Chapter 20: Wrong Dungeon (2)
Neban crawled to the others as they were also on the ground from the shaking. Owain was holding onto the tree as he looked at the floor with a frightened expression; Wey and Isona looked scared, too, as they were trembling from fear.
"Isona and Wey, move closer to Owain," Neban told them. They started to crawl over, almost tripping a few times as they moved it towards Owain's direction. When they were next to Owain, Neban began to speak again.
"I am going to turn all of you, invisible. It will only last for half an hour. The Dru might see through it, but not the other monsters. So, when you are invisible, move far from here." Neban told them, trying to ignore how he has been starting to talk longer than usual lately.
"Will we be invisible to you? If so, how will you find us?" Wey asked since Owain and Isona looked like they could not talk at the moment. Neban heard the ground cracking; he turned, seeing the floor caving in as something was starting to come up.
He quickly grabbed all of their hands, dropping Siren down in the process, "I can find you. Once I make you invisible, leave without hesitation." He then used [Shadow x3], turning them invisible like shadows in a shaded area.
"Go," Neban told them as he grabbed Siren, using it to help him stand up.
'Hey, my purpose is to kill, not this.' Siren complained.
Neban ignored the sword as he stood on shaky legs. He was getting ready to check and see if the others left but did not have time as the Dru popped out of the ground, creating a big hole and cracks around it.
The action caused Neban to fall back to the ground, landing on his backside. Neban did not make a noise when he fell back down, but Siren did touch the ground, creating a sound. The Dru turned towards them, hearing the noise as it opened its mouth; venom was flowing down its sharp canines.
Neban did not have time to move or dodge as the Dru quickly slid over to them, more of its body coming out from the ground. The Dru's mouth was wide open as it tried to eat him, but Neban used Siren to hold the thing's mouth open, so that it wouldn't close.
The Dru moved closer as it made a terrible noise, not caring that the sword was cutting the corner of its mouth. Neban guessed that Siren could cut through the monster's tough skin. The thing was pushing him back as it kept moving forward, trying to eat him whole.
'I cannot suck the damn thing dry, but the blood of this monster is magnificent. Better than the other one.' Siren spoke as small drops of blood fell on its blade from cutting the corners of the thing's mouth.
Neban ignored Siren as he saw the venom from the creature's fangs were slowly coming down, close to landing on him. He did not have anything to protect himself from the monster's poison, so he started to think quickly, trying to figure out how to get from this predicament he was stuck in.
An idea hit him, Neban could play the Mage. Even though it would not be perfect and probably not hurt the monster, it would distract it enough to let him go.
[Fire Breath]
He blew fire in the monster's face, almost hitting the eyes as the Dru moved back with a hiss, closing its eyes. Neban quickly pulled Siren away from holding its mouth open as he rolled to the other side, a bit far from the thing.
He would have used [Shadow Travel] to move away, but he had to stand up to use the move. Neban did not have the time to get up as the Dru turned towards him, slithering over.
Cursing, Neban swiftly moved away, causing it to hit its head on the ground, creating a small hole. 'Use me already, human!' Siren shouted.
'I am trying here.' Neban responded as he backed into a tree near him, using it to pick himself up. Once he was standing, the Dru was already coming towards him. He quickly swung Siren, cutting a semi-deep line in the monster's chin as the thing got near him.
The monster angrily hissed as it moved back, glaring at Neban. Then it turned around, moving faster than any creature that Neban saw (and fought) as its whole body came from out of the ground. The Dru's tail hit all the trees, knocking them done as it came towards Neban with accelerated speed.
Neban cursed as he started running, getting ready to use [Shadow Travel], but the tail was faster as it swept under his feet, throwing him over. He would have landed on his back and head if he did not use [Shadow Beam x5] to cause a giant blast, blowing him and the monster back.
They hit a few trees before they landed on the ground. Neban did not feel much, even though his cheeks were scratched up from the branches and his glasses went missing. He used the Dru as a cushion to take all the damage since its body was durable.
'How smart, you could have hurt both of us with that!' Siren complained once more.
'Shut up, already.' Neban answered, rolling his eyes as he began to stand up; his legs felt like jelly.
He did not have time to think about that when his senses told him that something was getting ready to attack from the back. He swiftly turned around, expertly swinging the sword along with him as he sliced down. Neban cut the monster's tail as blood splashed on him when the tail moved for a while before going still.
Neban wanted to complain as he started to wipe the blood off him and onto Siren's blade but stopped himself as he heard the Dru make a noise that sounded between a hiss and growl. He used [Shadow Travel] to move back as the thing started to turn around, breaking down more trees.
'Sink the thing.' Siren advised.
'Why? It can still crawl underground.' Neban asked.
'We cannot waste any more time trying to kill this thing, and I want to drink more of its blood. Once you sink it, you are going to stab out its eyes then cut off its head.' Siren explained to him.
