Chapter 82: Eighteenth Floor

Lumière knelt within the endless darkness of his mind's abyss, staring at the threads that connected him to individuals far away. He grasped at each thread, pulling them close to him as he spoke in an illusory tone, casting his murmurs far into the distance.

"Leiden, Middle Borough, Main Street, Show hall. Create a distraction. Draw the attendants outside once the clock in the middle of Leiden chimes."

From around Leiden, multiple figures sensed the voice echoing inside their minds. They glanced up towards the sky, aware of their Master's instructions, excited, and curious.

When Lumière had finished giving instructions to the members of the Mythos Garden, he exited his mindscape, returning to the present moment. He stood inside of Etten-Leur with Cecilia Yuran, making their way to the eighteenth floor. She had awaited him, imagining that he was simply resting for a moment.

"So, is your personality just a mask to hide behind?" Lumière questioned, getting back onto his feet.

Cecilia turned towards Lumière, her expression blank. "All of my emotions died along with me. If I can't pretend to be who I used to be, then I would quickly be discovered. How can I expect to live a normal life if I can't do this much?"

"Now that I know, you'll act as you would in private, is that it?"

"Would you rather I smile when I'm around you, Mr. Croft?"

He shrugged in response. "It would definitely make being around you less anxiety-inducing."

"Oh? Are you that fearful of me, Heretic?"

"Forget it. We're almost there."

To climb to the eighteenth floor of Etten-Leur, it was a matter of ascending dozens of towering staircases that stacked atop each other. It didn't tire out Cecilia in the slightest, whose weary flesh was constantly regenerated in order to keep herself upright. However, for Lumière, whose body remained entirely mortal, he had to take several breaks along the way to catch his breath. As he did so, he glanced at Cecilia, wondering.

"Do you feel fear, Ms. Yuran?"

"Fear is an emotion, Mr. Croft."

"So that's a no…" He sighed. 'It's too bad. I was hoping I could scare her in order to use 'Fear Absorption', gaining some semblance of strength in my body. I'm growing more exhausted with each step…'

He was still very hesitant to use Lord Sinner's abilities, albeit the times he had used them out of desperation. He didn't want to bend to the evil Deity completely, becoming part of his plan, whatever it entailed. He had said it many times before- that he intended to defy destiny.

Still, climbing was a nuisance. He was alright with being hypocritical to his own decisions in order to alleviate inconveniences. He let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the crumbling stone-brick wall of the staircase's hallway. 

"If you're this tired already, Mr. Croft, imagine the plights of those that live higher up."

"Criminal groups, most of them. I'm pretty sure that Black Rats operate out of the nineteenth floor, just one floor higher than where we are now."

"Still, they're people too."

Lumière stifled a laugh. "Perhaps."

They had arrived on the eighteenth floor of Etten-Leur. Unlike the first floor of the towering stone city, which was constantly flooded by rainfall, and the drainage of the middle borough, the higher floors were devoid of rain. In that way, Etten-Leur was one of the only places in Leiden where one could feel that it didn't rain at all.

That was because Etten-Leur was the size of a city. It was one of the largest monuments designed by the Goddess known as the Architect. It had initially been intended as a second city beside Leiden. However, due to their proximity, as well as the growing population centuries ago, the two had been connected, and Etten-Leur became the home of the impoverished and the criminal. 

It had been built to last, but the 'wars' between the criminal gangs on the eighteenth floor had caused it to fall apart in disarray. The grander structure remained intact, but the interior of the eighteenth floor had fallen apart entirely. Buildings once inhabited had turned to rubble and stone. The cracks in the floor were filled with the marbling of dried blood of fallen criminals, and of flora that sprouted up from the moisture. 

'The question is, what are Nameless doing here in an uninhabited area? If killing and parasitising people is their means of bringing about their Goddess's descent, then it would make no sense for them to be here in a place where no people live…'

Lumière's eyes widened as he had a horrifying thought.

