Newly Summoned Demoness Side Story One

Erios909

Copyright © [2023] by [Erios909]

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No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Newly Summoned Demoness: Side Story One (Part One)

Elania stepped up to the edge of the muddy bank and looked down at Kael, who was plastered to the side, his boots submerged and at an angle as the rushing underground stream tried to tug him loose and wash him away.

She bit her lip. “Remind me why we brought him again?”

Kael turned his head, his face coated with a thick layer of mud and shouted, “Help!”

Yolani stepped up to stand beside Elania, shaking her head. “We needed them to help carry the horns back. They’re big. Remember?”

“A party of two with no one to watch your back is not safe in the depths,” Harlock said as he looked down at the younger, trapped mercenary. “Methinks ye need to fetch him out, Demoness.”

Elania frowned. Normally when someone referred to her by her race, they were being nasty, but somehow the older man had turned it into a title instead of an insult.

“There’s no way I’m getting him back up without getting dirty.” Elania glared down at Kael with a frown.

“Please! Help,” Kael’ cry became almost shrill.

Elania signed, squatted down on her heels and reached down to grab his wrists. She pulled him up effortlessly, then sat him down on the stony cavern floor. True to her prediction, mud splatter came off to dirty her brand new dark green cloak.

“Ugh,” Elania mumbled.

Yolani pulled out a wand and smiled. “Don’t worry, I have something for it.”

A white light emitted from the wand’s tip and the Master Artificer wove it around in the air in a small pattern of runic writing that was still not legible to Elania.

She’d learned that her ‘writing’ skill only applied to mundane words, not arcane symbols, or algorithms. Not unless she managed to learn them or pick up the [Arcane Writing] skill, which wasn’t likely… even with all the artifice stuff Yolani had been jamming into her head.

The artifice magic set the muck to dissolving off both Kael and her at a rapid rate. The brown dirty mess floated away and settled on the ground like an evaporative mess.

Elania couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “Well, Kael, looks like you’re in Yolani’s debt.” She shot a glance at the young artificer, who was trying to suppress her own amusement.

Kael groaned, standing up and brushing off despite having everything cleaned off of him. He muttered something under his breath about ‘demonic strength’, causing Elania’s smile to widen.

Elania grunted. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to be more careful,” she advised, earning herself an unhappy look from Kael. The boy had been nothing but trouble since they’d brought him along for the expedition into the dungeon. But she had to admit, his antics kept things interesting.

The party moved on once more, onto a path that would take them deep—and far from the cavernous city-state of Neftasu. Elania listened idly as Harlock dropped advice and knowledge on Kael. Some of it was even useful to her.

Especially the bits relevant to the creatures they were planning to hunt: Hornar Spiders.

“Listen close, lad,” Harlock said as he led them down a spiraling tunnel. “Hornar Spiders aren’t your typical cavern critters. They’re large, eight-legged monstrosities with curling, antler-like horns that resonate with magical vibrations.”

Elania watched as Kael’s eyes widened slightly at the description. She herself felt a smile tug at her lips in anticipation. She’d never fought them before, but she doubted they were any worse than a pair of Rockbears or Razorscales.

Harlock continued, his gaze distant, as though he was recalling a personal encounter with the spiders. “Their horns are their most significant feature and allow them to sense prey from a distance inside the caverns… but they are also their greatest weakness. If you can land a blow on them, or otherwise disrupt the magical resonance with their horns, you can disorient them for a short while.”

Yolani spoke up, her tone cheerful despite the danger they were discussing. “That’s where my tool bag comes in handy! I’ve prepared a few resonance bombs that should knock them out if they go off close enough.”

Elania glanced over at the other young woman and couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. She was always ready to face any challenge head-on.

“But remember this,” Harlock added sternly, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. “These spiders are highly territorial and aggressive. If you pass into their territory unprepared, you’ll find yourself ambushed and wrapped up in their webs before you even know what hit ya.”

Kael gulped audibly but nodded earnestly, indicating he understood the gravity of Harlock’s words.

Despite the inherent dangers of their surroundings, there was something thrilling, even exciting, about the expedition. It was a far cry from her previous life on Earth, which felt increasingly distant with every passing day, or even her expedition to reach Neftasu. That was no doubt down to the different companions she now had.

Traveling with companions you couldn’t trust was worse than traveling alone, while being with… friends was liberating.

After a few more hours of navigating the winding tunnels, glowing fungi encrusted expanses, and underground streams of the Underdark, Harlock led them to a halt in front of a solid stone archway.

Elania recognized it as a way station, currently unoccupied.

“Waystation,” Harlock explained as he stepped inside. “We’ll rest here for tonight.”

It was in a much rougher shape than the ones Elania remembered. There was a firepit in the center, but no sign of kindling or fungal wood. The individual chambers were missing, and the space was just a single large round room.

Yolani wasted no time moving straight to the arcane device standing in the center, and after a quick check to make sure everyone was inside, she activated it. There was a familiar pop in Elania’s ears as the shimmering blue field popped into place.

[WY#643 has accepted your unauthorized presence in order to rectify a security boundary.]

Kael and Harlock laid out their bedrolls, and Elania grabbed the cook-pot to take it to the nearby underground stream they had passed a few minutes earlier. As soon as she stepped out of the waystation, the muted rush of water echoed off the cavern walls.

Setting the pot down beside the rocky bank, she studied her reflection under the dim ambience of the cavern’s flora. Two yellow irises were framed by her middle length red hair. Despite all the trauma she’d endured, there wasn’t a single marred scar on her skin. It was a far different look than she had once possessed, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it herself.

“Preening again?” A melodic voice punctured the solitary moment from behind.

Elania turned back and gave Yolani a suspicious look. “I don’t preen.”

Looking away, she reached down with the pot and filled it with water while Yolani let out a little laugh.

“You do when you’re a cat,” Yolani countered.

An unhappy expression appeared on Elania’s face. “You better hope I don’t have to eat too many spiders, or you might wake up wrapped in a cocoon one morning.”

Yolani put her hand to her chest in mock horror. “Oh no. That would be…well maybe not as bad as waking up to sandpaper scraping my head off?”

Elania tensed up and focused on retrieving the pot of fresh water. “That only happened once.”

Yolani crossed her arms. “You trapped me on the bed for an hour!”

“It was a bonding experience,” Elania countered.

“Darkwalkers are solitary hunters!” Yolani objected.

Elania blushed, not wanting to bring up that while Yolani was right—Darkwalkers were solitary—that didn’t apply to mated pairs. Not that she had intended to force anything on Yolani, it was just that thinking became muddled when she was transformed.

