Chasing the Dusk (2/4)

At the top of its torso rested a head, a very humanoid head, probably Võrska at one point. But not anymore.. Its features were beyond monstrous and wore a crown that had, overtime, fused with its flesh as it had probably dug into it after decades of being there. The mass bellowed towards as and moved slowly to intercept. Its moans sounded like a distorted wail of sadness, a plea for mercy rather that anger or aggression. A call for someone to end its miserable existence. As it moved closer to us, its lower half kept secreting small lumps of goo and zombies slowly crawled out from within. I closed my eyes as I was overtaken by anger. "So this is what you did to the Võrska? What you planned on doing to me?" I murmured as my body started heating up and producing a faint red glow. "My Lady.." Adam's voice jolted me back before I did anything stupid. "As you said.. No rash actions.. Its slow, lets dance around and disorient it. Eve and I can handle the Zombies! You just keep your distance until you can get a clear shot with your Arrow!" he continued. I nodded to my little strategist and patted both of my creations on their backs. "Stay safe, don't take unnecessary risks.." I told them and Eve grinned at the Võrska abominations closing in. "But those are the best kind.." the cheeky girl exclaimed.

With that we darted in three directions, covering the room and encircling the large Undead. It concentrated on me first as I easily crushed a few of its "babies" while I speeded by her. My strength made me feel great and yet I knew that individuals with Hero Cores could grow even stronger at a much faster rate. The thought of all the powerful monsters and men that where out there made me shiver. The behemoth, probably as it saw me standing idle, decided to introduce me to one of its abilities as it belched a torrent of acidic bile my way. Thankfully the Physical Attribute wasn't just about being strong. I dove backwards into a backflip and kept going as the stream of belch chased after me for a solid three seconds before the monster stopped the disgusting attack. The floor, where the bile had concentrated, smoked and the fumes burned my nose upon smelling the acid doing its work.

Eve was going to town on three Zombies, keeping them pinned down as Adam ran across the battlefield, dishing out small sneak attacks whenever he could. It wasn't long before the massive creature was torn between the three of us. It decided to lumber slowly towards Adam, when the small humanoid got cornered, most likely intending to crush him with its sheer size. I grabbed a Võrska zombie by the neck and used it to batter two other ones away from me. Once I had a second to concentrate I pointed my left index finger at the creature. Bringing my right hand close to the left, I pinched the air and pulled back, tracing the knocking of an arrow as my Fire Magic took shape. Four exhaust points erupted from my pointing left index, the flames pushing away from it violently in a cross shaped pattern. The Flame Arrow filled the void, beginning from my pinched fingers and its tip reaching my index as I took in a final breath.

The release of the spell came with a considerable kick back as I was still adjusting to it. My aim was off, just like the first time I had used it but I did spot a minor improvement, no doubt thanks to my Fire Manipulation ranking up. The shot sailed wide through the air and I winced at the inaccuracy, clenching my teeth in anticipation. I was definitely not ready to use this spell effectively yet, however.. right now.. in this fight? My target was slow. My target was massive.. The Arrow spell scraped the creature's arching back, digging a groove of seared flesh along its path! It howled in pain and the floor shook under the weight of its thrashing!

[ You hit Võrska Brood-Matron Lv.13 for 31 Fire damage. ]

Immediately after that I snapped out of my early celebration as zombies began assaulting me! The small Undead clung to my body three at a time, taking clawed swipes at any part of me that was exposed. My new armor softened a few blows and even nullified some shallow slashes completely. Every time I batted a Võrska away, another would take its place and some of their attacks managed to reach my body, carving deep slashes with every successful strike!

Eve ran towards me with an audible growl! Without even thinking of conserving her strength, she used Scrapper to launch herself in an aerial spin. The scimitar I gifted her, spun with her, turning her into a rolling flesh chipper! Two Võrska fell off me as their backs were torn asunder and Eve continued her assault on the ones still trying to gang up on me. I finally got ahold of the zombie latched on my back and hurled it at its mother, who was now mass producing the vile creatures. The impact barely made her flinch and the large Undead carried on, expanding its pool of minions! I spotted Adam hiding behind a mound of refuse, trying to think of something and I gestured him towards Eve who was now struggling with about 6 Zombies. "No my Lady, stick to the plan!" he yelled desperately. "The plan isn't going to work if she keeps pumping out zombies like that! Help Eve, I'll keep the Queen occupied until you're free from her minions!" I answered and Adam ran towards his partner with a nod.

Reaching the Queen's backside, I could see her force entire clusters of lumped together zombies, out of her. They were covered in a thick layer of horrid amniotic fluids and excrement, making the process as vile as one could imagine both in image and smell. Activating my Overchannel, I spent twice the Mana required for my Fire Breath before unleashing a blast of fanning flames. The wave of fire and heat washed over the slowly awaking zombies, incinerating them and instantly boiling away the amniotic fluid, producing a horrible cloud of stinking vapors. The flames moved along for ten more feet, catching the Queen's backside but just barely because of the distance between us.

