Western Regions Border, Grey Plains, Coast of the Poison Sea.
One month later.
-
The wind on the Grey Plains carried an acidic smell of decay.
What was once the border had been flattened and filled by an endless sea of dense black water, leaking from the central region's mountains like an unending stream of oil.
A single man walked along the coastline, his steps weak and unsteady.
He crossed the grey beach.
He moved like a shadow cut from the monotonous landscape, barely visible, and half-bent forward under the weight of the small child on his back. His passenger had pale blonde hair that was brittle and tangled by the sea breeze. Her breath was thin and uneven against his neck, weakening by the hour.
Ahead, the horizon swayed faintly where the Poison Sea lapped against the broken grey shore that wound in and out of the planes like an endlessly extending serpent. The water was not truly water, no, it was black and thick, rolling in slow waves that left trails of something like ink where it overlapped with the grey beach.
Each wave would creep further into the western region, eating just a little bit more of the Grey Plains.
Regardless of the lingering despair that was building up, he continued to follow the coastline.
The unstable ground rose and sank beneath his boots like the breathing of something huge. Each step sank too far and cost too much. The exhaustion that he had built up over the past few days was already at its limit.
Despite the desolate environment, the man continued walking.
Every few meters, he stopped to cough, the sound wet and sharp, faint bloodstains mixed with black streaks gathered along the inside of his sleeve.
The veins under his skin had already turned the faint color of ink.
He was poisoned, yet he continued walking.
Somehow, his hope had yet to flicker out.
Not for him, nor the girl…
This mentality was one that could only be developed from countless years of living in the cruel and ruthless environment that the westerners were used to.
This man was naturally one of them.
The girl on his back stirred, whispering something that he couldn't hear.
Regardless, he answered anyway, using his own words to comfort himself as well.
"Almost there." It came out as a dry whisper.
He himself wasn't even sure if he believed it.
What kept him moving forward was a rumor that had started to spread over the past few weeks. It was a whisper that had no anchor in truth, an unproven echo, yet it continued to ignite his spark of hope.
Somewhere along this shattered coastline, there was said to be a mage, a figure spoken of by dying men and women in the refugee camp.
A woman, or a child, or perhaps something in between.
The 'Green Alchemist', that was what they called her.
A strange figure who was said to only appear before those who needed her. She appeared on the shores of the black sea, gathering the poisonous water no differently then a shepherd gathered his sheep. They said she could cure anything, at least, any poison, regardless of strength or form.
Rumor or miracle, it didn't matter.
The man was out of options.
He had already approached the Black Sea, so he was already locked within death's noose.
He had not been poisoned before, yet he chose to begin this journey in the hopes of saving the small child on his back.
It was a sacrifice, a one-way journey that could only succeed.
He had met her a long while ago, around the time the first calamity had ended. This small child had been roaming around aimlessly, trying to cross the western border.
You could tell that she knew nothing of the world, so he chose to pick her up and raise her as his adopted daughter.
Little Lux, that's what she called herself.
She was small and frail, having lost her parents after an attack from the ice demons in the south.
He who had lost his daughter, and she who lost her family, chose to stay together and continue living.
Unfortunately, fate was not kind…
Not long ago, a few weeks after the second calamity broke out, the little girl contracted an unknown illness that none of the doctors from the United Army could treat.
In his despair, he went to find the heavens chosen and beg them to save her.
Unfortunately, Elena had left for the far west, and Arthur was still busy with an unknown task. It was unknown if he was lucky or not, but he eventually ran into Kilemin, who had returned to make a report to the central command.
He fell to his knees, crying and begging, but the barbaric man simply told him that he did not possess the abilities needed to save that child.
As Kilemin watched the man fall into despair, something seemed to flash in his mind.
Spoke again, telling the man that there was still hope.
Although slim, there was still a chance of meeting a person who could save the girl.
Actually, Kilemin had already run into the little green hair devil while he was looking for a way to evacuate the western regions' population. They had met, talked, and separated on relatively neutral terms. It was an awkward relationship, but unlike Arthur, he had no interest in Petra whatsoever, and perhaps this was the only reason they could even have a conversation to begin with.
Petra had taken his arm, yes, but that could be healed with high-level medicine.
This kind of thing was one of the biggest differences between Pillomal and Earth.
As for the man, he heard Kilemin's words, and the spark of hope reignited.
Kilemin told the man that such a meeting could only happen if it were fated. He understood that Petra's ability to hide was far more terrifying than he initially believed.
Regardless, he told the man what he knew.
The man spent the next few days asking around about the mysterious alchemist who could cure all poisons. To his surprise, there was such a figure. Unfortunately, that rumored existence lived in a place that was a one-way journey.
One had to be determined to die for even the smallest chance to meet her.
Gritting his teeth, the man continued down the coastline.
He climbed the slope of a collapsed ridge, boots scraping against brittle stone and unstable sand, then, from the top, he could see the full shape of the coast. The black water stretched endlessly to the east, broken only by the enormous roots that jutted in and out from it like the ribs of a buried god.
Swoosh!
The man's knees buckled halfway down the ridge's back.
