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FLAAAAASH!
In an instant, a gigantic salamander zombie emerged. Its flesh stuck itself together once more, its bones aligned, and its skin was repaired, although it was still now infused with the pure power and energy of death within itself…
It also had the same soul, so it felt right at home.
Ervas glanced at the scene and sighed, glaring down at Veronica.
"Veronica didn't you said you were not getting more pets?" asked Ervas.
"Eh?! C-Come on! I am a Necromancer! I ought to have a bunch of em'! My Class is literally about making undead pets." Said Veronica.
"How will you call it?" wondered Aurora.
"Cute big salamander!" said Kuro.
"Erm… I don't know, it is slimy." Said Veronica.
"Gluuuoop…"
The salamander suddenly took out its giant tongue and licked Kuro's entire body.
"Uueegghh…"
Kuro groaned in disgust. She felt her entire body being soaked in slime. And it smelled badly too.
"Let's call it Licky…" said Veronica while nodding.
"That's a terrible name! Okay, fitting of your naming antics." Said Aurora.
"Oi! How come it's a terrible name? I think its pretty good! Sheesh…" sighed Veronica.
Juliette and Anastacia looked at the group having fun while naming the zombie as they sighed. They were really having a hard time getting used to them even now, but they had to endure it and quickly accept that they were back.
Their creators who had left them here for millions of years at that… at some point they had felt a very strong hate against them, but they hated to admit that their impression of them was growing into a better one with each passing day.
"You guys really love to chit-chat and waste a lot of time, don't you? Hurry up, we don't have time to waste!" said Anastacia. As the ruder of the twins and also a tomboyish girl ordered the others to move faster into their next goal, there was certainly no time to waste as of now, she wanted to get things done quickly, not to go around doing absolutely nothing, it wasn't her style to begin with.
"Oh, right, yeah, let's go." Said Veronica. She felt surprised that she was being ordered around, Veronica herself disliked this, actually, but because she felt bad over her irresponsibility with the twins, she let them have privileges.
"Okay, let's go, we shouldn't really waste more time than we have done." Said Ervas.
The group quickly moved to the next Stratum, which Yggdrasil had said that was the last one, and where the Hivemind dwelled on its depths…
Right after they entered, there was no more greenery as before, as it was more like an enormous cave illuminated by red and blue crystals growing all around the ceiling, walls, and even the floor.
There were also strange, red-colored veins all around the place, and a lot of dampness in the area, while also being exceedingly hot, giving it a very suffocating environment to the entire place.
"It is indeed quite surprising…" said Veronica.
"So this place… ah, it reeks with Miasma. This place had indeed been slowly taken over by the Hivemind, isn't it?" wondered Ervas.
"Yes, apparently this is the place that Yggdrasil was so fearful about… We cannot lower our guards in regard to this…" said Anastacia.
"Let's proceed with caution, if the Hivemind has a strong influence here, things that we don't imagine might be waiting for us at the other side of the corner…" said Juliette.
…
Meanwhile, the Hivemind detected that the group of Ervas and Veronica had already reached the last stratum of the labyrinth reaching up to him, and he felt their presences getting closer and closer.
The aberration was already getting ready to move in the surface, but if things went awry like now, it might become even worse. He couldn't let them advance any further than this before he was to do the "ritual".
And that's without including that there was this annoying girl in the surface with overpowered magic abilities which his subordinates were constantly trying to kill and always failing miserably.
He had to quickly move his monstrous aberration, the spawns he had been slowly growing from the tumors and veins he had been spreading in this stratum silently for almost a million years.
"It is time to move… All of you… Awake from your slumber… Stop them! Do everything you can to stop them!" roared the Hivemind.
The Hivemind order was absolute, the several aberrant fleshy spawns resting within the last floors of the last stratum quickly began to move forward, at incredibly fast speeds at that, only seeking one thing, to stop the group from advancing any further below, as they would only try to destroy the plans of their creator if they were to be left to do as they pleased!
Veronica quickly sensed something with her greater supernatural divine senses, as Ervas quickly sensed something after her.
They were already around the sixth floor after half a day of rushing through empty caves where barely any critter dwelled. They had felt strange by seeing how there was absolute not live anywhere they went, wondering where it was all, they would had never guessed that they were hiding, waiting for the moment to strike against them this entire time!
An enormous wave of fleshy entities began to surge from within the depths of the ninth floor, going all the way up through the stairs!
The team was quickly taken aback!
It was such a gigantic army of aberrant alien spawns that it even made the underground tremble!
Within their Divine Realm Yggdrasil was resting over a bed, groaning in pain while gritting her teeth. She was going through some pain and discomfort, and was increasingly feeling more sickly.
"Ungh…! Agh… What is this?! Uaggh…! T-This is… the dark monster… you bastard…! Stop doing this! Ugh…!"
The clones of Veronica and Ervas quickly began to act, healing her mind and soul from the constant pressure she was receiving by the movement of the Hivemind's spawns…
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