Novels2Search

Chapter 43

I rushed forward first, flipped a table into the air, and kicked it at the abomination. It smashed into its bulbous head and it screamed in rage. I had managed to resist the glowing angler lure this round but I could feel it in the back of my mind trying to draw my attention. I knew the first thing I needed to do was take the lure out of play.

Zenix’s sword glowed with its own light. She ran towards the abomination with her eyes closed. She bumped into one of its mouth arms and nearly got grabbed but swung her blade down on the creature. Devin kept his shield raised to the light and ran towards the creature. He was able to keep his eyes on the thing at the cost of losing the defensive properties of his shield. He swung his sword at the grabby arms. Carmilla resisted the lure then switched to a bow and started to fire arrows into the creature's open mouth. Lupine had seen the light and was standing there stunned. Folin moved towards the creature with his eyes closed. He was trying to be careful as the other two melee fighters were there swinging their weapons. Abaxis was also mesmerized by the lure so it was just the five of us at this moment.

I did my best Doc Ock impression and created tentacles on my back. I sent all four to wrap up and conceal the lure. Its light faded from the room and I heard Lupine curse from behind me. I shouted, “I will try and hold the light, kill this overgrown mutant baby.”

“But it's just a baby. Maybe we can be friends,” Zenix said. The creature spewed a stream of acid out of its mouth burning my flesh. I had covered most of the front so the others didn’t get hit.

“NO!” I yelled. The octopus flesh smoked and didn’t regenerate. Acid was one of the weaknesses of my regeneration. I couldn’t

“All right fine,” Zenix said. She flew into a rage and started to wildly swing her great axe.

Lupine pulled out a weird slingshot and fired bullets into the creature. I thought they might not be that strong but the shots hit either weak points like eyes or exploded into shards against its skin. Must be a magic slingshot I guess. Abaxis now free to cast magic gave out support spells to the party. I received a healing spell and the damage done to my tentacles was slowly undone. I hadn’t asked what kind of caster he was yet but he had displayed both divine and arcane spells so I think he might be some kind of weird sorcerer. He seemed to know a lot of spells so he must have something strange going on. Devin kept slicing at the arms that grew next to the creature's mouth and had cut off five of them. Carmilla turned the abomination's left eye into a pin cushion.

The baby screamed horribly and then charged right through Devin and Zenix and into me. We were knocked to the ground and stomped on. The baby’s big feet crushed me as I tried to push the damn thing off me. It swallowed the mass of tentacles that contained its lure not seeming to care that it also ate the lure. I felt the insides of his throat begin to squeeze my tentacles and they burned a lot. The abomination was filled with acid which burned a lot.

The Nein just pumped this baby with drugs and had a massive paladin smite kill it. We lacked the drugs but did have a paladin who just swung down on the baby's back leg with a massive smite. I heard the creature cry in pain again. I also heard the others pelting the thing with their attacks. My vestige shaped into large claws and I stabbed the creature as its foot pressed against me.

The abomination was unhappy with all these attacks and moved off me and spit out the melted tentacles and the lure. It was not uncovered and its light filled the room again. I turned my head to not look at it but Lupine, Carmilla, and Devin were not so lucky. They were drawn to the lure and began to walk towards it like moths to the flame. I got up from the ground and yelled, “No you don’t.” The left side of the room was clear of my friends so I uncreated my destroyed tentacles and created an unfinished sea serpent tail. I couldn’t fit the whole thing in the room so it was without skin and the muscles were exposed. I swung the tail into the creature and smashed it into a wall. The tail was too big for the room so I untransformed it and ran to the creature.

My friends were still moving to the lure but with the creature forced into the wall, it couldn’t grab and eat them just yet. Black blood oozed out of a dozen cuts on its body and legs, and its left eye was destroyed as half a dozen arrows stuck out of it. Half the arms on its face were now stubs but for all this damage nothing had slowed the giant baby.

“Zenix! Cut off the glowing ball,” I yelled and created two undamaged tentacles to yank it towards me. The light was somewhat covered as I pulled on the lure. The baby screeched and pulled back creating a tug of war between the two of us. Abaxis fired a lightning bolt at the creature's side. Folin was now beside the creature away from the light and slicing up its gut. Zenix took the opportunity I provided and swung with divine fury into the creature's bulb stalk. Her attack hit true and the lure came free. I fell on my back as the creature cried out. Angry at the attack it bites at Zenix. She raged as the creature's needle-like teeth pierced her flesh. It held onto Zenix and the remaining arms on its face shoved her down its mouth.

