Chapter 46. An Escalating Threat

The situation was too familiar. So familiar that a thought crept into my head: what if this is a dream? A lucid dream?

—Why are you silent? Like last time. You know, that’s rude,—Rem said.

Yeah. It was Rem.

—I’m just thinking…—I replied. —When did I even manage to fall asleep?

If this is a dream… then how will she answer?

What will my imagination come up with?

What kind of story will it continue?

Rem exhaled in disappointment and pulled the blade away from my throat.

From her look, I could tell—she was staring at me like I was something pathetic.

No, I get it. This is probably my imagination.

But still… it stung.

And then a sphere formed in front of her.

Transparent, as if made of water, a little bigger than a basketball.

The next moment, the water sphere shot toward me.

I managed to raise an arm to shield myself, but I took no damage. And I shouldn’t have—because it’s just a dream. That’s what I thought.

Cold water—burningly icy—slammed into me with force.

That was enough to understand: this wasn’t a dream.

I looked at Rem.

She was still standing in front of me. Real.

That made things awkward.

And what was I supposed to say to her now?

—Well? Come to your senses, idiot?—Rem said, still looking at me with that same gaze, as if I were something pathetic.

—Yeah… sorry. I misunderstood the situation,—I said sincerely. —Sorry.

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Rem stared at me in silence for a few seconds, then asked:

—Fine. If you’re finally back to normal… what are you even doing here?

She frowned.

—And what are these damn things that are devouring everything around them?

—I… don’t know,—I answered.

For a few seconds, Rem just stared at me without saying anything.

—What do you mean, “you don’t know”?—she finally said.

Her gaze grew colder.

—If you don’t know what you’re doing here, then why are you here at all?

She glanced around, gesturing at the forest.

—This is the middle of nowhere. Very far out.

—The nearest village from here is at least ten days away.

Rem looked straight at me again.

—I won’t believe you ended up here by accident.

—Maybe… this is your doing?—Rem looked at me suspiciously.

For a moment, I froze.

Did she think I summoned these creatures? Or created them?

I didn’t even know if that was possible in this world… but if you think about it, Rem had said before that sometimes people are born with special abilities.

People who go mad from their own power and start doing terrible things.

Damn it.

If she really thinks that—that’s bad. Very bad.

I needed to answer. And fast.

—I’m here because of a system message,—I blurted out.

—What system message?—Rem frowned.

—A couple days ago, a system window appeared. It warned about some kind of threat… and demanded its elimination. Until I accepted the quest, the message wouldn’t disappear. And after that, a strange sensation appeared—like something was pointing out a direction. It led me here. And it forced me to destroy these giant… devourer caterpillars.

—Devourer caterpillars?—she repeated.

—I know they have another name,—I added quickly. —It’s just easier for me to call them that.

—Wonderful,—Rem said dryly. —So you don’t know anything either.

—Yeah… sorry. I really don’t know anything,—I said.

—I was thinking…—I began hesitantly. —Sorry for asking, but are you here because of a system message too? Did you get a quest as well?

Rem clicked her tongue irritably.

—Yeah. I got that damn system message too,—she said with obvious anger. —It wouldn’t go away. It hung in front of my eyes, blocking my vision, messing with my head.

—Damn it, I don’t even understand what I’m doing here. I wasn’t even planning to go this far.

—But just like you,—she shot me a quick look, —it didn’t vanish until I accepted the quest.

Bzz.

Out of the fog, one of the beetles that had been chasing me flew out.

So soon there would be a lot more. I needed to get rid of it quickly—and warn Rem.

I prepared to cut it, but the beetle was already on the ground, split cleanly in half.

I didn’t even have time to swing.

It was Rem.

She moved so fast—much faster than me. Considering my level was 160 now, that could mean only one thing: her level was far higher than mine.

—Rem, I think we should leave,—I said.

—Why? You decided not to complete the System’s quest?—Rem asked.

—No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just… it’s about the beetle you just killed. Soon there will be a lot of them here.

—So what?—she asked, clearly not understanding.

—There will be a lot. A lot-a lot,—I said, trying to explain.

