Chapter 34 - Namers' Call

~This chapter contains graphic descriptions and body horror~

Millibelles' POV

The next two days are spent mostly lazing about, occasionally helping my Servants with anything they needed assistance with. Now that the researchers had met the new species, they mostly concentrated on cataloging the various changes in the flora and fauna in my Lair.

And of course, the behaviors of the Jotun, Gyger and Huldr. I didn't mind, but I fear that after a while, my Servants got a bit tired of constantly being monitored. So once Mina let me know that they'd be leaving soon, I felt relieved.

It's about noon, and I'm sitting about, weaving along with a few of the Gyger.

*"H- lp"*

Hm?

*"He-p... M- ib- lle"*

A voice... My body turns cold as I recognize it. Valenas voice!

*"HELP ME, MILLIBELLE!"*

A tight feeling in my chest, as if someone grabbed my heart and yanked. Everything goes blank.

*Effect of Skill: Namers' Call Activated!*

*Spell Learned! Teleport (Lesser) - A Spell of mythical power. Utilizing immense amounts of MP, this Space Elemental Spell lets the User instantly transport themselves across the World, provided they've visited the target location at least once.*

I come to a moment later. I'm dazed, confused, and in immense pain as I realize where I am. Before me stands a looming shadow, behind me, a group of humanoids huddled together, fright apparent on their faces. From what I gather, Valenas Skill teleported me, and since it's a Spell, I learnt it?

I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I should cast Ba-

Ah- My vision faded for a moment there. I'm... out of MP?

The shadow, which I assume to be some sort of monster, turns around, revealing a thick, clubbed tail. It raises it, and brings it down heavily towards me. Actually, if I don't halt it, it'll completely crush the humanoids!

I hop into the air, using my strong legs to kick off with high force. I grab the tail, my momentum being greater that its own, and lift it into the air.

'Groaaa~!'

A roar of surprise as the sudden shift of momentum throws the monster off balance. I took some damage from the effort, but now it's focused on me instead of the humanoids. "Get away from here!" I call out to them. I've worked out that I can in fact speak, but I have a slight lisp.

Refocusing my attention on keeping the monster occupied, I latch onto its back, stabbing it repeatedly with my tail.

'Ugroaaa!'

Its upset now! I manage to get off its back just before it careens into a tree in an effort to smash me. I land on a tree-trunk, as I can't hover without the aid of Draconic Flight, which uses MP I don't have. A quick look at its status...

*Mossback Hammertail

HP: 80%

MP: 90%

SP: 70%

Status: Poisoned (Normal)*

A peculiar monster. It's huge, with four large and sturdy legs. A head, predominantly featuring a large beak, behind which sits several rows of molars. Small, beady eyes glare at me with anger. Its large form is covered in a thick layer of moss, and its most prominent feature must be the massive clubbed tail.

'HrpRAAARGH~!'

It's beside itself with anger! I could just keep it busy whilst the poison does its work, but the longer this drags on, the greater the chance that the Hammertail ends up hurting or killing the humanoids, who seem unable to move.

Maybe one of them has been hurt, and can't move, or they're just too terrified.

I'm interrupted by the Hammertail swinging its tail into trees. Is it trying to drop one on me, or is it just so upset by me being out of its reach that its hitting whatever?

With a crack and a creak, a tree is knocked over. Hey now! You're just restricting your own movements with that! I hop back on its back, using my lower bodys' claws to rip and tear at the moss covering it, revealing rosy skin underneath.

I hop off again, as it rams its body into another tree, toppling it over. Now that I've gotten rid of some of its armor, let's see how it likes fire! I secure my grip on the tree I'm latched onto, in case the recoil from my Napalm Breath makes me lose it.

Opening my mouth wide, I spit a large flaming sphere onto the Hammertails back. It impacts against the bald spot I created, blasting off a large chunk of flesh, but instantly cauterizing the wound, so it's left as a flaming hole in its body. In addition, the force of the blast knocks it off balance.

With a resounding thud, the giant monster falls over on its side.

'Gh- gruhhu~'

It whimpers. I land next to its head, which is easily half the size of my entire body. Its eyes are filled with fear, and... they seem as if they're asking for forgiveness... Using my Telepathy, I probe its mind. (Yeah, it ranked up, and now it's basically Hivemind Lite.)

