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There Will Be Dragons Here
Chapter 120 - Invincible

Chapter 120 - Invincible

"This shit better level me up again," growled Isabelle under her breath. Here she was, having just fought what she had thought was the Loofah, only to now discover that she'd instead only fought a common talking cat that was pretending to be the Loofah. Such was life in Beaubinte, Isabelle figured.

"Get meowt of here!" squealed Sir Tingles the cat, who leapt into the shadows.

"What a fucking pussy," said Isabelle.

The ground rumbled and the cave quaked as an enormous, lumbering figure scraped against the cavernous ceiling. Isabelle looked up just as the massive, hairy body of the Loofah fell from the ceiling to drop down onto the ground next to them.

"Holy shit," said Isabelle. "It's hairy?"

"Fuck," said Tahsi Junior.

"Holy fuck," said Shiach. "Oh shit."

"We gots to get out of here!" shouted the cat.

"Hang on," said Isabelle, looking around. "Where the hell are the rest of you guys?"

She turned around to see a few dozen more Loofahs scuttling through the caverns.

"I thought there was only one! And I thought it was huge!" said Isabelle.

"Ah, see, that's a common misconception," said Tahsi Junior. "See, what you were hearing and seeing in the distance was a Loofah King, which is an amalgamation of tons of Loofahs all wrapped together."

"Oh," said Isabelle. "That's disgusting. Kind of like a rat king, huh?" "What the fuck is a rat king?" asked Shiach.

"You seriously don't have rat kings in Beau--" Isabelle stopped herself. There were talking cats in Beaubinte. There were dragons and systems in Beaubinte. What the hell was she playing at, really? Also, the Loofah were swarming around them and looked ready to attack. Isabelle really wished she had the use of her mana at this moment. If only that damned dragon hadn't bitten Jopher in half, maybe she would.

"Let me know if you need me to heal you, Isabelle," said Tahsi Junior as he cowered behind her.

"I haven't taken any damage yet, Tahsi Junior," said Isabelle.

"Yea, but you will soon. Trust me," said Tahsi Junior. "They gots us outnumbered and they're all super strong."

"How do you know that?" Isabelle asked, annoyed at how much he knew about everything all of a sudden.

"What about me, Tahsi Junior?" asked Shiach. "Will you heal me if I ask?"

"Maybe, unless Isabelle needs me to heal her first," said Tahsi Junior.

"What?! That's so unfair," spat Shiach. "I'm going to stab you in the eyes."

"Stop fighting!" Isabelle yelled. "The Loofahs are coming."

"Fair enough," said Tahsi Junior. He put his arms around Isabelle's chest and began to heal her.

[+0 hp]

"Stop fucking healing me Tahsi Junior!" spat Isabelle, pushing him away. "I don't fucking need to be healed right now!"

Two loofahs leaped forward towards Isabelle. She raised the Overlord's glorious electrifying axe and swung it down, cleaving the one on the left in two. Its companion looked at Isabelle and hissed.

[Critical hit]

['Loofah' is dead]

"That's fine, Princess," said Tahsi Junior sarcastically. "I'll heal you tomorrow night and then you won't have any problems with me ever again."

Isabelle laughed. "That doesn't work on me, Tahsi Junior. I'm not like you. I can take a little abuse without needing to be treated nice and cuddly every once in a while." Isabelle felt the earth rumble beneath her feet and realized that more of the Loofahs were charging towards her. She raised her ax and began slashing at the ones in front of her. The Loofahs charged at her, but Isabelle was able to hold them back with repeated cuts.

[20511 damage dealt]

[20113 damage dealt]

Tahsi Junior glared at her. "I'll fucking kill you." "Oh please, Tahsi Junior," said Isabelle.

More and more hairy loofahs leapt forward. "Come at me you little fuckers!" she roared.

[Critical hit]

[Critical hit]

[Critical hit]

['Loofah' is dead]

['Loofah' is dead]

['Loofah' is dead]

Isabelle was able to kill three or four Loofahs each time they attacked, but the Loofahs' numbers were growing as they charged forward.

[Critical hit]

[Critical hit]

[Critical hit]

['Loofah' is dead]

['Loofah' is dead]

As the Loofahs were killed, their bodies began to float away from Isabelle. She noticed the other Loofahs watching the floating bodies with great fascination and awe.

"What are you looking at?" asked Isabelle.

"It's the dead Loofahs," said Shiach. She raised her muscular arm and pointed at the floating corpses. "They're... permutating. Something very strange is happening."

"Oh," said Isabelle as she split open a few loofah skulls with wild axe swings. "They're being reincarnated, huh? Like you would if you died?"

"No," said Shiach. "There is no life left in their flesh, that much I can tell. And yet, it's like some otherworldly force is animating them. It's like the dead Loofahs are being given new life."

"That doesn't make sense," said Isabelle. She killed some more loofahs. There were proving quite easy to slaughter.

"Doesn't it?" said Shiach, raising her arm and pointing at the floating corpses.

"Yes, but... I still don't understand."

Shiach lowered her arm and looked at Isabelle with wide, frightened eyes. "We're in danger, Princess."

"Danger?" Isabelle asked. "From what? Also, don't fucking call me princess."

"Why not?" asked Shiach. "Tahsi Junior called you that, and honestly it kind of suits you. More than a mage of shadows, even. Maybe you're a princess of shadows, Isabelle." Shiach set some loofahs on fire and as their burning bodies went limp and lifted in the air Isabelle noticed that they'd died in the shape of a heart.

"That's kinda cute, Shiach," said Isabelle. She lopped off the heads of some loofahs, their blood spraying all over the place. "All the same, Tahsi Junior was being disingenuous when he called me princess. You know, because he's a prick." She sliced upward towrads and attacking loofah, spilling its stinking entrails over the cavern floor.

[Critical hit]

[109293 damage dealt]

['Loofah' is dead]

"Alright, that's all the living ones. They really weren't hard to kill. But I'm still in combat mode. What's going on, with those floating bodies, Shiach?" asked Isabelle.

"Well, um, they're Loofahs, um," said Shiach, clearing her throat. "But they're not really Loofahs anymore. They've become something else."

"What?" asked Isabelle.

"I don't know," said Shiach, looking away from Isabelle and back towards the bodies of the Loofahs. "Something's happening to them."

Isabelle saw an arm rise up from a corpse. It started to move, and then it pulled itself upright, and began moving towards Shiach.

"Um, Shiach," said Isabelle, stepping forward. Shiach looked at Isabelle and screamed.

The Loofah with the severed arm reached out for Shiach, who tried to run away but tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

The Loofah with the severed arm picked up Shiach by the wrist, and threw her into the wall. Shiach hit the stone with a crack and slumped to the floor.

The other Loofah bodies rose up and came at Isabelle. The bodies that floated in the air started diving down like vultures on Shiach's body, ripping and biting at her like she was a squirrel on the side of the road.

Isabelle was confused. "Why are they doing this?" She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

The Loofahs that were on the ground reached towards Isabelle and began dragging themselves towards her feet.

[You're covered in Loofah slime]

[You're staggered]

"Shiiiiiit!" yelled Isabelle, pulling her legs up and leaping backwards. The Loofahs that were crawling towards her fell to the ground and rolled around in the dirt.

Isabelle looked down at herself and saw that she was covered in Loofah slime. It indeed was keeping her slow, and she noticed her stm kept slightly going down no matter what she did!

[Stamina 98%]

[Stamina 97%]

"Oh, fuck," said Isabelle, grabbing the edge of one of the Loofah corpses and using it as a shield, only for it to reach out at her and claw her face.

[-2 hp]

More undead Loofahs crawled towards her, coming out from between the rocks and boulders. She had nowhere to run, and there was nothing she could do.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," said Isabelle. "This is so fucked up, Shiach. We need to get out of here and find help."

"We can't!" she cried. "We're trapped!"

The loofahs that were attacking Shiach didn't even react to the flames she was spewing at them, if anything, it only seemed to get the zombified beasts more excited and lusting for blood.

"We're gonna die here, Isabelle!" cried Tahsi Junior.

"No we're not," Isabelle shouted. "I'll make these fucking loofahs double zombies if I have to!"

"Do you know how to do that?" asked Tahsi Junior.

"Sure, I just have to kill the first Loofah, then I can make all the others do the same thing."

"Can you do it?" asked Tahsi Junior.

"I don't know!" she shouted. "I haven't ever tried!" "Well, you've got to try!" yelled Tahsi Junior.

Isabelle didn't have much time to think about it. There were more Loofahs around her than ever, and they were starting to reach her. It was like every body part she lopped off just grew into another zombified Loofah. There were so many she felt like she was being smothered.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

[-5 hp]

[-10 hp]

[-25 hp]

[-38 hp]

[-42 hp]

"Fuck!" cried Isabelle. "I'm being fucking swarmed!"

[-50 hp]

"Um, Tahsi Junior? I could use some fucking healing right about now!" said Isabelle.

"Just try to kill one of the Loofahs, that's the most important thing!" said Tahsi Junior.

"Shiiiiiit!" shouted Isabelle, jumping back from another Loofah that had crawled up behind her and begun to attack her.

"If you're gonna die," said Tahsi Junior, "then I'm gonna make sure it's quick and painless!"

"Tahsi!" she screamed, turning around to look at his face. "I'm being fucking swarmed! Heal me!"

[-55 hp]

"Don't worry, Isabelle," said Tahsi Junior. "I'll heal you. As soon as you apologize."

[-62 hp]

"What?!" said Isabelle. "Look, you fucking idiot, if you don't heal me now I'm going to drop fucking dead in a few moments!"

"Say you're sorry then!" he cried.

[-77 hp]

Isabelle rolled her eyes and opened her inventory.

Inventory: Isabelle

Carrying capacity: 310.9/525

Item

Traits

Potion of Endless Stamina x2

+0.5 carry weight

Potion of Greater Health x5

+20 hp, +0.5 carry weight

Potion of Greater Mana x3

+20 mana, +0.5 carry weight

Potion of Invulnerability

+0.5 carry weight

Potion of Excellent Health x3

+50 hp, +0.5 carry weight

Potion of Giant Strength

+50 str, +0.5 carry weight

Holy shit. A potion of invulnerability? Isabelle was so going to drink that shit.

[Potion of Invulnerability consumed]

[hp restored to 371]

[You are invulnerable for 5:00]

Five minutes of invulnerability would have to be enough.

Isabelle swung her axe without fear as the Loofahs assaulted her yet failed to deal any damage.

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

"Hah! Nice try, you freaks!" she spat as she swung her blade over and over again. "Ugh! They still won't die!"

"Hey, Isabelle, don't you need some healing?" asked Tahsi Junior. "No, I found a potion, fuck off!" she shouted.

"Oh," he sighed dejectedly.

Isabelle was doing her best to keep on top of the Loofah horde, but each one she killed just reanimated in a matter of seconds, and she was quickly losing her patience.

She had been swinging her axe with no regard to where it landed, and was getting covered in Loofah slime. Now, she was getting surrounded by the disgusting, squishy flesh and blood of the monsters. If only she had use of her mana, she'd cover all these fuckers in ice and call it a day. Maybe she'd just try. Isabelle thought, 'Cast Ice Blast.'

[Mana use is disabled]

"God damn it!" said Isabelle, swinging her axe wildly and splitting a loofah right down the middle. "I'm so fucking sick of this bullshit!! Let me use my fucking magic already!!"

"Hey Isabelle, do you want some healing now?" whined Tahsi Junior. "Go fuck yourself with a Loofah dick!" she shouted.

"Isabelle!" said Tahsi Junior. "Shut up!" she yelled.

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

[-0 hp]

"Hah! You're fucked now!" shouted Isabelle, laughing maniacally as she chopped her axe through another Loofah. "One slash and you're all fucking dead!"

"I think you mean, undead, Isabelle," said Shiach. "Also, they seem to keep moving no matter how much you chop them up. I think the only way we can really get them is if I burn all their bodies up once you chop them down into little nuggets. Then we'll have fried loofah ash everywhere."

"Sounds good to me," said Isabelle as she disemboweled a Loofah. "Can't say I'm excited about the smell of burning hair but you win some you lose some."

"And also I can heal you if you need it Isabelle," said Tahsi Junior.

"Tahsi Junior for the last fucking time I don't need any of your stupid healing!" spat Isabelle as she diced an undead Loofah into chunks.

"I could use some healing, Tahsi Junior," said Shiach.

"No, I want to save my energy in case Isabelle needs it," said Tahsi Junior.

"But I need it!" said Shiach as she burned some Loofah chunks with her fire powers.

"Isabelle needs it," said Tahsi Junior. "I'm not going to waste my mana healing you when Isabelle might actually need it."

"Fuck you both!" said Isabelle. "I'm fine! Go away!"

The two NPCs looked at each other and shrugged as they went back to attacking the mass of Loofahs.

