Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 128 (Patreon)

Alt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12CpKta40VAm32pQOUVN4ztgtK_VGXVkQctHceUDY1f4/edit?usp=share_link

Chapter 128

The seer, Melfyssa, invited us back to her village, a community of burrow-dwelling demons that lived just under the surface of a series of bumpy hills. Their houses literally looked like someone stuck a round door and oval windows against the slopes. Garden patches and flowers grew over the grassy dome roofs.

At the center of their village was a tall stone monument that looked like an obelisk, but it wasn't black in color like them. Instead, there were simple carvings and paintings all along the surface. They depicted people in battle like the artwork at Owyn Medir's manor. One of them was a knight with yellow hair and white armor.

A few demons were out tending to their farms when they saw us coming and panicked. Some shouted for the kids to go inside.

Guess that was how Melfyssa ended up mistaking me for their hero.

"Swank place. You guys piss and shit in holes, too?" I asked.

"Nonsense. We aren't savages. We have a manure and compost pile on the other side of the hills," Melfyssa said, directing to a modest burrow with red and yellow flowers growing out the top of it.

Thelesia, Hurai, Kawa, and Lilim were the only ones who followed me. I ordered the rest to keep hacking at the snake and tell the others what happened. Kaoru was going to have to babysit Ririko for a little while longer.

The seer invited us into her toasty underground home. We had to duck to enter, but Kawa was too big in wolf form. She whimpered at me from outside.

"Change into a beastling and get in here already," I hurried her.

As soon as Kawa assumed beastling form, Lilim choked on her own spit with a start.

"I-Incredible… Was she always able to do that? I've heard of magically-inclined beasts taking humanoid forms before, but I've never seen it with my eyes, " Lilim said.

"Kawa becomes a beastling so other beastlings don't get scared!" Kawa proudly declared.

"Get in here already before all the heat escapes! My old bones don't do well in the cold!" Melfyssa shouted from within.

We shuffled into the circular house divided evenly into four rooms by walls extending from a wooden post at the center. We immediately came into what looked like a living room. Large animal pelts furnished the floor. Despite being blind, Melfyssa snapped her fingers passing by an unlit hearth to ignite the firewood. She beckoned us to sit and wait by the fire while she fetched some things in another room.

I plopped my ass down in front of the hearth and folded my arms. "I appreciate the hospitality, but we're kinda in a hurry. If you just show me to Menagerie, I'll have everything solved in less than a day."

"I'm afraid that won't work," Lilim said. "As amusing as that would look seeing you waltz into Menagerie, Lord Vermire is a coward by nature and knows who you are. He may very well run away catching even the slightest whiff of you. Should that happen, we would lose our chance of obtaining the crystal."

"The succubus is right. That is why you and your companions will need disguises." Melfyssa returned with a wooden staff that had flower bulbs growing along the shaft.

"You're not going to put me in a dress, are you?" I glared.

"Why would I do that?" she asked. "The wolf girl is fine as long as she stays a wolf. The rest of you will need to take on the appearances of a demon. Your jacket, however, must go."

"Not happening."

"There may be those who recognize your immediate appearance. Do you want to reach the demon lord's palace or not?"

I begrudgingly took off my jacket and tossed it aside. Lilim and Kawa wrestled for it right away, rolling into the next room as they did.

"What about your bat, Chieftain? Everyone including the demons know it's your signature weapon." Thelesia pointed out.

"Nope. Sacchan stays with me. I'm drawing the line there," I said, holding the bat tighter to my chest.

"Oh! We can disguise a weapon, can't we? Maybe put it in a bag or cover it with something?" Hurai suggested.

"Possibly. I may have just the thing." Melfyssa left the house and came back after a few minutes with two adult demon men, dragging in a big iron club that had spikes all over it.

They placed it on the ground, where the seer drew a finger down the length of the weapon and bisected it with magic. If that wasn't impressive enough, she pressed the head of her staff against the interior of one half. A sweltering heat melted the metal and hollowed it out enough to put something inside.

"If we encase your weapon in another weapon, it shouldn't be a problem. What do you think?" Melfyssa asked.

"Fine." I clicked my tongue and tossed Sacchan to her.

Melfyssa placed Sacchan into a hollowed out half, then closed it with the other half like a matryoshka stacking doll. She sealed it up with magic and gave me the iron club with my bat inside it. Just by holding it, I knew it wasn't going to last more than a few swings.

"Alright, what's next? Don't tell me there's more?" I groaned.

"Two more, actually." Melfyssa rubbed my forehead with something gooey and stuck me with two horns. With a swing of her staff, a gust of magic blew through the house and enveloped us. Hurai, Thelesia, and I turned a dark red in color. Our nails elongated and sharpened. The old demon lady conjured water and shaped it into a thin panel to form a mirror.

