JR 6.2

Hello Patreon! Good Sunday evening! So, I found time to write! lol, So I will be able to deliver on time afterall. I know this story is kind of an extra but I still feel bad not delivering on time. Anyways here you go!

The spiders crept through the horde with ease. I was right in that most of the monsters were sleeping. I aimed for an area that had a dominant type of monster, it was a large camp of Minotaurs, nearly a thousand of them. There were quite a few random monsters scatter around the Minotaurs as well. 

I set the spiders to go off after we had put a decent amount of distance between the horde and us so that if another panic happened, we wouldn’t be as close this time. We made our way from the horde as quietly as possible, I was thankful that Azra had started pulling the stumps up as we went otherwise it was like leading them right to us. Being on the game trails also helped to reduce the number of trees we had to cut down. 

When we were several dozen kilometers from the horde, I had all the spiders release their payload, once they released all the liquid, they made for the forest line to keep a sentinel on the horde. A golden nearly invisible mist spread from the drop points, it quickly engulfed this section of the horde, but it seemed I had underestimated the power of the chemical. 

After five minutes it covered nearly three kilometers before it seemed to reach its limit. The Minotaurs that had been in the epicenter of the attack were the first to suffer. If my memories served me right, it should have taken a couple hours for the early symptoms to surface, but I must not have taken the mana into account. 

A Minotaur near one of the points had reactions only after a few minutes. A roar of pain filled the air, as his skin turned a deep red. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth as he collapsed to the ground seemingly struggling for breath. Large blisters formed all over his body, that were the size of a man’s hand. His struggling caused one of the blisters to hit the ground, it exploded in a deluge of puss and gore. 

I watched in horror at the weapon I created as it tore through the horde. It didn’t even need to be breathed in as some of the monsters tried to cover their faces, but once the mist touched them, it only took a few extra minutes to work its way into their systems. 

The horde dropped into a panic as the infected monsters rushed from the contaminated area. They caused the chemical to spread even further. I was wondering if I would cause the destruction of the horde by myself when the old necromancer rushed out of the tent. He looked around before he shouted something that caused all the monster to stop in their tracks completely. 

Even though the infected monsters struggled for all their worth, they still ended up dying unable to move an inch. Kuul walked near one of the infected monsters and examined it for a while. A frown had formed which grew deeper the longer he studied it. Finally, it seemed he lost his patience as he sent a wave of green flames at the corpse which burned it to a black pile of ash. 

I wondered if he was upset that it wasn’t a curse or spell that he could replicate. No sir, as Father would say ‘it’s Science!’ The old man went to a few more corpses, where he tried to figure out the method used. I was relieved after the six or seventh corpse was burned to ash that the old man failed to figure anything out. I wondered why he didn’t bother with the large amount of death in the area, as I heard that’s what necromancers used to cultivate. It could be that he was just too powerful to be bothered with the small amount that had died, even though that number was nearly a thousand strong. 

I was about to disconnect my drones when I noticed something happening in the middle of the affected area. The air mana swirled into a cyclone as it pulled all the remaining gas left over into the center of the twister. The nearby bodies were also pulled in where they were ripped apart. Kuul actually backed away instead of investigating the phenomenon. I couldn’t tell how great the mana fluctuations were from the drones, but the air was literally rippling with it. 

The cyclone died down, and a grotesque looking creature emerged. Its body didn’t seem to remain in one shape for long, as it felt to be made out of an orange-reddish cloud. The only place that looked… normal, was its face that took on a Minotaurs shape. It had two horns, but there was no pattern to them, they just seemed to turn and twist randomly. Appendages and tentacles emerged from his body without rhythm or reason, but his lower half was like a gas with no legs to be seen. 

I moved one of my drones closer to get a better look, as well as to see if I could get some sound. I watched as the old man and the creature stared each other down. I shuddered as I thought about what I had inadvertently created. The drone was only a few dozen meters away when I felt it was close enough. 

“What… what are you?!” Kuul shouted at the creature. 

“What am I?” The creature echoed back to Kuul in an unearthly voice that seemed to violate some natural boundary of the world. It looked at its own body, “I don’t know the answer… I was created to… kill, yes, kill,” the creature said then parts of its body started to change with spikes appearing at the end of appendages, and yellow smoke emerging from other parts, “but not for the sole reason of killing… no, there was a reason… maybe if I kill enough… I would remember!” 

