Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 231

I left the wolf behind, headed for the nearest bulkhead, and passed under it. Immediately, as I entered a new space, my nose was assaulted with the heavy scent of spilled blood and scattered viscera.

I moved to the closest shadow, sticking low as Illusive hid my form in the shadows. My brain churned heavily as I looked around, trying to figure out where I was on the ship and what was happening. 

This time I found myself in yet another hall, one stained almost entirely red by the remnants of a slaughter. I spotted Circle cultists in their tactical gear torn to absolute pieces as if some beast had grabbed them and viscously pulled them apart. 

They weren’t the only dead ones either. Sentinel personnel lay scattered, their corpses in just as bad a shape. And then there were the Squires. With the amulet around my neck, the illusion did not affect me. I could clearly see who was who.

What could've done this? I crept forward, checking the nearest cadaver. A Circle Cultist lay in pieces, the bottom half of her body nowhere in sight. The wounds were… they looked as if two massive clawed hands had skewered her, and then both ripped in opposite directions. Her face, as I took off the tactical helmet, was twisted in terror and agony in her last moments.

Whatever did this didn’t seem like one of the cult’s plant monsters. Not enough greenery in this hall. Not even a sprite, I’d hesitate to say. The marks didn’t line up with what I’d normally see of a sprite, at least. It was too brutal, too gruesome. Usually, sprites moved efficiently to follow their summoner’s orders. 

Was it a human? They’d have to be seriously modded out to get an effect like this. Easily tearing someone apart would require immense strength. And the attacker was massive. As I checked more and more corpses, I found that the hand width of whatever did this was at least as large as a person’s torso. 

The teeth marks also pointed towards this being something other than a borg. About half the wounds were made by clawed hands or paws, and the other half were clearly bite marks. Whatever attacked had enough force to shatter bones with its jaw alone.

And its feet also suggested something else was responsible. There were plenty of them left in bloody trails across the corridor. Definitely not human. Four toes, each marked with a sharp claw at its tip. Whatever caused this slaughter, I most definitely didn’t want to run into it.

While I checked corpses, I tried to find more Circle amulets to bypass the illusion. Unfortunately, it seemed they’d wised up to someone taking their amulets at some point in the past. All the cultists had tattoos marked into their skin that probably had a similar effect. Since it was a tattoo, I couldn’t just rip it off and hope to get the same effect.

Using the compass as well as my knowledge of the ship, I triangulated my position. I was about halfway down the ship’s half-mile length, on a different floor than where the injured wolf hid.

I also moved what was left of the dead Squires into a side room, carefully laying them out so their bodies wouldn’t be even more damaged by passersby. I mentally made a mark of this section of the ship on my map, and then turned to- 

The squelching of footsteps from down the hall gave me pause. I slowly peeked out, trusting my Blinder and Ilusive to hide me from any prying eyes. A blood-soaked Knight stood at the other end of the hall, his expression hidden by a silver helmet. Fresh blood dripped from his sword, and the guy’s posture almost screamed battle hungry.

I took a deep breath and then stepped out of the doorway, dropping my Perks. “Knight! I’m with-”

I dodged back as Insight cleaved through me, barely dodging a thrown tomahawk. The thrown axe screeched loudly as it pierced deeply into the metal wall behind me. “Dodged that, huh? At least some of you cultists have skills.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “W-wait! This is an illusion. I’m with the Crusade-”

He sprinted toward me at max speed, his sword low and ready to pull into a slash as he flung another tomahawk. I dodged it, though in doing so gave him free space to approach. “As if I’d believe that-”

Without too much hesitation, I dropped a flashbang and sprinted in the opposite direction toward the nearest bulkhead. This guy wasn’t going to listen, and there was no point in continuing only to lose my life. I knew the Crusaders were meatheads, but seriously?

The squelching of footsteps behind me faltered momentarily, as if surprised I was running. The flash bang had little to no effect through his mask, but the surprise gave me enough of a gap. I widened it with Burst Step, cleanly flying through the door. Just as soon as I passed through it, my scenery changed entirely. 

