The corridor they were moving through was called the Core Lock Chamber which might explain the cold hair and smell of metal.
Their footsteps echoed strangely, the sound bouncing off walls in patterns that didn't quite match their rhythm.
Then Aether saw it, something large clinging to the wall.
It looked like a parasite covered in a dome of black armor plating mixed with bone rising at irregular angles.
Under it were dozens of black tendrils, each one ending in what looked like a hooked mouth and at the front was an opening that shone with faint purple light.
"They are Barnacles." Lyria says lightly.
The moment Aether's eyes focused on it, pain lanced through his skull. His mind recoiled from the sight, as if the creature's existence was fundamentally wrong and his brain knew it.
He groaned while his hand tightened on the Etheric Firearm as he forced himself to keep looking.
Lyria's eyes widened slightly and glanced at him. "You really can withstand it… Most people couldn't even maintain eye contact with a Barnacle without screaming."
"I can feel why, just looking at it a second ago felt like something was gripping my head." Aether says lightly as the pain faded. "But now it no longer hurts. So, I think it's only the instant I see them before it fades."
"It's good you're fine. The Barnacles feed on anything they touch." Lyria said quickly, her voice clipped and professional. "Stone, steel, and flesh. They weaken structures and pull prey in and if threatened they compress Deep-pressure blasts."
Aether nodded as he raised the Etheric Firearm, sighting down the barrel. His finger found the trigger and he squeezed.
The weapon made a sharp sound.
A bolt of azure blue energy shot from the barrel, leaving a shimmering comet trail in its wake. The beam of energy rushed through the air before crashing into the Barnacle's shell dead center.
The creature trembled while its tendrils thrashing.
Lyria was already moving.
She appeared in front of the creature in an instant, her etheric sword streak with a blue light. She hacked into the nearest tendril with the blade slicing through it with a crackle before she then spun and chopped down on another.
Then when another tendril swept towards from the side, she swiftly cut it in half. Before then she chopped another and another tendril as she pushed towards the Barnacle.
After slashing, chopping, and hacking, multiple severed limbs thrashed wildly on the ground before going limp. Then a bolt of light rushed forward as Lyria sidestep and it crashed into the Barnacle.
The nightmare creature recoiled, its domed shell fracturing under the blast. Cracks spiderwebbed across the hardened shell before then a sword instantly appeared in front of it. Then it plunged deep into the center of the dome with a crackle and then the purple light faded.
The creature shuddered once before its body began to break down, dissolving into something between ash and mist.
Lyria placed her sword back and turned back to Aether. "We need to keep moving."
Aether lowered the firearm with a nod before they continued pressing deeper in the chamber.
The corridor seemed to grow more erratic with the walls leaking down a non-reflective black fluid. But seeing Lyria not paying it any mind, he decided to not care and then he recalled something he was curious about.
"So that pain I felt from seeing it. Is that the same for all Nightmare creatures?"
Lyria did not stop rushing forward as she said. "It's for all of them. When Non-Witches see a Nightmare creature, they are driven to pass out or have a breakdown. It's believed because the brain itself cannot comprehend the sight of them even though they aren't seeing their true form."
True form… They did mention something like that.
He recalled the golden orbs talking about creatures which they called Nightmare Creatures appearing after Witches. They told him their current form was both a filter and vessel to walk around on the planet.
But for some reason, everyone will see their parts of their true forms which the brain will absolutely reject.
If I was to give it an analogy, I guess it would be like those Eldritch Horrors? I knew my luck was pretty bad… But did I have to be placed in that type of world? Aether thought with an inward sigh.
"But you Chief recovered seconds later… It's unheard of." Lyria says with a slight tilt of her head.
"I'm guessing that's one of the reasons you wanted me to stay back."
Lyria nodded. "The Paragon at Aegis Union mentioned you would be fine, but I was still worried."
"You really are precious. Thanks for worrying about me." Aether says lightly, making Lyria slightly tremble.
Then a concerned look appeared on Lyria's face. "But still… I am unsure how you will react to stronger creatures. But for now, it seems you can help deal with the weaker ones."
Aether's smile deepened. "Good."
They moved faster with urgency propelling them and they bypassed branching corridors, heading for a specific coordinate. Lyria halted at a sealed bulkhead, her hand hovering over the release.
A sound leaked through the metal, which Aether noted it was roars and slices of something cutting into flesh.
Lyria punched the release and the door slid open onto a wide observation chamber. Its large viewport was shattered, letting in the cavern's damp cold air that brushed past them.
But Aether's attention quickly locked on to the center, where a beautiful woman was hacking and slashing with her sword.
She had long golden hair that was somehow glowing with her two golden eyes. She was dressed in simple black combat gear, she wielded two short blades that were not made of steel but shimmering with a golden light.
Around her were a new type of Nightmare creature.
Noct-Eels.
They were eels that flickered between white and black while swimming through the air as if through water, leaving ghostly afterimages in their wake. Their pale teal eyes streaked like comets.
The golden-hair woman hacked down on an eel coiled around her arm. Its body phased through her sleeve for an instant, and a line of red appeared on her skin.
But she didn't scream and continued humming a pure and steady note. She simply pivoted, her blade passing through the creature's head before It dissolved into static and shadow.
Aether watched, his earlier smile gone, replaced by a look of focused interest. He saw the blood on her arms, and saw her dazzling smile as if she wasn't in danger.
But simply enjoying herself and then he saw the light.
A single thread of gold pierced the air before her before a second line crossed it perfectly, forming a luminous intersection. These golden strands thickened, multiplied, and rotated with the precise clicks of some clockwork falling into alignment.
The air hummed with a tone so pure it hushed even the eels' skittering echoes.
The completed form revealed itself as a Mandala.
Triangular prisms arranged in perfect symmetry spiraled outward like the rays of a celestial body. At its heart pulsed a four-pointed star, encircled by a ring of living light and above this core, strange glyphs orbited like distant moons. Every element shone with a golden-white brilliance too perfect for mortal creation.
Then it vanished with the entire vision lasting only a second.
The woman pivoted, her blades cutting a final gleaming arc through the last two eels, which dissolved into wisps of mist.
Lyria stepped forward and said softly. "Mila. I have the Chief."
Mila paused before perking up, a slow grin spreading across her face as she glanced over her shoulder. "Took you long enough, Team Leader!" Her golden eyes found Aether before they widened, sparking with curiosity. "Oh? Is that the lovely Chief the higher-up has been going crazy about?"