The air flowing from the Queen's chamber was different. It lacked the cool, damp mineral scent of the main cavern. Instead, it was thick, warm, and pulsed with a strange, organic rhythm, like the slow, deep breathing of a colossal beast. The soft, pulsating light from within cast long, dancing shadows that made the entrance seem like the maw of some subterranean leviathan.
Zero stepped over the threshold, his knife held ready, his senses on high alert. The death of the Hive Guardian had silenced the chittering of the lesser sprites, but he was taking no chances. The chamber was not a cave of cold stone, but a living, breathing hive. The walls were coated in a tough, resinous substance that glowed with a soft, amber light, and the floor was a springy, almost fleshy membrane. The entire chamber was a single, massive womb.
And in its center, suspended from the ceiling by thick, translucent tendrils, was the Queen.
She was both beautiful and monstrous. Her upper torso was vaguely humanoid and elegantly slender, with pale, luminescent skin and long, flowing tendrils of what looked like silver hair. But below her waist, she was a grotesque, swollen abdomen, a pulsating egg-sac the size of a carriage, its translucent skin revealing the thousands of tiny, developing sprites within. She was a monarch on a throne of her own flesh, a goddess of terrifying fecundity.
Her large, liquid-black eyes, so different from the multifaceted orbs of her children, fixed on Zero. There was no malice in her gaze, no rage for the slaughter he had wrought in her domain. There was only a profound, ancient weariness.
A voice echoed in his mind, not through his ears, but as a direct, psionic impression. It was a chorus of a thousand soft, rustling whispers, all speaking as one.
*<
Zero froze, his knuckles white on the hilt of his knife. The Queen was sentient, intelligent, and telepathic. This was a detail his party had never discovered in his past life. They had simply barged in, a whirlwind of steel and holy light, and had slain her before she could utter a single psionic word. They had treated her as just another monster, another XP-piñata to be broken open for loot.
He remembered Ashe, his past self, feeling a pang of pity for the beautiful, silent creature as Leo's blessed sword had plunged into its heart. Now, he understood that pity had been for a creature far more aware than he had ever imagined.
*<
Zero's mind reeled. She knew. She didn't just sense his corrupted power; she sensed his very nature as a reincarnator. The cold, analytical calm he had cultivated was shattered by a spike of pure, primal fear. If *she* could sense this, who else could? What other ancient beings were out there, watching the timeline ripple with his presence?
He suppressed the fear, forcing it down with the cold iron of his will. He was Zero. He did not feel fear. He analyzed threats. He recalibrated. The Queen was not just a monster to be killed; she was a source of unique, invaluable information.
He lowered his knife slightly, a gesture of non-aggression. He focused his thoughts, projecting them outwards with the force of his intent. *You can sense what I am? What do you mean by 'the Glitch'?*
The Queen's form seemed to shudder, a wave of psionic pain rippling through the chamber. *<
Her words resonated with what he had already surmised. The Divine System versus his Glitch System. Order versus Chaos. A cosmic conflict he was now an unwilling, or perhaps all-too-willing, soldier in.
*And you? What are you?* Zero projected.
*<
Her mental gaze shifted to a small alcove at the back of the chamber. There, resting on a pedestal of glowing, crystallized resin, was a leather-bound book.
The Cartographer's Journal.
*I have come for the book,* Zero stated, his thought clear and uncompromising. There was no point in deception. She could likely read his intent as easily as he could read a map.
*<
Her black eyes seemed to pierce through him, seeing the grand, bloody tapestry of his ambitions. *<
*Yes,* Zero replied, his mental voice devoid of any emotion.
A long, heavy silence stretched between them. The only sound was the soft, rhythmic pulsing of the hive. Zero remained tensed, ready to dodge, to fight, to kill if necessary, despite the Queen's apparent weakness. He knew this was a critical juncture. She could raise a psionic alarm, she could self-destruct, she could have one final trap.
*<
She seemed to consider him, her ancient mind weighing possibilities he couldn't even fathom.
*<
A single, thick tendril detached from the ceiling and gently lowered the leather-bound book from its pedestal. It glided through the warm, humid air and came to a stop, hovering a few feet in front of Zero.
He stared at it, his mind a whirlwind of suspicion. This was too easy. There had to be a catch, a curse, a trap. His `[Callous]` skill was screaming at him, suppressing the natural human inclination to trust a gesture of goodwill. It was analyzing the situation for threats, and a gift from a powerful, alien creature was a massive red flag.
*What is the price?* he projected, his thought sharp as a shard of ice.
*<
As she spoke, a section of her massive abdomen became transparent, revealing a single, large, pulsating egg sack, distinct from the thousands of others. It glowed with a much brighter, more vibrant amber light.
Zero considered the request. A delivery quest. It aligned with his own goals. A place where the "System's hold is weak" sounded like an invaluable strategic location, a potential sanctuary or a place to further study the nature of his own power. The request seemed to benefit him as much as her. It was a symbiotic arrangement. His cold, pragmatic mind found the logic acceptable.
*I accept,* he projected.
The tendril holding the journal extended towards him. At the same time, another tendril carefully detached the glowing egg sack from the Queen's body and offered it to him.
He reached out, his left hand taking the worn, leather-bound journal. It was heavier than it looked, filled with dense, hand-drawn maps and cramped, elegant script. The key to his future. In his other hand, he took the egg sack. It was warm to the touch, and he could feel a faint, rhythmic pulsing from within, a thousand tiny heartbeats in unison. It was surprisingly light. He carefully stored it in his porter's pack, the `[Inventory]` skill accepting the item after a brief, glitching hesitation.
*<
The amber light in the chamber began to dim. The resinous walls started to lose their luster, turning a dull, lifeless brown. The Queen's own form began to desiccate, her pale skin turning to grey dust, her massive abdomen deflating like a punctured lung. She was expending the last of her life force to ensure his escape.
Zero gave her a final, unreadable look. He felt no gratitude. He felt no pity. He felt only the cold satisfaction of a transaction completed. He had what he came for.
He turned and walked out of the dying hive, the Cartographer's Journal clutched in his hand. He didn't look back. The past was a ghost, and the future was a war waiting to be won. And he had just acquired its master blueprint.