Two heads poked out from an overhang.
"Battling for their lives.", Liemann whispered as he cast a dark rune over both of their heads.
"Grah."
Yeah. They're fighting all right.
From his vantage point, Liemann observed the brutal fight taking place in the open area below him. The ground trembled beneath his feet as the two creatures clashed with a flurry of claws and spikes, each determined to emerge as the victor.
ROOAARR!
SCREECH!
The one on the left was a bear-like monster with six legs and four arms, though those arms were more similar to a spider's than an actual bear's - its limbs resembled those of a spider, each one ending in a razor-sharp claw that glinted menacingly in the dim light.
Despite its grotesque appearance, the creature was a formidable opponent, boasting a size that exceeded anything Liemann had ever seen. Its muscular frame rippled with power as it clashed with its opponent, causing the ground to quake with each blow.
ROAR!
The colossal bear thrashed its extended claws at an equally imposing monster that Liemann could only describe as impressive. It resembled a caterpillar, but its length was comparable to a school bus, and instead of tiny legs, it had numerous human-like arms sprouting from its body. The bizarre creatures appeared to result from someone's twisted biological experiment, a grotesque combination of different animals that defied the natural order of things.
SCREECH!
SLASH!
ROAR!
"Damn. They're strong. Do you think you can take a hit from them, Jim?"
"Grah. Grah, grah."
Liemann couldn't tell what Jim was saying, but it was probably along the lines of 'I'll instantly be pulverized by them, so please do not push me out and use me as bait!'. Something like that.
"Sounds about right."
He watched the beasts with a pensive expression, taking note of their movements and strategizing his next move. As he observed the carnage, pieces of flesh and bone flew past him, landing with a thud near his feet.
BANG!
SLASH!
SCREECH!
"Apart from interfering with my eventual fight with these two, there's the big problem that I cannot ignore..."
"How do I keep track of where up and down are? Do I even know that my original cavern is in the correct orientation?"
This 'cavern' they were in now slightly differed from the one before. Rather than the gravity acting downwards like one would expect, this one's gravity was reversed.
Yep, Liemann was perched on a ledge upside down from where the fighting was happening, far 'below' the two monstrous beasts as he had to crane his neck to observe the state of his (eventual) prey.
ROOAR!
BOOM!
"What a bizarre world."
Liemann scratched his forehead in frustration. The world he had stumbled into made no sense to him. He and Jim had followed the one tunnel that led out of the cavern, encountering some small creatures that they had to fight off along the way.
All of that seemed normal enough until Liemann stepped into the cavern and felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach. As he lifted his foot to take a step forward, he quickly pulled it back, realizing that something was off with the space itself!
SCREECH!
Therefore, he chose to observe the two monstrous creatures battling each other from the elevated entrance of the cave, intending to seize their runes once they were wounded or dead. In any case, he did not intend to let them exit the cavern alive. After all, there were more runes to be collected, and a seasoned MMO player knows how to hoard!
"..."
"Hey, Jim, you think we can kill steal at the last moment?"
"Grah?"
"If you said 'we can definitely if we wait to out' then sure. I'll take that as a yes."
He slapped the mobile storage's back and resumed his observation duty.
...
ROOAARR!
With a deafening roar, the Giant Bear faced off against the grotesque Caterpillar abomination. The beastly creature had entered the domain without invitation, and it was time for it to face the consequences of its actions. The bear brandished its claws and prepared to strike the enemy. With a mighty slash, the bear aimed to end the abomination's life. It was a hideous beast, and the Lord's creation was not meant to be challenged by such monstrosities. The Caterpillar abomination managed to dodge the initial attack, but it stumbled on its human legs, leaving a vulnerable opening.
Seeing that the thing had lost a part of its balance, the Giant Bear dove forwards and pierced its claws into the right side of the ungodly creature, ripping out a massive chunk of flesh that had three arms attached!
RIP!
SCREEECH!
Good! Feel the pain! You vile creature from the Midnight Layer - ROAR!
The bear lunged forwards and bit into the green flesh of the caterpillar, tasting an acidic smell that permeated through its mouth as the cursed blood of the nasty varmint flowed into it!
SCREE - THUD!
Its death bite was quickly neutralized by the caterpillar who'd realized that its flesh was being gnawed on, throwing an entire body side of punches at the bear!
BANG!
With a mighty force, the bear was hurled across the cavern, slamming into the cave wall with a deafening impact. The sheer power of the collision caused the wall to crack, sending rocks and stones raining down upon the bruised and battered creature.
The bear spat the chunk of pulsing green flesh out of its maw and stood up with a pained expression, feeling that many of its bones had just been broken.
Strong...I must inform The Lord of their return...it is my duty to do so!
ROAAARR!
With a thunderous roar, the bear unleashed a deafening scream that shook the very earth beneath it. The sound waves rippled out so intensely that they distorted the air around the beast's gaping maw.
BOOM!
The 6 legs dug into the ground and launched the massive bear-like body towards the abominable creature, heading straight for the abdomen of the wretched hybrid.