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.

But how was I supposed to explain that they—

Too late.

Hundreds of those beetles began flying out of the fog. And not from one side—they appeared everywhere, emerging from the fog and surrounding us. Tens of thousands. The ring tightened fast.

I think the best option right now is to teleport into the training room together with Rem.

—VVVUMM—

What was that?

Some kind of wave spread out from Rem in all directions. I didn’t understand what ability it was. It didn’t affect me at all—I didn’t even feel anything.

But the beetles around us… tens of thousands of beetles that had just flown out of the fog collapsed to the ground dead at once.

—So what, you have some kind of phobia? Fear of bugs?—Rem asked.

—What? No, why would you think that?—I was surprised.

—Well… you said we should get out of here. And if I understood correctly, you said that because of these little beetles,—she said.

—No, I don’t have a phobia,—I tried to explain. —It’s just that earlier they kept surrounding me from all sides. So I thought it would be better to pull back.

While we were talking, beetles kept flying out of the fog. When they got close enough, another wave burst from Rem, spreading a full 360 degrees. And again—beetles. Tens of thousands of them dropped dead. A very useful ability in this situation.

—Since you got here earlier, can you tell me how many of those gluttonous creatures are here?—she said, meaning the devourer caterpillars. —Though… you probably couldn’t count them because of the fog.

—No,—I said. —When I arrived, there was no fog yet. I saw the place from above. I think there were around ten thousand. Worms… well, devourer caterpillars. But I don’t know the exact number. I could be off by a few thousand.

—And how many did you manage to destroy?—she asked.

—Uh… around a thousand,—I answered.

—Then we’ll assume there are about nine thousand left,—Rem said.

—No, I think there are already more than eleven thousand. Maybe even twelve,—I said.

—What? Do you even know how to count? You said there were about ten thousand,—she asked irritably.

—No, no, I did say that,—I replied quickly. —It’s just that while I was killing them, it felt like their numbers were growing faster than I could kill them. While I destroyed about a thousand, a couple thousand new devourer caterpillars appeared.

I think while I was running from those small beetles, there were even more. But it’s better not to tell Rem that I spent several hours just running away from them.

Another wave burst from Rem, wiping out yet another group of beetles. Yeah… better to stay quiet about the fact that for several hours all I did was flee from those beetles.

—So we’ll have to kill them faster than they reproduce,—Rem said.

—Maybe we should destroy their hive… or whatever their home is called?—I suggested.

—They have a hive?—she asked.

—I don’t know for sure. But in the center of that empty space, there was something big. All those devourer caterpillars were coming to it and leaving from it. Something clearly unnatural. It was in the very center, and it was huge.

Rem thought for a few seconds, then nodded.

—Then we’ll have to go and see what it is,—she said, and headed in the same direction her golems were already moving.

We started moving toward the center. Because of the thick fog, you couldn’t see farther than thirty or forty meters.

I was about to attack one of the devourer caterpillars that appeared, but Rem was faster. She didn’t even close the distance. Rem simply swung her sword toward the monster, and a shining wave burst from the blade, slicing the huge devourer caterpillar in half.

Damn… why does she have skills like that? I have nothing like it at all. I even felt a little jealous.

We kept moving farther and farther. I thought there would be almost no devourer caterpillars here—after all, Rem’s golems had already passed ahead of us. I assume they obeyed her.

But the caterpillars still appeared. There were more than I expected. And I still didn’t manage to kill a single one. Rem killed them all—easily, quickly, and without even getting close.

And I just walked beside her. Silent. Jealous of her abilities.

About ten minutes passed, and I think we were already close to the beginning of that root-like structure.

[Threat detected]
[Threat Class: Existential]
[Required Action: Elimination]
[Current Threat Rank: 6]

This is bad. Threat rank six. I was too slow.

Rem stopped too, staring ahead into the emptiness. So she got the system message as well.

—We’ve got problems, don’t we?—I asked.

—Yeah. We’ve got problems,—Rem answered.

Her voice was serious. Very serious.

And at that moment, the ground began to shake.