The Runesmith

The horrific incantation continued to flow from Ozrelak's lips, the words an unholy and blasphemous chant, echoed through the whole compound. A sinister aura enveloped the area as the warlock started to transform. His body twisted and contorted, morphing into a nightmarish tumor of flesh and strange appendages.

“Ha ha, the shitty Warlock actually did it… I guess we are all fucked now…”

A woman's eerie laughter filled the air as her body was lifted off the ground. A dark, sinister tentacle had impaled her chest, and from the wound's center, peculiar blisters emerged and burst. Within moments, obsidian-dark liquid enveloped her body, causing it to contort into grotesque poses before being abruptly pulled into a larger, unholy mass of flesh and tissue.

She had been critically wounded during her confrontation with Roland earlier and was unable to respond to the attack coming from one of her own allies. Upon realizing what had occurred, her rage transformed into chaotic, uncontrollable laughter. As her body was drawn into the grotesque mass, she continued to chuckle, her eyes fixed on the armored man enveloped in a blue aura of mana.

The epicenter of this horror was the Eldritch Warlock himself, and the bodies of his two previous companions, Kovak the Necromancer and Jezryna the Abyssal Assassin, were merging with him. But this wasn't the extent of it. A vast quantity of dead bodies and former cultists were also drawn into this nightmarish amalgamation. Masses of tentacles and tendrils shot out from the fleshy mass to consume anything connected to the cultists. From within this grotesque, meaty structure, a strange, pulsating sound, akin to a heartbeat, emanated, and its pace continued to quicken.

“Guild Master…”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!”

Roland nodded as he observed the unfolding spell in progress. The mass of organic tissue was already under bombardment from his turrets and restored golems, but the regeneration was too extreme for the available mana to keep up with. To address this issue, he turned to the others gathered there, requesting that they contribute their strength to the effort.

Although the Warlock had been wounded, it was evident that it wasn't sufficient to stop him. On the other hand, the guild master, despite his own deep wounds, persisted in gathering his aura to launch a cleaving attack that shot toward the expanding mass. It tore through the earth once more, severing many of the writhing tentacles. Upon striking the growing tumor, it revealed some of the pinkish flesh within.

Others present who were capable of ranged attacks also joined in. Agni harnessed a significant amount of his mana to unleash a scorching ray of sunlight as a swift follow-up attack after the Guild Master's cleave had opened up the mass. Lobelia conjured multiple elemental arrows and released them nearly simultaneously with impeccable timing, striking the now-exposed vulnerable spot. Meanwhile, Roland issued orders for all of his turrets and golems to concentrate their fire on the forming monstrosity, fully aware that whatever emerged would be much more formidable than the three cultists it had been composed of.

The plan seemed to be working, and the mass of monstrous innards emitted strange wails of displeasure as the inside and the pulsating organ were exposed. Taking advantage of this moment, Roland retrieved a weapon he had concealed to the side - a red spear made of mithril, which he intended to use as a javelin.

By infusing his own mana into the runic patterns, the spear was enveloped in a chaotic array of golden lightning energy. It was a combination spell, replicating the divine lightning that some Paladins were capable of conjuring. Most of the electrical energy concentrated at the tip as he swiftly hurled the javelin in the direction of the pulsating organ. With the others assisting in restraining the tentacles, the spear only needed to pierce through a few tendrils that the transforming monstrosity attempted to shield itself with.

At last, the magical energies detonated in a furious display of lights. The monstrous entity emitted multiple echoing shrieks, as if produced by numerous individuals. The thrashing tentacles that had been relentlessly lashing out at everyone, obstructing those attempting to approach, began to slump to the ground and wither.

“Ha, we did it! These cultists are nothing!”

Armand was the first to shout out in joy when he noticed that the strange appendages had stopped flailing. The one around him had subsided enough for him to step on them without concern. However, he soon realized that something was amiss. Everyone except him was fixated on a specific object protruding from within the withering pile of flesh, and it resembled the large monolith that Roland had encountered in that village.

“Something isn’t right, Armand get away from there!”

Roland urgently called out to halt his friend from approaching the relic too closely. Instead, he activated his golems to aim their attacks at the spear that was lodged into the artifact. It was the very same one he had seen in Edelgard. Although the spear had managed to pierce through some of the outer shell, only a few centimeters had penetrated. The once-silvery red color of his weapon, surrounded by golden mana, was now shifting and contorting, transforming into a corrupted shade of obsidian.

The relic, which initially appeared to be nothing more than a chiseled piece of peculiar rocks, was now veined with strange, pulsating lines that synchronized with the beat of a heart. Roland's spear, which had been thrust into the relic, was forcefully pushed out by a new mass of flesh, unveiling the pulsating organ within.

