Reincarnated as an Apocalyptic Catalyst-Chapter 106: The Weight of the Dead

Some of us managed to sleep, though not all at once—none of us were that stupid—but in shifts, resting as best we could in the cold, damp cellar. We had to get rid of the fire before we asphyxiated, though, while Ronan was awake, he was able to produce significant heat by magical means, that produced no such ill effects. Still, he couldn’t just maintain a spell forever, as it apparently had a finite duration that it could exist under Ronan’s control. He was pretty great at everything magic based, but even someone as focused as he, could not keep something this complex, contained within his palms. He managed to stave off the chill once in a while, and that was the most we could hope for. Maybe next time we should remember blankets.

Vance was the first to conk out, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his dueling blade never more than an arm’s length away, and often even found to be cradled in his—loving? Embrace.

Nythera had curled up beneath her cloak, her breathing soft and steady. It was hard to say if she passed out due to exhaustion or overindulgence. Still, it was good to see her resting.

Despite my disbelief, it appeared at some point that he had gone completely still, his peculiar presence fading enough that he was either dead or asleep, and I wasn’t sure if he could die, so sleep had to be the logical choice.

I stayed awake quite a bit longer, both to remain a vigilant guard, and because in a way, it felt like maybe I didn’t actually require sleep. It could have just been all of my adrenaline, but maybe not, as we were on day two and I didn’t think this body could provide that much adrenaline. I chalked it up to my parasitic true form, simply using this kid as a vessel. It made sense that I didn’t exactly have to sleep, though I’m sure it would be to the detriment of the host.

At some point in the dead of night, it was as though our entire world shook down to the very core. This wasn’t just some typical earthquake, it was living, it was a natural disaster given life.

The air thickened, pressed down on us like the weight of a giant’s hand. Naturally, I had felt it before I heard it, the shivering of stone and the creaking of wood screaming around us. Dust cascaded down upon us from the ceiling and barrels threatened to dislodge from their housing.

After several seconds we were struck by another boom, causing even more disruption within the cellar. Vance had already been awake since the first thundering roar of pummeled earth. Nythera, surprisingly, managed to stay asleep through the first several booms, but as it drew closer and more aggressive, she shot up in terror, grasping her for her staff and holding it out in front of her as she tried to understand the situation.

Ronan had been unawake for an unknown period of time. He wasn’t relaxed–it was quite the opposite–the man was entranced in thought, his head tilted as he listened to each sound, identifying where the next would land.

Boom.

By this point it was clear that the sounds were coming from a bipedal creature–and a big one at that, as each step took several seconds to complete. It was getting closer, each step shaking us deeper to our core and causing shelves to crumble under their own weight.

I had no idea what it was—I couldn’t see it, none of us could—but I could feel it. The sheer size of it, the unnatural presence of something that shouldn’t exist walking through the streets above. Each step it took sent a deep, rumbling vibration through the ground, rattling through my bones. All I could do was hold my breath and hope for the best. Sure, we could peek our heads out and see if maybe we would be able to identify what it was, but a creature of that size would likely brute force its way into our safe little cellar and destroy us accidentally before it even got ahold of us.

Boom.

The ceiling flexed just slightly, just enough to make my gut clench and my courage start to wane.

Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t moving fast, it wasn’t even rampaging. It was just... walking. Taking its time. Likely with hundreds of its own allies, some of which I gained no small amount of pleasure as I imagined them being crushed beneath its feet, or kicked a hundred feet into some crumbling ruins, splattering on impact.

A heavy breath—long and slow, like wind through a canyon—rolled through the night air. The sensation of being watched crawled over my skin, even though I knew there was no way it could see us. Right? Right?

Then, just for a moment, it stopped moving. I felt Nythera grip onto my arm, which caused me to flinch for a split second, but I tried to maintain my composure, for her sake.

Nobody moved, nobody breathed, the silence stretched on and on, dragging into eternity. Then it started all over again, but now each step was growing fainter.

Boom.

