章 30: Along The Shore, The Cloud Waves Break
Concentrated shockwaves were released like a dusty gust of wind.
The roof of the hallway collapsed on some of them, preventing them from unleashing those hellish howls in this echoing cave. giving us a chance to deal a killing blow to some of them.
Albeit some of them managed to unleash their abyssal howl.
"My head…"
"Gyaaah! The noises!"
"My body felt heavy, urgh."
"Everyone, run to the original entrance of the cave!"
That Flesh Mauler's info screen notified me that those monstrous entities were able to tear through stone and metal with ease.
It wouldn't take a long time for them to dig through the rubbles.
"Everyone!" Tahlia pointed our attention to the sealing debris as we sprinted to the exit. "Something slipped from the small gaps of the rubbles!"
—
[The Sinew Shifter]
[Description: A shapeless mass of muscle and sinew that can stretch and contort its body to fit through the smallest cracks and crevices. The Sinew Shifter moves with unnatural speed, using its flexible form to ambush prey from above or below. Its body constantly shifts and reforms, making it difficult to target or predict]
[Hint: The Sinew Shifter can take on the appearance of its victims or even a fellow Calamity Object, using their voices and appearances to lure others into a false sense of familiarity. It can regenerate rapidly, making conventional weapons ineffective. Only fire or intense cold can slow its relentless pursuit]
—
At the moment where the Sinew Shifter twisted into the air with its fleshy form, I immediately issued an order where Verina had already anticipated my command since Tahlia notified us.
"It is weak to extreme temperatures!"
Realizing the implication, Verina brushed the side of her musket's buddy with both of her index and middle finger. In that stroke, a lifeline was swirled and applied to the chamber, reloading the empty apparatus of war.
Then the hammer was struck, casting the chambered spell with vigor and intent to pursue forward.
The cries of the Sinew Shifter echoed as it was confused by what struck its adjusting flesh.
Then suddenly, the heart of winter was imbued to its soul.
"Stay away!"
Whilst the Sinew Shifter was devastated by the cold, I weaved my obsidian dagger like an instrument, hacking and slashing the vessel of deceiver with extreme precision on the alignment of my brittle yet catastrophically sharp blade.
"Now move!"
And yet, we didn't falter our speed as we rushed toward the land of living.
Thundered our feet with might and hope, we sprinted to the original entrance of the cave to prevent the devastating effect of numerous Flesh Maulers echoing their howl at the same time.
"Destroy the seal!"
"Hiyaaah!!"
With a powerful slash, Lupina opened the temporary lid of this massive underground casket we dug, opening us back to the land where the sky shall swallow light.
"N-Now what should we do!?"
Lupina heaved her breath, ferociously looking to the surroundings with her Feral Rage active, trying to glimpse any hint of imagery within the darkened bastion where our torches were dimmed, and the upside-down sea prevented a shed of moonlight to enter.
"To the east, fast and steady!"
It might be my best luck as of yet, but my ears and sense of dread greatly leaned to the far west where the two Qliphoth Objects were faring war.
Thunders and mind-shattering war cries, the kind that would immediately paralyze us if were ten meters closers and didn't steeled our resolves
They were viciously fighting there, with no souls tied to the book of life and death, only destruction and instinct to push everything into entropy.
This meant that the east was a safe place.
Verina also glimpsed the scale of the fight that was happening on the west side of her bastion as we made our exit. "Their clashes are more intense than anything that I've ever experienced."
Even though I was informed of the physical vessel that they took form, it was still impossible for me to fully comprehend how to beat one of the Qliphoth Objects.
We were definitely not ready to fight a Qliphoth Object this early.
There were still a lot of things that we could and needed to do to establish the foundation of a proper bastion and its bastioneers, for even the slightest chance of subduing one of those entropy made manifest.
"The fleshy entities from before, they exited the cave!" Tahlia cautioned.
"Keep moving east. Lupina, be the front vanguard." On our way, I picked one of the wooden debris and speed-crafted it into a feasible sharpened spear of wood. " I'll take the rear."
"I'll make sure to clear the way!" Lupina growled. She was still in her state of Feral Rage.
Maintaining it with a clear conscience must take a great strain on her body and mind.
