It took them almost three weeks to get everything ready. Tristan stood at the top of the hole that they had dug, looking down. Currently, he had his arms crossed and was frowning down at the hole. Below him was a cavern that had gotten much larger. The warriors had dug out a pit just outside the structure.

It was clear that their goal was to position the blasting pipes, which he had found out were called cannons, at the rim of this pit and shoot whatever exited from the relative safety of the rim. The pit was also filled with spikes that were angled like a pike line. He had found out that a body structure representing a human respiratory system was a very poor model. Anything built like that would be highly susceptible to losing mobility from hooking or piercing attacks.

Siren was currently in the pit with a saw artifact. Its diamond like blade rained sparks as it tried to cut through the metal. Whatever this structure had been made of, it was not steel. The metal was significantly harder. Tristan was a little jealous of the military being able to make armor out of it.

The saw could cut through metal like a sharp knife through fruit. While this metal was multiple times harder the knife would always win. Tristan grimaced, he really missed his knives. He considered whether going back to fetch them was a good idea. The thought of Shadow Fist waking up to find Tristan looming over him was satisfying.

The camp had started the operation just before noon, that way the sun would be giving the best illumination during the heaviest combat. Unfortunately, it was not until around two that Siren finally managed to cut a hole in the smooth metal. He left a small amount, to stop the metal from falling right away. Shouldering the saw, he clambered up the side of the pit.

“Shoot the door off,” Siren said.

Tristan approved of that. Even if something nasty was in there, no one would be in immediate danger. It took several moments for the warrior with an air kern to pressurize the cannon. Tristan had been surprised when he found out that this could be done with a pump, air pressure was powerful and accessible to everyone. He was told that the handheld model of the cannon required an air kern, as the need to pump them made a simple bow better.

Once the hissing of escaping air was heard, the warrior yelled, “Clear!”

He pulled a chord and the cart the cannon was sitting slid back, despite the braces holding it in place. The projectile was a bolt as long as Tristan’s forearm with fletching at one end and a steel cap on the other. It was heavy too, weighing almost ten pounds. Not that Tristan could see it, the projectile moved with such speed that the recoil and impact seemed to happen simultaneously.

Despite the power the cannon obviously possessed, the new door was not blasted inward. The thin strip that still held it was pushed inward but it still held the sheet of metal at an odd thirty degree angle. The cannoneer cursed, everyone had expected the metal to be torn apart by that, especially as it was only being held by a piece as wide as Tristan’s finger.

Something started squeezing under the sheet of metal. Tristan narrowed his eyes, this looked like the slime elemental that he had seen before. Only this one was orange, not smokey grey. Fire was orange, though the traditional color was red or yellow. The thing lit up like a glow stone, and then the light died, only to start back up again.

Siren seemed to be slightly amused that the strobing elemental had chosen to come outside alone. He simply made a gesture to one of the cannoneers on the nearest edge. After adjusting the aim slightly, the man, Tristan was surprised to realize that it was Luke, fired the cannon.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Tristan had been hoping for an explosion, maybe something that was flashy. If he could not have a piece of the action he at least wanted to be entertained. What he got was an orange gooey mess that splattered the elemental across the gap it had just exited through. Tristan was sure those cannons could kill any unprepared tier four, it would definitely annihilate a slime with a brain and eyes floating in it.

Luke peaked out from behind the shield wall that had been raised, “Well, that’s disappointing.”

The orange slime started dissolving, integrating with the world around it. For a long few moments nothing happened. Then a hand wrapped around the bottom of the door. It was odd not like anything Tristan had ever witnessed. The fingers had no joints and had fibrous filaments running down their length.

Tristan had seen exposed muscles and tendons, which looked shockingly similar. There was a screeching noise as whatever the thing was pried the door off with just brute strength. The warriors would have shot at it, but the sheet of metal was in the way. It took a step out holding the door in front of it. Tristan did not believe that it was an intelligent creature, while using the door as a shield was a great idea, Tristan believed that it had forgotten to set it down.

Being up above Tristan and the other observers were the first ones to get a good view of the creature. It looked to all the world like a spaghetti monster. Muscle strings in a squat vaguely humanoid shape trundled forward. Its movements were similar to a human’s, though its flexibility demonstrated a lack of bones. All of this was wrapped around a sack of some kind with glowing objects stuffed into it.

It took a moment for Tristan to recognize the red glowing things as organs. This creature had glowing organs in a sack that it walked around with. Maybe it was a third type of elemental, Conni’s theory of multiple plains of existence was starting to seem more and more accurate, as no matter how hard Tristan looked, he could find no heart.

The creature lumbered forward and seemingly looked around. Tristan could see no eyes, so he was unsure of what it was doing. Unfortunately for it, it had stopped in the center of the pit. It was not quite to the spikes, but it had walked past two cannons.

Siren was silent as he pointed to the cannoneers and gave them a thumbs up. They started compressing air, and for a long few seconds, nothing happened. Then the pressure valve started hissing, signifying maximum pressure. Unfortunately for Luke, he filled his faster due to a higher essence reserve.

The new type of elemental demonstrated the danger of the unknown. No one was ready when the creature whipped its arm forward. Fire exploded from the palm, or at least the area where all the fingers connected to the arm. The burst of flame accelerated the metal like a two hundred pound frisbee. Luke was fast, he dragged the warriors on either side down with him.

It saved their lives. The metal rectangle smashed into the cannon, not damaging it, but ricocheting into one of the still standing tower shields. While the metal barrel of the cannon was only dented, the shield was sheared in half. The warrior would have been too, but he no longer occupied that space.

A stake slammed into the elemental in the upper torso. It was too high to hit what Tristan now knew was an organ sack, brimming with fire essence. The stringy makeup of the elemental stopped the cannon from doing any real damage, though it had stopped inside the creature. Evidently, it was pretty durable, as that attack was strong enough to kill most civil protectors.

Reaching up, the elemental dragged the stake out and lobbed it at them. This time it threw the stake in the same manner as the door at the other cannoneer. The spinning piece of wood was fast, but its only lethal point was the metal tip. That was fortunate for the cannoneer, as, unlike Luke, he lacked the raw speed to pull his comrades aside.

The bolt slammed butt first into the shield, cracking the wood and knocking the warrior over. Thankfully a bruised rear end was all that warrior received. The elemental turned around and lumbered back inside the deposit. Siren was not sure what tier the creature was, however it clearly packed more punch than himself. There was no way he would let it retreat.

“Put a bolt through that sack,” He pointed at the elemental's back.

Nodding the cannoneer at the far side filled up his pressure tank. It only took a few seconds. As soon as the hiss of the air valve started, he released it. The bolt punched through the elemental, the shaft catching fire as it passed cleanly through the organs which clearly held flame essence.

The elemental staggered forward into the deposit, napalm like viscera scattered before it. The creature groaned and collapsed, falling to the floor like a bunch of tangled strings. It was gross, reminding Tristan of what some of the meat in the butcher's shop looked like, just after it had been harvested, all soft and jiggly.

Siren looked up a Conni, “ This may take a while, these things are the hardest type to kill.”