Chapter 3

“Shit” said Mord as he lost all color on his face “shit, can we take it?”

“It’s wounded and some of the previous party fighting it may still be alive” Scott told us while tying a quiver to his waist and pulling out a stamina potion.

“Shit” Mord cursed again before downing his own stamina potion “We can’t let this chance pass by”

“What’s a Vouivre?”

“A draconic female monster, like a lamia from the middle floors but much bigger and stronger” Mord explained while everyone got ready “Thing is it’s really fucking rare and always has a lot of drops, if we kill it we can earn enough for half a year of work.”

“It’s also really fucking strong like the infant dragon on the upper floors” warned Scott while patting my shoulder.

Looking at the three of them I only saw small valis in place of their eyes, there was no stopping it now.

Considering my options I dropped everything I was carrying and sighed, at every encounter we had I had been training my illusions so I was almost out of mind to cast and I wouldn’t make it back without them “Any of you guys have a mind potion?”

“I have one” said Guile “It’s from that annoying mage we partied with two months ago I just never got rid of it”

“Ha! I knew the fights were a little too easy” Mord said in triumph “you got some kind of daze or confuse spell you’ve been chanting?”

“I can create crude illusions” I confessed a little of what I could do while taking the small blue vial from Guile’s hand and downing it in a single gulp “It’s much harder to use against stronger monsters and works best when there are more than one but I can probably make it miss some blows or leave itself open a couple of times”

“Will it work on this monster?”

“Fuck if I know, I could use it on the bugbears” I shrugged.

“Fine, try to create openings for us if you can but we won’t be counting on it” Mord said before taking a deep breath “alright we’re gonna try and get the jump on this thing, kid stay away from the fighting and watch out for other monsters, Scott keep your distance and harass with arrows, if Guile and I die just run and try to get the kid back to Rivira alright?”

“Sure boss” Scott lied and squeezed his bow harder making the wood creek.

We approached the Vouivre’s location as carefully as we could using one of Scott’s scent masking herbs and making sure to avoid stepping on anything to cause noise, thankfully there weren’t any dried leaves or twigs in the ground and we made good time before we crouched under a root and I got my first look of the draconic monster.

It was large, larger than a bugbear by far, Mord was right when he said the thing was like a lamia, it had a large reptilian tail but it was much thicker than those depicted in stories looking heavy and with a round ending, the woman part had bluish skin with hard brown scales covering its privates, a large pair of wings sprouted from it’s back with massive thin claws at the end of muscular arms too large for its body, it’s hair was long and it had needle like fangs all over its mouth.

It was also covered in blood and eating the flesh of a dismembered woman, I was frozen as I stared at the towering beast.

It must have ripped off the woman’s limbs where her body had fallen and then attacked the torso itself because there were trails of blood in four directions, entrails were pulled out and spread over the moss on the floor, then the beast had broken her ribs and pulled them open like a door to get access to the heart and lungs that it was currently chewing on.

Another man was pinned by the stomach to a root by what must have been his own spear his arms and legs flapping bonelessly as some of his intestines were hanging out of his belly the trails of blood telling me he had tried to struggle to pull himself free before dying, a third man had his legs cut off and was laying face down a few meters away with yet a fourth laying against another root with blood all over its clothes

I crouched there and my eyes took it all in, every speck of blood and gore, every piece of this horror hit me like a punch to the stomach and I’d never be able to forget it for the rest of my life, no wonder the Uchiha went mad.

Taking my time to register everything around the large beast I managed to keep myself from throwing up and spent almost a full minute just trying to hear and see everything about the situation, almost trembling from just the presence of the beast I knew I couldn’t afford to take it easy.

I activated the mangekyou immediately feeling a aching sensation in my eyes and, unable to catch it’s eyes, threw the best lesser ilusion I could at the beast showing it the location as it was then nodded towards Guile, the large man stood slowly making as little noise as he could and released a very slow, very deliberate sigh of relief when the Vuivre didn’t react.

We had planned it before arriving, I’d mask view and try to mask their noise, I wasn’t sure I could do scent as well so I prefer to focus on the other two and allow both melee fighters to get a devastating first blow against the dragonkin while it didn’t know they were there, thankfully the beast was already relaxed enough after the fight that the illusion took hold.