Finished with the water, Elania helped Yolani shave off enough [Tower-Cap] wood to use for their fire. Carrying the pot in one hand and a bundle of sticks under her other arm, they made their way back fairly quickly.

A yelp from Kael made both Yolani and Elania freeze and share a look before they burst down the path to return to the still shielded waystation.

When they entered the chamber, they found the young man on his ass scooting backwards while Harlock chuckled and watched. “Boy, you are in a rude awakening if that thing scares you! The Hornar Spiders are much larger!”

Elania’s gaze fell onto a spider that had crawled onto and claimed Kael’s shield. To be fair, the spider was as large as a hand and was waving its arms at the young mercenary. Still, it wasn’t a monster or anything.

“Harlock, you shouldn’t torture him,” Yolani admonished. She pulled out a wand and flicked it, the spider floating up into the air via telekinesis. It began to struggle and wave its legs around, but the artifice magic floated it out of the waystation and deposited safely on the path.

“Won’t it be able to get back in?” Elania asked.

“Good point,” Yolani said with a nod. She set down her bundle of sticks by the wall and then went to the control device and shut down the field. “Any other creepy crawlies in here?”

Elania raised her nose and sniffed. She smelled nothing. “I think we’re fine.”

“Did you just…sniff?” Kael asked with wide eyes.

“She’s half cat,” Yolani quipped before reactivating the protection field.

Elania shot Kael a heated glance. “You better be careful! You’ll end in so much debt to Yolani that you might have to supply some artifice ingredients.”

His eyes widened in shock, which made her laugh. Yolani just shook her head. There wasn’t really any truth to the statement, but the young man’s reaction was worth joshing him a bit.

Harlock went to work turning the kindling into a campfire while Yolani pulled out some of their cooking supplies. The girl was good at cooking and Elania enjoyed the smell of the various vegetables as they were chopped up and added to the pot of water.

Not wanting to be idle, Elania took a few of the longer poles they had collected and began to shave them down into javelins. It was something she hadn’t done in a while, and the first one came out nearly mangled and a foot shorter than she had intended. Her [Basic Handcrafting] skill seemed to kick in though, because the second and third turned out very usable.

“You going to use those things to fight with? I don’t think fungal wood makes for a good weapon, even if it is flexible,” Harlock said to her.

Elania nodded. “I’ve used them before; they make for a good range attack…and I have a lot more reserves now. I’ve put down Rockbears, Darkwalkers, and even an Alpha Ralfot with these.”

Harlock raised an eyebrow and whistled. “That’s quite a list of critters to have dealt with using a whittled piece of mushroom.”

Okay, to be fair, there had been a bit more to it than just the javelins in most of the fights. Applying her special [Power] was probably what made it effective at all. Although exactly what the ratio wasn’t clear to her.

Kael remained by the wall, going through his stuff, maybe looking for spiders. Elania shook her head. It would have been a better idea to bring Lucas or Henri, she thought. But they had been busy, and Harlock insisted they needed an extra set of hands to carry things back.

Yolani’s shop was still under construction repairs, but there were a few things that the Magistry wasn’t prepared to restore for her. That included the highly advanced magical protection wards that were almost a necessity for a shop like Aetherhart’s Artifice. There was just too much dangerous, and valuable, stuff to be found in an Artifice workplace to not have it magically protected.

There were a few components required to build those types of wards Yolani had explained. She needed something that would…do something…with the…

Elania rubbed the side of her head. Artifice stuff was complex. There were multiple things Yolani could use, but the easiest one was the Hornar Spider horns. Apparently, a few sets of their antlers would cover the needs for the shop, and the other options were stupidly expensive or extremely hard to locate and not available.

A smile appeared on Elania’s lips. And so, the legendary Hornar Spider expedition was formed, featuring a young mercenary, an old one, a pretty [Master Artificer] and… herself.

Yolani finished preparing the stew with a last addition of some dried meat and then made her way over to sit by Elania. The soft glow of the firelight flickered across the raven black-haired girl’s face as she began to tinker with one of her small artifices.

The group’s conversation was light; punctuated with laughter or comfortable silence as the stew finished cooking and they enjoyed their meal around the fire—the flames beginning to cast long shadows against the rough-hewn walls of the waystation.

Elania took the first three watches, since she barely needed as much sleep as the three humans in the group. It gave her the chance to watch Yolani sleep and think about all the things that had happened to her since she’d been summoned.

As bad as it had been when she had first arrived, and after the sudden loss of her life on Earth, things weren’t that bad… and she wasn’t alone.

Tomorrow, they would face unknown dangers again. But tonight, in the small pocket of safety buried deep in the depths below Neftasu, she felt an unexpected peace.

Newly Summoned Demoness: Side Story One (Part Two)

“Goblins,” Harlock declared.

There was an eerie silence as the party stared up at the pile of stones that had been topped with the rotten carcass of a [Ralfot]. Elania held her elbow up to her nose to help hide the smell. “Why waste the meat?”

The old mercenary grunted. “Bait. Warning. Take your pick.” He reached out to the rock and pulled off a piece of sticky webbing that dangled from between the stones.

“The map said there were Hornar nests here,” Yolani said before frowning.

“There might have been. Looks like the goblins moved in recently,” Harlock stated.

Elania took a breath and took hold of her [Power] and forced it into her [Tracking] skill as she squatted down to examine the cavern floor. Behind them, their own footprints flashed into a vivid golden relief against the gray stone. Dozens of other markings appeared in a dull dark red all over the walls and ceilings, and even more orange and red markings were interspersed or buried under the friendly footprints.

“He’s right. The spider activity is older than the goblin? Call it a few weeks old, still on the walls and ceiling. The goblins have been through here, a lot of them, but it’s been a few days,” Elania explained.

Yolani shot her a raised eyebrow. “Tracking again?”

Elania nodded. She had used the skill a few times during the expedition to help avoid nasty critters, but it had surprised everyone that she was able to use the skill the way she did with her [Power] boosting.

“Not sure if we should backtrack or see if the greenskins collected any horns,” Harlock said.

A frown crossed Elania’s face. “Sorry if I’m showing my ignorance, but… can you explain goblins to me?”

Kael looked at her like she was daft. “You don’t know what a…goblin is?”

She gave him a glare. “There are a lot of different ideas about what goblins are from where I’m from.” Elania turned to look at Harlock. “I assume from what you said, we’ll be dealing with the monster-bad murder kind? How smart are they? What weapons do they use? They are dangerous enough to take on Hornar spiders?”

