Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 211

Trip looked out onto a peculiar scene and not one he expected to see down here. Interactions between groups were typically shoot first ask questions never in the Underground, though he stood in a confused stupor for several seconds, losing the advantage.

Really, he couldn’t be blamed all that much. Never in his life would he expect to see an Inquisitor down here, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head while a Squire glared up at him in rage. His rifle dropped instinctively in an attempt to stay away from the wrath of the Crusade. Killing one of them was a fast track to being hunted down like a dog.

The Inquisitor looked a little different from the run-of-the-mill ones he’d seen and interacted with in the past. And the squire even more so. Mainly because he couldn’t really even see her in the first place. A hood covered her, blocking all but the rough shape of her head.

Said Inquisitor seemed to have kicked some rubble, causing the sound that alerted the group. He glanced apologetically at the female squire several times before addressing Trip. “Uh- hey? Don’t suppose you could forget you saw us?”

Trip frowned. ”Um-“

The chrome domes surged out of the maintenance room, guns up and ready. There was a momentary pause as they took in the scene. A whisper- one that wasn’t near low enough for what it implied- came from one of the gonks. “No one will know-“

That foolish statement was cut off as a surge of fear seemed to wash over the group of three. Trip’s fingers shook slightly before he managed to regain control of himself. He was an experienced merc, after all. Moving even while terrified was just part of the job. Still, the unsettling ghost sensation of a blade pressed against his throat wasn’t something he could just ignore. Death was near. Imminent.

He expected the chill-inducing wave to come from the Inquisitor. Their fear auras were a poorly kept secret, one that anyone who’d run into the Crusade would know about. And yet Trip still felt that particular enchantment. This was different-

His eyes caught on the squire- rather, the squire’s amber eye. It glowed, reflecting the flashlight. A feral malice seemed to ooze from the squire whose form was half lost in the shadows. Trip felt as though he stared at a wild beast, one who was just waiting for the right moment to lunge out and tear them to shreds. 

The fear was from being in the presence of a cold-blooded killer. Of a Reaper who wouldn’t hesitate to cull their lives as if they were mere grains growing in a field. He’d felt such strong killing intent before, and it never ended well. 

The chrome domes seemed to feel it too as they paused momentarily. Eventually, one of them managed to speak out. “Uh- we’ll- we’ll head back in and protect Jet. Make sure she’s safe. Let us know when we’re returning to the Sprawl Trap.”

They fled like the cowards they were, leaving Trip out here to deal with the two Crusaders alone. He put on the most friendly smile he could, hoping to avoid any major repercussions for running into the duo. Even as the fear settled around him like a noose tightening, he managed to speak, “Y-yeah. We never saw you. Don’t even know who-“

“The Blue Crusade?” Clyne chose the worst possible moment to come out of the maintenance room and check on the situation.

Trip glanced back just in time to see Clyne’s blood fade from his face entirely. He uncomfortably rubbed at his fox amulet. There was an expression on the Magus face, one that was difficult to pinpoint.

Obviously, there was fear. A healthy dose of it too. It wasn’t to the point it was impossible to move around through, but it was definitely unsettling. Then there was… hope? Happiness? A mixture of the two? It was an odd expression to see on the man considering their current situation.

Before Trip could say anything else, the Inquisitor spoke up. “Hmm… a whole group? Is this what you were talking about, squire? Are they with them?”

A long moment of silence stretched. The duo were obviously looking for something. For someone. With just a few words, their entire group could be damned and have to fight their way out. He wasn’t so confident that they’d win- at least not without major sacrifice. He’d seen enough of the Blue Crusade to know the horror stories about them weren’t just made up. Even if they did make it out, if an investigation was launched? It wouldn’t- couldn’t end well.

”Probably not.” The squire finally spoke, her voice ringing gently in Trip’s ears. He was surprised by how nice her voice was. He expected a deep, gravelly voice that fit the feral, untamed vibe. Instead, it was soft and gentle, albeit seemingly uncaring. “Probably the group that dealt with the Perviders.”

Trip felt a deep temptation to shift his flashlight just slightly and push back the shadows covering the squire’s face to get a look at her. Then another chill went down his spine as he felt that’d be a decidedly bad idea. Her eye gleamed like a cat’s as if she could tell exactly what he was thinking.

”Ah! Then we should thank you! It's a meritorious service cleaning out the Underground.” The Inquisitor’s attitude did a one-eighty as he nodded his head happily. 

The fear pulled back, though Trip knew better than to think he was out of danger entirely. At the very least, the mood wasn’t as tense. “No problem. It’s what we should do.”

”Hmm…” The Inquisitor reached out and petted something. He’d been around Clyne enough to realize it was most likely a sprite. “I’d write a letter of commendation… Does that still happen on land?”

Trip had no idea what he was talking about, though he did see an opportunity. “That’s alright… if you could just point us to the way out, that’d be more than enough. We’re a little… lost.”

Clyne seemed to tremble in excitement next to him for a moment. What’s up with him?

Trip pushed the Magus’s reaction to the back of his mind as the Inquisitor replied. “It’s, uh, squire? Where are we again?”

The squire sighed, pointing down the tunnel. “Go down that way until you stumble across a subway platform. Should be an exit over there. Comes out behind… Consumers’ Market, I think.”

”Thank you-“

Trip cut himself off as a large fox materialized just next to him. He cast a questioning look to Clyne, who for all intents and purposes should’ve been incapable of summoning another sprite. The small Magus just shrugged tiredly. His exhaustion looked as though it’d doubled, the guy incapable of hiding it any longer.

