Chapter 22: Growth (1)
Chapter 22: Growth (1)
Neban burned the Nrachs in the front, but that did not stop the horde from coming at him. Once the fire died out, Neban widely swung his sword as he killed the next line before burning them with [Fire Blast] to make sure they were dead.
More of the Nrachs were still coming, and Neban cut them down each time, always burning them right after; he didn't want them coming back to life.
The undead numbers were quickly dwindling, leaving most of those with their original forms and disfigured faces left. They picked up bones around them, using them as weapons as they stopped Neban's sword with it.
Neban kicked two of the Nrachs back as he put more force into his sword, breaking the others' weapons. And when more tried to advance when the original forms stopped him, Neban moved back as he used [Fire Hole].
A medium-sized hole grew under the Nrachs, causing them to fall into a fire pit. Most of the Nrachs fell into the hole, leaving about 40 of the monsters left.
The King of Nrachs growled at the incompetence of its babies. The king stood up as it teleported in front of Neban. Neban was already hurrying back when he felt a presence coming near him; he had Siren on guard if there were any surprise attacks.
The king ignored him as it turned towards its children. "You are a waste of my saliva. Disperse." After the king said those words, the Nrachs melted down, sinking into the ground.
Neban waited for the king to finish since he was not the type to attack someone from behind unless they were in battle. Once the King of Nrachs finished, it turned towards Neban, glancing down at his sword.
"Human, do you know what you have in your hand? That thing is the ultimate power to making anyone the Emperor of all the worlds." The king told him.
Neban was curious about what the monster meant by 'all the worlds' because it made it seem like there was more than one world out there.
'You stupid humans and your small minds. Kill, this thing already.' Siren spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
Neban wanted to say something back to Siren, but the King of Nrachs started talking again. "If you hand over that sword, I will let you and those other humans go."
Not believing the monster, Neban shook his head, "This is my sword; no one can have it. Plus, it owes me answers."
The monster growled once again as he pulled out his hand, causing a spear made of bones to appear in it. Once the weapon was in the king's hand, the Nrach quickly swung the spear at him, aiming for his head.
Neban blocked the hit as Siren glowed for a bit, causing the spear to break apart. But, as quickly as the pieces fell, they came back together, making it look like he never broke the spear in the first place.
He was a bit surprised at that to the point of almost missing the spear hitting his face. The king used his distraction to aim for his head again. Neban dunked back, letting the weapon pass by him, an inch away from his face.
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Once the weapon passed, he was getting ready to slice off the king's hand, but when Neban looked forward, the king was gone. Then, he heard screams that sounded like it came from Isona and Owain.
Neban turned around and saw that the King of Nrachs had Isona, Wey, and Owain wrapped together in some weird slime. Isona and Owain were shaking in fear as Wey closed his eyes, breathing hard.
With narrowed eyes and a stern grip on Siren, Neban stepped forward. "Stop," the king shouted, causing Neban to abruptly pause when he saw the monster drooling black substance, "if you come closer, I will poison these humans."
The King of Nrachs spits the black substance into his hand as a few drops fall on the ground, causing the floor to melt into a small hole. The others started to tremble harder, as Isona whimpered when they saw what the drool could do.
Anger surfaced on Neban's face, and if the others were not scared for their lives, they would have been surprised by him showing emotions.
"Give me the sword or I will kill these humans and eat them, turning them into my babies." The king demanded.
Neban did not say anything as he dropped Siren to the ground, causing Siren to shout at how he treated it. But, he ignored the weapon as he disappeared. The king was happy that its plan worked when it saw that Neban dropped the sword, but when the human disappeared, the king anxiously looked around.
"If you attack me, I will kill these humans." The king moved its hand, filled with the black substance near Wey; the drops were close to falling on him.
Wey moved back, trying hard not to flinch as he watched the drops fall to the ground, nearly landing on his shoe as he softly pushed himself into Isona and Owain.
Seeing Wey moving, the king grabbed him with his clean hand, pulling him closer, "There is no running away, human."
"Wey!"
"Wey."
Isona and Owain silently shouted as they grabbed onto him, pulling him back. The king growled at the humans, trying to defy it as it reached out with its hand filled with poison, getting ready to grab Isona when it felt something grip its throat.
Neban appeared behind the king, grabbing the monster by its neck as he pulled the thing back so it couldn't move its poisonous hand forward. He moved close to the king's ear as he whispered, "You should learn to keep your hands to yourself."
The king tried to move but couldn't, and when it tried to teleport out of Neban's hand, the monster remained in its small spot. Neban let out a dark chuckle as the thing started to realize that it cannot escape.
His hand started to glow, causing the monster's insides to feel like it was on fire or that someone poured acid in it because the fake skin that the king wore over its bony body began to melt off.
The skin melted to the floor, creating a bloody pool under everyone's feet as it spread everywhere. The others moved away as a group when they saw the black substance dropping with the melted skin, almost touching them.