Yolani held up her hand to slow down the questions and offered some answers. “They’re smart tool-users. Short, agile, fight in large groups usually. If you spot one, you’ll know there are ten more behind it. They even have shaman magic casters, but those are rare.”

“Are there any other things to know about?” Elania asked.

Yolani raised an eyebrow. “Like?”

“Well, are there male and females? The males don’t get all…rapey and reproduce using other species, do they?” Elania asked.

The entire party stared at her in shock, like she’d turned into a freak. She was already regretting asking the question.

“N…no,” Yolani started. “Not anymore than any other species, anyway. They have their own females, but they generally don’t have visibly unique traits than the males. Both genders fight and hunt.”

“Individually, a goblin wouldn’t stand a chance against a Hornar, but working together, they certainly can. They are craft and if we move toward their lair, we should expect traps,” Harlock added.

“There’s no chance of diplomacy then?” Elania asked.

Yolani and Harlock shook their heads before responding together. “No.”

Elania’s eyes flickered between them, then settled on Yolani.

The other girl bit her lip. “It isn’t technically… impossible. But goblins generally prefer to eat humans, or flee from them. They also don’t use speech, and communicating is nearly impossible since they use telepathy…that only works between them.”

Oh boy. That was certainly different from what she had expected. A frown crept onto Elania’s face before her gaze settled on Yolani. “I don’t just want to murder things indiscriminately, but I trust you. If you think fighting them isn’t bad, then let’s look for the antlers?”

Yolani nodded, then looked to Harlock. “We are here, so we should check. Plus, pushing them further away from the city would probably make other travelers safer, anyway.”

“Agreed,” Harlock said. He turned to look at Elania. “I think it would be best if you use your [Stealth] and take the lead in. Kael and I will guard Yolani, and she can use her spells to take them down from afar.”

Elania nodded. She hadn’t been in any major fights since…since everything went down in the Magistry, but she hadn’t been idle in testing out her new abilities and much heightened capacity for [Power]. This would be a good chance.

In all honesty, she’d expected them to run into something to fight earlier, considering her first expedition through the depths, but they’d only encountered tracks and evidence of dangerous critters.

Checking her [Vorpal Dagger] Elania made sure it slid freely in its sheath, tightened her belt and moved on ahead. Steeping lightly, she moved down the cavern corridor. Her body blended in with the shadows as she switched to actively powering her [Stealth] skill.

A side effect of the skill was that her senses heightened slightly. She could hear the faint scuffle of Kael, Harlock, and Yolani moving to follow behind her at a more sedate pace. As she ventured further into the winding snake-like cavern, signs of goblin activity increased.

There were crudely drawn markings etched onto the cave walls, marked, and painted with a browning paint that was probably dried blood. A sour smell hung in the air, a pungent mix of filth and rot that made her grimace.

Turning a corner around a large boulder, she nearly bumped into a lone goblin. It was short and wiry with grayish-green skin that seemed to blend in with the darkness and stone around it. It was facing away from her and seemed to be fiddling with something in its hands, completely oblivious to her presence.

Elania acted swiftly, drawing her [Power] and lunging forward to plunge her dagger deep into the back of its skull. The blade penetrated easily thanks to her added force. The goblin died instantly, and she caught it and the spear that it had been playing with before they clattered to the ground.

She wiped her blade clean before dragging the corpse behind a rock and continuing forward.

The next area opened up into a large, open, oval-shaped cavern illuminated by yellow moss and fungi that gave off a hue that she hadn’t really seen much of before. Dozens of goblins were scattered around the area, but most were congregated in a small area nestled against one of the cavern walls. Some were sleeping huddled together while others sat in clusters, gnawing at meat or working on crude tools.

There were visible pairs of guards wielding bows and spears, idly standing or walking around as well.

Elania moved up a slope to a small alcove that was partially hidden and began to study them carefully. Her rough count quickly ticked upwards. Her best estimate was about fifty to sixty of them, and she decided it would be best to withdraw and relay what she’d seen back to Harlock and Yolani.

Halfway down the ramp, the sound of dozens of footfalls pricked her ears. Elania quickly hugged the shadows of the cavern wall beside her as she pushed more [Power] into her [Stealth] skill.

The goblins had begun to grab their weapons and stream out of the cavern, straight down the direction she had come—towards the rest of her party!

Elania’s heart pounded in her chest as she moved into action, sprinting alongside the cavern wall, dashing back along the route she had taken.

There was a silent clink as arrows smashed into the stone behind her, the goblins having taken silent aim to fire at her. Two jumped in her way to stop her, but she clawed the ground and tossed a spray of stone shards in their faces before vaulting over them.

She dealt with several other goblins along the way, either with a [Power] infused strike or a vicious slice with her [Vorpal Dagger]. When she rounded the last corner, she skidded to a halt.

Harlock, Kael, and Yolani had taken up defensive positions on top of a small stone plateau with a single ramp up to its top. It was a tactical position, forcing the goblins into a bottleneck as they tried to reach them.

Harlock wielded his spear and shield with a stoic determination, stabbing and slashing at any goblin attempting to rush up the ramp. His strength and experience were clear as he repelled multiple waves of attackers charging up at him.

Kael ran along the outcropping’s edge, using his sword to slash any of the dozen goblins, attempting to scale the nearly vertical surface. Several of them tumbled back down into their comrades below.

Elania’s eyes searched and found Yolani in the center, her wand raised high. Bolts of lightning crackled in controlled bursts, striking down goblins from afar, thinning them out before they joined the ones assaulting the other two.

A wave of arrows flashed forward, fired in a volley, and the girl raised a second wand in her other hand. A blue field flashed into existence from the floor of the outcropping just in front of Kael and Harlock to the ceiling—a protective barrier that caused the incoming arrows to clatter to a stop mid-flight and fall to the ground.

They were holding their own, but Elania bit her lip and scanned the attackers who had lost track of her. Wasting no more time, she drew her [Vorpal Dagger] and pushed a surge of [Power] into her legs, catapulting herself in a high arc off a ledge.

She landed squarely among the group of archers that were preparing for another volley with a heavy thud.

The two nearest began to turn toward the sound she had made, but she moved like a whirlwind. Her dagger sliced through the air with deadly precision, decapitating one and then the other. The blood spray was enough for the system to offer her two familiar messages.

[You have slain Tribe Archer - Goblin - Lvl 77 and Tribe Fighter - Goblin - Lvl 56]

[Absorb the lingering Power from Tribe Archer - Goblin - Lvl 77 and Tribe Fighter - Goblin - Lvl 56?]

Golden motes of light flashed off the two disintegrating corpses as she accepted. The [Power] she had been spending was nearly replaced. Reaching down, she snagged four crude arrows from the quiver of one of the dead goblins.