The outer shell began to fracture, revealing a strange black heart with multiple small eyes, all fixated on the group that was attempting to destroy it. When he and the others gazed into those eyes they were momentarily stunned. The weakpoint had been revealed but none of them could move to deliver the finishing blow.

The black heart within the relic continued to pulsate, radiating malevolent energy that seemed to seep into the very core of the group's beings. The eyes on the heart fixated on them, and it was as if the heart itself was aware of their every thought and movement. As they stood there, immobilized by the heart's eerie gaze, they could feel an overwhelming sense of dread and despair creeping into their minds. Each of them was bombarded with their deepest fears and regrets, haunting memories that they had long buried.

Even Roland, who had designed his armor to resist various mental attacks, struggled to maintain his sanity. Armand, Elodia, and the Guild Master were all gripping their heads and screaming, their eyes darkening as if they were being consumed by some kind of demonic force. However, one particular canine among them appeared to be unaffected by the heart's gaze, and it promptly made this fact known.

“Awooo!”

A howl resounded through the entire compound and was followed by a radiant glow of reddish sunlight. It enveloped the screaming creature and momentarily snapped him out of the paralysis effect it was creating. Roland didn’t hesitate to activate one of the devices that he had installed to counter the occult and undead. The walls, ground exploded with mana energy as runes started shining everywhere. His entire home started radiating divine mana everywhere, with such a large concentration of it around even Armand and the others were able to snap back out if it.

The creature didn’t appreciate the alleviation of the spell and produced a strange wave of black energy that shot out in continuous waves toward them. Everyone was blasted away while the spell continued. They all were flung in different directions, each landing with a painful thud as the waves of dark energy continued to wash over them. The divine energy in the surroundings did provide some protection, but the force was still overpowering. It felt as if the very essence of their being was being drained away by the sinister waves.

The shroud of necrotic green energy underwent a transformation, morphing into a pitch-black obsidian hue. It forcefully pushed away all light, with only the divine runes managing to halt its advance. Where the Warlock had initiated his transformation, an egg-shaped spiral appeared and rapidly continued what had been set in motion. A bestial howl erupted from within as a being finally materialized before them.

All the golems, turrets, and even the floating cubes began to tremble as a strange surge of energy interfered with their runic components. They could no longer continue firing, and Roland was unable to muster the power to reform them with his skills. Only thanks to the divine rune emulation were they able to perceive anything, and their adversary finally materialized.

‘What is that thing… I can’t see its stats? and it’s corrupting the status screen’

Roland summoned enough strength to rise to his feet and quickly attempted to assess the power of their new opponent. However, even when he could discern the stats of someone as formidable as the Warlock or the Guild Master, he couldn't make out what this creature was. There was a possibility that this entity surpassed his capabilities and exceeded the tier 3 threshold.

As the eldritch horror solidified before them, it became clear that this creature defied all conventional understanding of magic and the supernatural. It was as if the very fabric of reality was unraveling in its presence. The air grew heavy with dread as Eldritch Horror extended its twisted, amorphous limbs in all directions, each one ending in a mass of writhing tendrils. It appeared to be composed of the same fleshy, pulsating substance as the previous monstrosity, but on a much grander scale.

The entity continued its relentless onslaught, its appendages shifting and lashing like powerful whips. With each swing, these appendages broke the sound barrier, creating earth-trembling shockwaves and explosions of sound that reverberated through the area. The sheer force of these attacks was formidable, with even the remnants of their impact carrying enough destructive power to rival a tier 3 monster. It forced Roland to use up more of his mana in an attempt to shield himself and his allies from harm.

“What is that thing?”

“I don’t know but … It might be tier 4…”

“Tier 4?”

The Guild Master asked him as he appeared next to the group of combatants who had gathered. There were five of them within the shield of mana that Roland had generated. They stood there, merely observing as the tendrils slowly subsided and the creature's form began to compact. It actually started shrinking before their eyes, eventually revealing a partially humanoid form, something closer to what the Eldritch Warlock originally looked like.

Yet, it still resembled a bizarre monster with multiple mouths and eyes covering its entire body. The tentacles and tendrils continued to dance around, now mostly attached to its backside. It stood on two legs that were clearly more animalistic in nature, with spikes protruding from the multiple knee joints. The torso featured four arms, with the upper ones being much larger than the lower ones. Both sets ended with claws that appeared capable of extending, adding to the overall horror of this monstrosity.

