Chapter 447 (2/2)

He had always wondered, why Sydney was so infuriated, yet strangely weary, by his presence, but now…

And to his surprise, he laughed aloud. This time, Lucretia was even more bewildered, but he didn’t say anything, just vanishing from existence inside the Soul Skill, and returning to awareness in his body. After all, the Soul Skill was just one of many moving pieces to this fight with the Creature. There were other portions that needed his attention.

So Randidly came to, back in his body, and opened his eyes. To his surprise, they had stopped. And what he saw in front of them was not the final base of the Creature, as he had expected, but instead, it was a sea.

A sea of monsters. Screeching and roaring, growling and grumbling. And more than anything else, just milling around, as if lost.

Seeming to sense that he had awoken, Annie stepped from behind him to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. “We were wondering how long we should let you sleep before we woke you up. We’ve got a problem. I’ve run the circuit of the thing; it’s 5 miles wide, just filled with monsters. Mostly pretty weak, barely Level 30, but with many…”

Randidly grimaced. They were relatively well behaved right now, but that was because the monsters’ attention was facing inward, towards whatever was drawing them towards the center, and they hadn’t noticed the Raid Dungeon group, or the creeping army of Death Cultists behind them. Which meant that whatever was pulling them inwards was unbelievably strong, taking almost all of the monsters’ attention.

But what Randidly couldn’t figure out was why they were here. 7 days should have passed. And yet there were so many monsters here. As if the monster hordes they had seen… hadn’t been able to get near the Creature’s base, and were instead stuck out here, just standing around in a circle.

Randidly cursed quietly. It wasn’t really that powerful of a barrier against him, but it was annoying, and he could just imagine the Creature’s smug expression.

“So?” Prompted Rose, moving to join the other two on top of Randidly’s root monster mount. Closing his eyes, Randidly took several seconds to breath in and then out through his nose. Then he turned, looking behind him. The Grey Death Cultist that had created the Death Key, who apparently had no real name but only a long series of unintelligible clicks, was standing there. Randidly beckoned.

“Chosen-Messenger of Death,” The Grey Death Cultist said with a bow. “How may we accomplish your goals?”

Upon hearing Randidly’s rather abbreviated explanation of his determination to eliminate the Creature, this is what the Death Cultists had begun calling him. They seemed rather stoically ambivalent at the thought of launching a crusade to destroy the other main race of the Raid Dungeon, but the prospect had a likelihood of their deaths, so they assented easily. After all, they believed that only through their fated, natural death could their souls find release from the cycle of torment in the Dungeon, granting them freedom. And Randidly was the Messenger of that final death.

“These monsters are in the way,” Randidly said warily, “I would like you to clear a path. But give me a moment, prepare your men in the meantime.”

Nodding, the Grey Death Cultist withdrew, and after a short, whispered conversation with the other Grey Death Cultists, they returned to the larger army, hooting with glee.

Doing his best to ignore the strange sounds of their language, Randidly pointed, and activated a Skill that he had never really had the occasion to experiment with yet.

“Earthquake.”

Instantly, the ground beneath Randidly’s feat began to rumble ominously. When the Skill was used, Randidly had a brief sensation of feeling the shape of the earth beneath them, and projected the Skill as much as possible in front of him, towards the bulk of the monsters. Those monsters, as the shaking started, seemed to still, something instinctual taking over in the face of a force of nature.

Then the ground began to shudder. Then the first crack appeared, and the group buckled, rising in some places as the forces of the ground smashed together, sinking in others. The monsters responded by fleeing in every direction, their eyes filled with fear. Randidly frowned. Sure, it was an impressive Skill, and as it Leveled it would be powerful… but it was currently only Level 3, well 7 now that had gained a few Skill Levels, and its destructive force was rather underwhelming.

“Messenger, by your word,” The Grey Death Cultist said, rubbing its claws together excitedly.

“Go.”

The Grey Death Cultist smiled, as best as its strange bat face could, and then barked out an order. Behind Randidly, the Red Death Cultists began using their superior strength to throw the regular rank and file soldiers in the air, where they began to glide forward ominously, heading towards the panicking monsters. By the time the Earthquake ceased, the Death Cultists had arrived, and they gave their fellow monsters no quarter.