Charging each projectile with the newly stolen [Power] and amplifying her Rank S [Throwing], she released them with deadly accuracy. The death of six of their archers didn’t go unnoticed, and dozens of the goblins scaling the rock outcropping halted and turned to attack her.

A sense of satisfaction filled her as goblin after goblin fell around her. Yolani’s barrage of bolts fell on the attackers like artillery.

Any that got close enough for Elania’s dagger to reach was dispatched swiftly. A few tried to shoot her with arrows, but she batted them away.

The fight was entirely one sided.

Eventually, their numbers dwindled until finally, the goblins broke and fled all at once, back toward the tunnels to their camp. Magic bolts chased after them and Elania put her throwing skill to use again to turn palm sized stones into deadly missiles.

None of the goblins made it out of sight alive.

Panting heavily and covered in grime and gore, Elania waved up at her friends on their elevated perch. Yolani winced as she waved back.

She moved to join them as they checked their gear and equipment for damage from the fight. “Nice work,” Harlock grunted, nodding to her.

“The mission was to go scout, not pull the entire tribe on us before we knew what we were in for,” Yolani said, crossing her arms.

“What? They didn’t see me? They all just started toward you, without warning.” Elania said, slightly confused.

Yolani frowned. “One of them must have spotted us then, and then called the rest with telepathy.”

Harlock nodded. “Wouldn’t have been hard for one to be skulking about and we didn’t see it. That’s the danger with them.”

“Uhm,” Kael said, capturing everyone’s attention. “What are we going to do with all these…corpses?”

Yolani chuckled, “That won’t be a problem.” She searched in her pouch and pulled out a dim mana shard and offered it to Elania. “Elania can convert them to mana shard charges.”

“Their equipment isn’t likely worth rummaging through. Surprised they managed to run off the Hornar, actually,” Harlock commented.

Elania accepted the shard and tested it with her [Mana Manipulation]. It wasn’t a massive one. Those were still rare in the city because of the previous shortage, but it was decently sized and there were enough dead goblins around that she’d be able to recharge herself to full and probably fill the shard halfway.

That took a good thirty minutes to accomplish, simply because of how many goblins had been killed.

The others took the time to mend their equipment, wash off via Yolani’s cleaning wand, and keep watch for any more dangers. When Elania returned with the nearly full mana shard, she returned it to the artificer.

Yolani offered her a smile, then a clean-up with the artificer wand. It really was convenient, and Elania had no complaints.

“Everyone ready?” Harlock asked.

Kael and Yolani nodded.

“Let’s move on,” Elania said, pointing towards where she’d located the goblin camp. “I didn’t get a good look, but I thought I saw some antler-like things in their camp.”

The party followed her lead quietly, picking their way around the remnants of the goblin’s gear. The ‘settlement’ was everything she remembered, except the smell was worse as they got closer. Rotten food and filth felt like a punch to her gut and not for the first time, Elania was cursing the [Darkwalker] trait that gave her an extra-sensitive nose.

There were signs of hurried abandonment everywhere—discarded tools, strewn belongings—and in one corner of the cavern a pile of damaged Hornar antlers.

Yolani’s hopeful expression turned into disappointment as she examined them. “Damn. They are too damaged to be of any use.”

“Looks like they were using them for the arrows,” Harlock muttered.

Elania’s gaze swept over the crafting area. The half-constructed arrows laid in a pile. What a waste. She sighed. “At least we know there are Hornar in the area, right? If they could hunt them, we should be able to find some.”

She turned her [Tracking] up and focused on looking for clues. Sure enough, she spotted the signs where the spiders had fled from the cavern. Elania pointed further down the chamber to where a large tunnel branched off. “Looks like some escaped from the battle and fled that way.”

Harlock grunted, a grim look crossing his face. “Well, it looks like we’re going deeper then,” he said gruffly.

Kael groaned at that and looked to Yolani. She was their expedition leader, so the decision was ultimately up to her.

Green eyes locked onto Elania’s before the young woman made a small nod. “We’ll keep going. I don’t think there are any waystations in that direction, so we’ll need to keep that in mind.”

No one objected and Elania gave a nod in return before leading the way, senses alert for ambush.

Newly Summoned Demoness: Side Story One (Part Three)

Elania’s eyes glowed faintly in the dim light as she surveyed her companions gathered around Yolani’s shard-powered lantern. The worn map, with slightly frayed edges and a few ink-smudged routes, lay flat on the cool cavern floor. Yolani’s finger traced the lines and symbols, pausing at the blank spaces along the draw area’s edges.

“We’re officially off the map,” Yolani said, a note of concern threading its way into her tone. “We already left the waystations way behind. Now we’ll need to make sure we keep track of our route or risk getting lost.”

“I’m fairly confident in navigation,” Elania said. “I have the skill at Rank E.”

Harlock chuckled. “Don’t worry, lass. I will keep track of our way. I have Rank A.”

Elania’s golden irises flicked between him and Yolani. She noticed a tiredness that clouded her friend’s green eyes that had not been there before. “There might not be a waystation, but we can find our own place to temporarily camp.”

Harlock grunted his agreement, the lantern light casting his craggy features in stark relief. “Aye, we’ve come far enough today, and a weary blade invites defeat.”

Kael, who remained silent, nodded nervously as he glanced around the surroundings. Elania frowned and wanted to reassure him there wasn’t anything near them at the moment, but it wasn’t a bad thing that he was being alert.

Yolani packed the map back up and placed a small metal orb behind a large rock.

“What’s that?” Elania asked.

“Insurance, because ‘navigation’ isn’t a very reliable way of making our way back,” Yolani replied before pulling out a small, round metal object. It had a little arrow in it resembling a compass, the tip pointed straight towards the metal orb.

“Smart. Helps if either I or the Demoness gets hurt, too,” Harlock said.

The trek took them down a winding path along a deep crevasse that revealed a slowly flowing underground stream. The entire chamber was nearly pitch black, but on the other side of a narrow tunnel, a vibrant area opened up.

It reminded Elania of the Mushroohum Lands.

More importantly, there were dozens of cliff-like cuts in the sides of the cavern’s walls, and she pointed to one that was nearby. “I bet we can set up camp on one of those.”

“You going to hop up there and throw us down a rope?” Harlock asked.

Elania grinned. “Sure! That’s not a problem.”

Once everyone was situated on the large shelf, Elania spent her time gathering supplies they needed from the cavern. The wood and water were fairly simple, especially since Yolani provided her with an expanding bucket they hauled up with the rope.

