The Runesmith

Roland felt like he had been in a situation like this before but this time around there was no tunnel to collapse to get away from the tier 3 monster. All of the people from the cult had combined themselves into some kind of strange abomination that was hard to describe.

The whole transformation unfolded before his eyes. After the cultists stabbed themselves with those pitch-black daggers it all started. Their bodies began turning into the same color as their weapons while quickly melting. Their skin was first to go and their muscles and organs were quickly revealed to everyone.

Everyone looked in horror at the strange phenomenon taking place, some of the commoners started to vomit the instant they saw the convulsing dead bodies on the ground. Yet this was not the end but just the beginning. The carcasses started being molded into something and quickly slithering towards one of the dark priests that would act as the core of this metamorphosis.

It was as if the bodies were being affected by some type of gravitational spell. While partially melted they started quickly flying towards one location and combining with each other. At first, it started off as a mass of mashed together limbs and organs but soon the human appendages started taking on a new form.

A plethora of tentacles with smaller tendrils coming out from then soon started appearing. All of the squishy flesh that looked gelatinous at first took the shape of pitch-black leathery skin that was this monster’s outer shell. Many large and small eyes riddle all of its body along with similarly spaced-out toothy mouths. One of these was noticeably larger than the rest and occupied the upper front of the monster along with a central eye.

“The hell is that thing…”

Nicholaus the spirit spearman called out while everyone was shocked at the spectacle. While this was a terrifying display Roland didn’t seem as affected as the others. This monstrosity was giving out strange groans as it was taking shape which seemed to be causing some form of a mental debuff. It was keeping people from reacting to the change and letting this creature take its full shape.

‘Won’t get a better chance than this.’

Roland was quick to realize that this would be the best moment to strike. Before the Abyssal Abomination fully took shape he had some time to launch a magical attack. He did not have his staff anymore and had to blow up his backpack while running away. This left him with only his armor to perform this task.

This reminded him of the clash with the dinosaur monster from the dungeon. While he would be using a similar spell-like last time it had been improved. He did not need any large external components besides one small addon that he still had on his side. While his backpack was gone he still had his little satchel with some ammo inside.

‘I can’t do this too many times, my armor won’t be able to take the load but better if it breaks down before this thing can form itself.’

He knew the dangers of straining the armor’s runic components. His mana reserve was large and with the ability to alter the spells he made it was easy to utilize it all. Even when the monster was not formed and lacked a level it was very obviously above tier 2. The longer he waited the stronger it would become, if he could not take it out now then everyone would be in danger.

Thus he stepped forward to get a good vantage point. With people being stunned from the strange low and high peated screams he didn’t need to worry about hitting them. After planting his legs firmly on the ground he moved his hand towards his chest area where a barely visible circular indentation was.

Previously he removed a red-colored gem from his satchel, this gem was quickly inserted into this depression. Almost instantly a runic circle appeared around his chest plate where he placed this jewel into. Thus the countdown began while he stood out with his chest pointing toward the monster.

His whole armor began glowing brightly, and the somewhat torn-up robe he was still wearing quickly started going up in flames to reveal the shiny silver armor beneath it. His hands were held in front of the glowing stone in his chest area to aid in the forming of the beam.

Roland felt his mana instantly being drained to activate this spell. While he would rather use some pre-prepared explosives he didn’t have any. Instead, he needed to deal the most amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.

Soon the beam was taking shape as the area around the gem started to give out arcs of blue electricity. Some people that were previously panicking had snapped out of their stupor just from the sheer amount of magical power that was being used here.

Right before the stream of energy took shape Roland quickly activated his Rune Overload skill. Instantly the blue light that was covering his whole body shifted into a dark red. The runes on his body started eating away at the metal that it was made from. Thanks to it being of high quality the process was slowed down and finally, the attack flew out.

Roland’s feet were jolted back as if he was shooting off a high-caliber rifle. The dark red beam of concentrated mana drilled its way towards the screaming monster that was still gathering the corpses of the dead cultists.

A resounding explosion that blew up lots of smoke followed shortly after this display of magical might. The monster's groan was quickly heard by everyone, this finally managed to snap everyone out of this strange debuff effect they were being affected by. Yet before they could realize what was going on, their faces were hit by strong wind containing sand and gooey monster parts.

