Chapter 333 - 332: Bizarre Creatures
Colin looked up, and goosebumps instantly broke out across his skin.
Floating above their heads were two balloon-like creatures. The lumpy, uneven orb at the very top of each one looked like an exposed brain, and a massive, bird-like beak protruded from the center of the disgusting organ.
The moment the two brains noticed they had been spotted, they shot downwards. Ten dangling tentacles reached out, extending toward Ale and Dorn, who stood at the front.
Just as they were about to make contact, countless hair-thin spikes shot out from the tips of the tentacles. The mere sight of them was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
’Where did these things come from? The air vents?’ Colin swiftly drew his Elf Giant Sword and entered his Sword Dance stance.
In a flash.
Ale thrust her hand up. A point of golden light instantly shot beneath one of the balloon-like creatures, then erupted into a massive, golden fireball.
The two monsters shrieked as the blast threw them apart. But thanks to the effect of Cautious Spellcasting, the party members within the spell’s radius were completely unharmed, aside from being momentarily dazzled by the light.
Immediately after, Colin watched as ten tentacles tore through the golden flames and whipped toward him.
Aided by his Sword Dance, he executed a backhanded Emerald Flame Sword strike at the incoming tentacles.
The tentacles were far tougher than he’d imagined. He severed two of them, but the remaining eight instantly coiled around him, binding him completely. He quickly took a deep breath, tensing the muscles in his neck to ensure he could still speak.
Then, Colin felt the world around him slowly receding below.
’The monster is trying to carry me off!’
DING, DING, DING...
The sound of fine needles striking his Armor was incessant.
The monster relentlessly attacked its prey with its barbed tentacles.
In that moment, Colin caught sight of the other unlucky soul who had been grabbed by a monster: Dorn.
Colin began reciting a Spell, intending to teleport over and rescue his captured companion.
Just then, the Dwarf poked his fingers through the coiling tentacles. A silver light flashed between his short, thick digits, and a Spiritual Dagger dropped to the ground.
The Dagger erupted with a blinding silver Spiritual Light. The light rapidly expanded, then converged, in the blink of an eye outlining the Dwarf’s stocky silhouette.
An instant later, the image of light and shadow solidified. Dorn now stood on the ground, while the Dwarf in the monster’s tentacles had vanished without a trace.
’Alright, no need to worry about him.’
Colin turned his attention to the other monster. A silver mist generated by Misty Step enveloped him, releasing him from the creature’s grasp.
Flame once again burst to life on his Burning Blood blade.
Colin swung his sword forward. A curtain of fire manifested in mid-air, and the flaming blade carved a deep, merciless gash across the monster’s exposed, brain-like head.
A foul stench of blood washed over him as gravity took hold, and he quickly landed back on the ground.
"Fuck! Goddamn tentacle freaks!"
Dorn yelled, throwing the silver Dagger that had reformed in his hand at the monster in mid-air.
Colin also retaliated, firing a Flaming Arrow at the monsters as they tried to flee.
The floating monsters clearly knew they were outmatched in a direct fight.
They fled for their lives deeper into the corridor, with Colin and the others in hot pursuit.
The sounds of prayers and incantations filled the air as the party pursued them, unleashing all their ranged attacks on the two fleeing balloon-creatures.
After a dozen meters or so, one was shot down by an arrow from Kase. The other escaped through an air vent, disappearing to parts unknown.
Colin rushed over to the fallen monster, bending over and gasping for breath.
After taking a few deep, ragged breaths to recover, he kicked the corpse on the ground. "Hah... what the hell is this thing?"
He took a closer look at the monster on the ground.
It really didn’t have any eyes. Its entire head was just that bird-like beak. It looked truly disgusting.
"Sorry," said Ale, catching up from behind. "I shouldn’t have used the Fireball Technique. You were ambushed because you couldn’t see."
"On the contrary, we should be thanking you for knowing how to use a Super Magical Ability to avoid friendly fire," Dorn said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Otherwise, we’d have been blasted to bits right along with those monsters."
He looked at the monster’s corpse again. "It’s a tentacled lurker. They probably hang around traps waiting for a meal. But normally, these cowardly bastards who only pick on the weak shouldn’t be stupid enough to attack us."
With that, Dorn stepped forward and patted the top of the creature’s head.
The area was noticeably shriveled.
"No wonder. These two must have been starving for a long time," Dorn continued. "Lend a hand, you big oafs. This thing’s hide and tentacles are useful, and there are toxin-secreting glands at the base of the tentacles."
Hearing this, Colin looked himself over. "You’re not poisoned?" he asked.
He didn’t have any wounds, just a few new white scuffs on his armor. The Cotton Armor beneath his Chain Armor had a few small holes stained with a purple slime, but it seemed the poison hadn’t reached him.
Colin then looked at Dorn.
The Dwarf hadn’t been so lucky. The Cotton Armor visible in the gaps of his Studded Leather Armor had been pierced in several places, and blood was seeping from around the holes.
"What are you staring at? Get over here and help!" Dorn said, rapping Colin’s knee in annoyance. "It’s just a scratch. A little ointment will fix it right up."
"Do you need me to use a Divine Art?" Orelia asked, drawing near.
"No. All healing Divine Arts should be saved for combat. We can’t guarantee every fight will go according to plan. We have to be ready for an ambush at all times!"
Dorn continued, "Stay sharp. I’d rather not have people thinking short folks have slow minds."
"Huh? I... I didn’t mean..."
Chided like that, Orelia was at a loss for words.
Kase, who was already working on the corpse, grunted a couple of times, a clear protest that everyone else was chatting instead of working.
Hearing him, the others stopped their chatter and began helping Kase process the monster’s corpse.
After a while, they had harvested the tentacles, hide, and toxins from the creature. Since the poison could be used immediately, the small vial they extracted was given to Colin for safekeeping.
The party regrouped, and once Dorn had treated his wounds, they set off again.
They had only taken a few steps before the corridor came to an end.
They entered a chamber of statues. It was filled with statues of Dwarf heroes, but their faces had all been smashed into featureless blurs, likely with rocks. The plaques at the base of the statues were covered in scrawled, incomprehensible Goblin Language.
’You didn’t need to be a genius to know they weren’t saying anything complimentary.’
Dorn stood before one of the statues, his head tilted back as he stared at the blurred face. No one knew what he was thinking.
After a moment, Dorn said, "Alright, we need to head back. The terrain in the Undercity can change at any moment, creating a lot of dead ends. Even though our destination is fixed, we still have to feel our way forward."
"Hold on a second. I’ve got something to do."
Kase said, walking over to the statue and beginning to wipe off the graffiti with his hands.
The others exchanged a look, then silently stepped forward to help wipe the graffiti from the plaques. Only after they had cleaned them off did they turn back to resume their search for the correct path.