My Servant System

Chapter 868 867: Terracotta Grottos (21)

Piercing the neck of the final Undead, I twisted my Khopesh and listened to the satisfying crack of its spine as the monster fell limp at my feet, before it began to liquify and dissipate now that it was truly dead.

The clearing was silent now that the last of the monsters had been taken care of, but still the stench of decay and disease lingered in the air, permeating each breath we took and pervading the ground we stood on, something that we all noticed as we held our weapons at the ready, wondering if there was something hidden nearby.

Ammit had the final monster still trapped inside a cage of lightning, its body locked thanks to the static shocks coursing through its veins, and as she waved away the cage, the golden Demoness took a step forwards and crouched beside the wolf she had captured, inspecting its body and muttering to herself like usual as she tried to figure out what caused these monsters to rise from the dead.

The Demons were already standing at the two exits of the grotto, defending the ways in and giving Ammit protection from any form of harm, so I moved instead towards the center, wanting to take a better look around and see if I could spot anything that might hold a clue for us.

The grass that remained was sapped of most life, each blade a pale green bordering on yellow that crunched beneath my boots, and the air itself was thick with that sweet scent of decay; meanwhile, the pus and blood from the monsters remained splattered across the ground, the occasional chunk of meat strewn about at random from wherever the monster it originated from had died.

At the back, below the entrance we took to get to this grotto, the river from above cascaded down into a puddle at the base of the rock face, the water greenish with pus and releasing an absolutely putrid stench into the air, but beneath its murky surface I could see... something.

Coating my Khopesh in Ice Mana, I approached the edge of the small pool and submerged the tip of my blade into the water, my curiosity only spiking as the water began to bubble around my blade, reacting like acid as I tried to tap whatever it was at the base of the pool.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you... well, you can, but... it's not a fun time, y'know?"

Cali appeared beside me, the Arch Fiend resting her arm on my shoulder and staring at the puddle with a small frown, startling for a moment, but not enough for me to not pull my blade back instantly, heeding her warning without question.

The ice on the tip of my Khopesh was dripping off, melted and utterly-

"Decaying. The binding of your mana - the intricate weave of Wind and Water Mana that forms Ice Mana - is being dissolved and aged at a rapid pace. Interesting, isn't it? Fascinating, in a morbid way. Tell me, do you have an idea on what it could be?"

Looking at Cali, I opened my mouth to answer her question, only for Ammit to answer for me, the Cimeriesa now standing beside me as she stared at my blade in awe, only for her to grin as she turned those Ritual Circle eyes towards Cali and I.New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on ɴovᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet

"Is it perhaps a Nua Fiend? That would explain the strong sense of decay around each monster. Thick. Putrid. Disgusting... yet powerful. Ancient. There was no signs of mana deprivation, mana fluctuations, or any type of Undead-ification that I could spot. Curious."

"Correct~! That, beneath the surface of this puddle, is a Rune of Decay. A tacky little thing that the Nua freaks love to spread around. It's... sort of like a trap rune. Anything that dies within this area will be imbued with Decay Mana - or Disease Mana, whatever they call it nowadays - and will just... linger around, waiting for anything to step foot into this area so that they can kill it and spread the disease. Fascinating stuff, and also rather boring..."

I frowned, looking at the rune again before turning to focus on Cali, who was still frowning as well as she focused on the puddle, not looking away at all.

"And no, that doesn't mean that there is a Nua Fiend around us at this very moment. It's relatively new; a few months at least. I don't sense anything nearby either, but this place is also utterly seeped in Nature Mana, so I can't get a good feel of anything past two, two fifty feet away..?"

"Wait, so there WAS a Fiend here recently though? That..."

She nodded, pushing herself off my shoulder and turning away from the rune, answering "Yes, there was a Fiend here recently, and likely still here. Obviously it wouldn't leave. The same reason you lot are here is the reason it is here. All those herbs, ripe with Nature Mana..? Something that could - theoretically could - be likened Life Mana? Yes, that Fiend is still present inside these grottos, getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. Such a perfect area for it too. Nua Fiends aren't widely accepted by mortals like the rest of us are. Sla Fiends are able to grant pleasures, Ka Fiends can grant physical strength, and Tza Fiends grant knowledge. Only the most twisted and desperate turn to Nua Fiends..."

Stroking the snakes that hissed gently on her head, Cali frowned as she looked around the area, before sighing as she turned back to me and said "Don't worry about them for now. I'll continue lurking around like I have been; I'm never far, believe me. But I would suggest heading back now and making sure this is reported. Heading further would be best done with that blue hunk of yours~!"

She finished with a grin, making me roll my eyes at her as she disappeared in a puff of pink smoke, her coy laughter echoing throughout the grotto and drawing the attention of the Demons guarding the exits - if they hadn't already been staring at her, anyways...

"Well, we should probably heed her advice, right Ammit?"

I looked back and sighed, finding the golden Demoness crouching beside the puddle and staring at the rune beneath the water closely, only for her to look away and proceed to dry heave as the stench and disgust that permeated the area around it got to her.

Pulling her away, I cast a healing spell on her just in case before guiding everyone back up the ramp, heading towards our camp as I wondered just what else might be residing within these grottos...