Oh thank god... It kept walking with no further troubles for us, at least now. The pressure eased. The tension that had coiled around my chest loosened, but not by much. The creature—whatever it was—was still close. Still moving through the city, its steps gradually fading into the distance.

Only when the last echo of its presence disappeared did anyone move.

Nythera exhaled shakily, her voice barely above a whisper. "Oh god, oh god, what was that?!" She asked, panic coating her every word, her small hands still gripping onto me to an extent that actually caused some level of pain in my extremity. She sounded scared, but that was just a small portion of what absolute mania dwelled within.

I let out a slow breath, rubbing her arm with my free hand. "No idea, but it’s leaving now, we should be fine. I promise we won’t go after that thing unless there was absolutely no other alternative. It’s okay."

Vance took a moment to gather himself, then grunted. "No shit, despite whatever XP something like that could give us, we would likely all die in the process."

Nythera let out a trembling breath, nodding stiffly, though the grip she had on my arm didn’t loosen. She was still staring at the ceiling like she expected it to come crashing down at any second.

Ronan, silent as ever, finally stirred, his head tilting in that unnatural way of his. "It was undead," he stated plainly. "Or at least, partially."

I blinked at him. "And you know this how?"

His gaze flickered toward me, as unreadable as ever. "The sound of its breath. It carried no true life, only borrowed existence."

Nythera shuddered. "That thing wasn’t alive?"

Ronan tilted his head slightly, as if considering his own words. "Not in the way you would think."

That made sense, and I think we all kind of expected so much considering the entire world around us was undead.

Vance sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before leaning back against the wall. "Fan-fucking-tastic. A giant undead monster roaming the city. As if regular-sized undead weren’t bad enough." He shook his head. "Well, at least we know it’s not specifically looking for us."

I frowned, considering that. "Unless it was."

Nythera turned to me sharply. "Why would it be?"

"Call it paranoia, but I don’t like the fact that it stopped right over us," I muttered, glancing up at the cracked ceiling. "If it was just walking aimlessly, why pause? Why linger?" free𝑤ebnovel.com

Vance exhaled through his nose, clearly thinking the same thing. "Maybe it felt us."

"Or smelled us," Nythera added, her voice still shaky.

Ronan remained still for a long moment before speaking again. "It lacked the urgency of a hunter. It walked with purpose."

Something about the way he said it sent a chill down my spine. Purpose. Like it had a destination in mind. It was like following orders and being informed that we were in this area.

Nythera let out another shaky breath, finally pulling away from me, but only far enough to wrap her arms around herself. "I don’t like this place," she muttered. "I didn’t expect any of this when we planned to go after cultists."

I couldn’t argue with that, this was a pretty shocking turn of events, all things considered.

For a while, none of us spoke, all listening intently for any sign that the creature had turned back. But the night remained still—at least, as still as it could be anyway.

Eventually, Vance broke the silence with a yawn, stretching his arms behind his head like we hadn’t just narrowly avoided being crushed by the weight of a monster collapsing through the ceiling and killing us all. "Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m gonna try to get a little more sleep before sunrise. Something tells me tomorrow’s gonna suck."

I exhaled, shaking my head at him. "Yeah, because tonight has been great." It was kind of decent, being able to chat with everyone, but this wasn’t much of a fair trade.

He smirked. "Exactly. Gotta rest while we can, eh?"

Nythera didn’t look convinced she’d be sleeping anytime soon, but she curled back up in her cloak anyway, clearly trying to calm herself. Ronan said nothing—just resumed his statue-like stillness, eyes closed but I could tell he was aware of everything around him. Maybe it was some kind of mana-sense.

I had to try and get some sleep, but I wasn’t terribly confident.

I leaned back against the wall, rubbing my temples as my mind churned.

A massive undead creature, walking with purpose, not just any purpose, but to find us. Whether or not this thing was mindless, it didn’t matter, because he was after us.

I felt like it wouldn’t be terribly long before we started to run into similar creatures as this once we took to the surface to progress further into this hellscape.

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