Neban was holding bones when all the skin was gone. "Please, do not kill me. I only want the weapon. I need the sword." The king begged, almost making Neban want to laugh. 'Why did they mark this monster as a high-level one when it is pathetic?' He thought.
He ignored the king's pleading as he kicked the monster's body, causing it to break down with cracks in it as he held the things head in his hand. The King of Nrachs was still alive as it continued to plead. The monster was annoying.
Neban burned the bones as he held the king's crying head, who was screaming about Neban destroying its body. Then he looked at the others, who were still trembling at what happened.
He walked closer and put the head in front of them, causing them to back up some more, "Do you want to kill it?"
They shook their heads no, not wanting to deal with the king's head that could still produce poisonous drool if it wanted to. Neban shrugged at that before walking to the king's throne with the head in his hand.
He put the monster on his throne, "This will be your burial ground," he told it, blocking out the king's yelling as he used [Hell Fire] to burn it. Using the move took half of his energy since it was one of the ultimate skills that a Mage could use (he could only copy a Mage; his copies are not perfect).
But it was worth it to hear the monster's scream because it was the hottest fire that a Mage could produce. He did have to walk away after a few seconds because the heat was causing him to overheat a bit.
Neban picked up Siren, putting it back in his sub-space as he walked back to the others. The weird slime that the monster put on them fell off, letting them walk freely again.
'Next time, put me away and don't throw me on the dirty floor. I already feel sick from those things.' Siren complained.
'I told you not to ingest them.' Neban answered back.
He could hear the long sigh that Siren gave like the sword wanted to yell at him, but at the same time ignore him because it was getting tired of Neban.
Neban felt an ounce of happiness for annoying the weapon.
When he was in front of the others, he asked, "Are you all okay?" After saying those words, Neban wished he took them back. He did not mean to ask them that. He wanted to say, 'are you ready to go,' instead of asking about their wellbeing.
Neban was starting to care for them, and it was freaking him out. The others were surprised by the question and were getting ready to answer when the area began to shake as the cave started to fall apart.
"We need to go," Neban said. He automatically grabbed Isona and Wey's (he did not have enough hands to hold Owain's) hands, running out of the cave. Owain was behind them.
When they reached outside, they saw that the dungeon was falling apart. It was weird because this has never happened before, but the group did not have time to give it much thought as they ran for the entrance.
"The loot?" Owain asked, breathing hard from the running.
"We have to forget about it," Neban replied as he was sweating hard. The running is not bad, but he only had half his energy since he used the other half to summon the hell-fire.
Once they reached the dungeon's entrance, they saw that it was getting smaller for some reason. The group quickly jumped out of the dungeon, landing on the outside ground, breathing hard.
Neban was still holding Isona and Wey's hand, not realizing it as he was trying to catch his breath.
"Hey! The entrance is gone!" Owain shouted, causing them to turn around to see that the dungeon's entrance was gone.
'What the hell?' Neban and the others thought, wondering how and why the entrance disappeared; the only thing left behind was a demolished building.
They could not dwell on this long because the sensors can come back on at any time. "Time?" Neban asked.
Isona looked down, getting ready to grab her phone, when she saw that Neban was still holding her hand. "Uh. Y-your hand." She stuttered, her face turning red as she thought about how warm Neban's hand was.
Neban looked down, causing Wey to do the same as he saw his hand was still in Neban's. His face was also turning red.
Quickly taking his hand away like someone burned him, Neban looked at everything but them as he put his hands together. His stomach was getting that weird feeling again, but it was worse than the other times.
No one said anything as Isona and Wey's faces were still red. After a minute or so, Owain cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "The time?" He asked, feeling awkward as he sensed the tension between the three of them.
Isona coughed as she pulled out her phone, "Fifteen minutes."
Neban stood up, looking down at himself as he thought about needing to change before he goes home. The others stood up too as Neban noticed that Owain was holding the bag that Wey put the loot in from the Dru.
"You grabbed the bag?" Neban asked.
"Yeah. I will never forget the bags." Owain jokingly answered.
Neban raised his eyebrow at Owain, causing the man to clear his throat once again. Owain handed the bag to Neban, "Here, you probably want it."
Neban took hold of the bag as he muttered a "thanks."
They stood there for a while before Isona spoke, "I can take anyone home if any of you need a ride."
"I need a ride," Wey spoke.
"I will take a ride too. It would be a short one since I live close, but I do not think I can walk any longer." Owain replied.
They looked at Neban, who stared back at them. "Get home safe." He softly said, almost making it hard for the others to hear as he disappeared by using [Shadow Travel].
Once he was gone, the others stared at the empty spot. "I think he is starting to like us," Owain commented, breaking the silence that was starting to happen again.
Isona and Wey looked at each other before smiling and walking off, causing Owain to chase after them when he realized they were leaving.