The Inquisitor and Squire went silent as the large fox appeared, watching the furry sprite. It seemed to bask in the attention, striking several poses as if to show off its good sides. Then, as if deciding all sides of it were good, the crazy beast strutted around the place.

Trip immediately raised his hands in surrender. Summoning a sprite could be seen as a threatening move. “We mean no harm.”

“Uh- yeah. Sorry.” Clyne shrank back. He seemed to communicate with the fox briefly. The fox put on a depressed look, glancing at the duo of Crusaders for a long moment before slowly slinking back into the maintenance room. 

Was it just Trip, or did it seem almost… hesitant to follow Clyne’s command? Surely it was just him. Sprites almost always followed their summoner's commands without question. At least, as long as it wasn’t against the Eidolons’ tenets.

“Well, then, we’ll be on our way.” The Inquisitor nodded down the tunnel and started to walk off. “Stay safe!”

A moment later, the beautiful voice of the Squire called. “Wrong way, sir.”

”Ah, right!” The guy came back, heading in the opposite direction. “Then we’ll be on our way!”

The squire sighed deeply before trailing after him, leaving Trip and Clyne to stand outside of the maintenance room alone. Trip felt a bolt of relief strike him as things started to go well for once. They knew the way out—which was actually pretty close—and had a sprite to carry Jet. Plus, with the addition of the Sprite, they held the majority once more. Chances of betrayal were negative.

Speaking of, he cast a curious gaze on the Fox Magus. “How’d that happen?”

Clyne immediately knew what he was talking about. “I don’t know? I’ve been trying since we stopped to rest… all of a sudden, several of them started fighting

Trip cast his gaze back to the Crusade duo. The squire had vanished into the shadows, leaving just the Inquisitor in full view as they headed down the tunnel. Whatever happened, there was no doubt this was a fortuitous encounter. One that would be best not to dig too deeply into. ”C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

— — —

We left the ragtag group of mercs behind. Honestly, when the Inquisitor tripped over rubble and made such a racket, I thought we’d have to fight our way out. Thankfully, the first guy that came out—an ex-soldier from the looks of things—was quite reasonable and dropped his rifle as he saw us,

Then the other two came out, and I used Fear the Reaper for the first time to good effect. They almost immediately ran away, leaving the talking all up to the ex-soldier. If I was the leader, I’d kick them out of the group immediately. What if we attacked? Separated like that, it’d only weaken the group as a whole. And I knew that their particular maintenance room only had one way in and out. There was nothing to guard against. Simple cowardice.

Sprawl Trap though… was that where they got their gig? I’ve been meaning to go by a merc dive at some point. Just haven’t had the time… Sprawl Trap. I mentally made a note to check it out once I found time. Merc dives were a great place to start growing rep across the city and not with just one fixer like I’d been doing. Should be able to get better and more varied jobs with a good city-wide rep.

For my first time running into an unrelated group down here, it was a lot less violent than I thought it'd be. Granted, that was probably thanks to the fact the group had just overcome a massive battle with dozens of overgrown spiders. Can’t really fault them for wanting to avoid further conflict.

And that fox sprite had indeed been quite cute. Seriously, sprites were the best. Hmm… should I look into becoming a Magus? I’ve shot down such thoughts before a couple times… I was already technically a pseudo-Magus under Crow since I was able to summon Crow’s Greater Sprite, Corvid. Just couldn’t use magic like a Magus. Anyway, I could think about it later.

”It should be just up ahead. A subway platform.” I called out to the Shark Magus. He was… noticeably bad at getting around silently. His every movement seemed just a little awkward as if he wasn’t used to using his legs to walk around. 

Varus nodded to me as he played with the shark sprite. He was easygoing, at least, so he wasn’t a pain to drag around. “If you say so.”

We kept walking a while longer before turning out into a familiar subway tunnel. Then, a little after that, we arrived at the subway platform that Mira and I had come to oh so long ago. It was oddly nostalgic, though in a slightly threatening way?

The mutant ghoul had been cleared up at some point, probably by some kind of scavenger looking for a meal. Still, I kept my rifle up and ready for an attack. Maybe a trauma from the last time? I felt incredibly unsafe as we moved up.

The Fedra corpses had likewise been cleaned up at some point, though it looked as if it was humans this time. Probably FSA troops. There were footprints and drag marks, all looking months old. They were so old, in fact, that the shadow tracking of Panther’s Sight couldn’t even pick up on them.

We made our way deeper, entering the massive storage chamber. It looked almost exactly as I remembered. Stacks and stacks of crates lined the place, sitting in shallow water. The water was incredibly murky, covering up the floor entirely. If I was right, under that layer of murky water would be the engravings of a ritual circle.

The biggest differences between then and now were the signs of people. Several of the crates had been cracked open, revealing useless junk that was practically trash thanks to age and rust. The mounds of skeletons had also been cleaned up. This place no longer looked like a mass burial site.

The cross beams along the roof of the cavern were as rusty as the last time, though the shadows above didn’t hold nearly as much meaning. I could see even in the darkest of spaces now.

”So this is it?” Inquisitor Varus asked me as he looked around.

“Chek.” I looked around for any signs of more recent activity. Nothing. For all intents and purposes, it looked like an abandoned storage cavern. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a creeping sensation as if something wasn’t quite right with the massive place. As if something… lurked.

We both went silent, scanning the place. Nothing stood out as dangerous. Even Insight remained quiet, though I couldn’t shake off the feeling of wrongness I got. 

The Inquisitor was the first to move, the shark sprite backstroking behind him with its belly pointed straight up. “Let’s go.”

”Chek.” We moved down and toward the center of the cavern. Time to see if my guess was right.