“Wait! Why the hell does it have weird faces fighting to break free?!” Lulu shouted while crouching down and planting her feet into the ground. “How did I not notice this last time?!”
“We were trying to escape then, not fight!”
GLOOOP! GLOOOOP!
SCHLURPPP!
The nightmarish mass of green, translucent slime turned and faced its new prey. The smell of their fear was getting sucked in through the gelatinous walls of its body, the surface of it writing with trapped, distorted faces fighting to break free. Each face was twisting in an expression of agony, the mouths stretched wide in silent screams, eyes hollow and pleading. And between them floated a myriad of broken bones, patches of skin, strands of hair and fur, all mixed together.
It slowly began to move closer, bubbling and oozing as it dripped across the ground, leaving a corrosive trail behind. Faint, muffled whispers and gurgles emanated from within its depths, as if the souls it had consumed were still struggling, eternally imprisoned inside its viscous form.
The sight alone made everyone swallow their breaths for a moment.
“Well, If i had mentioned that… You might’ve shit yourself!” Mathros forced a smile through his shaking nerves.
“Well, I’m close!” Lulu blurted back.
“Lulu! Girls shouldn’t say that!”
“Oh, shut up, Benji!”
“You’re here now, there is no backing down!” Mathros seemed to summon a strong gust of wind as he extended his arms forward. “Everyone take your positions! Follow the plan!”
“!” Somnu noticed Benji’s gaze on him for a moment, before the two nodded to each other and turned back to their target.
GLURROOP!
Being hit by the wind pressure from the explorer, the oozing giant of chaos tried to fight against it, but was slowly forced to slither back to the middle of the new fighting arena.
“Let’s go!”
On the party captain’s cue, everyone clenched their fists and swallowed their initial fear. Most of them had to fight back against the enhanced active fears getting boosted while rushing forward to their designated positions, taking advantage of the situation.
That thing is worse than anything I’ve ever seen in any horror movie! And it’ll only get worse from here! We have to do this fast! Somnu thought to himself as he ran to his position.
He had remained silent along with Almon, taken aback by the amalgamation of mayhem in front of them. However, unlike him, he sensed no hesitation or nervousness from the one hiding his face. He guessed that might be part of the skill allowing him to hide his presence too.
““Ready!””
Everyone shouted in unison as they each reached their destinations, some of them still carrying their torches despite the Glowing Fireflies around the cavern walls.
“?!”
And as soon as they had gotten closer to the Nightmare Creature, taking the formation Somnu had visualized, the impending abilities activated. Abilities that Somnu had come to learn were referred to as Restrictions.
Although they had expected it, both Mathros and Somnu began feeling the sudden pull on their skin, as if an invisible force was trying to rip out their very lifespan.
Crow-shit! This is way faster than I was expecting! That damned lizard…! Don’t tell me he has a higher lifespan than humans and just based the timing on how long he lives?!
Somnu couldn’t help but curse the Grodran who had saved his life, despite how much he owed him. The scarecrow knew he wouldn’t last long. In fact, if nothing is done, he would be the first to go out of their party. Thankfully, he still had a plan to hold out a bit longer.
“Taunt!”
Shouting out his skill so his teammates can follow, Benji immediately grabbed the slime creature’s attention.
GLOOOP! GLOOOOP!
Without delay, the monster aimed for the one challenging it. As soon as it did, its second restriction kicked in.
“!”
Countless whirlpools began to form around the arena, one of them directly under Benji’s feet.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
These are… Quicksand?! Somnu realized, keeping up with his preparations like covering his fists in layers of straw, whilst avoiding the swirling ground around him at the same time.
“Benji, watch out!”
“Don’t break formation!”
“?!”
Just as Lulu was about to jump in to help him, Benji shouted as he hopped closer to the monster, trapping himself between it and more whirlpools.
“Shield Wall! Iron Will!” He proclaimed, summoning an almost invisible barrier in front of his shield. Digging his feet into the ground, the tank braced himself for impact.
“Maximum Effort!” For once, Almon shouted from a few whirlpools behind the tank, passing a quick shimmering aura through Benji’s entire body.
BLOORRRGHHH!
“Hngh!”
A second later, the blob of slime clashed with the shield barrier, distorting its form and expanding it. For a moment, it almost seemed as if the warped faces were about to break free from the top.
