Chapter 124 - Wicked Bloom

"Kieeegh!"

The Manananggal screams, its voice eerily similar to that of a young woman. The hunter being targeted winces as they sidestep the swooping monster, their blade ripping a jagged tear in the Manananggal's left wing.

A sickly purple liquid oozes from the wound for just a moment before it closes, the fluid taking on the properties of the tissues surrounding it in order to mend the wing completely. The half a moment without proper lift sends the monster into the ground regardless of how quickly the wound was healed, though.

Before it is able to recover, the hunters collectively set upon it, using their own bodyweight to hold it down. The Manananggal howls and thrashes, but is ultimately unable to shake the weight of three full grown men.

"Now, Alrond!" One of them shouts, seemingly familiar with an ability of his. The veteran hunter nods grimly, quickly opening the tattered rucksack he's been carrying all this while. From within the darkness of the bag, eight yellow eyes reflect the flickering lantern-light.

"Come, Arme, let's catch us a monster." He gently coos at the companion monster within the bag, getting an excited chirp in reply.

A spider-monster, easily the size of a cat, emerges from the battered sack, its torso raised high to let its abdomen have free aim at the Manananggal.

"NOW!" Alrond shouts, and at once the three hunters throw themselves off the abomination. Dazed and confused, the Manananggal has no time to react before it's covered in a layer of sticky web.

In mere moments, it has managed to tie itself up perfectly simply by getting increasingly tangled in the sticky threads. Heaving for breath, it desperately whips its sole free appendage about, to no avail since everyone has removed themselves from its reach.

"I didn't know you had an assistant, Alrond." I say, trying to act nonchalant as I carefully approach the fuming Manananggal. In fact, I'm freaking out about how reckless the hunters were. Weren't they told of the true nature of this monster?

"I keep her out of sight by habit. Even among us hunters, there are those with a particular dislike of Arachnoids." Alrond admits as he fishes out a treat for Arme.

"It's a sad truth-" I begin, but just then the Mananangal suddenly lashes out, its tongue somehow having gained the elasticity to reach me. Without thinking, nor remembering my supposed role as a normal Scoutmaster, I use my bare hand to deflect the strike.

A strange sound, reminiscent of the twang of a stretched rubber band, issues as the tongue and my hand connects. Any momentum the tongue had is reversed, sending it straight back at the Manananggal. A shiver runs through the monster, before it stops moving.

No, no-no-no-

I scramble to quickly finish the tracing of the true body, fully focusing my magic sight onto the quickly degrading body. Bile rises in my throat as I do, the magic the Manananggal is emitting looking more like an angry person has scribbled black crayon in a jagged line.

It is entirely unlike the smooth and translucent bands of magic I'm used to. Even Dungeon Hearts look nothing like this.

I fall to my knees, fighting the instinctive revulsion. The other hunters gather around me with worry.

*Trace complete. The true body of the abomination is now able to be tracked with the map.*

Ah- It won't interfere with you?

I was fully prepared to be cut off from World Knowledge again, but that was a risk I had to take.

*The way tracking works is by tuning in on the unique frequency each living being hums with. Their very existence warps the surrounding magic ever so slightly. Sort of how sharks use their ampulae of Lorenzini to detect the electric currents given off by other living organisms.*

So there's no direct interaction between you and the target. You're just reading the area for disturbances in the magic...

I sigh with relief, fighting off the last bits of queasiness.

"I'm fine, I just panicked. Apologies for having you take the risk of capturing this thing only for me to kill it on accident." I get to my feet, leering at the oily stain slowly spreading from the place where the body double used to be.

Alrond walks up to me, Arme now safely tucked into her bag. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks, then continues in a hushed whisper; "Will we still be able to find the true one?"

I nod in the affirmative. "Yes, everything is fine. Thankfully my Cloud Fist technique kept me safe." A lie. I merely slapped the tongue away, but the technique is a real one. Practiced predominantly in Feyloche, it is a method of imbuing ones limbs with Elemental Magic to protect and strengthen.

Of course, the real thing wouldn't be able to do what I just did as it's an entirely supplemental technique. A weak imitation of Spells such as Red Hot Claw.

Seems the others have bought the lie. Eager to get out of the now torrential downpour, we all file back to the inn.

