The tunnel Zhang Dong was peeking out was not the only one, there were many and they all led into this massive cavern. The other tunnels were also probably connected to other places that those demonic beings had taken over. Matt didn't know where they were, but they were probably deep under the city. The cavern was circular with a high ceiling. In the middle was an altar, pedestals with torches around it and a familiar-looking mass of tentacles in the middle.
*I thought that thing back in the forest died... are there more of them around...*
[ Ltl'thulhu The Corrupted One ( Core Formation Late Stage ) ]
*Ltl?... little? Is that even bigger than mini...*
This monster was certainly stronger than the last one of its type. Zhang Dong looked on as the monster was just a head peeking out of a mass of tentacles, similar to the way the other one looked when it powered up. He took a quick glance at the people that were standing around the altar. They were holding curved daggers in front of some infants that were placed on smaller sacrificial altars in front of the monster. What they were doing was quite clear, he had to save the children and he couldn't let the monster evolve further.
There were eight infants, two on each side of the rectangular altar. The people seemed to be finished with their chanting as they started pointing those daggers at the babies. First Matt bolted out of his hiding place, making enough sound so that everyone would notice his arrival. He wasn't really worried about the cultists, they weren't strong but he had to get those kids to safety first.
The cultists quickly started going through their demonic transformation as they reacted to the threat. While the baddies were focusing their attention on him, he surrounded the children with his spiritual energies forming small barriers around their frames. This was a bit taxing on his mind, but he managed to pull through before the monsters could shishkebab the poor babies.
The monsters were uppon him at that point, trying to devour him whole while their big boss was flailing around in the tentacle mass, mad that it couldn't get its meal. The lackeys weren't really a problem as they got bisected in an instant by his blade. He started cleaving them apart left and right while gathering up the infants from the altars.
Ltl'thulhu wasn't having any of this, the tentacle mass started coming together to form his body. He looked exactly like the monster that he fought back in the forest, but it was a lot bigger. The good thing about its size was that it was taking some time for that body to form, this was time he needed to get the kids out.
The children floated around him in those tiny barrier bubbles while he hopped onto his sword. He couldn't really battle this thing while thinking of the babies, so he decided to fly straight upwards. He shot through the air like an arrow, while holding out his sword that was glowing deep blue. The ceiling had some strange rune-like patterns drawn into the rocks, probably some kind of formation that prevented the demonic aura from seeping out. It only worked one way though, as Matt could feel that the rock wasn't all that thick. He used his Thunder Sword Thrust to lunch a flash of powerful lightning sword energy at the ceiling in front of him.
The people in the city could suddenly hear a rumbling sound, followed by thunder as Zhang Dong busted from beneath the clan estate. Yes, the monster lair was right under the governing clan's main building. But the clan in question didn't seem to be working with the demonic cultists as they were baffled by the situation as well.
The Kin Clan members just witnessed a cultivator bust through their backyard, surrounded by thick spiritual energy. After the man flew out, many winged monsters started clawing their way out of the hole, screeching and roaring in the surroundings. This certainly woke everyone up, the cultivators started fighting with the monsters that they previously came across but could never pint point their location. No one in their right mind would have thought that the demons were hiding right under their estate.
The monsters gnashed their teeth at the human cultivators that attacked them with spears and swords. While the creepy crawlies were distracted with the other cultivators Zhang Dong descended to the side. He looked around, spotting some female cultivators that were running somewhere. He dropped down right next to the group of females, the sight of a big burly cultivator with balls of light hovering around him made the people stop and stare.
"Hey, those demons were trying to eat these babies, bring them out of here, I'll take care of their boss."
The women blinked in surprise while Zhang Dong opened up the barriers surrounding the infants, doing it one by one while handing the crying children to the women. One of the women quickly run-up to a specific baby, grasping it close to her chest.
"It's Bao'er, he disappeared two days ago!"
Guess this one was one of theirs, so the women quickly took the babies away. The surroundings rumbled once more and a strong demonic aura could be felt by everyone. The people started screaming, blood coming out of their ears and eyes. This was clearly an aura attack performed by the huge ugly boss monster that started emerging from the hole in the ground. It was a lot bigger than the one he met in the forest, about three times as tall.
All of the monsters roared as their master was emerging, not affected by the aura. The human cultivators were close to losing their minds, but then they felt a powerful aura enveloping them. This aura pushed the demonic one away, forcing the smaller monsters back as well. The people saw a fearsome cultivator emerging on his sword, his body was covered in lightning, his eyes glowing with a deep blue hue.
"Hey, sh*t head. Your opponent is me."
Matt sent another sword thrust at the ugly looking beast, aiming for the head. The monster covered itself up with its huge palm which blew up sending flesh and black goo flying. The hand regenerated quite fast afterward though, the black blood sizzled against the pavement as it had corrosive properties, it even dissolved one of the smaller demons in the process.
Zhang Dong flew upwards on his sword, throwing his ranged skills at the monsters just poking it while the thing finally burst out fully through the rocky ground. It didn't look like he was doing much damage as the thing had high regenerative properties. This wasn't really his plan though, he just wanted to make it mad so that it would chase him instead of remaining in the city. His plan seemed to work as the monster spread it webbed wings taking off into the air.
The huge size making it blow away its own demon minions along with the weaker human cultivators. Matt flew away while throwing his javelins at the demon, slowly making the demon follow him to a more secluded location. He thought that the Kin Clan members should be able to take care of the weaker demons, they also had a core formation elder among them.
People in the city could see the giant being flying above them, its loud booming roars waking everyone up in the city. They could see that the behemoth was chasing a man on a sword, that was attacking it with some ranged attacks. It looked like the man was fleeing while the beast was chasing him down, it looked bleak for the cultivator.
The two vanished in the distance after a couple of minutes, the sounds of fighting could be heard in the Kin Clan compound as well as in the distance where the flying horror and the cultivator headed to.
*Okay, this should be far enough...*
Matt looked at the Cthulhu looking fiend, it looked quite similar to the mini version. Red glowing eyes, squid face, huge burly arms and frame. He thought to the last time he was battling this thing, that time he just overpowered it after finally mustering up some courage to fight. This time around it wouldn't be that easy, the thing was a lot stronger and a lot bigger. But he had also gotten a lot stronger and he actually knew how to use his techniques.
"I wonder how long you can keep regenerating, didn't last that long the first time we fought"
He grasped the air, forming another spear of light. He charged it up for a longer period before chucking it at the incoming baddie. The spear split into smaller parts and pierced into the tough green skin of the monster, damaging it in the process. Ltl'thulhu roared annoyed at the wounds it was receiving, the holes where the small spears pierced into healed in the spawn of seconds.
"Well, at least your slow and stupid."
Matt thought that he would just tire the thing out with some guerrilla tactics first. Poking till its regenerative abilities run dry, then he would either slice and dice it or match its size with his avatar ability. But as he was charging up another one of his ranged attacks, the beast roared and released a deep red energy blast from within its hideous mouth. The blast of energy headed right for him, in the nick of time he managed to dodge it to the left side, the blast only grazing his arm slightly. This was enough to disintegrate his clothes on his right side, his arm getting a bit charred in the process as he felt a massive amount of pain.
The energy attack flew by, crashing into a forest below creating a giant explosion. Dirt and dust flew up into the air as the only thing remaining afterward was a giant crater. It looked like a meteor had crashed in the middle of the forest. Matt's whole arm twitched, he felt a sharp pain but luckily nothing was broken and the pain quickly subsided thanks to his body refining skill.
*I guess it has more tricks up its sleeve...*