Finn's group continued their exploration into the final segments of the mutant whale’s spine. Fortunately, the creature only expanded when one tried to hurt it or leave. It was both a self defense mechanism and an aid in digestion.

The remaining vertebrae were more or less the same. Some did not have echidnas, only the remains of those who once fought for survival.

Others had multiple enemies, rocking back and forth on opposite sides of their chambers. Finn noticed this and even managed to slip past a couple of them without triggering a fight.

However, Natalie was dead set on sparing no one. She cut some of them and burned or melted the rest. Only to a single enemy she gave the mercy of piercing his skull, before she retreated her kindness by twisting the blade.

"I'm doing them a favor. Their current lives aren't worth living."

"How many more areas are there?" Finn tried to change the subject.

"Three," said Norman.

"Three?"

"Yes, the bad ones."

"Explain," said Caroline.

Norman looked at the goblin in their group, who backed off a step and spoke almost in whispers.

"I-I've been exploring the whale. I'm short, so I can make small enough cuts to not alert the immune system. In the next bone cave there's an echidna. In the one after there’s a man. And in the final cave… I don't know. The fleshlings swarmed me when I tried to enter."

Finn cracked his neck and took the lead along with Natalie. Caroline followed a few steps back, and the rest fell behind, as much as they could without drawing attention.

'Presuming the echidnas fought through the spine before settling in their spots, we can assume the further we go, the stronger the enemies we encounter will be. This seemed to be the case until now, though the increase in power was marginal. But if this one’s the last, then maybe...'

Finn entered the final vertebrae expecting a challenge, and he did find it, though it was not an echidna. The echidna in the middle was long dead. Its body was mummified, standing straight on its coiled tail while still holding its trident, like an undead general welcoming everyone in.

All around it, pinkish golems made of nothing but muscle and flesh stood with their backs towards them, facing the tail. Their fingers were thick and their heads were just a round blob. It wasn’t clear whether they had eyes at all, but their bulky limbs and even bulkier torso would likely generate significant power.

‘Are they worshiping whatever’s in the tail?’ thought Finn.

‘Maybe they’re asleep,’ Natalie transmitted.

The two slowed down their pace and moved quietly, but there was no way around the fleshlings. They were everywhere, even on the ceiling. They stuck to the walls like they grew out of them, motionless, almost like machines which had yet to activate.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“If you go between them they’ll attack,” said the goblin. “They’re protecting the tail. I have seen it.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Finn. “This is where we part. You guys go back, and we’ll see this through. Caroline?”

“I will stay.”

The merfolk quickly said their goodbyes and almost sprinted back to the whale’s head. Natalie pulled out her sword, Finn his knife, and Caroline summoned several black crystals to aid her in battle.

“If we push through we’ll get surrounded. Presuming these blobs are summoned in the tail, then we’ll need to kill them faster than they can regenerate.”

“Is that possible?” asked Caroline.

“We’re about to find out.”

Finn disappeared. More than 50 of him stabbed the heads of just as many flesh monsters before a single Finn returned back to the group. The pink blobs were unfazed, though they did turn around.

“Crap. Looks like I won’t be much help in this battle.”

“Can’t you lengthen the knife?” asked Natalie.

“If I do that then it’s bye bye teleportation. Magic tools are delicate, you should know.”

Natalie looked at her rapier and shrugged. She then surfed a wave of lava towards the charging enemies. The wave grew larger and larger, until it swallowed almost a hundred of their forces.

The survivors climbed on top of each other trying to crush the intruder. They fell from the walls, and even swam through lava until their bodies melted.

“I’ll provide assistance.” Caroline flew over and shot concentrated laser beams from her crystal, cube and eyes. The holes she made in the flesh monsters were small, yet the burns they caused could no longer heal. Her victims' movements became awkward and slow, making it easy for Natalie to finish them off.

“Oh, I can do that.” Finn heated his knife using magic and proceeded to roast the fleshlings, almost 50 at a time.

Between the three of them, the creatures were dying rapidly. Despite endless reinforcements, slowly but surely, they were pushing the army back.

‘Great, now if we can just keep this up for a day or two.’ Finn chuckled. He sat on the mummy’s head, while dozens of him killed the blobs all around it. ‘If I target the joints in their limbs, it immobilizes them. It’s actually a better target than the head.’

The mummy leaned forward, but Finn adjusted and placed his bum on its back.

‘They don’t make undead like they used to. Can’t even make a proper stool.’

Finn watched over his friends’ battle while his other selves were killing the blobs all around him.

‘Everything’s going according to plan.’

Suddenly, he choked on something. He coughed a couple of times and finally spit it out.

‘Blood?’ He instinctively placed his hand on his stomach and felt three sharp and pointy tips coming out of it. ‘Oh…’

This version of Finn disappeared, his mana spreading out amongst the others.

“Hey Natalie,” a second Finn spoke, before three sharp blades cut his body in half.

“Hey girls!” shouted another, before his brain was impaled by a trident.

“The mummy…” [Stab]

“I was right…” [Cut]

“It’s…” [Pierce]

“It’s…” [Crush]

A humongous, rotting tail smashed and pinned Finn to the ground. As he gurgled blood, he could see it clearly: a skinny, deformed echidna, nothing but putrefied flesh, decaying muscles, and old bones. Half its jaw bone could be seen and one of its eye sockets was empty.

“Girls, it’s moving. It’s…” [Stab]

“It’s an actual freaking zombie!”