"That's an Olitiau," said Graham quietly, and then paused.
He was holding a lighter whose flame gradually dimmed until it was normal size again. The area around him was illuminated by the fire, casting his and the other two's shadows to the cave walls. The dark ceiling up above was out of the reach of Graham's lighter, and the supernatural creature that was sleeping upside down was even farther. They breathed quietly, trying not to wake up the Olitiau.
"It has no significant weakness, so we just have to kill it the old-fashioned way."
Jacco looked up to the dark ceiling ahead of him and tried to imagine the creature's location based on his teammates' descriptions.
"How the hell do we reach it?" he asked in confusion.
"It's out of my ability range," replied Luuk.
"I can shoot it but it will be ugly. Be careful of its wing attack. Jacco, get your drum ready," commanded Graham.
In the dark cave, Graham walked closer slowly towards the creature and readied his gun. The chamber of his revolver was still loaded with the paralysis bullet that he hadn't used at all up until now. There were still three bullets just like when he bought them.
"It's too dark for me to see, Val. My lighter can't reach the ceiling. I don't want to startle it with Jacco's flashlight either. The first shot is very important," he muttered.
When he was close enough, Graham stood in place and aimed at the dark ceiling where he thought the creature was. As he was about to pull the trigger, he started chanting.
"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order this paralysis bullet to strike the Olitiau right in the head!"
Bang!
The paralysis bullet pierced through the air and entered the darkness before hitting something. Graham felt something was about to fall on him so he quickly evaded.
Slam!
Hearing the gunshot, Jacco and Luuk quickly did their part. The former quickly turned on his flashlight and readied a short iron stick.
"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"
He beat the iron plate strapped on his stomach with the stick. The beating sound resonated in the dark cave chamber, empowering his allies.
Badum! Badum!
Graham managed to get away from the spot where the creature fell. It had been paralyzed by the bullet and thanks to Jacco's light, he could see the wound on the creature's forehead. There was a shallow hole there with red blood flowing out of it.
"Aim for its wings!" shouted Graham while quickly swapping his gun for his dagger.
The paralysis wouldn't last long, so they had to move fast. Graham attacked the creature's right wing while Luuk dealt with the left one. He stabbed the membrane with the intention of tearing it, but he soon found out that it was thicker than he had thought. Before he could complete another attack, the Olitiau suddenly moved and pushed the two attackers with its giant wings.
"Screech!!"
The creature was angry. It stretched its wings and flapped them to start flying. However, it couldn't do so smoothly because apparently, Luuk had managed to injure its left wing membrane, making it difficult to fly.
The paralysis bullet was effective, but between the bullet or his Order, he preferred to use the latter because it was free. While the creature was still only several meters above the ground, he quickly chanted.
"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to stop moving!"
The Olitiau's wings stopped flapping and it fell back to the ground. It lied there motionlessly although it was apparent that the creature was trying hard to break free from the control.
"You deal with the wing, I'll stab its neck," said Graham quickly.
Badum! Badum!
Both men dashed towards the frozen bat-like creature and Graham swiftly got near its neck with the help of Jacco's flashlight. He used both hands now and thrust his dagger towards its hairy neck. Looking from up close, it was a bizarre creature because its skin resembled a human's so much, especially with the hair instead of fur. Graham's dagger made contact with the hard skin and he put all of his strength into it. He then raised his dagger and stabbed it for the second time, cutting the flesh open. His knife sank into the creature's neck, tearing apart its veins.
"Screech!!"
The effect of his Order had worn out and the Olitiau quickly stood up and flapped its wings rapidly, creating a strong gust of wind that pushed them back hard. Graham and Jacco were thrown several meters into the ground while Jacco, who was far from the impact, was only pushed back a little.
"It's not dead yet?!" exclaimed Jacco.
His flashlight was illuminating the giant bat in front of him. From its neck, blood was gushing out while its left wing membrane was completely torn. In that condition, there was no way the creature could still fly.
Seeing that Jacco was still standing and the other two had got back up, the Olitiau quickly flapped its wings again with a stronger intensity.
Whoosh!!
A strong gust of wind swept Jacco, stopping the War Drum that he was playing. Graham and Luuk were pushed back yet again by it.
