92. Gizzard (Part 3)

If Lars Tomasen was ice, then Hans was lightning. Yet here, deep within the bowel of the beast, lightning charged through the air while ice hid in place.

Sparks flew overhead, threatening to 'stun-lock' whoever would be foolish enough to jump into the open. But Serac still needed to assess the situation, so she bent down and took a peek from between two lamprey teeth.

The whole arena filled with epileptic flashes of alternating white-and-green, leaving Serac feeling queasy even in the absence of a status effect. Within the brief moments where white dimmed into green, she managed to make out the figures of Renate and Zacko, both crouched low within their respective hiding spots.

All four Wayfarers were pinned down. Could this become a war of attrition? Could they wait out Mulaharta to exhaust the resources behind its borrowed magic?

But the presence of the Wildspawn army further complicated matters. The Rumpetrolls moved through the corridor en masse, as if obeying a uniform command. They flopped and bounced up the dental platforms, headed for the Wayfarers' positions. Some of them were caught by the indiscriminate lightning storm, seizing in place as [Paralysis] took hold. But plenty made the distance unscathed. Their writhing bodies exploded as they touched down on the Wayfarers' natural barricades, each time gouging out large chunks of the lamprey teeth.

Seeing this, Serac understood this to be indeed a war of attrition. Except the Wayfarers were more likely to run out of hiding places before Mulaharta lost its ability to smoke them out. To turn the tide of battle, they needed to take the fight to the boss and its magic-stealing Instrument.

"Yo, Bubblegum!" Zacko was the first to pivot to Plan B. "This [Pearl of Immersion]. You mentioned it also has a passive effect?"

"Yes!" Renate shouted over the explosions, both of the electric and Tadpole Grenade variety. "If you drink it at baseline, it increases your status mitigation. In other words, it should slow the build-up of both [Poison] and [Paralysis]. Even so, against this number of Slangespytts and this dense of an electric storm—"

"Serac!" Zacko didn't wait for Renate to finish. "You mind giving yours to Lars? I could use a bit of extra protection for what I'm about to do, and big fella did seem pretty good at swatting those tadpoles. Oh, and while you're at it, tell him to get his ass down here!"

Oh boy. We're just trying out all kinds of combinations on this trip, aren't we? But Zacko was the man with the plan, and Serac had no good reason to refuse him. She unclipped the creamy-orange vial from her belt and turned to Lars, who took a moment to consider the gesture.

"The Manusya," he asked, "is he up for this?"

"As up for it as anyone I know, that's for sure!" Serac gave her ringing endorsement, not that she had many 'anyones' to compare with. That was apparently good enough for the sturgeon man, however. He took and drank the vial without another word.

Serac watched from her peephole as Lars skipped over to join Zacko at his tooth. The Yaksha had taken a cautious approach, choosing a lull in the electric storm to make his move. He was still clipped by a spark on the way, which took away a small piece of his HP but fell short of proc'ing [Paralysis], thanks to [Immersion]'s passive effect. The two men briefly put their heads together as Zacko gave out last-second instructions. The Manusya donned his mask—Buddha side up—while the Yaksha readied his OAR. Then, they were off to the races.

As soon as he was out in the open, Zacko cycled through his NINEFOLD techniques, all imbued by the purple aura of his Erudite magic. With his damage mitigation buffed by [Dreamer Aspect] and status mitigation by [Pearl of Immersion], he braved the electric storm with impunity. Perhaps more importantly, he'd 'dreamt up' a counter to everything.

[Dreamer Aspect: THE FIRST DAO—STEEL OF REFINEMENT]. The upgraded version of [Blade] sent out energy waves of its own, allowing Zacko to keep the Slangespytts at bay while avoiding skin-to-venom contact.

[Dreamer Aspect: THE THIRD DAO—BRASS OF ALIGNMENT]. [Cestus] turned into brass knuckles that packed a real Poise-breaking punch. Zacko used it to stop would-be Grenades in their tracks, leaving them for his Oarsman partner to finish off.

