Chapter 276 - Regicide (Patreon)

Pudge crouched as he crept through the corridors of the hive, his skill [Concealed Steps] keeping him from being seen by the constantly patrolling warriors. A series of clicking footsteps announced the arrival of another group, and he flattened himself against the wall as they passed him by. Then, he continued to explore, mentally mapping the entire complex until he finally reached the large atrium where he had first appeared. Once he knew the layout – or more importantly, the location of his ultimate prey – he settled down to figure out how he was going to attack the trial.

On the surface, the goal wasn’t any more difficult than it had been in any of the other trials. He simply needed to kill the Ixilak inhabitants of the hive, including the dozens of warriors, until he reached a grand room that he’d instantly dubbed the throne room. In there, a giant Ixilat rested, flanked by ten thinner bee-like insectoids. The queen and her advisors, unless Pudge was completely mistaken.

Not for the first time, he wished he had some sort of inspection skill like the one Zeke and the other humans used. Then, he’d know for sure. But that had never been part of his suite of abilities, and he had no idea if he’d ever have the opportunity to get such a skill. Instead, he was forced to rely on his senses – chiefly, the ability to feel out another creature’s aura in order to determine their strength. All monsters were equipped with such a sense. Humans, too, he suspected, though they were too blind to feel it. Either way, it wasn’t nearly as exact as Zeke’s identification skill, but it was all he had.

And it told him that the queen and her advisers were very powerful. He couldn’t put a number on it, but from a sheer level perspective, they were clearly stronger than him. However, Pudge knew that strength wasn’t everything. Skill and technique were important, too. So was determination. And surprise as well. No – he felt confident that he could find a way to defeat the trial.

A good thing, too, because doing so was the only way out. He couldn’t go back. Nor could he sneak past them. The portal – or gate, perhaps – wouldn’t be accessible until he completed the trial.

But as confident as Pudge was, he knew that he couldn’t fight them all at once. This level wasn’t populated by mere drones. Each of the warriors was powerful in its own right, and though he’d often fought against overwhelming odds, that had always been with a team of companions backing him up. Now, though, he was alone. There was no Zeke to pull him out if he got overwhelmed, like he had against that undead army that had nearly killed him. No Talia to watch his flanks. No Abby to thin the enemy’s numbers from afar.

Suddenly, crouching on the fifth level of the trials, with enemies all around him, Pudge felt very lonely. And vulnerable.

But no. He couldn’t let that affect him. Not only was it a pointless emotion, it was also just the sort of thing that would get him killed. Dwelling on that kind of emotion was a human foible. And he wasn’t human, even if he sometimes acted like it.

So, instead of dwelling on his loneliness, Pudge focused on what was important – defeating the trial. And soon, he had something of a plan. Such as it was. It wasn’t complicated, but then again, he was still a dire bear at his core. Not a hunting cat. Not a wolf. Despite his fascination with stealth, Pudge’s instincts were to attack problems head-on, rather than from the side. So, as much as he wanted to think of some clever resolution to the problems presented by the trial, he instinctively gravitated toward the simplest of solutions – kill them all.

But that didn’t mean he’d just charge at them and hope he was stronger. He might not have been cunning by nature, but he could be smarter than that. So, Pudge when one of the patrol groups passed him by, Pudge followed, his presence concealed by his hard-won skill. After passing between the guards, the group led him down the twisting corridor until, at last, they reached the right spot.

It was a small alcove, barely big enough for him to fit, but Pudge levered himself into the space all the same. There, he waited as the patrol moved along. It was only ten minutes before he heard the click of more footsteps that heralded the imminent arrival of another group. He tensed, gathering mana into his lone attack skill. Then, when the group of four patrolling Ixilak warriors drew even, he unleashed a narrow beam of [Hellfire] that cut directly through the closest one’s head, then splashed against the next.

In an instant, Pudge was charging out of the alcove, his claws flashing with undeniable power as he rent the heavy carapace of the third warrior. The creature who’d borne the brunt of Pudge’s first attack dropped, dead before it hit the ground. Pudge followed the slash by aiming a ball of [Hellfire] at the lone unwounded monster; it splashed against its chest, setting its carapace to bubbling. Pudge had just enough time to send out another ball of destructive red-and-black fire before he felt the bite of a spear being thrust into his side.

He bit off the urge to roar; he didn’t want to alert the entire hive, after all. Instead, he slashed his claws against the weapon’s haft, splintering it with the force of the blow. Then, Pudge leapt upon its owner, tackling the giant, yellow-and-black insectoid to the ground. There, he straddled its thorax, his claws rising and falling with vicious ferocity. Its chitinous armor was hard, but it wasn’t durable enough to stand against Pudge’s claws. In only a couple of seconds, the monster’s upper thorax had been reduced to nothing but golden blood and ribbons of white flesh. It still twitched a bit, but Pudge sensed the mana in its body dissipate as it died.

