Chapter 338 Scourge Of Crabs

"Huh?"

A place beyond the Oval Tower; a road in the After neighbored by tall, abnormal trees that, instead of bearing leaves, were covered by a top that resembled a glowing, translucent jellyfish of colossal proportions. Thin tendrils of the same complexion gently swayed like vines in the illustrious environment.

"What is this place?" Joel audibly wondered, looking around as he placed his hand over his brow to look around.

"Never seen it before," Blimpo responded, poking at one of the trees, "--Ah!"

They were all on-guard as a brief yell left the lips of the elf, though it was revealed to just be a gray-armored crab that didn't like its home being disturbed as it stuck its claws out from a hole in the glowing tree.

"Stay on your toes," Vandread said.

"Aye-aye, sir," Blimpo enthusiastically listened.

It seemed at the very least that Hecate had placed them on the proper path, as unorthodox and mystifying as a road it was with the jellyfish-like trees and the weird critters that existed on the luminescent road.

As always, Vandread embodied caution–leading the way and acting primarily as a scout as he was able to move silently and seem to perceive things with eyes that put a hawk to shame. For the most part, it seemed that only harmless critters like scurrying crabs and blinking squirrels occupied the peculiar road.

"Know where we're going from here, 'Milio?" Blimpo asked.

Closing his eyes for a moment when asked this, he focused on the map imprinted on his memory of the path to Quandary Pass–which now he could actually visualize where they were in relation to it.

"...Yeah, we're at the start of the path now actually," he said in surprise, "I can see this road, then a sort of...tunnel under an abyssal lake? After that, it's a bit fuzzy."

"Your brain always surprised me," Joel remarked, looking at his head.

"No comment," he replied before moving on.

The air was light and brisk, originating from the translucent tree tops from the light hum of air they produced. Nonetheless, it was a nice change of pace from the either hostile or hollow regions of the After.

While they all walked, towards the back, the goggle-wearing elf slowed down a bit so that he was walking alongside Asher, who mainly kept to himself.

"You're from Earth like Emilio, eh?" Blimpo asked quietly, nudging his elbow against Asher.

Asher looked at the elf in slight surprise then glanced at Emilio, who scratched his head and nodded before confirming Asher's thoughts.

"I told him everything–don't worry," Emilio said.

"And he actually believed you? I've tried telling others before and they thought I was some cursed child," Asher said before looking at Blimpo, "Well, it seems there's no point in denying it then."

"Denying what?" Joel curiously said from up ahead.

–The silver-haired adventurer asked, though the three amidst the conversation certainly were not going to include him in such a mind-boggling set of revelations.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Being directly referred to definitely struck something within Emilio as he found himself perplexed by the crab's seeming sentience.

'It knows who I am? It's purposefully trying to block me from reaching Quandary Pass? But why would it specifically not want ME to leave the After?...Unless, it's following orders from a different figure,' he deduced.

"Emilio," Vandread said, standing close, facing the crab.

"I know," he nodded, "Let's do this."

–Meanwhile, the elven tinkerer had a smile as wide as a child on Christmas morning as he spun the handle of his rune cannon, unleashing continuous bursts of fire against the hordes of crabs that approached while back-to-back with Joel.

Joel used his swift sword strikes to slash through the smaller crabs and pierce with his blade, but their tough exoskeleton made it a tiring effort, "There's so many!"

"I know, isn't it great?! We'll have so much delectable crab for dinner!" Blimpo said.

"Huh?!" Joel was taken aback by the hungry thoughts of the elf.

Handling the bulk of the malicious and rabid crustaceans was Asher, not relying on his Devilheart System and instead warming up to using his claymore again as he moved swiftly and with skill, jumping up and cleaving through a half dozen crabs in a single action.

"Sorry, but I'm not leaving any edible pieces behind," Asher said, spinning his blade as he summoned abyssal energy that eradicated the crabs around him.

Blimpo gasped, "Those were perfectly good crabs!"

"Why're you so obsessed with eating crabs?!" Joel called out.

"'Cause I've never had it before! It's a delicacy those snobby high borns always lorded over the less-than-fortunate, like me!" Blimpo explained, "--So I wanna see just what the fuss is about!"

"...Huh, alright then!" Joel responded.

There was no shortage of crabs, and no shortage of larger ones as well, though not nearly as big as the main one blocking the path, though they were big enough to command the attention of those fighting.

"Big one, comin' right up!" Joel called out.

Asher was already busy dealing with a handful of crabs that swarmed the road, so Blimpo flicked his goggles on and smiled, grabbing a handful of runic dust from his pouch and stuffing it down the barrel of his weapon.

"Witness the glory of my inventions, my new friend!" Blimpo told Joel.

"Sure thing, I'll sing its praises if it can blast that behemoth to pieces!" Joel replied.

There was no greater introduction to the specialized madness of the elven tinkerer as Blimpo quickly dropped to a knee, slamming his rune cannon down to stabilize it as he revved it up with a spinning crank as it began rumbling and crackling with sparks.

All the while, the human-sized crab drew near, attempting to slam its claw down before the silver-haired man intercepted it with his sword, having to push his other hand against his blade to hold its pincher at bay.

Joel gritted his teeth, "A bit of haste would be nice...!"

"You can't rush greatness!" Blimpo said with a laugh, rapidly spinning the gear as the rune cannon rumbled violently now before starting to glow, "--Alright, get back! It's ready!"

The heat building up from the elf's unstable weapon could be felt brushing against the back of Joel's jacket as he nodded and jumped out of the way.

"Rune Cannon Mode: 'Hasta La Vista'!" Blimpo announced as he pulled the trigger.