Seeing those Malformed Eaters made my stomach turn. This was not just a about facing Eaters, which were horrible creatures by themselves. They appeared to be creatures that should not exist, and they did not make sense, but that was about it. When I looked at one of them, nothing told me it shouldn't be there. It was just a type of monster hard to understand.
However, these malformed creatures gave off a different feeling. It was not just that they did not make sense. It was not just that their limbs and bodies followed strange proportions that went against the natural laws of the world. The very existence of the creatures was wrong. Almost as if I were looking at an undeveloped fetus that started walking one day.
The creatures were just blobs of metal and flesh lying on the ground. They suddenly jerked up and started to slowly crawl in my direction. It was very strange to see them using their tentacles to pull themselves forward as their legs seemingly refused to listen to their commands.
On the other side, I could see Astrid still fighting the Guard Eater together with the help of the rest of the group. They were all focused on this creature, which now did not have a partner to help defend it. The constant back and forth of spells aimed at both the central pillar and the creature itself was slowly but surely pushing it back. There was no need for me to step in as they would eventually win the battle.
That is, if they could continue their efforts and beat it. This meant that I had to keep the Malformed Eaters at bay. Otherwise, we would not be able to finish those monsters and finally have a clear shot at the Hatchery.
One of the Malformed creations started to approach. Its tentacles lashed out way too soon, as if they were trying to hit from a distance. A strange black goo dripped from its limbs and splattered on the ground before me. The moment that happened, I saw a tiny trail of smoke coming out of those secretions. Whatever that thing was, it should be highly acidic or maybe just a concentrated form of Energy that was still painful to the touch.
Watching the Malformed Eaters, I realized that it was not the entire body that was dripping with the substance. It was only the edges of the tentacles and the legs. Furthermore, I was not the only one who could be harmed by that liquid. The appendages of the creatures also seemed to be burning, making them exist on a timer. It would not take too long until the very poison that was surrounding them destroyed their entire body. Maybe this was why Eater blood was so dense in Energy. They needed fuel to offset the damage that it would cause naturally.
However, I did not have much time to think about that. The two creatures were slowly approaching, and I could not have them changing targets midway. I moved towards them and swung my staff, hoping to do enough damage to at least injure one of those creatures. The black goo touched my staff, causing it to burn ever so slightly. I had to quickly whirl it around to try to remove some of it. It worked for the most part, but there was still some acid forcing my weapon to deteriorate.
Trying a different approach, I used {Compression} to change the size of the staff while the infected area was pointing down. My hope was that the sudden change of size would be enough to cause the acid to drop to the floor. Once again, the plan worked, but it was not a perfect solution. There was still some of it embedded in my staff.
Considering that I would still need to be attacking those things, the result was good enough. Instead of continuing to attack, the focus was on dodging and keeping their attention on me. Jumping away from the strange black secretion that was tossed by the tentacles, I let out a shout, hoping my Rodenti companion could hear.
"Rex. Help! I can't hit those things!"
Without missing a beat, Rex tossed a large rock towards the Malformed Eaters. It was another chunk of dirt that he removed from the ground. The entire arena was becoming riddled with holes, which would be a problem for not just us but also our enemies.
The projectile flew through the air and slammed into one of the Malformed Eaters. It rolled away, leaving behind just a splatter on the ground where the creature previously existed. The other aberrant creation was also hit by the flying boulder. The attack was not enough to kill it, but it smashed a couple of its limbs.
Stepping closer to the surviving creature, I realized something else. The Malformed Eater that was now a paste on the ground was somehow still alive. The parts of its body that were still more or less in one piece continued to drag themselves towards me.
It tried to attack even when there was little to nothing it could do. Only then I realized there was something missing. The particles had yet to rush into me. It could be just because these strange, poorly created creatures were the effects of a skill and not actual monsters. Even so, the System identified them as such.
I focused on the remaining creature and aimed at a part of its body that did not have that same dark goo that was burning everything. Using my staff as a golf club, I swung at the creature as hard as I could, sending it towards the central pillar. I hit the actual opening where those malformed creatures came out from.
My strike was enough to make the creature splat against the dark pillar in the center of the room. To my surprise, the strange goo started sizzling and burning the pillar itself. For some reason, I was assuming that the Hatchery would not be harmed by that liquid since it came from it. But it seemed like its outer shell was as resilient as its inside.
The moment that happened, the Guard Eater changed targets and rushed towards me. The various shield-like plates whipped around in the air, making snapping sounds as they broke through the sound barrier like a whip. As a reflex, I jumped away, trying to avoid the incoming attack.
Yet, I was not fast enough.
The Guard Eater bridged the gap in an instant, and its shell pieces came crashing down on me. Shifting my body around, I tried using my staff to block the incoming blow. I knew that the attack would be more than enough to break my weapon.
After all, those shell slams were able to even crack the dark metal parts of the nest. There was a good chance that this single blow would take me out of the fight. Unfortunately, moving like this was the only thing that could come to mind so I would not be killed. Even then, I did not like my chances. Hopefully, there would be enough of me left after being smashed to activate {Body Regeneration}. Before even being struck, I had already preemptively activated the skill.
But as those thoughts were running through my mind, something else was also happening. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an arrow speeding in my direction. The projectile hit the one large piece of shell that was heading straight towards me. It was not a strong impact or even a powerful attack.
It was just enough so that the shell shifted to the side. This allowed me to have a chance to actually parry the strike. The arrow struck the shell of the Eater in such a precise manner that it was impossible to do that naturally. I was positive that Michael was using his {Mind Of Possibility} in order to perform this attack.
