“Tell me about the Beyond,” Noah said, unable to contain his interest. “What else do you know about it?”

“Little,” the Devourer replied. “Just enough to be aware of the fates of those who sought to control it. The Beyond is a paradoxical magic. It is power, but the antithesis of it at the same time. No records exist of anyone successfully channeling it. That is not because nobody has tried.”

Noah’s brow furrowed. “What’s that meant to mean?”

“My memories are limited,” the Devourer replied, the unease clear in the massive beast’s body. “But those who created me, those who researched the Beyond, they first believed that they had discovered something new. Something that had never before been witnessed upon this plane of existence. But they were wrong. Their research soon revealed traces of the Beyond intermingled with reality. It had been discovered before. They were not the first. The Beyond simply completely and utterly destroyed any traces of all those who dared attempt to wield it, wiping the slate clean for the next group of fools to destroy themselves anew. Do not meddle with the Beyond. It will end only in death.”

Noah glanced at the tendrils of cubical misty-white magic that coiled around his shoulders like snakes ready to strike. Then he looked back to the Devourer. It definitely couldn’t see them.

Might be a bit late to avoid getting mixed up with it. I’ve kind of got the damn thing spilled all through my soul like a few hundred gallons of milk. Pretty sure there’s an adage about that.

“Let’s say, strictly for research purposes, that I wanted to learn of the Beyond without trying to channel it,” Noah hedged. “This sealed information. Is it still accessible?”

The Devourer’s molten red eyes bore into Noah’s skull like two sun spots. Its mandibles twitched and clicked. “You speak exactly as the researchers before you did. I would be delighted to guide you to the knowledge should it have been anything else. But the Master of the Citadel must protect it. That research was removed for a reason. The Beyond must not be channeled. It must be left alone.”

Yep. Definitely way too late for that.

“Let’s just speak in hypotheticals,” Noah said. He got the feeling that telling the Devourer that he was at least partially composed of the very Beyond that it was so scared of was probably not the best idea. “I’m not trying to get more power for myself. I just want to avoid making the same mistakes that—”

“Then do not touch it,” the Devourer said flatly. “The Citadel is already destabilized. Attempts to bring the Beyond here are certain to destroy what remains. There is great power within these walls. I am all the perfection you need. Do not seek anything more.”

Great. Now it just sounds like a jealous girlfriend.

It was clear that, at least for the time being, the Devourer wasn’t going to budge on this. The monster had already told him where he had to look if the need really called for it.

But warnings like this didn’t come from nowhere. For a being as arrogant as the Devourer to show this much fear… perhaps snooping where his nose didn’t belong wasn’t the best move right now.

I’ll have to see if I can get some more information on what’s going on before I go unearthing that shit. I don’t want to bring the whole Citadel crashing down on my head. I’m not going to be the idiot that ignores fifty warnings about a zombie in a house and then flings the doors open just to get his head eaten off.

Noah raised his hands.

“Fine. I won’t mess with the Beyond stuff for the time being. The rest of the Citadel — and finding a way out of it — are more than enough to keep me occupied. I want you to start that time you promised me now. Take me to the Heart room.”

“Four hours,” the Devourer said. “After that, I will do as I please.”

“Four hours,” Noah agreed. “That should be more than enough for me to at least get familiar with what this place was capable of. Is there some kind of master control room in the Heart?”

“The Heart is the source of the Citadel. It cannot interface with every aspect of it directly, but it possesses information about the entirety of the Citadel.”

“Good enough for me,” Noah said. “Take me there. You mind giving me a ride?”

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The Devourer stared at Noah. Its head tilted to the side — which really meant a large portion of its body twisted awkwardly. After all, it didn’t really have a neck. Either that or it was all neck. Noah wasn’t sure which one it was. He was just glad he didn’t have to figure out where the monster would have worn a tie.

“You… wish to ride me?” the Devourer asked in disbelief. “I am the Devourer of the Lost Citadel. The perfect creation. And you plan to utilize me as a mere vehicle?”

“Yes,” Noah said. “That sounds about right. Seems like it’ll save a lot of time. This place is pretty big, and you know where you’re going a whole lot better than I do. Or would you prefer that I wander my way through the halls for the next few days trying to figure out where the damn room is? I’m stocking your hours up. I get 4 hours of your time every day. If you don’t use them one day, it rolls into the next.”

