TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
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Perhaps the spell of Slaanesh had finally been lifted, for Ignis felt his emotions settling into a long-missed calm. At least now, waiting for updates from all sides wasn't so torturous.
Nekomata had already dried her hair and gone back to bed. She was truly exhausted from running around with him, putting in plenty of effort during the raid.
Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten anything all day. The gnawing hunger rising from my stomach… this isn't a good sign.
Ignis knocked on Nekomiya Mana's room door, intending to ask what she wanted to eat, but the only reply was her heavy breathing.
Alright… she's really out cold.
The last two days of heightened emotions and unbridled thought had left the Salamander no time to consider his own hunger. Now, all he could feel was the thunder rolling in his gut—time to get some food.
Luckily, he had just stocked up at the supermarket recently; the fridge was full.
He focused his mind on cooking, temporarily filtering out the anxieties in his chest. His mind was exhausted; that cursed Slaanesh spell had driven his emotions to extremes, leaving him restless and irritable. Now, relaxing, he only felt a splitting headache.
With a whoosh, blue flames leapt from the stove. Ignis poured oil into the pan to heat it, preparing to fry some food. Once a pot of meat was simmering, the Salamander began fiddling with his phone.
No new messages had come in yet. Phaethon was probably still inside the Hollow with Nicole and the others. Rain was trying to dig out clues from Anton's account transactions, currently locked in a battle with the bank's security systems—getting results would take a while. As for Mr. Vito, he was probably busy tracking down every scrap of evidence related to Anton DeLuca.
There was nothing more he could do…
This feeling… it's awful.
Now, all he could do was wait, trusting his friends.
He knew the Cunning Hares would tirelessly track inside the Hollow, and Rain would give everything to dig out valuable leads. But the waiting, even a single second, was unbearable.
Emile might be in serious trouble… the timing of his abduction is far too convenient. I was just caught in Slaanesh's spell, and the little artist was kidnapped… This all seems meticulously calculated.
Should he contact Cerakos, he wondered. If his own emotions had been interfered with by Slaanesh's magic, had the Son of Sanguinius been affected too?
The Sons of Sanguinius were favored by these entities of the Immaterium—he couldn't let anything happen to them. Seeing a Lamenters fall into eternal black rage was already agonizing enough; he didn't want to fight his own people again.
Especially a friend he had only just started to trust.
The Salamander dialed Cerakos' number and, almost instantly, the call was answered.
"I heard you ran into trouble. I was just about to contact you," the Son of Sanguinius said, cutting straight to the point. "Tell me, how can I help? No hesitation."
"Not right now, but I may need you in combat later," Ignis said. "How have your emotions been lately? Anything unusual?"
"I haven't noticed anything unusual," Cerakos replied, slightly puzzled. "Cecilia, though… she seems a little overexcited."
"Hm? In what way?" Ignis immediately grew wary. The young lady was a mortal, easily influenced by Immaterium sorcery.
"Didn't we return that penguin plush? Its owner runs a gym. Seeing my physique, they said they wanted me to be a coach there," Cerakos explained, confusion in his tone.
"The civic ID came through, and Cecilia has been urging me to take the job. But you know… our muscles aren't trained—they're grown during modification."
"But Cecilia's acting like she's possessed, insisting I take the job, even buying those tight vests that highlight muscles," he added.
I really don't get her… what's going through a girl's mind at this age?
The Son of Sanguinius's worries were unique. At two meters tall, muscular, and handsome, Cerakos would easily be a gym attraction—upload a few videos online, and he'd attract plenty of female customers.
As for what Cecilia wanted, Ignis could guess. Her intentions were simple: she was attracted to Cerakos. A teenage girl, cared for by a kind, strong, blonde man—it was hard not to develop feelings.
"I think you can take that job. Just teach casually; whatever muscle nonsense you say, they'll buy it. Make sure to wear the vest and hide the black carapace neural interface," the Salamander said, shifting the topic. "I just removed a Slaanesh spell, probably from the encounter with the Slaanesh beast. I was extremely unstable, lost all calm reasoning."
"I called to confirm whether either of you showed signs of emotional instability over the past few days."
"I didn't," Cerakos answered decisively. "Everything's normal for me, but Cecilia has been a little overexcited. For safety, I'll bring her to you tomorrow; she's asleep now."
So, this attack had targeted him specifically. How did they know he would go there? Something was off…
When exactly was I led into this trap? Ignis thought, trying to piece it together.
The mental strain from extreme emotional swings made his head throb like needles. Even if he tried to ignore the pain, his mind felt like it was filled with lead.
No… his body was signaling exhaustion. Days of intense exertion required rest.
The Salamander sighed, temporarily setting aside the frustration weighing on him. It was all he could do for now.
Outside came the squeal of brakes; the engine sound was familiar—it was the Cunning Hares' small car. Since Ignis had joined, the car hadn't been used much; a three-meter giant couldn't fit inside. Luckily, Nicole had bought a truck to transport him during earlier missions.