"How can it create strong wind like that with that wing?!" exclaimed Luuk in disbelief.
The Olitiau dashed closer to them with the intention of attacking, but Graham had quickly opened his mouth ready to chant the moment it got into range. The creature saw his suspicious behavior and stopped in its track and flapped its wings again.
Whooosh!!
"Fucker!!" yelled Jacco as he was thrown back several meters.
The three of them had had no chance to recover from the previous attack but they had been blown away for the third time. Although the wind itself didn't hurt them so much, the impact with the hard cave ground sent pain all over their bodies. The creature was both fast and strong; the moment they almost got back up, it was already in range for its own wing attack but still too far for Graham's Order.
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"Screech!!"
"This thing seems much smarter than those Snakinokos!" shouted Luuk.
He quickly moved to the side the moment he could to avoid being blown away any further. Because of his agility, he barely managed to avoid its next wing attack.
Whoosh!
Graham and Jacco, who were not as fast as Luuk, weren't so lucky. They got thrown back again by the creature's gust of wind without being able to do anything while Luuk was slightly pushed back to another direction, separating him from the group.
"How many fucking times now?" said Jacco in frustration.
He decided to stay lying down on the ground because the moment he got back up, he would be blown away by the wind anyway. He trusted his fate to his two teammates instead.
The Olitiau saw Luuk that had gone out of its attack range, so it turned to him and flapped its wings hard.
Whoosh!!
Luuk got pushed back and hit a wall hard; his whole body was in pain.
The Olitiau saw that Graham had almost recovered and sent another strong gust of wind to push him back.
Whoosh!!
Graham and Jacco got blown away again. The Olitiau couldn't pay attention to both Luuk and Graham at the same time, so it decided to focus on the one that had restricted its movement last time.
As Graham got back up, the Olitiau was about to flap its wings again.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to flap your wings mine!"
Luuk finished chanting and made a swiping motion with his right hand. He had sneaked closer to it while its attention was still on Graham whom it deemed the most dangerous. The creature stood there in confusion as if it forgot what it was about to do. Graham seized the opportunity and got closer to it, and once in range, he quickly chanted.
"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to stop moving!"
The Olitiau was now frozen in place again and the two men quickly dashed to it. Luuk had let go of the stolen intention, and the Olitiau was visibly trying to flap its wings but without success.
"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"
Jacco had quickly got back up and started beating his drum again to strengthen his teammates' attack.
Luuk went and continued to damage the creature's left wing while Graham aimed for its neck again. The wound that he had created before was still open, so the creature definitely didn't have a super healing ability.
"This is for the annoying attacks just now!" shouted Graham as he thrust his knife to the wound on the creature's neck.
Stab!
The dagger sank deeper, causing more blood to spurt out from the wound. The creature looked like it was in great pain, but it still couldn't move because of Graham's Order. Meanwhile, Luuk had completely severed its left wing. Sensing that the creature was about to move, Graham quickly pulled his knife and retreated, followed by Luuk.
"Scfhhffgg!!"
The creature tried to screech but its throat had been cut open by Graham. It was a wonder that it was even alive right now.
"Why is it not fucking dead yet?" shouted Jacco from the back without stopping his beats.
It flapped its right wing, but without its left one, the gust of wind it created was significantly weaker than before. Graham and Luuk could even block it with just their arms.
"You cannot send us flying anymore now. What are you going to do, eh?" provoked Graham.
The creature, which didn't understand Graham's words, ignored him and quickly picked up its severed wing with its mouth. Its speed was still terrifying despite its injury, and the severed wing suddenly was hurled towards the two men who couldn't get away fast enough.
Slam!
The left wing of the creature hit both Graham and Luuk because of its size. The impact was very hard, causing them so much pain. Besides that, the wing that was now on top of them was quite heavy, making it even more difficult for them to quickly get away.
"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to stop moving!"
Graham chanted his Order as the creature was rapidly closing in for an attack. The creature was now frozen in place, so they had time to move the wing aside. Jacco had run to their size and helped the two injured men get out of the severed wing without stopping his drum beat.