“That was not the agreement.”

“It wasn’t not not the agreement either,” Noah replied. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “It feels fair enough. And it’ll hardly matter if you’re actually holding up your end of the bargain. We can discuss vacation days at a later time.”

The Devourer’s red eyes thinned. For a moment, Noah wondered if he’d pushed the beast too far. Then it slowly lowered its head to the ground. Large legs clicked against the stone as the beast fell still, lying before him and the smaller centipede still cowering behind Noah.

Huh. I didn’t actually think it would be down for that. Certainly saves me the effort, though. I just have to make sure I avoid accidentally stepping on a face while I’m getting on it. Something about that just feels wrong.

“Prayer,” the smaller centipede muttered. It had been doing a whole lot of that recently.

“Stop that,” Noah said. “Come on.”

Something told him that the hivemind hadn’t quite accounted for the fact that he would kidnap their representative. He wasn’t actually sure why he was bringing it along. It wasn’t like the smaller centipede monster was of much use to him at this point.

Meh. I’m sure I’ll serve a purpose at some point.

He grabbed the centipede by one of its legs. Then he drew on Unraveling Disruption, reaching deep into the rune to summon a burst of wind beneath himself and his slightly unwilling ally.

They both launched up into the air, wind howling around them as they alighted on the Devourer’s back amidst a few dozen terrified, chittered prayers. Noah managed to avoid accidentally landing upon any of the horrid, fang-filled faces covering the monster’s back.

“Right, then,” Noah said. He crouched down and grabbed onto one of the rough, chitinous plates covering the Devourer’s back. “Let’s go take a look at that room you’ve been talking about. I’m quite curious to see just what the Citadel is really capable—”

The rest of Noah’s sentence was swallowed by the wall of wind that slammed into his face as the Devourer abruptly accelerated backward. Noah nearly lost his grip on the monster as its body hurtled down the stone corridors at such a speed that they transformed into little more than a gray blur.

He held onto the Devourer as hard as he could as the world shimmered past him. Any sounds beyond the scream of the wind evaporated. The Devourer was like a giant piece of spaghetti getting sucked down a very hungry diner’s mouth. It was a hell of a lot faster reeling itself in than it had been when it fought him.

And then, as quickly as the Devourer had started moving, it slammed to a screeching halt, its many legs dragging across the stone and sending up a shower of yellow sparks from the friction.

Noah slammed down into its shell, his fingers partially numbed. The smaller centipede had also — by some miracle — managed to keep its purchase upon the Devourer’s back. But Noah barely had a chance to glance at it before his eyes processed the rest of the room around them.

The breath caught in his chest.

It was huge. The size of a football field in diameter, a hollowed out sphere surrounding a platform suspended in the very center of the room. A faint blue glow emitted from cubical crystal that rested upon the platform.

That light was just enough for Noah to realize that he had no idea just how large the room actually was. It was completely covered with layer upon layer of black chitin and teeth-filled faces.

Holy shit.

The Devourer’s body covered every inch of the walls. It had wound itself throughout the room over and over like an inverted ball of yarn, making an uncountable number of layers with its own body.

I knew it was big… but holy shit. This is huge. Unless my eyes are tricking me, this thing probably could have encircled the entirety of Arbitage. No wonder it has a superirority complex.

“The Heart Room,” the Devourer said, its voice almost reverent as it brought its head toward the floating platform. “We have arrived.”

Noah gathered himself. Then he hopped down to the platform, landing with a soft thud that echoed through the dim room around him. He approached the blue crystal.

“And this is the Heart?” Noah asked.

The Devourer’s mandibles clicked. “I am the Heart. This is an interface. Four hours, Spider. You have four hours.”

Noah looked into the pale depths of the cube before him. There was power lurking within it. His domain buzzed in confusion. This was something that he’d never seen before. It was almost like the light itself inside it was made out of runes. It must have been an Imbuement, but at a complexity that he couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Just what kind of secrets does this place hold?

Noah set his jaw.

Let’s find out.

Noah put his hands on the crystal.

The world fell away.