Having slaughtered the Blight Commanders, Rory led the way as they traversed deeper into the Blight Khan's territory. Now aware of what Rory was doing, Apostolos began to focus and pay more attention as they traveled, finally noticing the subtle shifts and warps in the terrain around them, which seemed to jump like a flipbook of sketches. Had it not been for the fact that the environment seemed like one endless expanse that didn't show real differences, it would have been far more jarring to the eye.

"You're really dialed in back there," Rory said several minutes later, chuckling.

"I'm studying," Apostolos answered. "Now that you've pointed it out, I wanted to be able to detect it myself."

"And?"

"Well…. While I don't think I could split the seams as you are, I feel like I can make out the 'points' that you're cutting through."

"Good job, maybe I'll let you open the way back."

Apostolos snorted, rolling his eyes at his former master's comments, until several moments later, when Rory didn't join in, Apostolos narrowed his eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Definitely. Unless you stopped practicing your magic over the last few decades?"

"No, I definitely have not."

"Then yes, I do believe you'll be able to open the path up heading back. Mind you, you'll just be retreading the path we took, opening up the seams that I've already pried open. Basically, now that I've loosened the pickle jar, you can open it up as well."

"Pickle jar?"

"Oh, now you're messing with me, we have pickles."

"No, I mean, why would you need to loosen the jar? Everyone knows they have a cap," Apostolos pointed out.

"… never mind."

Finally, after what felt like ages, Rory held his hand up, forcing Apostolos to come to a sudden stop.

"Here."

"Here?"

"Here," Rory confirmed, his eye glowing for a moment as he triple checked. "Notice the irregularity with the ground?"

"Not really, it pretty much all looks the same, like spongy meaty that's soaked up every disease in the world."

"There," Rory pointed at the ground. "And there. And there. And there, and there, oh, and-"

"Right, I got it," Apostolos said, squinting at the spots Rory pointed out, finally beginning to see it. "Small funnels."

"Bingo. The hive spawns likely are pushed out from those little tunnels."

"That's a little different from the reports we've gotten on the hives normally."

"Probably because this hive isn't meant for defense, it's meant for spawning."

Right on cue, one of the closed funnels was pushed open, as what looked like an oversized maggot with three pairs of wings and an oversized proboscis emerged.

Immature Blight Mite Lesser Queen

Level: 10

Paying them no attention, the maggot-like monster flared its wings out before buzzing away, likely to burrow in somewhere and form a new hive, one meant to act as a proper defense as it matured.

"And there you have it," Rory proudly waved at the Blight Mite flying away. "The proof is in the pus."

"Pudding, you mean?" Apostolos asked.

"In this case, no," Rory said with a scrunched-up face. "Anyway, give me one second."

Focusing, the ground began to tremble until a chunk the size of a car was ripped out in one swift movement. Instantly, a barrier flared up around it as Rory held up a barrier gem.

"This is my last gem; I haven't restocked in quite some time."

Apostolos examined the chunk of earth torn free, and as he did, he saw things begin to squirm their way out of the earth, landing on the barrier with a wet flop.

"Ew," Apostolos muttered.

"Feeling under threat, the hive is attempting to get away, and all the half-pupated lesser queens are ejected prematurely. But that doesn't matter, because the real prize is likely the Upper queen, and I don't see a world where it attempts to flee."

"And why is that?"

"Take a guess."

Apostolos frowned, thinking for several moments before he came up with a conjecture.

"Tailored entirely to reproduction of lesser queens, it likely is only capable of reproduction."

"That's my guess as well," Rory concurred. "Well, now that we've gone over that lesson in bug-monster anatomy, why don't we get out of here? See, this wasn't too bad now-"

Cutting him off, it felt as if the world suddenly crunched, a loud crack ringing out in the exact moment. Where before it had been just the two of them, suddenly they were joined by a third, a creature that loomed over them.

"-bad now, was it?" Rory sighed. "That's on me."

Apostolos felt his body stiffen as an overwhelming pressure weighed down on him, a chill passing through his spine as he dropped to the ground, as if gravity had increased tenfold.

"So, two humans are the pests that managed to invade MY territory?"

Unable to help the tremors passing through his body, Apostolos examined the monster, already certain of what he would see.

Khan of the Wretched Blights**

Level: 80

The Khan had arrived.

It was the size of a large building, and 'humanoid' in the barest sense of the word. It had two sets of shoulders, and from each shoulder, an appendage topped with what looked like the claw of a crane opened and closed, segmented and jointed, oozing a corrosive liquid. Its chest was oddly skeletal, while at the same time reminding Apostolos of an insect's exoskeleton, with three large spines stabbing through a cavity in the center of its chest. Its lower body was like a carousel of tree trunks, each 'leg' a twisted knot of lesser appendages that looked disturbingly like human hands.

