Chapter 70: Fodder.
Creeping through the darkness, Adrien Kell held his torch aloft, signaling to his party of adventurers to pause as they eyed the copious webbings that lined the cave.
Cold, damp, and in poor visibility, Kell crouched down, the man in heavy armor observing the thin white strings that coated the floor.
“Tarantuals. Step lightly. We don't want to be flooded.” Kell ordered, signaling to his troops, his party moving around the webs so as to not broadcast to the blind spiders lurking in the darkness.
“Does anyone find it weird we haven't encountered any monsters yet?” Alk, the team's healer said.
“Perhaps their busy feasting on Silver Lights and Carnival Yellow’s bodies.” Liam added, the jungle elf using his dark vision to scan the darkness ahead.
“By my calculations, we're nearing where they disappeared.” Kell said, standing up. “So stay focused.”
Over the course of an hour, two Silver ranked teams had entered the dungeon on orders of Paladin Danse, the groups chasing after the sentient monster that had attacked the camp.
Since then, not a word had come back, prompting Danse to send in his team as a scouting party.
Kell’s team, the Violet Raiders, consisted of a mender, shielder, rogue, mage and an archer. A group following the Pathfinder's formation that was an all-rounder configuration to explore lost lands.
Kell at the front, Liam behind him, Alk, then Jorge, and finally Victor at the rear.
Their mission? Report on the status of Carnival Yellow and Silver Lights. Two teams following the Assault formation and reporting on their condition. Simple enough.
Fortunately, the two teams left behind a trail, a long chalk line on the ground that detailed their journey. Every adventurer team from bronze to diamond used a chalk-boot, an item utilized by dragging one's foot across the floor and leaving a trail. And with multiple teams exploring the same location, each team used a different color.
For Yellow Carnival, yellow, for Silver Lights? Fancy reflective silver. Violet Raiders were no different, utilizing purple chalk.
Moving forward in a single file line, Kell's group made sure there was ample space between each other as they followed the twin lines of yellow and silver, their own chalk-booter, Jorge leaving a trail of purple.
The group paused, eyeing some kind of statue that was up in the hallway.
“Is that…?” Alk began.
“A duck?” Liam finished, the group engrossed in the stone carved totem of a duck with a glowstone hanging nearby, drawing their attention to the duck.
“What an odd thing to find.” Jorge said, the team's scribe adjusting his glasses and making a quick sketch of the duck in his notebook.
“Keep focus. We only have enough air for about an hour before we need to return.” Kell ordered, the group reluctantly parting.
After walking a bit, the party came to a dilapidated bend of mortar and stone that was heavily webbed, but thankfully, they had the previous team's chalk marks to follow.
“To the left, lots more webbing. Step easy.” Kell reported, stepping to his right.
*Click*
“Huh?” Kell's ears twitched behind his mask before suddenly, he was falling. Searing pain shot through Kell’s leg, his body shivering as something found the weak points of his armor and tore into his flesh.
“KELL!” Liam yelled, rushing forward, the lanky muscular elf managing to catch his team leader by the armpits before he fell fully into the trap below.
Or, he was before something glinted in the darkness, a spear cutting through the air that forced the elf to drop Kell.
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Liam swiped at the air, his dagger coming out of his sleeve and deflecting the weapon as horns sounded out.
“Ambush!”
“Protect Kell! We have too-!” Liam spun, his hearing picking up heavy footsteps long before the armored enemies appeared into view. “Behind us!”
Goblins, a dozen of them, armored with high shields raised and marching upon them in a neat formation while banging on their shields.
“This doesn't make sense?! How did they get behind us! There weren't any tunnel entries for them to flank us!” Alk spat, the mender raising his club.
“Help me get Kell!” Victor yelled, the rogue holding onto the man screaming in pain.
“Go! Get out of here! I'm stuck! Go!” Kell barked, the sound of familiar chittering echoing throughout the tunnel.
Tarantuals, the massive spiders greeting the humans with bolts of webbing that struck Victor.