The whole time the creature had been talking Kuul had backed away while he channeled a spell of some kind. When the creature finished his sentence, Kuul sent a ball of flaming darkness that was the size of a man’s head flying at the creature. It didn’t seem to know fear or didn’t understand that it was in danger as it took the attack full in the… chest like area of its body. 

The creature roared in pain that seemed to reach us all the way back at the convoy. I grabbed my head in pain but did my best to hold the connection with the drone. I saw several of the suffering creatures explode into puss and gore which flew towards the creature. The wound closed in a blink of an eye. 

Kuul had blood running down his face from all his orifices, but his face was screwed up in concentration as he managed to finish another spell, “In the name of the Celestial Cassin the Dark, Undead creature submit yourself to me!” Green chains with red runes on them burst from the ground all around the creature. They wrapped themselves around him while he looked at them with curiosity. 

“Undead… yes, no. I am very much alive!” The creature shouted then his form seemed to flex, cracks appeared in the chains before the shattered. It moved one of its appendages, which shot like a whip towards Kuul. It collided with his barrier but still managed to make a crack in it. Kuul had a shocked look on his face so I assumed it must have packed quite a punch. 

“I can’t let this venture be a waste, she’ll kill me for sure this time!” Kuul said then raised his arm, a moment later a blast of green energy exploded in the sky. My drones all picked up movement at once as they saw the entire horde start to move in our direction. They weren’t just walking either, they had started running full tilt. 

I turned towards Azra, “Bury us! At least 20 meters down, now!” 

She did as I instructed without hesitation, I felt the vehicle tilt forward as we accelerated briefly. We came to a stop after a quick drop. She channeled some more mana, and the cave that led to us was filled in. Azra and Cadum were the only ones that needed to breathe so we would be fine for a few hours, and I could always create some fresh air. 

I turned my attention back to the encounter back at the horde camp. Kuul had been joined by the other necromancer as well as a few more. They must have been on patrol or attending to other business. They launched a barrage of unholy spells, bone spears, balls of green flames, black ethereal chains, and a bunch more flew towards the creature. 

It looked at the attacks flying towards it before a green barrier much like the ones the necromancers use appeared around it. As the attacks impacted the barrier cracks formed, but as if it was learning, the barrier seemed to grow more robust as the barrage continued. A few moments later, the necromancers breathing deeply from mana use the barrage ended. 

They started to inch backward as they realized that nothing was working on it. One of the necromancers channeled another spell, then a regular ball of fire emerged from his hand. It shot towards the creature where it actually hit it. The attack was pitiful as it quickly died after burning the creature for only a moment. 

“Pain… feeling…” it said before several of its tentacles shot towards the necromancers. I barely had time to blink before the necromancers were impaled by the attack. My drone shook a moment later as something buffeted it. A few died instantly, but some remained alive, “Death… more, I need more, I still don’t remember my purpose,” the ones that were still alive, had the tentacles twist around and impale them through the head. I gaped at the power of this… thing I had wrought on the world. 

Kuul and the other young man had been able to avoid the attack. They glanced at each other before they faded into smoke. The creature stared at where they were for a long moment before it turned to where my drone was and looked directly at it. I wasn’t sure if it was because the drone wasn’t technically alive, but it seemed to decide to ignore it. It turned towards where the horde had charged towards then started to glide over the air after them. 

I set the drones to follow it and disconnected from them. I turned towards the others, “My gift for the monster horde has spiraled completely out of control. I need the crystal I need to speak with Father!” I said urgently. 

Azra dug in her pack as she said, “the horde has passed we should be able to use it safely, besides I don’t think they were in any condition to sense us.”

I took the crystal from her and channeled some mana into it, I was really testing my limits today. It took a few moments, but I saw Father appear in the orb as he started to speak, “Puppet, Have you found the horde? What are we looking at?”

“The horde is heading for the Forest Tower as we speak, judging by the speed they were moving they should be there in a day or so.”

“That soon… alright, I’ll have it handled. Make your way back if you can, I might need a strike force on the rear line.”

“Father! I… I may have created a bigger problem,” I said. I felt ashamed about what I had created, “I created a substance called mustard gas. I’m not sure what happened, but a creature of immense power was created after I used it in the camp,” I explained then showed the clip of the happenings to Father. 

“I see, that is indeed a problem. However, Puppet. While you were the cause that does not make it your fault. If I make a sword, am I responsible for it being the cause of death a thousand kilometers away?” I shook my head in answer, “Exactly, magic in this world is very much alive. If the fates wanted that creature created, it would have happened eventually.”

“I… understand Father.”

“Good, now get your asses back here!” The image in the crystal faded as the link was cut.