I stealthily creeped forward inside the tunnels carrying a torch.
Stalagmites and stalactites grew, and dripped water.
The sounds of rodents and bugs scampering about filled the tunnels.
And because I just saw a bat, I don't think what I'm walking through is just dirt.
God this is creepy as hell!
That's different! This is like a horror movie where the black guy always dies!
Do you think that the universe cares about that?! No!
It just wants to bum fuck you as hard as it can!
Hence Anaviotis!
I can hear the sarcasm in your voice.
Shut up Patty!
Srrreeeeeeeeeeeeech!!!
You're not supposed to be the one saying that, I am!
Shut up Patty!
What kind of asshole says something like that!
I knew when Flora told me this plan I should have told her to shove it where the sun don't shine.
No! I'm greater good, I just gotta psych myself up.
Come on, I can do this! Yeah!
I faced not one, but two bears!
I can handle something that hides like a little bitch.
Yeah! Bring it on!
Srrrreeeeeeeeech!!!!
Seconds after that suspiciously close yell, a foul stench filled the air. Like burning tires and blood.
I'm already cold blooded, but in that instant my blood ran cold.
I know what's about to happen, and I'm not going to like it.
Srrrrrrreeeeeeech!
A nightmare stepped into the light of the flickering torch.
Standing on two insect legs, a desiccated body, hands with long and sharp nails, a chameleon's head with mandibles, a back covered in tentacles that have mouths stood the nagmyre.
Fuck... No!
Some people say they're not proud of what they have to do sometimes, fuck that!
I am proud that I ran away like a chicken shit.
In a fraction of a second I made it back down the tunnel, but at the same time the nagmyre caught me with its tongue.
And by that I mean it shot out its tongue, which had a mouth full of teeth, and bit down on my arm.
"Aaargh! Fuck me!"
It yanked me back, and smacked me onto the wall.
The torch skittered across the rocky ground.
It was on me in a flash.
It started dragging its nails across my scales, drawing blood.
I swung my on claws at it, only for it to catch my arm and twist it in a direction it's not supposed to go.
"Aaaaaah!"
It used its mandibles to stab into my chest, while its tentamouths rained down me taking chunks of flesh with them.
Screw this!
"{Fire ball}{fire ball}{fire ball}{fire ball}{fire ball}{fire ball}!"
A rain of fire balls made it back up.
The fire balls also caused me to disintegrate.
"Guuuuh!"
Hundreds of yards away I breathed in deeply, if I could, I'd be sweating bullets!
Thank God for 'Mana Clone', and the fact that any spell drains the mana it's made from.
It's too bad I can't use abilities as a clone though, invisibility would've came in handy.
Mini status.
------------------
Energy : 823/1,087
Health : 1,200 /1,200
Stamina : 706/706
Extra energy : 5,000
------------------
My hands are shaking uncontrollably.
Patty... just shut up.
It was taking its sweet time killing me, just as Flora said it would.
Nagmyres manifest in this world only when their host receives serious trauma.
Like getting murdered, raped, or mind fucked, and as long as that evil is being produced they can stay.
So, they kill as slowly as possible to extend their stay, and unless someone is strong enough to send them packing and imprison their host forever, they hurt person after person continuously.
Using this knowledge Flora came up with the plan to use me to lure it away, while they sneak around to where the bandits are to take care of them.
Then, the only thing we got to do is seal the nagmyre in here and wait for it to turn back into Ellie.
Unfortunately I have to do the luring because I got the ability to make clones, and doubly unfortunately is that the further away I am from my clone the harder it is to control it. So, I have to get closer than any reasonably smart person ought to.
I made another clone.
Mini status.
------------------
Energy : 623/1,087
Health : 1,200 /1,200
Stamina : 706/706
Extra energy : 5,000
------------------
My clone took off in the direction of the nagmyre.
It can't go as fast as me using 'Dash', but it goes fast nonetheless.
My clone is making as much noise as possible to lure it towards me, I start heading further back while drinking a mana potion.
I got plot armor, I got plot armor.
Shut up Patty!
............
Haydn, Jurea, and Eric walked into a cavern that held the warlock.
It took them a while to get here, finding alternative paths while avoiding the nagmyre was challenging to say the least.
The cavern they entered had been expanded, multiple rooms on four floors with ladders leading up to them covered the walls.