“Are those knights from the city going to come or not? I think we should retreat…”

“I’m usually not one to run, but the old man might be right Wayland…”

Both the Guild Master and Armand could somewhat gauge the creature's strength and were certain that it could tear them to shreds. Just as a tier 2 class holder couldn't hold a candle to a tier 3 monster, it was the same here. Roland recalled how challenging it had been to even damage a higher-tier skeleton with a large mana cannon, so battling this thing, if it was indeed at that level, would be impossible.

“You’re probably right…”

He glanced at his runic display to check for the guests but could not confirm if everyone had made it out. The monster before him was interfering with his runic devices, likely with the help of some skill or its corrupted mana. Perhaps if he had some time to analyze the phenomenon, it would have been possible to counter this effect, but now was not the time. Running was probably the best option, but would they be able to escape?

The strange shroud that the necromancer had conjured up had been transformed and empowered by this creature. Normally, the spell should have been broken, allowing them to escape, but now it wouldn't be that simple. However, the creature did have one strangely exposed weak spot. The heart with eyeballs within it was now integrated onto the chest cavity and on the outer side.

It was as if the monster's transformation wasn't fully complete, and it couldn't hide this obvious weakness. Perhaps it was due to the concentration of divine energy or because of his spear throw that this vulnerability had emerged. It provided them with an opportunity to retaliate, but would they be able to do so against something so many levels above them?

This was not the end of his countermeasures. His golems were still standing and ready to unleash their magical attacks on the creature. Additionally, he had noticed something in the mana pattern on this monster. At first, he attributed it to its chaotic nature, but after some investigation, he realized that this thing was functioning on borrowed time. The mana holding the spell together was working on a timer and would not last forever. Eventually, this creature would cease to exist, and perhaps this was their way out of this predicament.

“So what’s the plan here?”

“This creature, it’s unstable, the spell was interrupted…”

“That’s some good news but… how long do we have?”

“I don’t know, the mana is too chaotic for my mana sense…”

Roland replied to the Guild Master, who continued to inch away from the stationary monstrosity. For some reason, it was not moving, and perhaps they could get away without any more blood needing to be shed. Yet, before their plan of non-aggression could blossom the monster’s state shifted. It cried out in rage while turning in the direction of Agni who instantly started growling, it seemed that it chose him as the main opponent and the attack started.

“Shit! It’s coming!”

“Just spread out and keep your distance!”

Armand shouted while Roland attempted to devise a quick strategy. The golems that were on the sides all activated and hurled themselves at the creature in a self-destructive manner. Their runes, along with their batteries, were all overloaded through Roland's skill, generating multiple explosions in an attempt to halt the monster's advance.

There was no use in holding back anymore and Roland decided to use up all of what he could muster, going so far as to activate his Overlords Might skill in tandem with Mana Overflow which was already half depleted. His frame transformed from a haze of blue into a bright purple color to help him keep up with the monstrosity before him. However, even though all of his senses were at the apex, he could barely see the thing that was going for his canine companion.

“Agni, get back!”

While it might have seemed that Agni was in dire peril, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that the monstrosity decided to chase after someone so nimble. By calculating the monster's speed, Roland realized he could ensnare it in one of the large monster traps he had invested a significant amount of money in. All the mithril and other exotic metals could finally be put to use as a set of rods shot out from the ground the moment the monster stepped into the correct spot.

These rods were attached to a square-shaped platform that shot out of the ground, ensnaring the monster that had stepped through them. The metal pipes served as a temporary entrapment measure and were barely able to contain the squirming monstrosity that was thrashing around. Luckily, the creature wasn't the smartest and only knew how to react to external stimuli, failing to notice the underlying spell formation it had become ensnared in.

Levitation runes were initiated to raise the creature higher into the air, while multiple layers of mana shields of various elements descended from all sides to keep it confined within the prison. Roland swiftly focused all of his attention on the magical structure he had created, pushing all his multiple minds to their limits as he attempted to modify the structure to suit the situation. The trap he had originally created was not meant for such a being, so some enhancements were needed.

Tens of floating cubes surrounded the magical construct, taking the shape of a swirling mass of blue energy. Their runes shifted around as Roland frantically attempted to complete the spell formation before the monster broke loose. Previously invisible magical signs emerged from within the compound. When viewed from above, they resembled a grand magical circle used in various spellcasting endeavors, something Roland had learned thanks to his association with a runic magus.

The monster thrashed around, and some of its flailing arms were momentarily able to break through the magical cage. However, Roland did not relent and continued to modify the spell formation while bringing his target into the epicenter of the magic-empowering circle. The moment the creature was in range, the spell was complete, and a mass of swirling flames arose in the middle, creating a blaze of unprecedented proportions that imitated a miniature sun.