Obviously, this did not go unnoticed by the ungodly creature as it twisted its body with impossible speed, turning the multiple metres long midsections out of the way and preparing its fists to land another series of blows!
RIPP!
BANG!
Spider legs and human arms collided midair, causing shockwaves to form at each point of contact, with bits and pieces of flesh being flung around as the pair entered a beautiful dance with the grim reaper.
PSSHHT!
SCREECH!
ROAARRR!
BOOM!
As the fight progressed, they slashed and tore out pieces of each other's bodies, dyeing the area in a mixture of red and green, pink and white that filled the cavern with a pungent stench of death.
...
Sometime later.
He pulled on the zombie who had lost interest in the scuffle and began fidgeting with some blades of grass from his backpack.
Jim grunted, "Grah?"
Exasperated, Liemann cast another dark rune above their heads, jolting Jim out of his childlike reverie and jumped off the ledge they were resting on.
Plop!
Plop!
Two sets of feet landed on the ground that was no longer visible; a thin layer of a thick, viscous liquid had replaced the surface of the rocks.
The victor of the fight was none other than the 10-limbed bear, which had suddenly increased its aggression mid-battle. Despite the caterpillar-human hybrid's attempts to defend itself, the bear carelessly threw itself into its opponent's punches, receiving many blows that made the air crackle from the sheer force of the impact.
"Well, that was actually me casting the nausea rune mixed with some other ones for extended range, though." Liemann chuckled darkly.
He found that if he didn't intervene, the fight would be a close one, but the bear would've lived through it with injuries that weren't life-threatening.
That was bad!
He was sure the strange mix of a spider and a bear wouldn't notice him through the distance superposed with a dark rune on top, but it managed to stare at him for a second.
It was that one second that sent shivers down his spine.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
He walked towards the bear that was breathing heavily, laid on its sides as only 2 legs and an arm remained from the battle. It was bleeding bright red blood that gushed from the many holes in its body, a direct result of being thrown countless times into the cave walls and impaled with sharp spikes until it became nothing but a broken doll.
There were pieces of mangled flesh and bones protruding from the wounds, attached to a few scraps of skin that remained intact from the carnage wrought on by the caterpillar.
All in all, Liemann's nausea spell had worked wonders for the caterpillar to decimate the bear to this extent.
"I'm sorry, bear, but my survival comes before yours. If it means I must pull some dirty tricks, then so be it. You were not strong enough to fight off a disgusting camper and a caterpillar at once."
He began to take out the metal spikes off his side pocket and prepared to start casting his [Dart] spell in a burst to kill this beast and get its rune.
Swish. Swish.
"Un...dead"
Swish.
Liemann abruptly stopped in his tracks, his jaw agape and his eyes dilated in disbelief as he heard a sound coming from a nearby beast. Could it be possible? Did he just hear the bear speak? He gazed up at the bear's head and was met with its piercing eyes staring right back at him. The eyes held a blazing fury that seemed to sear into his soul. The anger and resentment behind them were almost tangible, rendering Liemann immobile as he struggled to move a muscle.
"Undead...extraordinaire..."
Kkrrrr.
Thud.
It flipped its body and stood on the one spider leg it had, its massive frame looming over Liemann. Blood dripped from the fur that was stained a deep crimson, and pieces of flesh plopped down from the crumbling body of the bear.
"Undead...you foul creature. No different from the disgraceful Plague of the Midnight. You challenge a creation of The Lord..."
The bear spat out pieces of innards while heaving badly.
"You shall face me...the third creation of The Lord..."
"..."
SPLASH!
BOOM!
"..."
The two undead moved closer and stopped at the mouth that had stopped breathing.
Thud.
Thud.
"Dead."
"Grah."
"Well, you see, Jimmy boy, that's why you don't try to go for rhetorics when you're almost dead."
"Lemon, grah."
Liemann ignored the 4-year-old and carefully inspected the corpse, ensuring that it had died and would not absolutely trash him when he searched its body for a rune.
He cautiously approached the corpse, ensuring it was truly dead before proceeding. Liemann drew a light rune before its eyes, waiting patiently for any sign of life. When none came, he knew that it was safe to search the body for any valuable runes.
"Dead. Good, you go and make sure that the caterpillar is dead."
"Grah!"
Swish. Swish.
"I sure hope this Lord or whatever doesn't appear out of nowhere."
Liemann sighed as he neared the middle part of the 10-limbed bear, thinking that the position of the crystal may be similar to those hedgehogs' when they died.
He plunged a metal spike into the skin and began to carve his way through the corpse in search of a crystal that would likely contain a different rune.
Stab.
Rip.
"And I sure hope that I didn't just jinx myself again."
Stab.
Rip.
Swish. Swish.
"Grah."
"It's dead?"
"Grah."
"Good, now you help me find the crystal."
Liemann handed Jim another pair of metal spikes, showing him how to rip and tear through the tough hide of the bear.
Before long, the cavern's silence was filled with the sound of metal against flesh. The undead pair carved their way through the many tons of meat for a crystal that would give Liemann more power before his eventual debut to the 'outside' world.