Wooden chairs and tables were in the common area, although most were turned over.
Weapons littered the ground, along with blood.
Bandits had legs and arms ripped off, but none of them were reacting to the pain.
Eric ran up to them.
"What's wrong with them?!"
She asked, kneeling down beside a female bandit.
Haydn came up next to her and knelt down to point at an embedded gem in their foreheads.
"This is. He must have perfected the mind control!"
She looked innocently up at him.
Sadness filling her facial expression.
"Are they in pain? Does the mind control make them immune to pain?"
He pressed on one of their wounds while the veins around his eyes glowed.
When he was finished, he hesitated telling her.
She would be crushed by the truth, but he knew he owed her the truth.
After all, it wouldn't change anything.
"No, they feel it all, they just can't react to the agony."
Before he could say more - never mind react - Eric unsheathed her dagger and slashed the bandit's throat.
"Why would you do that?!"
"You said she was suffering, and you never let something suffer like that."
He was visibly shaken by her calm demeanor.
"Is it safe to assume that y'all dealt with the nagmyre?"
A deep foul voice brought their attention to a man with jagged yellowing teeth, a goatee, and oily hair tied into a manbun.
"You!"
Haydn shot up, glaring at the foul beast in the shape of a man.
"Yes, me.
You know it wasn't very nice leaving a nagmyre behind.
I had to order these fools to hold it off, while I hid in that room.
Now, I got to find more losers to use, not as easy as it sounds.
Now, step out of my way!"
None of them moved an inch.
"Do you really think that I'd let you go after you did this?!"
Haydn gestured with his arms at all of the Dead and dying men and women.
The man broke out a smile.
"Hahaha! And who's going to stop me? You and the two girls you brought? Are they nagmyres as well?"
"No, they aren't, but we'll still stop you!"
"You fucking idiot! The first thing about battle is knowing when not to talk, if you had told me that they were, I'd have to avoid killing them. But now..."
"That's not the first thing about battle."
Jurea said, cutting him off.
"Then what i... Whoa!"
Jurea had taken out her hammer and shot the chain, which passed him by inches.
"You missed! Bit... Ow!"
She had retracted the chain while pulling the wooden table she had impaled along with it.
It had hit the man in the back of his head.
"The first thing about battle is not talking, just doing, idiot."
"You fucking..."
Whoosh!
Thwack!
"Aaaah!"
While he was talking Eric shot an arrow, which he deflected at the last minute causing it to hit his leg instead of his chest.
"{Pulsar}!"
A stream of deadly energy raced towards them, but it smashed harmlessly against a mana shield Haydn put up before the man started talking.
Cracks appeared in it however.
Jurea and Eric shot out of either side of Haydn.
"{Pul... Aah!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Arrow after arrow was shot, causing him to use his concentration on making small energy fields to block them.
Also, he had to throw small energy shurikens at them, not as powerful and slower than pulsar, but he didn't need to chant for these.
Eric kept shooting at him, Haydn threw a myriad of spells, and Jurea would throw chairs and tables as she dodged.
Feeling his spell - he was casting in the back of his mind - was ready, he cast it.
A pulse of energy pushed out of him, knocking the three of them down on their respective asses.
"Did y'all really think y'all can defeat me?! The great warlock Jason Farmer from Oklahoma! MuHahaha!"
As he was doing his diabolical laugh.
Haydn magically flung a chair at him, causing him to block it. Giving Jurea the opportunity to throw her hammer up in the air and run towards him directly.
Eric also charge at him with her dagger.
Seeing Eric with a weapon and Jurea without, he choose to focus on Eric.
He flung her to the side.
While Jurea caught up, kicked his feet out from under him, and caught her hammer.
"Wait! Don't kill me! I'm too young to..."
Splat!
"He's dead."
Jurea stated.
Haydn looked at the suffering bandits.
"Good."
"Good indeed."
A female voice said.
A girthy woman with lavender hair tied into a fishtail braid, a very generous backside, and breasts that would put some fertility goddesses to shame stepped into the light shadows falling away from her.
"A male witch, and here I thought my luck had run dry."
Haydn had a bad feeling about this person, the veins in his arms started glowing, but she was faster.
She raised her arms veins alit, and vines erupted from the ground entwining all three of them.