“We aren't leaving you behind!” Liam spat, the archer firing arrows into the darkness to keep the spiders at bay. “Jorge! Blast a hole through those goblins!”
“Didn't you hear me, you idiots?! I said go!” Kell yelled as something moved through the darkness.
Ignoring the man, Liam turned to Jorge, the spellcaster standing in what appeared to be stunned silence.
“Jorge! Where are we on that fire bolt?!” Liam screamed before his eyes went wide as the mage hit the floor with a thud.
Before anyone realized it, something had attacked the man, killing him on the spot during the chaos.
“Jorge is down! Alk! Help-!” Liam spun, the elf turning just in time to witness a skeleton wrapped in silk, the monster’s blue eyes glaring at him.
“Uhkz.” Alk let out, the man's hand raised for help as the skeleton slit his throat.
*****
“DAMN IT ALL TO THE NINE REALMS!” Danse spat, his desk buckling under the weight of his fists slamming onto the rare sporwood.
Another team lost, the sixth so far with absolutely nothing to show for it!
Danse pulled out his ledger, marking the teams that had failed to report in.
Yellow Carnival.
Silver Lights.
Violet Raiders.
Green Trident.
Purple Haze.
And now, Tan Fury.
Yellow Carnival, Silver Lights, and Violet Raiders, lost in pursuit of the Legendary Armament with the other three missing after invading through other entrances.
Over forty men and women were gone with only one survivor from Purple Haze muttering about a massive armored spider and some humming mosquito with boobs.
“Idiots! All of them! How hard is it to deal with a bunch of stiffing goblins?!” Danse barked. From his other survey teams, he had a report of the monsters encountered in the dungeon thus far.
Goblins, skeletons, slimes, and tarantuals.
Low level monsters that had somehow bested his men.
To make matters worse the entire dungeon was filled with traps, the handiwork of some devious sentient creature. Perhaps the Legendary Armaments wielder's work?
Danse didn't know, all he knew was that his mercenaries were being slaughtered at an alarming rate!
“What I get from hiring bulk from the adventurer's guild.” Danse complained.
“Could this perhaps be the work of a demon?” Donut asked, the bruised woman nursing her broken arm in a sling.
“No. If it were a demon present we would have felt it. Something else is organizing them.” Danse grumbled before taking a seat in his leather chair. “Where is Berus? It's time we put an end to this nonsense!”
“Out containing the mother mold. She's attempting to gain samples and contain the spread as much as possible.”
Danse scowled, hand twitching at the news, a vein visibly appearing on his head.
“I believe I gave her instructions to ignore the plant life. Tell her to get her giant ass here.”
Donut frowned. “Sir, Lady Berus is adamant that without con-”
“lAdy BeRus is adamAnt,” Danse mocked. “Donut.”
“Yes. Sir?”
“Who is in charge here?”
“You are sir.”
“Good, then you should understand,” Danse said, raising his palm with his fingers making the holy Symbol of Destina. Palm closed with middle and index finger held up. “We are here on a recovery mission by orders of the Bishops no less. We're not a clean up service. We're warriors ordained by the church to enact its will.”
“But-”
“What does it matter if the mold spreads? This land is corrupted and uninhabitable as is, a new plant won't change the world at large.” Danse said, placing his boots up on the desk that were quickly being cleaned by his attendant. “You have your orders, Captain. See it done. I don't care if you have to break the bitches knees, bring her here before I have her flogged.”
Donut’s eye twitched at the remark, her palm slowly balling into a fist.
“Yes sir. I understand.” Donut said before bowing and taking off.
Danse watched the woman go, shaking his head. Everyone here should be striving to go home. Not meandering and lingering!
If they wanted to do research and play with the local wildlife, they could do it on their own time, not his! Danse had half a mind to punish the woman for her flagrant defiance of his orders. But Danse wasn't an idiot. He was aware of the influence the woman had on his soldiers. To punish Berus now would put a hit on their morale especially after so many deaths.
“Then again… maybe a public display is in order.” Danse mused, imagining the woman half naked and locked in a stockade. “Aaah. What I wouldn't do for a day at a sauna.”