Chapter 43: Fire & Vermin
The demon lord didn't come alone.
He brought a large group of spider friends with him. Just like the sprawls he had had with him in the cavern the other day. They were crawling all over the giant web. The demon lord himself couldn't be specifically detected at this particular moment in time, but he had to be somewhere around her.
"Do you think it was such a good idea to go outside? Wouldn't it have been better to wait for them to come to us?" Junk asked the witch as they walked down the steps leading to the tower.
"No. We have to end this now and forever. Araknar has been part of my life for way too long. It has to end tonight," she replied.
"Understood, commander. But there is just one problem."
"What is it?" she turned her head to him as she asked.
"I've been battling with my bare hands for far too long. Yes, I found this armor in that cavern, but I've been fighting without a weapon forever. Do you think you could give something to battle with?" The Minotaur was right. He could fight with the claws that came with the gauntlets of the armor, but his claws could only get him so far. The same thing could be said about his horns. He could use them as much as he wished. And it did a lot of serious damage, but it wasn't like he was armed with something he could hold in his hands. He was missing an item. A tool. September had a leaf scepter. She used it all the time. That was her tool. It was time for Junk to have something that he could make his own.
"That's too bad. I had something for you. Something I meant to give you before Araknar found us," she mentioned to him.
"Well, there is still time, you can give it to me now," he said.
"No. It's too late. I don't have it on me. Obviously. It's something that was buried in the crypt. It's in one of the tombs. I was waiting for the right moment to give it to you," she explained.
"Why would you ever bury an object so important in a tomb instead of keeping it safe in your office in the tower or something? It doesn't make any sense," the Minotaur lost it with her and elevated his voice a bit. He wasn't mad at her, but rather at this situation.
"It was someone that we buried a long time ago," the witch explained to him. Soon, there would be no time to do any explaining because the spider vampire followers were quickly marching forward. Most of them were still descending from the gigantic web, but soon, the both of them would be submerged by these vile creatures.
"That's not so important now. Can't you teleport that item here outside, whatever that item here is?" the beast demanded her. The vermin climbed down the giant web and crawled so fast toward them that there would be no time to talk in less than a minute from now. They had to prepare for fighting. Their lives were on the line here. Junk wouldn't be able to fight for too long without a real weapon. That was the harsh reality of it. He needed a decent weapon.
"I can't. Teleportation is one of the trickiest and most difficult magic to utilize and do well. It has its limits. And because the item is being kept in the crypt with him, I can't teleport it here."
"Him? Who's him? Who is that?" he continued questioning her. So much so that he almost got angry here. But she stayed calm.
"He's the one who used to wear this armor you have on."
"..." this left the Minotaur stunned and speechless.
"Alright. I'll hold on to the fort for you. Since I can't teleport the weapon from there to here, you'll have to go fetch it for yourself. That's your new quest, Minotaur. Go in the crypt. The right wing of it. The fourth tomb you'll see on your left. You can't miss it."
"Are you sure you want me to leave you alone? Hell. I was supposed to be your guardian and to protect you with my life originally, right? Before you named me your breeder, he asked her.
"Don't worry. I just need a breeder. That guardian thing was not necessary to say the least," but then, as she replied to him, the spider vampire followers reached their position outside, near the entrance of the tower and entirely surrounded the two. The monsters went for the Minotaur first. Most likely imagining he was the strongest among the two, being the alpha male around here. However, as soon as they decided to storm Junk when his back was facing them, the Autumn witch smirked. She had something in mind for the emerging vermin. She knew what to do with them.
Fuck! They are already here? These bastards, the Minotaur thought to himself as he finally noticed the creatures coming up to me into his back. Noticed them a bit too late. They took him by surprise, despite the fact that he perfectly knew that they were coming.
"Autumn's Flame Burst!" September shouted at the top of her lungs, reacting to the attack of the persistent followers of the demon lord. She waved her leafy scepter up in the air as she shouted the name of her spell and cast it. It had for effect conjured a hurricane of flames that suddenly came out from the tip of her scepter and swiftly spiraled all around Junk's body. Surrounding him. Killing everything around him. The Minotaur shut his eyes and prayed not to get burned alive. When he re-opened his eyes a short while later, the flames had vanished and all spider vampires surrounded him as well. They were only bones and dust.
"You… You nearly burnt me, witch…" he said to her.
"We have no time to waste. Go inside and find the tomb. I will take care of them in the meantime. Move! Move it! More of them are coming!" she shouted at him, as he wasn't moving anywhere as fast as she was hoping for. Without saying anything, he ran back toward the tower. Climbed up the steps. More followers rushed at the witch. Assaulted her. A few of them went past her as she hit a few of them with her scepter. Two of them climbed up the steps, and Junk had just enough time to close the gates on them. Squashing them in the process. Then, it was complete darkness. The Minotaur was on his own, and he had to make his way down to the crypt as soon as possible. Everyone was running out of time.
