Chương 65: 1-64 Festering wounds

Following Josef's command, several protrusions erupted from the sphere of water in front of him, bending and stretching towards the many bulbous heads on the plant. They were nothing as fancy as even the arms of that boss elemental were, but there were four of them, and they all succeeded in enveloping a different target in crushing waters. Considering the limited area his spell could affect before, this was already a massive improvement to its flexibility.

And there was a lot of room to grow, as the corresponding notification told him. ☆☆☆☆ Crushing Water Prison (Pinnacle) -> ☆☆☆☆☆ Grasping Waters (Inferior) Countless have drowned in the sea throughout the ages, a concept you have now touched upon. The crushing depths are no longer content to wait patiently, and reach out for new prey. Just as all protrusions finished grabbing their targets, the waters making them up pulled taut, reeling the plant's heads towards the spell's origin.

There, they violently pressed against each other, as devastating currents smacked them around under dangerous pressure. Josef wondered briefly if the new spell could double up as a magical washing machine, if he could tone down the forces so as not to shred everything within. It even came with the arms necessary to fill itself. He could feel Pretzel's awe through their link, as she witnessed the upgraded version of the spell she was currently using.

Something told him he was going to be tutoring a certain serpent once they got the time to do so. She didn't even mind the considerable amount of smugness he leaked, which was absolutely accidental, of course. After all, he was just a little bit happy about pulling ahead of her in coming up with ways to use water magic. Meanwhile, the plant was having a major crisis, as most of its heads had been dealt with within moments of the encounter.

The wailing sounds that erupted from it this time around were nothing compared to their first fight. With only a handful of heads left, it reminded him more of a blaring alarm clock than the cacophony from before. Even so, dust and debris fell around them as their least favorite monsters came burrowing out of the surrounding brickwork, reacting to the noise. Though even at only the first glance, it became immediately obvious that the effect which lured them in must have become far weaker.

Only a fraction of the horde they knew could descend came to attack them. It would only jinx things to call that fight easier than expected, but compared to before, it was a difference like night and day. Which wasn't to say that there were no risks, considering how badly things could go whenever the parasites landed even a single attack. However, the reduced numbers made all the difference, allowing them to handle the added monsters with little pressure.

What surprised them the most, though, was the finishing blow to the plant itself. It was Bezzo who took it upon himself to take revenge on the monster for the misery he had suffered because of this type of monster. That, or he just happened to have the epiphany he was looking for the last few hours, as he finally unleashed a new and devastating attack. At first, it didn't look like much, as he struck the creature's central body with his claws as usual.

Moments later it became apparent that the thing he pushed to new heights was the poison he applied to it. Where before it was a translucent liquid, barely perceptible on the wounds he carved, it was now a deep, dark coloration. It looked almost reminiscent of dirt, if it weren't for the aggressive foaming around the edges of the mass. Then, the poison seeped in, but that might have been the wrong word for what happened.

It was more as if the substance moved, crawling into the wound and disappearing into the veins, moving-"Was your new poison inspired by the parasites?" Josef couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Seeing the bulges moving under the plant's surface, he was strongly reminded of the sight when treating Bezzo from his own infection.

"If you can't beat them, join them," the reptile answered dryly. The effect was quick and staggering, as a necrosis like decay spread around the path the substance took through the plant's body. Josef didn't know how the insides of this creature were structured, but since it could bleed, it was apparently vulnerable to this infection. Then again, that stuff looked nasty enough to just dig a path through an incompatible body. Which, on second thought, only hammered down the origin from which it was derived.

Seeing it in action, Josef knew immediately that he didn't want to mess with an attack like that. Even if he was confident in his ability to heal and outlast any damage it caused, the pain from it would surely be horrendous. He really had to figure out a way to cleanse bad stuff from his own body directly, instead of just tanking it. At least the worms could be removed by force. This? This was clearly far more persistent and deadly.

As the decay covered more and more of the body, patches of greenish plant flesh began to fall off, turning dark and foul, and the rest of the body soon started to collapse on itself. It appeared as if the creature was rotting alive.

"This is horrible," he finally gave his verdict.

"Very badass, though, so I approve." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"You have to be joking," came a whine from Zippa, as he incinerated one of the last worm colonies that had descended on them.

"Who am I going to ask for help when I can't sleep now? There's no way I'm gonna let you jab me with stuff like that." Was he implying that they had used Bezzo's poison as a sleeping aid before? Somehow, the absurdity didn't even surprise him. Still, he asked, just for clarity.

"Yeah, it's been pretty useful when I couldn't cope with my fiery blood as well as I do now," he explained, wiping off some charred pieces that clung to him after the battle wound down.

"I haven't needed it in a while, and now I better keep it that way." He gave meaningful side-eyes to the plant's withering body.

"I'll let you know that I am perfectly in control of what my poison does. Mostly." Bezzo explained to them.

"That just makes it sound worse!" Zippa theatrically shook his head.

"Guess I'll have to bug granny for some emergency pills. Just in case."