"Who are you?!"
He gasped out.
She chuckled at that.
"Who am I?"
She motioned all around herself.
"The mastermind behind all of this."
"You're the warlock?! But he..."
She giggled, causing ripples through her body.
"You thought he was a witch?!"
"He did chantless magic!"
"Oh, yes, he is..."
She looked down at his headless corpse.
"Or rather was, a talented mage, and the magic he wielded was strange to say the least, but he was still only a human.
Unlike you."
She started pacing around them.
"How can you do this?! They're people!"
She looked at him, then at the bandits strewn about.
"So? They're people of the same species who'd kill you in an instant, and without a second thought.
Besides, once I raise an army of mind controlled witches I can kill the mother supreme, and rule all of the witches in Hexeia! And all of this will be much easier now that I have you."
"Why? You already had him."
She giggled again.
"Let me guess, you're not apart of a coven, your mother probably took and hid you away among the humans even though it was dangerous for her."
His face told her that she was indeed corect.
"Care to guess why?"
"I know why! She was chased out by her so called sisters!"
"Hahahahaha! I'm sorry, it's just so funny how you actually believed that!
No, the real reason is because male witches are rare and incredibly powerful, one who manages to become a high priest of a coven is basically unrivalled.
Any coven would kill for a male witch."
"Then, why...?"
"Why would your mommy run?
Because witch society is a matriarchal one, any male born is enslaved before they get it in their pretty little heads that they are anything besides a weapon to be used by their coven.
Your foolish mother probably thought you were actually a person, and wanted to protect you from that.
How pathetic."
His veins lit up, and vines holding him started to strain.
"Don't you dare talk about my mom!"
"There's that manly strength! But,"
Her veins glowed brighter, and the vines around Jurea and Eric tightened.
"If you don't cut it out right now, these two die."
He powered down, and the vines restrengthened themselves.
"Your mother wasted your potential, but I won't!"
She held up a crystal that was eerily similar to the ones embedded in the bandits heads.
"Don't worry about your friends, I might not have more crystals made right now, but I'll enslave them too. After all, they took down that boob over there easily enough! Hahahaha!"
Jurea grew strong enough to start breaking her bonds.
The warlock's eyes flashed.
Jurea closed her eyes in pain.
She giggled again.
"Wow! You can really take pain. I'm crushing every single nerve in your body, and you're just grimacing. Oooh, scary.
I can't wait to make you my lapdog, but times a wasting!"
She headed for Haydn, throwing the gem in the air and catching it again and again.
When, out of nowhere, something bashed her in the head, making her fall down and sent the gem tumbling across the ground.
"{Encapsulating ice}."
A coating of ice covered her as the smiling form of Flora appeared.
"Who the fuck are you?!"
"You don't really think these idiots could lead themselves, do you?"
"You're their leader?!"
"Guilty as charged."
"No, you aren't!"
Eric said interrupting.
"Like I said, idiots. They must have banged their heads really hard to not recognize their leader. {Encapsulating ice}{encapsulating ice}."
Ice covered both of their mouths.
"Mmmm!"
"Mmmm!"
"There y'all go, we wouldn't want y'all spouting more nonsense while y'all are mentally impaired, would we?"
"Fine, if you're the leader, release me before I kill them!"
"Weeeell..."
"Well, what?!"
"Well, you're not very good at this. Normally you'd hurt them to show your serious, then lead up to your ultimatum."
"Fine, you asked for this!"
Her eyes started glowing, only to stop when the ice grew and started crushing her.
"Aaaaah!"
"Oh, my, did I forget to mention I altered my spell so that it mana starved? And if you use any magic, it will kill you before you could say Flora rules. You see, that's how you pull off a threat."
"I'm the great witch Coby! You cant..."
"I can do whatever the fuck I please, except look bad."
Coby looked into Flora's eyes, and only saw her own impending death.
"Look, we don't have to be enemies!"
"I'm listening."
Haydn and the others glared at Flora.
"The mind benders! They will allow me to rule not only all of the witches here, but the entirety of Hexeia itself!
And you might not be a witch, but I'll let you rule beside me as a high priestess.
You'll live a life of opulence.
So, free me, let's go get my research, and then we can leave."
Flora held up two fingers.
"Two things wrong with that. Firstly, what research?"