Mord and Guile made their way towards the beast, Guile in front with his shield and spear at the ready, once they had to freeze as the Vouivre smelled them on the air and lifted it’s head to look around but, not seeing anything, the creature dismissed its concerns and continued to eat.

From his place up on a branch Scott pulled out an arrow and started testing if he could get a good enough footing to draw it, the branch was wide enough he soon found a comfortable position and waited while both warriors flanked the beast and prepared their blows.

Unsheathing my sword and crouching between some roots where I could still keep an eye on the beast I watched as Mord and Guile took their positions one in the front and another at the creature’s back then stabbed with their spears aiming for the monster’s crystal to end the fight early.

Mord’s spear pierced all the way through the vouivre’s torso but somehow missed her crystal, the beast reacted with serpentine reflex twisting away, Guile’s spear leaving a deep gash on its chest but failing to pierce it.

With a loud roar of pain it whipped its tail around and hit Guile’s shield, sending the man stumbling back while striking blindly behind itself forcing Mord to retreat then it lifted its head and opened its wings wide, releasing another roar of rage so loud I had to cover my ears.

I felt my ilusion break as the beast’s magic was roused and tried to send another one, something hastily put together that would only leave static copies of adventurers I had seen laying around the beast, hopefully confusing it a little but it didn’t take hold, the Vouivre in too much pain and rage to be fooled by a lesser ilusion.

Guile threw his spear like a javelin but the beast batted it aside with an arm and took the time to break the shaft of the one piercing its body, pull it out and throw it away.

Then it reeled away with a screech of pain as an arrow sprouted from its left eye, Mord and Guile didn’t waste the chance.

They struck as one Mord jumping up to try and get to the beast head while guile delivered a powerful blow to it’s chest caving in some of the creature’s scales, the beast twisted around with a wide sweep of its arm and Mord was forced to block with his sword or be disemboweled by its claws.

A second arrow nicked its neck and it roared again, its wings retracting to protect its head before its eyes focused on Guile and it was all the warrior could do to survive the fury of blows it released.

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Claw swipes dug deep gashed in Guile’s shield forcing the man to retreat while the beast keep Mord away with tail strikes which hit the ground with so much strength it sent wood flying like shrapnel, another two arrows hit it in the chest and tail but the Vuivre just ignored them and continued it’s assault.

I kept trying to catch it in another Illusion but it was too strong for me and I was left feeling useless as the group fought for its life.

Mord finally managed to dodge the creature’s tail and, blocking the shrapnel from reaching his face with an arm delivered a deep cut to the vuivre’s waist, the beast twisted around once again delivering a devastating tail strike against Guile’s shield and sending him flying through the air.

Ducking under another arrow the female dragonkin focused on Mord and delivered strike after strike even as blood flew everywhere from the deep gash on her waist.

Mord was overwhelmed, with only his sword he wasn’t able to fully block its claws and was scratched again and again making his armor look more like rags and leaving his arms trembling from the strain, in desperation he took a claw swipe to the chest armor in order to focus fully on a new strike.

With a scream he delivered a full powered chop towards the beast’s limbs somehow managing to sever both of them just below the elbow, the creature was beyond caring thought and just struck like a snake biting down on his neck and riding him to the ground.

Scott frantically shot arrow after arrow but the beast curled her tail around Mord like a snake and let the arrows pierce her strong muscular coils while she savaged Mord’s neck.

Looking around I noticed Guile finally getting up but his shield arm was hanging limply by his side and he had clearly hurt his leg since he was limping as fast as he could towards the two fighters.

“Crap he won’t make it” I didn’t even notice I had spoken out loud, I was afraid, no, terrified, our party was losing and, although the vouivre was deeply hurt it still seemed strong enough to finish off Guile and face Scott alone.

I knew what I should do now, there was no shame in retreating from an enemy vastly more powerful than myself, we had even discussed it, Guile was too hurt to escape so he would draw the monster’s attention and Scott and I would escape to live another day.

Fuck, I knew Scott wasn’t gonna abandon them of his own accord but if I ran first he may follow, I could be saving his life even.

Even if he didn’t follow me, I could be careful and use my illusions well enough to have a chance of making it up to the 18th floor, certainly more of a chance than if I faced the powerful monster as a level 1 with all my attributes below three digits.