[Dreamer Aspect: THE FOURTH DAO—AEGIS OF FUNDAMENT]. The souped-up [Shield] was NINEFOLD defense at its best, negating all incoming attacks as long as Zacko timed his parries to perfection. This he reserved for the lightning sparks that flew directly at him. Combined with the effects of [Immersion], [Aegis] ensured that Zacko remained [Paralysis]-free as he made rapid progress down the corridor.

Of course, none of it would've been possible without the aid of Lars Tomasen. The towering sturgeon used the shorter Manusya as a human barrier, keeping himself safe from the electric storm while he focused his attention on the Rumpetrolls. For Zacko had been right. Lars was something of a tadpole-swatting expert. He swung his OAR with reckless abandon, whipping up a veritable storm of his own as he repelled a oncoming swarm of grenades. He even managed to put his passing skills to use, sending Rumpetrolls into each other to trigger more chain reactions.

Emboldened by the boys' bravery, even Serac got in on the action. By then, she'd picked up on a certain 'rhythm' to the waves of lightning, which allowed her to poke her head out and take some pot-shots before ducking back under cover. It wasn't much, but it was honest work. And in a frenetic, all-out war such as this, every little advantage went a long way.

Thus, the bowel of the [Hungry] beast filled with an absolute pandemonium of lightning storms, swinging OAR, flying bullets, and running man. In the end, it was the running man who reached his goal first, diving head-first (literally) to deliver his trademark Poise-breaker, right into the heart of GIZZARD.

[Dreamer Aspect: THE SIXTH DAO—HAMMER OF JUDGMENT]

For at least one Ksana, time itself froze. Every element on the battlefield stopped what they were doing, all at once. Then, with a loud and deeply upsetting 'sgwelch!', GIZZARD ejected from its sphincter the limp figure of Hans Tomasen.

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Next, several things happened at once. All too quickly for a REVOLVER-range Serac to react.

First, the Wildspawns came alive again, gathering to protect their Poise-broken command center. They bore down first on the apparently unconscious Hans, no doubt having identified him as the easiest target. Second, Lars swept down and picked up the massive figure of his brother in his own massive arms. He then leapt away to safety, back toward Serac and Renate, threading the needle between the advancing Wildspawns.

Last but not least, Zacko slumped to his knees, utterly exhausted (and depleted of Stamina). Who could blame him after the superhuman feat he'd just pulled off? But as he knelt down, he leaned in a little too close to GIZZARD. Just close enough for his immaculate pompadour to brush against the rim of the newly vacant sphincter.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

One moment, Mulaharta—or rather, its GIZZARD—lay Poise-broken with an oddly shriveled appearance, almost like a deflated balloon. But next, as a new meal presented itself to its open maw, it snapped back to life. Muscles taut and glistening, its ring-like sphincter widened into a yawning abyss.

Even as Serac struggled to process what she was seeing, she inherently understood one thing. This was not some fluke that defied the 'laws' of Pathsight. Mulaharta hadn't mended its Poise in an impossibly short amount of time. No, its GIZZARD opened and closed over its nearest and most vulnerable prey simply by reflex, hard-wired into the synapses that catered to a creature's basest needs.

One moment, Zacko slumped against his Poise-broken foe, exhausted after rescuing a half-digested meal from its clutches. Next, he himself was the meal. The upper body of a Manusya man stuck out like a sore, sallow-faced thumb.

The transformation was instantaneous. Half-Zacko went limp at the same time as he appeared to grow in size—an illusion brought on by the engorgement of his veins. This was quickly followed by a greenish luminescence, as GIZZARD's Zealous magic burrowed itself into its new fuel source. And finally… perhaps the most terrible element. A shift in the ripples that whipped all about. A new voice—a new memory—joining the chorus of summoning calls.

Like my mama always used to say: you are what you eat.

"No!"

Serac finally willed herself into action, clambering over her tooth to start her dive anew, this time to rescue her friend and partner. But where Zacko's earlier charge had been bolstered by courage and sound planning, Serac's was a desperate mess with no clear direction. Even the hand with which she held REVOLVER aloft shook violently, rendering moot any attempt at proper marksmanship. And her progress was soon cut short, not by Mulaharta nor its Wildspawn minions, but by the breadth of Renate's giant shovel.