He caught himself on one hand, gasping in pain. The poison was already in his lungs, and every breath felt like breathing out razors.
He looked back at the girl.
Her face was pale and her lips were faintly blue, but she was still breathing, just barely.
"Hold on," he muttered, forcing himself up again.
"Just a little longer…"
He continued to follow the colorless shore, limping, and dragging one foot through the grey sand that had been tainted black and continued to accumulate with time. He passed the wreckages of old carriages, melting iron weapons, and the carcass of something that was once alive and massive, but now half-buried in the tide. They were all remnants of those who attempted to escape but failed during the initial outbreak.
As time blurred, his mind waned.
By nightfall, he reached the edge of a small cliff where the air was thick and strange, filled with faint green mist that smelled of… herbs? There, not far ahead, at the base of one of the roots that buckled out of the ground and formed a large alcove, he saw it, a faint light.
He squinted his eyes, trying his best to see further through the drifting fog.
When he reached the bottom of the slope, the world changed.
The grey sand and black mud gave way to a small, vibrant field. Foreign flowers bloomed where no life should grow, music drifted faintly through the air, and the strange aura of life seemed to permeate the surroundings.
There, by the shore of the Poison Sea, where the black expanse met the green grove, a small child sat.
She dangled her pearl-like feet into the blackened water, her small black boots removed and neatly placed to the side. One hand propped herself up, while the other held an absurdly long fishing rod that extended out into the black sea.
Her long, bright emerald hair swayed with the wind, and her small figure seemed to almost carry an ethereal green glow.
Her posture was lazy, almost bored.
Behind her, two 'maids' stood at attention, each one just as childish as her. One held a book, while the other stood there silently.
Beside them stood a narrow, three-story tower, located on an unnaturally large hill. The signboard swayed gently by the door, written in clean letters, 'Poppy's Potions, please enter!'
The lantern light he had seen from afar hung beside its front doors, flickering faintly in the dusk.
Hearing footsteps, the green-haired girl turned her head at his approach.
Her dark eyes met his for only a moment before she tilted her head cutely, studying the man and the child on his back.
Her voice was soft, almost unnaturally so, like a fairy in the forest.
"Can I… help you?"
Petra smiled.
-
Petra watched the man stumble across the black sand.
He moved like some beast that was half-dead, dragging himself the last few meters before his legs finally gave out and he fell forward with a thud, just to catch himself with one hand and use the other to support the small figure on his back at the last moment.
After a long struggle…
When he finally reached the edge of the green field, he collapsed completely, face first.
"Please… medicine."
It was a request from a broken voice.
Petra paused her fishing and pursed her lips.
She frowned.
Petra turned her head just enough to see him from the corner of her vision, her big black eyes following the man as he crawled forward, struggling, just to lower the child from his back. The small girl had pale blonde hair and skin too white to be natural.
Her life was fading by the second.
"She's dying," he said. "She's all I have, please…!" He didn't care about Petra's appearance or age, he only wanted to make the request.
Petra blinked, quickly correcting him. "You're dying too," she reminded.
He smiled weakly, black blood dripping down his nose. "That doesn't matter. I just want her to live..."
For a moment, Petra didn't respond.
She studied the two of them in silence.
After finding a faint understanding, Petra's heart stirred. This was the calamity, and this was what the world, and all of its inhabitants, were facing.
It would only get worse from here.
It was a good thing that this didn't have anything to do with her! Ha ha ha!
As long as she could avoid the fallout, she would be fine.
Petra thought for a moment, then she nodded, "Mm, ok." She stood up, brushing off her robe and approached with her tiny feet. "I'll take care of her."
The man looked up from the ground, hope flickering faintly in his dimming eyes.
Petra tilted her head innocently as she knelt down to meet his line of sight. "But you'll do something for me in return, right?"
He didn't hesitate at all and agreed.
* * *
The next few days passed quietly.
Inside the Tower Spider, Petra put the little girl into one of the experimental rooms on the third floor. The girls slept soundly on the soft bed, wrapped in white cloth and special medicines. Unlike the man, her condition was not an affliction caused by the second calamity.
Petra treated her with a strange series of advanced alchemy techniques that started to depart from Pillomal's common sense.
Every morning, she poured a small vial of green liquid down Little Lux's throat she had specially concocted, and every evening, she replaced the herbs in her daily meals. It was a joint effort between Petra and her avian alchemist. They had to get creative with her blood, because it was the root cause of her condition.
To do this, Petra created a device that could cycle out her blood and allow them to purify it.
This process would take some time.
By the third day, the child's breathing had stabilized.
By the fourth day, her eyes even fluttered open. They were pale blue and faintly glowing with a golden light, before quickly closing again, and sending herself back into a deep sleep.
Petra sat beside her for a while, watching all of this with interest.
She didn't smile, but her eyes flickered with curiosity from time to time.
This girl, was incredibly lucky to be alive...
-
As for the man, he recovered more quickly.
He was still pale, but the black veins that ran through his skin had faded quite a bit.
"This will keep you alive for now," Petra told him.