I see... It attacked Valena and the others when they woke it up on accident. "Will you leave them alone if I let you live?" I ask it. It nods, seems it isn't ready to be killed over an interrupted nap. I decide to believe it, after all, from my time with my tribe and my Servants, monsters don't really have a concept of lying.

Of course, there's mimicry and pretending you're something you're not. But monsters don't really say that they'll do something and then do the opposite. My MP has recovered somewhat during the fight, so I use Great Heal and Recover on the Hammertail.

I then help it get back up. Once it's confirmed it's all right, it quietly makes its way into the depths of the forest. "Ah- It's letting it go?" One of the humanoids asks, her voice trembling. I turn to the group. I recognize Valena, but none of the others. There seems to be three Hunters, in addition to Valena, and four... researchers? They have the same uniform as Minas' researchers do.

"I-it's really you... Millibelle..." Valena walks up to me, tears streaming down her face. Once she gets to me, she suddenly goes for a hug, burying her face in my mane, and starts sobbing. "I-I thought- I thought I'd gotten us all killed-. B-but you suddenly appeared!"

"Ah- well, you called me, didn't you? With your Skill, you summoned me here to help you." I carefully stroke her head, making sure not to graze her with my claws. I notice the others looking at us. Equal parts confusion, shock and fear fill their faces.

"Are any of you hurt? I can heal you." I ask them, gently undoing Valenas hug. They all startle when I address them. "Val~ is it all right? This Meownster, I mean?" A cat eared Beastfolk girl asks. She seems to be making cat puns? She's also holding a large hammer at the ready, possibly to bonk me in the head with if I'm deemed a threat.

"It's fine! This is Millibelle, the- uh..." She looks me up and down. "What are you now? I mean, you've clearly Evolved." "I'm the Great Monarch. Valena is my Namer." I tell them. A stunned silence ensues. "Now, are any of you hurt?" I reiterate my question.

"I am, Your Highness." A hand pokes out from inside the group. Seems they've been sitting on the ground, and everyone gathered around them to shield them. I walk over to the group, taking care to not make sudden movements.

The others move to let me look at the injured one. A young Pyrean man is sitting on the forest floor, his left leg at an odd angle. "How did this happen?" I ask as I look the leg over. "I uh, was standing on the Hammertail as it woke up. The force of it suddenly getting up launched me, and I landed wrong."

"We thought it was just a big mound..." Valena admits.

Hm... I don't think just casting Great Heal on him will work. Looks like his knee is dislocated... "Can- can you fix him?" A meek human? girl asks. "I'd try, but if his leg is like that because it's broken, I'll just cause it to mend into that position..." She looks down, hugging a large book to her chest, most of her face obscured by a hood.

"Hm, give me a moment, and I'll see..." I tell them. Hey, World Knowledge, would Recover or Great Heal work without me manipulating his leg?

*Negative. Currently, using either of those will cause the broken bone to fuse in the wrong position. Recover would be able to mend his dislocated knee, though. This Skill suggests using 3 Tier Tokens to raise Great Heal and Recover into Miracure (Lesser), which will be able to cure anything that ails the Pyrean.*

Well, I need that Spell anyway... Okay, let's do that.

*Skill: Great Heal (Normal) Ranked Up!*

*Skill: Recover (Normal) Ranked Up!*

*Skill: Great Heal (Great) and Recover (Great) Became Miracure (Lesser)!*

*Remaining Tier Tokens: 2*

Okay, here we go. I should have enough MP to cast it this one time.

*You cast Miracure!*

*Title Earned: Great Healer - Your knowledge of medicine and/or skill at casting Life Magic surpasses most. Others are much more likely to accept your help, and those you help gain a permanent positive attitude towards you. (Outright hostility or cruelty towards those affected by this Title forfeits the latter boon)*

The Pyreans entire body shimmers and glows. His leg glows the brightest, and when the glow fades, he looks better than ever. His leg is no longer at an odd angle, so that's good. "W- I feel amazing! What did you do?" He exclaims, feeling himself all over before getting up and confirming full mobility in his leg.

