The Ever-Transforming Disaster Part 1

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"Everything… Has been taken over."

'A once beautiful and glorious temple… Now covered in a carpet of twitching flesh.'

"Wh-wh-wh-what is all of this?!"

"..."

'Hestia stepped back in shock while Artemis stood still in disbelief, unable to believe the horror she was witnessing.'

/Peel.../

'Meanwhile, Silver crouched on the ground, peeling off some of the fleshy mass on the ground with ease, studying it.'

"... This looks like soft tissue. Vessels, arteries, skin… All mangled together… But it's not disorderly, this is a fully functional system."

There's too much going on; it would take ages to identify everything in this tiny patch.

/Burn.../

'He burned the skin and his hand, waving it to cool it down after he was done.'

Let's hope there's nothing infectious in here.

'He looked at the ceiling. Thick, red vines covered the walls as they hung from a reddish-green fleshy mat.'

'Everywhere, thousands of egg-shaped pods hang from the vines like fruits in a tree, trembling slightly as if ready to burst.'

'Silver could also feel the intense magical signature coming from the vines and the eggs… And albeit faint, he could feel movement coming from inside them.'

'But this was a detail he kept to himself, unwilling to share it and shake them even further.'

"It's like a plant… It drains magical power from deep in the earth and moves it somewhere…"

/Squish…/

"... They're protected by a strange substance… Fascinating…"

"Silver, now's not the time."

"... Right."

'Silver looked around warily. The moment they crossed those doors, it became a matter of life and death.'

"T-This, i-it can't…"

"Calm down... Look. It hasn't expanded beyond the door. The seal is still intact."

For the most part.

'Artemis took a deep breath as she reached for her forehead, something she did often whenever she felt deeply stressed "... You're right… I need to calm down."...'

"Erm… Can someone explain to me what's going on?"

"... You're too slow sometimes…"

"What did you say?!"

'Hestia almost wanted to jump and bite Silver for his continuous abuse of her intelligence, but Artemis stopped her solemnly.'

"Hestia… This is what my children sacrificed themselves to seal… Antares."

"Wh… All of this?!"

"Not quite, I'm afraid." Silver interjected as his eyes narrowed

'Artemis looked at Silver, and he understood her intention, letting her explain to Hestia what they were seeing.'

"Antares is the beast of struggle. Made as an affront to the natural order of nature, it constantly grows with everything it is exposed to… Endlessly."

"When it escaped the Dungeon, it brought havoc across the world… Eventually, it became such a pressing issue we could not ignore anymore."

"Six Great Spirits gathered in an attempt to kill it. But the longer the fight drew, the stronger it became… Without other options, they sealed the beast inside with my Arcanum so it would never escape…"

"... It doesn't look contained to me…"

"Right…"

"..."

'Silver quietly listened to her explanation, having thoughts of his own:'

Many monsters were slain like this. While the Gods rarely interjected in the mortal plane, it would be wrong to say they did not care.

Be it the Spirits or their Divine weapons, the Gods are connected to all Heroic fables and myths written down.

Nidhogg was slain in a similar process. While the fable has been mostly lost, it was written down in Zeus' fairytale book.

When the beast grew far too great for the mortal world to handle, six Great Spirits gathered and took it down through a ritual, invoking heaven's wrath on the mortal coil.

This story is no different, but while in one they succeeded, in the other... They failed.

'Artemis turned to Silver with a deep, frustrated glare:'

"You were right…"

"Hm?... About what?"

"... If we don't take it down, Antares will eventually unshackle itself... It'll become an immeasurable problem..."

"Eventually? Can you tell how long that'll take?"

'Artemis looked at her hands with distress and confusion...'

"... Not long… Honestly, I can't tell with certainty. The Seal was originally meant to last an eternity… Long enough for the magic power within its magic stone to extinguish…"

"True to its name, even while bound by a pseudo-Arcanum, it adapted, breaking free of its constraints… I can't tell how long they'll last."

"For thousands of years, it has been draining power from the Seal, breaking it… I… I know this may come as lacking… But I don't know."

