Chapter 383 - Kill it with fire (Patreon)

After finding the location of the wendigos, they decided to head back and warn everyone. Unfortunately, the internet signal couldn't go underwater without some specialized equipment, and going in without telling anyone else could be a recipe for trouble. If the worst came to pass, the people in Boothudurn would still have to search for the lair. When they left the water, Naka was the first to ask if they had found anything. Helena nodded and explained their discovery and that Daskka confirmed the existence of the monsters inside. The guard captain turned to Ogryn and asked how many people he could bring there. After hearing the reply that he could bring four people, not counting with himself, Naka announced that she would be going. During that discussion, Hera and Alex were warning Rutigan and the guild about the lair's location.

It barely took 10 minutes for the group to go back underwater and move to the lair. Unfortunately, Hera's new ear guards wouldn't be able to tell them how many creatures were inside it, since they were in a place without water but according to Daskka, there were at least eight and some large fleshy-looking things that could be their eggs. Hearing that, Helena became even angrier. This wasn't just a small group but a large gaggle of creatures. If the worst happened and those things spilled into the city, it could easily be a bloodbath, especially considering the level of the people here. By killing one random person, the Wendigos would be much stronger than most explorers that traveled in this layer.

Still underwater, they walked through the tunnel and reached a point where they could see the surface. Helena gestured for everyone to stop, "We don't know what to expect there, but don't let those things bite you. There is no way to know what they can do, and if they have parasites, you won't want to know how to get rid of them, trust me. Hera, can you cast your sensory net from here?"

Hera shook her head, "No. I need to see what is going on or at least have an idea of the space. I can use my pulse, though, but they might be able to sense it."

"OK then. Naka, you jump in first. Hera, you follow and use the net to see if any of them are trying to hide. Ogryn, Alex, and myself will stay in the rear. Any questions?" Helena looked around. When no one replied, she just nodded and waited for Naka's move.

The captain took a deep breath and then jumped out of the water in a swift motion, with a small sphere of light following her along. It was hard to tell how high she went, but just as the dwarf moved out of the bubble, Hera tried to follow. Instead of a single jump, she walked out of the barrier and swam up. Seeing how much she had to travel, Hera was surprised by the captain's strength yet again. It wouldn't take just a small hop to reach the surface but a considerable leap. Adding the water, it would take a lot for someone to make that jump. Maybe Hera could do so by using her [All In], but she wasn't about to try that right now. Because of her armor, it was harder to swim, and when she finally reached the surface, Naka was already engaged with the monsters. The wendigo, this time, all looked somewhat humanoid, like a mix of a hairless monkey with a ghoul from a horror movie. Long limbs and a skin that seemed to be stretched by the bones in their bodies. They had sharp fangs, two rows of teeth, long claw-like nails with a single inverted spike to rip apart their prey. With a quick glance, Hera also noticed that not all Wendigos were white with their red claws and fangs. Some of them were brownish, while others seemed to have scales.

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Wendigo - Level 12 (Consumption Affinity)
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Wendigo - Level 11 (Consumption Affinity)
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Wendigo - Level 17 (Consumption Affinity)
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Wendigo - Level 6 (Consumption Affinity)
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"Shit, most of them are high level for the room. That brown one on the back is level 17," Hera warned.

Naka didn't say anything. She just pulled a dagger from her waist and threw it at the monster, beheading it instantly. It's blood-splattered in what Hera could now see were black cocoons in the walls. Another wendigo jumped at Naka, but before it could reach her, Daskka jumped at its throat, biting down and wrapping her body around the monster to try to hold it down. The small snake only could get a single-arm, but it was enough to hinder the wendigo enough for Hera to catch up. She slammed her shadow handaxe on the middle of the monster's spine, breaking it with the impact. Following it up with a kick, the explorer ripped the wendigo in two. As a safety measure, she shot a poison needle at the monster's head, controlling the poison so it would clog up the blood inside its brain. It was a bit of a mana sink, but it didn't matter. She wasn't about to let any of these creatures pull some crap about pretending to be dead.

"Daskka!" Hera called. The snake already understood what she was asking for and quickly used the floating mist spell on her master.

Before the explorer could attack another Wendigo, Naka had already slashed another five creatures with her longsword. Since they were fighting in a cave, the captain knew she had to hold some of her strength back. If she went all out, there was a considerable chance that a cave-in would happen, and if they were too deep inside the mountain, not even someone like her could survive.

Hera glided through the floor, going after the next Wendigo with Daskka flying by her side. The two flanked one of the white monsters and, in a swift motion, attacked at the same time, Hera using her handaxe and Daskka her tail as a blade. Such a spell was something that the snake one day simply knew how to do. It was probably related to her growth, but Hera couldn't tell how it worked.

Alex, Helena, and Ogryn emerged from the water and started attacking. Alex and Ogryn were being careful and meticulously killing all of the monsters that were not engaged with Naka or Hera. On the other hand, Helena was flinging spells left and right in a mad rage. It didn't matter if those monsters were the same ones that attacked her. It didn't matter that these shouldn't have any parasites in their bites. All that mattered was that these creatures needed to die. Tendrils of darkness spread around the lair and started grabbing the monsters, snapping their bones and ripping their limbs apart, and slamming the wendigos against the walls again and again. Helena's shadows were so strong that even the light Naka created struggled to continue existing. Hera made another light, trying to fight back, but the magic was too strong.

