the hunter and the hunted (3)

We rush through the corridors of the dungeon with Belladonna tracking the spatial disturbance. Youm and John are killing any monsters on sight before they can reach us. Going at the previous pace with Ivonne and Loman taking the pressure has become impossible as every few second another spike is launched from a spatial tear.

Most of the spikes are aimed for Ivonne who is constantly being protected by Petra now but a few have appeared behind us to attack Youm when he had just drawn his bow. He managed to dodge due to the high state of focus he is in but not without getting a few scratches.

"This is insane! That monster always attacks from the angle that's the most inconvenient for us to defend against. How does it know where we are so clearly? Does it have a surveillance skill?"

Youm is the first to complain since he's the one in constant danger of getting skewered. It must be really frustrating to know that the enemy can see and attack you while you don't even know their identity.

"Stop whining, archery guy. I can already feel the place where magic is used to make those space tears so we're close. Just keep shooting arrows and make sure don't get a spike up your a-"

"Miss Belladonna, I can understand that you are mildly inconvenienced by the strain of tracking but please refrain from provoking others."

"Mild inconvenience? I'm having a full blown migraine here because you didn't invite a mage or made someone else do this and you tell me I'm being mildly inconvenienced? I'm a combat sorceress not a tracker! Why don't you track this stupid monster if it's only a mild inconvenience to do so?!!"

"Calm down everyone. Something in the air is affecting our moods. It's weak so if you focus it can't effect you. I believe the monster is in the hall up ahead."

As expected of a paragon candidate. She was the first to notice such an insidious method. Infighting is the worst thing that can happen when you fight a strong monster as a group.

Thanks to her reminder, the situation immediately gets defused. Agent 21 apologized for rushing and downplaying Belladonna's efforts and she in turn apologizes for blowing up at him and provoking Youm.

I pat Youm's shoulder as he too let's go of the irritation at what Belladonna was about to say. He gives me a grateful smile and readies his bow.

John has already cleared out all monsters left in the corridor and there are no more obstacles between us and the hall where the supposed monster is.

I wonder how it will go…

"Everyone, advance!"

We enter the hall a group and there it is. On the side of the hall, where it could only be spotted once inside the hall sits a humanoid mannequin with six arms. It's legs are attached to a plate that's been fused to the dungeon floor to provide it energy.

The moment we all enter the hall, it claws at us with its second pair of hands and two moving spatial tears come at us.

These tears aren't like the previous one that could facilitate passage for a short moment. These are closer to spatial distortions in the sense that they will rip apart anything that touches them. They can't really be blocked and are best evaded.

Usually, such attacks aren't very useful in the fast paced combat at higher levels since dodging a spatial tear is rather easy. However, for this mannequin that can't seem to move but has its back protected by a wall, those tears make for a very effective defense against melee attackers.

Of course this comes at the expense of its long range defense. Spatial tears move predictably and getting an arrow or gun shot past them is almost too easy.

"It's an alchemical life form? That can't be right! You said it moved from dungeon to dungeon but this thing is clearly unable to move."

Petra notices the clear difference between what we have encountered and what agent 21 said we would encounter.

"That doesn't matter right now! This thing is equally dangerous so we must destroy it! Everyone, attack! Mr. Patrick, please launch a crusade immediately."

Hmm, should I refuse and point out how suspicious his behavior is? He calls us here to hunt a monster that can move from dungeon to dungeon and has allegedly slain many high-ranked adventurers. Then, we find an alchemical life form and he just tells us to fight it? Not to mention that this alchemical life form has neither a consciousness nor a power source of its own so no experience for killing it either. Yes, agent 21 is definitely acting suspicious. I'm sure the others will agree.

I make my decision and suddenly Youm collapses to the floor as if a weight has been dropped onto him. He looks over to me with the fear of death evident in his eyes and mouths my name. He's still gripping his bow with one hand but strenuously extends his other in my direction.

The alchemical life form doesn't miss this chance and immediately uses both its first and third set of hands to launch four spikes at Youm. Youm is lying prone with no way to defend himself and the melee attackers are kept busy by more spatial tears being sent their way by the alchemical life form's second pair of hands.

Petra zooms over on her miniature ship and intercepts all four spikes. She turns toward Youm with a worried gaze but dares not approach before figuring out what is happening to Youm.

Agent 21 hasn't even noticed Youm's plight. He's holding a slightly strange looking gun. Where usually you would find a barrel of some kind, his gun only a long flat surface. The flat surface is inscribed with mysterious symbols that have begun to glow. At the end of the flat surface right next to agent 21's face a glowing miniature star appears.

Then a second and a third miniature star appears above the flat surface with every star closer to the end of the gun. After nine miniature stars have been formed, a glowing line begins to make its way from the back most star to the next one. He can probably unleash a devastating shot once all nine stars are connected and form a constellation.

While he's to busy to notice Youm being in danger, he does notice that the absence of a crusade. And before I can even call him out on his suspicious behavior, he yells at me again.

"Mr. Patrick, why aren't you calling for a crusade!"

"Don't bother, he's not on our side."

John, that paranoid idiot, fires a crossbow bolt at me and disappears into the shadows.