Chapter 43: Ambush
Standing in a cave illuminated by the faint glow of crystals, Gobledee barked an order as his chitin clad Defenders clashed against Gobledo’s Raiders.
“LEF! LEF YOU IDGITS! SHOR UP DA FLAK!” Gobeldee screamed, directing the goblins on his left to shift their shields.
Gobledo's forces smash into Gobledee’s phalanx, his group of ten attempting to hold off the invaders as they attempted to breach into the throne chamber.
“Hol! HOL!” Gobledee snapped, directing his goblins from the rear.
Suddenly an ax latched onto a shield, one of Gobledo's goblins latching on a shield with a hand hatchet and pulling.
“SCREE?!”
Gobledee’s goblin attempted to stop it, to knock the dulled ax head off yet was stopped by a rock that struck his eye.
The goblin’s shield was lowered, allowing its attacker to reach up and bop it on the head.
“Enough.”
At the words, every goblin spun and snapped to, standing at attention to the Champion of their Nest.
“Mistress Slimmay!!” Gobledee took to one knee, kneeling as his squad formed up behind him and did the same, Gobledo's squad mirroring his actions with their collective head down.
Slimey looked down at the goblins in bug armor, the small monsters a step above skeletons and spiders but not by much.
At least to her estimate. If it were up to her, she'd do away with them as her lord needed only her.
Still, they served piously, so Slimey would accept them for now.
“Enough training today. By Lord Hiro’s decree, you are to take the remainder of the day to relax,” Slimey said, the goblins flinching as something clattered to the floor. “By cleaning.”
Gobeldee dared to raise his head, his eyes fixated on the spears that had hairs from a unicorn tied to one end.
Cleaning?
****
[ANIMUSFLAM DULLAHAN CHLOE HAS ENTERED PHASE 2: COALESCING MANA]
[Stage 2 of 3]
Uuuuuuuuuugh this is taking so long! Why can't you just be like a *Trademark name struck down due to legal reasons* and evolve instantly!
A few days had passed since the commission of my new goblin army, a few days spent training them and researching new technologies.
What kind of technologies? Oh well I'm glad you asked!
Brooms! Brushes! AND HORSE ROPE! All made from the remains of the unicorns before they were tossed into the composters.
And speaking of composters, they were beginning to churn out copious amounts of Manacyst thanks to all the bodies thrown in them.
I still had a stockpile of bodies that needed to be disposed of, but at least my stores had doubled in manacysts.
Still, didn't have access to new buildings, so in the meantime, I had my capruxas, who apparently had the ability to walk on any hard surface, create new rooms for future expansions.
With all of my minions assigned to various tasks, I split my attention to focus on two other items within my agenda.
Reversing the effects of petrification on Alexios and the black ink I spat out.
For Alexios, well, there was nothing I could do. At least, not that I knew of. I was a weapon master, not a mage or cleric after all, and even though I understood the basics of magecraft every magic spell I knew came from my system.
Sigh… maybe I should have listened to Chloe’s lectures after all.
Still, I had Slimey who was a pseudo cleric. If I evolve her maybe she would gain…. Can I help you?
Slimey was suddenly hovering above me, her form coming up from behind my throne with a wide smile on her face.
“Were you thinking about me, Lord Darling?”
No.
Slimey wiggled, her form deflating before suddenly expanding, her body turning red.
“Why not? Are you thinking about other women? ARE-”
Ignoring Slimey's tantrum I went to work thinking about the black ink that came out my body.
What was it? Why did Ayaka like it? And why did I produce it? After a few preliminary tests, aka a few shots of water squirt, water jet, and bubble blow, It seemed that the more I used my water skills, the less of the black substance I produced.
Ayaka was completely enamored with it, making the spider unable to be stopped even with her Juggernaut helping as she scraped her massive face against the floor to lick up all my ink.
Still, perhaps what was more concerning was that the liquid I secreted seemed to grow mold if left untreated or in Ayaka's case, eaten.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Hrrrrrn. This was making me uncomfortable. What was this black stuff? Where did it come from? None of my skills showed them being modified so what was causing this acidic effect?
It wasn't blight, but rather poisonous ink that was deadly to everything with the exception of Ayaka who ate it.
Weird.
Hrrrrrn. Ok now I'm getting uncomfortable.
Feeling my agitation Slimey wrapped herself around me, picking me up in her hands.
“Is there something wrong my Lord?”
Hmmmm. Trying to figure out what this black ink I keep shooting out is.
“Oh. Those are secretions from the toxic mold inside your body.”
Huh. Oh I- wait what?!
“The toxic mol-”
THERE'S MOLD INSIDE ME?!?!?! I involuntarily let out a squeak, spitting up a bit of then-
NO! NONONONONONONO
“My Lord -”
NONONONONONONO- CLEAN ME! CLEAN IT OUT! GET JT OUT! GETITOUTOFME!!!
Slimey suddenly turned pink.
“M-m-my Lord? Y-you want me inside you?”
SLIMEY I SWEAR TO AJAX AND MR.CLEAN I WILL FIND A WAY TO FLY YOU INTO THE STRATOSPHERE AND DROP YOU FROM ORBIT!
“A-are you flirting with me My Lord?”
CLEAN ME!!!!!
Slimey paused, hesitating.
Well? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
“My Lord… I… this… forgive me my Lord! To purge the mold is beyond my capabilities.”
What?
“I-I-”
An indiscernible amount of time passed before I regained my senses. Thankfully, a nearby goblin sweeping the floor with a broom managed to stir me from my mind break.
Ha… hahaha…
I'M FULL OF MOLD!!!
I'M FULL OF MOLD!!!
I'M FULL OF MOLD!!!
I'M FULL OF MOLD!!!
I'M FULL OF MOLD!!!
