novelraw Chapter 197: Clearing The Path
Chapter 197: Clearing The Path
The "mow the grass" operation was officially abandoned... at least by Ignotus and his cohort.
While John was busy corralling the terrified first-years near the entrance, they were already sprinting deeper into the tunnels.
They moved fast, ignoring the blistering heat that grew stronger with every step, not caring to keep themselves hidden.
The path was treacherous with rock-strewn floors; sporadically sized ceilings, forcing them to squeeze through places; and the occasional skeleton of a monster that neared death.
Eventually, they hit a fork in the road.
Four tunnels, all dark, all smelling equally terrible.
Ignotus skidded to a halt and glanced at Eris, who sniffed the air.
’Corruption’s everywhere; I can’t be certain of the path.’
She brought bad news.
"Great."
Undeterred, he turned to the group.
"It seems that we have to split up from here."
Lykos opened his mouth to argue, probably something about ’safety in numbers,’ but Ignotus tossed something at him before he could speak.
Catching it instinctively, Lykos looked down at his hands.
It was a snail.
"What... is this?"
A very slimy, purple snail with a shell that looked like a spiraled ear.
"Whispering Snail, a Divine Relic. As long as we aren’t that far apart, if you talk into the shell, I can hear it. The same goes for me, of course. Don’t crack it even a little, or it loses function."
Lykos looked like he wanted to throw it against the wall, but he pocketed it instead.
"Fine."
Following his words, they split up without complaint; it was efficient.
The tunnels all headed down; taking different routes meant clearing more enemies and ensuring nothing flanked them.
"Ice and fire duo, take the left."
Lykos and Merlin did as he ordered.
Fire and Ice, a volatile combo but effective.
"Tank and bird, middle-left."
Ulv and Aur moved into the next one.
The wolf took point, his greatsword ready, while Aur hovered slightly behind him, wind swirling around her feathers.
"Gaia, take Nora and go middle-right."
Gaia looked at Ignotus, her eyes filled with worry.
"H-Hubby... you’re going alone?"
"I’m the strongest; it’s only natural. Plus, I don’t have to worry about friendly fire if I’m by myself."
He patted her head, flashing a grin.
"Don’t worry about me; I’d rather you worry about yourself. This place is going to get nasty."
Gaia hesitated, then nodded firmly.
"I won’t let you down."
She grabbed Nora’s arm, and the two women vanished into their tunnel.
Ignotus watched them go before turning to the final, darkest tunnel on the far right.
"Alright..."
He cracked his neck.
"We won’t fail again."
***
As they descended, the dungeon’s heat became even more oppressive. A weight fell upon them, caused by the Divinity in the air mixing with the rot of Corruption.
For a normal person, this would be terrifying.
After all, it meant that near-certain death was close.
For the cohort, however? It was a reassurance that they were on the right track.
’The Greater Demon is definitely here. We aren’t on a wild goose chase.’
But just as the group collectively felt a moment of grim satisfaction...
"Hm."
The dungeon threw a welcoming party.
In the dark tunnels, everyone met an opponent at the exact same time.
In the far-right tunnel, Ignotus stopped and watched as a massive shadow detached itself from the wall—a Demon with too many eyes.
Without even blinking, he drew his sword.
"Ah."
"Dammit."
Meanwhile, in the left tunnel, Lykos and Merlin froze as a lanky, grinning Demon dropped from the ceiling.
"Of course."
"..."
In the middle-left, Ulv slammed his ice down as another Demon lunged, protecting Aurelia.
"W-What?"
"Careful, my lady!"
But in the middle-right tunnel, Gaia and Nora found something else.
A low, vibrating rumble echoed from the darkness ahead.
It wasn’t a Demon but something more... primal.
Gaia felt a shiver run down her spine, her instincts screaming at her.
"I-It has to be High Fiend Class, maybe close to a Tyrant."
Nora nodded, agreeing with her lady.
This monster, no doubt, was almost a Fourth Class monster.
She drew her daggers, lightning crackling faintly along the metal.
The two rushed toward the sound, the tunnel opening up into a wide, magma-lit cavern. And there, scraping against the stone, was the source of the noise.
It was... ugly.
That was the only word for it.
