Part Twenty-Six

“””Herghergherg!!!”””

“Of all the rotten luck! Why the hell are there three of you now!?”

Things had gone downhill very quickly. Not only had the Executioner that I just escaped followed me, but the one guarding the keep had joined in as well. And then there was the third one, which I couldn’t even explain. It had just appeared, cutting down several Undead with a massive scythe. The only good news was that the three Executioners had turned all the Undead into a thick, red pulp that completely soaked the ground. It was disgusting, but was actually more advantageous to me than them. The Executioners didn’t have the best footing, causing them to slip far more than I did.

!...! >…

“Ugh, would you three shut up!? It’s bad enough that I’ve got these jokers laughing in my ear, but I don’t need your constant babbling too. Ugh, Ash, any luck?”

*…*

“Shit, really? Damnit. Guess I’m doing this the hard way.”

Ash had told me that the Executioners were actually a type of Spirit powered by Grudge, and that had made me wonder if my familiar might be able to handle them. Unfortunately, it seemed that was beyond its ability. While all non-juvenile Spirits possess a Core, it seemed that an Executioner’s Core was metaphysical, whatever that meant. Basically, it was there, but there was no way Ash could do anything to it in its current form. Maybe when it got stronger, but that would be months or years from now.

Since that was a dead-end, I’d need to either incapacitate all three Executioners, or find a way to escape them. Given my failed attempts on the wall, the latter was probably the best option. The only hiccup was that I had no inkling of how to get into the keep. It was locked up tighter than a liquor cabinet in an AA meeting. Which is an odd analogy now that I think about it.

Either way, I needed to find something to break the current deadlock. I couldn’t kill the Executioners, and I sure as hell couldn’t avoid them forever, so I needed a solution fast.

The doors and walls of the keep are more of that strange material, so Grudge Magic won’t break through them. I could use the white sword to brute force my way through, but not with the Executioners on my tail. The same thing with climbing the building. I just don’t have enough time with those Executioners around. So I definitely need to deal with them, but how?

Wait, if the Executioners have physical bodies, then would Grudge Magic work on them? And even if it doesn’t, could it slow them down enough for me to immobilize them? Hm, only one way to find out.

For whatever reason, I never tested Grudge Magic on them. Part of that was because I was simply focused on avoiding them with all my might, but I might’ve been predicated to do so because of what Alicia had told me before. Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, after all.

I quickly shot a [Rot] back at one of the Executioners, hitting it right in the abdomen. I’d aimed somewhat lower so as to avoid accidentally killing it, but not so low that I’d miss completely. In fact, I’d actually hit a better spot than I’d hoped for. If the spell worked on it, then there was a good chance the Executioner would be immobilized by it.

“Hrrraaaaagggghhhh!!!”

The effects were more dramatic than I’d thought they would be. The [Rot] projectile caused over half of the Executioner’s shroud to atomize, turning into dust and revealing the horror underneath. Pulsing, shifting strands of muscle wound around each other, forming the basis for its body. Each one was coated in a thick, fuchsia-colored liquid that smelled like rot and vomit mixed together. And it face. That was just a hunk of meat with the vaguest hints of facial features, like a mannequin made of muscle. Honestly, I immediately regretted casting that spell. Running around for a while was a lot better than seeing that.

“”Herghergherg???””

With one of their number on the ground, the other two Executioners stepped away from me, seeming to hesitate in the face of an unexpected counterattack. An obvious mistake. No matter how grossed out I was by them, I wasn’t going to let an opening go by unexploited. I cast two spells in quick succession. [Malignancy] to immobilize them, and [Mental Decay] to destroy their minds. These creatures were very smart, but they possessed something resembling a brain. Destroying that should turn them into vegetables, and vegetables couldn’t hurt me.

The combination of spells left the three Executioners twitching on the ground, utterly dead to the world, yet still technically alive. Though given that things could resurrect, there was still a chance that they could recover from this position, something I wasn’t keen to find out myself.

Heheheh, everyone knows that the best way to deal with an unkillable monster is to seal it away, that’s like Eldritch Horror 101. Well, that and to never summon Cthulhu under any circumstances. Nothing good ever came from squid creatures.

Now, how the fuck do I get in?

***

That had been a very good question. One with no simple answer. The gate was made from the same material as the rest of the fort, but reinforced with an equally mysterious metal that the white sword couldn’t cut through. I quickly gave up when my blade chipped. Their auto-repair feature would cover chips and other wear-and-tear, but full breakage was probably beyond it. Keeping my weapons in functional shape was paramount to my survival.

From there, I tried to find a way to scale the keep, but the walls were too smooth to provide adequate handholds. There weren’t even any spots for my grappling hook to attach to. Climbing the keep wouldn’t work, and I wasn’t going to try digging under it either. I doubt such a tactic would work, though I guess I’d try if I ran out of other options.

From there, I tried to get my familiars to infiltrate the keep, but that weird material could apparently keep them out. Strangely enough, Ash seemed to take this personally, and it refused to give up. Watching the Spirit cast Grudge Magic Spells over and over at the walls in a futile attempt to break them was fun and all, but it got me no closer to entering the fort.