[ You hit Võrska 4x Bloodseeker Lv.1 for 23 Fire damage ]

[ 4x Võrska Bloodseeker Lv.1 defeated. 32xp gained. 15 Aether awarded. 4 Gold Coins awarded. ]

[ You hit Võrska Brood-Matron Lv.13 for 8 Fire Damage ]

"Come on you ugly thing! Just look at me!!" I thought intensely as I feared the Queen would just go back to spawning more of her undead children. The large monster tried swatting me away with a pseudopod made of cancerous growths before realizing my fears and going back to spawning! My Fire Arrow was the best chance we had for victory but was also my most unwieldy ability and took too many precious seconds to charge, especially when Overchanneled. I couldn't take care of the spawns and concentrate on the spell at the same time. But thankfully, I didn't have too! Adam and Eve, having vanquished their foes were now running towards us! Their bodies were covered in scrapes, bruises and small cuts from sharp claws but were still very much ready to throw down! Their sudden yells and screams wiped the smile off my face as I faced in the direction they were looking at. The Queen had paused mid birth and had reared up on her bulbous lower body, ready to unleash another torrent of acidic bile upon me!

My eyes went wide and I jumped to the side, aided by my Skill Bound. It wasn't enough this time though. The stream of corrosive liquid hit my lower body, scoring a heavy blow against me, as the flesh on my legs, up to my lower waist began to burn and blister. My armor softened the blow but only by a small margin and its ruined leather was now barely covering my feet. I landed prone on the ground a few meters away, too stunned by the pain to immediately stand again.

[ You have received 41 Acid damage! 157/260 HP remaining! ]

The wretched Queen bellowed triumphantly as she loomed over me. Her voice sounded like a menagerie of monstrous female voices, coming from a single being. She paused the birth of her latest batch of Zombies to approach my unmoving body, ready to finish off her pesky intruder. At that moment, a magically propelled cannonball, made up of compressed dirt, hit her square in the jaw. The impact produced a sickening crunch of bone and tear of rotten flesh, as the Queen's lower jaw came flying off! She reared back from pain and I saw Adam holding two more projectiles, one in each hand as shouted some instructions to Eve. "I know dum-dum!!" yelled back Eve before activating Scrapper and scaling the Queen! I watched while holding my breath as Eve avoided pseudopod after pseudopod, climbing on the monster's deformed skin, using its puss-expelling protrusions and bulbous flaps as footholds.

The female warrior let out a war cry before plunging the scimitar in the Queen's side! She jumped down, allowing gravity to do what her small stature couldn't. Eve accelerated downwards, carving a two meter long gash before dropping safely to the ground. The large Undead struggled to howl as it gargled on the blood which had just poured into its damaged lung! It started flailing about, trying to squash the warrior and managed to actually push her to the ground the moment "Scrapper" stopped working and Eve was thrown off balance by the shift in her abilities. Adam pushed the Queen back with two good projectile throws, assisted by his Earth Manipulation Magic. The earthen lumps hit the Queen in the abdomen and the edge of her wound respectively and she reared back on her massive lower half! She was about to bring her full mass on Eve when I was finally able to unleash my Overchanneled Flame Arrow!

Once again, my spell flew tottering through the air the moment I released it but at this range I just couldn't miss! With amazing speed, the missile of concentrated flame and heat, burrowed through the Queen's body. The spiraling shaft of the flaming arrow distorted the Undead's skin in a swirling pattern before bursting out its back, with and explosion of excess heat and fire! Adam rushed in to grab Eve as the Queen tumbled back, crashing into the wall behind her and the tower shook with rubble and dust falling from the ceiling! The creature shrieked out of pain and frustration but seemed very much able to carry on fighting. By the time however she turned her attention back to us I was already back on my feet and firing my second Flame Arrow. Without the Overchannel effect, the spell pierced her skin and dug a solid meter into her insides before fizzling out of existence. The Queen fell to the floor, small hands barely able to support her blubbery torso. Ashes and sparks flew from her open mouth as she breathed heavily, her insides charred by my spell attacks.

[ Flame Arrow hit Võrska Brood-Matron! Critical hit! 83 Fire damage dealt. ]

[Flame Arrow hit Võrska Brood-Matron for 45 Fire damage. ]

As my Vorsàni followers retreated to a safe distance, I was left to stare at the monstrous Queen and her resolve to cling on to her undeath no matter what. "Just stay down.." I growled behind clenched teeth, not wanting to go another round with such a foe. The flames in her lungs and stomach were suddenly extinguished with a puff of steam coming from her mouth and wounds. The Queen jerked forward with a gargled roar, unleashing another blast of acidic bile! Without any time to move, I instinctively surged my Mana outwards in an desperate attempt to conjure up some sort of defence. The result was me activating my Fire-Breath at full blast! The swirling flames, pouring out of my mouth, met the torrent of acid, stopping its advance a few feet in front of me