"Leon, even your hand!" The human girl exclaims. "Wow, you're right!" Leon wiggles his right hands fingers in amazement. "His hand?" I ask sheepishly. "Leon was missing digits off his ring finger, and his entire little finger!" Oh, so I just... regrew those for him... Wow.

"Ah- I hate to interrupt this, but we need to get going." One of the researchers, an Accan woman, hesitantly informs us. "Millibelle, will you come with us?" Valena asks.

"She's still scared from that Hammertail incident, We should stay with her until her mission here is done, don't you think?"

"Well, I see no need to leave this instant." I smile to her. She looks very relieved. Shadow, did you read her mind?

"Might have."

It's kind of rude, but I guess as long as the one having their mind read doesn't notice, it's all good.

"You're starting to sound like me."

Oh no.

We continue through the forest. Seems we're in the Illomen. Although we're on the other side of the river, I still recognize the environment. As we walk, Valena introduces me to her companions. Seems she's done well for herself, becoming a group leader in such a short time.

'A̵̝͕̝͌͂̓͛̇̌͘w̷̧̨̙̯͙̗͚̱̆̈́͊͊̇̇̌͒͆̔́̕͜͝ờ̶̺̟̩̹̥̗̠̙̯͙̹̣͈͉͌̓̈́͝o̵̧̘̫̩̲͆̊̊̒̏̈́̓́̌̌̚͝ǫ̸̛͙̩͙̖̘͈͇̺͍̀̏'

A strange cry echoes through the forest. It sounds like a Bristle Wolf, but much deeper and, well, quite distorted. The others stop upon hearing it. "That distortion... Could it be?" One of the researchers asks the others. "Possibly. It would certainly explain what we've found so far." The Accan researcher replies.

"What have you found?" I ask, keeping an ear out for any more cries. "We've found tracks and remains that hint towards a Hateful Monster somehow having appeared within the forest." My body runs cold. A Hateful Monster...

'Ȃ̸̛̛͔̘̗͌̇͋͐͛͊̈͝͠h̶͇̜̞̖̘̺̭͙͙̭̤͙̪̿͝r̸̳̙̥͒͆̊͐͒͒͒́̆̾͛̓͗o̴̡̒̈́̎̉́̕͠͠͝ơ̸͍̣͙̲͍̪̻͒͗̐̑̐̊̈͐̇̂̑̔͠ȯ̶̖̞̦͐̔̌̽́̑̚͜o̶̡̧͙̖̺͚̬͙̯͓̱͍̗̳̓̐͌̾̓̅'

Another howl. It's closer this time. Valena seems quite perturbed. No wonder, considering her history with Hateful monsters. The Hunters hesitantly reach for their weapons. "No! We've got no chance against it! We need to retreat and call for help!" The third researcher insists. "If we leave it now, someone might get hurt in the meanwhile!" Valena snaps back.

Upon seeing the look in her eyes, the researcher falls silent. "Valena, take the others and get out of here. I'll handle the Monster." I tell her. She looks like she's about to argue with me, but decides against it. "Just- Don't die, okay!" She sheathes her blades and motions for everyone to follow her.

Once they're out of sight, I gather my breath. Seeking out the mind of the Hateful Monster is easy enough, it's a bright flame of hate and hurt. "Come, Fight Me!" I Command. The forest reverberates with its reply.

A rustle of brush, and several, at least ten, shadowy creatures lurch out of the bushes. They look like oily, misshapen wolves. I'm not getting any sense of there being a mind within them, but they glow with magic. I try inspecting one of them.

*Error- Error - Error - Ę̴͇̰̙̘̥̫̬͖̻͊̀͐̃̄̿͂̔̏͊̓̋́̑̕͜͠ͅŗ̵̝͉̗̳̈́̾͒̐͝r̵̡̧̗͕̹̝͆̌̎̆̔̆̆̀͘͘͝o̴̢̢̧̫̟̞͚̜͔̲̞͔̫̫̩̱̊͗̐͌̔̐́̇̽ṟ̴̡̡̗̟͍͖̟̻̩͓̹̮͍̞̲̦̅̈́̐́̂̐̌̅̕*

Augh! My head spins, as the voice of World Knowledge distorts into a tone not unlike a modem dialup. As I recoil from the noise, several of the... things... launch themselves at me. I dizzily raise a hand, and cover the area between me and them in Earthen Spikes, impaling the ones mid-air.