"I managed to trace it, just in time. Tomorrow I can lead you straight to it." I inform Alrond.

"Then we set out at dawn." He nods before entering his room.

"Just ahead, it should be hiding within the hollow log." I point at a large fallen tree. Its insides carved out by a Logbore Beetle long ago.

We're all on edge. The entire Illomen feels off. It's too quiet, too few monsters, even the plantlife seems sparser. Slowly we inch towards the true Mananangals hiding place.

One hunter fetches an item from their bag. It has a strange, oblong shape with a t-shaped handle at one end. "Brace!" He shouts, and everyone covers their ears and closes their eyes in response.

Pulling the handle out of the device, a thin whistle can be heard building in volume from the item, a small plume of smoke issuing from the now open hole. Quickly, the hunter throws it into the hollow log, into the opposite end from where we are waiting.

"Pshhiiiiiiii-Boom!"

Even when covering my ears and closing my eyes, I'm still affected by the blast of noise and light. It seems this 'flashbang' is extremely effective against any kind of monster. Thankfully, Shadow is able to override my sudden descent into flight or fight.

A strained gargle is heard from the log, as the Manananggal shambles- dazed and confused- from the log. The hunters all recoil slightly from the horrid visage it presents.

A pair of human legs from which a spine protrudes, ending in a heart-shaped crystal. This is the form the true body of the Manananggal takes once Body Double is used. I wonder, briefly, how on earth it was affected by the flashbang when it has neither eyes nor ears.

"Chi-chi-chi" An uncomfortable chittering signals the beginning of combat. A formless blob of Dark manifests over its 'head' before shaping itself into a Dark String Spell.

Although cautious, the hunters expertly dodge the incoming Spell. One responds with their own Spells, hurtling a Fireball towards the monster.

With surprising agility, the Manananggal leaps backwards, out of the reach of the Fireball, only to discover it has entered the reach of a great-axe wielding hunter.

"Chi-CHI!" Bending uncannily, it attempts to coil out of the way of the rapidly descending great-axe, just barely managing to avoid being fatally hit. Dark Magic shrouds its left leg as it prepares a counter-attack.

Using their axe as a shield, the hunter is able to avoid being perforated by the Manananggals kick, but the force of the impact sends them skidding backwards, the head of their great-axe entirely ruined by the corrosive effects of Dark.

Alrond has been taking aim all this time with his crossbow, and once the great-axe hunter is out of the way, he loosens a bolt towards the monster. The design of the bolt is strange, looking more like a screw than a normal bolt, it seems designed to bore into flesh and stay there to hamper movement.

A cruel tool indeed...

It catches the Manananggal right in the hip, piercing through both legs and locking them in place.

"CHI! CHIIII!" It cries out in pain, desperately trying to move its legs, only to trip over itself. From there, the coup-de-grace is delivered swiftly. Severing the heart-shaped crystal from the spine sends a violent convulsion through its body, before the entire thing goes limp.

"It's done." I mutter, relieved. Alrond walks up to the body to investigate, only to stop halfway.

"Do you feel that?" He asks.

All my hairs stand on end as a low rumble rolls towards us, building in intensity. Earthquake?

*Warning - LEAVE - It's blooming*

"Wha-" I stammer before Shadow takes control and uses Teleport to get us all out of there. Once I can see again, I notice we're at G'cal, having suddenly appeared in the middle of the market square, there's panic and confusion all around us.

But not only because of us, it seems. Even though I'm dazed from the sudden influx of events, I quickly sprout wings and take into the sky to get a better look.

In the distance, from somewhere within Illomen, a billowing cloud of gaseous Malice is pouring out. Like the pyroclastic flow of a volcano erupting, it's relentlessly spreading outwards.

"It's going to swallow everything. All is lost."

NO! We were so close! Just a bit more time! Just a bit more time to get prepared!

I grit my teeth, angry tears falling from my cheeks. If only I could withstand Malice... If only I could somehow stop this!

As if answering my prayers, a golden light appears. Quickly forming into a circular dome, the golden light hardly even flickers as the roiling wave of Malice slams against it. As if there's an intelligence to the vapor, it seems to pull back slightly before throwing itself against the barrier again.

Again and again, like a frustrated child. But the barrier holds strong.

*One month. That is all we can give you. The Fate of this World depends on your swift actions.*