Seeds of Discordia

Liam stared at the massive Toxo Brood Mother Queen. His jaw dropped as he read the information provided to him. He figured the final Wave Boss would be tough when they came in here. However, after seeing the levels drop as they pushed through the waves he deluded himself to believe this creature’s level would be lowered as well. Or maybe its level was lowered, and his team members were able to stop the other crafters and that caused this monster to go back up? Was that the case? Was this supposed to be the real level of the Boss Monster or was this lowered?

He snuck a peek at his comrade’s health. It did look like they had caused a stir since their health had dropped a bit. Whatever the case was, he wasn’t able to think more on it as the Toxo Brood Mother Queen let out an angry shriek after looking each of them over.

Liam noticed the monster’s gaze fell upon Fazil. All eight eyes narrowed before she raced for him. The Demon-kins that were in her way quickly scattered as they tried not to get trampled on or skewered by her long sharp spider legs.

Fazil let out a slew of curse words before starting to sprint. He ran forward before cutting to his left right before the edge of the clearing and the fogged cover forest. As he ran he noticed the other Demon-kins were running away trying to hide from the ire of this pissed off creature. He growled as anger started to fill him, “What the fuck are you guys doing?! Its attention is on me! Attack it while I have its focus!”

The other Demon-kins stopped as they heard his orders. Liam could see panic and fear in their eyes wared with something in their eyes. They were hesitating on what to do. A few seconds after Fazil shouted, Calythtis yelled out, “Sexual Exhaustion!”

Liam watched as a wave of Hot Pink Mana suddenly shot out from Calythtis and rushed over towards the Toxo Brood Mother Queen. As soon as the mana touched the massive monster it washed over her entire body. Two out of the eight massive legs suddenly slowed compared to the others. They looked to have been drained as they couldn’t keep up with the pace the monster was running. However, even with these two legs like this, the monster only slowed down a little bit.

  She let out a grunt before shouting, “What the hell are you bastards doing?! My magic alone won’t be able to stop of harm that creature. Attack her!”

Liam watched as eerie Light Blue colored Mana was shot at the Toxo Brood Mother Queen while orbs of fire and lightning crashed into her. Calythtis joined back in with her own magic.

As Liam stood on the roof of the small building he watched and tried to figure out what both Calythtis and the Demon-kins using the eerie Light Blue Mana spells were doing. While he understood that the Hot Pink Mana was representing the Vice of Lust and that she was using her power to drain the stamina of the giant monster. As for the other…he didn’t really know about the other. He didn’t see any physical effects as the spells slammed against her.

“What’s taking you guys so long?! Fazil huffed as he curved around another corner. “I can’t keep running forever!”

“We’re trying here!” one of the Demon-kins using the strange colored mana shouted. “Our Sloth spells aren’t landing. They keep getting rebuffed.”

“So that’s what that eerie Light Blue Mana is. Its Sloth Magic,” Liam muttered to himself.

“I got one!” another Demon-kin suddenly shouted.

Liam watched as two of the Toxo Brood Mother Queen’s eyes suddenly dropped a bit almost like they were heavy and tired. Her movements slowed even more as Calythtis landed another spell on the massive spider.

“She has a really high resistance to magic like ours. We have to keep trying and hope they land!” Calythtis shouted out.

“Fucking Hells!” Fazil shouted as he pressed on.

Liam contemplated what to do. He needed to get out of here. However, he couldn’t leave without the others. He didn’t know what the others were doing at this exact moment. He looked at their names and parameters and froze.

An icon emerged next to each of them. It was a picture of a dark green liquid in the shape of a spider. Liam focused on it and gasped as he read the name.

[Raging Rabies.]

“Fuck!” Liam cursed. He then dropped his body to lay on the roof trying to disappear from everyone’s sight. After hitting the ground he activated Viel of Shadows. Once the familiar cool feeling that the shadows brought with them covered his entire body he slowly stood back up.

What the fuck happened that caused them to get that Debuff?! Are they doomed now? Was there a way they could… Liam shook his head trying to get his mindset to not spiral down that rabbit hole. There was a way to dispel that or get rid of it entirely. Artem looked certain of its earlier when they spoke to Lyca. He would trust in him.

Now this brought a new issues. If they came out of that building, they would come into this mess. The Demon-kins might split their focus on the giant spider and on them. So then what should he do?

Should he take out the Demon-kins? If he did that then he would have to fight that Boss monster by himself. Did he help the Demon-kins by attacking the Toxo Brood Mother Queen? If he did that then he could try and bypass them and escape through the exit portal. But would he be able to reach it in time before they caught him?