“ZENIX!” Lupine screamed freed of the lure's mind control. She loaded her slingshot with a weird purple glowing marble. She pulled back and then released letting the marble fly. It grew to a foot in diameter and crackled with purple energy. It hit the baby in the forehead exploding. Black blood and viscera splattered across the walls as the creature had a new hole in its head. The baby slumped and fell.

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“Grab Zenix, the thing is filled with acid,” I yelled rushing to it. Carmilla and Folin helped me drag the dragonborn out from the stomach of the creature. She was covered in goo and bile.

“Haha I am fucking covered,” Zenix said.

“Yea, you reek,” Folin said.

“Anyone need any healing?” Abaxis asked.

“I could,” Zenix said.

“Me as well. I think I cracked a rib when it stepped on me,” Devin said.

“Alright, I got you covered. Edsom you need anything?” Abaxis asked.

“The acid fucked with my regen but I should be fine in a couple of minutes,” I said.

We all sat down and rested for a bit. Abaxis cast a communal healing spell that everyone could benefit from. I laid down and enjoyed a slight nap. The acid did not feel good when it melted my tentacles.

“What was that thing? Is that what you are looking for Edsom?” Carmilla asked.

“I imagine that was one of the creatures Aeor made to fight against the gods and their armies. It doesn’t match the description of the hunters I have. We should search the way the baby came from,” I said.

“Ugh, I don’t like this place anymore,” Lupine said.

“Think about the treasure Lupine. We will find a lot of valuable things here,” Devin said.

“We just cleared a dangerous creature from the area. We can probably sell the location of this ruin to Balenpost. That might get us a good couple hundred gold or something,” I said.

“These wizards made some fucked up shit. I understand why the gods weren’t happy with them,” Zenix said.

We moved on from the room down that hall. It continued for a couple hundred feet. We entered into a large chamber similar to the previous lab. It was destroyed. The ceiling was collapsing and broken furniture was everywhere. This was where the assembly would have battled the baby. That won’t happen now that it is dead. This room was a massive warehouse and I saw numerous vats broken each aligned in a row. I saw in the back two that weren’t broken

“This way,” I said. I knew these were what I was looking for. One was an Aeorian Absorber. It was a large blue and red cat that looked like it was fed a diet of protein and steroids. It has a long red tail with a giant eyeball on its end. This creature had some slight psychic abilities. It could only deal damage to a person but I might be able to expand them a bit. In addition with that big eye on its tail, it could divide the damage it takes from magical attacks and send them back at the person that cast the spell.

The other vat had my main target. The Aeorian Nullifier. I spoke to the group, "That is it. The Nullifier. They possess the ability to counter and dispel magic at will. To create fields of antimagic that prevent all spell casting in a small range. Those horrible teeth also have power but I don't need those." The Nullifier was a bipedal yellow human-shaped monster. It has a snake head for its head and on its chest are mouths with sharp fangs. They would gnash and make anyone who hears it either flee in horror or stand completely still. That last ability is powerful but it is a little too creepy.

"Are they still alive?" Devin asked.

We looked at the creatures floating in the cats and I saw movement. They were probably dreaming.

"Yes, I think so," I said.

"How do we get them out then," Folin asked.

"Carefully," Carmilla said.

"Everyone stay back. I will smash the glass with the Nullifier and try to kill it quickly. I will keep it at a distance and you guys kill it from far away. I don't mind if you accidentally hit me. I will heal. I don't know what else is here but this is too good of an opportunity to miss," said.

"Sounds like a plan. Alright, formation back up and be ready to support," Devin said.

I shifted back into the wolf-man form. I replaced my arms with 4 tentacles on a side. They wrapped together and I added muscles from the Roc and sea serpent to make the tentacles into long powerful arms. I did the same for the rest of my body and grew to around 9 feet in height. I then created a large spike on my right tentacle arm with my vestige. I am going to try and kill this thing in one hit. There was no guarantee of what else was around here so I wanted to be quick. I made one final change. I removed my ears and my ability to hear. Its gnashing only affected people who could hear it.

I looked to the others and they were readying themselves. Zenix and Devin had braced themselves to defend the others. Folin pulled out throwing knives and was reading himself. Carmilla and Lupine were ready with their ranged weapons. Abaxis was standing at the door to the room. I had just said these things were the perfect mage-killing machines so he was staying the fuck away.

I pulled my arm back and aimed my spike. I breathed in the cold air and then breathed out. The eye on the Absorber twitched and looked at me. I didn’t wait and launched my attack at the Nullifier straight at its serpentine head. The glass shattered and a wave of the weird green liquid they floated in flowed out. My attack didn’t stop and I pierced the neck of the creature and cut off its head. The body fell out of the vat and the Absorber awoke in its vat sensing the danger. It thrashed in its chamber and cracked the glass container. I was distracted and barely noticed the headless body of the Nullifier stand up.