Petra had given him a simple cure, then prepared to send him on his way, telling him that she would take care of Lux. When he could finally stand, Petra handed him a folded map and a faintly glowing shell fragment, a bit like a pocket watch.
"There are two people I want you to check on," she said. "They were separated from me about a month ago. If they're alive, let me know." Petra handed him some information about Mousa and Raina, making sure to casually leave out the fact that Raina was a demon.
He bowed his head. "I'll find them."
Petra nodded in response.
She didn't really care, but since she had a free worker, she might as well send him to go check.
Perhaps, if he were a woman, she would keep him around.
Unfortunately…
Petra snapped her fingers.
From around the corner, a small black figure stepped forward with a small clicking trot.
It was one of the bipedal ants, but it was also slightly different from the ones used before. It stood about Petra's height, and its black body was smoother than a normal ant's, almost rounded in a way. Its large black eyes flickered faintly with a green light, reflecting the surrounding room in an almost innocent gaze.
It wore a small adventurer's mantle, the edges slightly frayed, and a little bag was tied neatly to its back. It was like a child eagerly ready to go to school.
It was… very cute.
Down the center of its head ran a single glowing green line, thin and sharp like a tattoo. It pulsed, almost like it was receiving a signal or a command.
It stood beside the man, almost like a companion or a porter.
"This will follow you," Petra said.
The man looked down at the creature, then back at her. He had no idea what to say.
Petra just shrugged.
Before leaving, the man knelt beside Lux's bed, brushing a hand across her unconscious face. The girl stirred faintly but didn't wake up.
After a moment, he stood up and adjusted the straps of his clothes.
Petra didn't look back as she called out. "Good luck, unlucky uncle~!"
He nodded, bowed deeply, and left. The little ant followed closely behind him, pep in its step, mute, but its body light, silent, and almost human in a way.
It was clearly different from the other ants under the queen's control.
-
When they were gone, Petra walked back to the third floor of the Tower Spider and looked down at Little Lux. The girl slept peacefully, her chest rising and falling in rhythm with the wind.
Petra crouched down, resting her little chin on her palms.
Her eyes flickered faintly.
She reached out, poking the unconscious girl's cheek.
'So, it's like that, huh? Then, I guess it can't be prevented.' Petra mumbled to herself.
'You got lucky, little girl. The next victim won't receive my help, even if they come to me.'
* * *
After a short rest, Petra turned her attention back to that strange ant.
The ant she had sent with the man wasn't just a normal ant, it was a special type of ant that Petra had personally created called the 'Avatar Ant'.
It was designed to be a literal avatar, a second body that Petra could remotely connect to and control.
Under normal circumstances, Petra could only use her physique to connect with her contracted beasts and share their senses.
But these new ants worked slightly differently.
The Avatar Ants were created by fusing the normal two-legged ants, a special beast known as the 'Twin Spirit Snake', and the colorful feathers she had looted after her fight with Arthur.
The result was… something very special.
Each Avatar Ant possessed two brains, one active and one dead. The active brain functioned like a basic control unit, a bit like the 'AI' in a Mecha, maintaining movement and awareness when idle, but when Petra reached out with her mind, the dead brain would 'wake up,' sliding into place and handing over full control of the body.
It was a creation that even she was very surprised by.
This connection was established through the Ant Queen, who acted as a living node, providing Petra's consciousness with a mental channel directly into the Avatars.
It also solved one of Petra's biggest problems, and that was her inability to use mental energy as anything other than an uncontrollable hammer. By channeling her physique's control through the ant network and into the Avatar Ant, she could act precisely, without the usual violence her mental power caused.
Now, what could these Avatar Ants actually do?
Well…
Petra had five core powers: her body, her beasts, mental energy, poison, and the darkness element.
Her body and beasts didn't apply here, and her darkness element was too weak to travel through such a long channel. That left her poison and her mental energy.
Her physique had a limitation, and that was that it wouldn't let her transfer poisons through her contracted beasts, not until she had nine, so that was out of the question. As for her mental energy, she could use it, but she had to be careful, because overusing it would cause the Avatar Ant to explode.
There was one other thing, and that was the Ethereal Echo Silverwing.
Technically, this meant the Avatar Ants could teleport and use illusions, but…
But Petra would never allow that, because transferring the ability to teleport and create illusions would leave her exposed, so that was immediately crossed out.
In the end, the Avatar Ants were just a relay for Petra's mental energy and consciousness. Although, calling them 'just a relay' didn't really do them justice, because if she wanted to, she could still tear apart a mountain through one of the Ant Avatars with just her mind.
Naturally, this also wasn't taking into account the innate physical prowess of each avatar.
Unfortunately, she only had five…
Yes, five!
-
Petra returned to the rooftop garden of the Tower Spider and found a comfortable spot in the central pavilion. She called over the Calamity Wolf and used it as a pillow.
When she sank down into the sea of fluffy fur, she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, sinking her consciousness into the five distant avatars.
Petra intended to spend the Second Calamity doing what she did best, and that was absorbing the Poison Sea, puppeteering her five little daughters to run around and cause chaos, and being a stay at home loser.
Try pulling her into the calamity now, mother fucker!
Hahahahahahahaha!
* * *