'Artemis' gaze showed her wavering emotions, together with a slight frailty she rarely ever showed…'

"This is the first time I have ever seen or heard of a monster defy our powers."

"... I suppose this is just another one of the lower world's mysteries." Silver said with a light smile as he patted her head

"... Sigh…"

'Feeling his hand on her head made her exhale in helplessness. Why does he always do this?'

'He enjoyed it for a moment before having enough of it, it wasn't the time nor the place for it.'

/Push aside…/

'She pushed his hand aside and retorted: "Enough."...'

"Then… What now?" Hestia asked as she looked at the twitching walls

"... We kill it…" Artemis said deeply as she clenched her right hand

"But not today."

'She turned around, walking towards the entrance.'

"Antares will continue to look for ways to unshackle itself; we must prepare as much as we can before it does so."

"Woah there… Calm down." 

'Silver raised his right hand, stopping Artemis by pulling her back with telekinesis.'

"Don't wander off from me; it's dangerous. Besides, being in a hurry won't change anything. It has been here for a thousand years. Being a few minutes faster won't change much."

"Instead, we should scout the area and learn more about our opponent to gauge truly how much it has changed over millennia. Learn its weaknesses and the like."

/Shake…/

'Artemis shook her head dejectedly:'

"It has no weakness. Its body is constantly changing, adapting to whatever it is exposed to at the moment."

"If you strike it with fire, it'll grow resilient. If you continue, it'll find a way to use it for its benefit. If you throw it in the ocean, it'll adapt accordingly, and so on."

"I used to think there were limits to this fact, and for centuries, I believed that… Now I understand it was nothing but arrogant ignorance…"

"I... Wasn't used to failure."

"..."

'Silver already knew that much, but he wasn't interested in those details…'

"It's still a monster at the end of the day, so it must possess a magic stone. Also, what exactly is being bound by the seal? It can't be its body; otherwise, it would've escaped already."

Even if it's constantly evolving, a physical body cannot contain every possible factor of resistance to everything. That would be the definition of a "perfect lifeform".

Even if Antares can eventually reach that state of existence, it is far from it right now. 

From the little I found in the Gnome library, I'm inclined to believe that what Antares possesses is a degree of "Rapid Evolution".

Rather than selectively altering its body to fulfill its demands, its body changes instinctively to meet its immediate requirements.

If it bleeds, it will evolve to diminish the damage and be less exposed to it. A constant but uncontrollable evolution. It may lead to a perfect existence at the end of it all, but it won't be a streamlined process.

And for a monster, as long as it contains a magic stone, it can die. And unless Antare's ability is strong enough to regenerate its body in a moment of extreme crisis like losing its head or core, then there isn't much to fear.

So far, I have yet to see or hear of an existence that can defy the most basic rule of the magic stone. If it breaks, the core that binds the monster falls, and the magic energy will rapidly scatter, turning all the matter in its body into fine dust.

Like cells being thrown into a saturated solution, they'll pop without balance. This is their biology.

And even if it can find a way to live without it, if Antares cannot gather Magical Power, then it won't be able to power this process...

But then again, it is better not to incite it more than required.

"... The Seal binds its whole body, preventing it from moving from the center of the temple. The Arcanum can't be broken so easily as changing its form for no tangible chains hold it in place."

"It is clung to this place by the Great Spirits' vow…"

"S-Still! On a good note, it doesn't seem aware of us, s-so maybe it's sleeping?"

"Maybe. It could also be bidding its time…"

"Hm… Let's check it out then."

"Oh no..."

"What?"

/Grab!/

'Silver grabbed their hands, and with a light flicker, they vanished.'

/Crunk…/

'Not long after they disappeared, the whole cavern shook.'

…

/Deeper…/

/Fwoop!/

'Silver and the others reappeared on a balcony overlooking a massive hole leading to a central open room…'

'Gigantic vines spread like spider webs everywhere, connecting the ceiling to the walls as they descended further into the hole, fusing as they grew thicker, tracing back to the center of the room…'

'A pillar of stone had been carved from the world around it, standing tall in the middle of a bottomless abyss.'

