Chapter 254: Space nOpera
Sofia ran all the way back up to the roof of the station, where she knew for sure that nothing could ambush her from behind. It felt safer even if it meant there was a possibility she might get cornered there. Of course she could always use the graveyard to escape, but if she was left with enough time to do that, the thing probably wasnt dangerous enough to warrant her escape in the first place.
At least for now it did not seem like that creature had detected her.
How do I deal with this thing?
In this place with no sound, the unlife rune hid most of her presence, she was still visible of course, but the thing might have not been able to see, or it would have undoubtedly noticed her. Or maybe it did but it still did not chase me.
Lets test the waters a bit.
The book of skeletons made its entrance, Sofia decided to send the one dog on a hunt, the same one which had been an elven kids temporary guardian in the trial. For only twenty mana, it was cheap and efficient. One couldn't underestimate the damage a level 226 hound could do.
The skeleton dog departed, followed by Pareth. Pareth wouldnt fight, he was just there to stand safely at a distance and relay the image to Sofia.
I should have done that from the beginning, I really need to start acting like a proper necromancer. Ive been taking too much risk until now.
Pareth and the dog found the creature on the floor right under Sofia, it had gone up the stairs.
Somehow I hoped it wouldnt What is this even? Some kind of parasitic mushroom? It looks a bit like one with the honeycomb structure that opens up when it breathes The iridescent thing inside of the elf kept dilating and contracting. When it dilated, it filled everything, spilling out of the mouth, ears and eyes and well as the broken back of the head, before contracting again. When it was contracting, the elf looked almost normal, should a walking corpse be considered ordinary.
Sorry dog, you have to go. Attack!
The skeletal hound charged forward, swiftly closing the distance, it lunged at the creature.
The body of the corrupted elf reacted with an unnatural motion, swatting away the attacking dog, sending it crashing into the walls of the station. The wall held, which was a testament to the durability of the station rather than the power of the creature, because Sofia had felt the tremor it had sent through the station from where she was.
Sofia had expected the dog to die on the spot but it was unharmed.
Ahahah, yeah, right. I dont know why I didnt do the math on that, but were completely in a place with sunlight. Bookies blessing is pulling its weight.
Sofias moment of relief was short-lived. The elf, in a single strong movement, grabbed the dog. It moved like it had too much strength and no finesse in the control of its body, resulting in exaggerated actions. It made the scene even more unsettling. The elf brought the dog before him. The skeleton fought back, clawing and gnawing at the monster, but no visible damage was inflicted at all. This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.
The iridescent parasite inside the elf inflated like never before, it grew and grew until it took all the space in the corridor. What the fuck is happening?!
Sofia ordered the dog to attack the thing rather than the elf, but the result was the same, and it couldnt free itself from the elfs iron grip. As the iridescent parasite grew, its empty honeycombs filled up. All at once, they released their contents, a swarm of hundreds of bulbous spider-like iridescent blobs fell to the ground and started climbing back up the elfs legs, up to his arm, crawling on it and onto the dog.
Im losing the connection! Dispel!
Now if I take a bit of silk, tie myself to one thread for safety and walk on the other
Sofia used her silken tightrope to walk to a side pyramid. She wasnt really skillful enough to perform such a feat, though she might have been able to if she really tried, but she just relied on [Way of the Fool]s anti-fall function to walk on there as if it was regular stable ground. Just like that, she landed on the roof of the side pyramid without going through the dangerous corridors further below.
She turned around at that point to see the elf finally stepping out of the stairs onto the main roof. Too late, honeycomb monster!
Thats a good five hundred meters separating us now. I doubt it would be able to follow me on the thread considering how imprecise its movements are, but I need to be careful of the flying swarm.
Though maybe it cant use it again so soon? That would be helpful if it worked like that.
In any case, I should be careful not to give my position away.
Sofia crouched to hide behind the guardrail. She thought it was weird how this roof had one even when apparently no door or stairs led up to it, but who was she to criticize elven architecture. The spiders were spread out, hanging on the walls of the main and side stations.
I should take advantage of this thing being in an open area and not the sidewalks.
She cast [Skull Choir] with thirty human skulls in the orbital array formation. They appeared around her, but before she could even send them to attack the elf, she frowned.
They wont actually work, will they?
She ordered one of them to attack, aiming at nothing. The skull opened its mouth, and nothing happened. No air Of course air attacks wouldnt work. Just my luck So much for trying to blow it off of the rooftop and into the sun.
And in this empty space, they cant even sing either, completely useless!
Trying in vain to sigh, because there was no air left in her lungs, Sofia dismissed the skull choir. I need to wait for the three minute cooldown to try the worm skulls now
And if they dont work Ill just bolt the damn thing!
Sofia was making her plans to try to take out the monster when the spiders became agitated.
All of them? Whats going on?
Sofias head peeked over the guardrail, to her great dismay she saw that the parasite inside the elf had grown large tendril-like wings just like a scaled up version of the ones its swarm had grown before.
She very quickly crouched back down.
The lack of air stifled a bout of nervous laughter.
Ah, yes. Just what I needed.