Coby looked over.
"It's right over ther..."
The whole room burst into flames.
"I was wondering when that was going to happen."
"My... my research! How?!"
"Yes, it was really well hidden, until you appeared to take out my lackeys."
"Mmmmmmm!"
"Mmmmmmmm!"
Both Jurea and Eric thrashed around in their bonds.
"See, they agree with me."
"But that means you just sat by and watched as they almost died!"
"Yeah, so?"
Stunned, Coby couldn't say a thing.
Flora went to pick up the mind bender.
"The second problem is that I doubt you'll be able to do much as a brain-dead zombie."
"No!"
"You can't do that!"
Haydn spoke up.
"{Encapsulating ice}."
"Mmmmm!"
"You can't do this to me! You came with those wannabe heroes, didn't you?"
She kept walking closer.
"So?"
"So, this would go against everything you stand for! It is unconscionable!"
Flora bent down over her.
"You're right, anyone with even half a conscience wouldn't even think of doing that."
Coby breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank..."
Flora jabbed the crystal onto her forehead.
"It's a good thing I've never been held back by mine!"
Coby started thrashing about in agony.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Just as quickly as she had started, she stopped, and became limp.
Her eyes glazed over, and her breath became monotonous.
Flora started poking her.
"Hey, use magic."
She commanded her.
Coby's veins lit up, and the ice started crushing her again.
"Stop."
She immediately stopped using magic.
Flora placed her hand on the ice, and took apart the magic, causing it to crumble.
She then went to each of the other three to do the same to their bonds.
"You could have done that at anytime?"
Haydn asked.
"Of course, but then any of the three of you would've tried to stop me."
"Of course, we would have! What you did was evil!"
She just shrugged.
"You mean the same thing she did to those assholes, and was going to do to you? You really aren't getting the concept of comeuppance, are you?
Besides, now the threat she posed is up in flames, and she can no longer recreate previously stated threat.
Also, you get a free sex slave! Not as gorgeous as me, but she'll do."
He looked sickened.
"I'd never...!"
"Spare me the I'd never stoop so low speech.
If it helps, just think of it as her 'atonement'."
She winked at him.
Jurea walked over to her.
"Hey."
"What?! Want to complain about me gagging yo... guh!
Jurea's fist connected with her face.
........
My clone ran along the tunnels, the nagmyre hot on his tail.
This is the third clone that has engaged with that demon!
Each one suffered a painful demise, and lengthened the long list of ways I don't want to die.
My clone ducked into a side cavern, that was only eight feet deep and five feet across.
It was a complete dead end.
The nagmyre followed him in, its mouth drooling in anticipation.
"We're both intelligent monsters, aren't we? We can talk this out... aaaaah!"
It leapt onto my clone, tearing into him.
While, just outside of the entrance, I deactivated 'Combat Camouflage', and turned to face the opening.
"{Boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}{boulder}!"
A stream of boulders blocked the entrance.
The nagmyre noticed what I was doing, and got up to try and stop me, but my clone grabbed onto her, and held on.
Giving me just enough time to use my crafting stat to turn those boulders into a very sturdy wall, with tiny holes for breathing, and a small eyehole.
"Suck it! Whoa!"
When I stared in to taught it, it shot its tongue out of the eyehole.
"{Encapsulating ice}!"
A coating of ice covered the eyehole.
Never again, never again will I do anything horror movie-ish.
"Hey."
"Aaaaah!"
I turned to see Eric - who's the one who spoke - Haydn, and Jurea carrying a unconscious Flora who is sporting a black eye.
Walking behind them is a chubby woman with lavender hair, and a couple more people.
"Don't do that in a horror movie set-up!"
"I just said hey."
"Exactly! And who're they?"
I asked pointed at the newcomers.
"The warlock who started it all, and the victims of the mind control who weren't too injured for healing magic to bring back.
The rest we just put out of their misery."
I nodded in understanding.
I gestured to the room I made.
"Your friend is in there.
How long until she turns back?"
Haydn went and looked into the room.
"Depends, sometimes it just takes hours, other times a couple days.
Y'all can head back to Feuerdorf, I'll meet up with you if y'all are still there."
"Okay, I guess we'll see you, or not."
Jurea answered him bluntly, then left with us in tow.
____________________
"It was nice working with y'all!"
