"My children! My babies!"
Distorted screams echoed from the cave of the goblins' lair. Every time a goblin died, subtle pings returned to Selena. At first, she was content with the sacrifices, but as the losses mounted, her wails of despair began.
These wails grew louder as time passed and the massacre continued, shaking the very walls that supported her existence. Rocks and boulders shook loose, tearing holes that bled profusely.
"Those bastards-"
Chunks of ground boiled over as tumors of blackened flesh burst through the surface.
"Not my babies!"
"Not her babies!"
A giant hand- its length equal to three salamanders or twelve average-sized humans lined up head-to-toe, or head-to-tail- gnarled and disjointed, erupted from the ground. The weight caused trees to snap violently.
As the grotesque limbs emerged, pustule sacs fell from her form, impacting the ground with sickening squelches, birthing goblins. Fully grown, screaming violently in a pre-birthed berserk state, they echoed their mother's misery.
"Not her babies!"
"Not my babies!"
The screams continued as the malformed figure rose from the soil and rock. There was no head, only a goliath of a body, supported by six massive limbs with clawed hands.
Across her form, hundreds, if not thousands, of pulsating pustule sacs clung like spiderlings to their mother, shifting across her surface before retreating back inside.
Another shriek erupted- this time a choir of despair and rage.
Selena, the Eldritch Abomination, was born.
------------
Atlas sat there, fingers folded, staring at the Eldritch Abomination.
"I... almost want to see how it plays out," he said through folded fingers, like a wise man deep in thought.
Twenty-five divinity points remained.
He could weaken it twice, reducing its ability by 50%, or strike it down with lightning.
"Lightning strikes can kill Eldritch Abominations, right?"
"As long as they are your own," Wisp replied casually.
While Atlas sat in awe at the carnage on the battlefield through the screen, completely disconnected from the misery, Wisp was different.
It chirped, wandering back and forth, making cold statements such as, "That dark elf will die," before it actually happened.
Or-
"She would've been more powerful if she had let her kin die and absorbed their corpses. You would've had a stronger unit."
And at this moment, Wisp was no different.
"I would not suggest eliminating the Eldritch Horror," Wisp said. "Its abilities are unique and have been tremendously improved."
Wisp wasn't wrong. Atlas had pulled up the individual's specs for both Selena and Myra earlier on the CDIM.
Beside him, four beer cans were already cracked open and empty as he sipped on his fifth.
------------
Name: Myra
Race: Dark Elf
Age: 478
-Upgrade-
------------
Status:
Average Lifespan: 1600
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 40
Potential: 130
Magic: 80
Fertility: 2
Special Traits/Abilities: Magic Affinity II, Red Mist, Dark Vision, Heightened Senses, Darkness
------------
------------
Name: Selena
Race: Eldritch
Age: 478
-Upgrade-
------------
Status:
Average Lifespan: ***
Vitality: 50
Intelligence: 10
Potential: 140
Magic: 30
Fertility: 140
Special Traits/Abilities: Telepathy, Execution, Spawning, Paralyzing Scream
Special Note: Half of every year, it must burrow and hibernate to recover.
------------------
Atlas's eyes widened as he stared at the potential of the Eldritch Abomination, Selena, for a moment.
"Hold on, it's potential is almost higher than Primordial Dragons..."
"She's almost at the point where she could spawn armies with the strength of Primordials?!"
Wisp nodded at his incredulity. "But she must consume a corpse first. She doesn't replicate exceptional beings of a race, however- like Myra. If Selena consumed Myra, she would only replicate Dark Elves at their base stats."
"Aw, that's bull."
"Really?" Wisp chirped, tilting its head. "Having a creature that can spawn armies of your most powerful unit isn't enough?"
"It's useless for half the year," Atlas grunted. "If another Weaver figured that out, they'd just plan around it. Also, if I let it roam free, it would devastate the entire continent- or perhaps the whole planet."
His eyes followed Selena as her monstrous figure slowly entered the desert. Sighing in disappointment, his mind shifted to the Weakening Curse.
"An army of Primordials, all under Selena's will... In some ways, that makes her more powerful than her Weaver," Atlas muttered, his finger hovering over Weakening Curse - 25% - 10 Divinity.
"Show me a preview of her stats if I weakened her once or twice."
All of her stats adjusted accordingly, and her special note changed.
------------------
Special Note: Weakened 25%. Instantly falls into hibernation for fifty years. Wanders the planet for one year every fifty years.
Special Note: Weakened 50%. Instantly falls into hibernation for one hundred years. Wanders the planet for one year every century.
------------------
"Well, it gives me time to think at least." Atlas muttered. "Fifty years, in fact. End of the century... my divinity should return by- over 180?"
"I'll be fine. Worst case scenario, I'll nuke her."
------------------
Disaster: Weakening Curse - 25% - 10 Divinity Cost
Divinity: 25 (-10)
Oracle: 10 Divinity Cost
Divinity: 15 (-10)
------------------
------------------
The Eldritch Abomination, Selena, came to an abrupt halt in the sands.
Letting out a pitiful moan, its front hands dug furiously into the ground before it dropped its massive weight into the half-mile pit it created. Giant mounds of sand, the size of dunes, were scooped up and thrown over itself, much like how a six-eyed sand spider buries itself.
Then, its arms violently thrust into the earth.
For a brief moment, there was silence. Then, the ground shuddered.
A cave opening appeared. Fifty meters deep, empty, cold, and seemingly lined with regular stone. A sharp contrast to the barren desert above.
The goblins that had already spawned blinked, their consciousness clearing as they glanced around in confusion. Without hesitation, they abandoned the scene, returning to the more lush mountainous landscapes in the distance.
Atlas watched with a wide, entertained grin before sending Myra another Oracle, informing her that they were safe once more- but to beware. Every fifty planetary cycles, this Eldritch Abomination would rise again, forcing them to flee or find a way to distract it.
One thing he forgot to mention, however, as he finished his fifth beer, was the cave.
And in the future, when he finally recalled it, he would merely shrug.
"Oh well. It's not like they'll go live in it. There's no water sources nearby, nor centuries of dug-out tunnels."