Seeds of Discordia

Liam felt his body slowly start to heat up as the poison he was inflicted with swam through his body. He let out a cough as a puff of dark green smoke escaped his mouth. He grimaced and thought that this must be what it felt like when he used Shade’s Corruption on his targets. However, he knew this wouldn’t stop unless he cured it or used some other method.

“Shit,” Liam muttered to himself. “This is going to suck. Now I have more than one time limit to focus on.” He looked over at the Demon-kins who had made it to the second floor balcony area. The ledge stood much higher than the roof of the building he stood on, making it so the damned fog couldn’t reach them.

Liam scowled. Things were starting to get annoying to Liam. He knew coming here and dealing with the problem going on wasn’t going to be easy. However, he didn’t think it would be this hard. Liam paused at that. That wasn’t right. He knew it would be hard, so why did he just think that he didn’t believe it would be this hard?

Liam pushed that question away as he noticed the Toxo Brood Mother Queen start to act weird. She had stopped spewing that poisonous cloud out a few seconds ago and was hunched over. She had looked like she was in pain, and he had dismissed it as his Afflictions being the source, but now that he was able to look at her a bit more clearly he noticed the pain she looked to be in was one almost similar to someone pushing something.

After a few seconds had passed he had got his answer. A chorus of shrieks rang out from beneath the clouded ground. Realization set in as he watched the Toxo Brood Mother Queen looked a bit relieved from her pain and straightened herself to her full height. Which was frightening to Liam she wasn’t at eye level with the massive creature. Instead he was at breast level with her. His only saving grace was her attention wasn’t on him, but the Demon-kin that were launching attack after attack at her.

He then noticed a group of Toxo creatures climbing the side of the building making their way towards the attacking Demon-kins. It was a mixture of Toxo Disease Spider Carriers, Toxo Body Infiltrators, and Leaping Rabies Toxos. To Liam’s disappointment, one of the Demon-kins noticed the spiders as a continuous plum of poisonous smoke puffed out of the Toxo Disease Carriers. Half of their numbers focused on the creatures as they made it on the ledge and killed them as quickly as they could.

The Toxo Brood Mother Queen didn’t like that as she hunched back over and did what she was doing earlier. Liam determined this was her giving birth to the swarm of spider creatures. However, instead of stopping like she did earlier after the sound of screeches echoed out, she continued to stay hunched and look pained.

She’s going to keep pumping out more and more of them? Damn she’s determined to kill us to that extent? Liam thought as he contemplated attacking some of the Demon-kins. His aim wasn’t to kill them, but for them to get distracted enough for them to get overwhelmed by the spiders that arrived to their ledge.

As he started to get ready to do that, he was caught off guard and missed the glob of spider web that shot at his feet. Liam looked down at it and cursed. Before he looked up, a bright pale light flashed. A hiss filled his ears, bringing his attention to a Leaping Rabies Toxo that was on its back violently thrashing about while it was on its back.

Liam noticed other spider creatures starting to appear on the roof. “Fuck,” Liam quietly cursed as he channeled as much Shadow Mana as he could. He then went to form two Shadow Hands, but instead of two, four had formed. He had forgotten that his skill in his Shadow and Lunar abilities increased when he was in this form. Thanks to that he was able to form four of the Shadow Hands.

He used them to swat away the low leveled Toxo spiders that tried to approach him. As he had the Shadow Hands doing that, he focused on cutting the webbing that held him in place. After he freed himself he looked up and instantly turned his body as one of his Shadow Hands flew backwards covered in a glob of spider webs. He felt that hand puff out into smoke as it landed on the ground. Since he still had some Shadow Mana built up he formed another right as two more globs were shot at him.

Before the two globs of spider webbings landed on him, he activated Lunar Step. He appeared in a bright pale light flashing right in front of a Leaping Rabies Toxo that was crouching and getting ready to jump. The sudden flash of the pale light caused it to close its eyes and shriek in pain. He created a Shadow Double of himself and activated his Shadow Step to appear behind a Toxo Orb Weaver Trapper Toxo. He stabbed his daggers down right into the abdomen of the creature and Shadow Stepped away before it could turn and attack him.

