Lanek rode Maximilian into sight of the village ruins, not sure what to expect inside, knowing only that a battle awaited him. He wondered how this foothold of the Void had managed to remain intact, much less grown to the point where it was on the verge of unleashing the hellish creatures of that place on this world. There were no people here to feed it, nor were travelers common in this area. Could it possibly be feeding on the gaunts? The last time I was here, the shifters seemed intent on slaughtering every gaunt they could find and the gaunts acted like they were in a hell of a hurry to get out of here.
As he thought about it, he had to admit that it was very possible. Lanek had already seen plenty of evidence that the Void used souls to power their portals and had been using him, and probably others, to consume souls to weaken this world. If the Void couldn’t find normal people to take souls from anymore, why not use the gaunts? Just because they weren’t of this world or part of the System didn’t necessarily equate to them being soulless automatons.
What kind of clusterfuck did I get dragged into? It really seems like this world is in the middle of a three way war between the System, whoever is in charge of the gaunts, and the Void while everyone else is trying to keep their heads down so they don’t get murdered. I wonder why this place and the Cult of Xancre were so close to breaking through? Was it because the gaunts are winning elsewhere? What a fucking mess.
Sighing, Lanek turned his attention back to the village. Worrying about the condition of the world wasn’t exactly something he cared to do at the moment, he could think on that once this place was destroyed. Kazuma and Sanguineus disappeared into the woods to either side of the village, both scouting and positioning themselves to flank the sole intact structure. Lanek held back and waited, not wanting to get ambushed from behind while he tried to enter the building.
Once again, he lamented the loss of his salvo skill. Maybe if he decided to return to the monastery he would ask Ivan for a supply of his exploding stones for situations like this. Alternatively, he could always see if he could get a skill from the shop once he had enough stones.
Minutes later, Lanek received the all-clear from Kazuma and Sanguineus and approached the structure. As he got within a few meters of the building, it burst open and unleashed a tide of shifters. However, Lanek had been prepared and charged forward with Maximilian, his spear eliminating the shifters in droves while Maximilian’s claws reaped a bloody harvest.
In the aftermath of the battle, Lanek should have felt relieved or happy at the easy victory, but he felt suspicious instead. The shifters were no threat, but shouldn’t there be something else here? He didn’t consider himself especially powerful for the area, but this was still too easy. Did something or someone else come through here and weaken them? I can’t believe that this needed to be dealt with urgently or the world was kind of screwed.
Lanek entered the building, leaving Maximilian outside to guard his back and dismissing his spear in favor of the sword. Finding nothing on the first or second floor, he descended into the cellar, fighting with his nerves the entire way. He’d never been a fan of basements, mostly because his grandfather had an especially creepy basement. Even into his adult years, he had hated going into that basement because it always felt like something was watching him and that he wasn’t welcome there. It didn’t help that his grandfather avoided going into that basement as well and had been a deeply superstitious man who spoke at length about the supernatural.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, his eyes drawn toward the far wall of the cellar. A chaotic glow was emanating from a tear in the fabric of reality, but it was far dimmer than the one that had summoned the shifters when he had fought the Cult. It looks like it is ready to collapse… Nothing is coming through, either.
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The portal began to shrink before his eyes when he heard a wheezing gasp from the corner of the room. Jumping away from the sound, he brandished his sword, bracing himself for an ambush, but no attack came. Eventually, curiosity overcame him and he approached the corner. It took him a moment to make sense of what he saw as in that corner was what appeared to be a carcass hanging from the wall. It was only when it moved that he was able to determine what it was.
Someone, or something, had nailed the largest shifter Lanek had seen to the wall. Multiple tentacles were pinned to various surfaces with rusted knives. Judging from the condition of those knives, they looked like they could have come from the ruins of this village. The shifter itself, a level 60 creature, had been methodically pinned in place and flayed, its flesh folded back to allow its attacker free access to its innards.
Despite its condition, the monster still growled and feebly snapped its mouth at Lanek, but it was too far gone to pose any kind of a threat. Whatever had put it in such a sorry state had made sure that it wouldn’t be capable of fighting anyone ever again.
How long has it been like this? Fuck, is its pain feeding the portal? That can’t be right, the portal is failing. Oh well, not gonna complain. With that final thought, Lanek severed the creature’s head, finally putting it out of its misery. Although, he was sure that the thing had done plenty in its time here to be completely deserving of its treatment. Once the creature perished, the portal pulsed once more and disappeared.
Lanek picked up the stones it had dropped and wondered if he would have gotten any experience for the kill had he still been able to level up. He somewhat doubted it as the majority of the work had clearly already been done. After dismissing the quest update notification and collecting another 50 reward stones, he made his way out of the building.
He paused in the doorway as he felt Kazuma return to his vessel, shock and indignation resonating from the cat, as well as a fair amount of pain. Seconds later, Sanguineus returned as well, pain radiating from the wolf. Just to be safe, Lanek recalled Maximilian while he reached out to Sanguineus and Kazuma to determine what had happened.
In both cases, his companions had detected nothing outside until Kazuma had felt something slice along his flank and Sanguineus had felt something stab into his back. Even then, all they had detected had been the attack itself and the pain before they instantly returned to their vessels before the damage became fatal. For his part, Lanek could feel their pain, but it wasn’t nearly as severe as what the Corpse Weaver had inflicted on them.
Relieved that his companions had reacted quickly and were essentially safe while they healed up, Lanek peered out of the building cautiously. He had to admit that he was more than a little concerned as he had yet to meet anything that could sneak up on those two, much less wound them while still remaining undetected. However, he did feel like he was more prepared than his companions had been to face whatever it was since he had their buffs now that they had all returned to their vessels. All I need to do is find it. Once it is no longer hidden, I like my odds in a straight up fight.
While he surveyed the area outside the building, he obscured himself with some of Kazuma’s mist. Not to blanket the area, but enough to make it much harder for an opponent to hit something vital if it launched a surprise attack. As he slowly made his way out of the building, it occurred to him that whatever was out there was probably what had put down the shifter. The shifter that had been almost ten levels higher than Lanek had been before his evolution. Well, shit.
Lanek’s instincts kicked in and he barely managed to jerk his head to the side as something flew past his face and struck the doorway behind him. He spared a quick glance and saw a rusted kitchen knife sticking into the frame, the entire blade embedded into the wood. Shuddering at the thought of what that would have done to his face, Lanek faced the forest, pushing more mist around his body, both thickening it and causing it to spread out a bit more.
While he watched for any signs of movement, he felt the wind brush past his ear. Suddenly, his whole body went rigid at the realization that there was no wind blowing, the entire area was still. A sinister voice spoke to him then, lips so close that he could feel them against his ear.
“This won’t save you.”