Liam felt he wouldn’t be able to. This partial Temporary Seal that allowed him to use his Zodiac ability had a time limit. He couldn’t remember exactly how long it was or if he even knew it, but he felt the more time he wasted the closer he reached that time limit. He needed to do something.

Liam thought over his options as quickly as he could. Every choice he was thinking didn’t end well. The more he thought the more his mind started to panic. He needed to do something. After a few more seconds he made a decision.

Liam pointed one of his daggers at the giant spider monster as he channeled as much Lunar Mana as he could before he chanted, “O Moon, majestic and beautiful. I call upon thee to show how painful you can be. Manifest mediums that will serve to unleash your wave of power. Swarm together and into your target. Go forth and unleash your power. Lunar Swarm!”

Everyone around the area heard the chant being said. Their focus suddenly turned to Liam’s form that had suddenly reappeared as shadows rolled off his body like smoke. They were confused as a pale white orb had formed in front of the dagger he held out as he chanted. They didn’t catch on to what he was doing until it was too late.

Liam threw the Lunar Orb at a spot he predicted the Toxo Brood Mother Queen was going to run through. He had almost missed his chance as the monster appeared a few inches away from it as it stopped right in front of her and exploded into a bright light.

Liam had turned around to avoid having the light blind him. Thanks to Fazil running away from the monster, he too missed the blinding light. He was curious as to what was going on as his shadow suddenly appeared in front of him while an explosion of light happened behind him.

Moments after it happened he heard a loud painful screech along with other shouts and a loud thud. The ground beneath him rumbled as something fell to the ground. He turned around to see the giant monster had fell over. He was about to yell out in victory, but then noticed that the other Demon-kins, including Calythtis had their hands over their eyes, rubbing them.

“What the hell happened?!” Fazil shouted. He then heard someone chanting from his left and noticed Liam standing up on the building. During his marathon, he had completely forgotten about the pesky Half-Beast-kin. He was about to say something, but then noticed what he was saying.

“Radiant and majestic, we admire you in the night. Deadly and poisonous, many don’t know your terrible might. Caress my target with your light like a gentle kiss. Remind them why you’re as dangerous as the abyss. Epidermis Luminescence.”

A flash of pale white light appeared on the Toxo Brood Mother Queen’s right top wrist right after he finished chanting. Fazil recognized what he was using. This shocked him. He had heard there were those out there that could use that kind of magic, but it was rare magic. Not only that but many also considered it a type of advanced magic since it had drawbacks.

“Lunar Magic?” Calythtis muttered in disbelief as she saw the last bit of what Liam had done.

Fazil turned to look at the Succubus. “I thought you said he was a New Arrival?!” Fazil said in an accusatory tone of voice. “Did you know he could use that kind of magic?”

Calythtis looked at Fazil with a confused look. “No I didn’t. He never…”

Calythtis was interrupted as both she and Fazil heard Liam chant another spell.

“Hidden beneath and lying in wait, the unseen’s poison is never delivered late. Bellow out in a puff of smoke and slip into the stream. Corrupt the body, Corrupt the mind. Deliver the fear you wish to create. Shade’s Corruption.”

The shadow underneath the giant monster suddenly exploded and covered her entire body. Calythtis and Fazil looked even more confused as they heard the monster coughing inside the black smoked area.

“Shadow Magic as well?!” Calythtis shouted.

“What the hell kind of New Arrival using magic like this?!” Fazil growled.

Calythtis just stared. Her mind worked hard and fast as she tried to make sense of it all. The magic this supposed new arrival had pulled out all of sudden was concerning. Did he have this magic from the beginning? What about that other magic? The one he chanted in a language she couldn’t understand.  That could be explained by his explanation of him being a Champion of a Deity. Could these also be thanks to that?

Calythtis nodded her head. That had to be the explanation. He must have recently gotten these from the deity of whatever god or goddess he served. If that’s the case then he wouldn’t know the repercussions of using those spells. However, she knew he had to use them a lot to get those Debuffs. Maybe he did use them enough that he was getting to that point.

It was a gamble to believe that, but she knew if he had all three of those magics then it would be a matter of time before he turned on them with it. As much as she didn’t want to do it. She knew he had to die. Calythtis focused on her Lust Mana and channeled it. After a few seconds he chanted a spell and targeted Liam.

Liam stared at the black smoke that covered the Toxo Brood Mother Queen’s entire body. The first part of his plan had started. He figured he would stack on Afflictions of both Lunar and Shadow before focusing on the Demon-kins. He looked at one of the Demon-kins, specifically one that was using Sloth Magic.

