Chapter 767 - Inside the tunnel (Patreon)

Before walking in, Skyler and Vash pulled their instruments, a harmonica and a pair of maracas, respectively. They tested their sound for a moment before harmonizing and playing a quick song right at the mouth of the tunnel. It wasn't a tune that Hera or the other party members knew, but it had a somewhat familiar rhythm that one would expect from a nursery rhyme. Suddenly, both of them created a loud high note that echoed inside the cavern.

Skyler had left her tablet with Neria, who was looking at their maps. The paths of the tunnels were shown as the sound waves traveled underground, spreading to almost the other side of the city. Unfortunately, that echolocation wasn't able to detect what was a wall and what was a living being blocking their path. Even so, there were a few educated guesses they could make. But the group didn't have time to properly look at this map. What followed that melody was a roar coming from underground. It was a sound they had heard before. Milla sent them all the information available about the monsters in the room, and that included the noises they would make.

Hearing that, they jumped into position. Flint, Roan, Livy, and Lurize flanked the entrance while Hera stood by Nimbus directly in front of it. Behind them, Viper, Crimson, Skyler, Vash, and Neria were ready for anything. The idea was to lure the rabbits out and kill them one by one in an open area. This wouldn't be a problem since the Alliance Center also had a quest posted for population control of those monsters.

The party waited for a minute, then two. Four minutes passed with them all at the ready. Each time they thought the rabbits had given up, a roar or a rumbling would sound closer. Seven minutes and their bodies were starting to get sore due to the constant tension. At every moment when two or more would start to relax, the Behemoth Bunnies would make more noise.

"Viper, Crimson. Go inside, and use your stealth if you need to. Take the magnets and see if they are coming," Hera said.

The two half-Naga started to move, and unlike the Empress, they noticed the stare that Flint was giving them.

The two walked inside the tunnel carefully. The deeper they went, the louder the sounds became. After almost 100 meters, the limit of Hera's current range for them, Viper noticed a path to the left. It was from those walking in, but thanks to the map they got, they had an idea it was there.

'Crim, cover me,' he said in his sister's mind before activating the [Hidden Frontal Screen] skill. He peeked the corner while trying to have his head as close to the ceiling as he could. His hope was that the rabbits would be lower to the ground, and something coming from above wasn't something they would expect. However, just as he leaned to the side, he came face to face with one of the Behemoth Bunnies.

It had large, striking turquoise eyes with an intense gaze that gave off a small glimmer. An elongated muzzle served as a support for a large, almost pig-like nose that witched, taking in all the smells coming from the tunnels. Beneath it was a wide open jaw filled with rows of curved teeth designed for both gnawing on vegetation and ripping flesh apart. It had enormous upright ears with tattered edges. It was hard to tell if that was just their natural shape or if they were scarred after several fights. Especially now that the ears were pushing against the ceiling due to the Behemoth Bunny being almost 2 meters tall. Its fur was a mix of earthy browns and moss greens. Something very similar to the tunnel itself or the grassland outside. The creature was similar to a kangaroo in a way, with large muscular back legs and shorter frontal ones. But its arms had large, sturdy claws covered in a crusty layer of dirt, clay, and dried blood.

'Shit, there is one right here!' Viper gasped. Warning both Hera and Crimson.

'Did it notice you?' Crimson asked.

'It's trying to smell me. I think the skill is still holding.'

'Is it alone?' Hera asked, her face showing to the rest that something was happening.

Viper looked beyond it, 'No. There are another four. Almost as big and ready to pounce.'

'Step back and run to the entrance. Don't try to be a hero,' Hera replied.

'But Hera! We are stronger than the monsters here. We can take them!' Crimson protested.

'Not the point. If we are going to fight them, we need everyone to be aware of what is going on,' the Empress said in a stern tone.

'Got it. We will start moving back now,' Viper turned around and saw Crimson's face. Realizing his mistake, he only had enough time to say "Fuck," before all hell broke loose.

The Behemoth Bunny roared and jumped forward, letting out an ear-piercing scream that affected even those above ground. Thankfully, Vash quickly used his maracas to nullify the sound by playing an opposing tune. It was the same principle as noise-canceling headphones. While Viper was hurt by the sound, Crimson jumped forward, brandishing her red dagger form and using her tail to slap the monster away. Triggering a full-powered bloody claw, she aimed at the ears of the creature since they looked like the most exposed area of its body. The blow was quick enough to hit and strong enough to cut the ears off, but that only made the Behemoth Bunny angrier. It slammed its claws at her, forcing Crimson to return to her weapon form so as not to be hit by the creature. Viper did the same, and the two flew back to the entrance as fast as they could, with the first Behemoth Bunny and the ones behind it chasing after the twins. To top it all off, halfway through the tunnel, something broke open the wall to the side, revealing another fluffle of those monstrous bunnies from the left.

