Deus Necros

The second Perturbant collapsed under the Knight’s shield, but not cleanly. Its spined limbs wrapped around the edge, curling over like vines trying to claim the steel. The Knight shoved forward with all his strength, planting his boots into the stone, gritting his teeth as the creature hissed and snapped its head forward, grazing his helm with a rake of thorns that left a jagged scratch across the metal. Ludwig moved to intercept before the beast could try again, swinging Oathcarver in a tight arc. The blade carved through the creature’s upper torso with a cleaving force that severed bark-like ribs and ruptured the strange tissue beneath. The Perturbant didn’t cry out. None of them did. It simply folded in on itself and slumped to the floor like a puppet cut loose from its strings

[You have slain an Eraged Perturbant Level 95]

[Due to it being a construct no soul gain will be generated]

“Much better,” Ludwig muttered to himself.

“You can do it when you’re calmer and no longer agitated, the Tyrant Blade requires some emotions but at the same time, they need to be controlled,” the Knight King commented.

Ludwig nodded to the Knight King, but unfortunately he was still in the thick of the fight.

The third Perturbant came in lower, its body twisted unnaturally at the spine as it crawled along the wall rather than walking on the ground. Its limbs dug into the stone, claws shearing through ancient carvings, trailing flakes of dust and lichen. The Hunter pivoted, tossing one of his shortblades into the thing’s shoulder. The blade embedded deep, but it wasn’t enough to slow the creature. Its head turned mid-motion, tracking the Hunter, and then it launched itself toward him in a blur of snapping claws and muscle. The Hunter had only time to duck beneath the charge, rolling to the side as the creature landed where he had stood a heartbeat earlier and began tearing at the floor with wild, scissoring blows.

Ludwig moved quickly, faster than the creature expected. He reached the crawling Perturbant while it was still recovering from its missed strike and drove Oathcarver straight through its back. The steel sank deep, the impact jarring up his arms as the blade passed through resistance like it was sawing through sap-crusted wood.

He then raised his blade, Perturbant impaled in it and all, then slammed him down onto the ground head first, the blade tore and bore through the Perturbant’s skull with utter ease. Crushing rotting brain matter into bubbling goo.

Another notification popped up..

[You have slain…]

Ludwig ignored the notifications and focused on the situation in front of him.

For a moment, the room stilled.

There were only three bodies, but the weight of the encounter lingered like smoke. After all, no one expected enemies this deep, and this dangerous here in this god forsaken place.

The atmosphere pulsed with whatever had woken with them. The chamber’s edges had begun to change. Roots that had once remained dormant were now shifting against the walls, thickening and flexing in slow patterns, as though breathing in through stone. The carvings along the walls had grown warmer to the touch. The faint lines pulsed red, their pigment no longer inert. The ceiling above them quivered once with a sound like stone cracking under pressure.

The Knight wiped his blade clean on the remains of one of the creatures, glancing once toward the two passages they had yet to explore. He didn’t speak, but the look he gave Ludwig made his thoughts plain. They had made too much noise. This fight had not gone unheard.

And if only the three of these showed up now, who knows how many will pop out later.

The Hunter retrieved his thrown blade, shaking ichor from the hilt. His expression was tight, his movements a shade too fast, like he was fighting the need to look over his shoulder.

“We can’t hold this position if more of them come,” he said, eyes scanning the ceiling again.

“Yea, we have to move, I have a feeling that there is a reason why there are stronger enemies hidden so far deep, I just hope I’m wrong,” Ludwig said.

After all, in all the games he played, the only time where the same type of enemy becomes stronger is when it’s protecting something, like a treasure, or a boss.

He didn’t have to explain that nor would they understand his reasoning. But they all understood something else, that staying here is pointless and they had to keep moving

Something beneath the island had stirred, and the Perturbants had been placed here as a line of defense, not as scouts. The vampire had passed this way without being attacked. The Wrath Core had shielded her, or perhaps something in the Queen had recognized her as part of itself. But Ludwig’s group had no such luxury. The Perturbants hadn’t hesitated. They hadn’t postured. They had attacked with intent, and that meant the deeper parts of the grotto were no longer dormant.

The Knight turned toward the right passage, where the vampire’s faint trail continued. The footprints were shallow, but distinct. They vanished into the shadows ahead, deeper into the carved channel of stone and vine.

“If we follow her now, we’ll be walking blind,” he said. “But if we stay, we’ll be surrounded.”

Ludwig glanced at the passage. The walls curved slightly inward, forming a narrow path that led into a faint orange glow that might have been light or reflection. His sight was far better than that of the two humans next to him, so he was able to see a trace of the Vampire on the ground, a piece of what looked like charred flesh that had fell off of her. Perhaps replaced by healed flesh.

“We move,” he said. “We’re close.”

He stepped past the remains of the slain Perturbants and led the way forward. The tunnel walls were slick now, coated in something that looked like resin or dried sap. His boots stuck slightly as he moved, not enough to slow him, but enough to remind him that nothing about this place was dead. It was pulsing. Waiting.

And they seemed to be the only guests here.