Chapter 263: Blast from the Past

They didn’t have to wait long.

Roughly ten minutes in, they felt it—a subtle tug, building pressure like the subspace itself had noticed them. The air grew heavier. Energy warped.

Then lightning cracked through the storm wall.

Brief illumination cast the silhouettes of twisting staircases—dozens of them—spiraling into the void, tangled like roots, still and silent in the chaos beyond.

"Not keen on what looks like a labyrinth," Riseth muttered. "But it’s got one of the petals."

"It’s a Grade Seven subspace," Alistair replied, storing the chairs with a wave. "Doesn’t feel overly hostile, though."

They didn’t waste another second.

King shifted mid-flight, wings snapping wide as he surged ahead. The storm wall loomed—layers of spatial distortion and crackling energy peeling back as they dove in. The subspace beyond twisted unnaturally, warped and knotted beneath a drag of heavy time dilation.

Alistair’s eyes narrowed as the breach between subspaces snapped open—and his flight cut out. One moment later, he was in freefall.

The momentum of his arrival sent him spinning. He caught a glimpse of Riseth falling nearby—her flight magic just as inert, though her wings let her glide, slowing the descent.

They dropped through an expansive, impossible space. It looked like the interior of a Victorian mansion stretched to infinity—rows of staircases rising straight up, crossing overhead, or running sideways like bridges. Spiral stairs twisted between levels, linking wooden platforms that floated in the void.

Everything was perfectly built. Straight lines, perfect curves, polished railings, ornate doors spaced at regular intervals leading who knew where.

Alistair didn’t have the luxury to admire any of it. As he twisted midair, he cycled through his magic—teleportation was locked down as well. He drew his poleaxe from storage just as King’s massive form came crashing down from above, tearing through platforms and staircases. Wings flailed, useless in the distorted space, claws raking across wooden beams in a desperate bid to stabilize.

Riseth had better luck—her tail-guided chain whip snapped around a railing, guiding her into a smooth arc before she landed lightly on one of the staircases.

Alistair hooked his poleaxe into a passing railing, but due to his momentum and weight, he tore through it with a sharp crack; it slowed him just enough for the weapon to catch again, the blade burying deep into a platform—right before he slammed into it.

Thankfully, Kinetic Skinguard still worked. With a grunt, he hauled himself up onto the platform.

Above, Riseth waved down at him. King had returned to his humanoid form, standing amid the wreckage of shattered platforms and torn balustrades left in his wake.

A quick check confirmed that his mobility skills were pretty much all restricted, though the rest of his abilities seemed to work just fine—which only made the environment more treacherous.

He looked over the broken railing. The space expanded as far as his eyes could see in every direction.

Man, if I hadn't hooked myself here, I would've been falling for a while before hitting another platform.

He looked back up, trying to find a path toward Riseth and King—who were doing the same, orienting themselves in the tangle of stairways and platforms.

Maybe one of the doors would be faster? He shook his head. No. God knows where they lead.

Riseth had apparently run out of patience. Alistair caught a glimpse of her finishing a running start before she leaped from her platform, wings flaring to glide. Her tail snapped out midair, chain whip coiling around a nearby balustrade. With practiced ease, she swung forward—closing the gap in one fluid arc.

Alistair stretched out his arms and caught her, absorbing the impact without much effort.

"Couldn't wait to get back to me?" he teased.

"Yep," Riseth smirked. "Are you going to let me down?"

He chuckled and set her on her feet.

"But what are we going to do with King?" Alistair asked, glancing upward—just in time to see King taking a running start.

In his humanoid form, King had sprouted a pair of wings, clearly trying to mimic Riseth’s glide. The results were... mixed. His descent turned into a chaotic tumble as Alistair failed to catch him because he couldn’t lift him telekinetically. Thankfully, he slammed through a staircase on the way down, the impact slowing him enough to crash onto a nearby platform instead of sailing straight past it.

"He can be imposing, but he really needs to work on the grace of his namesake," Riseth muttered as they made their way down the stairs toward him. King climbed to his feet with a groan.

Alistair chuckled at the comment and used the brief pause to resummon Viv, whom he’d temporarily stored before crossing the storm wall—a decision that had paid off yet again. Arrival was never guaranteed to be safe. One always had to be ready to adapt—whether to an ambush or suddenly finding oneself in freefall.

"Uuh, this place looks like fun." Viv commented, her tail flicking excitedly as she stretched out across his shoulders with a contented yawn. "But what's that smell?"

"What smell?" Alistair glanced at her. "Also—watch out. Flight and mobility skills don’t work here, so you’ll need to stick with me. No wandering off this time."

"Fine." Viv relented with a dramatic sigh, scrunching up her nose. "But seriously, it smells like death."

Riseth lifted her head slightly, sniffing the air. "I smell it too now." She grimaced, eyes narrowing as she scanned the surrounding platforms.

King rubbed the side of his face as he approached. "I recognize this smell. It’s the same as those things we fought at the hub—during the trial."

"You mean the homunculi?" Alistair asked as he pulled his poleaxe back from storage.

"Yeah, those." King’s tone darkened slightly, gaze shifting toward the nearest door.

A loud crack rang out as one of the doors above and across from them was smashed open, and a horde of pale humanoids streamed through—bodies implanted with what looked like cybernetics—a mixture of firearms, blades, armor plates, and spikes fused into their arms and torsos.

Alistair had just enough time to identify one of them as [Reaper Homunculi - lvl 209] before all hell broke loose. The barrels on their arms, wrists, and shoulders flashed to life, drowning out their screeches as a storm of gunfire tore through the corridor.