Yet she still went through and beyond the pain to ensure that she would be able to react to any kind of threat in this crucial phase of the ordeal.
"There are two types of Calamity Objects within that horde. The first fleshy one we encountered early, the Flesh Mauler. The second that can twist and fake its appearance, the Sinew Shifter.
"The Fleshy Mauler can be neutralized by undoing the stitches. Verina, your priority will be the Sinew Shifter since it possesses a great regenerating power unless weakened by both spectrum of extreme temperature."
"Understood." Verina chambered a lifeline-efficient spell to prepare for the Sinew Shifter.
We couldn't afford to kindle a light amidst the situation where the unknown threat veils itself under the dark. It would just bring much more attention to us like the sole bonfire in the jungle.
This party of four was filled with individuals who could rely on more than one sense to probe the surroundings.
Verina with her high Consciousness, Lupina with her beastly sense and Feral Rage, me with keen hearing and weaponized paranoia, and then Tahlia with his somewhat enigmatic capability to scout far and wide.
We were the light of our own souls.
"Tahlia, give me a prioritized call when you notice a foreign type of Calamity Object, especially on the front side of our advance."
"Leave it to me!"
Like a band of peddler that sought to leave the accursed kingdom, we marched with dream and posthaste.
"A fleshy gleam."
One of the Flesh Maulers was lurching in the dark.
Or was it a Sinew Shifter?
Their sounds and volume should be the same, but I doubted that the Sinew Shifter could administer the same effect of the mind-bending howl that the Flesh Mauler had.
And when one of them lunged forward and howled, I immediately knew that it was the real deal.
Because I let the mind-bending howl engulf me fully, for a mere trick to my psyche were simply a childish attempt to break a man's soul
Though it was extremely reduced in effectiveness thanks to it no longer echoing inside the goddamn cave. The others should realize now if they haven't, that resurfacing made fighting the Flesh Mauler more tolerable.
"Hurp!"
Timing our dance, I effectively lunged faster than what the Flesh Mauler could hurl with their sharp claws. Within the breath-lenght vicinity of this hideous monster, I utilized my impossible dexterity to unbind all of the necessary stitches that kept this Calamity Object intact.
I also noticed that Lupina was dealing a Calamity Object on the front, supported by Verina, since our kilnalan knew that I could deal with most of the threat myself when given the will.
And when I noticed that one of the Flesh Mauler's howls didn't give the same effect as the real one, I ordered Verina to render it vulnerable with extreme temperature.
Before I dealt with it—wooden spear and obsidian dagger in hands.
"Keep moving! We're almost far enough from the influence of the Qliphoth Objects!"
Not staying inside the bastion was not much of a complication, having the chance of directly encountering the Qliphoth Object was.
We maintained our rhythm beyond our fatigue, pursuing the promised safer space than those eldritch army and horseman.
Through luck and endeavor, we had already advanced to the east for more than half an hour.
The sky was no longer hindered by the calamitous sea hiding the moonlight.
This alone was proof that we were far away from the Wild Hunt's influence.
"We should be far enough from the Qliphoth Objects, right!?" Lupina could barely maintain her breathing. The backlash of maintaining the Feral Rage for that long must be really severe.
"Far enough." I awkwardly chuckled, not really weighted in the same pressure as before. "I noticed that we didn't exactly fight the exact number of Flesh Mauler and Sinew Shifter. They might have been aggroed by the Qliphoth Object's relentless clashing."
"Their souls be damned," Verina quipped. If she could be smiling right now, I felt like she should be grinning with that intonation of hers.
"... This doesn't feel right." Tahlia diligently observed the surroundings. "Something heavy is lurking, somewhere, not too close, not too far. Yet... eerily there..."
Reminded by the possibilities, I started scouring the darkened environment.
I was too satisfied too fast.
Too early to celebrate.
"Above..."
It was faint, and almost undiscoverable.
Too ethereal, slipping away from reality.
"Don't move…"
My heart immediately sank the moment I noticed a faint spectral ripple that was mirroring the calm lake right above us.
And then there was, as our eyes latched to the faint shadowy outline of a man riding its maddening steed behind the eerie thick fog of the Carcosa's night.
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