He used Shadow Step and Lunar Step to help dodge attacks and land attacks as he fought against the spiders. However, he noticed for every one that he killed two or three more appeared. The building was starting to get swarmed with them. The same thing was happening on the ledge of the second floor of the building built into the mountain.

The Demon-kins had stopped attacking the Toxo Brood Mother Queen and focused on the incoming wave of Spider creatures that were emerging up the wall from the cloudy poisonous fog. Some had to switch from using magic to using weapons to preserve what mana they had left.  

Liam popped open a Stamina and Health potion during brief intervals in his fight so he didn’t get tired, and his health wouldn’t go down too much. He didn’t like the predicament he was in. He wanted to abandon this roof, but he was afraid that by jumping into the fog he would accumulate more of the Raging Rabies poison and wasn’t sure if it would increase the rate his health was dropping. All of this was annoying.

He could feel his health slowly tick down every half a minute as he thought about what to do. As he tried to think of something he started noticing his thoughts were straying. At first they were on how he could get out of this and what he could do to get rid of this Debuff. However, every now and then he started thinking about how unfair this was. He didn’t ask to have these people cause him so much trouble. He didn’t ask for Lucy, who was really Calythtis, to kidnap him and others like him for their plan.

He didn’t ask for people like that damn Weasel-Folk to cause trouble for him at the Crafter’s Showing. Nor did he want people to hunt him down and try to make him comply to their rules. Rules he didn’t know, and thought were stupid. Why did this happen? All of these unfair things made him think back to a time he had these thoughts before. To a specific person who showed him how unfair the world really was. Someone he originally hoped was dead, but had received confirmation was still alive in this world.

Those thoughts of unfairness and thoughts of that person stirred something inside him. Anger. He was starting to get angry. Angry at the Demon-kins. Angry at what happened after his father and brothers left. Angry at how things turned out when he was left all alone back on Earth. Angry at all the things that happened at the Tutorial Area. Angry at how things turned out right now. As his thoughts started to turn into anger an icon slowly appeared next to the Raging Rabies Debuff. The picture of this icon was one that contained a person with a red aura surrounding it. This icon represented something called Berserking.

  That anger that was slowly starting to cloud his mind stirred a couple of things within him. One was something deep within his body and the other was that small bit of chaos that he had pushed back earlier. The anger that was clouding his mind resonated with the thing hidden within him. It was trying to free itself but was cut off as the small bit of Chaos from Eri’s nature interfered with it. The hidden power roared menacingly, angry that it was cut off and pushed back deep within himself once more.

Due to Liam’s mind slowly getting overwhelmed by the Berserking state, it couldn’t focus on keeping the small bit of chaotic nature in check. It swam and mixed with the Berserking state Liam was slowly losing himself to. A chaotic smile slowly formed on Liam’s face. He sheathed his daggers away and pulled out his War Scythe of the Electro Orchid Mantis. He gripped the handle close to the top and spun around three times. Each spin he loosened his grip just enough to move out a bit more to attack the spider creatures that were further out. The Toxo spider creatures that had surrounded him split in half as the bladed end cut right through them.

After he finished the last strike and was cleared of the monsters within a five foot radius, a fireball crashed right next Liam’s left foot. Liam turned his head in the direction of where it came from and saw a Demon-kin tsk before turning his attention back on the spider creatures around him.

If Liam was in the right state of mind he would have focused on the monsters around him. Instead, the Chaotic Berserking state he was falling into was focusing on that Demon-kin specifically. He was appalled that that lowly scum had the gall to attack him. He wanted him dead. He turned his body towards the man and was ready to try and jump his way over there. He couldn’t process that the distance was impossible for him to make. He only saw that Demon-kin.

He sprinted for the edge. The area right by the edge was cleared of any monsters since the ones that were there had either die or fell off from monster’s that tried to push back and get away from the scythe attack. As soon as his feet touched the edge, he squatted his body and then pushed off for the second floor ledge. He sent himself soaring through the air.