But Pudge didn’t have time to enjoy the kill. There were three others that still lived, though one had been mortally wounded by his initial salvo, while another’s chest was still on fire. The third was mostly unwounded, though it did sport a few scorch marks.

The Ixilak warriors were disciplined and skilled, though, and they wasted no time before attacking him with their spears. Pudge tried to dodge, but it was impossible. So, he bore their attacks with grim determination as he pushed himself to his feet and attacked, leading with another ball of [Hellfire] aimed at the warrior in the best condition. It had seen the devastation the attack could produce, so it dove to the side, its four legs skittering across the hive floor.

Luckily, Pudge had counted on that. With the healthy warrior out of the equation, he was free to pick off the weakest of the bunch. He pounced, his claws raking across its already destroyed carapace, digging deep into the flesh beneath. A moment later, it went limp, falling to the floor; Pudge wasted no time before darting at the other wounded Ixilak. This one put up more of a fight, but between Pudge’s [Hellfire] and his claws, it never stood a chance, and soon, he stood over yet another dead body.

He turned, his chest heaving with exertion and his fur soaked with golden blood as he faced off against the lone remaining warrior. It held its spear in steady hands – as far as Pudge knew, these creatures were mere figments, and they couldn’t even feel fear – but Pudge didn’t care.

Then, against all odds, the monster turned around and skittered away. Pudge growled, but he reacted quickly, tossing one ball of [Hellfire] after another. It got ten feet before the destructive skill ate through its natural armor and into the vulnerable white flesh beneath. With that, it let out a screech before falling to the ground, twitching in death.

Pudge let his shoulders sag as he surveyed the damage. Four creatures, all with stronger auras than him, dead, and in only thirty seconds. But he hadn’t come through it unscathed; his body was riddled with shallow wounds where the Ixilak warriors had stabbed him with their spears. He was alive, though, and that was what was important.

But that wouldn’t last long if he just stood around. Doubtless, one of the other creatures had heard the last warrior’s screech, and soon, the area would be flooded with monsters. So, Pudge wrapped himself in [Concealed Steps] before retreating the way he’d come. He passed a couple of rushing groups of patrolling warriors, but none of them could see through his skill. Thankfully, because he was in no condition to fight another battle at the moment.

Eventually, Pudge found his way to the entry hall, where he planted himself in an out of the way corner before activating the healing skill he’d borrowed from Zeke. It wasn’t much – barely a trickle, really – but that, combined with his vitality meant that he would only have to spend a few hours in recovery.

Which was precisely what he did.

Meanwhile, he watched as the warriors searched the tunnels for whoever killed the other patrol, but predictably, they found nothing. By the time Pudge was half healed, they’d settled back into their normal patterns. Was it because they were incapable of independent thought? Or had they simply realized they couldn’t find him? Pudge leaned toward the former, but he couldn’t be sure.

Not that it mattered much. They’d displayed a trackable pattern of behavior, and he intended to exploit that. So, once Pudge was fully healed, he repeated his previous ambush, this time with better results. The patrol of four insectoid warriors were dead before they could even react, which was precisely what Pudge wanted. The next ambush didn’t go as well, and once they were dead, he was forced to once again retreat back to the atrium in order to heal and wait for the commotion to die down.

When it did, he continued his hunt as, over the course of the next day – maybe even two, considering he had no way of keeping track of time – he eliminated the other patrols. Once that was done, he started in on the guards at the head of each tunnel – a trickier prospect, given that there were six of them, though some of that danger was mitigated by the fact that four would be forced to cross the entire atrium to get to him.

In the end, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as he’d expected, largely because the Ixilat were so predictable, and soon enough, Pudge only had the throne room left to clear.

After making sure he was in decent condition, Pudge crept through the halls of the Ixilat hive as he made his way to the throne room. When he reached it, he was a little taken aback by the fact that it hadn’t changed at all. The queen still stood on a dais in the center of the room, while the thin-bodied Ixilat females flanked her, five to a side. The room itself was more of the same, though instead of the relatively low ceilings of the rest of the hive, the roof of the throne room was much, much higher.

But Pudge wasn’t there to admire the architecture. Instead, he needed to figure out what to do with eleven enemies, each with unknown capabilities. His first idea was to create some sort of distraction. Then, he would ambush whoever responded. However, that plan was ruined by the fact that, no matter how much noise he made in the tunnels, the occupants of the throne room remained unmoved.

No - he was going to have to kill them all together if he wanted to end the trial.

