Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 48

Chapter 471

Ignis's reddish-brown and black hair were covered in the sterile dark ash, with Iratus trying to brush some off.

Iratus, "You good?"

Iratus himself had some ash on him, but since it was mostly on his Gamberson arms, it was mostly fine.

Ignis, "What do you think?" Then she calmed herself, still gritting her teeth. "Sorry love. I am just worried my fur will be ruined to the detriment of your pleasure."

Iratus, "Don't worry, I'll get vengeance for you."

The bronzeborn was already fleeing, though it could only walk away, and Iratus quickly caught up with it with his hammer out. Ignis would also begin to follow as Iratus confronted the bronzeborn, which, now close up, saw a few new changes to the creature. The creature was a lot more like the ashborn in its lizard-like appearance, with only the torso and face being the last vestiges of that smooth human-like visage.

Iratus playfully, "Where you going, buddy?" Then, with seriousness, "Are you that Sin Lord guy?"

The bronzeborn paused only for a second before it raised its arm forward, and heat started to radiate out of the statue creature. The monster started to lash out its fists, though Iratus did pretty well, slapping away the hands with his hammer. Ignis came up with her crowbar and took a swing at the creature's head. There was a loud clank, and the creature staggered around.

Before Iratus could launch his own series of attacks, the bronzeborn glowed hot, with its metal burning and the heat waves causing him to turn away. Iratus tried his best to look at his foe, but he couldn't see through the tears every time he was close to it. Ignis didn't fair much better with her crowbar swings going wide.

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Chapter 472

Iratus jolted as a fist slammed into his shoulder and nearly sent him to the ground. Ignis again attacked the creature's head and left a crack, which poured out even more heat. The bronzeborn was completely glowing, and Iratus kept running back in an attempt to get an eye on his foe, with the creature usually attempting to catch him. Suddenly, the monster would turn to harass Ignis, who was trying to stay back and recover before going in, but when the bronzeborn reached out for her, Iratus came in with his hammer to strike the monster's head.

His eyes were closed from the intense heat, and he barely clipped the creature. Iratus had no choice but to retreat further away and rub his eyes, but the bronze monster continued to chase after him.

Iratus thinks, "I've had to dodge being grabbed by almost every monster, but I think this is the worst one to get grabbed by; maybe the Edax could beat it in deadliness, but that heat is far more troublesome and damaging. What am I supposed to do?"

The entire bronze creature was lit up, smoking the grass underneath, and being within a few feet of the being was enough for Iratus to swing wildly and try anything to get away from the heat. Eventually he and Ignis would meet up in the watery soup that the rice grew in, which gave the bronze monster a momentary pause, which gave Iratus and Ignis time to slap water on themselves.

Iratus, "It's not making the burning go away. Silver chains!"

Ignis kneeled down to soak her limbs in.

Ignis, "By the one God!"

Then a bust of steam and splattering water caught their attention as the bronzeborn walked into the watery field. Iratus quickly got out of the water to have maximum mobility, as the water was just slowing him down. He then stayed on the hill to hold the high ground as Ignis went to flank the creature as it continued to move toward Iratus. The creature thought for a second, looking back and forth between the two, but since Iratus made sure he was always the closest, the creature continued its warpath.

Iratus was struggling to think of an idea as he would always be blind going in, but when Iratus saw the bronze creature out of the water with cracked legs, he immediately thought of an idea. The legs of the monster were slowly starting to heat up again, so Iratus moved fast.
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Chapter 473

Iratus, "Back me up, love!"

Iratus ran down to the bronzeborn, and just before he ran into it, he fell down with his legs grappling his foes, and he tried to trip it backwards. Only with Ignis's help could the monster topple over into the watery field below.
 
Immediately, the water erupted into steam and came to a boil, and the monster's bronze body cracked, popped, and nearly split in several areas. The party, back off from the burning steam, though once they realized their own pain, went for the water with Ignis washing her arms and Iratus soaking his legs because even though his pants did not burst into flames, it was still enough to leave a mark on his fur and skin.

A second passed, two, three, and then Ignis walked up to the bronzeborn, who was finally inert.

Iratus, "Is it dead? Should we smash it?"

Ignis, "It remains unmoving, my love."

Iratus stood up and looked over at the bronze monster. It appeared that the cracks were wide enough to reveal the insides, which looked like more molten bronze, which was quickly hardening.

Iratus, "Can you rip it apart more with your crowbar?"

Ignis gave a shrug and tried to damage the creature more, but didn't get too much damage in. With that, the two would continue to soak in the water, trying to stop the pain the heat left on them.

Ignis, "That was so atrocious, and it was merely a singular creature."

Iratus, "Sing it."

