Chapter 21: The Cave of Behemoth

Idmon and the group got out of the caves safely. However, after getting out of the goblin-infested caves, they needed to traverse more caves.

We talked about the path that we would take to get to the dwarven kingdom, and we decided to take the hidden caves that are only known to the dwarves.

Before that, we need to regroup with the other mining teams sent to this area.

Dolf said that they were to go home together with all the groups.

It’s a good thing; it's night. Aside from their wolves, the goblins are not particularly alert, so we could sneak past them if needed. Taking out the wolves from a distance would work too.

Okay, there were five teams sent to this area along with Dolf’s team.

The nearest team was 2 miles away, inside another cave. So, we head there.

We take out goblin scout groups silently on the way.

Once we arrived, other dwarves were surprised.

Miner: “Dolf! It’s good to see you. By the way, they said a large group of gobs—wah!? Undead!?”

Dolf: “Calm down; they are intelligent beings. They have something to say to our king, and we need to go back now. It’s also partly because the goblins are hunting our mining teams.”

“eh- Eherm… Okay, as you wish, Dolf.”

After that, we went to the following teams:.

The shock of the other dwarves is similar to the first. And Dolf handled the situations adequately.

Now the dwarves are 32, with six of them being warriors along with Dolf.

Dolf: “The last team should be around here.”

We arrived at the cave Dolf led us to.

Outside the gate, there were groups of dead goblins. Who knows what happened to these guys?

Dolf: “Dismembered, cuts, and no bruises; Dwarves did not do these. Most of the time, we use blunt weapons, and even when we use axes, their cut is clean and not this ragged.”

The corpses looked like a beast had mangled them.

And may it be a beast or any other creature, it is sure to be a large one. Some of the bodies were crushed flat.

Idmon: “(t) Are you sure they are still alive, Dolf? Because if we go in here, we might lose more than we can rescue, especially if there are none to be rescued.”

Dolf gave a perplexed look. He is weighing his options.

I also tried using "Sense Life," and I noticed that only a sizable living thing can exude a strong life force.

Idmon: “(t) There is a beast inside there. A large one at that.”

Dolf: “We will go in, kill that beast, and retrieve the bodies of our brothers.”

Miner 1: “Okay, Dolf.”

Miner 2: “We’re with you, Dolf.”

Idmon: “(t) As you wish.”

Everyone in the group followed Dolf’s decision. Lina was also silently following.

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We entered the cave, which has large rooms. There are large spaces that have no light source, so we only see what’s near the dwarves’ torches.

I went up beside Dolf.

Idmon: “(t) Dolf, are corpses so important to you dwarves that we went here just to retrieve them?”

He looked at me. And then he looked back in front of him.

Dolf: “They’re not. It's just that my last living brother was part of this group.”

I just nodded after I understood the situation.

Dolf also told me earlier that this group only consisted of five miners and one warrior, who turned out to be his brother.

After a few minutes, something happened.

Miner 1: “Gahh!”

A dwarf was surprised when he bumped into the corpse of a hobgoblin.

Miner 1: “Oh...”

There were like 20 dead hobgoblins here. They were either mauled or cut in two by sharp claws.

This rescue mission is turning into a nightmare. The further we go in, the stronger the monster’s corpses we find.

As I looked around, there was nothing but rocks in this cave—no sign of water either.

I wonder what the huge monster would drink to keep himself alive.

A few more minutes in, and the bones of dead monsters can be found.

And I think I hear what seems to be a monster breathing.

A huge one at that.

Dolf: “Quiet… It seems they are too busy eating to notice us. Let’s try sneaking around it.”

What? I thought this was enough to make him realize that his brother was already gone.

Could it be?

Idmon: “Dolf, you do not seriously think he’s still alive? Or are you…”

Dolf: “No. But I believe they will go to the farthest part of the cave and try to make an escape route through the walls. So, their bodies must be there.”

I made a gesture that I understood, and we went ahead and started sneaking.

The heavy equipment of the dwarves is making this a lot harder, though.

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Oioioioi! Not there!

A dwarf stepped into a shallow part of the floor and made a loud noise while tumbling.

Beast: “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!! RAHHHH!!!!”

The monster noticed us and turned around. Its roar tore some of us away.

This monster.

It looks like a behemoth from the monster registry. This guy is not supposed to be in this region. These monsters are like the watchdogs of the Beast King in the North Region.

Its appearance is like that of an overgrown black lion with some mutations.

How did it find its way here? Or could it be that there is a beast king here?

