Hera and the others were chasing the Scavenger Ruler. It seemed much different from the rest, not just by the size, but it was the only one that took the food back somewhere. Not to mention that it was running away with all their potential loot. However, the monster was fast. They already had lost sight of it. Presumably, it had landed somewhere, but they still couldn't see where. It was one of the problems of the plains. Since it was made of small hills, there were many places for something to hide.
After close to ten minutes of chase, they noticed something weird in the distance. A large formation of jagged spikes and curved white rocks seemed to make a half loop. As they got closer, a gust of wind carried a smell that almost made the entire team throw up. Even Ganek, who rarely showed any sort of emotion or reaction, twisted his face and protected his mouth and nose as the smell came. It was the unique smell of rotting flesh, but it wasn't just from a single body by its strength. It also made no sense for it to be from the monsters that had just died. How could it be? They were fresh. It would take at least a day for the decomposition process to start.
Each step closer to the white rock formation only made the smell get stronger. Totrak tried to use a spell to push the scent away, but it didn't work. Lija created a giant fan, but that only lasted for a moment. Only after Pyrrick deployed a barrier blocking the wind that the smell subsided. It still didn't go away completely, but it helped a lot. The sound of something retching loudly came from the direction they were heading, making them regain their focus.
The team walked closer and closer, now being careful not just because of the smell but not to alert the creature. They crossed another two hills before finally seeing where all the smell was coming from. The formation wasn't made of stone like they imagined. It was, in fact, the bones of a creature much larger than any of the griffons. The scavenger ruler was under one of the ribs eating something, but it wasn't one of the corpses it had brought here. That one seemed much older. It was bloated, and it split apart with ease as the monster's beak touched it, and it wasn't even the only one. There were a dozen more rotting carcasses spread around the area, not counting the new bodies. The other griffons seemed to have trouble feeding themselves, while this one was hoarding food.
Sadly, Hera couldn't feel her poison mana in the bodies or in the Scavenger Ruler, and it didn't look like the poison ever affected the monster. She looked at Blue with a serious expression, who just nodded in response. Even if the creature was bigger than the rest, it was still 2 against one.
"Pyrrick, can you give us the buffs again?" Hera asked.
"Sure, but I only have enough mana for 3 more casts," the mage replied.
"That's fine. If we can't beat it until the buff is out, we might need to run away to regroup anyway," Hera turned to Totrak, "Wait until we are closer to it before using the solid air. Actually, wait until it tries to jump us. I want to take advantage of that moment."
The mages nodded and did as they were asked. Hera and Blue took a deep breath before heading towards the monster. However, the moment they left the barrier, the smell hit their nose like a truck. Hera felt her eyes watering, and Blue had to force herself to not throw up. Realizing there was no way to fight in those conditions, the duo quickly moved back to the barrier.
"What happened?" Sevaris asked.
"That smell is too much," Hera replied, while Blue still tried to gather herself.
"C'mon, it can be that bad," Lija walked away from the barrier and took a whiff. She instantly rushed back and showed the dungeon what she had for breakfast.
"Can't it?" Blue scoffed.
"How can something that awful exist?" Lija asked.
"A bunch of rotting corpses out in the open will do that, but the smell seems stronger than it should," Hera replied.
"What now then?" Sevaris asked.
Hera looked over and saw the Scavenger Ruler eating. It was ignoring the fresh bodies and only taking the rotting ones. Maybe it had to eat things that were already decomposing, or it just liked the taste. Still, fighting in here wasn't possible. They had to lure it away to get into an area where the smell wouldn't hinder them.
"I'm going to attack it. When it turns to us, we run to get away from the smell," Hera said.
Everyone nodded and waited for the attack. Hera's idea was very straightforward. The creature should get angry and chase after them after getting hit. No monster would get damaged and ignore an attacker, and it wasn't like her spells should be weak enough that the creature wouldn't bat an eye. Hera prepared a fire arrow and threw it at the scavenger ruler. The projectile flew through the air, but a few meters before it hit the target, a cloud appeared and blocked its path. It looked much like the barrier that occurred when the dwarves attacked, but this was different at the same time. Instead of a perfectly rotating barrier, a formless cloud engulfed the fire arrow and traveled with it for a moment before disappearing together with the attack. Hera tried the spell again, this time with more mana, but the result was the same, although it did take a bit longer for the cloud to disappear after swallowing her spell.
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"Oh, great. What now?" Hera sighed.
"Why is it doing that? Is it a spell or that weird barrier?" Blue asked.
"I don't know. I don't think it is the barrier, so it must be some sort of personal defense. I mean, some of the griffons are good at using clouds. Maybe that one learned something from them," Hera replied without taking an eye out of the monster.
"Why is it not the barrier?" Naka asked.
"It seems different. The barrier could stop your attacks completely at once. This one seemed to take some time. Not to mention the shape and that it wasn't rotating."
