Spider 76:
Taboo: [Atone]
Ugh...
Huh? I am alive?
...Was that a nightmare then?
Nai wa, that was not pleasant to say the least.
...But wait, where am I?
What was I doing?
Last thing I remembered was...being killed by the Demon Lord.
Huh? How am I alive then?
Or am I...
I called upon Wisdom-sama and it worked, showing that I am on very low HP.
Okay, so I am alive, I think.
Can barely feel my head, and can't feel the rest of my body.
I guess [Immortality] saved me.
Guess now I know how it works, I can regenerate from 0 HP, but I will be unconscious during it.
Nai wa, I hate that I am only alive thanks to my luck, and not of my own doing.
Well, it would be wrong to look a gift horse in the mouth, back to trying to live my life to the fullest.
Taboo: [Atone]
As much as I just want to give up for good and be done with this bullsheet called life...
So where am I anyway?
It's dark, damp and...am I hearing the sound of swimming?
???: <??, ????? ??????? ?????.>
Huh?
Who-That!?
What the fuck!?
Are you messing with me Wisdom-sama?!
No!? Then the constant unease I have been feeling is [Danger Perception] reacting to That!?
And I am in its mouth!?
No no no no no no no!
<Don't eat me!>
I reflexively screamed out over the [Telepathy] link which is stup-Wait, why would there be a [Telepathy] link between us?
That: <???? ????, ? ???? ??? ?? ????.>
And it is...talking to me?
What...is going on here?
Taboo: [Atone]
I am so confused.
Either way, I am not staying in its mouth regardless of what its intentions are.
I tried to Blink out, but That's [Dragon Scales] blocked it.
...As if I don't have enough reason to hate how busted Dragons are.
Then, light blinded me, and the next thing I know, I was dropped onto the ground.
Ouch, and ew, I am covered in its saliva.
Can I die now?
Fei: <Skanda?!>
<Ah! Fei!? What!?>
Fei: <The [Fartalk] link was down for a while, I thought you...>
<Well, I was kind of dead for a while but I am fine now so don't worry about it.>
Fei: <What do you mean you were dead for a while?! What the hell happened.>
Nai wa, no sidestepping this one I guess.
So I went and explained my [Immortality] and my cause of death.
All the while healing myself and keeping an eye on That, who was just sitting there patiently.
Um, is it waiting for me to finish my conversation first?
Taboo: [Atone]
What is That even doing here anyway?
It took me here to...the World Turtle to...save me?
I mean, I was incapacitated, it could do something to trap me forever, which [Immortality] couldn't save me from.
Speaking of, [Abyss Magic] could probably kill me too, since it destroys everything, Soul included.
And even if my Soul weren't destroyed completely, what about my body?
Would destroying every last bit also kill me, since there would be nothing for me to regenerate from.
<And um, this Earth Dragon I once ran from is here, it took me to the World Turtle while I was dead.>
Fei: <That's...weird. First you tell me you are immortal now, then a Monster that tried to kill you is...I don't know, trying to protect you from this overpowered Demon Lord?>
<Yes, that's all true I think.>
I looked towards That while saying that.
<I need to focus on the problem in front of me so can we talk later?>
Fei: <Of course, and actually stay safe.>
<I will try, bye.>
Fei: <...Bye.>
I think it took that as it's que, and began shaping something with [Earth Magic].
Mother, with a line connecting her to...is that me?
Taboo: [Atone]
Then That covers me up with its jaw and the line is cut, all the while moving the scales on its head.
...Oh! Its [Dragon Scales] can block off Mother's [Kin Control], thus preventing her from tracking me!
For once, that overpowered Skill is working to my advantage, the only problem here is...That.
I think it's on my side, but I rather not take my chances with it.
For all I know, it's waiting for a chance to get revenge on me for defeating it a while ago.
But I can't exactly pass up on such a huge advantage that I will no doubt need to evade the lightning fast Demon Lord.
Nai wa, can I really trust That?
After everything between us?
Majikku 1: Interu? Are you alive?
Oh, yes, crap, Mother is relaying my location to the Demon Lord now, isn't it?
Majikku 1: Yep! Idk how you managed it, but whatever you did to cut off the connection, do it aga-
And it's cut again.
Fuck! I can see the Demon Lord rapidly making her way here from Pink Coast on the map.
I guess I don't have a choice.
I copied That's trick and mime my message with [Earth Magic].
I showed that the Demon Lord is coming, and that I need to teleport us away to outrun her, but I can't do that while inside it's jaws.
In response, That shows me activating the Spell the moment it turns off [Dragon Scales].
