Cyrus POV
The volunteer Starbound agreed to the idea I proposed and moved into position. The rest of the militia was starting to make headway against the remaining cult forces, slowly advancing through their defenses. At this point, I had maintained Gravisense longer than ever before, and I was beginning to feel the toll it was taking on my mind and senses. I had to act fast—my time was running out. My core was being steadily drained just to keep it active.
Waiting for the lull in the gravitational distortions, I got into position and prepared to give the signal to the volunteer and one of the guards. As soon as I felt the disturbances fade, I shouted, "Now!"
The Starbound unleashed several air currents straight toward the center of the bark shield reinforced by cosmic energy. The militia stepped out of the way as the blast tore through the terrain. Imbuing cosmic energy into my legs, I took an explosive step and raced after the current.
"Now!" I yelled again, signaling the Starbound to fire another burst behind me to accelerate my speed.
The initial current struck the barricade, creating a cylindrical opening just wide enough for someone my size to slip through. But the cultists reacted quickly, focusing their efforts on mending their compromised defense.
"Keep it open!" I called back. The guard responded immediately, manipulating vines to hold the gap open, pushing back against the cultists' attempts to seal it.
He held it just long enough for me to slip through. Without wasting a second, I activated my Gravity Well. The cultists immediately bent to my will. Three of the six were mid-way through absorbing celestial cores to replenish their reserves, while the two other Embryonic Stage members and one Adept Stage stood ready to cover them.
I went straight for the weakest links. I slashed through the core-absorbing members before they could react. As my ability began to wear off, I quickly dashed toward the remaining three, slicing the Achilles tendons of each as I retreated. Taking on that Adept Stage Starbound head-on wasn't a good idea. His core was larger than Adam's had been, and he showed no signs of weakness or rust from years of inactivity.
When Gravity Well faded, I was outside the barricade, catching my breath after pushing myself to the limit. I watched as our forces formed a choke formation, surrounding the remaining cultists. Without the cosmic energy to maintain their barricade, it crumbled quickly.
The cultists I had injured were visibly struggling. In my haste I didn't realize the full extent of what I did. The Embryonic Stage members were each missing a foot, rendering them immobile. The Adept Stage cultist was in better shape—barely—but his ankle remained attached and continued to bleed more with every passing moment.
I could see the horror in their eyes as they realized their end was near. It felt like such a pointless cause to die for. I couldn't understand why they'd risk their lives clinging to the foul teachings of a figure so far removed from their time.
"Stupid people," I muttered as the last of the western flank took their final breaths.
As our group rested and regrouped, I pulled a celestial core from my dimensional storage and began to replenish my rapidly decreasing cosmic energy. Even with my expanded reserves, I still felt massively handicapped in my fused form—especially after using Gravisense for so long.
"I can't wait to get out of this place," I muttered to myself, absorbing a second core.
Once the guards accounted for our casualties, the acting commander ordered everyone to gather their things and continue toward one of the Hollow Branch bases we had intel on, courtesy of Lady Arya.
As we trekked deeper into the rainforest, I reactivated Gravisense, even though I knew it would strain my mind. It was the only reason we'd avoided massive losses during the ambush, and I wasn't about to let it happen again. We had lost three people in the last fight, all at the Embryonic Stage. Tragic—but not a critical loss.
After about an hour, we reached one of the Hollow Branch bases. It was exactly what I expected—several structures resembling shacks and cottages, covered in moss and glowing vines, with sprinkles of cosmic energy running through them.
If I were running a cult trying to avoid detection, I'd set up my base the same way—nothing that stood out.
The guard in charge ordered us to search the area for anything useful. Maybe we could finally figure out how the Hollow Branch kept resurfacing despite being wiped out over and over.
Even though I didn't want to be there, curiosity got the better of me. I rifled through sheds, drawers, and cabinets made of moss and bark. But it wasn't until I entered one of the larger earth-crafted buildings that I sensed something... something wrong.
Whatever it was, it led me down a dim hallway and into an unkempt room. In the center sat a tree stump that emitted an ominous aura—a deep crimson glow that clashed harshly against the forest-green hues of the building.
Cautiously, I approached. Why hasn't anyone else sensed this?
Now standing directly over it, I noticed the smooth surface of the stump slowly begin to shift. Its bark peeled back layer by layer, revealing a hidden compartment.
From the center of the stump, a book made of withered leaves began to rise. "This is where that energy is coming from... I guess."
Vines emerged from thin air, holding the book in mid-air at my eye level. Its essence radiated with even more intensity now.
Suddenly, the book snapped open—and from its pages, eyes materialized, glowing with that same crimson aura.
"Welcome, my fellow brother of destruction," it said.