He and Riseth threw up defensive barriers just in time, the impacts slamming against the shielding, bringing the earlier silence within the subspace to an end. Their return fire came a heartbeat later—blasts and bolts ripping back through the gap between platforms,

Riseth cursed, yanking open a nearby door. It revealed a corridor leading to another platform—thankfully with far fewer homunculi at the far end.

"Through here!" she shouted. "We can't have them blow the platforms under our feet!"

Alistair threw up another Kinetic Barrier, letting King and Riseth slip through first before following and slamming the door shut behind him.

Disappointingly, it was shot apart moments later. He’d half expected the door to shift locations or lead elsewhere after it closed—but apparently, this realm wasn’t that kind of chaotic.

Alistair maintained his position as the rearguard while his battlespheres gatling-fired Kinetic Strikes through the doorway once the first of the homunculi managed to catch up—leaping across stairways and platforms with little effort, most of them assisted by some kind of cybernetic that allowed them to leap or rocket-boost themselves short distances.

Alistair blasted apart the most eager of the homunculi as it lunged forward, propelled by spring-loaded legs. He was forced to throw up another Force Barrier to block the spray of organs and twisted machinery flinging toward them at high speed.

Meanwhile, Riseth and King had already cut down the homunculi blocking their path, testing new doors as they moved. All around them, more doors cracked open—every direction now spilling fresh waves of screeching enemies. The homunculi opened fire with utter disregard for the environment, blasting through stairways and platforms without hesitation.

The surrounding platforms and balustrades offered some partial cover from the incoming fire, though Alistair couldn’t help but wonder if they might need those same paths to reach whatever goal this challenge held for them.

The homunculi weren’t especially threatening individually—but they were relentless, and their numbers kept growing. Based on prior encounters in Nivareth’s subspaces, there was no guarantee they’d ever stop coming. And with their mobility skills restricted, sticking around to find out felt like a bad idea.

They managed to push through the doors and occasional corridors, forcing a path forward—but once they reached a dense cluster of platforms with fewer entry points, they made the call to hold their ground.

"This space is still too small and frail to hold me," King growled, clearly displeased.

"It won't get much better than this, so we have to make do," Alistair said.

He still held the rear, blasting apart their pursuers as best he could. Despite his and Viv’s efforts, more kept coming—getting closer with every wave.

"I can't smell any treasures or detect any points of interest with my seeker skills," Riseth muttered, falling into step beside Alistair. Jack had already morphed into a sleek pair of guns, lacing her spatial bolts with added punch.

"I can't smell anything except their rotten, chemical stench," Viv complained from Alistair's shadow. Her fur bristled. "And they're getting closer. Don’t let those disgusting things touch me!"

The scene ahead looked ripped straight from an old zombie flick—Homunculi scrambling over one another, clawing and shrieking, an unrelenting tide despite the way they dropped under Alistair and Riseth's onslaught.

When the swarm pushed too close for comfort, King stepped forward. His breath attack surged out—not nearly as devastating in his humanoid form, but it was enough to buy them a few precious seconds before the Homunculi hit the doorway.

Riseth, without a word, summoned Fluffy and began channeling her Vortex Tear skill. She and Alistair eased back from the doorway as King’s breath began to falter. The group formed a tight half-circle around the entrance, weapons raised, the horde pressing closer with every heartbeat.

"Finally! Let me at them!" Jack squealed with manic glee, shifting into his chain blade variant mid-spin.

Alistair drove his kinetically charged poleaxe into the first Homunculus that broke through the threshold, sending its twisted form splattering across the stone. Another lunged before he could reset—he pivoted, kicked it back, and unleashed a burst of Flames of Purity, searing the front line in cleansing fire.

Before his flames could do much more, Riseth hurled her Vortex Tear into the horde. The spell erupted, reality shredding into a violent spiral—turning the swarm into a living blender. Even the enhanced life force and magical resilience of the Grade 7 Homunculi couldn’t withstand the rift’s pull; their bodies ripping apart as they screamed into the void.

Alistair lunged forward, his poleaxe carving a smooth arc through the air. One of the Homunculi that had dodged the worst of the vortex lost its head in a clean sweep—its skull spiraling off into the dark, its dark-blue blood arcing from the severed neck.

A flicker—his kinetic barrier flared again. More Homunculi were descending, this time from a set of elevated platforms above.

He growled, eyes narrowing, then returned fire with a snap of his fingers. Kinetic Strikes tore through the wooden structures, obliterating the platforms. The creatures tumbled, screeching, vanishing into the endless expanse of stairs and fractured walkways below.

"What I wouldn’t give for a good one-on-one fight again." Alistair exhaled, eyes still scanning the platforms.

"I feel you." Riseth’s voice was tight with focus. "Hard to find strong solo opponents these days—outside the occasional bounty."

"On the bright side..." Alistair grunted as he ducked under a swipe and drove his poleaxe into another Homunculus. "...they don't seem endless. Or at least we can cull the local horde."

"Unless they respawn with a delay." Riseth flicked her fingers, threads of energy guiding her Puppetmaster skill. A cluster of Homunculi turned on their own, chaos erupting in the ranks.

"Less talking, more fighting—please!" King barked from the flank. His arms had fully shifted into draconic form, claws wreathed in cursed flames as he shredded the stragglers that slipped past Riseth’s control.

The swarm was thinning, and Alistair took the opportunity to scan the surrounding platforms for more attacks, though he found only a handful of stragglers on the platforms above, dispatching them with a series of Kinetic Strikes from his Battle Spheres skill.

"We got this," Alistair announced, gripping his weapon tighter before splitting another homunculus in twain.

----------

Index

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter