Chapter 237

  Barnacles! Barnacles!

  Seasong Grotto shook. And a large rune appeared with the entrance as its center. The rune became alight with mana, coursing through its complex pattern.

  “W-what’s happening?!” A soldier who was standing near the entrance began to vanish from the leg up.

  Chaos erupted as those who were within the circle began to vanish from view.

  “Your Eminence!” Millicent turned around and reached out to Allenca, but the speed of the light was too fast and she was swallowed in an instant. Allenca, still stunned from what she saw, also the disappeared.

  “Milady! Run!!”

  “Hurgul’s beard!” Akula cursed as the light took her.

  Connie grabbed Illumca, who was standing next to her; with a mighty grunt, yanked her away from the circle. The Dark Elf were thrown a few meters away, landing on her back. “NO!!” Illumca shouted desperately as she watched Connie’s body turned into motes of light.

  “Illumca! Stop!!” Martell, who was standing a few meters away from the circle said, catching her before she wasted his Mistress’s effort.

  Just as fast as it was formed, the rune too, disappeared as fast. Illumca shook Martell off and ran towards the entrance, but was repelled by a barrier. She tried once more, striking at the barrier with her weapons and magic, only for them to be unable to scratch it.

  “CONNIE!!”

  Allenca felt a sudden lightness in her body and fell on her face.

  “Ouph…!”

  She drew herself up, while fighting the urge to vomit. After regaining her bearings, she found that she was standing in a small cave-like structure. The air smelled damp and fishy. The place was not entirely dark; as fluorescent moss dotted the walls, allowing her to see well enough to not need a torch.

  She looked around and saw that there was no other way but to move forward through a small gap between the walls. So, she squeezed through with great difficulty, owing to her quite bountiful chests.

  “Millicent…!” she called out the name of her confidant; feeling vulnerable without someone by her side.

  Just then, she heard something moving next to her. When she looked to her right, she saw that there was another passage there, one hidden by the shadows. And from within she could see monsters with fish heads ripping and gnawing something. Then she realized that it was a leg.

  She stepped back in fear. Her feet slipped on a moss and she fell with a small yelp. Immediately she clasped her mouth. But it was too late. The monsters heard the noise and their eyes turned towards her.

  Panicked, yet still with enough sense of self-preservation, she quickly yelled out. “BARRIER!!”

  A blue glowing sphere blocked the monsters’ speedy charge. She saw the creatures’ ugly faces as they tried to bite through the barrier and saw their hunger. She forced herself to stand up and ran.

  As the Head of a Religious Order, she rarely had the chance to exercise. Running more than a few minutes quickly drained her of her stamina. Her joints ached and her breathing became uneven.

  Then she heard a noise coming from behind.

  “No! The Barrier’s been broken!!”

  With all of her power, she continued running. Her face flushed, her legs ached.

  Then, as she turned the bend. She saw another monster. This one was a good bit larger than the ones chasing her. She looked back and saw their gleaming teeth ready to devour her.

  No! Is this the end?

  “Step back, Your Eminence.”

  A voice she recognized came from the monster in front of her. And just as the smaller monsters were about to lunge at her, a bright golden fist struck them down. Turning them into paste in one hit.

  “Are you alright, Your Eminence?”

  “Commander Hastings?”

  The man saluted. “It’s good to see you safe. Let’s head the way I came from. This isn’t a god place for a scuffle.”

  With him at the lead, Allenca was taken to a rather roomy chamber with two branching paths. Akula was standing there, her Sukheri in one hand and five monsters with heads bashed in lying on the floor. “You’ve found her. Great!”

  “Miss Akula. Yooou…are safe!” she spoke with gladness.

  “Yeah," she replied with a friendly pat on her shoulder. "I wanted to come with him to look for people, but some of these passages are too small for my body.”

  “Have you…met…theee others?” she flung a look at Akula, and then at Hastings.

  “The only one I’ve met was the Duchess’s Centaur. If we go further in, we might be able to find them.”

  “Yes…we fell…into the Dungeon’s trap…but the mission…must still…go on…” She gripped her Staff tight, as if to channel her frustration at their current condition into it.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Aye. Knowing Connie and the others, they’d also be doing the same,” she pointed at the right path with her weapon.“Let’s go, then! You take care of her. And I’ll lead the way.”

  “Agreed. But…why do you choose the right path?” the Commander asked.

  “The glowing moss there had been disturbed. Someone must have gone this way.”

  “Clever.”

  Akula laughed heartily. “It’s something Illumca taught me. She’s very good at tracking people.”

  With a hum, she led the way. Allenca followed after her. The last to come was Hastings. He looked back briefly to make sure no one was following before heading into the passage.

  As they were walking through it, they met a few disturbances. A steep path with a long fall into a dark pool, a bridge made of stone that threatened to fall to the slightest touch, and the barnacle-like monsters that shoots spikes, waiting to ambush them in-between the gaps of the stone walls. But none were things they could not handle. Akula showed extraordinary balance despite the limitations of her equine physique.

  While they were taking a brief rest at a safe location after fighting off a group of monsters, Allenca took a seat in front of Hastings; who shot her a strange look, if only briefly. For he knew that the teenager before him was closer to the Duchess’ party than to him or his faction.

  “Is there something you need, Your Eminence?” he asked after a few minute of uncomfortable silence.

  “I need…to ask you…sooomething.”

  “Please, go ahead.”

  The young woman glanced at Akula, who was sharpening the tip of her weapon with a grindstone before returning her gaze at him. “Why…did you save me…baack then?”

  “What do you mean by why, Your Eminence?”

  “Won’t it be…easier for you aaand Archbishop Lowen…if I died in the dungeon?” she said, straight to the point.

  The man looked shocked, after which he looked at her in the eyes in disbelief. He then spoke with a flat tone. “Your Eminence. Please permit me to speak frankly.”

  After seeing her nod, Hastings ran his hand through his greasy hair. “Your Eminence. You and I have never seen eye to eye regarding your views and ideals. To me, they rang hollow. I see the merit, but I don’t think I can ever fully agree with them,” his words were heavy, and his eyes trembled, just a bit. “However, I am a Knight of the Church, sworn to protect the Faith. And I fully intend to do my duty. Regardless of where I am standing.”

  “I –“

  Before she managed to utter a sound, Hastings already stood up. Clearly refusing to answer any more question. “I think this is enough rest. We need to keep moving forward.”

  “Good. How are you holding up, Allenca? Do you need more rest?”

  “Allen - ?”

  “I…allowed…her to call…me that,” Allenca interrupted him. She then looked at Akula. “You…doon’t look too…worried…”

  She smiled through her veil. “I am not. The others are strong enough to hold their own. And as for my Ezenu…knowing her, she’s the last person you have to worry about.”

  In a basin dotted with pools of water and small rocky islands, bodies of dead monsters were piled over each other, creating several small hills. Marks of claws and slashes were evident on their corpses. Many had pus and blackened limbs; melted skulls and severe infections that turned the flesh purple.

  In the middle of this unsightly scene, a beauty with golden hair stood alone before her most recent victim. The gauntlet on her left hand was wet with blood and fat.

  An Oskug with a larger body than its contemporaries, with a gelatinous horn on its head had been impaled against a stone wall by two spears. They went through its chest and lower right stomach. Its lower limbs and arms had been severed, with the stumps spewing red blood.

  Without others unfamiliar with her poisonous nature watching her, the blonde-haired girl could use all weapons in her arsenal. And with it, her curious nature.

  “You are a stubborn one. It’s been a few minutes and you still haven’t died, even with your legs cut off.”

  She ran the metallic nail of Crimson Serpentbane, infused with poisonous Energy along the skin of the Oskug, slowly tearing the monster’s flesh open. The skin and flesh along the line of open wound festered and began to emit a foul smell.