"Whatever makes you happy," the younger sibling yielded to his brother's antics, though nothing could wipe the radiance off his face. Someone was very obviously happy with his progress. Seeing him rejoin their battles afterwards with renewed vigor was a sight to behold. Technically, nothing much had changed about the way he was fighting. It was still the same old dodge around and swipe at an opening fighting style he had always used.

Now, though, those singular strikes he weaved into his deadly dance had gained a much increased lethality. Turns out that a guy whose entire shtick is to dodge around and line up that one deciding blow is actually quite terrifying, once that one strike actually counted. He still couldn't quite keep up with the sheer killing speed his own brother displayed, but considering he didn't just rush into the enemy with no regard for his own health, that was still an impressive mileage.

With their most pressing problem child taken care of, their group advanced faster than ever before. If anything, Linda was back to being the member with the most troubles, but even she held her ground without many issues thanks to Aifreed's continued tutelage. Aside from some minor hiccups caused by Pretzel's attempt at pushing her own Water Prison to the next rank, resulting in massive splash zones, they progressed smoothly.

While Josef's familiar wasn't quite there yet, he had high hopes that she would figure it out soon enough. Apparently, she could grasp the idea of constricting water streams somewhat well. Descending the floors, they made steady progress, though one unnerving sight served as a constant reminder of the danger they were in. The items left behind by other parties became more numerous the deeper they went. Every single time Josef held his breath, fearing the worst.

Fortunately, he never found anything that looked like the pack Cana had on her, nor any tokens bearing her or her party members' names. He didn't even know if they had such identifiers on them, considering their less than legal presence in the dungeon, but it helped calm him down to imagine that it was so. That way, he could tell himself there was proof that she was doing fine. What that didn't quell was the feeling of guilt inside him, telling Josef that their deaths were his fault.

The dungeon had only started going crazy after he had entered it, so it felt like he had set this whole crisis off, even if he hadn't done it knowingly. Unfortunately, he couldn't openly talk with his two scaly friends, as that would likely give away too much to their elven companions. As much as he had come to cherish their help since they joined, it still didn't feel quite right to include them in his larger secrets. That was why all he could do was wallow silently, trying to deal with those emotions on his own.

Fortunately, a distraction finally appeared in the form of another stairwell leading downwards. This one, however, was very special, as it didn't simply lead to another floor. No, it would lead them to the next boss room. They had finally made it, and despite all the trouble on the way, they had made quick time to boot. It spoke well of their group's growth when the most current set of ten floors was even quicker than the one before.

"We didn't even take a shortcut through a trap-hole this time around," Josef chuckled wryly.

"I don't think my heart could take another one of those." Zippa placed a claw on his chest and sighed heavily, much to the annoyance of Linda, who was glaring daggers.

"Whatever would I do if I missed another boss encounter?"

"Well, it can be all yours then. Just go ahead on your own. I would not want to interrupt your desired pastime." Apparently, someone was still sensitive about their own perilous encounter.

"Are we all ready, then?" Josef looked around, trying to catch everyone's eyes.

"Is there anything we know about the encounter ahead?" Both of his questions were met with a varying amount of shaking heads. Apparently, Zippa and Bezzo both needed a quick break to make sure their mana was topped off. Not everyone had a monstrous amount of regeneration to keep casting in perpetuity. As for the monster, Zippa was the only one with even the slightest clue.

"Some kind of plant. At least, that was before the dungeon went crazy," he explained, causing his brother to shiver in displeasure.

"It pays off to have some good drinking buddies in the guild. They sometimes get talkative."

"So, we're gonna run into an even more fucked up variant of those creatures? Great, just what I needed." Bezzo made his disdain known. Not that anyone was happy with the prospect of facing an even worse version of that screaming plant. Would it be even louder? Josef figured that today he might just learn what it feels like to heal himself from going deaf. He wasn't looking forward to that. Once everyone had rested up, with all resources ready for the fight ahead, they descended the stairs.

With Aifreed in the lead, ready to face anything they encountered, they marched into the darkness below. Which was quite odd, as the dungeon usually had enough light sources to keep things comfortably lit. However, now even his night-vision struggled to keep up with how little light there was to see things. At least until Zippa, following right behind the knight, decided to turn himself into a living torch.

Blinded by the sudden spike in light, Josef almost tumbled down the stairs, but barely caught himself on the nearest wall. Whatever he touched was surprisingly warm and wet, and did not feel at all like the bricks he was used to.

"Watch it, Zip. Something's weird with these walls," he called out, rubbing the pain from his eyes. For some reason, even with a quick burst of Regeneration, he couldn't restore his sight. His surroundings remained steeped in darkness.

"Guys?" he called out again, receiving no answer. A cold shudder of premonition came over Josef as he realized the situation he was in. His eyes hadn't failed him. There was simply no light because Zippa was not around anymore. Neither was anyone else, going by the prevailing silence. Also, the wall next to him felt suspiciously like it was made from flesh.