Yet that was not the only thing. Something grabbed me from behind. A thin, sticky filament wrapped around my waist and yanked me backwards. I was not sure if this second move was made with {Mind Of Possibility} or not, but Riley clearly was also doing their best to save me.
Making a mental note to thank my friends, I turned back to the Guard Eater that had just attacked me. It seemed that my preparation was not needed as the creature was no longer coming after me. Instead, it had turned toward the pillar and was now somewhat gently rubbing its shell against it.
Gently was not really the word, as it was still a violent display. The shell tentacles that kept attacking anything that got close did not really have a slow setting. Yet the Guard Eater was obviously trying to touch the central pillar as tenderly as possible. The result was still a very aggressive scraping that was creating a small pile of metallic dirt underneath the creature.
With the Guard Eater distracted, the rest of my companions started attacking it with everything they had. A large boulder with a sharp edge went flying towards one of the many eyes around its elongated oval body. A few arrows were aimed roughly at the same location.
Riley even threw one of the Spell Stone they made that caused a small explosion on contact. Astrid was the last one to join. She swung her axe, countless small ice spiders climbed over the creature as {Crawling Frost} activated. Yet despite all that, it still was not enough to kill it. There was still some strange force making it continue doing whatever it was doing while ignoring all the attacks. We could all see how its body regenerating in real time. This boded poorly for our prospects.
Not wanting to give it a chance, I quickly jumped toward it and swung my staff, activating {Clash Of Nature}. Once more, I used the combination of fire and water to create a steam explosion. Yet, it felt like that was not the only option. After the attack connected, I could sense that there was another force that could be used for this attack, even though I could not really understand what it was. This time, I felt the rush of particles coming into me as we fully finished off the monster.
Turning towards the final enemy, the Malformed Eater that was still moving, I was only able to see the rock that Rex threw at it, crushing it in a single move. I could tell that my Energy was running low, so I took a quick drink of the Eater blood before moving to face the heart of the nest.
The moment I did so, it became clear that things were much more complicated than I first thought. During our fight, the Hatchery was not waiting around doing nothing. The monster, if it could be called that, was trying to push out something massive. It was much bigger than the Malformed Eaters that it had created before. There was a giant blob of metallic flesh being forced out of the opening in the center of the Hatchery, almost like an animal trying to give birth to something much bigger than itself.
To make matters worse, this time the System was able to give me some more information about what we were staring at.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Â
Malformed Eater - Tier 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Â
Seeing that, we all stared at each other. Everybody knew that if the nest was able to create a Tier 3 Eater, we would be in trouble. Even if it was malformed and weak like the Tier 1 had been, the difference in Tiers would likely be more than enough to allow it to kill us all. Or it could be just something very weak that would hardly be a problem, although I doubted it. Still, no one was willing to risk it. Before I could do anything else, I heard a voice.
Riley shouted, "Cassandra, try to get the memories! Now!"
They did not have to ask me twice. I rushed towards the Hatchery, asking my System where I should touch to activate the skill. Unfortunately, the spot was just under that blob of the Tier 3 that was about to be birthed from the creature. I tried my best not to touch the strange black goo that came out of the monster, but there was not much I could do about it, especially when I was trying to shove my hand directly where that liquid was coming from.
As {Vault Of The Static Memory} activated, I felt the flow of the Energy draining as the particles left my body and tried to reach out to something inside the Hatchery. It was a very strange feeling, to say the least, but a feeling that did not feel wrong.
According to the System, the skill was behaving exactly as it was supposed to. Each particle entering the monster and becoming somewhat ethereal. However, just as the particles rushed towards the Hatchery, I felt them slamming against a wall, a barrier of some kind. Even then, apparently, this was normal. Or at least that was what the System was telling me. The resistance was part of the skill itself, as it had just located the creature's mind.
Like a battering ram, the particles slammed against that barrier, trying to break down a castle wall. The particles struck again and again and again for what seemed like countless minutes, even though the entire thing was over in just a few seconds.
To my dismay, the particles that came from me slowly but surely started losing some of their strength. Yet, the barrier showed no signs of breaking down. The Malformed Eater that was about to hatch continued to be pushed out.
Now that I was this close to the Hatchery, I could tell that there was no life in this creature. Its body was still void of any sentience or presence. Maybe this was how the Hatchery was able to create it. Since it was making a body with no mind, it could afford to speed up the process, ignoring some aspects of its creation.
Another thought crossed my mind, which made me shudder. I had no way of being sure of this, but what if the Hatchery was not making just another soldier, but instead a new body that it could use to escape this place? Could Eaters transfer their minds like that?
I had no clue, but the thought itself felt like too much of a risk. If we left this Hatchery alive, it would inevitably come back looking for us. And if one Eater was already a problem, what would happen if there was something creating countless numbers of those monsters? A literal army of them, all with the single goal of coming after us?
Gritting my teeth, I shouted, "It didn't work!"
"Then do it again!" Michael shouted back.
"We don't have time! The Eater is about to come out!" I pulled back my hand, which was now burning with the strange goo.
I could feel part of my skin trying to detach from my hand, and it quickly became obvious that doing this again would not be a good idea. Even {Body Regeneration} was not able to keep up with the amount of damage that was being dealt by that strange liquid. I tried rubbing my hand on my pants. Thankfully, that was enough to lessen some of the damage, although I was still bleeding from the wound, and now my clothes were burning instead.
"Then what are you telling us to do? Kill it?" Michael asked as he approached.
"We don't have any other choice! That's what we have to do now," I said and turned around, already starting to hit the Hatchery. Followed by my companions, who started to do the same.
Despite my words, I was not entirely confident we were going to make it in time. After all, we had no idea how to destroy something like this.