Part Eleven

“Kaaaaa……”

“Kissshhhhaaaa!”

“SAAAAAA!”

“Stupid lizards. If you’re going to ambush someone, don’t scream when you do it.”

“”“Kaaaaaa!?”””

The three Kovis that tried to ambush me all screamed in pain as my swords lashed out, taking an arm from each one. Compared to the lizards I’d fought in the Siege Dungeon, these guys were just pathetic. They didn’t even have armor, so cutting them down was just too easy. And since none of them seemed to possess Stealth, their ambush was fated to fail due to Survival Instinct. Seriously, they were pretty pathetic.

Just got to finish them off and-. Oh? Ohoho, not bad. Not good enough, but I retract my previous statement.

“KIEEEEEEE!”

A fourth Kovis dropped through the ceiling, its claws narrowly missing me. Its Stealth was impressive, enough so that I hadn’t noticed the damn thing until it was nearly too late. If I hadn’t had Skanda, I probably would’ve been hurt there. But I did, so I wasn’t. That’s just how life is sometimes.

Their surprise attack foiled, the four Kovis backed a few steps away from me, inadvertently giving me the room I needed to cast [Rot] at them. Four quick spells later, and all their faces had rotted away.

Well that was gross. Lizard brains are not a thing I need or want to see. Also, is that one still alive, or is it just twitching due to nerves? Eh, guess I’ll just stab it again anyway……you know, I’ve noticed my thoughts becoming more and more violent as time goes by. Should I be worried about that? I mean, it could be the natural progression from all this fighting, but…… eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.

After ensuring that the lizards were dead, I continued down the hallway they’d ambushed me in. My goal here was to wipe-out this Kovis nest, and I figured I was just about done. So long as I avoided any ambushes, I had very little to fear from these lizards.

“SHAAAAAA!”

Case-in-point, a single lizard just jumped out from an open doorway and literally impaled itself onto my sword. Granted, I’d known it was there, but how stupid does it have to be to jump without looking first?

Okay, I think that’s the last of them on this floor. All that should be left is the basement, and since I made sure to barricade that when I went by, the lizards down there should still be trapped inside. Should be a relatively easy task.

***

Why must I always jinx myself?

“””“KIIIISSSHHHHHHAAAA!!!””””

A rather large, irate lizard was waiting for me in the basement. A giant, wet, angry lizard thing, sitting in a pool of very gross liquid. While I could barely see it through the gloom, I was still able to use Analyze on it.

Kovis Brood-Mother

Rank: C

Description: An Evolved Kovis specializing in rapid reproduction. While a single Kovis female lays a clutch of eggs ranging between three and six, Brood-Mothers can lay clutches of up to thirty eggs at one time. However, these highly accelerated and burdensome pregnancies render them unable to move or fight. As such, the presence of a Brood-Mother amongst a clan of Kovis is usually a sign of prosperity, or one of utmost necessity.

Four other large lizards were in the room, guarding the Brood-Mother’s pool of grossness. They weren’t as large as the Brood-Mother, but were all armed much better than the other Kovis I’d seen here. Oh, and…..

Kovis Egg-Guardian

Rank: C

Description: A unique Kovis Evolution that only appears in the presence of a Kovis Brood-Mother’s pheromones. While not as strong as other Kovis Evolutions, Egg-Guardians possess a strange biological feature that allows them secrete a substance that is usually used to accelerate the development of eggs. However, Egg-Guardians are also known to weaponize this substance in situations where their Brood-Mother is threatened.

….They could also vomit acid.

I dived aside as four streams of acid shot through the space I’d just occupied. The stuff must’ve been potent based off the way it was eating through the cement. Getting hit once would probably kill me, so I did the only reasonable thing possible. I ran.

Okay, so now I’m fighting Reptile? Who's going to show up next, Scorpion? ….I should probably drop this train of thought before I jinx myself again.

Forgoing my usual mana-saving strategy, I activated my Skills and tore down the hallway, four very angry lizards hot on my heels. I contemplated dropping a few Combustion Bombs, but these lizards had decent armor that would probably protect them from the explosions. Which also meant [Rot] wouldn’t be as helpful here either.

Okay, four-on-one, huh. I’ll play along. But just to warn you, I don’t play fair.

***

“Shaaaa….”

“Kishaa!”

“Sa saaaaa….”

“Saa?”

The four Guardians were scared. This was the first time that the harvest had begun so early. According to the previous cycles, it should’ve been another two weeks before the shadow even thought of coming here. And yet, something had broken into the den and killed everyone else.

The Guardians wanted to help the others, but were literally incapable of leaving the Brood-Mother if she hadn’t been threatened. The shadow knew that, and so it took special care to never come close to the hatchery. The only reason they knew about it was because there’d been a few survivors during past harvests that had told them about it.

And so they’d been forced to wait, listening to the death screams of their kin, all the while dreading the time when the shadow finally chose to come after them. So when the door to the hatchery finally opened, the Guardians put their all into a single, preemptive attack.

“Sa sasasa sas! Shaaa!”

“””Kishaaa!”””

However, it was not the shadow that appeared, but a human. Granted, said human smelled of darkness and death, but it was still a human. The Guardians would never let anything hurt their beloved Brood-Mother. So when the human turned tail and ran, they gave chase.

Unfortunately, the human was fast. It had gotten away from them within mere seconds. Realizing that the human could just be hiding in the building, the four Guardians split up, with one staying back to guard the Brood-Mother.

As the other Guardians searched through the building, they became enraged. Their precious kin were strewn everywhere, slaughtered where they’d stood. Even the hatchlings had been cruelly cut down, as had the few egg-bearing females. This was no longer about just protecting their Brood-Mother, but about avenging their kin.