The two-half Naga dodged the incoming attacks, but some of the cave started to collapse due to the impact caused by the newcomers. Outside, the party heard the commotion and even felt the ground start to shake. Hera wanted to rush after her Spymasters, but she knew that was a bad idea. If there was a cave-in, two flying daggers would have a better chance of managing to escape than an Ophidianite. A lot of dust was kicked up, being pushed by the movement inside the cave, which forced the people flanking the entrance to step back.

'Why the fuck did you turn around?!' Crimson yelled as she ducked under a large rock.

'I forgot the skill only worked from the front!' Viper yelled back. Despite the situation, they could still have a conversation without worrying about any noise.

'How dumb are you?! That's the most basic thing about the skill!'

'I fucked up, ok?! Stop nagging me and run!' Viper went closer to the ceiling to avoid one of the Behemoth Bunnies, but this caused his pummel to be hit by the falling debris. He spun around in the air, sending an [Acid Spray] behind him to try to stall for time before he continued to fly.

'Stop bickering and focus on running!' the Empress yelled, but just as she was about to finish the sentence, both Spymasters came flying out of the tunnel.

Behind them was a group of eight Behemoth Bunnies. The first was met by Flint, who already had turned his coat back into his power armor. Both arms were covered in that metallic exoskeleton with an intricate network of pistons around the wrist and three large spikes on the metallic plate covering his finger. The ones on his right hand flared up, letting out some steam as the dwarf went in for a punch on the first monster that came out of the tunnel. With an uppercut, the entire piece of metal covering the top of his fingers was launched forward. Slamming the spikes into the Behemoth Bunny's body, creating a large hole in its stomach. The armored hand retracted, covered in cracks, but as the pistons reset to their original position, the damage was covered in a warm orange glow, almost like metal that was being tampered with inside a forge.

The second monster came out, going straight for Flint, but Roan was ready for it. Using his two hand axes, the beastman parried the claw, jumping forward and slicing the Behemoth Bunny's neck in a single precise move. A third one came after the man from the honey badger tribe, trying to bite its neck, but Roan shoved his arm on the monster's mouth and twisted his entire body, allowing his muscles to spin around the skin and straddled the monster's head before bringing his Handaxe down on the spine of the Behemoth Bunny.

The next group came out, but they were instantly hit by a couple of invisible attacks. They were sound waves from Skyler, who was blowing on her harmonica without making any noise. Each note was aimed at a different part of their bodies. Those attacks were not enough to kill them off but enough to stun them for Livy and Lurize to come crashing down. Vash created a strong gust of wind with his wings to remove the dust that was obscuring some of their vision and started playing flamenco with his maracas, sounding like a guitar. The upbeat music gave the entire party a 20% buff to their agility and a 10% buff to their strength. Now, with a clear view, Neria waved her hand to the side, pulling the moisture from her clothes into a whip of water, and started attacking. She only aimed at the monsters who were far from the rest of the party in fear of hurting someone on her side. Another issue was that her attacks were far from being powerful. If she was to focus on killing an enemy, she had a few ways to do that, but those would be more towards the indiscriminate destruction side of the spectrum.

Hera, Nimbus, and the rest of the court were all taking care of the monsters who managed to break through that initial line of defense. The rabbits were hit by spells and blades relentlessly. Even their best attempt at fighting back was met with nothing but failure. No one was hit by their attacks, be it because they were able to block or because someone else came along to kill the monster before it could harm anyone. Roan was the only exception, but due to his nature as a honey badger beastman, being grabbed by his enemy was part of his fighting style. That made Neria very confused. Several times during the fight, she aimed a healing spell at him only to have to stop it when her healer skill let her know that Roan had suffered no damage whatsoever. Soon, the entire fluffle of bunnies was dead on the ground surrounding the entrance of the tunnel.

Everyone waited a minute for more monsters to appear, but this time, the noises didn't appear again. It was all quiet.

Letting out a sigh of relief, the party dropped their guard while still keeping an eye out for more monsters. Before they actually took a moment to gather themselves, Flint walked over to the Ophidianite.

"Hera, why did you send Viper and Crimson to the tunnel without talking with anyone about it?"

Hera looked at the dwarf with a confused expression for a moment, "Because they are good at stealth. And, as much as I hate saying this, if they get injured, it is not that bad. It will hurt them, and I will feel guilty, but they can come back. Even if they are 'killed,' at the end of the day, it's just temporary," she wasn't going to tell them that Viper messed up. Not right now, at least. If this were to happen again, the situation might change.

Flint paused to think and eventually nodded, "OK. I understand, but even so. I would appreciate it if you would communicate with the rest of us before doing anything. I wasn't sure if I should've helped or not, and knowing they were going inside, we could've set up our position differently."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Sorry. The more titled blades I have, the more internal conversations I have. I need to remind myself that not everyone can hear those conversations."

"If you need help remembering you need to talk with us, I can help!" Vash said with a smile.

"I would be willing to help, too," Neria added.

"I appreciate it," Hera smiled back.

"Ok, ok. Can we keep going? We still have a wendigo to hunt."