Chapter 769 - Underground Wendigo (Patreon)

The moment Hera felt her body sinking into the rocks, she yelled in her mind, 'Pluto!' This was a 'safe word' she had set up with her court. A word that told them to drop whatever they were doing and return to the legacy. During the time she was playing with different ways to call everyone at once, she also added this as an emergency button for the exact opposite. However, she never had to use it, not until now. In the split second it took for the wendigo to start pushing her through the earth, she considered how it might take her for a long dive. If that were the case, then her court would be too far away, and since they all had magnets attached to them, this would drain all her mana in a single moment, not to mention that she would be facing the monster on her own.

As her vision went dark, and she continued to be pushed down, the Empress started to get worried about oxygen. If the wendigo had some way to breathe while inside the rocks, she might suffocate before she had a chance to fight back. Thankfully, that was a worry that only lasted for a brief moment. The monster shoved her out of the earth into a new, larger cave. The Empress managed to spin around and land awkwardly just as she fell. Everything was dark, and if it weren't for the large amount of mana flooding the entire area, she wouldn't have had a sense of where the floor was. Just as she regained her soothing, the Ophidianite lowered her head and covered her eyes with both hands before firing a flashbang spell. If the wendigo was living in a place without any light, it should be sensitive to brightness.

That worked like a charm. After Hera landed, the beast was right behind her, ready to pounce, but instead, it was blinded by the flashbang. The wendigo roared, a sound closer to the caw of a raven than what the Behemoth Bunnies would make, and fell close enough to the Empress that she felt the ground rumbling. Not wanting to be hit by any sort of flailing, she jumped away and activated a couple of dancing lights to illuminate the place while creating a pair of venomous hunting knives. She didn't have a chance to see her surroundings properly, and using a longer weapon might be more trouble than it was worth.

Now, Hera was able to see the actual size of the place. It was big, yes, but not as big as she hoped. Livy would have a hard time moving around properly here, and Lurize would need help to wield the zweihander. But that was only considered if they were in their bipedal forms.

'All out!' the Empress called, summoning her entire court in their blade form. With a quick thought, Viper and Crimson understood that they should have their bodies as well since the two would be able to move around without an issue here. At the same time, she wanted to confirm one thing and took a chance to analyze her enemy.

The wendigo was a for-legged creature, but unlike the Behemoth Bunnies, which had stronger back legs, this creature didn't have a set of limbs that was more powerful than the others. Each of its paws had eight fingers, with a small nub that was the start of a thumb, but it wasn't quite developed just yet. On its face, it had a beak split into four pieces that could open and reveal rows of teeth, just like the rabbits that created these tunnels. It had four eyes, two large and pitch black, with another set of smaller ones just above them that were similar to a cat's. Its snout curved, peeking over the beak in what looked like a Frankensteinian attempt at merging a bird and an anteater. The creature's skin was brown, almost the same shade as the walls, but it had small grayish-green spots that reminded the Empress of moldy cheese.

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Wendigo - Behemoth Earthen Crow - Level 38
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'That's not great,' Viper said.

'Then let's not give it a chance to become worse!' Crimson yelled in their minds and used her stealth skill to get closer.

She was about to bring down her dagger, aiming at the monster's neck, but it just sunk into the ground, vanishing from sight.

Hera was about to trigger a stone elemental armor but decided against it. If the monster could move around through the earth below, maybe that specific armor wouldn't do anything to increase her defenses. Her next idea was to use a fire one, but that came with a different problem. The cave could be big, but she couldn't see any tunnels or paths heading somewhere else. If this place was truly isolated from the rest of the area, then the air inside her was limited. Instead, she swapped for a river elemental armor. It was just moving water, which could help her parry the attacks.

Viper jumped to the side to be away from the Empress and triggered his [Alluring Presence] skill. For Hera and the court, nothing changed, but any monsters watching him would think the half-Naga was particularly delicious. A moment passed as the Ophidianite tried to find the wendigo but to no avail. While under the rocks, no skill or spells seemed to be able to detect it. Finally, Viper's gamble worked. Coming from below, the monster jumped out, trying to bite the Spymaster's tail. What it didn't expect was that the reaction time of a snake was so much better than its own. Jumping to the side, the half-Naga evaded the attack almost completely, only getting a couple of scratches on its body. Crimson and Hera took the chance to charge the monster. Using the [Grasshopper Stab], both tried to injure the wendigo. Just like Viper, the creature was able to dodge the brunt of the attacks, only having two small lines on the side of its body being cut. In response, it lashed out with its front paw, clawing at the Empress.