Once they got out, the Olitiau also broke free from Graham's control. Apparently, the more he used the same Order on the same target, the less effective it became. It was now quickly charging at Graham again.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack Graham mine!"
His right hand made a swift swiping motion and the creature stopped in its track in confusion. Graham then took the opportunity to take out his gun and aimed at the creature.
Bang!
It was another paralysis bullet that he had shot. The Olitiau was now unable to move again, which gave the two of them the opportunity to attack.
Graham and Luuk both aimed for its neck and the creature fell down to the ground because of their weight. Their two daggers were stabbing hard and cutting everything as quickly as they could before it regained control over its body, which would happen very soon. After being stabbed by Graham twice, it was now easier to cut open its hairy flesh.
"Schhffhgg!!"
The Olitiau was squirming in pain, trying to screech without success. The injury it suffered was too heavy, so it had no strength to push aside the two assailants. Graham and Luuk kept stabbing its neck until its head was completely severed, killing the creature. Blood had spurt all over them and everywhere near the thing, and kept flowing from the cut open neck.
"Is it really dead now?" asked Jacco as he came closer. His beating didn't stop in case the creature was still alive.
Graham and Luuk watched the headless body carefully for any signs of movement. After several seconds of nothing, they deemed that it was dead.
"That was the hardest one so far-- not counting the rat thing because we ran away," said Luuk.
"Agreed. It took me two paralysis bullets and four Orders just for one enemy. I can only use it three more times today, so we'd better avoid any more fighting," replied Graham.
Both he and Luuk took out a paper pouch from their pockets and inhaled the blue powder inside. Their injuries started healing rapidly after that.
"Why did it completely ignore Jacco? Usually, they aim for him first because of his drum," asked Luuk curiously.
"I have no idea. Maybe because bats are used to noise all the time," replied Graham unconcernedly.
"What noise? This cave is so quiet..." responded Luuk.
Graham shrugged.
"I know why! It's because you guys are BATter than me, so you're more dangerous," said Jacco. He smiled proudly at his own joke, "Get it? BATter! Hahaha!"
The other two just shrugged. They had the urge to facepalm but they held back.
"Let's see what we've got here," said Graham, changing the topic.
From the Olitiau's neck, something had formed. It was a brown round object that looked like compressed bat droppings. Graham picked it up and felt the object's bounciness when he touched it. It also smelled rather unpleasant. He threw it at Luuk who then put it inside his backpack along with the other loots from today.
"Is there any more gemstone near here?" asked Graham.
"The closest one is too far from here. Should we risk it or should we go back?" replied Luuk.
Graham thought about the options. He had almost exhausted all of his resources, so he was more inclined towards the second option.
"I vote for risking it!" replied Jacco obliviously.
"You've been the safest among us so far," replied Luuk, shrugging, "I vote for going back,"
"It's been decided then. We'll go back. I don't think we'll win a fight against another one of these things," said Graham decisively, "But before that, let me do some divination to see if we can harvest the creatures' organs."
He took out his lighter and concentrated on it. Luuk, who was the only one with night vision, stayed on guard. Jacco with his flashlight also helped out, although his vision was not as good as Luuk's. The two men observed their surroundings intently and perked up their ears for any sounds coming towards them. The silence of the dark cave indicated that they were safe for the time being.
"We can take its heart and eyes. They can be sold for a high price or be used for rituals. Or if we can find a Transmuter, they can be parts of the materials for enchanted equipment," he paused, "As for the Tsuchinokos, we can take out their venom glands-- and their scales as well,"
The three men got to work right away. Luuk and Jacco were busy cutting open the Olitiau's body while Graham gouged out the eyes from the severed head. When they were done, Luuk stored everything inside his backpack and headed back to where the Tsuchinokos' bodies were.
There were a total of four dead snake-like creatures, so they should be able to get a lot from them. The corpses of the Tsuchinokos were still in the same condition as when they left them. They started working right away, cutting open their bodies through the weak point in their bellies. They took out the venom glands and also tore apart their hard scales. By the end of the day, Luuk's backpack was overflowing with stuff, mainly scales, so Graham and Jacco had to carry some in their limited space as well.
"We're rich men now!" said Jacco excitedly as they safely exited the cave.