I awake the next morning, an intense feeling of dread bearing down upon me. Something's wrong. Getting up, I perform a mental search of my Domain to find the source of this.
*Large numbers of Chimera detected towards the North-West. All are under the effect of another Lair-Masters Minion Status.*
Chimera? With Minion Status?
*They are currently located underground, in tunnels bordering the cave-system beneath your Domain. It is a matter of hours before they break through.*
A silly thought strikes me. The direction they're coming from is roughly the same as that Lair... But why the hell would they come for me? It's a great distance- unless they've been digging towards my Domain since the time I visited the Lair...
I don't intend to shelter Chimera. They're not naturally made, and besides, humanoids have designated them all (save for the Cats) for destruction. Having them within my Domain would just create problems for me.
I gather up my Draugr into a bag. They are, for all intents and purposes, disposable fighters considering I'm unable to grant them full autonomy. From what I've gathered, Undead bodies cannot be "re-used", so I'm unable to kill them, take dominion of their Other Will, and then Raise them into the same body.
I'd need to source new bodies, and that's just more trouble than it's worth at the moment. Additionally, I'm unsure of how strong the Chimeras are, and the Draugr are by far my most lethal Servants simply due to their ability to twist probability in their favor.
With the Draugrs secured, I alert Huldr to the situation. She and the others are to protect Delpha and Grandma whilst I'm away. I then move to a spot highlighted by World Knowledge as being particularly close to a vein of the cave-system.
Utilizing Excavator, I effortlessly rip into the soil, continuing down into rock, before breaking through the ceiling of the tunnel. As I walk into the tunnel, I have World Knowledge guide me towards the Chimeras.
The caverns are dark, damp, and not quite filled with life just yet. There are small, budding patches of luminous moss here and there, and I occasionally hear the chittering of a distant monster, but overall it's quite empty.
This emptiness increases as I draw nearer to where the Chimeras are primed to bust through into the cave-system. It's as if the other monsters sense what's about to happen and have evacuated.
I approach the furthest wall to the North-West in my Domain and listen. A low, grinding rumble permeates the earth. I also become aware of heavy footfall behind me.
I turn to face this approaching monster. It looks at first glance like some sort of Tyrannosaurus. Big, muscular hind legs, covered in thick armor-plating, a smaller set of front limbs with blunt claws, and weak-looking, atrophied wings that seem quite unfit for flight.
A thick neck supports a big head mostly dedicated to a massive jaw filled with protruding, blunt teeth meant for grinding and crushing. Finally, a thick, muscular tail provides balance and counterweight to its hefty head. Judging by the large amounts of Earth magic surrounding it, this is a kind of Earth Dragon.
*Rumble Dragon*
*A Low-tier Earth Dragon. Evolved from a Pseudo Dragonoid, it has a distinct physique not commonly found in Low-tier Dragons. It is normally quite slow, however, it is able to curl itself into a ball and roll around at high speeds, crushing anything in its path. A Geovore, its droppings are highly sought after as they often contain precious gems that the monster was unable to digest. Its high defense and offense makes it a tricky foe. Even cornering it to prevent it from using its devastating Rock-Roll Skill will backfire, as it employs high-power Earth Spells such as Vlad's Iron Forest and Earthquake, in addition to a debilitating ability to expel sand at incredible velocity from its mouth, grinding apart even the toughest armor.
Its parts make superior armor, though despite granting earth damage, weapons forged from its parts are always dull, regardless of what one does. As such, the only weapons usually forged from its parts are hammers.*
*Rank: 7 Stars*
The Rumble Dragon's voice sounds like distant thunder in my head. "I believe a swarm of Chimera are about to invade my Domain. I've come here to deal with them." I tell them, bringing out the Draugr.
"I assume you're the Dragon left to represent the Earth Dragons?" I ask, half paying attention to their response and keeping an ear on the approaching Chimeras. They glance away from me, seemingly embarrassed.
They sigh, hanging their head low.