And then there was the head. Or heads. It was like a knob with four different faces. One face was nothing but eyes, another was nothing but mouths of every type, the third face was made of sharp-looking bristles and feelers, and the final face appeared like the face of a fly.

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Apostolos wanted to stand tall, but the sheer difference in the quality of their presences was something he'd never experienced before; it was like a higher being had crashed down upon them.

Damn it, Apostolos, now isn't the time to go green!

To say he steeled himself was wrong, but facing the wretched being that all but promised a fate worse than death, he forced himself to flare his aura, even if it felt meager in comparison. He would not break.

"One knows its place," The Khan spoke, his horrid face of endless eyes all momentarily landing on Apostolos. "The other does not."

For as oppressive as the presence of the Khan was, Apostolos hadn't had it in him to even think of checking how Rory was faring. Having gathered himself enough to rise to his feet, hands on his knees, he finally managed to glance at his former master.

Who was standing there, facing the wretched doom bringer head-on, his spine straight and tall.

Right, this isn't his first tier eight.

"I'm not much for quaking," Rory said, the usual humor in his voice entirely gone. "So, you're the Khan who sent monsters to destroy my home?"

"I was. And you are the Khan of that wretched hive?"

"You could say that," Rory said, crossing his arms.

"You are foolish to have come here." The Khan spoke, "Had you remained in your hive, I would have been forced to turn to new plans, unable to break its tough shell with your presence there. Now that you have come here, where I can deal with you personally, such options are possible once more."

"You think it will be that easy?" Rory said, injecting the full might of his aura into his words.

"I do."

The Khan flared its aura, and Apostolos could sense that it would overwhelm him, force him to his knees once more, and that-

"Try me," Rory spoke, as his own aura released, pushed to a level far higher than what Apostolos had felt from his former master when he'd dealt with the wave remnants the other day.

It was awe-inspiring…. But it also wasn't enough; even Apostolos could instantly recognize that. Rory was strong enough to hold back the tide, but only just, like a single oasis in a vast desert, or a single boulder in a rushing river.

The auras pushed and shoved against one another to the point where sparks of energy began to flicker at the edges, providing a clear visual indicator of the normally unseen aura.

Paying attention only to the scene playing out before him, his eyes widened when suddenly it was as if he could hear Rory's thoughts in his head.

"Take the hive and scram. I can buy three, maybe four minutes. What I said earlier about you handling the way back? Well, do or die time."

Gulping, Apostolos didn't even nod, knowing he was going to need all his energy for the task ahead of him.

And I don't even have the worst job here.

Aw fuck.

As the presence of a tier eight suddenly appeared, Rory realized things had suddenly taken a turn for the horrendous.

Level eighty territory alpha. Yeah, this thing is stronger than the Queen was.

Playing a curt game of back and forth with the Khan, Rory knew there was really only one way to salvage the situation. If he attempted to flee the way they had arrived, with Apostolos in tow, between splitting the seams in space and safeguarding Apostolos, he would be overwhelmed by the Khan who had authority here.

The only real option was to send Apostolos ahead, while he kept the Khan distracted, and then make his escape afterward.

A tiny shard of metal appeared in his hand, pulled from his inventory, as he cut the smallest of slits on his finger, all while continuing the short back and forth with the Khan. As he did, utilizing his Ghost Message, Rory shot the barely perceptible blood droplet at Apostolos, his message contained within.

"Surrender yourself to me, and your metamorphosis will be made easy."

Yeah, that sounds like a fuck no.

"Surrender yourself to me," Rory countered, "and you will be spared."

Well, not today, but no need to add that.

"Then you will fall."

The time for talk was over, and recognizing it instantly, Rory darted away as fast as he could, using everything he had to make distance for Apostolos.

The Khan watched him for a moment before it flickered, appearing directly in front of him, its claw arm swinging like a flail that Rory barely reacted to.

No way I can stop that!

Rather than try to resist the strike, Rory let it carry him, using a timely projected pane to cushion the hit just enough that he was able to ride the claw rather than be splattered by it.

Which meant that only half his ribs were broken on impact.

Gritting his teeth, Rory put aside the pain, storing it neatly inside another mental thread.

Still riding the momentum of the strike, Rory was launched away, so fast the sound trailed behind him.

Can't just play defense, or this thing will get bored with me.

Lashing his hands outward, two pneuma whips struck down, lashing around a pillar of what looked like calcified… something, and swinging around it like a tetherball around a pole.

Call me mother fucking Spiderman!