Already, Pudge felt the bite of hunger and thirst, so he knew he couldn’t remain much longer. One way or another, he was going to get out.

But that didn’t mean he’d just rush at them like Zeke might have done. Instead, he intended to use his own advantages. To that end, he planted himself at the edge of his [Hellfire] range, took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves, then commenced his attack.

In the space of a second, he had four balls of [Hellfire] in the air, each aimed at a different Ixilat; from the wording in his quest, he expected that they were the advisors he was supposed to kill.

The first ball of [Hellfire] took his initial target directly in the face, melting it without a hint of difficulty. However, that brief instant gave the others an opportunity to react, and when his other attacks landed, they did so on a trio of shimmering barriers only a few inches from the advisors’ chitinous hide.

He growled.

But if Pudge would let something like that dissuade him, he’d have never gotten so far. So, he redoubled his efforts as he sprinted to his left, peppering the advisors along the way. None of his subsequent attacks hit, but Pudge kept up his barrage anyway. There had to be some sort of limit to their mana shields. But he suspected that he’d run out of mana far before they did.

So, he shifted his focus. Certainly, his attacks couldn’t get through their shields. That was clear. But they could burn everything else, couldn’t they? [Hellfire] was incredibly destructive, and the hive didn’t seem to be any more durable than mundane materials. So, instead of aiming at the advisors themselves, Pudge sent his balls of [Hellfire] at their feet. The first couple just ate through the hive’s floor, but after a few more, some of them caught fire. And that resulting fire was unimpeded by the translucent shields. He was just beginning to celebrate his impending victory when something slammed into his mind.

Pudge stumbled to his knees, and the moment he stopped moving, a hundred invisible blades bit into his vulnerable flesh. He roared, not knowing if the blades were wind or some sort of telekinesis – not that it mattered. Regardless, they were deadly.

He pushed himself to his feet, but once again, the oppressive presence crashed into his mind. It felt as if his brain was splitting in two, but he pushed through it. Even as those invisible blades continued to rip him to shreds, Pudge threw himself down one of the halls, rolling out of sight.

If they would have followed, he would have died, there and then. However, the advisors – and the queen – remained in the throne room. They didn’t even try to put out the fires, though that would have been pointless anyway. [Hellfire] didn’t behave like mundane fire; once it caught, it would burn until it either ran out of fuel or he cut off the supply of mana. Neither of which was very likely.

So, Pudge lay on that floor, thankful that he hadn’t simply tried to attack the queen before clearing the hive. If he’d taken that route, the patrols would have already killed him.

After a few minutes, his connection to the [Hellfire] still eating through the throne room began to wane, so he reactivated [Concealed Steps], then poked his head out. Like the Ixilak warriors who’d guarded the tunnels deeper into the hive, the advisors as well as the queen remained stationary.

That, as much as anything, told Pudge that they were mere constructs.

So, from the relative safety of the tunnel, Pudge started tossing more balls of [Hellfire] throughout the throne room. From time to time, more invisible blades would come at him, but so long as he ducked back under cover after a few casts of [Hellfire], he was safe enough. Well – not safe. He still got cut up pretty thoroughly. But he wouldn’t chance dying.

Soon enough, the entire throne room was on fire, the red-and-black flames eating through everything until the first advisors began to succumb. Not long after that, the queen perished as well, and Pudge cut his connection to the [Hellfire].

Just to be sure, Pudge checked his quest, and he saw that he’d gotten credit for killing everything in the room. Aside from acquiring the Royal Jelly, his quest was complete. So, after spending a few minutes channeling that still-unnamed skill he’d borrowed from Zeke, he stepped back into the destroyed throne room.

It was almost unrecognizable, and if he hadn’t known precisely where each monster had been positioned, he would have been unable to identify the queen – except that there was something floating over her corpse. It was a green crystal, and it pulsated with alien power. It wasn’t mana – not precisely – but it felt mana-adjacent. He approached it cautiously, but the crystal didn’t feel harmful. So, he reached out with one claw and touched its shimmering surface. When he did, he saw a new notification:

Congratulations! You have completed the dungeon, Ixilak Hive! Rewards: 1 Leser Attribute Crystal, 1 Royal Jelly.

Immediately, the green crystal dropped into Pudge’s paw – no, his hand – and another item fell upon the queen’s charred corpse. It was a huge, clay jar, and when Pudge opened it, he saw a yellow substance that he suspected was the Royal Jelly. With that, his quest completed, and he received another notification:

Quest: Skilled

Objective: Defeat the Ixilak hive and claim the Royal Jelly.

Choose Reward: Skill [Nether Claw]

Pudge felt a sense of relief; he’d taken the first step toward becoming strong enough to reunite with his companions. And it felt good.