Outside, the former Witch Queen had to fight for survival. Thankfully for her, the followers of the demon lord weren't too tough to handle. Her Autumn fire-based abilities were exactly what she needed to keep them at bay. They were burning. They were all burning. No matter how much September was surrounded at times, she always found a way to bounce back and to cast another hurricane of flames which spiraled around her brutal enemies. Wrapping them in blazing fire. Ending their miserable lives. However, the more she killed, the more that came back and stormed out of the massive glowing web which formed a dome all around the tower. The battle could go on for what she thought could be forever. Fortunately for her, September still had a ridiculous amount of mana milk in her breasts. Since she and Junk had been disrupted earlier with the powerful vibrations, she couldn't feed him, which resulted in her keeping more mana milk inside of her chest than she originally thought. This meant less vitality for Junk, but more power for September. Some could say that this was a double-edged sword.
It honestly truly was. September continued fighting the crawling monsters all around her. They were absolutely relentless.
The worst thing about all of this is not even the fact that we have to fight back and to survive. It's the fact that we are being invaded at our home. Since this tower is mine, this is the first time it was ever invaded. I don't know how Araknar found us, but I can't tolerate this kind of thing. It just makes me want to… September thought to herself as she raised her leaf scepter up in the air and waved it a bit before making it spin while lowering it back. Then, when she lowered it again, more flames came out of the tip of her scepter. Flying toward a new group of dangerous spider demon followers, which all their big, erect dicks out, throbbing in the air, hoping to make September their meal. Fools. They were all fools. … Brutally murder all of them! September then continued her train of thought as she lowered her magical item and burnt at least two dozen followers to a crisp. They became dust as well. More ashes surrounded the former Witch Queen. She paused. Stood in the middle of the battlefield. Looked around. There was so much ashes everywhere. September could finally catch a break. She was panting. More enemies were on the way, but they were still pretty far. They were still crawling all over the massively large blue web.
This previously hidden region was the true sanctuary where September personally enjoyed spending the most time in. Everything about this region reflected her soul. No matter what season it was, this region always looked like Autumn. It never changed. A small part of the world that was stuck in time. September utilized this momentarily pause to look around and to observe the destruction that Araknar and his troop had bestowed upon this place. Her place. The tower itself had suffered from some earthquakes the giant web had, unfortunately, caused. The tower had suffered from a few fissures. It was breaking. Just like her, it was breaking. The enemies were getting closer and closer. They were gaining ground.
On the other side of the wall of the web, the beautiful forest had also suffered the effects from the violent earth vibrations. A lot of trees had succumbed to those effects and had been broken. Some of them were even sadly uprooted. This was a disaster. This wasn't what September was hoping for when she came back here with the others. This was supposed to be the beginning of their adventures… The beginning of their quest to retake the throne of the guild of witches. Things were not so off to a great start. It was not time to give up, but seeing her secret Autumn sanctuary in such a state… Invade… Sure made her feel a bit different about taking on this dangerous quest and continuing fighting over and over. She was still panting a bit.
"What do you want, Araknar? Why attack my tower?" she spoke to him without seeing him. She could feel his presence.
"You are the one who came to me first. You massacred some of my followers. You still are. Your tower is going to make for a much better domain than my old cave. And I have spent way too much time without a bride. The elvish girl will do just fine," he replied to her telepathically. Communicating with her through the vibrations on the web, he had generated all around her and her territory.
"Seems like you want me to murder all of your spawns. Why don't you quit hiding and come on down here, so we can have one final showdown? Um?" September smiled as she made this offer.
But then, nothing happened. He didn't show up.
"I see. You are too scared to fight a witch. I knew it," she said. September looked around. When she expected the followers to come attacking again, she realized that they were now on hold. Waiting on their web. Some of them even backed off. This wasn't what she expected to happen. She was already prepared to burn more of them. Over and over. Yet, it wasn't quite what happened. Why would they stop? Sure, the number of their group was slowly becoming lower and lower, but backing off now wasn't going to help them at all.
"Who said that I was scared of you?" Araknar surfaced again. She heard him, communicating to her in her head just before he suddenly dropped from the air, up above her, coming down from his web.
Taking her by surprise, the demon lord moved four of his arms toward her, attempting to take what was the most precious regarding her anatomy. Her breasts. Filled with her vital mana milk.
He didn't touch them, but he was about to.