Esper Labyrinth - ESP - Superhero - LITRPG

The swamp had retreated now.

In its place stood the pyramid. Square blocks stacked upon one another in the fashion of south American designs. The steps in front rising higher and higher until they scrambled towards the false sky of this place.

I looked up.

That was all I did.

I looked up to where the top should have been.

And saw nothing.

A gaping void that sucked in all the false light and all the false colors of this false place.

I heard the whispers.

A tingle in the back of my ears and a chill that crept up the back of my neck all at once. Bypassing all the levels in Shifter and Enhancer.

'Though, I suppose.'

'A little levity.'

'Another layer.'

'Covered in barbed wire.'

'Even now.'

'The impotence. The lack of control.'

'Control. Control. Control. Control…'

I turned again, and saw that all my Intruders were gone.

In their place, was a shadow that lengthened and sputtered to life. A doll garbed in patchwork motley. With a face of metal and a lute in his hands.

I quirked an eyebrow.

"Did Cultist Sully plan this, I wonder?"

The Troubadour said nothing.

"Well, that's alright. I suppose. This was supposed to be the Finale, as he put it. Makes sense you'd be here for it."

I snorted.

"Who knows? I might just find a way to rid myself of you for good here? Maybe you were always meant to be here and try to advance Cultist Sully's plans in some manner."

The Veiled Prince flickered. In and out of this unreality.

The Tall Man was back and I was in control again, but only for a moment.

He flickered in and out again and this time he was a slab of stone. One who just barely looked human, by virtue of the general shape and outline.

It could not move itself in the way that humans did. Those arms and legs would never budge. Instead, it began trying to manipulate the water using Projector abilities. My Projector abilities. [Unrelenting Force].

I also had no eyes, but I had a feeling it was looking right at me.

Judging.

Then it flickered again and the thing that crawled out was nightmare. One that made the memory of the Tall Man seem tame and even wholesome by comparison.

It had no eyes. No ears. No mouth, save an empty, gaping hole filled with rusty barbed wires. It had arms and legs that might have been generously described as corpse-like. It had wings without feathers. Twigs surrounded by the sound, but not the bodies, of buzzing flies. That and static.

Metal nails had been driven into every part of its body and the metal had long since rusted into an ugly orange red mixed with foul browns.

Its stomach was distended. Flabby. Like that of a victim who'd been starved for weeks and weeks on end. Like those old videos they used to show on TV about starving people in far-off places.

It was naked too. Which certainly didn't help.

Its chest heaved. And I had a sinking feeling it had been weeping. Or trying to weep, in any case.

'Another layer.'

'Covered in barbed wire.'

'Even now.'

'The impotence. The lack of control.'

'No Control. No Control. No Control. No Control…'

The whispers ceased at once.

Then the thing spoke. But not with words. It spoke with thoughts only I could feel and hear.

'Silence. Too much Silence. Make it stop.'

"Ah." I said with a sinking feeling. "You're Silent Sully's Veiled Prince."

I looked him up and down.

"And the one before must have been Perfect Sully's Veiled Prince. Gotta say. I liked that one better."

The Troubadour flickered in and out again and the next figure was, if anything, so mangled up that it made Silent Sully's Prince look cheery by comparison.

Then it flickered again and returned to the visage of a mere shadow.

The whispers returned and changed.

'Yes. Lovely. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Come down and have some breakfast.'

'Flee! The two legs come!'

'Flee! Away! Away!'

'Mean sounds! Angry sounds!'

'No closer! Away!'

'Not friend! Not friend!'

'Eats us! Chews on our bones!'

'Eats us! Grabs the tails! Bites the legs!'

'Weak. You're still this weak. But I don't care. I want to be your friend. I want to make you, the best you, that you can be. Come be my friend.'

'I Control. I Control. I Control.'

'False fur, dead fur.'

'Sharp claw. Very sharp.'

'Claw hurts the scales and hurt the friends.'

'Long ears. Dead ears.'

'I Control. I Control. I Control.'

I clenched my teeth and started moving up the steps. Feeling the stress as the weight of the whispers redoubled and then redoubled again.

'Another layer.'

'Covered in barbed wire.'

'Even now.'

'I Control. I Control. I Control.'

I climbed them with confidence. Never bothering to look back at the shadow trailing behind me.