All of us looked like demons after Melfyssa's makeover. Well, kind of. We just looked like a red version of ourselves.

Me, on the other hand… sarashi around the chest, red skin, forehead horns, and a giant metal club… I looked like a fucking oni from my world.

Off to the side, Hurai and Thelesia cackled at my new look.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, you shits." I growled.

"Master, you look like a bonafide demon! Why does it suit you so well? Oh, I'm getting wet just looking…" Lilim, all scratched up from play fighting and losing to Kawa, panted as she hovered around me.

I grabbed her by the throat and brought her closer to the fire.

"Then dry yourself off before I lose it," I said.

"Ack… this is… fine…" she choked out.

Melfyssa tapped her staff on the ground to draw everyone's attention. "Listen carefully, because this is how you will be infiltrating Menagerie."

I let Lilim go, and we all sat down to listen. Melfyssa walked around and faced us with her back to the fire.

"It is a city built on the bones of an ancient dragon," Melfyssa began. "Lord Vermire breeds all manner of beasts collected across Dysentia for entertainment, war, and ownership to the higher bidders. Menagerie hosts a popular event every week out of the month called Feeding Frenzy."

"I know of Feeding Frenzy, but I've never had the pleasure of participating. If you think the macetail serpent is dangerous, there lurks even greater threats within that city," Lilim warned.

"Indeed." Melfyssa nodded. She twirled her finger in the air and pulled the smoke from the fire onto her palm. From it, she created an arena littered with broken bones. Demons and monsters fought fiercely, tearing each other apart.

"That's… terrifying." Hurai gasped.

The seer continued. "Participants face increasingly stronger monsters bred by Vermire for fame and prize money. Unfortunately, the monster lord himself won't show himself unless it is to unleash his strongest beasts. You, dearies, must face them in order for him to appear."

Within the smokey vision, a fat imp wearing a suit and monocle roared in laughter as giant monsters knocked around helpless fighters.

"Color me interested. How do we get there?" I asked.

Melfyssa gestured for us to follow her out of the house. A demon rode up to us on a wagon pulled by two wooly beasts. He dismounted to help the seer onto the driver's seat.

"Hop in. I'll bring you there. You can't very well go on your airship, can you?" She grinned.

"Are we really going to do this? Heading into the heart of an enemy city by ourselves? We should at least bring more people in case things turn ugly," Thelesia whispered.

"If you and Hurai don't feel up to it, don't force yourselves. Me and Kawa can take whatever they throw at us," I said.

"And me! Don't forget about me!" Lilim frantically pointed to herself.

Hurai and Thelesia traded looks.

"You're our chieftain ever since you liberated us from the Rolling Plains orcs. We can't very well let you go alone." Hurai smiled and hopped into the back of the wagon.

Since her friend was going, Thelesia reluctantly climbed into the wagon. The rest of us piled in, and Kawa returned to wolf form to travel alongside us.

The way to Menagerie was chock full of monsters. If I didn't know better, Miterhask was paradise to these things. We reached the city by the next morning. The gargantuan bones of a dragon took our breaths away. Most of the city was centered within the rib cage that jutted out from the ground. The long tail coiled around the body like makeshift fortifications, with walls built up to fill in where the bones didn't reach. Buildings dusted green with moss and dull yellow from age stood side by side with the skeletal remains that dwarfed them. Some of the larger bones like the limbs had been hollowed out with demons living inside them.

We entered from a gate that was the upper skull of the dragon, but some demon giants at the other end stopped us from getting any farther.

"Stop. Where from? Who?" a pot-bellied giant asked.

Hurai and Thelesia started shaking, and Kawa snarled quietly with her fur standing on end.

"From Vistra village. I'm Melfyssa, and we're here to participate in Feeding Frenzy. Is there a problem, lads?" Melfyssa lifted her blind gaze to them.

The other, more muscular giant leaned in and breathed down on us with his stinky breath. "Vistra? That near where Lord Vermire says soft meats broke through obelisks. What you know, hag?"

"How can I be sure?" She shrugged. "Must have happened on my way here."

The fat giant turned to me.

"What ugly race demon you, horned one?" he asked.

"The race that's gonna knock you down to my size if you don't let us through, fatso!" I taunted.

Both of them went bug-eyed and backed away.

"Hm. This one scary. Has to be mean race demon. Okay, you go through."

They stepped aside for our wagon to keep going. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as we crossed the skull, Hurai, Thelesia, and I were shocked to enter a bustling city street.