The ones that were impaled rapidly convulse as their mass destabilizes. With a watery 'pop', they explode, showering the surrounding area in a deluge of black goop. Oh, this is vile. My normally cream-white mane is streaked with black fluid, the consistency not unlike tar.

I quickly dispatch the rest of the tar-creatures, as they seem to have stopped moving once some of them went down. As the black goo settles on the ground, it coalesces into one big pool, before slithering back where it came from.

I'm about to follow it, but I stop as the bushes rustle once more. Slowly, limping, an enormous wolf-like monster emerges from them. I spot the last of the tar- or whatever it is- slipping into its shadow.

*Error - F̷̭̣̹̳̩̔͆ͅl̷̜̏ḙ̸̪̂̑͒̚e̶̜̣̪͒̀̀̒͑̒͛̔͠ - Error - I -C̷̗̭̪̫͕̣͇̠̯͆ȃ̷̙͓̜̩̫̲͎̀̋͒͘͜ͅn̶̜͎̫͎̙͓̱̠̯͕͔͇̉̄̌̂̓͆͆̆ͅn̷̙͚̿̚ǫ̸̡̝̲̲̳̲̫͍̪͉͗̐͌t̸̡̧̞͎̭̩̪̮̗̥̥̊͊̓͂̎̿͂̃̅̈́̽͘  - Stop - Error - M̷̺̦̞͔̣͌̏ǫ̸̨̼̯̱͇̜̲͉̲̋̓̃́̑̉͘͝n̷̡̤̝̙̻̾̈́̋̾̒̆͛̈̓̓̀͘͝ą̴̡͔͖̯͔̳̺̪̣̘͖̍̾͐ͅr̸̡̺̺̩̞̐̏͒͐̆̐͘c̴̜̰̺̘͓̟̮̃̔͌̉́̓́͝h̸̨̯͚̥̜̲̗͇̙͇͑̾̏͑̊͌̚̚͜*

World Knowledge sputters and crackles, before going silent. Seems trying to inspect those things fried the Skill. I guess it's just me and Shadow against this thing. It's heavily marred, scars and scabs covering most of the front of it. One side of its canine face is tumorous, seemingly covered in numerous eyes, all wildly blinking and glancing in different directions.

The same black, tar-like substance leaks from many of its sores, pooling into its shadow. I shudder as I look at it. It's not quite as far gone as Blue was, but it's clearly struggling to hold itself together.

We've more or less just stared each other down up until now, but suddenly all the little eyes on the right side of its head swivel to face me, and the creature snarls and howls.

As it does so, its shadow starts to bubble, producing more of the tar-wolves. I respond with several Wind Blades aimed towards its feet. Even if it dodges them, I should be able to dispatch some of its minions. Predictably, the monster lurches to the left, the maneuver looking more like a stumble than an intentional movement.

It did the trick though, it avoided the Wind Blades. Its minions weren't so lucky. Instead of exploding, these ones just kinda melt once they've been carved apart by my magic. I quickly try Glaciate on the black tar, and it freezes into a solid chunk.

Good, let's keep it from recyc- Ah, of course that wouldn't work.

The icy chunk shivers and vibrates, before exploding in a shower of shards. I shield myself with a wing, making sure to keep an eye on the wolf. It seems slow, but I know better than to believe that.

As if on cue, the monster lurches forward at great speed. I spin around, extending my tail to its full length. The wolf somehow manages to avoid having its head hit, but I score a direct hit to its chest.

I feel flesh and bone giving way as my stinger plunges deep inside the monsters chest. I've never experienced such a reaction to an attack, is its whole body this fragile? With a squelch, I yank my tail out of the beast.

No warmth in my chest, so it's still alive, somehow. Black liquid is oozing from the gaping hole I made, its entire body shuddering in pain. I decide to follow up on this opening, leaping into the air and bringing my entire body-weight down upon its head and neck.

A loud snap, and the monster falls over, seizing and convulsing. Its head is little more than a caved in pile of flesh, rapidly staining black as the gooey liquid spills forth. I back off and asses the situation. Its head is quite gone, its neck snapped, it has a massive hole in its torso. And still it lives.