I felt like using my own body to rise higher and higher, instead of my Psy. I could have floated up. Flown, up. But I did not want to take the chance. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel as if that would end well.

I felt… like I wanted to feel the power of this place flowing through me. Through the tips of my toes all the way to the hairs on my head. The very slabs were charged with an electrifying amount of power. One that grew to such a crescendo that it drowned out my own [Omniscience] and all the rest of my senses.

It was, difficult to describe using words.

It was as if the pressure increased exponentially to match exactly what my body was capable of, and the pulled back just a little bit. So that I felt strangely weightless in this liminal space. As if I were walking on the moon and a mass of strings were pulling me up to simulate the weaker hold of gravity.

And the sounds….

It was almost as if Intruders were floating in front of me and around us. Just out of sight.

Their forms immaterial. Their whispers, inevitable.

I began to hear a song.

A choir heralding my arrival.

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"And so dooooth he arriveeee! Here he arriveeeees! Now at laaaast!"

They chanted.

"Here his woooords turn to light! Pushing away the daaaaaaaaaark!"

I heard the strike of thunder.

"Glory!" They shouted and my voice could be heard among the lyrics.

"Star and Moon. Strength and Chariot. The Hanged Man! The Emperor is the Fool. He dances with a paper crown and the bells in his motley jingle to mark his passing!"

Another strike of lighting. Purple turning to deep bloody red as a gash appears in the skies.

Trumpets sing with every step I take.

"Glory!" The voices shouted and the whispers continued. "Madness!"

My heart, lungs, brain and limbs felt loose and warm and nice.

There was flow that led to what I wanted. To a good cause. I only needed to follow it.

I opened my mouth and words spilled out.

"The Empress is under the sea! Upside down where the Sun can't reach! Her face is black and blue!"

I started laughing. Feeling myself being controlled from the insides for yet another time. Just like in the old days of the Tutorial. I was more of a conduit than a free agent here and the power of the puppeteer… of the true future me, screamed through the air.

"Fat birds are playing in the snow! Hiding a fox under their skirts! The Magician slays the dragon with her silver wand!"

"Glory!" The voices chanted.

"Tyrant!" They accused.

"Men cheer and Women weep! Her armor glitters and sparkles! The chains! Oh, the chains! They strangle me! They strangle you! But are they touching us?"

I stood on unsteady feet once more. My steps faltering as I felt the weight of the place increasing.

There was another thunderclap.

"Chaos!"

No one tried to help me. Not my own Intruders. Not my powers. Not the faces in the stone.

Their faces were all a blur. Their bodies were solid as they froze whenever I stepped on another slab of black obsidian.

I heard the ringing of bells and the weeping of women.

"Tyrant!"

I kept going.

"Under the sea and over the stars. A thousand maggots slither. They grow big and they grow fat, before the great corpse withers."

"Coffin!" Another strike of thunder. "Kingdom!"

The slabs of jet-black stone shook beneath my feet.

"Juices fall and juices rise, dancing to the beat. Yet none will stay and none will sing, all will turn to meat."

"Glory!" Trumpets sounded in the distance, and the music took on a triumphant tone.

Or perhaps one that heralded doom.

It was hard to say.

"He comes and she comes after, burning with a vengeance. He will die and she will smile, passing down her sentence."

"Battle!" The trumpets sang louder and louder. Three bolts of lightning struck the swamp below and turned the mud into lava. Into the molten heart of a dying star.

I kept moving. Feeling the heat pushing me onwards.

"The spider looks, the spider sees, everywhere and nowhere. It is there and it is here, watching from the corner."

I pointed at the ripple. The almost imperceptible tear in reality.

I pointed at the Divine of Singing Metals.

"I see you. I know you. You cannot escape. None can run and none can hide from the Coffin or the Drake."

For a brief, surreal second, space itself stood still.

Unwilling or unable to believe it had been detected.

Not here. Not now. Not when it was supposed to sit in judgement and see all the wrongs righted.

It… she…

Was terrified of the implications. Yet she could not flee.

I laughed harder.

Pulling on errant strings attracted to the phenomenon.

Loud enough to shake the foundations of the Earth. Of all the Earths.

"Madness! Glory! Kingdom!"

"The shadows come to play and sing and dance. They stroll about the cobweb, tearing its expanse."

"Chaos! Tyrant! Glory!"

"The mirror cannot hold. The mirror cannot stay. The shards of glass will all fly out and blind those in the way."