The Demon-kins that were closer to the area he was heading towards noticed this as they finished off the spiders creatures that were closest to them. Their eyes widened as he continued to get closer and closer to the ledge. At one point they believed he was going to make it. that was until he reached halfway and started to slowly descend.

Liam’s body started to fall as soon as it reached its limit of rising. He looked around and noticed a few Leaping Rabies Toxos jumped from the wall they were scaling. The trajectory his body was falling would lead him into them at the rate he was going. Going off of instinct as the creatures got closer and closer to him. Liam spun the War Scythe under his body and over his head. As he brought it back down, the tip of the scythe dug into the closest Leaping Rabies Toxo, allowing him to bring his body up just enough for him to land a foot on another Leaping Rabies Toxo. He then pushed off of the creature, giving him enough of a boost to get close enough to use Shadow Step behind an Orb Weaver Trapper Toxo that was furthest away from the Demon-kins on the left side of the ledged second floor.

Liam, heavily breathing, switched from the War Scythe to his Shadow Moon Blades. He then weaved in and out of the spider creatures, slicing, stabbing, and piercing his weapons into each creature as he danced through them making his way towards his prey.

The Demon-kins let out a shout of worry as they watched this. Calythtis and Fazil turned their heads and saw Liam swiftly making his way through the swarm of spider creatures. They saw the wide crazed smile on his face and grew panicked. They didn’t know how he made it over there from where he was, but from the look on his face he wasn’t tired and still had energy to spare.

“Stop him! He’s going to kill me!” A Demon-kin shouted as he ran behind Fazil and Calythtis.

Both the Succubus and the Golden Goblin looking Demon-kin sneered at the frightened Demon-kin. They didn’t waste any time on him, but instead focused on the new threat that was heading their way. They were surprised when they noticed the Half-Beast-kin didn’t pay any attention on the other Demon-kins as he easily passed by them. They did notice the spider creatures didn’t get by easily when he finally pushed through them though. They were either dismembered or barely hanging on to life.

That didn’t mean they could ignore him. Even if he didn’t harm the others they could see he had eyes for one of their own. If they could use that to their advantage then they would. Fazil raced towards him as Calythtis  started chanting.

As the two made their move, Liam suddenly disappeared. His whole body reappeared right in front of Fazil, bringing a flash of pale white light, blinding the Demon-kin. He then juked around the blinded goblin looking demon and took a couple more steps before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

Calythtis felt a puff of air suddenly brush up against her right before a foot slammed into her back, pushing her forward and propelling the man away towards the Demon-kin in disguise. Calythtis turned around in time to see Liam had reached striking distance of the Demon-kin and was about to strike but was kicked off the ledge at the last second as he side stepped and thrusted his foot forward.

The scared Demon-kin smiled victoriously as he watched the attack land. That smile quickly disappeared as Liam threw a fist forward hitting nothing but air. The bandage wrappings that covered his hand and wrist suddenly shot out and wrapped around the leg that was still out before the Demon-kin. Calythtis then watched as Liam yanked as hard as he could, pulling his prey into the poisonous fog that covered the land below.

The Demon-kin yelped as he was pulled and fell. After he landed on the ground all Calythtis could hear were his cries and shouts of pain and fear before dying out into complete silence.

She didn’t know what had happened inside the blanket of fog, but she was starting to think that since her fellow Demon-kin had died that maybe Liam had as well. If that was true then that was a sacrifice they would gladly take. Now they just needed to kill these spider creature and unfortunately escape this hellish nightmare this dungeon had turned into. It was unfortunate, but their plan was ruined and couldn’t be salvaged anymore.

She was about to turn and check on the others but stopped as a loud and thunderous roar filled the air around them. it was so loud that even the Toxo spider creatures stopped attacking.

They turned to look at the Toxo Brood Mother Queen and watched as she reared her ugly head back in pain. To all of the Deamon-kins’ surprise they saw Liam with two daggers plunged into one of the massive spider’s eyes. They could hear him cackling menacingly as he flew up into the air, holding tightly to his daggers as the spider raised her head.