"I'm so exhausted…" Nicole muttered, sniffing the air. "Mm, smells delicious!"
"Is it night snack time?" Billy said excitedly. The robot might not taste much, but he loved food and drink. "Looks like the big guy's back first and brought something to eat."
"Hungry!" Anby's voice was as concise as ever.
"Ugh…" The Cunning Hares' leader groaned. "Seeing that scene… and you can still eat?"
"I'm an Intelligent Construct," Billy pushed open the door, heading toward the kitchen. "What's cooking? Let me see!"
"Lots of gory imagery in the blood-plasma slices. Today's just a minor scene," Anby said, putting on slippers.
"You two are amazing…" Nicole looked utterly exhausted. "I can't eat a thing, that was terrifying."
The Cunning Hares' leader didn't move toward the kitchen, instead collapsing onto the sofa, face down, unmoving.
"Sorry, no good news," Anby said, noticing Ignis, immediately apologizing.
"It's not your fault," Ignis said, opening the fridge and handing her one of two sports drinks taped together.
"You look much calmer. What happened?" Billy Kid asked, a few steps away.
"I was under a spell these past few days, lost all composure, which pushed my emotions to the extreme. Sorry," Ignis apologized; his attitude had indeed been less than good.
"I see… that explains your odd behavior," said the white-haired robot, lifting the pot lid. "Is that stew?"
"Something like that. Want some?" Ignis walked to the living room sofa, pressing the cold drink against Nicole's arm.
"Ouch!" The leader flinched, rolling over. Pale, hair disheveled, she looked terrible.
Her eyes landed on the drink in Ignis' hand; she snatched it, twisted the cap, and gulped it down.
"At least you've got some conscience…" she muttered, empty bottle tossed back at the Salamander. "Damn… didn't expect things to get this messy."
Nicole collapsed onto the sofa again, completely drained.
"What terrible thing happened?" Ignis tried summoning some energy to calm her, but he was a bit dizzy and on the brink of collapse, he could draw nothing.
Seeing the giant almost stumble, Nicole realized how hard it had been and sighed, deciding not to stay mad.
"This is awful," Nicole said, crossing her legs. "I've never seen anything like this."
"We followed the security footage into the Hollow, Phaethon guiding us," she said. "Strangely, the Companion Hollow should have been low-activity, but the amount of Ether was astonishing."
"Yes, I nearly ran out of bullets," Billy Kid said, cleaning residue from his revolver at the table.
"If it were just some lower-level Ethereals, fine, I've seen it before. But higher-level Ethereals too… feels like something was drawing all the Ethereals in the Hollow. It was freaky."
Nicole's gaze fell on Anby, who was now napping at the table, clearly exhausted.
"Even some Notorious Ethereals showed up. A huge armored Hati. Luckily, the noisy chainsword you gave her destroyed the Ethereal's crystal shell, and Billy finished it off with a shot to the core."
"Pinpoint accuracy, that's me!" Billy said, removing the cylinder, cleaning gunpowder residue.
"To be honest, this is insane. Situations where I run out of ammo aren't common. Thankfully, by the time we reached the end of Phaethon's navigation, Anton DeLuca's phone signal was already close."
Nicole closed her eyes, frowning.
"I saw an execution…" she trailed off.
"We found five people… and they were skinned," Anby said, as usual, concise. "When we arrived, they weren't dead, but they couldn't speak; tongues cut out. Skins and clothes piled together—we couldn't tell who was Anton DeLuca."
Hearing this, Nicole's face went pale, eventually turning ghostly. She leapt to the bathroom, and soon vomiting could be heard.
"The skinning was precise… terrifyingly so. Feels like a warning," Billy said without looking up, focused on his weapon maintenance. "Big guy, what did you provoke?"
A skilled skinner could remove a person's skin intact, leaving them alive for a short while afterward… the technique was excellent.
"One of Chaos' minions, far more dangerous than Razor," the Salamander admitted. He couldn't lose his friends' trust.
"Need help?" Billy clicked his revolver closed, cylinder spinning satisfyingly.
"Of course," Ignis nodded. "Emile is in serious danger…"
"I like that kid, so I'll help," Billy said, unusually serious. "But next time, don't hide things from us… Nicole was terrified."
"Sorry," Ignis said. "I only just learned about these complications in the kidnapping. Otherwise, I would have investigated myself."
"By the justice of the Starlight Knights, these guys threatening New Eridu must be eliminated," Billy said, spinning his pistols and clicking them back into holsters. "They must pay—not just for Emile, but for the city's safety."
The Salamander found the serious tone of the robot unexpectedly cool… reminiscent of a western gunslinger.
"How long until we can eat? I'm starving…" Billy suddenly clutched his stomach, shrinking back into his seat, losing all momentum from earlier.
Can this robot really even feel "hunger"…?
===BREAK===
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