It charged at high speed towards us. It was shaking the whole place like an earthquake.

Lina put up an ice wall with its spikes directed towards the Behemoth.

We ran away, as this was our chance, but it was not. The Behemoth endured the spiky ice wall and continued charging towards us.

Lina was about to go back and make another one, but I stopped her.

Idmon: “(t) You dwarves, go ahead.”

The group of dwarfs then ran towards the other room.

Dolf: “What about you?”

Dolf looked at me again.

Idmon: “We'll distract this guy. You hurry and find your brother. Then we can get out of here.”

He was the last one to leave.

I told them to go since I couldn't assure them that there would be no casualties.

It’s just Lina and me now.

I don’t know why, but she’s screaming there, some distance away from me. It must be her skill.

Idmon: “(t) Bombard his eyes with spells.”

Lina: “(t) Yes, boss.”

Luckily, I still have rogue-class leg bones. I can keep up in terms of speed.

Lina started the fight by raining ice spears on it. Even though it didn’t hit the eye, it was a good try.

While she was harassing it, I prepared my spear and shield as the Behemoth charged in my direction.

I am positioned in front of Lina to cover her in this battle.

It swings its claws here and there.

Huh! Hah!

I was able to dodge all of them because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here anymore with Lina still raining spells on him.

This sh*t is getting crazy.

After a few minutes of this again and again, The Behemoth is starting to release tired and painful cries now and then.

Behemoth: “Rah!”

It’s now starting to bite me!

With teeth that were as large as my body, it tried to crush me.

Fortunately, here, as long as I concentrate, it won’t hit me since the undead don't tire. I need to focus mentally.

How long are those guys going to have us wait!? It feels like forever has passed by here, and we are still maintaining this distraction.

Its face looks a bit beat now, though. Its left eye is now frozen, and dodging seems to be more manageable now.

Let me try counter-attacking!

Haghh!

I used on his side when I dodged to the left.

Crack!

My spear broke!? Now I only have my shield. I tried firing ice spells now and then. But the damage seems to be nonexistent.

As soon as he attempted to remove my leg with his claws, I leapt onto it and applied an icy touch.

Its skin was starting to turn blue, but it shook me off really quick.

So, that won’t work either? I was thinking of a solution while dodging.

Thank you,

And after I dodged one of its attacks, it suddenly leaped to my next position with a mouth wide open.

I was using my skill to its highest potential. I quickly kicked myself away by stepping on one of its teeth before it closed.

The instant speed up from

Whew!

Lina is resting right now because she’s been using spells all this time.

Even though she looks defenseless, she is ethereal, so the Behemoth won’t get her that easily.

As I thought, the Behemoth starts to produce a huge from his mouth.

Boom!

It went straight for Lina.

Idmon: “(t) Watch out!”

She looked at me before the fireball exploded.

Hrmm….

That looked bad. Is Lina still alive? I guess I’ll just check on her later.

Behemoth then charged me again.

I was forced back against a wall this time. Then it slashed with its claws.

Dodge. Clink!

One of its claws flew away from the force of hitting the wall.

It was as long as my spear, so I took it.

And as I tried to stab its leg with the claw, I felt something coming from my side, so I instinctively dodged forward.

Shwuckkkk!

The dodge speed, along with the force of the stab, made the spear penetrate the thick skin of the Behemoth.

“Gurahh!!!”

A painful roar came out. I pulled out the claw spear, and luckily, it went out smoothly.

The behemoth looked angry now.

It then made its usual claw slash.

But this time, it used a tail that I had never seen before to hit me.

I raised my shield in time, but I went flying to Lina’s area.

Ugh!

The shield broke, and my ribs are also filled with fractures.

Lina was still alive there, just asleep. Though being alive and asleep might be inappropriate,.

She used a thick earlier and one last Ice Spear that was supposed to distract the Behemoth.

That was crazy, though, because the speed you get from evasion skills is almost otherworldly. When I did that stab, its skin felt like paper.

Amazing.

The behemoth has now started raging around in place. It seems reluctant to charge me now.

I made some preparations in the meantime. It didn’t make another , weird.

A few moments later, the dwarven group returned.

Dolf: “Hey! Let’s get out of here!”

Dolf’s shout resounded in the cave.

I waved and nodded in response.

We tried to run away quickly, and I was somewhat carried away. The ghost is Lina.

In reality, I just enchanted my arms with negative energy so that I could hold her properly.

But…

Behemoth: “RAHHHH!”

The Behemoth blocked the way out.

Idmon: “(t) Dolf, I need someone to distract it. I’m going for the kill.”