Taboo: [Atone]
It's not a perfect solution, they can track where we teleported to as long as Mother is always trying to connect to me.
But then I suppose they don't want to give me the opportunity to take advantage of the link, so maybe only Fast Travel while the link is down?
Ugh, we can work out the strategy later, right now we need to go!
I began preparing AOE Fast Travel and just as I completed the Rune, That bows down, deactivates [Dragon Scales] and opens its mouth.
I...hesitated.
What should be my VPN from my enemies, I instead see the jaws of death, eager to give me my final rest.
And can you really blame me for feeling this way?
That: <? ???? ??? ???? ?????????? ??, ??? ???? ???????, ? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ???? ????.>
I still don't understand what is said by the natives.
A recurring problem that is really getting to my nerves.
But That's tone is calm, reassuring even.
And with [Reaction Perception], I have not once felt any malice from That this entire time.
...Nai wa, time to take the plunge then.
Having fully healed by now, I jumped into That's mouth and teleported us away.
Apex 6:
I have been swimming for a long while now.
Towards a place that is gonna take a while to get to, the World Turtle.
As I approach the living island, I can sense the Rising Star's Mental Skills being used.
She is regaining consciousness at long last.
<Ah, you're finally awake.>
I communicated via [Telepathy] with her for the first time.
Of course, I don't expect her to understand.
I can only hope my tone is enough to convey that I am trustworthy.
Her confusion is soon replaced by sheer panic.
Rising Star: <???? ??? ???!>
She even screamed over my [Telepathy].
At least she realised she can talk to me.
<Calm down, I mean you no harm.>
The best I can do now is to speak with my actions instead, in this case with the tone of my message.
The Rising Star has calmed down a bit, but still very much weary of me.
She even tried to use a Spell, likely to teleport out of my mouth.
It fails as my [Dragon Scales] blocked it from reaching outside.
A surge of annoyance arises from her.
It is clear she does not enjoy being here, but letting her out would give the Queen Taratect an opportunity to track her.
Still, it is better that I earn the Rising Star's trust now so we can better deal with this situation.
I trust her to handle this with the utmost competence.
As I made it onto the World Turtle, I opened my jaws to drop her out.
She seems disgusted, by what exactly I am not sure but that hardly matters.
Then, I sense another [Telepathy] link connecting to the Rising Star.
This one is far more powerful, perhaps it is [Fartalk].
She looks away while conversing with whomever is on the other side of the link, while healing herself.
I can tell that she is still weary of me.
Good, never lower your guard around someone you can't be sure that you can trust.
Thanks to my own [Reaction Perception], I can hear the contents of their conversation.
Not that I understand their language.
Though I have noticed that the Rising Star is straining herself to use a rather mature masculine mental voice talking to someone with a younger mental voice.
Odd, why not use her natural mental voice?
And who could the one she is talking to be?
The Earth Wyrm she is raising?
Ah, so they must have separated, perhaps to protect it from the current conflict.
I assumed it to have died during the various attacks by Ariel and her forces.
So does this mean the Rising Star considers it worthy enough to keep alive?
If so, I would like to meet it someday.
Soon enough, the Rising Star looked towards me and their conversation soon ended.
Now it's my turn.
Seeing as we can't communicate via language, I instead used [Earth Magic] to show what I intend to say.
I explained that my [Dragon Scales] can block off [Kin Control]'s connection, thus masking the Rising Star's location from the Queen Taratect.
She seems to understand in a rush of realisation, but then followed by unease.
I guess she still doesn't trust me, which is fair and the correct response.
Then, I can sense the [Kin Control] link reconnecting to her, they know she is here now.
After a bit of panic, the Rising Star used [Earth Magic] also to say something.
She showed that Ariel is coming, and that she is going to teleport us to get away.
However, she then showed the teleportation failing, all the while moving the scales on my sculpture.
[Dragon Scales] yes, I will need to turn it off for her to successfully teleport me as well.
So I respond to her, showing me deactivating [Dragon Scales] as she uses the Spell.
She understood and began constructing the Rune.
It's amazing how good she is at [Spatial Magic], one of the hardest types of Magic to learn.
It would be a tragedy to let such talent go to waste.
As she finished, I leaned down to open my mouth, turning off [Dragon Scales] at the same time.
She hesitated to jump in.
Understandable, but...
<I know you can't understand me, but rest assured, I intend to protect you from harm.>
As always, I used a calm, reassuring tone to try to get her to understand that I do not wish to harm her.
After a moment, she finally jumped in and we teleported away.
Interesting, so this is what it is like to be teleported.
Rather disorientating and uncomfortable, but all the same I will face this head on.