The whole surreal, false sky was filled with arcs of purple, forked lightning.

"Madness within the Tyrant! Madness within the Coffin!"

"The Coffin is still empty, very musty and very cold. Its owner hides behind the veil, eyes glittering with gold."

"Madness within the Glory!"

The obsidian block beneath me crumpled to dust.

"Glory within the Madness!"

I stepped forward and another one formed as soon as I willed it.

"The Drake is loud and furious. Terrible in wrath. Its tendrils invite horrid doom to all within its path."

Another crowd had formed around me, watching in morbid fascination. Intruders one and all. Belonging to other Divines. Those who could, if they so chose, strike me down where I stood.

I was still, somehow laughing at nothing and everything.

"The butcher will come! With fire and sword! To cast you out of your homes and burn all that you hold dear! But I won't be here! You'll have driven me away! You'll have no one to defend you! No one!"

I looked at all of them.

Really looked.

Taking in their joys and their griefs.

The scars they carry from yesterday and all the ones still waiting on the morrow.

I took a deep breath. Preparing myself for the moment of truth.

Then, I bared it all. The shouts coming from within as well as without.

'Don't you realize! I want to help you! For no other reason than because it was the right thing to do! The only thing to do! Because I am a good person!'

I stumbled forward a bit, before catching myself.

'I Control. I Control. I Control.'

I was now at the summit.

And the music had stopped.

I turned around. Expecting to see throngs of Intruders waiting to skewer me. To see the Princes.

But they were not here.

No one was here.

I was alone.

I had always been alone.

"They are Intruders within your realm." A frog croaked. Seeming to hiccup with every syllable. His English coming across as broken beyond comprehension due to the pronunciations his throat was making.

"They are you. A part of you that lives on within your Domain. Beings made of your power. That you imagined into existence."

Another voice chuckled. This one belonging to some kind of upright trilobite. Mandibles clicking along as it spoke.

"They may copy the minds of the dead. But they are not the dead." The female of the species reminded me. "They have the thoughts and memories and feelings. But the body is gone. The potential for growth is gone. The ability to be more than what they are is gone. They are utterly stagnant. And so, they are dead."

I knew the first one was Voice of Order, so I now turned to face her. The Unconquered Sun.

"They are no different than recordings on a technological medium. Or perhaps it might be more correct to say that they are akin to generative artificial intelligences given memories to work with. Asked to play out their roles."

I grunted.

"So, what? Are you suggesting I've been talking to myself all this time?"

"Yes." She inclined her armored head. "Your pet died when you were six. The fanatic died soon thereafter. The sacrifice allowed himself to die less than a year ago. Their bodies are dead."

"As are your counterparts." Voice of Order croaked. "Though perhaps it might be better to say that they never started to live in the first place. Still, you've seen their minds and their plights. You can re-create them."

He seemed to croak with amusement next.

"Even if you don't seem to want to do it."

"Their spirits remain." I countered. "The others, I mean. Not my other selves. Their minds and their capacity to feel."

"But not their capacity to grow and thrive and multiply. As living beings should." She bit back with some spark of mischief.

"They are deader than the wood used to build the hut you were just in. Even the Symbiotes that Living Stitches makes can hope to grow with time. What does that say of your own toys?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"They are not my toys."

I then turned to the Divine in question. A second amphibious alien. Though this one was closer to a slimy salamander. Much bigger than Crushing Void's own species.

"You certainly feel that way." He allowed. "Though I do not know if I feel that way. I am, after all, a Shifter at heart."

I waved his concerns away.

"No matter. What I think of my own Intruders and how they might behave in my realm is of little consequence to these discussions. Let us speak of more productive things."

I stared into the black and yellow salamander's body. Into his black and yellow eyes.

"I want Buddy back."

He shrugged. Then he snapped his clawed fingers.

Buddy, appeared in front of me once more.

I fell on top of him before I myself finished processing what had happened and as soon as I did so, I felt his presence attaching itself to my mind once again.

"Sully! I missed you!" He cried.

I started crying too. Before I knew what to do with the sudden granting of my request.

"What?" Living Stitches asked with faux-indignation. "Did you perhaps think I would be so crass as to hold a Symbiote hostage? Me? Who fathered and shaped them? Who molded them into the perfect little buddies that they are?"

He shook his head in dismay.

"Why, the thought would never even occur to me!"

