CHAPTER 114: A DEVELOPMENT

Tartarus. The abyssal plains.

"I wouldn’t try that if I were you..." Jet spoke to a figure that was poised to launch a spell at the grotesque demons below the red cliff where they both stood.

The figure bit her lips in clear frustration, debating whether or not to listen to Jet or to go ahead with her attempt.

"Be sane Janet." Another voice warned with a low growl. "There’s nothing you can do to help right now." He walked up to her slowly as Jet watched passively. "He’ll live. I’m sure of that. We just need to come up with a plan... Giving our position away right now would do nothing to help."

"Duck!" Jet suddenly whispered sharply.

They followed his words immediately, without any hesitation whatsoever. If their short experience in this hell had taught them anything, it was to always follow Jet’s words. His instincts had saved them a couple of times already.

The girl—Janet, and the other figure—Jamie, stayed extremely still on the ground where they laid flat, slowing their breathing down to minimize their presence.

Grrkalkums ksyydrraki treii?

Krtiglkahh nnguitah!

They heard the voices of some grotesque demons coming from the cliff opposite where they laid prone. It seemed a couple of them had followed a different route above the valley their fellow colleagues were passing through.

Eventually, their voices faded into the distance as they followed after their colleagues from above, laughing among themselves. But the three youths still laid still, unmoving. It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed before Jet moved, prompting the other two to move also, gasping for more air as they stood carefully.

"That was too close." Jet whispered somewhat harshly. Managing people had not been part of his plan... but here he was, managing people.

He had gotten used to living like a wild scavenger here... gotten used to the barbarism of his daily life. He had even gotten used to the previously terrible tasting meat of the weaker beasts here. He’d found that with the right local plants, and a bit of proper roasting, he could actually make them taste okay.

He was out on one of his daily hunts when he’d spotted three people running in the distance, stark naked. They looked to be human and were being chased by some lower grotesque demons. And for reasons that puzzled Jet even till the present moment, against his safety and against his gut that screamed danger at him at that moment, he decided to go help them.

It was a close fight since the grotesque demons outnumbered them by one, but they had won at the end. Jet recognized one of them—Jamie. He had seen the guy among Zeke’s group back at the military camp. They explained that they had just arrived a few weeks before. Their entry had been smooth, opening at a very low altitude. So low, in fact, that they practically rolled out of the spatial tear onto the ground.

Maybe it was because of his loneliness, but Jet had been overly enthusiastic to see humans like him again...

And that led to the start of his ’management role.’

He had explained everything to them. Everything they needed to survive in this blazing hot abyss. From sourcing basic amenities like water, food, clothing and shelter, to other things like grotesque beast habits. He taught them everything he could over the course of a week. Thankfully they had all been mostly smart people. The girl, Janet, was cool headed and soaked up all the information he gave them like a sponge. She and Jamie were the quickest to learn. The other guy though—Mark, was... something else.

He learned relatively quickly too, but was always questioning Jet’s decisions and orders over and over...

Which was what led to the present situation. Mark had tried biting off more than he could chew with an attempt to get more food from a small scout outpost of grotesque demons. He had been caught, and now they seemed to be carrying him deeper into their territory for some reason.

"Even after he did that, they did not kill him, Janet. So we’re sure they don’t want him dead." Jamie continued his earlier statement.

Janet and the boy, Mark, had grown somewhat attracted to each other. They had previously been neighbors back in their world even before reporting for their military service, so they had a closer bond to each other than to Jet or Jamie. Seeing him strapped to a pole and being whisked off unconscious made her very agitated.

"You can go after him if you want." Jet said calmly. "I am not following along anymore though." He dusted his beastskin skirt that he made himself and started down the cliff.

Janet gritted her teeth, giving Mark’s figure in the far distance a last look before walking past Jamie and following after Jet. They both couldn’t do without Jet in this abyssal wilderness. Aside from the fact that he had sharp senses and knew the terrain and beast habits extensively... he was strong. Many times more stronger than they were. Their first battle would never have panned out the way it had if Jet hadn’t been there.

As Janet watched his figure ahead of her with a vacant gaze, she thought back to her impression of him during the camp. He had been extremely snobbish, and acted like everyone was beneath his feet. It wasn’t a purposeful act, but more like a subconscious belief about himself.

But now... he seemed to have matured a bit. And not just mentally. He also looked taller. No. He was taller. There was no way he could have increased by a few inches within the span of a month which he’d told them he arrived prior to them... And the spells he cast that day too. It was like he had no limits. Constantly firing arrows of fire from thin air like a god.

Then there was Jamie too. She had seen what happened in the Grand Hall during their escape. She and Mark had been among the few who had decided to wait after sensing something was a bit off and seeing a few others waiting like them. But they were among the furthest from where Zephyr was, so at the moment when that law was declared, even though they had jumped immediately, they were too far to reach the tear quickly enough and were held down by the Grand Commander’s law.

That was one of the scariest things she had ever experienced. Forget the threat of the void that pressed down on them, the feeling of being trapped in one’s own body without being able to move a muscle while being very much conscious was terrifying in a way she had never expected.

Her brain fired impulses to her limbs, but there was no response. Her eyes were stiff, locked in place like a statue. Any sharp projectile could have pierced right through her, and she would have been conscious through it all without being able to let a single cry out.

Thankfully her previous momentum had been able to direct her towards the rapidly expanding tear that Zephyr had created in the construct, so she was on course to escape... that was until the Grand Commander’s law began to unravel. To her excitement, the closer she got to the opening, the more she found that she could begin to move. But when she was nearly out, right behind the others who disappeared into the golden stream of light, she was suddenly hit off course.