“What the hell?”

“Get away!”

Everyone jumped back while covering their faces from the incoming debris. While they could not move their bodies due to the stunning effect they could still see everything unfolding. After backing away all of them looked to the sparkling armored man that was still radiating energy.

‘Was that enough?’

Roland wondered while moving his hands down. The red light that was covering his body along with the sparkling runes started to dim. It was soon replaced by a bluish hue as he activated his rune mending skill. While the attack was powerful and reached into the tier 3 realm he was not sure if he wouldn’t need to fire it off again.

The jewel that adorned his chest area quickly crumbled to dust after the long-range spell had been completed. More than half of his mana was gone now and a migraine was fast approaching. Only thanks to the pain resistances he continually received was he able to still focus on the unfolding battle.

“Did he do it?”

Asked Nicholaus that was the highest level adventurer here. After recovering from the illusory world he had recovered his spear to fight along with the others. Seemingly Roland had managed to deliver the last blow as the monster’s shrieks had gone silent.

“Fuck, that scared me.”

Orson called out from the side while holding his large double-handed sword over his shoulder. He, along with Seena and Darlak looked somewhat exhausted after the small skirmish.

“Aye, they should reward us plenty for bringing down a cult.”

The dwarf cheered as he already could see the increase in wages for bringing this village to light. The merchants probably wouldn’t increase their wages but there was a bounty on Abyssal cultists in the kingdom. They would be rewarded for each of them slain along with any occult relics returned. With how large this helix spiral was, the amount of money they should receive would probably last them many months.

“Shut up you idiot, that thing isn’t dead yet… hey you watch out!”

But while Orson and Darlak were nodding at each other, Senna could tell that something was wrong. Due to how much energy Roland had burned through his radar system was also lagging behind. But the monster would not wait for them to reassess their situation, the only thing on its mind was to kill.

From within the dust cloud, a myriad of tentacles shot out toward the closest people to it. Unfortunately for Nicholaus, he was in the line of sight of the maddened monster that had been injured by Roland’s attack. Even though he was a high-level tier 2 class holder he was unable to react in time at all.

“Ugh… huh?”

The old man could not even perform one defensive maneuver before he found himself being impaled by several thumb thick tendrils. These squiggly things traveled at a speed that he could not follow at all. Quickly his body was hoisted up into the sky along with a couple of other unlucky bastards that were too close.

‘Was my attack ineffective?’

Roland was sure that he managed to hit the monster straight on. He had faced other tier 3 monsters in the form of those dungeon skeletons. By his calculations, this condensed beam of energy should have been able to kill one of those skeletons in one shot.

The way it worked was quite rudimentary. The mass of mana would spin at supersonic speeds which would go through the enemy’s defenses. Once inside the body, the spell would shove chaotic mana into the body making it explode from the inside.

This was a spell that he came up with after contemplating the creatures with strong outer defenses. Most of the time the troublesome part was getting past these defenses to get to the squishy insides. One those crumbled it was mostly over but for some reason, this monster was still standing.

Finally, the dust had cleared and he had a good view of the aftermath of his spell. The first thing that he noticed was the large gaping hole inside of this black mass of tentacles. Yet even with this size of an injury, the monster was constantly putting itself back together.

Nicholaus the unfortunate spear user was one of the reasons that it was probably able to do this. At this point in time, his body was being drained of all its blood and flesh. The tendrils that went through his body were bulging out while transporting nourishment towards the main body that was mending itself.

“Level 209?”

The creature had finally formed itself and its level was revealed. Tier 3 began at the 150th level and with each consecutive level up the gap between tier 2 grew. While it was possible for a small group of high level tier 1 class holders to defeat a lower level tier 2 this was not the same when it came to fighting tier 3.

With the gap in multipliers being higher and the rise in stat increases with each level it was impossible for a small group of tier 2 class holders to defeat a tier 3 monster over the level of two hundred. Even Roland, who had enough time to prepare a devastating spell could only wound it before it started regenerating.

‘Can I hit it again? Will I have enough time to gather enough mana?’