“My Lord? A-a-are you ok darling?” Slimey asked, caressing my head as my rubber body shook uncontrollably.
Suddenly I became aware of every one of my minions staring at me, the chamber feeling oddly clasterphobic.
Ok. Breath. Breath Hiro. You're ok. You're fine. Just momentarily dirty. Just momentarily dirty. Don't think about. Don't think about it. Just don't think about it. Yup. Yeah. Not thinking about it…
I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!
MOLD?!
MOLD!!!
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!
[Composter Processing Finished]
Oh hey that’s done.
[Dungeon Management Panel]
[Active Dungeon Heart LvL 1]:
HP: 1000/1000
Manacyst: 784
Anima: 673
Holy: 17
Dark: 84
[Manacyst Production]
Dark Manacyst Culture: 2/2(2/24H)
Almost there. Just two hundred and sixteen more Manacyst until I could evolve my mana heart.
Gah! I need something to distract my mind.
Slimey!
“Yes my Lord?!”
We're going treasure hunting.
*****
“GET BACK! NOW!” Lhikan barked, cleaving his sword through a ball-like mass of squirming tentacles that screeched as it died.
“What are these things?!”
“HELP!”
“MARCUS!”
“Two more on the left!”
Lhikan pivoted, his blade cutting down another squealing tentacle.
Mimics. Not the run of the mill treasure mimics but wild ones, creatures that didn’t possess shape-shifting capabilities to ambush prey but instead hunted in packs with feral tenacity.
“MY LEG! ITSGOT MY LEG ITSGOTMYLEG!” Marcus screamed through his gas mask. “DON'T LET IT TAKE MY BUTT VIRGINITY!”
Lhikan grit his teeth, throwing his blade at a pair of tentacles attempting to drag Marcus into the unknown.
The sword severed the appendages, allowing for Marcus to scramble away as Tipsy began firing iron pellets from a contraption she called a “gun”.
“ThankyouThankYouThankYOU!” Marcus exclaimed, his mask pressing up repeatedly on Lhikan’s boot.
“On your feet!” Lhikan barked, yanking his friend up as a ten-foot-tall mimic crawled out of the shadows of the nearby cove. “AN ALPHA! WATCH OUT!”
“I offer up this contract to evoke the lord’s blessings that dances within the air, Holyinu!” Garrus chanted, the beastman holding his palm open where sigils and golden runes danced.
A blade of holy mana came out, targeting the alpha who spun, slapping the magic out of the air with a barbed tentacle before charging the mage.
“Oh no,” Garrus let out, the alpha mimic opening its mouth to scream and brandish rows of serrated teeth.
“STOP IT!” Lhikan barked, the entire cohort under his command shifting as the monster raced through their lines.
The Alpha leaped, targeting Garrus, the church scribe going slack jaw as his life flashed before his eyes. Was this it? Would he be-
Garrus didn’t get to finish his thought as he was crushed underfoot, the alpha mimic’s weight alone killing the mage before its tentacles penetrated his body and began ripping the beastman apart.
“DAMN IT!” Lhikan roared, drawing his spare blade from his back and rushing the monster. Silvery steel came out his sheath, the weapon cutting off a barbed appendage as he sidestepped and sliced.
The Alpha spun, all of the tendrils adorning its body lashing out at Lhikan who leapt over them with a roar.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”
Lhikan’s blade was now in the mimic’s head, the monster violently bucking to dislodge the paladin who placed his armored boot in the monster’s maw for purchase.
The monster immediately bit down, denting Lhikan’s sabaton but not before Lhikan drew his dagger and stabbed the monster in it’s eye.
With Lhikan occupying the creature’s attention, Tipsy and Marcus flanked the Alpha, the paladin using his greatsword to cut off the monster’s foreleg whilst Tipsy used her size and height to deftly avoid the tentacles and draw close.
“Keep it’s mouth open!!” Tipsy yelled as the horror fell on its side with a scream.
Tipsy reached into her bag of holding, producing an orb-like flask as she slid next to Lhikan. Acting quickly, the little gnome tossed the alchemical mixture into the screeching maw held open by the paladin’s boot and gauntlet.
“GET AWAY! GET AWAY!” Tipsy yelled, Lhikan and the others backing off as the Alpha let out a low whine before its head suddenly detonated, showing the surroundings in blue blood.
Suddenly, the sounds of battle stopped, the tiny balls of squirming tentacles halting their ambush and running away.
Lhikan wiped the blue blood off his gas mask, huffing as he eyed his dented boot and sat down on the black grass beneath him, allowing the adrenaline in his veins to ebb out.
“Damn it… damn it! DAMN THAT SUCKED!” Marcus exclaimed, kicking the carcass off a dead mimic that sent it flying.
“Enough!” Lhikan barked, rising to his feet, his eyes scanning the battlefield where three of his men lay dead. “Scavenge our dead and wounded, collect Garrus, Jon, and Rita, and be prepared to move.”
Lhikan began to walk off to retrieve his thrown sword, but not before he was stopped by a certain gnome.
“Sir, you’re hurt.” Tipsy said with Lhikan looking down at his thigh that was leaking blood.
“HEALER!” Marcus snapped, calling up two of the priestesses that followed them to treat the injured Paladin. “We should take a moment to rest, set up cam-”
“No.” Lhikan replied, eyeing the two priestesses who were healing his leg with efficiency that paled in comparison to Natalie’s. “We are a day away from the Demon Lord’s castle. Every moment exposed out in the deadleads is another that increases our chances of being ambushed. Get to work, all of you.”
Marcus and Tipsy shared a look, but said nothing, leaving the paladin alone as they went to scavenge the field and collect their dead.
Lhikan sighed, pressing his thumb into the center of his palm and closing it into a fist.