Chapter 607 First Contac (1/2)

The cla.s.sic deer in the headlights trap! I should have seen it coming a mile away!? Since when is a monster that helpless ever left alive in the Dungeon for more than a minute? This is the Dungeon for goodness sake! An ecosystem with more compet.i.tion in it that this one surely doesn't exist! It's so dark here I can't see the individuals that have leapt forth from the shadows, and I don't mean to stick around until I can.

[Move it, Tiny! We are NOT sticking around to say h.e.l.lo,] I order my unruly pet.

The giant bat-faced ape was flexing his fists, eyes glaring wild and fierce as he sought for something to pummel. I'm not having any of it. Unknown enemies? We are getting out of here! I can feel Crinis writhing on my thorax, desperate to attack those who would do me harm, but I act quickly to reel her in.

[Crinis! We're leaving!]

[But, Master!]

[No buts!]

Thankfully, Invidia is smart enough that I don't have to order him to retreat from a disadvantageous fight. The demon is already moving and I follow his spherical, winged form as we rush back the way we came. Which still leaves me with one problem.

”Get the h.e.l.l out of here, Protectant. I want your people ahead of me as we run! And don't you dare go against me here! If one of you dies, I swear I'll resurrect them so you know you can't escape my wrath!”

The threat is completely hollow, I'd never desecrate the remains of my siblings, but it seems to work. No member of the secret brigade appears and throws themselves in harm's way, so I a.s.sume they are running ahead of me.

CRACK!

With an explosion of light, an incandescent beam of sword light blasts from the shadows and flashes toward me, carving deep gouges in the stone floor on its way. Holy heck! Dodge! My antennae blaze with future signs of severe danger and my nerves fire, throwing my body to one side before I have time to think about it.

I skitter to one side, a tangle of legs that scrabble against the stone to regain purchase. The moment I do, I DASH with all of my strength, picking up speed in an instant and rocketing forward as I sense more shapes emerging behind me. Whoever they are, they're fast. Not to mention, hot! Not in a physically attractive way, though I haven't seen them yet, but in a literal sense. My antennae are tingling at the insane amount of heat they generate.

They can't possibly be people! They'd be cooking themselves from the inside out at those sorts of temperatures!

Have I been accosted by some sort of lava people?! I wouldn't put it past Pangera to have lava people! Desperate to gain information as I flee, my brains whip together a fire elemental construct and I hastily craft a flame thrower, powering it with weak, uncompressed mana. I'm not interested in damage, I just want to see!

Rocketing behind an outcropping of stone to dodge yet another of those fierce blade lights, I rotate my body, ever so slightly, and let rip with the fire. A jet of pure orange flame roars out behind me, pus.h.i.+ng back the darkness for a brief second. I see glimpses, flashes of detail. Then the dark returns.

I've seen enough!

[Invidia! I need barriers and mental distractions! Pile it on!]