Iratus took off hs pants to see his skin under his fur be blistered and red.

Ignis, "You good?"

Iratus, "I don't think its serious. It just hurts is all."

Ignis, "This isn't the first time we have seen burns. The water here might be a little too cold, but it is all we have."

Iratus, "We got the medical stuff back home."

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Chapter 474

Back at the tower, Iratus was having his legs bandaged by Ignis. The other girls were also around, making food or doing other various chores.

Resonantia, "I congratulate you on your fight."

Iratus, "Yup, champion of the world."

Aestus, "All the worlds in here!" she finished with a giggle.

Ignis finished with her work, and Iratus started to put on his pants.

Victoria, "We still have those giants and dead-looking human- thing, right?"

Iratus, "I suppose so. The only real question is whether or not they are still around here."

Resonantia, "We shall see."

Once he was feeling better, he would hug and nuzzle each of his loves, and they each gave a chuckle.

Iratus, "Have I mentioned that I love you all lately?"

Aestus, "You do so all the time, but I won't ever tire of hearing it."

Victoria sat down with several plates of food, and the group would dig in.

Resonantia, "How about I go invite the others to indulge in our dinner?"

Iratus gave a thumbs up, while the other three gave various 'yes' noises.

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Chapter 475

On day 67, Iratus went back to the burned-down castle and into the underground part of it. It was still something of a mine with all the beams and whatnot, but instead of stone was the wooden husk of the castle. Iratus came upon the wide room with the slag-stained and hardened pool of metal in the middle of the room.

Iratus saw Venatio with a mining pick, a chisel, a journal, and a few other tools.

Iratus, "There you are. Where did you find those?"

Venatio, "Someone had to take the leap and figure out this thing. As for the tools, one just has to look for where a tool would naturally be."

Iratus, "You make it sound like this is the most important task ever."

Venatio, "Not really; I'm just curious. I'd go down in history if I could just dissect this pool."

Iratus, "Do you want me to hang around or something? We have already lost one old person; we don't want to lose another."

Venatio, "I do not require another body around. I am fine here, and if trouble shows up, I'll deal with it."

Iratus watched as the old fox woman broke pieces off of the pool, examined them, and even bagged a few of the pieces.

Iratus, "What do you hope to learn?"

Venatio, "Secrets. That bronze monster pulled in the metal and left all the rest. Even if I can't figure out how the process is done, even what's left here is a fountain of information. One step is one step in science."

Iratus, "Okay then. I'm going to take a look around real quick."

Venatio, "Have at it."

Iratus did his best to maneuver around the area, but with so much debris, he couldn't actually move inside the castle, so he walked back to Venatio.

Iratus, "Nevermind." After a minute, "Why here of all places? The pit."

Venatio, "You might be able to tell, but there is an actual forge down here. This pit is all that remains of it after the bronze creature was formed."

Iratus, "I guess I arrived as the creature was made."

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Chapter 476

Venatio, "The problem was that all of this was made by an intelligent mind. I don't know how smart the born things are, but we have only seen them as mindless as all the other abominations."

The mouse boy shifted his posture as he stood around.

Iratus, "I'd say it ties with the treeskins; actually, the big ones display some tactical thought. Ah, the metalheads, they tie with them."

Venatio, "But we have accounts of the born monsters doing something similar. God, these things all feel like hive-mind creatures; even that stupid bronzebon was just a hollow mess. I can't imagine how any of these creatures work."

Iratus, "I saw you discard that corpse; was there really nothing to it? How did it generate the heat?"

Venatio, "I saved some of the goo, but it's basically an inert nothing. Everything else is just...bronze."

She gave a sigh.

Venatio, "And don't ask me how they generated heat. I've got nothing."

Iratus gave a shrug and then said, "Alright then. I'm heading out."

Iratus left but walked around the castle area, looking around to see if there was anything more. He sighed after a while since there just wasn't anything else and headed back home. He met Victoria half-way, and the two went hunting before heading back, catching two rabbits in the process.

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Chapter 477

Day 85 started quite normal with everyone doing their normal chores, but then there was a slow creaking sound as the air started to become suffocating.

From the commons area, Iratus, Resonantia, Victoria, and Aestus stood up from the table.

Aestus, "It's another Darkest Day!"

Iratus, "Then we are going on high alert. I hope everyone remembers their place in the plan."

But everyone was already moving to do their job.

Victoria, "Ignis and Venatio are over at the burned city."

Iratus, "I'm on it!"

Iratus walked down the stairs, and just before he reached the door, the familiar feeling of falling through the world happened, which nearly made Iratus stumble over.

Outside, he moved with quickness down the new wilderness road that had been slowly forming from everyone's' travels. Aestus grabbed the chickens, while Resonantia ushered in the two kids.