"I see. Maybe we can damage this creature then. Lija," Naka turned to the mage.
Lija nodded and tried to attack it, but the same odd cloud appeared and destroyed her projectile before reaching the scavenger ruler. The team felt a bit lost with all this. They knew where the monster was and felt confident in their odds of killing it, but with the smell, none among them could last more than a few seconds outside Pyrrick’s barrier. Even Naka tried and could only stay outside for half a minute before having to rush back to a place where the air wasn't so vile.
Hera kept watching the creature until an idea popped into her mind, "This is going to be so stupid."
"What?" Blue asked.
"I'm gonna burn the corpses. Maybe it will be angry if we take away its food."
"Angry? The thing is going to be livid! Are you sure?" Blue gasped.
"Does anyone have any better ideas?" no one replied, "Ok, then I'm doing this. I'm sure you all want the rewards just as much as I do."
"Very well, but we run as soon as the monster turns in our direction. Lija, prepare to make some defenses," Naka commanded.
Hera took a deep breath and looked back at the monster. It was a bit far away from most of its stockpile of corpses, and luckily, all the ones it got today were close by each other. Close enough to be hit by a single flaming poison rain. She created the point of origin and angled the spell to hit as many corpses as possible before triggering. Although she couldn't see exactly where she was placing it, it felt like she was making a 3D model. Hera could more or less feel the direction her spells would go and even where they would hit.
The drops of flaming orange liquid showered the bodies. It didn't take long for them to be ignited, and the smell of burning flesh seeped through the barrier. In comparison, it was a welcome change. If one closed their eyes, they could pretend to be smelling a barbecue, a very crappy barbecue, but a barbecue nonetheless. The scavenger ruler also noticed the change and turned around to the pile of corpses. It roared and flapped its wings, trying to get rid of the flames, but that didn't work. The monster stopped and moved its head closer to the bodies. Small misshaped clouds appeared around its head and fell down to the flaming pile of griffons. It took a few moments, but the fire finally went away, together with the spell that Hera had already stopped casting.
The scavenger ruler sniffed at the corpses and tried to take a bite. It quickly spat out the food and turned towards the team with an angry expression.
"Now we run?" Blue asked.
"Yep. Go, go, go, go," Hera made a motion with her hand while she started running.
It took less than ten seconds for the monster to let out a howl and go up in the air, chasing after the small creatures that destroyed its reserves. The humanoids were already going over the first hill when the griffon took flight. It dove towards its targets as soon as they were under it. Even if it had just lost some of its food, there was more right in front of it.
The team had to move at a steady pace, with Pyrrick staying in the middle while keeping up the barrier. When the monster attacked, they had to dodge away. Hera, Blue, and Lerynn were behind the creature while the rest was in front. The scavenger ruler turned back towards the humans, attracted by the ones who should provide a larger meal.
"Lerynn, get out of here," Hera said as the creature stared her down.
The healer dashed to the side at the same time that Hera triggered her flaming poison rain right in the middle of the monster, hoping those clouds wouldn't appear. Unfortunately, as the orange projectiles came down, several small clouds appeared. Some of the rain vanished in the barriers, but not all of it. Part of her spell hit the target, making the feathers on its back ignite.
The scavenger ruler roared and jumped to the side, trying to get away from the spell. Blue was already by its legs, punching it with her electric buffs. Even when putting all of her strength on the strike, the creature didn't seem to mind the attack that much, and the sparks of lightning were quickly covered by small clouds that absorbed the magic. Hera tossed her chakram with the poison reinforcement covering it. Cloud appeared to block the attack, but they weren't able to stop it. When the burst of mana made the blade jump towards the Scavenger Ruler's face, the monster jumped back. One of its back legs went straight for Totrak, who was still close by, waiting for a moment to use his solid air spell. Naka jumped towards him and intercepted the claw with the side of her sword. Nothing appeared as her blade touched the monster. With a grunt, the captain pushed the griffon away with all her strength.
To everyone's surprise, instead of simply pushing the creature away, Naka was strong enough to rip the back leg of the scavenger ruler out of its socket and sent it flying upward. The monster roared and fell to the ground. The captain opened a big smile and jumped towards the griffon while tossing her two-handed sword to the side. She reached the other back leg and, with a tackle, ripped it from the rest of its body.
"What the…?" Hera gasped as Naka rushed to the front legs, ripping one of them up before the Scavenger ruler tried to fly away. But the captain would not let it go. She jumped several meters up and grabbed the monster's head with her arms. With a punch to the neck, a sickening crack echoed through the plains, and the creature fell on the ground with a broken spine.
"Holy crap, captain. How much pent-up anger do you have?" Blue gasped.
"Enough for a few more hits," Naka didn't even look towards the human and kept punching the monster's head since it was still alive, just unable to move the rest of its body. A few moments passed while she kept hitting the creature until the body finally dissolved, turning into a pile of loot.