"Stay back, Rakshasa. This is no time to lose your head."

"Get out of my way! Zacko needs me!"

"Back, I say!"

With that, Renate hooked her shovel backward, fishing Serac out of the open and pulling her to her side. And not a moment too soon, for the arena exploded again. Not with green, not with lightning…

But the red of a wrathful Sinner.

The shockwave that issued from half-Zacko shook the air—nay, the very Realm itself. The whole of Mulaharta, along with the 'taproot' it occupied, swayed from the eruption of pure, amplified Martial energy. All Wildspawns caught within the impact disintegrated in an instant. At least half the teeth in the corridor fell out from their roots, as they crumbled into pearly-white debris.

Amidst the commotion, a trio of Wayfarers (plus one unconscious sibling) somehow held firm, their tooth being of the half that had managed to retain some structural integrity. Their survival had come down to Renate's quick thinking as well as sheer dumb luck. After all, even Wayfarers were entitled to the occasional lucky break or two along their rocky Path.

In some ways, the boss fight had reverted to its original state. Four (give or take one) Wayfarers facing down a magic-stealing Instrument that held one of their friends hostage. But Zacko's Martial magic clearly had a different edge to it. What it lacked in the electric storm's spammable crowd control, it made up for with sheer destructive potential. Even now, the green of Zacko's veins slowly but surely dyed itself red, charging up for its next nuclear bomb.

And that wasn't all. The surviving Wildspawns now seeped out from the shadows further below, drawing themselves to the green-red Manusya. Their eager hunger was palpable even from where Serac watched on in horror. To a one, they craved a drop of the same power that radiated from Zacko. That they may rise and take on an ever more fearsome form.

"Do it, Finless! Do this now, before it is too late."

Serac's focus boomeranged up and the down the corridor, as she tried to tune into the debate that raged on beside her. Lars Tomasen still had his brother in his arms, but he now held him out to Renate, presenting him for her attention. Hans still looked to be down for the count; cut from GIZZARD's protection, he looked smaller, paler, and sicker than ever.

[HANS TOMASEN Status Effect: POISON (x5)]

The maximum stacks of [Poison] still coursed through his sturgeon body. Without GIZZARD's healing to counteract it, his HP quickly raced to the bottom.

"What are you waiting for?" Lars suddenly shouted, louder than he'd ever been. "I promise you. Healing my brother now is our surest Path to victory!"

Renate hesitated but a Ksana longer. She then wordlessly pulled out a creamy-orange vial from her OYSTER. It was her very last [Pearl of Immersion]. The one she'd saved for herself.

With practiced deftness, she tilted Hans's head and poured the contents of her [Pearl] into the crack between his parched lips. The man showed no reaction at first. But then he coughed, sputtered, then opened his eyes wide as the vial emptied.

Hans stood with a start, extricating himself from his brother's grasp. For a second or two, he made his confusion apparent, eyes darting from one Wayfarer to another (and widening once more at the sight of a pink tree-frog). But then, just as quickly, he straightened himself and set his face into a glare of cold fury. He readied his BOW-SIDE OAR and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his STROKE-SIDE brother. Twin towers ready to take on the world.

Serac watched it all with equal parts incredulity and admiration. For she knew this was how a Wayfarer ought to conduct themselves. Resilient, adaptable, and calm in the face of the unknown. Compared to that, I'm all over the place. Twice already during this caving expedition, I 'lost my head' when I thought Zacko was in danger. I've still got a lot to learn, and what better way to do that than watch how the veterans do it?

But the fact remained that Zacko was in danger. Or was it more accurate to say that he himself was the danger? In any case, the Wayfaring quartet was back to full strength thanks to a late-game substitution. And it was time to put their newest combination to the test.

"Worry not, Rakshasa," Lars said, with his cold glare heating up into a vicious smile. "Co-wielding an Instrument has its pros and cons. Now, let me and my brother demonstrate what we are truly capable of."

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