Rose and Ruiki hurried, the fagosins moving faster than they had eventually expected even in narrow passages, the sound of their screeches ever ringing in their ears.
As Ruiki and Rose knew they had a sizable distance to cover, they had chosen a narrow passage, making sure they wouldn't be flanked by fagosins left and right — though the credits of scouting would be the Baron's and James' by all rights.
Regardless, even in a narrow passage, it wasn't easy to get rid of the fagosins — that, and they needed to keep the creatures on their trail long enough to make sure the Baron and James had finished poisoning the corpses.
Ruiki did feel a bit conflicted, though. Dead bodies were sacred in the preachings of the churches, and harming a dead body or stealing from it was considered a serious offence — another reason for his hesitation earlier.
But now was not the time to hesitate, their pace growing slower due to exhaustion despite the fagosins maintaining a uniform speed.
A stray fagosin or two eventually caught up with them though, being fended off by Rose's greatsword.
"Be ready," Rose warned, "the passageway is coming to an end."
Ruiki nodded, his gaze fixated ahead, the exit not too far.
As the both of them eventually made it to the exit and Ruiki heaved a small sigh, his expression eventually froze.
Behind the exit, numerous fagosins laid waiting, waiting for their prey to come to them on its own.
How resourceful, Ruiki couldn't help but think, noticing the stark contrast between the fagosins and the goblins. Moreover, the fagosins have been in this cavern for a long time.
Ruiki glimpsed to the side, seeing that a fagosin had covered the "electrical device" as Rose had called it, perceiving it as a threat.
Without much of an option, Ruiki took out the fireball scroll that he had already stowed away in his robe's pocket, Good thing the robe has a lot of pockets, Albeit most of them were for storing potions and various ritualistic materials.
Gathering his breath, he instilled his essence into the scroll as the scroll glowed briefly, startling the fagosins as they rushed forward.
"Attack the device," Rose said, her arm glowing with a purple pattern as she swung the enchanted greatsword, a gale of wind brushing forth as it pushed the fagosins back.
Ruiki nodded, chanting and launching the spell at the fagosin covering the device.
Facing great threat, the fagosin side-stepped, the fireball eventually hitting the electrical device as the "electricity" running wild inside the device was finally freed.
Boom!
Amidst the firewave that encased the whole room and stopped the fagosins that were advancing from the passageway behind, Ruiki saw that the lightning which was finally freed, wrecked chaos in the room.
The lightning was first scattered due to the fireball, then merging together with the help of the ground and injuring a few fagosins in the process.
Then, after it had merged together, it gathered into a cloud of lightning charges, almost filling the whole room.
"Quick, now's the time!" Rose dragged him out of the room while the fagosins' eyes were fixated on the gathering of the huge magical energy, stealthily moving outside.
One of the fagosins' did notice them however, and thrust one of its many legs at Rose.
Rose blocked the strike with her greatsword and cut the leg in an upward motion, but the action had alerted many of the fagosins as they screeched and rushed wildly, some heading to the passageway and some going after Ruiki.
Rose grit her teeth as the complex purple symbols appeared on her arm once again as she swung her greatsword, slashing at the two fagosins chasing after them.
"Towards the door," she shouted at Ruiki as he prepared the Chain Lightning scroll if things went bad, his gaze fixated on the gathering cloud of lightning.
Rose defended against a fagosin and slashed against the other, forming a deep gash on its face and blinding its eyes, but due to the extended movement, the other fagosins took the opportunity to attack.
She did manage to block the strike aiming at her heart, but one of it's legs that were aimed at her thigh pierced through as Rose let out a shrill scream, the purple patterns on her arm glowing fiercely as she hacked at the fagosin, cutting off all of it's legs.
Taking the brief moment of respite, she got out of the room with Ruiki's help, and after reaching a safe distance, sat down and leaned against the wall, tending to her wounds.
Ruiki kept watch at the room the fagosins had gathered, which had partially collapsed with charred remains and dead bodies mixed around, devastated.
"That "electrical device" is equivalent to a large area-of-effect third-dimensional spell," Ruiki assessed, "Although it's more potent than a fireball, it's a bit slower."
"It would've been faster if you had hit the cloud," Rose said with a grin, "A pity you didn't."
Ruiki merely nodded, not responding.
"We have bought more than enough time," Rose stated from behind, bandaging her wounds as her loose red hair covered her face, "James and that Baron should have poisoned the bodies by now."
"You know the Baron?" Ruiki suddenly asked, a bit curious.
"I don't," Rose replied, "But it doesn't take much to know of his personality,"
True... Ruiki nodded, knowing the Baron well enough to know his nature. But since he doubted the Baron would harm James, he let him be.
