The Pillar of Enera

[Chapter 45 part 2] Soul - Heaven Splitter

...

Lacking his foresight, the rest were slowly pulverizing them into submission. Eventually, they ceased moving. "That was tiring..." Light complained. "How much more?"

"A lot." Shine caught her breath. "But at least the golems were easy, right?"

"Can't we use the same strategy here?" Hope asked.

"No, if you rush through they barricade choke points with their bodies. It ends badly."

They continued towards the next group, only this time their efforts were cut short. Soul noticed the change when he glanced around to discover half their opponents lying in pools of blood. What's happening? He got his answer when Shine knocked one down and Free gracefully touched its back. The ape roared in indignation and charged after her only to stumble, liquid pouring from its eyes and mouth. How did she manage that?

When pressed for answers, Free refused to admit anything, only joking about having developed a 'touch of death'. They could only continue without learning the truth. The rest of the cave system flew by. Every encounter, they'd focus on incapacitating the gorillas so Free could dispatch them.

As the others finished up the last group, Soul stepped away. On a hunch, he said, "Appraise self." His eyes went straight to the bottom.

Status ailments: infected with 'Killthemnow Version 3.1', 'Supreme Pestilence Version 1.7', and 'Prototype Omega Red Version 2'

Soul sighed and walked over to where the others were congratulating Free, "What's 'Killthemnow version 3.1'?"

Free mouth dropped in shock, "How? I never told anyone!"

When Soul revealed he'd checked his status, his sister confessed, "I spread a heavy dose of a few custom plagues, infecting everything around. After that, I just need a brief touch to accelerate the contagion. The end result is as you see." She gestured to the melting carcasses. "Even I was surprised at the effectiveness. They must've been weak to disease to begin with."

"So you engineered deadly viruses and brought a few with you." Rose summarized tiredly.

"Not just 'a few'." Free objected. "I brought them all. My left arm is my biolab. I isolated a few lymph nodes for experimental purposes."

'Living bioweapon' indeed... "Free, what would happen if your arm was injured or cut off?" Soul asked gently.

"That'd be terrible. I'd lose so much work..." Free examined her right arm thoughtfully. "I should make a backup to avoid that." Not the realization I was going for.

Soul picked his battles, "Could you perhaps cure us?"

Free nodded, "As soon as we get out. There's no point here."

So the whole cave is contaminated. "What if others——"

"I chose pathogens which die quickly from air exposure." Free reassured them. "The cave will sterilize itself once the bodies vanish."

Not dwelling on implications, they left and had their ailments removed. Around them, the landscape was yellow swaths broken up by green near watering holes. A savanna.

"For this, I'd like to take some shortcuts. Soul, do you see those islands with giant crocodiles?" Shine sent two red beams. "Could you freeze the surface between them?"

"I can." Soul constructed a large magic circle. They then they raced into the marshlands, and he unleashed his spell, forming an icy path. The oversized reptiles never had a chance.