The blue sky turned black, and a force of wind slammed across the land, not as a natural wind but as one single force with a wail following it. Iratus didn't have to travel far when Venatio and Ignis came around the river.

Ignis, "We're good; we must flee into the tower!"

Suddenly, the river started overflowing and flooded the area, soaking everyone's feet and soon ankles.

Iratus, "Being in the water when reality is breaking down, I think I found a new phobia."

A tree nearby that was sick with a normal tumor-looking thing started to melt and topple over with the disease, inflating into a large bulbous nightmare of wood.

The three were able to make it to the tower with no other trouble and meet up with the others.

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Chapter 478

Everyone was stiff as they waited out the Darkest Day.

Iratus, "So, it would have been worse if we kept the reality shard?"

Venatio, "Right."

The two kids looked at Venatio and Iratus in confusion.

Venatio, "We could have left the shard in the machine, but since it was useless to us, returning the remaining shard into reality should have had positive results."

Resonantia, "Lucky us."

The otter girl tilted her head.

Fuligo, "If I remember correctly, the shard...fixed some of reality?"

Venatio, "Returned to its normal state, but as you can see, there is just too much missing to stop all this."

Victoria, "To channel my inner Fractura, it'll buffer out eventually."

Venatio, "I can only hope. The universe can only hope."

A ghostly wail howled as it circled around the tower, as if something were indeed outside. Everyone continued to stressfully stand on guard, but Aestus frowned at the seriousness of everyone.

Aestus, "How about I make some fruit snacks?"

The tension did actually wane a little.

Iratus, "You are too kind, love."

Aestus playfully, "And don't you forget it." She finished with a devilish grin.

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Chapter 479

After ten minutes, the roaming wailing somehow made its way inside the stones of the tower itself, and the screaming began with the sound of bodily harm and breaking flesh moving with the screaming. There even came a point where the walls themselves would bleed. Everyone did their best to stand silently and continue waiting for it all to end, and the sheer amount of time the terrifying things happened, the more resilient everyone became.

Ignis, "Are the walls bleeding? The stupid reality does not know the amount of work it is creating for me!"

A few chuckles rang out at that.

A few more minutes passed with the sounds of people coming from the walls; most were from unknown languages, but a few Iratus could understand:
"Proof of the Divines."
"The star moves away."
"Fire all cannons!"
"I will fix it, as always."
"The warden wakes."
"Emergency alert, code five! Emergency alert, code five!"
"Forever darkness was only ever an illusion."
"Wastefulness."

Iratus looked out a window and saw nothing, though he did see the flood receding. A few more minutes after that, the Darkest Day finally ended, and everyone walked outside to see the damage. The blood from the walls ceased to exist, while the local area was mostly undamaged. Victoria and Ignis did their best to save the garden, while Aestus and Resonantia grabbed several fish that the flood left on the ground.

Iratus, "Looks like it wasn't that bad."

Venatio, "Inside and out of the storm. Of course we didn't suffer the worst part of the storm, but I will admit that it did seem a little tame than usual."

Iratus, "Are you saying that all the crazy monsters were out here waiting for us?"

Venatio, "Yes. If we had continued to be outside, we would have been assaulted by the worst these things have to offer. Regardless, a Darkest Day, often changes the world, so let's see what has changed."

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Chapter 480

Last Mistake was his first choice, with Iratus worrying about the priest who lived there, but the town was looking much better as Fugent Ironmane seemed to spend his free time fixing the place up. It was shocking just how many buildings he fixed, though the clashing construction materials did show just how much was patched.

Fugent, "You need not worry about my well-being, my child; I have seen far worse things than the Darkest Days."

Iratus, "Excuse me? Care to elaborate?"

Fugent, "A tale for another time."

Iratus, "How about we throw a meat party on another day, and you can come by and tell these tales?"

Fugent, "Hm...Alright. I look forward to the day."

Resonantia was traveling with Iratus, so when they left the building, she spoke up.

Resonantia, "He acts as if he has better things to do."

Iratus, "Maybe he has his own adventures he goes on."

Resonantia, "Pah. Yeah, maybe."

Next were the Kobalts, and while they lived quite far, it almost felt like it was slightly closer for some reason. Commercium and Abrasione would answer the door, and the two pairs exchanged news and events that happened on the Darkest Day.

Commercium, "Literally! Half my head was gone."

Abrasione, "I screamed till my breath ran out."

The two of them laughed.

Iratus, "Well, you're better now."

Commercium, "I've never seen an invisible monster do that. Just fricken erase part of someone. The only thing I can say is that despite seeing nothing but white, I could feel myself blink, like it wasn't truly gone, just placed somewhere else."