'Wait, that's exactly it. No one 'lives' here at all. This is where criminal gangs fight out bloody wars. However, the Nameless are incapable of dying from the means that those criminals would use. Is it the case that the Nameless that remain here participated in these wars? It could be that they initially parasitised criminals from the Black Rats or other associations, and were forced to take part in these fights in order to keep their identities secret.' Lumière's mind raced. 'Of course, that was an obvious conclusion. The Nameless could be anyone, so why couldn't they also be criminals? It might be the case that the Black Rats aren't the only ones with Nameless amongst their ranks. The Blackfeather Group might not necessarily be safe either. How terrifying. I'll have to keep that in mind for when I next see Constantine.'

Lumière and Cecilia crept silently through the darkness of the eighteenth floor. Because the Nameless were more adept to seeing in the dark of the night, Cecilia led Lumière by the hand to their destination, where she had last seen the remaining Nameless grouping together. 

It was like a hellscape, a remnant ruin of war. A thick mist settled around them, cloaking their vicinity in an eerie mood that made Lumière shiver, Cecilia unperturbed. Unfortunately, his own fear wasn't an adequate source for his abilities.

Suddenly, Cecilia stopped moving, grasping Lumière's hand even tighter. Her eyes widened, and her gaze shot to the right. There was a person standing beside them, peering through the film of diaphanous mist. Their eyes were red, maddening, cracked and blistered around the edges. Their skin writhed like thrashing tendrils, and their smile was inhuman, stretching to the edges of their cheeks.

Lumière, sensing the disturbance yet unable to see, raised his gloved right hand and whispered, "Ignición," his vision becoming clearer as a dancing silver flame appeared in the palm of his hand. He saw five people standing beside them, staring at them like empty dolls, unmoving.

'Why didn't Cecilia detect them!? If it wasn't for the bloodstains that litter this place, my blood tracking would have detected them…' Lumière's thoughts raced, reaching into his jacket to procure Cerces. 

Cecilia reached into her jacket at the same time, pulling out vials filled with a crystalline-white substance. It was saltpeter, an allergen to the Nameless. She crushed the vials in her hands, biting her lip to avoid crying out in pain before throwing the handful of crystals towards the creatures. As it made contact with their skin, it began to writhe even more rapidly, melting away into puddles of fatty liquid that dripped towards the floor, revealing their true forms.

While the Nameless writhed in agony, falling to the ground as they convulsed, shifting into their true, horrific forms, Lumière cut a slit into his palm with his blade. He dashed towards the creatures, spilling his blood into their mouths, activating his 'poisoned blood' ability at the same time. 

Unlike Cecilia, he could sense the innate fear inside of the creatures- the human wills that remained within them. It was like a constant screaming, agonised wails that cried out to be saved. However, Lumière knew better than to fall to guilt when listening to them. He had heard those wails far too many times in the past. He knew that only their anguish remained. 

He ignored the cries and reached out towards them, pulling the fear from the creatures and absorbing it into his body.

'I wonder why Ainsworth and Meraline Avelis didn't use saltpeter when we fought against that horde of Nameless in Oost-Souburg? Was it because they had been terrified by the sudden appearance of Asmodeus? This almost trivialises the fight against them…'

The agonising effects of the saltpeter only lasted a minute, and the Nameless slowly got onto their feet, which had doubled in length, growing fine spider-like hairs. Each one of them had sprouted several other limbs, which supported their thin, lanky bodies high above Cecilia and Lumière.

'So they can take other forms… I wonder what it depends on, personal preference perhaps?'

Lumière wasn't worried about the creatures taking on such a large appearance. After all, it was just a matter of time- time that had been bought by the paralysing effects of the saltpeter. He watched as the creatures began to convulse, spewing foam and greyish-white fluids from their horrifically-disfigured mouths onto the ground below. Each one began to collapse in front of him, a mixture of flesh and bone on the ground below.

That was the effect of his poisoned blood, the culmination of his experience gained when first fighting against a Nameless beast.

As soon as it had started, the fight was over. That was the outcome of thorough planning. However, the clearing of the eighteenth floor was just the start of Lumière's conspiracy. As he watched one of the Nameless's corpses begin to churn once more, still living, he grinned. 

"Let's start the grand final performance of a magician, shall we?"