Roland was not sure what to do now, he still had three more gems to perform the same spell. The biggest problem was that now the monster was on the move. While it wasn’t moving from its spot much the various tentacles and tendrils were. Its counterattack began by inserting those appandeges into the ground.

“Fuck… everyone get back, the attack is coming from underground…”

He shouted while activating his agility runes to increase his speed. This was just in time as a large leathery pointy tentacle shot up from the spot he was in before. He had been successful in dodging but others weren’t as fast, some people instantly got impaled and had their bodies hoisted into the air where the absorption process quickly began again.

Even before the monster utilized its many mouths its victims were being digested. But some of the stronger ones that didn’t instantly die were pulled over towards the larger mouth to be promptly tossed inside. The crunching sounds that were produced along with the screams of people were truly horrific.

Many individuals that were here were noncombatants. The screaming of women was followed by a stampede in all directions. The victory was short-lived as the tier 3 monstrosity started going after everyone. Even with some adventurers being able to react to the tendrils and the guards the people didn’t think they could win.

“What is this thing made of?”

Orson cried out after managing to dodge one of the thinner tentacles. It seemed that the further away from the main body the slower these appendages became. At a distance, they were dodgeable by tier 2 class holders but even when the swordsman used a cleaving skill his large sword couldn’t get through the darkened flesh. Instead, it got bounced off as if he hit reinforced rubber.

Roland approached this same exact spot, with his own runic sword in hand he attempted the same feat. Instead of using skills he used magic, the runes on his sword began glowing blue and surrounded his weapon in something that looked like energy.

His armor boosted his strength to an inhumane amount but even he could feel the monster's body somewhat resisting the cutting motion. Yet it did give out but at the cost of using a large amount of mana and using a special magical weapon. Not many people here were in possession of weapons that could harm a tier 3 monster.

“We must retreat, this monster will massacre us all.”

The appendage he cleaved through continued to wiggle on the ground before transforming into a glob of black liquid. It was clear that they were ill-prepared to defeat this monster. His magic was capable of harming it but as long as it could grab people to regenerate itself it would be of no use. There was also a large possibility that it possessed various other regenerative skills as well.

“These types of monsters always have some kind of weak spot, if we find it then we might stand a chance, can you use that spell of yours again?”

Senna asked Roland while all of them started backing away.

“I’d need half a minute to prepare and I don’t think you’ll be able to keep it busy for that long.”

The halfling clicked her tongue as she knew that the moment they got close to that thing they would be instantly impaled on those tendrils. While Roland could use ranged spells from afar he would not be able to deliver any lasting damage. The difference in levels was just too big, it didn’t seem that they had any options left besides running.

“What are you all babbling about, are we doing this or not?”

A somewhat injured Grisalde appeared out of the blue and joined this team of five adventurers. She appeared by jumping forward and cleaving a tentacle in half before it reached them, showing off that she was above Orson’s swordsmanship skills.

“Go die on your own you idiot, we need to run. I say we split in all directions, it can’t follow all of us!”

Senna replied quickly while trying to convince everyone to a tactical retreat. However, this came a bit late as when everyone was about to back away a new set of wriggly things appeared behind them. There were many, much more than in front.

“Does it want to box us in?”

Roland said while scanning and looking in all directions. The same tendrils started appearing all around the area. It was as if they were in a prison cell made from squishy dark flesh that was slowly contracting towards them.

The monster had more intelligence than he anticipated. While bashing the place from where it was standing it distracted the people while at the same time burrowing underground and forming an enclosure. Now they were trapped with it and the only way out would be to go through the rubbery things.

‘Should I blast a hole through and run?’

There was only one way that he could think of at this short notice. If he used a strong enough spell he would probably be able to create a hole for some people to get through. A large number of the caravan participants would remain trapped as those tentacles would surely reform themselves quite fast but was there any other way for him to survive?

“Shit…”

He looked towards the ones that were screaming while unsure where to run and he started to move his hand into his satchel where he had his special jewels. Yet before he could pull one out he felt a large surge of magical energy. This energy was somewhat peculiar, it was certainly composed of mana but there was something else there, something divine and it was quickly approaching the spot that the monster occupied.