For a moment, I paused, waiting just next to the door. If he came through, I’d slip right behind him and go back through the spatial distortion, hopefully throwing the bloodthirsty Knight off. So much for finding one to help me.

Thankfully, that proved to be a needless concern. The man never reappeared, likely taken somewhere else by the spatial distortion. I let out a breath and then took in my new surroundings as gunshots and screams rang out.

The hall here was only half of one. The entire left side opened up into a massive chamber, one filled with boats of various kinds gently rocking in the ocean water. This place looked like some kind of dock built into the Supercarrier right at the water line. 

The entire dock lay covered in plants of various kinds, with larger entities lying dead. Sword wounds as well as something else marred the cultist’s plants. The cultists themselves were also scattered around, most of them dead. A rough count put their numbers at several hundred.

A couple dozen dead Knights lay dispersed amongst the group. Even more Squires lay scattered about. Taking this defensive position hadn’t been cheap. Interestingly, the Crusaders all had bolts of blue fabric tied around their arms as if to mark the affiliation. Did the illusion not change stuff after its initial activation?

The remaining cultists kept defensive positions as they fired away at a group of five Knights. All of them worked together, cleanly cutting through the gathered cultists as they took fire from a different defensive position. A few Squires stood scattered around, taking pot shots at the cultists, but were otherwise pinned down by the Circle’s number advantage.

Without their Adepts and plant monsters, the Circle really wasn’t all that impressive. Their soldiers were only half-trained at best. At worst, they seemed like homeless that’d been picked up off the street and armed. They had numbers and equipment going for them, though.

Seeing the Knights cleaving through the remaining masses gave me hope. I joined in the firefight, shooting at the Cultists from afar. My rifle cracked with each shot as I took out a few stragglers where I could. The cultists were too distracted by the Knights charging into their midst to worry about a lone rifleman in the background, though likewise the Knights made me carefully pick my shots as they stood in the way.

I dropped my rifle, fading back into obscurity as I repositioned. I moved across the massive chamber swiftly, climbing up one of the boats moored at the Supercarrier’s internal dock. I made my way up to its crow’s nest and checked out the fight once more. 

One of the Knights had fallen, lying against a crate. His chest still moved, but he was in bad shape as several Squires worked to treat him. Other than that, about fifty cultists remained, none of them Adepts. They were all clumped up in the last line of defense, centered around three HMG emplacements that made it difficult for the Knights to approach.

If the fight continued to play out, there was a good chance the Knights would flatline, and about half the remaining cultists would survive. The Crusaders could reflect bullets with their swords and skills, but the HMGs were heavy caliber. Already, they were starting to visibly flag and grow tired without closing the gap nearly as much.

And it looked like supplies were running low for the Squires supporting them. No grenades, which would’ve easily opened up the fight. And their shots were becoming more and more sporadic. Ammo looked like it was running low. Without being able to scavenge the battlefield safely, things weren’t looking good.

Something needed to change, and I was in the perfect situation to be that change. I dropped my rifle and rooted through my bag. I pulled out my grenade launcher and shoved several frag grenades into my pockets. Once my bag was back on my back, I went ahead and activated the Drop Chutes. I loaded one of the frags into the launcher and then lined up my shot.

I hesitated for a moment, shifting my aim up just a bit more as I calculated the distance. Carefully, I squeezed the trigger. 

Thunk!

I dropped out of the Crow’s nest, trusting my Drop Chutes to take the fall as I ducked behind the mass of docked boats. An explosion rang out, quickly followed by one of the HMGs shifting targets to shred the boat I’d just been on. The Crow’s nest collapsed under the heavy firepower.

I repositioned onto a boat a ways away and checked the fight once more. My grenade had fallen way short, not even hitting the defensive line. It did absolutely no damage. That wasn’t to say it was useless though. 