Demons bartered with one another and got into yelling matches over prices. We passed a brothel with succubi tempting us by flashing their tits. A little demon runt scurried past the front of the wagon and almost got himself run over. Some flying imps were hollering into a pit where two red wolves with deformed teeth and glazed over eyes ripped each other to shreds.

Patrolling guards passed by us riding on menacing beasts that snapped at anyone who got too close. They had chains around their necks with the spikes facing inward.

Something got Kawa frantically sniffing the air. She turned to a merchant stand, where a demon was grilling meat over a slab of stone.

"Hey, don't run off!" I warned.

Kawa ran off, panting hungrily at the demon cook. Then, surprisingly, the guy cooed at her and tossed a chunk of meat over for her to gnaw into. She came back to us happy as she could be, fangs dripping with fatty juices.

"Wow." Hurai sighed in awe. "This place is…"

"Not what you expected? Of course not. The surface world would have you believe we are mindless demons hellbent on destruction and conquest. Do the citizens of Menagerie look mindless to you?" Melfyssa asked.

"Tell that to the ones pouring out of obelisks to attack our homes," Thelesia fired back.

"Some of us don't have a choice. It's fight down there or fight up here," Lilim quietly said.

We stopped in front of a large administrative building with a statue of the fat imp Lord Vermire.

"Here we are. You will have to sign up inside. Today's battle begins at noon. You have a few hours before then," Melfyssa said.

I hopped off and walked up to the seer.

"What do you get outta this? You know we're on our way to fuck with your bosses, right?" I asked.

"I'm just an old hag who has grown weary of war. Throughout my years I have served conquerors, despots, and warmongers, but our current demon lord is different." Melfyssa laid the staff neatly on her lap and smiled.

"Chika? Different how?"

"I know it may sound outrageous, but she is no conqueror, despot, nor warmonger. It almost seems as though she is only here for… Oh, forgive me. I'm just rambling now. You have the Feeding Frenzy to worry about. Return to the gates when you have retrieved Lord Vermire's crystal. I'll be waiting there," she said, then nodding to her other driver to steer the wagon away.

"Chieftain, what was that all about? Are you alright?" Hurai dipped into my field of vision and asked.

"It's nothing. Let's go. There's monsters that need a beating," I said, whistling for the others to follow me into the building.

We came into a lobby full of tough-looking demons, many of which were yoked up elixirs, magical buffs, you name it. A couple of big guys were sharpening their axes at the corner of the room. Another group of shady robed dudes were chanting something under their breaths.

"Master, we have to sign up there!" Lilim directed us to the receptionist area where several workers sat on an elevated platform pillar, overlooking the lobby.

"Next!" the peeved imp man yelled to us. "Whaddya want? First five rows from the front are fifty krolins. Best view in the house for the bloodbath. Doesn't come with ponchos for the gore, and we ain't responsible for your collateral deaths. The rest of the rows are ten krolins."

"Not here to spectate. We wanna join," I said.

The imp climbed onto his chair to look at us.

"A little scrawny to be out there, toots. Anyway, no can do. You're gonna have to come back tomorrow since all the spots are filled. Can't fit anymore on a count of fire safety hazards. If you're desperate, maybe you can ask the blokes over there. They were the last ones."

He pointed to the giants who were now admiring the sharpness of their axes.

"Maybe we can wait and use today to scout out the area?" Lilim suggested.

"Fuck that. You guys wait here." I headed over to the giants.

"Wait. Where are you going? Chieftain, we can't be making a scene!" Hurai exclaimed.

The demon giants were about to leave until I got in their faces.

"What you want, small thing? Want autograph?" the biggest one asked.

"You and your group are dropping out of the match. I'm taking your place," I said.

All three giants erupted into laughter. They laughed so hard, tears streaked down their faces. Their raucousness drew the eyes of participants and spectators in the lobby, who joined with sneers and snickering.

Sighing, I smashed the knees of the giant closest to me. He went down screaming in pain. I did the same to the other two before either could pick up their weapons. The axes slipped from their grasps as they clutched their knees, howling in agony.

I was about to hit them over the heads until I noticed pieces of the iron club were chipping off. Right. Gotta stay in disguise. Couldn't let them know who I was.

Instead of using the club, I picked up one of their unwieldy axes and brought it right up to the biggest one's fat neck.

"What's that, small thing? You wanna drop out or nah?" I asked.

"Yes! Yes, we drop out!" he squealed like a pig.

Satisfied with their answer, I tossed the axe to the ground and returned to the reception area. Hurai, Thelesia, Lilim, and the imp's mouths were hanging open. Kawa was the only one excited with her tail wagging eagerly.

"Looks like you're in need of some extra participants. Sign us up," I said.

The imp gulped. "You… You got it, chief."