It was the size of a large carriage; its body was a chaotic patchwork of hardened magma, rock, and pulsating flesh.
Its bottom half scuttled on multiple spider-like legs made of stone, while its upper body had elongated, fleshy arms that dragged on the floor, ending in claws that carved deep grooves into the rock.
Scrape. Scrape.
Its eyes glowed with a sickly orange light as it moved erratically, twitching as if it were fighting its own nervous system.
The mutated thing seemed to have been made by taking three different monsters, shredding them up, and gluing them back together with hate.
"The Corruption and the Dungeon’s Divinity messed it up."
Nora noted the moment the creature spotted them.
KKKKKRRRRRRRRRR!
And it let out a sound like grinding metal and charged.
The two ladies didn’t hesitate.
"Go!"
Following her lady’s order, Nora vanished.
She used her [Flash Step], turning into a blur of blue lightning. Zig-zagging from one rock to another, she closed the distance near-instantly until she was directly underneath the beast.
The monster reacted fast.
Whoosh!
Its fleshy arm lashed out, swiping at the space Nora had just occupied.
The claw sliced through the air with terrifying speed, easily cutting a boulder in half.
Nora ducked, sliding between its spider legs, and slashed upward.
Zap!
Her daggers bit into the soft underbelly, sending sparks flying.
The monster shrieked, thrashing wildly. While, at the same moment, Gaia, standing back near the tunnel entrance, gritted her teeth and slammed her staff into the ground.
Heavy spikes of stone shot up from the ground, aiming for the creature’s joints.
Clang! Clang!
Most of them shattered against the monster’s rocky armor.
The patchwork hide was too thick.
Gaia clicked her tongue.
"It’s too hard. I need time to stack the density."
She needed to layer her spells.
One spear wouldn’t work. She needed tens of them compressed into one.
Nora heard her, or maybe she just knew, and so the assassin didn’t retreat.
She stayed right in the danger zone, directly under the thrashing monster.
’I’ll buy it.’
Nora danced a dance of death.
The monster stomped its spider legs, shattering the ground, trying to crush the annoying flea beneath it. Nora flipped, rolled, and slid, her lightning daggers leaving shallow cuts on the creature’s fleshier bits to keep its attention.
KKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
The monster, frustrated, tried to squash its entire body down, flattening itself against the floor to crush her.
Nora’s eyes widened as she slid backward, propelling herself out from under the belly just as the multi-ton body slammed down.
BOOM.
Dust and debris exploded outward.
The monster rose up, screeching in triumph, thinking it had won.
It hadn’t.
"Now!"
Gaia had finished stacking.
Three massive, reinforced earth spears, swirling with compressed Divinity, shot out of the ground. They were aimed at the exposed joints the monster had revealed when it stood back up.
CRACK! SNAP!
The spears tore through the knee joints of the spider’s legs.
Wailing in pain, the monster’s balance was gone, leaving it to collapse forward.
Nora didn’t waste the opening.
She dashed back in, leaping into the air and driving both electrified daggers deep into the exposed flesh of its underbelly, dragging them down in a brutal evisceration.
Blood—black and boiling—poured out.
The fight didn’t end with a bang.
The monster didn’t have a last stand, nor did it turn red and explode.
It simply convulsed, let out a few sad, wet gurgles, and died.
Thankfully, the Corruption had already weakened it.
The mutation was killing it slowly; Gaia and Nora had just sped up the process.
That didn’t mean that it was easy; no, every attack from the monster was a close call, its claws leaving deep gouges in the walls and floor as it had chased them.
Still, they proved to be its betters.
Silence returned to the cavern, broken only by the heavy breathing of the two women.
Gaia lowered her staff, wiping sweat from her brow while she scanned the corpse, checking for any movement.
"It’s dead."
She looked at Nora, who gave her a short nod, flicking black blood off her daggers.
They were exhausted; the heat, the tension, and the burst of Divinity usage had taken a toll. But they didn’t complain.
Gaia looked toward the dark tunnel ahead, thinking of Ignotus.
"We have to keep going and clear the path. We can’t let anything interrupt him."
Nora led the way.
"We’ve got this, my lady."
They stepped over the twitching corpse of the monster and headed deeper into the dark.
There was no time to spare...
If they failed, a terror would awaken.