Using the momentum of the swing, Rory shot back through the air, toward the Khan in a maneuver it hadn't seen coming. Releasing the projected whips of pneuma, Rory swung his hands overhead as he suddenly held a giant great axe, glowing for a moment before exploding, turning into an axe of pure heavenly energy.

Not nearly as potent as what I did with my spear, but oh well!

Now was far from the time to hold anything back; Rory was the underdog by leagues. If it meant literally dematerializing his arsenal of weapons and transmuting them into pure conceptual potential, so be it.

Reacting reflexively, the Khan raised an arm to defend itself from the descending axe of pure heavenly lightning. It was a mistake, as the strike landed with a titanic boom, blowing Rory away as he finally crashed on the ground, still ignoring his broken ribs.

The good news was that the power in the strike, utilizing the momentum the Khan had gifted him, and an axe made of rare-grade promethium, transmuted into heavenly conceptual energies, was enough to send the tier eight territory alpha staggering back several steps.

The bad news was that it was about all it did; the cut in its arm was minimal, and it had been singed more than anything.

"Perhaps not all boast," The Khan of Wretched Blights said.

I was hoping for a little more than a burn mark.

Any thoughts that had been entertained of the chance of killing the Khan here and now were utterly squashed.

Raising his arms, several spears appeared, drawn from his inventory before they too were dematerialized, transformed into heavenly energies that mirrored their conceptual weight as weapons.

You know, maybe almost dying to those snails was a good thing.

Had it not been for his experience with sacrificing his prized spear and transforming it into a single-time attack, what he was doing now wouldn't have been possible. It was, of course, to a much lesser degree; he was far from reaching the same level of conceptual significance that he had with his spear, but even the basic transmutation of the physical into conceptual made for a hell of a wallop.

Now, if only my opponent weren't a literal Tier Eight territory alpha.

It was unfortunate, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Launching the energy spears, Rory didn't stop there, fully intending to empty his bag of tricks here and now as his inventory steadily depleted of weapons, turned into single-shot ammunition as he continued his bombardment.

Perhaps if he had some gems on hand, he could have avoided going to such extremes, but again, beggars and choosers.

C'mon Apostolos.

Sparing a single glance away, Rory was relieved to see that he couldn't see Apostolos, meaning the younger man had figured it out and begun his escape from the Khan's territory.

As much as Rory wanted to make his escape as well, he would have to give Apostolos more time. Rory could freely cut through the seams in the folded space, treating the environment like a playground of wormholes. Apostolos could not, only able to utilize points that Rory had already 'loosened.'

Thus, Rory remained where he was, bombarding the Khan with such fierce firepower that it was forced to only defend itself, slowly taking step after lumbering step toward Rory.

Seconds passed, slowly turning into a minute, and then two. As they did, his inventory went from a stock full of weapons of all types, to half full, to barely a handful.

Finally pulling his last remaining weapon, one of his first bows from decades ago, Rory pulled the string back as the entire bow suddenly turned gold and blue, compressing into a single, thin line. The bow then transformed into a projectile of its own, which Rory released like a child releasing a rubber band. Slamming into the Khan with a massive boom, the Khan almost seemed surprised as no more attacks were forthcoming.

Lowering all four of its titanic arms, the monstrous Khan stared at Rory with the eyes of its only-eyes face.

"I see. You've run dry, haven't you? Then I suppose it is my turn."

Raising its arms, Rory felt as if the entirety of the territory seemed to shake with power.

Yeah, time to go.

While Rory had no weapons left, there were still a few goodies in his inventory. Chest appearing in front of him, Rory ripped it open, pulling free an impossibly sharp piece of what looked like glass or even a shard of the sky itself.

Using the sharpness of the shard as a focus, Rory slashed outward, cutting through space and opening the connection between spatial coordinates within the territory. Rushing through, Rory began blindly slashing, without a clear idea of where he was going; he just needed to get gone.

The Khan vanished, or more so, it was Rory who appeared elsewhere, time and time again. As much as Rory wished the single cut and escape was good enough, the sound of space crunching nearby was enough to tell him the Khan was still in pursuit, utilizing its innate ability to fold and unfold the space of its territory to pursue him. For several tense minutes, the game of cat and mouse continued as Rory slashed through the weak points in space, while the Khan continued to follow hot on his tail.

It was only when the crunches stopped ringing out that Rory turned his attention to charting a proper path back. Nearly two tense hours later, he finally appeared near the edge of its territory, mentally and physically exhausted. Glancing around and ensuring he wasn't about to get jumped by minions of the Blight Khan, Rory flopped onto the ground, regular stone instead of the weird fleshy ground that marked most of its inner territory.

"Yeah," Rory huffed, "That confirms it."

Taking a wonderfully deep breath, Rory let out a deep sigh a moment after.

"Not touching this shit again until tier eight."

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