When she was done, she focused on making the fire while Yolani pulled out several contraptions and placed them along the edge. A blue field appeared, creating a curved-like shield at the top of the cliff.

Elania blinked. “Wait, you can make a waystation field?”

Yolani shook her head. “Nothing as strong as that. But this will at least deflect projectiles or spells for a bit while alerting us.”

“Still will need a watch,” Harlock said.

That wasn’t something anyone was going to argue against.

Conversation ebbed and flowed around the fire while they cooked another travel meal. With their bellies filled with the warm stew, they finally settled down to rest. Elania took first watch.

The dancing flames played across the walls, casting a tapestry of light and shadow that seemed to whisper of the dangers they were seeking to explore. Her gaze finally settled on Yolani, the other girl’s even breaths hinting that she had fallen sound asleep.

Each one of them had their own responsibilities and goals from the expedition, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that… she’d made the right choices in teaming up with Yolani. And Harlock was a surprising source of… friendship?

When it was finally Yolani’s turn, she stayed up and kept the other girl company, even if they weren’t really free to chat. There was something nice about just sitting and looking out over the quiet, pretty glowing cavern together, though.

Harlock had the hardest watch in the middle. Yolani shook the old mercenary awake.

Elania curled up on her bedroll, which was beside Yolani’s, and they slept back to back. That wasn’t strictly necessary, but it was nice considering the damp chill of the cavern.

Dreams eluded her and it felt like no time at all had passed when Harlock shook her and then Yolani gently. “Wake up. Time to get moving.”

Yolani groaned as she pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes. “Already?”

“The Hornar won’t wait for us,” Elania replied cheerfully.

Yolani sighed and sat up. The two men began to pack the camp with practice hands, but Yolani looked at her bag. “Elania, pass me my bag? We need to check some things before we go.”

Elania nodded and grabbed the large leather pouch and handed it to her. Yolani opened it and began pulling out a line of red-colored vials. Healing potions. There were also a dozen gray orbs with blue tops.

“The resonance bombs need to be in top condition,” Yolani mumbled to herself. When everything was out, she counted the potions by twos, checking each one for damage. When she was done, she spoke up so everyone could hear. “Remember, everyone, we have a limited supply of healing potions. Just twelve left.”

Harlock guffawed. “Only? That’s three for each of us.”

Elania had found that the healing liquid was very expensive. It probably was normal for a party to only carry one or two potions for an emergency. Yet here they were with a dozen. It wasn’t like she needed any healing with her [Regeneration] perk, so it was more like four for each of them.

Still, if they got in a battle, having that option to quaff a bunch of potions was a good thing. They weren’t exactly super effective, from experience. Yolani had been hurt badly during the battle with Magister Relain, and one hadn’t cut it.

Moving out, Elania lead with a confidence born from the familiarity of the cavern and her heightened senses. [Tracking] cast a subtle glow on the cavern floor hinting at the passage of different creatures, but most importantly, the thin tracks that had been made by the Hornar spiders remained. They led through the cavern to the other side in an unerring, straight path.

The tunnel out of the cavern turned into a snarl of twists and turns, but eventually led to a smaller, darker section.

A low growl reverberated through the air, stopping all of them in their tracks. Kael pulled his sword. “What was that?”

Elania’s eyes adjusted to the darkness easily, her gaze falling onto the source of the growl. “A Darkwalker,” Elania answered without turning. The panther-like form stared at them with two yellow orbs. It was a teenager.

Yolani peered into the darkness, her kinetic wand at the ready. “Can we avoid it?”

“No need,” Elania replied, her own growl rising in her throat—a deep, dominant sound that echoed through the tunnel.

The young Darkwalker emerged, its fur bristled and eyes wary. It locked gazes with Elania, and for a moment, a silent communication passed between them. She felt recognition. She’d met this Darkwalker before.

“Do you…know it?” Yolani asked hesitantly. Her eyes flickered off the predator and onto Elania.

“Maybe I met it when it was younger,” Elania answered hesitantly. “Either way…”

She bared her teeth in a silent snarl and hissed loudly.

The Darkwalker froze, then backed away before turning and vanishing down another tunnel branch.

“Nicely done,” Harlock said with a note of approval. “Just don’t go too feral.”

Elania scoffed.

Yolani shook her head. “I never get used to seeing you do things like that.”

Elania offered a half-smile. “It’s just part of who I am now.”

They continued on their way, the tension of the brief encounter still lingering in the air. As they moved deeper into the caverns, Yolani kept close to Elania.

Several cavern transitions later, the first evidence that they were getting closer came into view. Webs, thick and long, ran haphazardly through a tunnel. The angles would bring anything hurtling through the space to a rapid and sticky halt.

“This is it,” Elania whispered. “The tracks lead right through there.”

Yolani nodded. “We’ll find them here.”

“Just keep in mind the plan. Resonance bomb to stun before getting in close and decapitating it,” Harlock said.

Kael nodded, his grip on his sword white-knuckled but determined. “We can do this.”

One by one, they crept through the zig-zag pattern required not to get stuck on the webs, their eyes fixed on the tunnel exit.

Together, they crept forward, their eyes fixed on the shadows ahead, where their quarry awaited. When they reached the end, Elania’s breath caught in her chest.

The cavern was a vast network of webs hanging from the rocky ceiling. They stretched in long sheets to the floor at random, leaving little free space except in the center where an enormous pile of bones had begun to take shape. All of them had been picked entirely clean, reminding her of the refuse the [Bone Demon] she had fought long ago.

The air vibrated with a subtle hum, a sensation that Elania felt more than heard. Something told her it was likely related to the magical resonance of the Hornar. She turned her head slightly, catching Yolani’s gaze. The other girl’s hand hovered over her open pouch of resonance bombs, her expression a mixture of anxiety and determination.

“We’re not alone,” Harlock whispered, his voice barely audible.

Elania’s eyes scanned the shadows, and there in a distant corner, the silhouette of a Hornar Spider loomed, two horns pulsing with a blue ghostly light. It didn’t seem to be aware of them.

The group shared a look, then pressed forward into the chamber toward their prey.

As they got closer, Elania realized just how big the spider was. It was easily 2-3 meters tall, and that was while sitting on the small mound it was perched upon.

Kael swallowed hard. “Are we sure there is only one?”

“There might be a few more, but they don’t like to nest in large groups,” Harlock stated quietly.

Elania crept closer to the unsuspecting Hornar, her breathing controlled, her body a vessel of coiled power ready to spring. The others stopped once Yolani was in throwing range, leaving her to sneak up alone. Coming to a stop below the massive spider, she crouched, poised, and ready to strike with her dagger in hand.

