<EXTRACTION ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<SOUL INCLINATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<BITE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

This is going to give me depression

A week. Ben had spent an entire week keeping his eyes on the demons, hoping to see some sign that things might get better, that there might be some variance in their schedule he could take advantage of, not thinking that there’d be a time when nothing was around but at least a moment when they weren’t going to be so horribly dense with bodies that he couldn’t even see the ground beneath their feet the closer he looked towards the gate.

It wasn’t just about his prospects of escaping that threatened to make him spiral, he always knew that getting out was going to be an uphill battle, but instead for the world he called home. The people were placing their hopes that things might end if they made it past the third wave, the gods seemed to as well. Supposedly they had their reasons, a person could look at anything that happened and see a sign of hope if they really wanted to, but with no world getting that far in the past, that was all it was. Hope.

Ben hadn’t had much of that himself before any of the waves started but seeing all of that, any scrap he’d held onto was gone. There were too many demons for them to have any reason to give up, especially when they lacked any morality or values, and the one god he’d seen didn’t give the impression that he’d call an end to it if things didn’t go well, why should things ever end until they got their world?

There were still things Ben didn’t understand about them but their nature made him sure of that. Things wouldn’t end as long as there were still demons alive to kill and die for whatever power or pleasure they gained from it.

So am I really going back to just die with the people I care about?

That seemed like it was going to be the case. Even if they managed to kill every demon that crossed through the gates, with gods as powerful as the one he’d come face to face with, he didn't think that any of the ones that watched over his world would be able to do anything, let alone any of the people.

And it’s not like anyone on the planet has any abilities that make them better at handling gods. He thought sarcastically to himself with his own status flashing through his mind before moving on. But ignore that. Killing all of the demons is impossible and somehow killing their gods… No, if there's an option then it’s escaping. I’ll think about that later. After all, how hard can it be to flee with an entire planet?

He pushed aside his swarm of thoughts giving voice to just how impossible such a task would be to instead move on to his next problem, just what he would have to make for his prison break.

He had ideas, plenty of them to try making and testing, already seeing more days of work in his future, but all of that was interrupted before he got the chance, with his neighbour speaking up.

“Depressing, isn’t it?” Tenth asked, giving voice to the very feelings Ben was suffering under as the two looked out to the swarm beyond. “A trillion monsters going out and killing entire planets and this is the state they leave them in. Desolated until all that’s left are scraps and them, ten thousand worlds over.”

“More,” Ben sighed as he looked past the galwaxian to his fellow prisoners. “Only terrestrial races are here, no aquatic ones.”

It implied that there was either another group of prisoners elsewhere or that their captives saw no value in holding onto them, but Ben was willing to bet on the first. It wasn’t like there was any value in holding them either after all, if they were going to do something so wasteful once, why not a second time?

While he was left wondering if there was any ocean on the planet to hold them though, Tenth was giving him a strange look, only giving voice to his thoughts as Ben returned it.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“I’d been surprised enough to find all of the forms that could exist across the stars, yet I’ve never considered there may be some that live below their world’s seas, yet you say the idea so naturally.”

…I’m not great at keeping secrets.

“It’s a big galaxy,” Ben shrugged, still not wanting to voice too much about his home, even if the invading force already had to be aware of the multiple species that shared it. “Why wouldn’t a god out there go with something a bit deeper? It allows for more vertical space to work with to pack in believers.”

“Mmh, I suppose.”

Tenth still seemed to have questions on his mind but he didn’t ask them, instead just letting out a small chuckle.

“What?”

“Ah, you know, even if I’ve finally gone insane, this has been rather nice I will admit.”

“Come on now, you seem pretty balanced, all things considered.”

The fact that anyone could still hold up so well after who knows how many centuries trapped was a miracle, but his companion shook his head.

“No, as much as I want to deny it, I’m not one to lie to myself. After holding out for so long, I’ve finally snapped. It was bound to happen eventually, I suppose I should just be glad I’m still at a point where I can recognize the insanity within myself instead of having fallen completely off the deep end.”

“Alright, I’ll bite, what makes you think you’ve lost your mind?”

“Ha, the fact that you can even ask me that, obviously,” The galwaxian chuckled before slumping to the ground, looking up past the prisoner shaking above him to instead stare into the sky. “I’ll admit, I’ve longed for a conversation partner for enough of a stretch that this isn’t even entirely unwelcome, but I really don’t see why my brain went and invented a whole new language instead of letting me indulge in my own tongue after all of these years.”

Ah, so that’s it. Yeah, if I were in his shoes I’d think I’m crazy too.

You haven’t gone insane, Tenth,” Ben tried to reassure him. “You think you’re mad because some new language was dropped into your brain? It’s a fair assumption, I get why you’d think it, but you’re wrong. I’m not some figment of your imagination for you to babble nonsense to, I’m a person, just as trapped as you.”

“Then where are these words coming from?”

“A tool from my world,” He told him confidently. “It’s-”

The dead one bound to you has shared its gift of language-

“Something designed to help people grow stronger,” Ben went on, shaking the memory from his head. “But one of its side benefits is that it includes a common language. It’s just bound to you the same way it has to me.”

“...A fanciful tale.”

“It’s true but I don’t know how to convince you from in here. Either believe me or don’t in the end, I suppose it doesn’t really make a difference.”

“Mmh, but it does feel a bit nicer to believe, doesn’t it?” The galwaxian muttered to himself.

“Well, if you’d prefer your native tongue we can switch to that,” Ben said in the language he’d once heard Tenth speak. “I don’t exactly have the full vocabulary and I’m not going to be able to pronounce it perfectly, but I can learn along the way.”

The suggestion was greeted with a small smile and the shaking of his squid-like head. “I think not. The offer is kind but your accent is horrendous, better to keep using something a little more pleasant to the ear.”

“Hey, not my fault some of your sounds require tentacles to form.”

“Ha, no it’s not but the difference does tend to bite into the flow. But then tell me, mysterious otherworld, there must be something you’re comfortable talking about without fearing listening ears and if you really are real I’d enjoy the chance to learn of something new after all this time.”

“Sure, you want to learn something then I’m here to teach. You can be my fourth official student.”

“Ah, I may have said learn but I doubt I’d be able to get a feel for your crafting in here.”

“Then lucky you, I’m incredibly knowledgeable in a variety of topics. Not to toot my own horn here but I am a certified genius, so what do you want to know?”

“Hmm, there is one thing I’d like to hear but I’ll admit it’s silly.”

“I’m all about silly, hit me.”

“In the years I’ve been here, nothing changing, no needs and no way to die, there’s something I’m sure everyone trapped here has missed at some point. If you can tell me nothing else, tell me a bit about the food of your world. Everything I’ve ever had from mine has faded past even a memory.”

“Hey, if that's what my buddy wants then that’s what my buddy gets.”

“Buddy?”

“Sure, ignoring the emotionally destroyed and mentally broken around us, we’re the only company we’ve got. Better to be buddies, right?”

“Ah, right then, buddy.”