'Do you want me to go for the belly too?' Neban mockingly mentioned since it sounded like Siren wanted to overkill the monster.
'Shut up, and do it now! The thing is almost near.'
Siren was not lying; the creature was close, almost moving faster than his [Shadow Travel]. Neban could see the anger in the thing's eyes as its mouth was dripping with venom; it probably was going to poison him for cutting its tail off.
Neban pointed his finger to the ground between him and the Dru as he used [Shadow Beam x8] and [Shadow Travel] simultaneously, so he wouldn't get caught up in the blast.
The ground started to crack all over, and once the monster's body slithered over it, the floor caved in. The Dru fell in with the rest of the rocks and dirt. Neban moved closer, pulling out two knives from his sub-space, throwing them into the monster's eyes once the thing opened them.
The creature let out a cry mixed with a hiss as it started to move its head around. The movement caused the ground to erratically shake, making it hard for Neban to stand straight.
'Hurry!' Siren rushed him.
Neban crookedly ran as he jumped down, swinging his sword, aiming for the monster's neck. But, the thing must have sensed where he was going, even though it cannot see anymore, as it snapped its teeth out, catching the ends of Neban's cloak.
It pulled, throwing Neban back to the surface as it tore the fabric off the cloak. Neban landed in some bushes, almost dropping Siren along the way. He tightened his grip on the sword as he started to push himself up but stopped when he saw the Dru coming out of the vast hole in the ground, making its way toward him.
There was blood dripping down the monster's face as the knives were still in its eyes, but the Dru did not care for it nor needed them because it could spot Neban with no problems. 'Why say the eyes are a vulnerable spot when it can still attack like normal?' Neban complained in his head.
'Heads up.' Siren said as the Dru almost bit Neban's head off.
Neban dodged the monster's mouth with a quickness, wondering how it started moving faster than before. The Dru was going for a second time but stopped when it felt something hitting it. Neban saw a few rocks flying in the sky, landing on the monster, practically hitting the thing.
Neban looked over to where the rocks were coming from; he was close to cursing out loud. He must have been fighting the monster longer than thirty minutes because there stood the others in visible form; they were throwing rocks at the Dru even though they looked scared out of their minds.
He wanted to scream at them and ask what they were doing, but the monster started to turn, making its way towards them.
'I believe those weak humans are trying to distract the thing. Hurry and kill it.' Siren spoke.
The others did not move as they continued to throw rocks at the thing; they looked close to using it in their pants.
Neban moved with a certain quickness to his step as he jumped up, expertly swinging the sword with a fluid movement as he sunk his weapon into the monster's neck. The Dru started to move its head around, but Neban held on as he kept pushing Siren deeper inside.
It took a minute or so until the monster's movement began to die down as Neban's sword came out from the other side. The head fell to the ground, rolling towards the others as Isona jumped, pushing herself into Wey and Owain.
Neban was breathing hard as blood was all over him. He bent over, touching his knees as he took a few deep breaths. Out of all the monsters he fought, this one was the most difficult, and the Aifin drew more blood from him.
The others ran towards him, checking on him. "Are you okay? Do you need a first aid kit?" Owain asked.
"Do you need to sit for a second? We still have an hour and 53 minutes left." Isona asked while telling him the time.
"Neban?" Wey called his name, sounding concerned.
They have no right to sound concerned when they almost killed themselves by helping him. And Neban hated how the thought of them dying did not sit right with him. Was he growing close with them?
'I want to drink the monster's blood already.' Siren cut him off from his thoughts.
He straightened himself as he walked up to the headless Dru, ignoring the others for a second as he stuck the sword into the wound so it can ingest the blood. Then he turned to the others, giving them a stern look.
Even though his glasses were gone, and they can see Neban's face better, the blood still covered up most of it. "I thought I told all of you to stay back. What would have happened if-"
He cut himself off, not wanting to continue because it would show that he cared and hasn't cared for another (besides his parents and son) since he was born; this was all new to him, and it felt weird.
The others looked sheepish as they started to apologize to him. Neban did not say anything as he moved towards a still-standing tree, sitting down as he rested against it. He looked up at Owain, "Do you have something I can wipe myself off with?" He asked. Neban would also need to make himself new clothes since the ones he had on were dirty.
Owain quickly moved as he sat next to Neban, taking his backpack off, "I have some wipes you can use." He unzipped the top part and started looking through his bag.
"I will collect the loot that the Dru dropped," Wey spoke as he took out his empty bag and made his way towards the loot.
Isona looked around, trying to think about what to do. She decided to join Owain and Neban. Owain pulled out the wipes, handing the package to Neban.
Neban took them, opening the package as he pulled out a wipe to start cleaning his face. He does hate getting a mess on him. Hopefully, the rest of the monsters in this dungeon are not like the Dru.
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Note: My laptop is acting dumb and I cannot type. Forgive me and give me time with being behind.