Page 2368 -- CCXXVII.

~~((National Corn on the Cob Day - page 7 of 10))~~
The vision was barely holding together now. The Beast of Lorent and its army of children were inching closer to everyone.

'I don't know,' came Pauline's reply. 'The aura makes everything more difficult.'

Well, if they were underground, then maybe he wouldn't need her to guide him. He could just start digging.

This vision wasn't yet done, though.

The crowd of monsters were rushing everyone like a flood. But at the last moment, everything seemed to slow, and Hector could see the Beast of Lorent looking back at him again.

Its form was shifting constantly between that of a rather average-looking human man and that of an almost indescribable abomination of meat and bone.

"I know you are watching, aura warrior," it said in a deep, unfamiliar voice. The sound wasn't twisted and horrible like the last time he'd heard it through the vision. It sounded much more human. Normal. Almost pleasant, even.

Which was somehow even more horrible, Hector felt.

"Find me quickly," it said, "or I shall break your toys before you get here."

Hector's jaw clenched. Toys? Did this fucking thing really just say that? And how could it possibly know--?

The vision returned to its previous speed. The fighting that broke out was immediately furious--so much so, in fact, that Hector couldn't even make sense of what he was seeing.

He put his questions out of his mind. This wasn't the time to agonize over details. He knew more than enough already.

Hector summoned all his concentration.


Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Seven: 'O, avid Seer, witness prime conviction...'
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Pauline could hardly believe her eyes. The Lord Goffe's aura had shifted again. And this time, it was expanding outward at a rate she had never personally seen before. Granted, she was still fairly inexperienced with these sorts of things, but she couldn't help staring in awe, nonetheless.

That metal of his was appearing and swirling all around him in a fury. What was he doing? Did he even know? She suspected not.