Nimbus' tonfas appeared before her, using the mana shield spell to block the attack. Even with the Sentinel's help, the force behind the attack was strong enough to push Hera away. Crimson, on the other hand, took advantage of an opening and pierced the wendigo's stomach. Livy followed that up with a downward swing while Lurize came from below, both intending to bisect the creature. The beast dodged the Royal Tutor's attack and created a thick layer of rock on top of it to stop the blow from the war axe. The damage was almost none, and with the force of the impact, the wendigo dove into the earth again.

'Shit! We can't keep going like this,' Nimbus gasped.

'I know, I know. I'm thinking… Wait. I know! When it comes back up, try to keep it away from the ground just for a few moments.!' the Empress asked her court.

Everyone nodded and waited, with Daskka and Dusa making sure not to miss any movement around them. Before anything else could happen, a distant explosion could be heard somewhere above Hera, but she didn't look away from the ground. The last thing she needed now was to be caught in another trap. The wendigo appeared again, this time from the side in a jump at the Empress. Livy quickly moved towards it and appeared in her bipedal form, grabbing the monster in a bear hug. The creature didn't like that one bit and started clawing and screaming. Even the Leviathan, with all her strength, was having trouble holding the wendigo down, and its claws were already opening gashes all over her body. Still, this was enough for Hera. She took Autumn in her hand and slammed the glaive on the ground. The new court member had only two skills: one that would create a spectral armor around the Empress, covering her thorns. And another that could make the surrounding vegetation grow quickly. That effect would be temporary, but it was more than enough for what Hera wanted. Before using that skill, she triggered her boots that now could shape the surrounding area to her will. And this time, her choice of terrain was that of a jungle, completely covered with underground vines.

Adding Autumn's skill to that made most of the cave to be covered in vines. They were dried and would only last for a handful of minutes. But during that time, the wendigo wouldn't be able to move around the ground. Or at least that was the hope. Even if it could swim through rocks, the skill should have limitations, and having something else, like vines or tree roots, in its path could be one of them.

Seeing that the spell was in place, Livy tossed the monster towards one of the walls, revealing that most of her torso was scratched up and leaking mana. She returned to her weapon form as Daskka enveloped her in a healing mist. A big problem of Hera's court, and something she only realized now that she had Neria by her side, was that no one else could heal her court. Only the Empress or another court member was able to do that.

The wendigo tried escaping again, but Hera's plan worked. It was only able to sink a few centimeters into the ground before being stopped in its tracks. The monster groaned, and before it had a chance to understand what was going on, Viper and Crimson flanked it, both using a [Grasshopper Slash] that finally hit its mark. The attacks were deep enough to create a bleeding effect, which allowed Crimson to double down and make a few bloody claws to increase her power. That skill wasn't just around her dagger but also around her arm, creating a second blade in her hand. Hera and Lurize used that opening, and a barrage of strikes and swings was delivered upon the monster. DJ strengthened himself with the rhythmic beating of the attacks and joined the fray, followed by Chris and Ember. Tide also wanted to be included and came from above, trying to impale the monster to the ground so the rest could continue their attack.

However, the wendigo wasn't done. It opened its beak and let out a shriek that forced Hera to drop her weapons and cover. She could feel something popping inside her head and a warm liquid coming out of her ears as she lost all hearing. As a human, she mightn't suffer this much damage, but an Ophidianite had better hearing, which became a problem in a situation like this. The rest of the court was also affected but far from as strongly as their leader. Seeing the Empress fall to the ground enraged the twins. Crimson grabbed Hera's venomous dagger from the ground and used the weapon break skill with it. The monster dodged the blow yet again, but it wasn't enough to make it safe. Its right shoulder was mostly gone, but the creature was still moving. Viper didn't let that chance slip through his fingers and jumped on top of the beast. He used his tail to steady himself. He placed both hands on the now open wound and used his acid spray to cover the wendigo's insides with his own brand of poison. A mix of arsenic and mercury.

Hera couldn't hear, but she still could get her court messages inside her mind, and she could sense what each of them was doing. Calling Autumn to her side, she lunged forward and triggered the [Spectral Armor] skill, covering the glaive in small thorns that could shoot out in command. The attack went right inside the wendigo's mouth, and when the Empress felt that her weapon was deep enough, she triggered the skill. Thousands of tiny spikes flew from inside the body, ripping it to shreds. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Hera called Livy to her side and used the Leviathan's axe to decapitate the beast before slumping down to the ground to catch her breath.