The hell, for all I knew those guys could have been planning to kill me after dealing with the Vouivre to avoid paying my 10%, we only had a professional relationship where they were paying for me to act as a supporter it’s not like we were a permanent party and the money from such big haul could be enough for them to turn against me, I even vaguely remember Mord acting like an asshole towards Bell on the Danmachi anime.

With trembling legs and my heart threatening to burst out of my chest from fear I ran.

My first throwing dagger hit the Vouivre on the shoulder and the second dug into its neck as I circled the beast to get a better angle, it wasn’t enough to get it to release the limp form of Mord from it’s coils but its remaining eye glared my way as the beast took another bite of the man.

The sheer amount of rage there, seeing the boiling hate on its eye, I knew even visual contact enhanced by the mangekyo wouldn’t be enough to affect it so, more or less on instinct, I activated my trump card, Kotoamatsukami.

In an instant I felt myself being drawn into its eye, felt myself fall into an abyss of darkness only sometimes illuminated by scenes of blood and carnage, the only feelings this creature felt were rage and a very muted amount of pain, it didn’t even take pleasure on it’s kills, not really.

Grasping at its consciousness I desperately tried to find a way to influence it, to change the rage it felt, every time I tried a wave of red hot hate washed over my work tainting it back into incoerent, bestial madness, there was something controling the beast, a sinister influence permeating its mind and filling it with the irrational desire to eliminate every intruder.

Feeling a mind down coming and knowing Mord didn’t have enough life left on him for me to take my time I flailed around desperately.

Wielding my power more like a hammer than the delicate instrument it was supposed to be, I felt something give, the influence inside its mind snapped, breaking the connection it had with the creature but the backlash disrupted my technique and I didn’t have enough mind to fight back.

In desperation, my only thoughts to shift the beast’s attention from its current prey, I managed to send it two imperatives, the first telling it that Mord wasn’t important and the second that I was.

I came back to myself with a scream of pain, I had the worst headache of my life and I felt like my right eye was about to explode as a flood of blood ran down my face but it worked, the draconic woman released Mord’s body and lifted itself up to stretch its wings.

Blocking another arrow with the stump of an arm the beast found me standing there and narrowed its eye.

“Oh crap” I said as I cursed myself for my stupidity, why the hell didn’t I just make it ignore me too.

The beast would then have turned towards Guile or Scott, both of which are far more likely to survive it’s attacks, but nooo I had to be the hero and now I was gonna get murdered by a half dead monster.

Stumbling once from the pain I managed to get my feet under me and ran towards Guile’s discarded spear as the Vouivre released another roar that shook me to my core and charged.

Dropping my sword I ran as if my life depended on it, I ran with everything I had expecting the creature to bite me in half with every step I took.

I reached the spear and slid down on the moss grabbing for it’s shaft, turning around I briefly registered Scott’s body thumbling away from the monster holding one of its amputated wings, making sure I planted the butt of the spear on the ground like I had seen the warriors do yesterday I braced myself to receive the beast’s charge.

Unfortunately a Vouivre was not a boar, seeing the spear pointed its way the monster twisted aside flowing around the spear with ease, only the fact my mangekyo were open saved me as I managed to follow its lightning fast movements.

Releasing the spear I cried out and tried to protect my head and neck with my arms.

It hit me like a truck, its hook like fangs biting down on my forearm and crushing my bones before its body slammed into me and drove my back into the ground for several meters, then it trashed its head wrenching my arm out of its sockets and lifting my feet off the ground and slamming me back down driving the air out of my lungs.

Opening its mouth the beast released my arm only to bite into my shoulders sending another wave of pain through my body.

I screamed in fear and, with a desperate drive to survive, I managed to grab its face with my left hand. The beast ignored me until I dug my thumb into its eye sockets.

Screeching in pain the Vouivre pulled its face away from me before striking blindly at my arm biting off my pinky and ring finger together with some of my hand, it pulled its head back to finish me off.

Opening its mouth impossibly wide to show a row of bloody fangs the Vuivre reared back for a new strike, looking at it I saw my death bearing down on me in slow motion.

The large mace hit it on the side of the head with all the strength Guile’s arms could muster sending the creature’s entire body away from me, releasing a whimper of relief I managed to turn my head enough to see the vouivre’s serpentine body twisting uselessly at the ground.