Haydn vigorously shook Jurea's hand.
It is the next day, and we're about to continue on our journey.
"If you really wanted to thank us, you'd give us a witch mana heart!"
Flora said.
Her black eye healed via healing magic once she had woken up.
"I'm truly sorry, but as I have already said, Coby might be a warlock, but she's still alive.
Also, my mother's heart is off limits because the villagers will rip you limb from limb for desecrating her grave."
Yeah, these people just keep getting weirder.
Once he returned, they praised him for bringing back a witch.
He then told them that she was an evil warlock who got mind controlled, and she and the few other bandits would help out around the village.
And that they were not sex slaves!
They immediately did sex stuff with her.
The only reason they didn't do it with the bandits was because they are human.
The trans dude was really sad about it not being a dude witch, and used the excuse that he loved his wife too much to use Coby.
That love didn't stop his wife from banging her though.
I turned to look at Emilie, her mousey brown hair cut short, and her brown eyes weary.
She must feel shitty about killing all of those people.
I know how it feels to be a normal human, only to be turned into a monster who has to kill to survive against your will.
"Look, I know I'm just a monster to you, but I'm here to listen. I know what it's like to feel bad about killing."
She yawned, crossed her arms, then looked at me confused.
"Feel bad? Why would I feel bad about killing those dick-slits?"
"It places a burden on the soul! As I can tell by looking into your eyes, they hold the weight of those murders."
"What the fuck are you talking about? My eyes look like this because I'm tired as fuck! As long as the nagmyre is in control I'm awake for the whole ordeal, and that fucker extends its time in this realm as long as it can!"
"But... the people..."
"Deserved to die if they didn't run fast enough, fucking retards are the ones who released it in the first place!"
"I... I... I guess so."
I gave up on trying to convince her.
"Here."
Jurea held out a medallion the size of a quarter.
Haydn took it from her, and flipped it back and forth looking over it.
"What is it?"
"Something my master gave me. Just say his name three times, and he'll know where to find you. He can help both of you."
"How?"
"Either by training, or just protection. He's a good man."
"How can an old man protect shit?!"
Emilie stated.
"Because that old man trained me, one of the ones who took down a mage and warlock a nagmyre couldn't."
Haydn cut Emilie off, before she could retort.
"I apologize for her behavior, she gets cranky after the transformation. Please, tell us your master's name."
"It is =-=-=-=-=-=-=."
For some weird reason I heard the name, but somehow didn't grasp it.
"What did you say?"
(Eric, Flora, Emilie, Lyra, and I.)
Everyone except Jurea and Haydn asked.
"What's going on? Why did I hear the name, and they didn't?"
Haydn asked.
"Only those who know, or are holding the medallion can hear his name. You should keep it that way.
Also, you should swallow it."
"What?! Why? Will it become part of me or something?"
Jurea shook her head.
"No, it is to avoid it from being stolen. Once it passes through you, you can rinse it off and repeat."
He nodded.
"Okay, but did you do that before?"
She shrugged.
"Just a couple of times."
Everyone except for Haydn looked at her in disgust, he was focused on the medallion in his hand.
He slipped it into one of his pockets, and then wiped his hand on his clothes.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll be doing that. Sorry."
She shrugged again.
"It's your choice. Good luck. Also, tell him I own my own land, it's by Saltwater Clearing."
"Thank you, and I will. Also, y'all are headed to Meerburg, correct."
"Yup."
Eric answered him.
"Yeah, most newcomers do, but don't head there. Instead, head for Fischkopfstadt."
"That's in the complete opposite direction!"
Flora said.
"Yeah, but the land between here and Meerburg is uncontestably witch territory, it's a battlefield between warlocks and witch hunters. Fischkopfstadt on the other hand is a relatively safe trip, and even though you lose time traveling there you make it back by sailing down the Alpain river."
"So, it's safer?"
I asked.
"Relatively, there will still be witches and monsters, but not as much."
He held out his hand.
"Thanks, it was nice working with you."
I said, as I took his hand in my own.
"The pleasure was all mine. It was nice speaking to another sapient monster.
I didn't even know lizardmen could be this intelligent!"
"Yeah, well, I'm a special case. I hope to see you again."
"Same."
__________
Eight days later we rolled into a village that was decimated by magic.