With the HMG attempting to flatline me, it gave a gap for one of the Knights to rush forward and get into their line, though he was momentarily held back by several borged-out Cultists. Only momentarily.

With more time, he could easily break through. And indeed, already he'd cut down two of the borged cultists without much issue. Unfortunately, he didn't have time as the cultists started surrounding him.

I swiftly loaded another grenade and lined up the shot. Last time was just too short. The grenades had more drop on them than I thought they would’ve, so I adjusted appropriately this time. 

I abandoned my position once more as I fired a grenade, doubling back close to where I first fired to break the pattern of my movement. Screams rang out as the grenade exploded. Through the gaps between boats, I spotted the defensive line starting to collapse. 

Another Knight made it through, swiftly cutting the HMG to pieces as well as its operator. She struck with fury, her twin shortswords making short work of the defensive line. Each of her arms seemed to be able to move freely, one sword cutting through a cultist's tactical gear easily while the other neatly blocked most of the shots fired at her.

The fighting only snowballed from there as I stored away my launcher and joined in with my rifle. With their defenses shattered, it took no time for the Knights, remaining Squires, and me to clean up the cultists. 

Once the fighting was all over, the Knights gathered around where the injured one was leaning against a box. A couple of the Squires grouped up too, but most of them were running around scavenging what supplies they could. 

I stopped briefly and stole one of the blue cloth marks from a dead Squire, wrapping it around my arm as I approached the Knights. I tried not to look at the deads’ faces, scared I’d see someone I knew lying amongst them.

“-should try and hold here. Get a regroup with whatever remains of our numbers. And Harold can’t move with the shape he’s in.” One of the Knights angrily said as I approached.

“And I’m telling you, dumbass, that’s a bad idea. What if another wave comes to attack? Is there even anything in that head of yours?” Another Knight replied.

“Look here, bastar-”

“Enough!” A knight called out, shutting them up. Unlike the others, his pauldrons were carved with wolf’s heads. One of Lord Lykos’ subordinates? “Bickering won’t solve anything…”

The female Knight in light armor appeared checked out of the conversation entirely, only focusing as I approached. “Ah, a new face…”

That drew the rest of the Knights' attention, momentarily putting a stop to their argument. I introduced myself.  “Um… Zuku Ichima, I-inquisitor Ligh’s Squire.”

The Knight seeming in charge, Lord Lykos’ subordinate, nodded his head. “Well met. You weren’t with our initial force down here before the illusion activated, yes?”

“Y-yes, sir. I j-just arrived.” I rubbed at my arm, suddenly feeling very self-conscious with all of them staring at me.

“Good timing then. Knight Tyrone, of the Blue Wolves.” The man introduced himself. “Tell me, how has the rest of the ship looked?”

“Grim. The- uh- spatial distortions and illusions turned the Crusade against itself.” I replied. 

One of the other Knights spoke up. He was the one arguing to leave. “Even more of a reason we should get out there. The more time we waste, the higher the deaths.”

Tyrone sighed, his shoulder slumping somewhat. “I agree. We have no way of finding the center of this blasted illusion, though. And traveling the ship with the Circle’s magic still active is a terrible idea.”

“Um…” I raised a hand, drawing attention back to myself. “I-I had a plan. I- uh- found an injured wolf sprite not too long ago. If I had a Knight with me, w-we could follow it back to his summoner. A Magus might have a better idea of what's going on.”

“Not a bad idea…” Tyrone tapped on the pommel of his sword. “Fine. Knight Autumn and I will go with Zuku. The rest of you, stay here. Set up a defensive position and try to gather as many passing Crusaders as possible. Explain the situation too, if they aren’t already aware.”

No one raised a fuss as the Blue Wolf laid down orders. “Yes sir!”

Not how I saw finding a Knight, but this worked out splendidly. Tyrone seemed like a guy with authority in the Crusade, him being one of the High-Lords' direct subordinates. Add on Autumn, who seemed to be a rather strong combatant? My survival chances just shot through the roof. I barely managed to suppress a smile as my plan started coming together.