NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52 - The Build-Up
“What the fuck, Andross? They aren’t fighting back! And there’s so many of them! Where did they even come from?” one of the three skulls shouts at the one that gave orders earlier, confusion evident on his face.
“Before we have hit all of them, we will struggle with essence control.” one of the human masks calmly informs his compatriots as he ends his assault. This is the one that shot bolts of shadow, I recall.
“Have you all not listened to what Blessed Marcus reported?” the leader shouts at his fellows.
“This is some form of challenge room. These are probably constructs or illusions, not monsters, it’s a transmutation and illusion dungeon after all. Just march on straight through. We make for the main hall and break down the door.”
“But what if enemies hide in that mass of bodies?” one of the snarl masks, her name started with S i think, asks.
“Then it is YOUR job to suss them out and guard us. You are seekers, are you not?” he snarls back.
I cannot see the “seeker’s” face, but her huff as she turns to face the room once more gives away her opinion of this order.
Jeez, some serious tension in this group, huh? Sure hope nothing drastic happens to upset this… fragile balance they got going here.
I mean, I am no fan of bringing personal feelings into conflicts, but you guys are literally trying to murder me, so… the gloves are off.
Right, the group is moving. Our best chance is to do coordinated strikes against them while they are in the mass of bodies that are still screaming and fleeing in a panic, but doomed to never get away. I do my best to direct my monsters, but I have no influence over Larissa, so it’s her that will have to capitalize on any opening we create as best she can.
The hound and snarl-masks are first to enter the throng of bodies and immediately get shoved and jostled wherever, but stand their ground. The hound snarls and shakes himself, butting against any of the illusions aggressively and thrashing around in an effort to create some space, and it was actually working, the illusory crowd avoiding the quadrupedal frame in their panic.
Then the “bone beasts” enter the mass and their mass and spikes naturally cause the crowd around them to disperse slightly. The skull-masks and their four-armed skeleton guards follow behind in the space that was created but are quickly swarmed, even though the skeletons slash many that get close.
The human-masks enter within that feeble pocket of safeness also, followed by the huge monstrosity. Any mannequins that come close get assaulted by pseudopods of flesh that extend out from its body, meaning it too progresses quite unbothered. Basically, our party can only approach directly from the front, bypassing the hound, or directly from the flanks, dealing with the scimitar wielding skeleton whirlwind.
Larissa is doing just that, approaching from the flank stealthily, while Athea is blending into the crowd ahead of their mass. The Doppelgangers stealthily exit the ticket booth and creep into the crowd from behind. They have been fashioned with some daggers which they brandish in their gangly arms as they sneak up on the group.
The Sprites overhead begin to snicker as they swoop and swivel, preparing themselves for what is to come. Puck is preparing them to coordinate their illusions. The tension mounts as allied forces close in on the beleaguered cultists that are fighting their way through the crowd.
The first strike against the invaders is about to be struck, a thunderous chord in the opening act of this performance. Let the curtain rise on the chaos to come.