Silence descended between the two of them, the only audible sound being Rose's laboured breaths.
Turning back to her, he asked. "Does it hurt?"
"What do you think?" She shot back, raising an eyebrow.
"I think it does," Ruiki replied as he moved closer to her, "Those patterns... What were they?"
Rose smiled at the question, chuckling. "Not much of a secret," she said. "Just some inscriptions."
Ruiki frowned. "Inscriptions? On the body of a... human?"
"What's wrong with that?" Rose questioned, her gaze puzzled.
Ruiki merely shook his head, returning to his position and watching the collapsed room.
Dangerous, he assessed Rose, finding some comfort caressing the Chain Lightning scroll in his robe's inner-pocket.
...
"We're almost done here," Barlet dusted his hands, putting his gloves back on as he gestured at James. "I think it's sufficient enough,"
"It'd take too much time to make the poison again from the dead fagosins' blood, and we'd find ourselves in a peril."
James nodded, glancing at the dead fagosins' scattered all around, Infighting everywhere... No matter which place you're dumped into, he then stole a glance at the Baron before he sighed and moved to a safe place, limping.
Soon, as the both of them watched, the fagosins returned, although their numbers had been reduced drastically with some wounded.
Most of them ate at the corpses until full, before pairs of fagosins headed towards the exit of the cavern.
"They'll probably try to hatch their offspring fast," Ruiki walked towards them slowly while supporting Rose as he mused, "That device was more potent than we had imagined,"
Rose leaned against the wall as she watched the fagosins gnaw at the human flesh far more vigorously than before, draining all the magic present in their bodies.
"We should be prepared," Rose nodded. "In case things go awry,"
"You sure you can fight?" James asked Rose, concerned.
Rose shook her head and laughed. "I'll be up and moving after some rest,"
James nodded, laughing.
"Get some rest, it's going to be dangerous ahead." Barlet suggested, moving south to scout further.
Their party had gained enough understanding of the cavern to navigate somewhat leisurely, avoiding traps and making sure to not disturb any creatures in slumber.
James merely shook his head at the Baron's receding figure and gestured Ruiki for a walk.
Ruiki complied, having nothing much to do.
The two of them walked side-by-side in a safe-zone as considered by them, where no creatures lurked for the time being.
"How's life?" James asked suddenly, surprising Ruiki a bit by the abrupt question.
"Life is... strange?" Ruiki answered. "What about yours?"
"Life is like life," James laughed. "How it should be, nothing much, nothing less,"
Ruiki didn't respond, not knowing what to say.
"You know, when I accepted the commission, never did I think it would be the end of my life as a mercenary," James said to Ruiki, his voice hoarse. "In fact, I thought it would present even more opportunities, considering who had sought our group."
"Everyone thought as such,"
Where is this conversation going? Ruiki thought as he cautiously asked, "You miss your group?"
James laughed. "Not as much as I miss my family, but yes," he stopped. "I do."
"That little brigand of ours," he started walking again, his steps echoing hollowly in the dim cavern. "Garold of Visconia, our leader. He had high ambitions,"
"Hailing from the north, he had settled with the tanners as he called us, and sought solace within, becoming one of us in the process."
James smiled. "He died with a smile on his face, that he had no family, and that the rest he wanted to protect were dead,"
Ruiki was a bit taken aback.
"But... I guess others weren't so lucky, they had many lingering regrets." James said, his gaze drifting.
"Do you know why we came here?" He asked, to which Ruiki shook his head. "It was a treasure hunt,"
"A treasure hunt?" Ruiki raised his brows.
James nodded. "Yes, a treasure hunt. A treasure buried right here, in the Cavern of Black Lilies."
"Aside from a few who were close to Garold, and Rose, no one knew where it is buried,"
Ruiki stopped, staring at James' back. "Why are you...? Do you think Rose is..."
"That's the thing," James twisted the new quarterstaff he'd found, facing Ruiki. "I don't know."
As Ruiki stared at him, James' gaze became sharp, lacking the previous humour it had as his lips parted.
"Beware of greed, Ruiki," James shook his head, looking at the complex engravings on the walls, "It's everywhere. No matter where you go, it follows you persistently, more so than your shadows."
...
Most of the fagosins all over the cavern were convulsing on the ground, more so the ones near the exit of the cavern, where they had gone to hatch the offspring early and reproduce.
But a lone fagosin, considerably older than others with more scars and wear, weakly walked towards the room containing the polymorphed humans.
It then stood near a test tube, looking at the fluids inside bubbling once in a while, the polymorphed creature laying dormant.
The fagosin weakly lifted its legs, using the last bit of its life to pierce the test tube, leaking the contents outside.