They were still getting attacked, but since Isabelle had made a point of trying to slice and dice every single one of them, the Loofahs seemed to be focusing more on avoiding Isabelle's axe and Shiach's flame blasts than on causing any damage.

It was working. After a few minutes of chopping and burning, Isabelle and her party members were finally able to make a break for it. Disappointingly enough, none of the fucking Loofahs had any loot once they were burnt up, and for whatever reason combat mode wouldn't disable. She sprinted out of the cavern room, hoping to find an entrance to another room, which might then lead to some loot, or at least some levity.

Isabelle ran through the dungeon until she came across another corridor. This one had a large obsidian slab blocking its entrance.

The slab slid aside, revealing a staircase leading downward. "What the hell? Why did this door open?"

"Maybe it's the Tufa," said Tahsi Junior.

"I don't think so, Tahsi Junior," said Shiach.

"So, what is it?" asked Isabelle.

"I don't know," said Shiach. "But whatever it is, it seems pretty dangerous."

Isabelle nodded. The stairs led downwards, presumably into a new section of the dungeon.

"This is the only way out, isn't it?" she said with a sigh. "That's what it looks like, Princess," said Shiach.

"Shiach, don't fucking call me Princess, bitch," said Isabelle. "Don't call me a bitch, bitch," said Shiach.

"Alright, how about princess? Or Queen? How does that sound, my sweetie pie?" Isabelle said sarcastically.

"Not a fan," said Shiach.

"Fine, just shut up and get ready to fight whatever's down there."

"Whatever's down there?" asked Tahsi Junior.

"I dunno yet. But let's get going before something bad happens!" Isabelle said as she charged forward.

Her party followed her down the stairs. At the bottom, there was a hallway with three doors off to either side.

[You are invulnerable for 0:00]

"Shit," said Isabelle. "There went my potion of invulnerability." "Do you want me to heal you, Isabelle?" asked Tahsi Junior.

"Oh my god stop fucking asking! I will fucking tell you if I need to be healed!" said Isabelle.

"Okay, okay," said Tahsi Junior.

"Let's see what's behind these doors, eh?" said Shiach as she opened the first door.

Inside, there was nothing but darkness. "Crap."

"If you want to wait here for someone to come rescue us, go ahead," said Isabelle. "Otherwise, let's check the other rooms."

"Gotcha!" said Tahsi Junior as he turned on his torch and held it aloft. "Wait a second, I think there's something in here after all!"

The light revealed a small room with a single bed, a dresser, a mirror, and a chest.

"Ooh, a chest," said Isabelle as she stared at Shiach's cleavage. "Maybe I can dig through it for loot."

"Um, Isabelle, are you still in combat mode?" asked Tahsi Junior.

"Yea," said Isabelle. "But I can still loot in combat mode, I just can't level up. Which sucks, honestly, because I'm sure that Loofah fight gave me a hell of a lot of xp!"

"Just be careful, though," said Tahsi Junior. "We don't want you accidentally killing us."

"Why would I do that?" asked Isabelle. "Also, how? It's just loot!"

"Because you're a little crazy, Isabelle," said Tahsi Junior. "Who knows what you're up to? After all, you're the mage of shadows."

"Shut up, Tahsi Junior. You're not funny." Isabelle stepped up to the chest. She focused on it.

[Loot 'Chest'?]

Isabelle thought--

"Wait! Isabelle!" said Tahsi Junior. "I think I know why you're in combat mode!"

"What?" said Isabelle.

"Yes!" Tahsi Junior said. "There are these creatures that lurk in caves that can shapeshift. I think that chest is actually a shapeshifter!"

"...Tahsi Junior, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And I've listened to you talk before," said Isabelle.

"Fine, whatever, believe me, don't believe me, die, don't die, accept my healing, don't accept my healing, who gives a fuck?" said Tahsi Junior. "Any way, I'm going to lay down on this nice looking bed and rest my poor young bones for a moment."

Before anyone could say anything, Tahsi Junior plopped on the bed. Before he could so much as stretch his legs, however, the bed sprung to life. Its frame became a large set of shark jaws and the sheets wrapped around Tahsi Junior like a tongue.

"Fuck! It's a shapeshifter! The bed's a shapeshifter!!" he wailed. "Help me, Isabelle!"

Isabelle rolled her eyes and cracked her neck. "Fucking idiot," she whispered under her breath.