"Or rather, it occurred to you, but it was more expedient to have our old friend see us in a positive light, while he is still young." The monstrously large trilobite snickered.

"Those two do not have to be mutually exclusive." He admonished. "I can be perfectly capable of appreciating a beautiful bond while also expediting a solution in a satiation that could have turned into a crisis. I believe the notion is called multitasking? Or was the human phrase something like two birds with one stone?"

"Oh, but humans are crass, aren't they?" The trilobite snickered. "Whomever heard of throwing stones at birds?"

"Hey! I'll have you know that slings are perfectly acceptable weapons!" A massive, coiled, serpentine lizard with tiny, tiny arms and legs shouted.

The Balanced Scales was enormous, as she lay there all coiled up. If none of us had any Psy to call upon, then we'd be all grouped up as similarly sized prey animals, with her being the undisputed predator.

Her scales were a brilliant emerald green with hints of sapphire where streaks of blue tinted her colors. So that she appeared as a living canvas depicting blue sparks of electricity running across a green grass field.

Her arms and legs were much too small for her monstrous frame. Appearing almost vestigial, compared to her sheer size. Yet, she did seem to use them deftly enough, for what that was worth.

"And I'll also have you know that I myself indulged in throwing stones at birds. How else are you going to shoot them out of the sky? With bows and arrows?"

She scoffed. Feinging insult.

"Not all of us have the muscular structure to wield such tools. Are you judging me because of how my species is born? Huh? Are you being a speciest?"

"Ah, shut up." Living Stitches waved her off. "Quit trying to act all offended and let's get to the point. I'm sure our old friend here would like to be heard out."

"Agreed." Voice of Order croaked. "We have all eternity to squabble amongst ourselves. Seems a bit silly to start right now."

He turned to me.

"Tell me. Tyrant who has escaped from the Coffin. Who are you?"

That was an easy question.

"I Control." I said at once.

He let out a chuckling croak.

"Aptly put." He allowed. "You know yourself well."

I shrugged.

"It is the direction my Type took. It is what I was first inclined towards. It is what I strove to do. For better or worse."

I took another step forward.

"I am the one who foretells. I am the one who [Dominates]."

I waved off the very uncharacteristic comment. I myself didn't quite know how it had made its way to my lips in the first place.

"But enough about that. Let's talk business. As you know… actually, you all heard my pitch already and I know Singing Metals was here to some degree. I felt her here but I felt you all push her off."

"Actually, we didn't." Balanced Scales chirruped. Her forked tongue slithering in and out of her snout.

"You pushed her away. Here, we are all equals. Even if you haven't quite ascended yet."

Her tail waved to the rest of the summit. A simple platform where seats had been carved.

"As you said, your fate is intertwined with ours. We could not have gotten here without you. Nor you without us. In here, all your power is our power too and the other way goes as well. How else would the System come about? If not by the joining of our forces?"

It was a bit surprising but hey, what the gnome right?

"Lovely." I said soon after. "If that's the case, how about we go about our business and decide how we're going to settle this peace of ours?"

"I wouldn't mind that." Voice of Order said evenly. Twirling a mustache that I was pretty sure no one in his species had. On account of the lack of hair.

"So, how about this?" He began. "You need to survive and ascend in order for the System to have been created. Your echo in this side of the Veil allowed me to ascend in the first place. It allowed me to ascend as the one in first place. The first among equals."

He nodded sagely.

"With that in mind, we'll keep you here by force and train you until you can ascend. Singing Metals can do what she wants to humanity as you have done to the Kenari in your path. Tit for tat, as they say."

He croaked, as if appreciating and congratulating his own suggestion.

"Of course, she'll know that you will be in a position of equal force. Eventually. She'll know the consequences of going too far. If she does, go too far, and decides to wipe out your species, then you will later be free to wipe out the Kenari species in its entirety. The Dragon might ascend before you, though that is unlikely. Which means that Singing Metals will have to keep his life in mind as well. Perhaps she will only wipe out a few worlds in retaliation for what you've done. Perhaps the Dragon will urge her to still her blade so that may salvage what they can from their losses. Regardless, the problem will have been solved. You get to live on and ascend and protect humanity with your presence. She gets to retaliate and pay you back for your crimes against her people and loved ones. To a reasonable degree of course."

He looked to the others.

"Is anyone here in agreement?"