Yolani’s arm drew back, and with a flick of her wrist, the first resonance bomb sailed through the air, striking the spider on the head. It detonated on impact, emitting a deep, vibrating pulse that reverberated throughout the cavern and through Elania’s chest.

If there were more spiders, they definitely weren’t going to be asleep after that.

The Hornar reeled and let out a painfully high-pitched shriek. Its massive form convulsed as its horns flickered erratically as the magic within them was disrupted.

It was time to strike.

With a burst of speed, she leapt from the ground, straight for the spider’s head. She slashed as she passed by its face, but the cut was shallow as it lurched away. A length of horn came toward her and she grabbed it.

Electric shock poured through the connection, but she grit her teeth and forced a flood of power down her limb, which buffered and repulsed the beast’s own magic. She redirected her flight path onto the spider’s back and slid down its smooth chitin carapace.

Before she fell off, she stabbed her [Vorpal Dagger] into it, body weight dragging the blade through in a long line that left green ooze erupting from the wound. The Hornar reeled and raised itself upward in an attempt to dislodge her.

Hands slick with ichor, she couldn’t keep her purchase and fell to the ground, barely retaining her weapon. A spindly leg slashed through the air down at her and she jumped and rolled out of the way as the spider counter attacked.

Another resonance bomb landed nearby, exploding with enough power to shock the spider into stillness again.

“Keep pressure!” Harlock shouted from near Yolani.

Elania glanced over at the rest of the group. The older mercenary had formed a small shield wall with Kael, both of them standing in front of Yolani protectively.

A dangerous hum filled the air above her, and Elania realized her mistake in looking away. The second resonance grenade had not been as effective, and the Hornar’s two antlers had taken on a bright blue glow. Suddenly lighting bolts began to slam into the ground around the spider, one of them striking Elania in the chest and blowing her backwards in a spinning ball.

She found purchase with her feet and hands, bringing herself to a sliding stop. The spider had seemingly forgotten her and was focused on the rest of the group, lightning bolts slamming into the two mercenaries’ raised shields.

Yolani raised her wand, lifting a field of rocks and debris from the ground to levitate in the air before pointing at the spider. Lightning bolts lashed out, blasting the projectiles by the dozen, making the attack look ineffective.

But mixed into the swarm was one of her resonance grenades. It weaved its way through the deadly bolts and exploded just a meter away from the spider’s antlers.

The beast shrieked and stumbled, the strength in its front legs failing.

Elania glanced at her dagger. It was too small. She needed something larger. Something like Eziel would have been perfect, but the sword had been sacrificed to Neftasu’s Celestial Engine.

“Close in and strike!” Harlock’s command was blunt, and he and Kael began to advance together.

Elania’s eyes fell on a large rock nearby, and then she shouted back. “No! Let me!”

They looked at her, confused. There was only going to be a few seconds of the spider remaining stun locked. Thankfully, they listened.

Elania slid her dagger into its sheath and grabbed the rock. It was almost as tall as she was, and her hands dug into the surface as she pumped her [Power] throughout her entire body.

It probably weighed a hundred times what she did or something, but she’d become much stronger since falling into the Celestial Engine. Leaning back, she got leverage on the back of the rock and pulsed another wave of [Power] into her ridiculous projectile. The stone turned red, and her flesh began to sizzle from the heat.

Too much [Power]. If it got any hotter, it would weaken and melt on her.

She hurled it.

The spider caved in on itself as the boulder slammed into its side, lifting it into the air. Both crashed into the wall with a massive, reverberating crunch that shook and jostled the entire cavern like a minor earthquake.

The rock she’d thrown shattered into a spray of molten rock shards, slicing into the spider before impacting the thick webs throughout the cavern like an erupting volcano.

They were lucky the spider silk wasn’t flammable like glow moss.

The spider crashed to the ground, its entire middle section completely flattened. The beast’s legs moved haphazardly for a second longer before going limp.

[You have slain Hornar Spider!]

[You have gained a level!]

They stood in silence, everyone’s chest heaving with exertion, as the reality of their victory sunk in. Elania glanced over to the two men. Their shields were blackened and charred where they had absorbed the lightning strikes meant for Yolani.

They hadn’t been actively attacking the spider, but they still look spent.

Yolani was the only one in the group who looked fine.

They all converged on the carcass. Yolani smiled at her, eyes shining with admiration. “Elania, that was incredible!”

A smile appeared on Elania’s face. “Your decoy rocks worked good to stun it.”

Harlock grunted and looked at Kael. “Stay sharp. All the noise might attract attention,” he warned.

“Yessir,” Kael answered quickly. To the young man’s credit, he seemed to firm up and wasn’t nervous anymore.

Grabbing the carcass, Elania pulled the body down to bring the attachment point of the horns to within reach so Yolani could use one of her artifice tools to magically shave it off at the base.

They’d been right to bring the two mercenaries for sure. There was no way they’d be able to carry more than one antler per person. Elania blinked. She hadn’t asked how many they needed.

Was a pair of them enough?

Newly Summoned Demoness: Side Story One (Finale)

The hum of the air mixed with the occasional drip of water from a stalactite was punctuated by the occasional rustle of cloth as Yolani prepared the Hornar antlers for transport. Elania watched, her golden eyes reflecting the cavern’s dim light as Yolani worked with meticulous care.

Both horns, now severed from the monstrous spider, had been sectioned in smaller pieces by one of Yolani’s precision instruments. Each piece was then wrapped in a special fabric. It was a deep shimmering violet, and as Yolani handled it, the cloth seemed to ripple and absorb the surrounding light.

“Each section will form a node,” Yolani explained, her voice quiet in the cavernous chamber. “They are natural resonators, perfect for the defensive wards once properly embedded. They also enable the filter for who and what to allow through the protection.”

Elania nodded, not understanding everything but definitely knowing how important the task was. Yolani’s shop would be full of expensive artifice and artifacts once more, and having a proper security system was a requirement for all the artificers.

The Magistry had stored what was left after the looting and vandalism the Guard had done when chasing them, but that was only a temporary measure.

Elania continued to watch the process for a while before feeling the need to stretch her legs. Harlock and Kael had taken up positions and were tending to their singed equipment that had been blackened by the Hornar’s lightning strikes.

“Don’t go too far,” Harlock warned.

Elania nodded and picked her way through the web draped cavern. She made a semi-circle around the perimeter where the Hornar had fallen, not even sure what she was looking for.

The smell of the cavern was distinctly tinged by the ichor of the dead Hornar, and her [Tracking] failed to report anything of value from the chaos. It didn’t work on webbing, apparently.