He got ready to start chanting a Gravity spell, but before he opened his mouth he heard someone shout out the words Sexual Exhaustion. A second right after that he felt his entire body suddenly feel exhausted. His legs grew heavy and buckled over causing him to fall down. He threw his hands out to stop himself from hitting his face against the roof. Even his arms felt heavy and almost bent right as he fell. He held on, stopping himself from falling completely face first.

It was strange, he felt like he had just gone ten rounds in bed with a lover. Even though his body felt so exhausted he also felt exhilarated. Like he was experiencing some form of ecstasy.

“What the fuck?” Liam questioned as he panted. He looked at his parameters and noticed his stamina was at six. His eyes widened at that. He lifted his head up as much as he could to see Fazil smiled wickedly before starting to run right for him. “Shit!” Liam tried to move, but his body wouldn’t listen. He needed to drink a stamina potion, but he didn’t have enough time.

He thought about what he could do. His mind stopped on a recent spell he had gotten but didn’t get to test out yet. He decided to take a gamble on it. He still had some Lunar Mana channeled so he decided to pour the rest of it into the spell as he started chanting while facing down, “O Moon, majestic and righteous. I call upon you for protection. Aid me in my fight. Protect me with your light. Bestow me orbs that act like a mini projector, Lunar Reflector.”

Fazil heard Liam chanting something, but that didn’t stop him from racing towards the downed man. He believed he would reach him before he finished his spell chant. He jumped up on the roof and hurried into attacking range. He went to strike down with one of his swords. However, the moment he started moving his weapon from overhead a pale white light shone down on Liam and created three small orbs.

Fazil didn’t know what was going on, but before his weapon could land a blow, he felt something push his sword back and a sudden bright light flashed right into his eyes, blinding him. Fazil let out a howling scream as his grip on his weapons loosened enough for him to drop them. He wasn’t concerned by that though as he brought both hands to his face. His head thrashed back and forth as he tried to step. After taking a couple steps away, his right foot dropped into nothing but air, bringing his whole body over the edge of the building and down to the ground.

Liam looked up and watched as the golden goblin Demon-kin fell off the side of the building. Not wanting to take any chances, he pulled out a Minor Stamina Potion and downed it. After he felt his body start to lighten and feel better, he quickly got back to his feet and looked out over the edge of the building.

As he looked down he watched as the Toxo Brood Mother Queen stood tall while the black smoke disappeared all around her. She stared angerly at everyone around her. Dark green liquid drooled out from her mouth and fell on the ground.

Liam noticed her bulbous back end start to shake violently. He didn’t know what she had planned, but from the way she stared at them he knew it wouldn’t be good. He then heard Calythtis scream something.

He didn’t hear what she said, but he did see someone rush over to the side of the building where Fazil fell from, pick him up over his shoulder and start running towards the stairs on the side of the building where the others were already at.

Before he could comprehend why they were heading for the stairs Liam’s Danger Sense suddenly flared up right as the Toxo Brood Mother Queen opened her mouth and exhaled a massive dark green cloud from her mouth.

“Shit!” Liam swore as the cloud rolled out from the giant spider’s mouth as she moved her head around while spinning her body.

The cloud came out do quickly, a massive wave of it hit the building like a tsunami. It reached a height taller than the building and then rained down right on top of him. Liam closed his eyes and put his hands up in defense. Even though he knew it was pointless, his body still did it on instinct.

He was ready to feel the fog hit him, but after a few seconds had passed he didn’t feel anything. He opened his eyes to see the dark green fog that should be covering his entire body being diverted elsewhere. At first Liam was confused as to what was happening, but after following the trail the smoke was going to he realized what was going on.

It was his newest equipment; the necklace called the Toxo Poison Catcher. The effect it had, Poison Collector, had activated and was sucking in the dark green cloud. It seemed the dark green cloud that the Toxo Brood Mother Queen was pushing out from her body was a type of poison.

“Thank god for this necklace,” Liam muttered.

His relief lasted for a brief moment as he heard Eri shout out, What the fuck do you think you’re doing Liam?! Get out of there before it can’t collect anymore of that poison fog!

Her warning came too late. He felt his necklace shake a few times before going completely silent. The moment it stopped moving, the Poison Collector effect deactivated. This allowed a small portion of the dark green fog that was almost completely gone to wash over him.

Liam coughed as the poisoned fog tickled his nose and caused him to sneeze. That sneezed allowed some of the fog to enter his mouth and his system. He felt the effects of the poison swim down his throat and enter his body. A notification suddenly appeared by his name and parameters. His eyes widened as he recognized the symbol. It was just like the ones his teammates had.

He was now afflicted with Raging Rabies.