Resonantia, "It had to be weird feeling another body part from far away."

Commercium, "Something like that."

Abrasione, "Oh, there is some good news. Those troublesome insect panthers seemed to have left."

Resonantia, "Moved or reality ate them?"

Abrasione, "Both. All the tunnels are gone, and the creatures have migrated elsewhere."

Commercium, "And the floating, melted sword pile didn't even go after them. It's so unfair."

The conversation would die down, and Iratus and Resonantia would say their goodbyes and head back home.

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EPISDOE 48: END

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EPISDOE 48: Extras

Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 333
Does anyone think it ironic that we removed the Warden and then lost control over our station? For the sake of this report let me remind you about the Custodian of Order who was meant to stop our kind from going rouge, from breaking our codes, and to fix our broken states, and because he refused to take a side in our voting, he imprisoned he who imprisons.

Look at our current situation and tell me if removing our Warden was a sound idea, even more so with the Darkest Days taking him to who knows where in our home.

This report is about retelling how the Warden dealt with the monsters and living people in our home. He worked with the primitives and coordinated many of them. Our many towers even have evedience towers were made to incorporate people and have them work with us in correcting our mistakes. He took the battle to each and every individual monster that infected our station—not just the planets, but the ones wondering through our halls. This report is to remind people that the Warden shaped a large section of history when it comes to our Nexus Prime and how we moved from passive people to active ones and back to passive once again.

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Episode 48 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 15
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet, delicate gold chain with a small pendant shaped like a lion's glare, flashlight
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword, hammer
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 29 oval copper coins, 6 small silver bricks, 20 fine silver coins,15 fine gold coins, metal keycard

Wounds: slightly burnt legs

Relevant Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, 2 glass jar, 12 empty bottles, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, a large barrel, writing material, 73 cloaks and other clothing materials, some fabrics, 5 carts, 8 tattered tents, skin drum, beautiful arts of tropical scenery, floatation devices, wildlife figures, lots of tropical clothing, ancient era hyenafolk clothes

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 45 short swords, 47 knifes, 23 daggers, 31 metal spears, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), 3 hunting traps, 3 snares, 4 backpacks
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, flashlight
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 52 oval copper coins, 19 oval silver coins 44 ancient metal coins, 8 fine silver coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 46 copper lion coins, 5 silver lion coins, 2 gold lion coins, 57 wolfen metal coins, bronze lantern, bronze idol, some jewled trinkets, iron lantern, several large blocks of various metals.

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools, glue, sandpaper), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools, first aid kit, plenty of medicine and equipment), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding, sensual antfolk sculpture), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in), Tool Shed (fishing gear and supplies, trowel, woodcutting axe, woodworking tools, lots of rope, rope ladder, plows, hoes, sickles, rakes, shovels, scythes, chisels, anvils), Partially Built Wall, Small Cabin

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Bathhouse Reviewers (entire 80 book series), cards, Fractura's Notes, Tempestas's Notes

Year 1, Day 85

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TOWER FOLK:
Iratus of House Lionheart
mouse, male, blonde fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'4 (193cm), age: 15
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Victoria
raccoon, female, gray fur, black hair, brown eyes, 6'2 (188cm), age: 15
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Aestus of clan Riversinger
otter, female, red fur, red hair, blue eyes, 5'11 (180cm), age: 14
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Ignis Yang
red panda, female, reddish-brown/white fur, black hair, golden eye, 6'3 (190cm), age: 15
-
Resonantia Diamond Heart Steel
shark, female, blue-gray hue skin, white hair, blue eyes, 6'3 (191cm), age: 15
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CHILDREN:
Negligere
shark, male, steel gray skin, white hair, gold eyes, age: 0
-
Ruina
otter, female, orange fur, vibrant orange hair, blue eyes, age: 0
-
Gula
red panda, male, brown fur, dark brown hair, gold eyes, age: 0
-
Tenacitas
raccoon, female, silver fur, dark blonde hair, amber eyes, age: 0
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NEIGHBORS:
Venatio of Wise Storms, Mother of House Black Jewel
fox, female, red fur, red hair, brown eyes, 6'6 (198cm), age: 71

Studium of Winter Winds
fox, male, gray fur, black hair, blue eyes, 5'6, age 12

Fuligo
otter, female, black fur, blonde hair, blue eyes, 5'4, age 12

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THE COBALTS:
Commercium Jade Blue Cobalt
rabbit, male, white fur, black hair, gray eyes, 6'8(203cm), age: 24
-
Abrasione
hyena, female, tan fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'5(196cm), age: 20
-
Kuxatura
hyena, male, tan fur, black hair, gold eyes, age: 0

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