Chapter 699 (1/2)
As if an inaudible accord had been reached, the rest of the leaders of Orders stood. Naffur turned and began sprinting out of their courtyard. But very quickly, panic rose in his chest as he realized he wasn’t sure where Mareen’s party would be. Fumbling, he produced the invitation and skidded to a stop.
He heard the screams of other people and then the soft rush of air as other leaders whipped past Naffur at speeds he couldn’t follow.
BOOOM.
There was a crash from behind him, from the meeting place of the Orders. This was swiftly followed by a hideous shriek and a flash of warmth that Naffur felt on his back 50 meters away. When he shivered, it was not from the cold, but from feeling profoundly out of his depth.
With trembling hands, Naffur did his best to ignore the rising tide of noises around him and look down at the invitation. It was handwritten, which Naffur hadn’t noticed before. ‘I hope to see you there was at the bottom, written by Mareen.
Naffur went pale. What did that mean?!?!
There was a soft ripping noise which forced Naffur to look up. In front of him, there was a semi-opaque tear in the air that crackled with energy.
Oh, right.
A strange fish creature with tentacles stepped out of the portal. Its mouth oozed with gore and its limbs seemed to twitch as it menacingly stepped forward and looked around.
Congratulations! Your Skill The Devil’s Luck for Entrances (L) has reached Level 29!
The slimy tentacle creature came out of the portal with its back to Naffur. It cackled gleefully, even as Naffur smashed it in the back of the head with an Intrepid Hammer, earning him Levels in Intrepid Hammer and Cheap Shot.
Stunned, the thing fell to its knees and twisted around. The tentacles flailed wildly, and Naffur jerked his head back to avoid the attack. The tentacles missed by quite a distance, but some of the goo that was dripping from the creature sprayed outwards and landed upon Naffur’s Ghosthound mask.
Very quickly, the mask became to smoke and sizzle as the goo ate through it. Horrified, Naffur scrambled backward even further. Shit, he was going to need to get a new mask soon-
No, more important than that, had he really just punched that acidic thing?!?
Looking at his hand, Naffur was relieved to see that his flesh wasn’t bubbling away. But his heart thumped painfully as the monster seemed to recover from his earlier strike and stood tall in front of him.
A hand reached out and squeezed the monster’s head until it burst in an explosion of gore.
“Careful. These are stronger than you,” Neveah said, wagging her finger at Naffur.
“You need to be careful too!” Naffur shouted. “There is ooze on that think that can disintegrate flesh!”
Instantly, Neveah’s face contorted in horror. She raised her left hand, which was still dribbling in the ooze and brain matter of the tentacle monster. For several seconds they both looked at her hand. Nothing seemed to be happening. Neveah glanced back over at Naffur, seeming to ask with her eyes whether he was sure about what he had said. Helplessly, he shrugged.
With a pitiful sigh, Nevaeh crouched and rubbed the gore off on the ground. Instantly, that area of grass began to smoke and wither. The effect spread in a one-meter area, creating a small zone of death. Naffur paled as he realized that there was a similar halo of annihilation around the body of the monster.
“Such a close call. Thank god…” Neveah said in a hollow voice. Naffur was annoyed, but could only helplessly look at the bits of blood still on Neveah’s hand that didn’t seem capable of doing anything to her.
Shaking his head, Naffur decided to ignore Neveah’s inexplicable strength. Instead, he looked again at the invitation. FOr all that Neveah was almost mocking him and his worries, it had served as a way to calm him down. With his mind cooled off a bit, Naffur was able to organize his thoughts much more efficiently.
“Okay, it’s this way.” Naffur finally said, and the group of two began to run. Or rather, Naffur began to run, and Neveah seemed to skip effortlessly to keep up.