She passed by walls etched with the scars of their battle, remnants of web and stone hinting at a confrontation full of might and fury. Little orange embers clung to the underside of rocks where they had landed. She ran a finger across a jagged edge of the cavern wall.

Straying further from the group, she found her attention captured by the smaller details of the cavern—the way the thin patches of moss clung to rock, the drip of water that seemed to play a tune only she could hear. The little details revealed the cavern’s secrets, and Elania felt a deep connection with the place.

It was probably the Darkwalker in her that was so attracted to the environ, because she would have really preferred sharing a big comfy bed with Yolani again. The thought heated her cheeks a little.

Maybe it was best not to think of that kind of thing. So much had happened, and there had been no chance to even think about how to approach the subject with Yolani.

She wasn’t even sure homosexuality wasn’t a death sentence in Neftasu.

When they got back, she’d do some very careful investigation.

The only thing worse than being persecuted for it would be getting Yolani in trouble, too. It was a fantasy world that seemed planted in a weird mix of medieval and 19th century stuff, so the worst case didn’t even have to be far-fetched…

The rest of her patrol was spent in silent melancholy. When she was about to return, she stumbled upon a boulder that had created a small, protected arch with another. Both were wrapped in thick ropes of webbing to hold them together, but it was what was nestled underneath that caught her attention.

The large blue and black mottled eggs were nested within cradles of silk, each one at least a foot or so tall. They’d been protected from the fight thanks to their enclosure.

Curiosity piqued, Elania called out to the others, “I found something!”

A quick [Identify] revealed they were exactly what she thought.

[Hornar Egg] [Hornar Egg] [Hornar Egg]

Yolani set her tools down, and the group gathered around, peering at the discovery.

“Hornar eggs,” Yolani confirmed. “We should probably just leave them.”

Elania raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking…maybe they taste good fried? Like chicken eggs?”

Everyone stared at her like she was stupid and she shrank back.

“Spider eggs don’t taste good,” Kael replied. “They’re usually poisonous.”

“Not always, but I really don’t think they are the same as chicken,” Yolani muttered.

“Hornar Eggs aren’t edible. But they fetch a nice price on the market. I know it would be easy to pawn them off for a half dozen gold each,” Harlock revealed.

The group turned to look at him together, surprise etched on their faces.

Harlock shrugged. “What? We were hunting for something. It’s good to know if there are any valuable parts to bring back.”

“It’s too much to carry,” Yolani stated.

Harlock chuckled. “Aye, I did not realize how big they’d be.”

“No eating, too big to carry. Guess we are leaving them then,” Elania said.

There was an undercurrent of agreement, and they turned back to finish collecting the antlers.

As Yolani packed things up, a subtle rumble passed through the cavern floor, the vibration setting Elania’s hairs on end. Her eyes narrowed, and she scanned the far end of the cave. Something was coming.

“What’s that?” Kael asked.

Harlock pulled out his spear and slid his arm into his shield straps. “Nothing good. Everyone, get ready.”

Elania moved quickly, jumping up onto one of the taller rocks and using it as a high-perch to scan the area with a better view. Nothing but webs greeted her [Darkvision] but the rumbling grew louder.

There was no getting ready for what suddenly slammed its way through the far cavern wall.

Rocks arced through the air in an explosion, filling the chamber with a wind of dust. Blue fireflies emerged, lightning crackling between them in steady pulses. The Hornar spider that emerged dwarfed the one they had slain, easily five to six meters tall. Its massive antlers were an intricate dance of arcane symbology.

[Alpha Hornar Mother]

Oh shit.

The air turned electric, the stench of ozone pungent in the cavern’s already dank atmosphere. Shadows flitted across the walls, creating a maelstrom of light and darkness as the lightning aura pulsed from the [Alpha Hornar Mother]. Elania’s heart pounded, a throbbing drumbeat in her ears.

“By the gods, that’s an Alpha…” Kael’s hushed exclamation barely reached Elania’s ears, but she sensed the trepidation behind his words.

She clenched her fists, feeling the wellspring of [Power] churning within her. The others didn’t really stand a chance against this thing, if it hit them, they’d die.

Heck, if hit her, she’d probably die.

“Stay back,” she commanded, her voice urgent. “Yolani, we need those resonance bombs now!”

“I’m on it,” Yolani confirmed, without hesitation. She dug into her satchel, her movements practiced and precise. A trio of the bombs appeared in her hand a second later.

Elania turned her focus back to the Alpha, its colossal form crashing through the rest of the cavern wall and sending rocks hurtling as it entered. The antlers nearly reached the cavern’s ceiling. It seemed intently focused on the group.

Standing up, Elania jumped off her rock and began to stride toward it, her [Vorpal Dagger] in hand. The beast’s antlers began to thrum with more energy, the sigils on them beginning to grow brighter while the little blue motes of light swirling around them began to speed up their swirling pattern.

It was going to take more than physical prowess to bring down the behemoth.

The charging energy was too much of a telegraph, but she had no idea of the scope of the power until the Hornar unleashed it. A solid beam of blue energy shot out of its antlers, two beams coming together to form a single slash that dug up the terrain as it streaked forward toward Yolani.

Elania gritted her teeth and jumped right into the beam’s path; that wasn’t hard when it was so large. She spread out her hands and braced herself. A surge of [Power] flared through her fingertips as she focused on her [Mana Manipulation], forcing the energy to harden into a physical form right in front of her.

The beam slammed into her shield heavily; the angle deflecting the attack into the cavern ceiling. It was much easier than she had imagined, but her [Power] reserves were taking the brunt of the blow. Heat and wind licked at her face and hair.

Turning one of her outstretched hands into a fist, Elania closed her eyes and focused on her perk, [Soul Siphon]. The beam was close and an easily converted power source. Linking to it allowed her to cycle the energy in a rotation that made the shield power itself. That was perfect, except for causing a burning inside of her chest from the massive torrents of power.

As the blue energy beam began to disperse and weaken, Elania sucked the rest of it in along with her own power, focusing it into a small ball. When it reached peak compression, she launched it forward like a lance.

The strike jammed into the massive spider’s torso like a missile, exploding in an outward spray of fire and smoke on impact.

It wasn’t enough.

Leaning forward, Elania braced herself, muscles coiling like springs. She poured [Power] into her legs before forcing a burst into [Mobility].

“Harlock, Kael, keep your distance! Use the resonance bombs!” she instructed, her eyes never leaving the Alpha. The two mercenaries each acknowledged with a shout, each now armed with one of Yolani’s anti-Hornar weapons. They might not have her strength or powers, but they had their own roles to play.

