D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2114 Rotten Surprise

Chapter 2114: Chapter 2114 Rotten Surprise

— Kat —

Lily threw herself to the ground as a screech echoed through the cavern. One of the small holes in the area, too small to fit through for a normal person… was apparently not to small for a shapeshifting creature, or at least, for an attack to sneak through. A barbed tongue with bones sticking out through the flesh like they’d been stabbed there flew out of the small gap towards where Lily had just been holding Tanisha.

When the attack failed the tongue retracted… and then silence. Kat and Lily both stood at the ready, watching the small gaps in the rocks for any sign of movement that might indicate a follow up attack but nothing seemed forthcoming. Kat eventually decided to convert her hand into water and send it into the hole to double check things… and the monster was gone. The other side of the wall was a somewhat tight tunnel, but one large enough for Kat to crawl through if she wanted.

*So can it squeeze through anything or not?*

[And is it still trying to attack us?]

Kat and Lily glanced around for a few more moments as Tanisha giggled. “This is how it gets you. Is it gone? Is it still here? Who knows. I certainly don’t. Still, I’d recommend you two get back to moving. Even if its still around there’s no reason to let it know the ambush almost worked, or that it HAS messed with you. Just keep going and hope for the best.”

Kat started to move again… but even still… [The only reason it didn’t grab Tanisha there was that it made a noise before attacking. It wasn’t the sound of it shapeshifting either. I didn’t hear bones or muscle getting swapped around… in fact its shockingly silent when you consider it was RIGHT there. I just… I think I might have dodged if it was directed at me instead of her… but I just don’t know.]

*I didn’t notice anything either. Not until that shriek. I don’t know if it’s some sort of necessity, some instinct that it complies with… or if it’s just tormenting us. Showing us that it can sneak up on us without being heard. I wonder how its doing that…*

[My best guess would be optimising super quiet muscles, pausing its heartbeat for a little bit, and shapeshifting ahead of time. Then again, without really knowing what the thing is we can only speculate.]

*I just hope its not like The Thing.*

[FUCK YOU why would you even bring that up?]

*I mean… horrific shapeshifting monster that likes to toy with its prey and seemed to be keeping everyone alive even while also trying to kill them. Seems like The Thing to me.*

[What? Are you saying we should try burning Tanisha then?]

*That’s… a good question. My fire is cold… but it should be just as lethal to it and her arm didn’t turn into a screaming mess so she’s probably still human.*

[Can we just pretend that The Thing isn’t an acceptable answer?]

*Sure we can pretend that. It’d be a lie, but we can pretend that. Actually… did it react to my demonic fire lighting the way at all?*

[How the heck should I know? It attacked once and then booked. We’ve got no idea how normal that is for the thing.]

Kat didn’t get a chance to say anything back when the sound of rocks falling echoed from the side. Kat simply kept her awareness ready, she didn’t glance over, she kept looking forward as best she could. Lily did spare the glance over towards the rocks… but it was behind the wall. Potentially where the monster still was.

Despite the differing reactions to the sound, the reaction of the monster was the same… nothing. They weren’t attacked, no further rocks settled… and if it even was the monster or not was up in the air. The pair didn’t bother letting it get to them. It was fine. There was nothing to worry about so far.

This continued as they reached a fork in the tunnels. They didn’t take long to pick a direction and followed it further. Hoping they’d chosen correctly. The smell of rot still made it hard to track but Lily thought there might have been some smells indicating they went down the left path. Apparently she was getting better at filtering out the rot. At least a little bit anyway.

More little things happened as they walked down the corridor. The sound of growling echoed throughout the tunnel occasionally though not always the same kind. Sometimes it was the deep rumble of a bear, other times it sounded almost like a cat was trying to purr instead and got the pitch completely wrong. In once instance a bird call was heard but that one was the easiest to ignore.

The sound of water dripping down was another little annoyance. It was quite audible, far more so then you’d think considering there was no water in sight. It sounded like it was coming from the walls and ceiling, with the drips occasionally timed to go off directly above their heads.

Just as they were getting good at ignoring things, a rock shifted between Kat and Lily. It felt… different then the others. Some subconscious clue that it wasn’t quite the same was triggered in both of them. As the clawed hand of a bear exploded from a hole in the ground, they were both already acting. Kat sliced at it with her fans while Lily slammed a shield of shadow down on top of it.

The arm was sliced into bits, leaving behind a wet thud as the limb retracted. Notably… there was no scream of annoyance. No announcement for the attack… and the limb itself melted into some sort of goop in the few short seconds Kat and Lily had spent examining the hole instead of giving the limb their full consideration.

It was the melting itself that drew their attention back. The whole thing just broke down into mush. Lily poked it with a shadow, half expecting it to come alive and bite back… but it just remained the same. A puddle of gunk. Kat poked at it with her shoe. Nothing happened. “Tanisha? Any words of wisdom?”

“Nope. I also can’t really see anything remember. I’m being held lengthways and forced to look at the ceiling,” commented Tanisha. Lily radiated embarrassment for a few moments as she tilted the woman so that she could see the mush and poked at Kat to ask the question.

“I thought you said it could bleed?” asked Kat.

Tanisha did her best to shrug while bound by Lily’s shadows. “Yeah well… I don’t know if its extra limbs aren’t quite real enough or if this IS what it was bleeding. Obviously it didn’t just disappear into muck after I stabbed it once though.”

“Hmmm…” Kat summoned up a bit more demonic fire and then threw it at the puddle. Once again expecting some sort of unholy screaming or just… a reaction of some kind but nope. The puddle just froze over quickly and remained completely still. Kat slammed a foot through it and the puddle shattered into a bunch of pieces. “Think it’s demonic?”

[That… hmm… maybe? I could see a demonic monster needing to be taken out, and provide a good fight for people here… but can anyone BUT you fight it?]

*Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe this place only opens up if someone of sufficient strength is nearby… and we count?*

[Probably best not to think of it. What are the chances it IS demonic?]

*I really have no idea. I couldn’t really sense those demonic rats back in the mines but this is feeling vaguely the same… then again that might just be because we’re deep underground in thin caverns and liable to be attacked at just about any time.*

[Lovely imagery Kat.]

*Indeed. I thought so.*

Lily let out a huff and began walking once again, soon lowering Tanisha back down. As silly as it was to keep her held lengthwise the fact of the matter was… it was just easier to move about for everyone this way. The tunnels, by their nature as tunnels and not holes, were a lot longer then they were tall. Keeping the woman lengthwise meant only the most obvious changes in the height of the tunnel needed to be taken into account and the little ones you adjusted to automatically required no such adjustment.

Still, Lily kept her shadows ready to move. With attacks proven to be possible in the tunnels she didn’t want to be late on the draw to move Tanisha out of the way. Both attacks had been at least somewhat close to her, and Lily wasn’t sure if they’d identified her as the weak leak… or if the monster was simply looking to ensure it finished the job here. Perhaps in the end it didn’t matter. They’d decided to keep her alive, and the monster seemed primed to kill her. The fights details might have changed a bit, but nothing major had shifted. The monster needed to go down.