Daskka started to freak out, getting closer to Hera. The snake was clearly afraid, and suddenly, she jumped back inside the necklace. Hera looked around, trying to understand what was going on, and she realized that the cave floor was covered in some weird black liquid, and it was rising quickly.

"Lena, stop!" Hera called, but the mage kept going, her spells making the environment even darker.

"Lena!" Alex cried.

"Helena!" Ogryn yelled.

The liquid was already on Hera's ankles. She sent a dancing light to the black water, but it seemed to be absorbing all the light around it.

"Stop!" Naka commanded using a skill that forced everyone to stop whatever they were doing, even the enemies. Helena turned around to the captain, "Drop that spell, now!"

Helena obeyed the command, and at the same time, Hera created her sensory net in the entire area to make sure the monsters weren't trying to run away or attack them. It seemed like all the wendigos were gone. Only the ones inside the eggs were still alive. Now that the shadows had cleared out, they could see some water coming from the walls in the places where the wendigos were slammed. Naka saw that and stared Helena down with an angry expression.

"I don't care what has gotten into you. You do not put my guards in danger because you can't control your feelings."

Helena glanced around and nodded, "Sorry. We can talk later. The eggs are still a problem."

Naka didn't reply. She simply went to the side and started slashing the eggs open, killing the wendigos before they could be born. On the corner of Hera's sensory net, she noticed something moving, but it was weird. She turned to what she was sensing and stared at where the oddity was coming from. It was a cocoon like all the others, red, fleshy, and veiny, but there was something that felt off. She looked at the wall and, after a moment, realized what it was. It wasn't that something was off, but something was no longer there. The wall behind the egg was flat, and the cocoon passed through it. When she noticed that, the illusion was broken, and she saw that the egg was open, and inside it, there was a humanoid wendigo, but instead of being white, it was completely black.

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Wendigo - Level 9 (Shadow Affinity)
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"There is another one here!" as Hera called, the monster jumped from the egg with tendrils of darkness following it. It tried to attack Naka, but the captain just waved her hand and stopped the shadow appendages. Ogryn cast a lightning bolt at the monster while Alex joined in with a few wind blades. The creature was able to dodge some of the attacks, but not all of them. One of the wind blades cut his side, which started to bleed profusely.

With a roar, the wendigo glanced at the entrance, the water-logged tunnel that led them to the lake. Not seeing another way to survive this, the monster jumped in the water to escape those who destroyed all of its kin. Naka threw a knife at the creature, but the shadow tendrils managed to deflect just enough so that the monster wouldn't be hit by the attack. Just as it was about to vanish into the water, Hera sent a poison needle through Daskka, which hit the wendigo as it started to swim away. The poison took hold, and Hera just focused on increasing the spread. She didn't know how long it would take for the magic to kill the creature or even if it could pull the poison out of its body. Because of that, she was treating this as if it was her only chance to kill it.

Helena and Naka wanted to chase after the monster, but there were still some eggs in the cave. If they left now, it could mean that the cocoons would hatch, and more wendigos would appear. Leaving people behind wasn't an option either, the water level was rising quickly and even a good swimmer would have trouble getting back to the surface in a single breath. Only after all the eggs were completely gone that Ogryn prepared his barrier again for everyone to head back to the beach. Hera's poison was still inside the creature, and thanks to Daskka's help, she could pinpoint the direction where her magic currently was. As they walked into the lake once more, Naka was feeling restless, and she wanted to push forward quickly, but Ogryn's barrier couldn't move at high speeds, the pace had to be that of a calm stroll, not to mention they still had the fish to worry about. Hera wanted to trigger her poison control to kill the monster, but she needed to see it or at least know where it was for the spell to work. Suddenly, she felt her magic dissipating and started to get worried. Could this mean that the wendigo managed to push out all the poison from its body? Almost as if the system wanted to answer her, a notification appeared.

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Rampage Quest Complete

Wendigo's Lair - Boothudurn

The wendigo lair has been found and destroyed. All those who were part of the search and those who attacked the wendigos will receive rewards based on their individual contributions.

Rewards

3rd place - Treasure map ticket
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Treasure map ticket

By infusing mana in this item, you can discover the location of one of the secrets of the room you are currently in. The map will only reveal the location of said secret, and it will always be something you have yet to discover. If there is no secret for you to discover in the current room, nothing will happen when you infuse your mana on the ticket but it will not be spent.
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Seeing that, Hera felt a bit relieved, even if mildly annoyed. She was the one who found the lair and still got third place. It wasn't even about the rewards, just her competitive side piercing through. As soon as they managed to reach the beach, they understood what had happened. The body of the wendigo was splattered amongst the rocks that made the protective wall around the lake, and a few guards were surrounding the monster, making sure it was truly dead. Helena talked to Naka and explained that this should mean the end of the rampage. All they had to do now was defend their positions until the monsters stopped attacking.