Dolf: “What!? That thing? By the way, it seemed to be injured.

Idmon: “(t) I can do this! Or else this is it for us, so trust me.”

Dolf readied his weapons, and the other warriors did the same.

They charged in front of him, yelling to get the attention of the agitated Behemoth.

They also had some throwing axes, which made the Behemoth angrier and charge at them.

I don’t know how they did it, but when a downward claw slash attacked them, they stood firm, holding their shields upwards to block the attack.

This moment is my chance!

I hurriedly went to the side of the behemoth. I also gauged it earlier. This wounded part is the most vulnerable side of its body.

I also judged the distance of my height to its body; it was far, but my spear will reach.

As I arrived at its side, it noticed me and started to roar. But it was too late.

. An explosion came from behind me.

It was the storage crystal of a fireball spell.

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The explosion triggered my skill, and I made an ultra-fast step forward to dodge it.

I used the force of the to increase my momentum, which made my spear-thrust strong enough to penetrate deep into the body.

Even though it was a somewhat short leap, the force was enough to break my spear.

Luckily, it is still alright. Part of the spear went inside. Just what I needed.

Behemoth: “RAGHHHHHHHHHHH!”

A roar much louder than before resounded in the cave. It made the dwarves cover their ears. Well, for me. Hehe, luckily, I don’t have ears.

!

Even though it was still roaring from pain, I activated the second part of the attack.

I am releasing a storage crystal that I embedded earlier on the spear when I was preparing.

It had multiple offensive spells. It opened up a hole large enough for a person to enter.

“Ugahhhhh…”

The behemoth now looked very tired and was not able to roar in pain. It was just whimpering and lying on the ground.

Now comes the final part of the attack.

I went inside its body and located the heart. After I approached the enormous beating heart, I used Icy Touch on it.

It started turning blue at first, and then the beating also got slower.

After a few moments, the beating stopped.

I came out of the body covered in blood and the innards of the behemoth.

Dolf: “He did it.”

Miners: “Hurrah!”

I walked away from the body of the behemoth to Lina’s side. It seems that she already woke up earlier when we were making the attack.

Lina: “I can’t believe you defeated it.”

Idmon: “(t) I just saw an opportunity. Also, I want to thank you because some of your spells earlier gave me an idea to plan the last attack.”

Lina: “(t) Okay.”

She slowly stood up and went back to her usual position, which was behind me.

After checking if everyone was alright, we went out of the cave.

When everyone was out of sight, I tried to raise the behemoth under my command, but I felt that it rejected me. There was no response. Weaker undead really can't raise stronger ones and dominate them.

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Idmon: “Hey Dolf, is everything okay?”

Dolf: “Yeah, see the little guy at the back? I got my brother and a few of the miners in his group safely. Still, I can’t believe you took out a behemoth.”

Idmon: “(t) We worked together, didn’t we? By the way, is it normal for those creatures to appear here?”

Dolf: “Normal? No. Those guys either came from the Deadlands or ancient beast spawns that are still alive and hiding out in caves. The guy that we beat earlier was one of those still hiding out here.”

Hmmm.

Then he told me more about those strong creatures that we should probably steer clear of.

Dolf: “And yes, Idmon? You will wait outside the capital first once we arrive there. The king and the old advisors are not very fond of the undead. We have orders to kill all undead on sight, which is like a sacred law to us. Don’t worry too much, though. I’ll convince him, hahaha!”

Idmon: "(t) I-I see."

After he made a hearty laugh, I wondered, Will I survive this meeting?

I can’t go through walls like Lina, so if it’s a trap, that means it's already over.

And battling people with blunt weapons in close quarters is not the situation most suited for spear-using undead like me. One hit from a small war hammer can break my bones.

Idmon: “(t) Please do convince him, and if we ally with each other, I can offer to be on the frontlines against the goblin army. We would reduce the dwarven casualties dramatically in this war. And I don’t mean to be rude, but I believe if we don’t help each other, the dwarves will succumb to the goblin invasion.”

Dolf: “I know. That’s why I’m your guy.”

After resting for a while and checking our equipment, we head on towards the Dwarven Capital.

They call it the capital because they have no other cities left.

Giving cities specific names is for huge countries or something like that.

By the way, I cut off the teeth and nails of the Behemoth earlier with the help of the dwarves. It was handy and could be a superior material for making spears.

I wish I could get smithing skills so that I could make new weapons for myself and my allies.

The travel time was just short because of the shortcut caves that I mentioned earlier.