CH623

A squidlike head atop a nearly human body, Ben would have recognized it anywhere, not just from what he’d seen in the dead god’s trial but from his eternity decoding languages within the archive too, making their appearance all too familiar to him as he took a breath.

I hate Galwax, I don’t hate his people. One of them even improved my enchanting by a mile. Be cool.

“Oh, not insane yet neighbour, just indulging in a touch of despair first. I think I’m done for now.”

He looked around his new environment as he said it, finding more and less than he would have hoped for. The room he was in was nearly entirely empty, save for a block about a foot by a foot in size, but he’d had more space to use than he would have hoped either.

His prison looked to be roughly three meters by three meters in all directions, giving him space to move at least, even if the neighbours left something to be desired.

Left, right, top, and bottom, all around him were more cells, each filled with a different race in varying states of wellness. Really, the galwaxian was the only one who seemed at all sane, with the rest either screaming in madness, shaking, or otherwise looking completely unresponsive.

Dead? No, it looks like that one’s breathing at least which is an okay sign, if something goes wrong my corpse isn’t going to be left here to rot. The issue is on the opposite end of the spectrum. I may not know when Galwax’s world fell, but it’s definitely been hundreds of years, maybe over a thousand and there’s no way they live so long. Our lifespans have to be being extended while we’re in here.

Since king of sacrilege didn’t suppress any beneficial effects the gods gave he was willing to bet he’d be covered by it too, for good or ill. If the one beside him meant he was right about him being there for decades or centuries then there could easily come a time where he’d want death as an escape or mercy.

But let’s not worry about that. I will get out of here, the question is only a matter of how and… Oh. Oh, that’s not going to be good.

He hadn’t realized it immediately but as soon as he’d been sent to his new prison it had broken the effects of bind for him. It was too coincidental for him to believe that Thera had been killed at the same time, but she wouldn’t know that. The only thing she’d be aware of was that sometime after being dragged through the demon’s gate, their connection had broken, and she’d know he wouldn’t do that himself. That meant the only choice she had to go off of was to assume he’d been killed.

He didn’t know how she’d react to that but knew it was likely going to be bad for the demons at least, and with nothing he could do to change that where he currently was he did his best not to focus on it, knowing his only chance at correcting any assumptions made about his demise was to escape.

There were a lot of other things going through his head after having been dragged there too but what he focused on first was what laid directly outside his prison, the mysterious domes around the portals, each one pricking at his sacrilege in a way different from the barrier that held him.

His prison scratched at it due to the power of the god that filled it but the dome was different. Whatever it may have held gave him the same feeling he got any time he saw a person, with one potential implication coming to mind, something that could not only help him get home if he could only escape but would also explain the demon race’s power to conquer the stars as well.

But if they’re what I think they are… Oh boy, that’s going to get really complicated when I get back. Okay, ignoring it for now.

Reaching that was going to have to be the last step in a plan that didn’t have a single one before it figured out, he first needed to discover how to break the cage that held him and for that, he turned to the only conversation partner it seemed he’d be getting for a while.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Hey neighbour, I don’t suppose you’ve seen anyone escape in your time here, have you?”

The question was greeted with a mad cackling, the galwaxian getting what words out he could in between quick breaths.

“Oh, and now he wants to escape!” It cried out. “Oh, to still be so young, to still feel that touch of hope! That will end soon enough.”

“You could have just said no.”

“Of course not, there’s no escape so the sooner you accept the reality of the situation the better. You and I are in this for the long haul.”

“Okay, good talk but I’m not ready to give up quite that fast.”

“I take it you’re young for your kind?” He suddenly asked Ben. “You sound like it. Look around you. Do you really think nobody else here has attempted to free themselves? Don’t waste your time.”