Lanek slunk away from the village, stopping himself from walking up and speaking to the first humans he’d seen aside from Liv since coming here. The only thing stopping him was the System’s quest description that assured him that this was where the Cult of Xancre was located. However, he also couldn’t bring himself to kill them all outright without doing a bit of investigating first. Time was ticking down, but he still had plenty of time to deal with this target.
By the time Lanek returned to his makeshift camp, he had formulated the basics of a plan. As soon as the sun set, he put the plan into motion, summoning his armor and spear. He recalled Sanguineus and Maximilian to buff his attacks and reaction speed while sending Kazuma ranging ahead. In the time he had spent recovering in Eldros’ grove he had seen fog several times, although he wasn’t sure if it was a regular thing for the area or just because of the season. Since Kazuma could blanket an area in fog to a much greater degree than Lanek could when Kazuma was residing in his vessel, he decided to have the cat cover the entire area in fog as they walked slowly toward the village. This would ensure that the cultists simply saw the fog rolling in naturally rather than appearing out of nowhere just outside the village.
As they neared the village, Lanek crouched down and moved as close to the wall as he dared before pausing to listen for the sounds of any guards patrolling. After he was satisfied that they had either returned to their homes or were patrolling the far sections of the palisade, he climbed over and dropped into the village. The palisade proved to be no obstacle for his skill.
Lanek froze as a faint sound reached his ears, causing him to turn to the right even as a light began shining in Kazuma’s mist. Shit, shit, shit. Lanek swore as the light was heading toward him. Had they discovered him already? Did the cultists have some form of magical detection? He rushed from the palisade to the wall of the nearest structure, keeping low.
When the light did not deviate from its path, he breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared to just be a regular patrol. As the light came closer, he was able to make out a single guard making his rounds. Time to get some information.
Lanek waited until the guard passed him by completely before moving behind him, closing the distance until he was close enough to use [Identify]. Before he could activate the skill, an odd sense of discomfort and wrongness struck him, similar to what he had felt when encountering the Void Shifters. Dismissing the feeling for the moment, he activated his skill.
Void Husk (Cult of Xancre)
lvl 10
Void husks are the still-living remnants of sentient beings that have had their souls supplanted by lesser Void spirits. While not especially powerful, these creatures are always bound to the service of much stronger beings, either a powerful servant of the Void or a greater creature of the Void that has managed to subjugate the area. Once these powerful beings appear in an area, the locals will begin to disappear as they are sacrificed to create a husk, their souls placed within an anchoring device to further strengthen the Void’s presence in an area.
Well, that’s all I needed to see. Lanek took a step forward, thrusting his yari forward, aiming for the back of the guard’s neck. The spear passed through it with sickening ease and slid out smoothly, the body collapsing to the ground without a sound. As the creature died, it dropped the source of the light, which promptly went out. Huh, this looks like that lantern I found. I guess they were pretty common if even a village out here in the middle of nowhere had them.
Not taking any chances, Lanek grabbed the body and dragged it out of the patrol path, shoving it against the wall of one of the homes. Over the next hour he walked the entire length of the palisade, eliminating guards after confirming that they were husks. He didn’t trust himself to determine if they were husks visually as they didn’t really have any physical characteristics that would differentiate them from humans. They walked and acted just like a normal person. If the sense of wrongness was the only thing different about them, he could easily see husks infiltrating a village or city to further their master’s goals.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
While stowing the last guard’s body, he heard a rustling behind him. He spun, spying a door opening very close behind him. A figure appeared in the doorway, mouth opening to shout an alarm. Lanek instantly dropped his spear as it was useless at this range and clamped his hand around the husk’s throat, cutting off its air supply. He lifted the struggling creature by its neck and felt it go limp a moment later.
What? Did I just break its neck? I’m not that strong am I? Lanek thought in shock, setting the body down and closing the door. I guess I am almost forty levels higher than it is, so my stats must have been too much for it to endure. Okay, let’s not let that get to my head, it’s been a long time since I’ve fought something this weak.
He paused and looked the body over before standing, seeing an odd shape to its mouth. Prying open the creature’s jaws, he recoiled in disgust. Its front teeth were missing, both on the top and bottom, creating an opening for the thing that had replaced its tongue. Where the body’s tongue should have been, a white slug-like creature rested, perfectly sized to pass through the gap in the teeth. The thing was dead, but he could see a circular maw lined with sharp teeth. If nothing else, it looked like some unholy combination of a slug and a lamprey.
Yep, fuck that. I’m killing all of these damn things. These monsters can’t be allowed to spread any further.
“Kazuma.” Lanek called quietly, continuing once the cat entered the building. “Wipe these things out. Go from building to building and kill them all. Stick to the outer buildings, I’m going to head toward the center and look for whoever is in charge.” Kazuma nodded, a faint blood lust emanating from him as he took on his mist form and drifted under the door to exit the home. It doesn’t matter if the doors are locked or barricaded, they won’t be able to keep him out. They’re all as good as dead. You know what? Let’s draw the boss out, shall we?
Lanek exited the building and called out Maximilian and Sanguineus. “Guys, kill them all. Don’t worry about being quiet, tear the doors open if need be. I don’t care if this rouses the village, all that matters is that they die so quickly that their master has no choice but to intervene.” With his orders given, Lanek leapt onto the roof of the house to give himself a good vantage point and waited.
Sanguineus darted toward another house, howling in challenge as he leapt through a window, shattering the wooden shutters as he went. Not long after, screams exited the home. Maximilian took an even more direct route, seemingly enjoying the opportunity to test his power. Rather than attempt to squeeze through a window or break down a door, he simply charged through the basic walls as if they were made of paper, crushing the occupants beneath his clawed feet.
Shouts rang out from the village, armed husks emerging from the buildings to gather into small units thinking that this organized response would aid them. They were wrong. Out of the mist, the giant demigryph crashed into formation after formation, scattering the husks before savaging the fallen with his beak and tearing those foes still standing apart with his massive paws. Those that broke found no solace in the mist, screeching in agony Sanguineus went into hunter mode and began using his teeth to cripple the monsters. He left them screaming for long moments, letting the sound echo in the night. Rather than finish them off, the wolf simply added more voices to the chorus of agony, ensuring that none of them could fight back or flee further.
Kazuma, on the other hand, was taking a much different approach. He was all about brutal efficiency, killing every one of his opponents silently, first while they slept and then while they struggled to wake as the sound of screaming reached them. As the tide of reinforcements started to disappear, the remaining husks were visible shaking. Interesting, they can feel fear. I wonder what they are afraid of, my companions or failing their master? I can’t imagine that they would have a good time back in the Void if they lose this foothold and have to face Xancre.
The remaining husks were now pulling back to the center of town, every small unit having joined into a single formation of two dozen. They faced outward in a circle formation, spears and shields at the ready. There had been a few archers among them, but Sanguineus had picked them off as they showed themselves.
Suddenly, Lanek felt a pressure growing around him as something reached out for him, seeking to latch onto his mind and leech onto his soul. He snorted derisively as he slapped both attempts back sharply, his Soulbinder class and the dranrid abilities he still had making short work of the attacks. As he repelled the attack, he made sure to push a feeling of complete and utter disdain into his response, letting the monster know that he wasn’t impressed.
Lanek grinned as his taunting paid off and a scream of unbridled rage rang out from the center of town. Aww, I think I hurt his feelings.