  “Hmmm…hmmm…” She hummed a melody as the poison turned the monster’s innards black and spilled all over the ground.

  Clank…clank.

  “Hmm?”

  Connie turned around suddenly, eyes darting left and right. She touched the hair at the back of her neck. “Something’s here…”

  Then from a path leading away from the basin, men in Church Knight Armor appeared. They were walking towards her. She noticed the Barnacles and corals growing on their flesh and armor.

  “Church Knights?” Connie lifted a finger to her nose when she smelled the air. “This stench. The stench of drowned bodies. Walking corpses, eh?” Connie called Chen, who immediately slithered to her hand and formed a sword.

  As the frontmost corpse attacked, Connie slipped past and severed his head. She moved with precision and speed, each swing beheading or bisecting an enemy. However, when she swung Chen at the last one, it raised a sword and blocked her slash.

  “Oh? A strong one!”

  Connie kicked the dead Church Knight away with her soles, sending it flying backward. It fell on its back. Suddenly, Connie saw something flew past her. Another and another. Small black spheres slipped into the fallen body. A powerful baleful aura arose from the Church Knight. Its feet twisted with a loud crack and the whole body sprang back with a snap, launching itself at Connie in one move.

  Connie deflected its attack as it made large swings using its whole body. It was faster and stronger than before. But it moved like an amateur. She dodged the attacks with minor movements and countered with a powerful slice at its leg. As it lost balance from the loss of one foot, she used this gap to take its sword - wielding arm with an upward slash. No blood came out, as they had long congealed.

  The body, now left with only one arm and one leg grabbed desperately at her hem.

  With an expressionless face, she spoke. “Let me end your suffering.”

  She formed an Abhaya Mudra with her left hand, infusing it with Divine Energy and struck the Knight’s head. The head was launched off of the torso and bounced off the wall.

  “Ah…did I hit too hard?” She did not expect that the neck would be so fragile that it would break off with a hit.

  A large ball of dark spirit rose from the head before disappearing with a screech. The decapitated corpse suddenly stopped moving and fell into a nearby pool, sinking into its depth.

  Just then, she saw a short, bearded dwarf walking from behind a pillar nonchalantly. His feet made no ripple on the pool of monster blood he was stepping on. And most importantly, his body was almost transparent.

  He crouched near the dismembered head and shook his head. “Tsk. Tsk. Poor bastard. Gotten possessed and had to lose a head. Least he’s gotten salvation at the end.”

  The ghostly dwarf trudged past Connie and saw the mayhem she had caused. Her eyes following him with an astonished look. “And look at all these materials! They are ruined! The skin’s been torn to shreds, and the bones had started to blacken! What kind of a swordsman use poison?!”

  Connie, who had kept her silence and watched the dwarf mouth off, said. “So, you’re the one who’s been watching me?”

  The ghost dwarf looked around him, then realized that her eyes were staring straight at him.

  “Y-ye can see me?”

  Connie blinked and formed the same Mudra she used to banish the evil spirit controlling the dead Church Knight.

  “W-wait, wait! I'm not hostile! I’m harmless!” the see-through dwarf flailed his hands inside a stalagmite. They went through as if there was nothing there. “I’m a ghost. See? Even if I want to do something to ye, I can’t.”

  “…A ghost?” Connie warily raised her hand. Connie had seen ghosts before, but not ones that acted so...beligerent. The ones she knew were vengeful and were ready to rip people’s arms off.

  “C-can ye take that away, please?” he pointed at her hand with a look of nervousness. “It’s making me nervous.”

  “…” Connie dispersed her Energy and lowered her arm.

  “Thank Mydirr. Any closer and I’d have been exorcised,” The ghost slapped his hairy chest. “Yer a great warrior, human. It’s rare to see someone that could fight like that. My name’s Orgrin. Keykeeper of Uradin’s Gate.”