I recall how Grim used a Spell or Skill that completely destroyed the body. Blues body kept moving, even after his Soul should have left it, meaning, even if I actually killed the original monster, the body would still try to fight.

As I ponder this, the convulsing stops, and the goop pools and reforms. A new head is formed atop the misshapen remains of the original, a new limb forms and emerges from within the hole in the torso, and a thick string of goo seems to bridge the parts of the body where the spine had been snapped.

I haven't got anything like Grims' Decay, but my Fire Breath should do the trick. It ought to burn so hot that nothing is left once I'm done. As the abomination gets back to its feet, I open my mouth. Searing hot flames rise within me, blasting out, bathing the creature in heat and flame.

It howls in agony, only adding to its distress, as its open mouth catches my jet of fire, searing its insides. I have to stop to catch a breath, keeping the fire going by hitting it with Fire Balls in the meanwhile. Each hit sends the thing staggering backwards, but it still tries to get to me. It snarls, its shadow bubbling up, but the intense heat merely causes it to spit and sputter.

A foul odor fills the air, a mix of burnt flesh and sulfur. Its not enough! My fire merely keeps it at bay! I start moving my hands as I breathe fire, moving Fire Elemental Magic into the stream.

*Skill: Fire Breath (Great) Mutates into Dragonblaze (Lesser - Unique(Ignaliz))!*

My breath seizes as the Skill changes its nature. I cast another barrage of Fire Balls to keep the monster at bay, coughing and hacking desperately. The monster gives a garbled howl. Its severely mutilated body is reduced to little more than a vile mound of eyes, teeth and limbs.

I close my eyes and inhale deeply. When I exhale, I notice that despite my Heat and Fire resistances, I'm actually taking damage from my own breath. Still, I keep breathing the jet of fire. I notice something writhing on my back.

"A small modification, keep exhaling!"

I feel light headed from the constant exhaling and the very odd feeling of inhaling at the same time. I start beating my wings, to increase the flow of oxygen to the fire.

Just when I'm at my limit- An icy cold feeling in my chest. I know instinctively it's Power Osmosis activating, but it's very different this time.

I stop exhaling, dropping to my side, almost blacking out. I- I did it? It's dead? I wearily glance over to where the wolf-thing used to be. A blackened strip of earth marks where it used to be. I did it!

"Quick, grab the Core We'll be shedding!"

I retch and gag, something large is stuck in my throat. Quickly, I grab it via Viscous Body, and drop it to the ground. As I heave for air, I quickly Store the Malice Core. This one was huge, easily a third larger than the last one I produced. D-did We absorb the Malice from the Hateful Monster by Power Osmosis?

"Possibly. I couldn't get an answer from World Knowledge earlier."

I hope I didn't damage the Skill somehow. Okay, let's rest up whilst I go over what We got from that... thing...

*Displaying Power Osmosis Results.*

*Warning! Some Skills were corrupted!*

*Warning! Some Spells were corrupted!*

*Warning! Core Statistics were corrupted!*

*Skills Obtained:

- Bonds of Gleipnr (Great - Unique(Forest King)) - Forges a Bond between two targets. This Bond is said only to break on the eve of the End of the World.

- Teamwork (Great) Replaces Teamwork (Normal). Replaced Skill converted to Skill Expertise.

- Great Leader (Normal) Replaces Leadership (Normal). Replaced Skill converted to Skill Expertise. - User is able to effortlessly lead their allies, even those without the Teamwork Skill.

Spells Obtained:

- Shadow Grasp (Lesser) Converted into Spell Expertise.*

A-ah. So it seems the Malice is from the corrupted things. I guess they mutated, like my Fire-Breath did? I still worry for World Knowledge, the voice is like a poorly tuned radio, it occasionally crackles with a static-y sound. Seems even trying to identify whatever those shadow things were caused it to corrupt slightly.

"We should make a point to visit that Divine Spring as soon as possible."

I agree. First, I need to join up with Valena and the others. I slowly get up and walk towards the blip on my map that marks where Valena is.

???

I stop to listen as the King draws its final breath. Seems She made short work of it. No matter. Even if She is able to reject my Gift, I don't mind. All is well. I've proven my point to their Leader, and he's agreed to my plan.

After all, Humanoids are so much more stable than Monsters ever will be.