Electricity began to crackle between the Alpha Hornar’s antlers and she released the tension in her legs to shoot forward. A lightning bolt smashed the ground underfoot, and was forced to leap off the exploding ground to shoot forward even faster.

Yolani’s incantation whispered through the air just in time as more lightning bolts began to flash outwards, striking at random all over the cavern. Tracking in front of Harlock and Kael, two blue rectangles of protective magic absorbed the repeated blows.

But for herself, Elania continued to dance from rock to rock, every leap bringing her closer. Much too fast for the two men to keep up or get in range.

Oh well, she’d just have to do this on her own!

The lightning strikes intensified as she got closer, and then the deep blue motes began to streak at her like little darts. When she dodged, they curved around and chased her. The rock behind her exploded into pebbles as the tracking missiles missed a second time.

She needed to go faster. Elania pointed her hands behind her and forced a dump of [Power] out of them.

Elania flashed forward through the air like a missile. The spider raised a leg to move, but her dagger dug into the chitin and carved a glowing path as she used the force to spin herself into a new trajectory upwards.

Pivoting mid-air, she hit the ceiling feet first. Spreading out her impact with a sheet of [Power] the area around her impact cratered itself before she launched herself back down at the spider’s head, just between the antlers.

The blue homing darts shot at her, but Yolani’s protection wards appeared in the air around her, absorbing the missiles.

Channeling [Power] into a strike, Elania aimed for the Alpha’s head and—

A massive electrical discharge exploded around her, turning everything white and stealing her momentum. A weightless feeling filled her and the smell of burnt flesh was overwhelming. Crashing into the ground didn’t even hurt because everything was utterly numb.

Oh.

She realized what had happened.

It had zapped her.

Somehow, a voice carried through the air, really the only clear sound she could hear.

“Elania!” Yolani’s voice was tinged with panic.

Forced [Regeneration] wasn’t pleasant. The damage was much greater than she realized. Black sheets of char fell off of her where the bolt had struck her in the side, dissolving into yellow power motes. Her internal organs had been fried, and she had to force air down into her lungs to re-inflate them.

By the time she regained her senses on the ground, the pointed tip of a spider leg was crashing down on her.

A surge of panic filled her as she drew on her [Power] stores to strengthen her body and create a shield above her head. Her power counter ticked down rapidly in the corner of her vision.

[Power: 891/1501]

She was spending way more power than she thought.

The leg smashed into her, driving her into the ground. Rock exploded outward as she spread her [Power] out around her feet to give herself more surface area and avoid being punched into the ground like a nail.

Even with that, the [Alpha Hornar Mother]’s weight drove her deeper. There wasn’t time to think. All she could do was focus on not being squished.

An explosion erupted above and suddenly the weight pressing down on her shifted away. Elania didn’t waste any time, slipping out the side and jumping out of the cylindrical hole she’d been driven into.

The Alpha’s Antlers flickered chaotically, and a cloud of residue was in the process of dissipating. They’d stunned the beast with one of the resonance bombs!

“Thanks!” Elania shouted. She spotted Kael retreating nearby, then Harlock throwing a second bomb up at the thing’s head. It smashed into a mandible, exploding with the disruptive arcane energy.

“We don’t have more! Do something, lass!” Harlock shouted back at her before joining Kael’s retreat towards Yolani.

Elania nodded grimly. She needed to do something before it regained the function of its stupid shock-stick antlers. Bracing herself in a crouch, she sprung upwards. The blue tracking projectiles were thinned, but as soon as she approached the spider’s head, they began to flash towards her.

“Queen’s Requiem!” Yolani shouted from afar. Dozens of lighter blue projectiles tracked the Alpha’s intercepting ones, smashing them away in a furious barrage.

“Yolani!” Elania shouted excitedly, as she reached the high point of her jump, nearly level with the spider’s face. Its mandibles clicked angrily, just out of reach of slashing her. Looking down at the relatively tiny [Vorpal Dagger] in her hand, she knew she couldn’t rely on it.

She needed to blast it, but an explosion would probably kill everyone. Sudden [Power] release was exponential.

But what if she could moderate it?

Elania raised her dagger above her head, pointing straight upwards. Gravity seemed to forget about her as she hung in the air, the moment freezing in time.

A golden orb of light grew out of her hand, molding itself to the shape of her dagger before snapping to double her size.

Shaped-charge container achieved.

She dumped over half of her remaining energy into the mental construct, eliciting an eye searing flash of light throughout the cavern. She swung in a heavy downward arc, straight at the [Alpha Hornar Mother].

The golden blade of energy expanded and enlarged into a spewing divine flame, carving a wide gouge through the cavern ceiling, and then striking the spider right between its antlers.

The [Power] cleaved the titan just as well as it had the terrain; the blade losing its cohesion and turning into a massive, angry club as it exploded through the belly of the monster.

The ground below was shoved away, digging a massive chasm of liquefied rock and ichor before punching through at least a kilometer through the ground of the adjoining caverns like a finger of God.

The divine blade flickered out as the Alpha fell into the new chasm, completely bisected.

[You have slain Alpha Hornar Mother!]

[You have gained multiple levels!]

[Power: 11/1501]

The sensation of air licking at her back as she fell towards the molten floor suddenly became very relevant. The attack might have been too much. She looked at her arm. Her [Vorpal Dagger] was blackened, but still intact.

So was her hand. She’d made some progress, then.

As she neared the molten floor, she closed her eyes.

Still managed to kill herself, though.

Just before impact, an invisible hand enfolded around her and brought her plummet to a stop. Heat from the rock bathed her face and body before she was carefully lifted back up out of the chasm.

An upset Yolani released her onto the new cliff’s edge.

“Are you okay?” the other girl shouted at her. A brief shake of her shoulders had Elania nodding.

Holding up her slightly charred hands, she moved her fingers. “M’fine!”

Yolani calmed her breathing down, but the girl’s fear suddenly turned into anger. Then the shaking suddenly intensified. “What were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed!”

Elania pulled her into a hug and patted her back. “Thanks for catching me.”

There was an angry puff as the other girl relented. Harlock and Kael arrived, carrying their equipment and the packaged Hornar Spider horns. Harlock shook his head. “We need to get—”

The entire cavern began to shake, and rocks began to fall from overhead.

“—out of here. The cavern is unstable!”

Yolani helped Elania stand, and the party fled the scene of destruction.

Elania glanced over her shoulder toward the chasm. Admittedly, she had gotten a bit carried away, and it was a pity she hadn’t had time to absorb the Alpha.

But at least they had achieved their mission for the Hornar horns!