“Good job, Benji! Let’s keep up the momentum! Lulu! Somnu!”
“On it!”
While Mathros avoided the whirlpools by seemingly hopping off the ground constantly and using his [Wind Blessing] to slow his fall, Somnu and Lulu ran around, both too fast on their feet to be caught.
“Lulu! Now!”
Jumping over a whirlpool, Somnu shouted as he shot out straws towards the enemy from his covered fists.
“Hey! You don’t get to call me that! It’s Lucy to you!” The bunny girl moved her muscular legs faster than her mouth and jumped over multiple whirlpools of quicksand, the manifestation of her own active fear.
A moment later, she had quickly sneaked behind the slime creature, still occupied by the other reliable bunny person in the party.
“Take this and die, you disgusting horrible creature!” She arched her brows, bringing down the torch she had been holding onto to the straws Somnu had shot beneath the monster.
FWOOOSSHH!
In an instant, the straws exploded in flames as Somnu continued to fuel them from a distance.
“Lulu! Step back!”
On the captain’s cue, the bunny girl bent her knees slightly to hop away, but she was quickly interrupted.
SQUELCHHH!
“?!”
The Nightmare Creature turned around the moment the heat got to it, blobs of oozing, translucent liquid flying at the assailant behind it.
“Lulu! Safeguard!” Benji shouted as he broke formation and jumped just in time to activate the skill.
The second he passed the slime’s defecations and touched his ally, the tank created a temporary protective aura around the bunny girl.
“T-thanks…” Lulu let out as she surrendered herself to be quickly carried away by the unusually strong grip of the tank.
“I told you I'd protect you, didn’t I?” He smirked as he let her down a ways away. “You smell good too. That Dream Catcher of yours sure has its uses!”
“Oh, shut it and get back out there! It’s going after the others!” Lulu immediately kicked him in the back and urged him on, her face turning to the side. “And don’t you dare turn around!”
“The sooner, the better, guys!” The lizardman’s voice echoed after sending gusts of wind to both fuel the flames, and contain them in place. “We need to keep this up!”
SHLLLOOOORRRRR!
The Nightmare Creature couldn’t stop the flames as it thrashed about. The distorted faces of oozing sticky liquid began fighting even harder to break through the surface. Except now, they were being enveloped in flames each time, making the sight even more horrifying to those around.
And yet…
“Taunt!”
“!”
Benji hopped forward again and reactivated all his previous skills, immediately grabbing the creature’s attention once more.
“Maximum Effort!” Out of nowhere, as if his figure was just coming into existence, Almon appeared behind Benji and gave him another boost. After that, he scurried a few steps away, minding his footing.
Once again, the now flame-covered Nightmare Creature slithered closer and clashed with the tank’s shield barrier.
“Benji, can you hold out?” Mathros asked from afar.
“I-I can do it!” Gritting his teeth and pushing back against the monster, Benji took in the rising heat adding to the buckets of sweat dripping down his face. “Just make sure to hurry!”
Having lost her torch, Lulu quickly jumped over to Almon and grabbed the one he had been holding on to. Then, without delay, she made her way to the back of the monster once more.
“Lulu! I’ll aim for the top now!” Somnu called out, changing the aim of his straw shots.
“I told you not to call me that!”
Flexing her thigh muscles, the bunny girl jumped up at the perfect time and brushed the projectiles with the torch before they hit their mark.
“Good job, all of you!” The hovering explorer shouted, immediately aiding the newly lit projectiles with wind to envelop the rest of the enemy in flames.
BLOOORRRGHHHHHHHHH!!
The Nightmare Creature thrashed about, the flames dancing along with it as if they were one and the same.
“!”
Countless whirlpools immediately formed around it, taking both bunnyfolk by surprise. The warping ground under them instantly began to pull them down.
“Lulu! Please… Get away!” Benji shouted as he watched his kinsfolk get paralyzed with shock, her figure quickly getting smaller by the second.
BOOM!! BOOM!!
To make matters worse, blobs of flaming slime shot around, exploding on impact right around the giant Nightmare Creature, and where the two beastfolk were trapped.
“...”
Both the guard and the runner were about to be swallowed up, or burnt to a crisp.
Or worse case, both of those things.
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