Do I dare try to blow the doors up? I did get another Napalm Bomb from Hagrick, but I’d like to save that for later. It’s a firebomb, so it likely would work on stone and metal as well as an explosive Bomb would as well. Hm, I could go back and buy one of the explosive Bombs they had, but their shop is pretty far from here. I don’t want to give the Executioners too much time to recover. Besides, those Bombs were pretty pricey, and I’m trying to save up for the gear I want for the Boss. Slowing my progress here for an unneeded solution would be taking one step forward, and three steps backwards. Not efficient at all.

But at the same time, how the heck do I get in? Hm, wait. I used a hidden path to get in the fort, so couldn’t there be a path to the keep? But where? It would need to accessible from the yard, but be hidden enough that I wouldn’t be able to notice it right away. The guard towers, maybe? That would make sense. Let’s see. I came on from the south, and the stairs leading to the yard are in the north, but an Executioner was waiting for me at the western tower. And since there was another guarding the keep's main entrance, why couldn’t that signify that there’s a tunnel in that tower? Well, I guess I could go check it out. It’s better than standing here forever.

“Ash, stay here and keep an eye on the Executioners. Warn me if they recover or if something comes out of the keep. It’s unnatural that they’ve been quiet this long.”

*…*

With that done, the three juvenile Spirits and I set off to investigate the other tower, though of course there’d be an obstacle. As we approached the northern tower, dozens of Death Soldiers came pouring out from the stairway. They were probably the Undead that had manned the walls, now trying to belatedly join the battle.

!...! !...! !...!

“Really? Haaaaah, fine. Go nuts. I know I will.”

While you would normally think this a bad situation, it was anything but. While a horde of Undead was dangerous, a few individuals shuffling out of a doorway was simple to deal with. Even if the fight dragged on, there was no where else for enemies to come from, so I could exclusively focus on them. And my familiars were excited for the chance to gorge themselves on Miasma. It was a win-win for everyone.

Hm, I’m running low on mana. Got maybe a third left in the tank. I had to fight a lot harder than I’d wanted to against those Executioners, so that ate up a bit. And using [Malignancy] and [Mental Decay] for that long ate up another bit. I’ll need to have a rest soon if I can find somewhere safe. Hopefully the keep has at least one easily secured room.

Even as I contemplated my next move, I continued slaughtering the Undead. Half of them had already been re-killed, and the rest would soon join them. The only issue was that the corpses were starting to pile up around me, restricting my movement more than I wanted it to. I wasn’t sure if that was a coincidence, or if the Undead were actually trying to do that. Either way, they had no chance of winning this fight. The last Death Soldier collapsed after being decapitated, leaving the way forward free and clear.

Haah, haaah, damn I’m tired. Sheesh, I’m not even in the keep and I’m already this exhausted? I’m starting to think I should’ve trained more for this. Or gone for the other Mid-Boss. I just kinda picked one and went with it. I didn’t think it mattered, but maybe there’s a difference in overall difficulty? The stuff leading to the Death Knight was easy compared to this madness. Then again, that was a straightforward gauntlet, not a fortress full of Undead. I wonder what the third Mid-Boss is guarded by? A giant tomb full of Golems? Well, guess I’ll find out when I-. Eh?

!...! ?...? ?...?

One of my juvenile Spirits started urgently begging me for something, though it was hard to make out when the other two were making just as much noise. After telling them to be quiet, I finally realized that the Spirit wanted permission to Evolve, and that the other two were jealous of that. It had something to do with Cores, I think. Again, three voices talking over one another. Not exactly the easiest thing to parse.

Fortunately for all involved, I'd actually been looking forward to this. I’d been trying to guide how the juvenile Spirits fed so I could see if they’d evolve into a Dread Hunter or a different kind of Spirit. Make no mistake, I like Ash's absorption ability, and its Grudge Magic was powerful, but the Spirit wasn’t exactly well-suited towards close combat. I hoped one of the other three would be.

Once it had my permission, the familiar evolution process began, taking a full minute before it finished, leaving me with a brand spanking-new familiar.

Dread Shade

Rank: C

Status: Bound – Familiar

Description: The most basic Dread Spirit well-known for its all-around capabilities. Skilled with both Dark Magic and close combat, Dread Shades take on the appearance of an amorphous mass of darkness, and possess the potential to specialize in either Magic or Miasma Manipulation.

It was almost exactly what been hoping for. This meant that I’d be able to nudge the other two Spirits in a better direction. Having more than one Dread Hunter at this point was probably not a good idea. As for what their next evolution should be, I’d have to look into that in the future.

Heheheheheh, I always liked games with creatures you could train and evolve. Managing their abilities was difficult, but if you pulled it off right, you’d become unstoppable. I can feel the old urges coming back. I want to min-max these guys until they can crush any monsters we come across. This’ll be fun.

…

……

Wait, wasn’t I already doing something?