Even blind and with half its head caved in the monster still seemed to be trying to get to me until Guile laid a boot at its back and used his mace to pulverize its head against the wooden floor ending it once and for all.

Laying there on the floor with a pool of blood starting to spread from my wounds I could only stare at the dead monster, the tip of its tail still twitching about before I burst out laughing.

I had survived, despite the incredible stupidity of what I had done I survived, then the adrenaline started leaving my system and the pain hit me.

Sucking in a breath I dared look down at my shoulder to see a large piece of it just missing with bite marks left on my exposed bone, I couldn’t move my arm and was barely hanging on to my consciousness as the pain continued to increase.

I wanted nothing more than to give up and pass out, the only thing keeping my eyes open was the fear I wouldn’t wake up if I did so I focused my sight on Guile and watched as he released his mace and walked towards me.

“Stupid kid…. haaa…. haaa…” he said as he approached me his shoulders dropping from exhaustion “Should have ran”

“I… argh! I’m telling myself the same thing” I confessed.

Kneeling down besides me Guile took out several vials from the pouch at his side and opened the first pouring it down on top of my shoulder, my muscles contracted as the potion felt like alcohol being thrown on my exposed wound but the bleeding immediately stopped, throwing the vial away he opened another and poured it at my arm with the same result.

“Ugh… so tell me doctor… huff… will I live?” I tried to joke but it came out with far too much truth to be funny, I had lost a lot of blood.

“It’s not gonna be pretty… haaa…. and you’re gonna have to see a specialist to fix this mess on Oratio but you’re gonna make it” the large man said still trying to recover his breath “Hopefully we’re all gonna make enough that we won’t be in debt after this”

Guile Helped me drink a third potion vial, I felt my wounds all close leaving me with an odd tingling sensation over them so, of course the headache from overusing my eyes came back in full and even the potions couldn’t stop the bleeding from my right eye.

Turning my head away from Guile I closed both eyes to see if the pain would go down but it was no use.

For a few minutes I laid there breathing hard while Guile ripped my shirt and used it to wrap my arm against my body then he got up and kicked my leg lightly “Come on get up, we don’t want to tempt the dungeon into sending a monster party after us”

Remembering the place I was laying on was actually a semi sentient thing hellbent on killing me I opened my eyes wide and pushed myself up as fast as I could, it was not a good idea as Guile had to hold me up until the world stopped spinning and I regained my footing.

Note to self, blood loss and exhaustion did not allow for fast movement.

Finally managing to look at my surroundings I saw that Mord was actually alive if in an even worse situation than me, he was sitting against a tree pale like a corpse and with a chunk of his neck missing and one of his legs bent into an odd angle while his armor had to be discarded, his shirt absolutely soaked with blood.

Surprisingly there was an elf laying beside him with a pair of amputated legs by his side, the male wasn’t awake but his chest was moving and his stumps were already healed.

Finally I found Scott forcing a potion down the throat of the elf woman leaning against a root as she tried to wave him away to check on her remaining companions, she didn’t seem ready for a fight as she constantly missed his hands or fell back down as if drunk.

He finally lifted her in a princess carry and laid her back down besides her companion before coming to stand with Guile and me.

“So they were alive after all” Guile commented as Scott came closer “what’s up with them?”

“They’re Loki familia, it was their leader's first time leading them on the lower floors and as far as I could find out from the girl they had shitty luck” Scott explained before turning to me and looking over my limp arm “You alright? think you can continue walking?”

“I won’t be fighting anything but I think I can make it back to the town if we stop to rest once or twice” I gave him my best guess, it wasn’t the time to act proud since our lives were still on the line.

“Good… good” he trailed off while looking towards our wounded, all three of them didn’t look like they were gonna be walking anytime soon “Alright Guile you carry Mord, I think I can carry the crippled elf without much trouble and you newbie watch the girl, she hit her head but is mostly alright you just have to keep her awake and walking”

“You sure?” asked Guile with a lifted eyebrow

“Shit I don’t want to just leave them here man” Scott sighed and covered his face with his hands while releasing a long sight “Look if we travel carefully the both of us should have enough time to lay them down and kill any monster we can’t avoid but if things look bad we abandon the elves and ran for it alright?”

Without a better idea we both nodded and got into action.