He held on even tighter as she waved her head left to right, trying to release the painful daggers that were plunged into one of her eyes. Calythtis didn’t notice it when he was on the ledge with them, but he had four shadowy hands following his movements as the monster tried desperately to dislodge him.

She then stopped moving her head and tried to swat one of her four hands at him. Before it could hit him, Liam pulled his daggers out. He timed his release just in time to fall down as the hand flew above him, a bandage wrap hooked enough to catch a ride with the motion. As he flew to the right, he released the bandage wrap and sent another for her hair. It caught just enough right before he was out of reach and pulled himself towards her back.

After he landed on her back, Liam pulled his goggles up to his forehead and grinned wickedly. Calythtis sucked in a breath of air as she noticed his eyes. they had changed. A symbol she felt she recognized but couldn't remember took over the form of his irises and pupils. They glowed an ominous color as he laughed wickedly.

She then watched as four new hands suddenly appeared behind him. These new hands were a stark contrast from the shadowy hands he had floating around him. They were a pale white color. She then noticed sparks flash between the shadowy ones and the pale white ones whenever they got too close.

Calythtis didn’t know what he had planned summoning Lunar Hands while having Shadow Hands out. she knew it was a bad idea, but at the same time she was curious as to why it was a bad idea. For once, she got an answer that sated her curiosity.

The Toxo Brood Mother Queen turned her upper body to look down at Liam. As she did this, Liam was already moving. He jumped up into the air and ended up high enough for his body to be eye level with the creature. As soon as she saw him, She opened her mouth and looked like she was about to do something, however, that attack was cancelled as Liam slammed all eight hands together.

A large explosion of pale white light and raven black erupted right in front of the monster’s face. The explosion shot Liam backwards towards the ground close to the edge of the forest and the Toxo Brood Mother Queen forward, slamming into the building making it shake from the violent impact.

Calythtis, Fazil, and the other Demon-kins fell to the floor of the ledge as the impact rocked them off their feet. The spider creatures on the wall all fell to the ground as the ones on the ledge fell off the side.

Calythtis and Fazil quickly got to their feet and looked down. The poisonous fog that had covered the land below had fully dispersed, revealing the ground  closest to the building full of Toxo spider creatures that were disoriented. Calythtis saw the body of the demon-kin that had fell earlier. His disguise was now gone revealing him as an Imp. Black blood oozed out from a wound as his body convulsed, life no longer there in his eyes.    

Calythtis hissed at the sight. She didn’t waste time though as she shouted, “The creatures are dazed from the shockwave created from the boss monster! Hurry and take this time to make a run for the dungeon entrance!”

Fazil and the other Demon-kins, still shocked at what had happened turned to face her. Recognition suddenly appeared in their eyes as they started to move for the stairs. As soon as they approached the top of the stairs a new rumbling shook the building. Each of them stopped their running, making sure they didn’t lose their balance and fall over the edge.

Calythtis and Fazil felt something coming from one of the openings on the other side of the second layer. They were confused as to what it could be and were even more puzzled as they saw a red light shining through the opening that the magic circle was housed in.

Did they collect the rest of the souls needed for the magic circle to activate? If that was true then maybe their plans weren’t completely ruined. The thoughts created hope. Hope that lasted for five seconds as a massive fiery minotaur exploded from the opening, widening it to allow the giant form to escape and land on the ground below, frying all the spider creatures that were slowly coming out of the stupor they were in.

Calythtis and Fazil then noticed two more forms running out from the destroyed opening. One of the two forms jumping over the ledge without thinking as the third spread their wings out and caught what looked like an Orc under the arms and glided to one of the roofs a bit farther away.

They weren’t sure at the time why they thought that was a good idea, until they realized the rumbling was still going and it wasn’t caused by the massive fiery minotaur running rampant but by something else.

They then heard chittering and screeches as a wave of spiders of different sizes caught on fire poured out of the hole. Then more poured out of the next one and the next one. It was like a dam had broken and a flood of Toxo Spiders were pouring out in droves.

Calythtis heard the curses flying out of each of their mouths as they ran down the stairs trying not to get swept up in the sea of chittering, multi-legged moving, and deadly spiders.