'Connected to the outside solely by a singular bridge, it was meant to separate whatever rested above it from the rest of the world.'

/Growl…/

'There it laid... Covered in a thick layer of dust and grime... The ancient beast, Antares.'

'Utterly black with faint reddish stripes, it was undoubtedly a "Black" monster. The most dangerous of them all, the kind rarely seen in the Dungeon. Its existence a legend to most.'

'Its shape reassembled that of a scorpion. From its massive tail to its chest. But rather than a scorpion's head, it had a Humanoid torso with multiple arms growing from its back, followed by a heavily armored head, almost like a wyvern.'

'Even when hunched back, it stood ten meters high, its tail over a dozen long.'

(Image...)

/Growl…/

"Cough!... Bleh… I told you not to do that again!" Hestia complained as she felt her stomach spin

"Yes… A warning wouldn't do so bad next time." Artemis added as she got back on her feet

"That said…"

/Shaaa!/

'An intense wave of pure magical power washed over them, with Silver sweating cold as he smiled faintly.'

It's complicated to gauge a monster's power based solely on this, but it's accurate enough.

'Silver wasn't a mage, nor did he have the Development Abilities necessary to augment his senses, but with all the training he did and his stats, he could roughly feel the movement of magical particles in the air.'

'Although… With their thickness, even an ordinary person might've seen them.'

Level 7? No… It's higher than that… But something's wrong. The energy's all over the place.

"... I see now. It's gathering power."

'Silver understood what he was seeing after putting the dots together.'

"Can you give me an explanation, pretty please?... I have no idea what I'm looking at… What even is that?"

"What else could it be... But I can understand your confusion."

"Antares seems to be gathering immense amounts of magical power and fueling them somewhere… I understand why I felt odd when we were on the surface."

"Antares must have parasitized the plants on the surface. Using them to collect nutrients to sustain itself."

"While its main body remains the same, its skin has mutated, spreading around the place like algae. And from there, those mutated sections transformed, becoming fully functional organs, working together like a living organism."

'Silver looked at the rocky walls before continuing:'

"You can't see it, but these vines expand to the surface, albeit not that far after. It seems the Seal prevents it from spreading beyond a certain range. Still, Antares has figured out the limits of the Seal and grown around it, taking control or influencing most plants above."

No wonder the plants were a little odd. Even if they haven't changed much ever since this place was populated, Antares' flesh and magical power must've altered their appearance. 

"It has also excavated much of the walls… At this point, I'm afraid this place is being kept in place by its efforts and not its architecture anymore… In other words…"

"We may as well be inside it."

""...""

"T-Then what is that?!"

"That's its real body. Everything else is an extension of it, a means to an end… If I can give meaning to a monster's actions…"

'Turning his head to Artemis, he asked: "Do you have anything to add?".'

'She shook her head silently.'

"... We better leave before it notices us then."

"... Is that really okay?" Hestia asked as she wiped her slimy hands on her dress

This place is gross... No! This is Artemis' temple... Urg...

"It's completely still. Can't we…"

"No. It's too risky."

'While mostly quiet, Artemis was adamant in her choice. Being true to her stubborn reputation.'

"The issue here isn't if I can kill it but what may happen if I cannot. If I fail, I may end up hastening its eventual reemergence."

"But at this rate…"

"I can kill it; I definitely can... As long as a monster can bleed. I can take it down."

"Antares can adapt all it wants; we just don't give it the time to do so… But that requires us to outmatch its powers severely."

"We can theorize all we want. Speaking won't change a thing."

'Silver turned around, getting ready to pull them out of the place.'

"Wait… Bring me closer." 

"Huuuuhhhh???"

"... Alright."

"Why are you agreeing with her?!"

/Grab…/

"Wait… Can't you leave me here?..."

"You're staying within an arm's reach of me at all times, and there's no negotiation."

"Urg…"

/Jump!/

'Silver held their hands, jumping from the balcony into the void below.'

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Notes