It was just too bad that they’d never get the chance.

“KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

A pained scream echoed through the building, and the Guardians recognized it as a cry for help from the Brood-Mother. The three still searching raced back to the hatchery, only to find their brother slain and the Brood-Mother’s pool covered in flames. For the briefest moment, their minds blanked out. And that was when he struck.

The Guardian back furthest was suddenly stabbed through the back. The blade had pierced the Guardian's heart, ensuring that it would die quickly. The other Guardians only reacted when they heard the sound of its body collapsing. As they turned around and prepared to vomit acid at the intruder, a bright flash of light caught them unawares, temporarily blinding the two of them. And that was all it took.

***

Phew, that was more intense than I was expecting. If I hadn’t thought to get this Maglite, that probably would’ve been a lot harder. Thank god for useful tools not ordinarily meant for killing. Then again, I could probably use this to bludgeon someone to death, so….yeah.

Things had been touch-and-go for a few seconds, but I’d managed to pull through. Their biggest mistake had been to post the guard at the door to the basement stairwell, rather than in the hallway. It would’ve been a lot harder to pick it off if they hadn’t done that. I may have even left and gotten the others to help me finish them off. Not that I wanted to do that.

Setting the Brood-Mother on fire was just for an added effect. Since she hadn’t worn armor, I’d just fired a [Rot] at her face to finish her off. I’d only thought to burn her so as to stun the other Guardians, as well as to provide some additional light for my ambush.

Jeez, I never would’ve guessed that there were enemies like this hidden away. Considering that everything else I saw was E or D-Rank, I figured there’d be maybe one C-Rank, not five. Haaah, I swear, this shit never seems to end.

With the last of the lizards dead, I made sure to crush any unhatched eggs, then left the building. The fire would snuff itself out soon enough, and the stench of those fluids burning was just disgusting, so I wanted to get away as quick as possible. Though I did stop to harvest a few claws from the Guardians before I left. I needed to get something out of this.

Should I learn how to dismantle monsters? I’d imagine their acid sacks could be useful. Though it would probably be a pain to extract them.

***

[Alicia’s POV]

*Fwoosh…Fwoom!*

“That was a lot easier then I thought it would be. It only took me four tries to get that to work.”

“Your affinity with Lightning Magic is probably helping you. Fire Magic and Lightning Magic are related, so affinities can carry over a little bit. It’s only natural that you’d have an easier time with this than say, Ice Magic, which isn’t related at all. Or Metal Magic, which is the polar opposite of Lightning.”

“See, that’s the part I don’t get. Shouldn’t it be Earth Magic that’s the polar opposite?”

“Mn, you’d think. But since Lightning is the derivative of Wind Magic, then it has to be the opposite of Earth Magic’s derivative. It’s the same with Fire and Magma, and Water and Ice.”

“……Who came up with these rules? And why are they so stupid?”

“I think it’s actually pretty easy to remember. Once you’ve got the main table memorized, then you just need to worry about the neutral elements.”

“Solar, Venom and….Destruction, right? Wait, wasn’t there one more? Uhhhhh….. crap, I can’t remember it.”

“That’s because there’s only three neutral elements, Alicia. But you did get them all right.”

“Oh, sweet!”

The two girls were practicing Magic in the backyard of the house the group was sheltering in. Technically, there were three girls in the yard, but Gwen had been assigned to the corner so she could do the meditation exercises required to Awaken.

“Hey, where’d the boys go? I haven’t seen either of them in over an hour.”

“…Michael went out to, and I quote ‘beat the living shit out of some monsters as stress relief’. As for Gwyn, I think you’d better ask his sister.”

“Gwyn went to do some recon. Somethin' about looking for traces of unusual activity or some shit. I wasn’t payin' much attention.”

“Ah. Okay. Anyway, that’s the basics of Elemental Magic. Just know you already know this, but if you want to learn Focus, Enhancement or Reality magic we’ll need Grimoires for each of them. And I’m pretty sure each of them have different rules as well. Magic's so fun, isn’t it?”

“…Was that sarcasm?”

“What? No, not at all. I love how simple it is, but also so complex. Like, anyone can use a little magic, but mastering it is very difficult. And there’s also the fact that once you’ve got a grasp on it, you can really start customizing your spells, or even make your own. I’m nowhere close to being that skilled yet, but I’m just enjoying the process right now.”

“Michael’s right. You are a magic nerd.”

“…Is…that a bad thing?”

“I really don’t know. He says some stuff sometimes that I really don’t understand.”

“You know, I bet he’d get upset if he heard that. He can be easily hurt by the weirdest things.”

“Yes, because god forbid that someone takes offense to what someone else says. This is just one more reason all relationships are doomed to failure.”

“…..Say, Kalia?”

“Yes Alicia?”

“Did you hear something that sounded rather cynical and a bit nihilistic?”

“Why yes Alicia, I believe I did.”

“Well that’s strange. I only know one person who routinely says things like that, but he’d never eavesdrop on a private conversation.”

“You’re right Alicia. Michael would never do anything like that.”

“You’re emphasizing too many words. And it’s not really eavesdropping if you’re talking in a public place.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna sue you!”

“Is that even possib-. Ah, never mind. We’re American. If it can be sued, it will be.”

“Ahem! Can you all shut up already!? Take your weird flirting inside!”

Gwen's shout of rage quelled the antics of the comedic trio enough that she was able to go back to meditating. Michael, having been caught up in something on his way to wash off, left to do just that, and Kalia and Alicia went back to practicing.

All in all, it was just another moment in the apocalypse.