”

“Master…?” Barry softly called, wanting to gain attention but not wrath. “Your teachings? The guiding technique worked just as you said it would! Placing a seed of Madness to guide the Wisp to her homeland was even easier than you had said it would be!”

Xenocide tore across the distance and hoisted Barry into the air by his neck. His breath hissed out as he demanded, “Are you calling me a liar?”

“N-no *gack* Master, I would never!” Barry didn’t need to breathe, but the grip on his neck was tight enough to warp Orcihalium. “I was trying to pay my respects for your guidance!”

“Ah.” Xenocide held up a finger and waved it in Barry’s face. “Do you know the difference between a brown-noser and a feces face? Depth perception! Learn when you are going too far, Barry! That’s always been your weakness!”

“Too far…?” Barry looked up at the falling moon. “Yes… master.

“You didn’t capitalize my title that time!” Xenocide’s eyes bulged. “Am I not worthy of the honor anymore?”

“I…” Barry was at a loss. Had he been less than respectful? “I don't understand.”

“You wouldn't.” Xenocide looked over the edge of the flying dungeon and stared at the melee of monsters mashing below. “After all these years, I have a chance of attaining what I have been working for! All that remains now is to make my way past all the guardians in my path! Good work, Barry. You exceeded my expectations, but my expectation was that you would exceed my expectations. Therefore you have only met my expectations. Keep up the expected level of work! Also… feel free to go and collect your reward!”

Barry stared at the spot Xenocide had vacated; the insane SSS-rank man had swan-dived off of the cliff and was approaching the unstable dungeon below. All Barry could do at this time was shake his head and walk away, hoping that he had made the correct choice. He took a few steps, and was crushed into the ground by The Master, who was now standing above him with shaking fists.

“You would work with Xenocide?” The Master punched Barry in the chest, forcing golden-red blood to dribble from his mouth.  “You would work with the man who killed us all?”

“Where do you think you got the rarest of those materials from?” Barry sat up and glared at The Master. “Do you think that the S-rank rib bones just arrived out of the blue? Do you think that the knowledge we needed was free? That every nation joined together as one and worked to save more than themselves?”

“No!” Barry stood and punched The Master in the face, sending him reeling more in shock than in pain. “How naive are you? I made the darkest of deals to place the races in a position of strength, to bring them all together into one location, a place where they have a chance at surviving! I know that I can’t go through that portal! I know that you can’t either, and yet you still worked at it to place your people within! Why is it that I must let everyone die for no reason, just so that my hands stay clean? Don’t you dare lecture me!”

The Master stared at Barry for a moment longer, then blinked out of existence. The leader of the Guild took a deep breath and walked away toward the entrance of the dungeon, muttering darkly to himself. He glanced around one last time before taking a step onto the first floor of the dungeon. “Almost, ‘The Master’. You continue to weaken, and I’m going to end you before that moon destroys us. I want the satisfaction of being the one to finish you off after the humiliation that you’ve heaped upon me.”

Frankly, I was shocked. This entire situation had not played out at all as expected. Now Barry was going through the dungeon to… what? Experience what I had to offer? Try to wrestle Raile? Maybe he was… 

“No one is going to come through here, and even the dungeon is going to be gone soon.” I heard Barry muttering. “No need to let all this go to waste!”

A moment later, a thick green fog roiled out of his mouth. In a matter of moments, the entire floor was covered. Then, my vision of the area went dark. Son of the abyss! That hurt! That maniac was going to eat my dungeon because he was bored and no one else would be bothered by it? I was bothered by it!

<Listen up everyone, I need you all to retreat to the maintenance areas!> I sounded the alarm to all the sentient creatures in my depths. <Barry the Devourer is coming, and I think he is going to eat the majority of the dungeon! If you want to escape, get ready and I’ll have you all run to the surface! From there, I need you all to get through the black portal and into my soul space!>

I took manual control of the gyroscope, freeing Navigation Bob to run. I stopped the Mana and Essence sinks that were creating monsters and rewards, taking that all back into myself. No need to leave it behind for Barry to chew up. The only positive of this situation was that Barry didn't seem to be in a rush, or perhaps he was digesting his meal.

Even as I had that thought, Barry arrived on the second level and walked to the center, where his deadly fog arrived once more. Again, a floor vanished from my view, and I worked harder to pull back all power and influence from the area. <Hurry up, everyone! He’s coming to floor three!>