They bow down as far as possible, touching their head to the ground in a display of deference.
*Establish Servants Bond with this Rumble Dragon?*
Yes.
A white orb of light exits my chest and enters that of the Dragon. They appear thoughtful for a moment. "A curious choice..." their thought echoes in my mind, a result of the newly formed Bond. It pushes itself upright using its front limbs. I'm assuming they're puzzled about my choice of Skill to gift them and not my choice to accept them as my Servant.
The sound of tunneling has stopped. I turn to face the wall the sounds were coming from just a moment ago, and back up slightly. "They're here." I warn the Rumble Dragon. They step in front of me, intending to use their body as a shield.
A loud 'wham' echoes through the cavern. Rocks tumble from the ceiling as a large crack is made in the wall. Another 'wham' and the wall crumbles, the air becoming filled with dust obstructing my vision. The hulking shape of something can be seen within the cloud, shaking its head as it recovers from the recoil of ramming into the cavern wall.
Smaller shapes swarm from behind the big one, and immediately start engaging the Draugr. As the dust settles, the cavern immediately in front of us is already littered with the twitching remains of Chimera. They look odd, with three Insectoid heads resembling those of ants, wasps and termites respectively.
Same goes for their abdomens; one ant, one wasp and one termite abdomen make up the rear of each Chimera. I inspect one of them.
*Tri-Ant Worker*
*An unholy fusion of a War Ant, Hellstinger and Shredder Termite. An Eusocial Chimera, the Worker caste perform the manual labor of expanding and maintaining their expansive nests, as well as acting as cannon-fodder during the 'expansion' phase of a nests life-cycle. A peculiar joint on each end of their thorax allows the Tri-Ant to freely change which head and abdomen is the dominant one, each with its different uses. Each head has to be destroyed to kill a Tri-Ant fully; destroying only one or two merely stuns the Chimera temporarily.
Originally created as a siege weapon, a single Tri-Ant Queen can in a matter of weeks decimate even large cities by constructing a colony beneath it and hunting its inhabitants for food.
Little use has been found for the parts harvested off Tri-Ant Workers, though its flesh is edible.*
*Rank: 2 (One)*
"Take out all their heads" I advise the Dragon as I simultaneously order around the Draugr. I catch a glimpse of movement from within the tunnel the Tri-Ant Workers are pouring out of before a hulking Tri-Ant charges from within the darkness.
Its charge is cut short, however, as its legs are caught on an outcrop, causing it to tumble and skid to a halt before the Rumble Dragon. It's flailing its legs trying to get back up. Without much ado, its oversized termite head is crushed under the jaw of the Rumble Dragon. Two Draugr then move in to tear off the undersized ant and wasp heads.
The Rotten Luck Skill once again proves its utility, huh. Hesitation overcomes the remaining Tri-Ants, as they linger near the entrance of their tunnel, unwilling to enter. I order the Draugr to pursue them.
The Rumble Dragon measures themselves against the opening, and sure enough, it's too small for them to fit inside. "Don't worry. Guard the entrance and deal with any Chimera that might get past me." I instruct them. They nod, though I can sense a feeling of disappointment from not being able to accompany me.
I switch into my humanoid form in order to fit myself. The tunnel is just high enough that the Draugr can walk upright within it, and as such my true form would scrape the ceiling. The big Tri-Ant with the large head was just barely able to fit, so I guess that's as big as they get?
Or there are larger kinds that defend the nest proper... I ponder such things as I follow after the Draugr and the fleeing Tri-Ant Workers, storing the defeated Chimera as I encounter them. The Draugr are holding up well, and I get the sense that they're even enjoying themselves.
However, damage is accumulating. Despite their Skills and general resilience, the Tri-Ants are able to get in a few hits, particularly a last ditch move where they throw themselves upon the enemy with open jaws. The Draugr just punch them in their open mouths without heeding the consequence of the Tri-Ant's jaw locking upon their fist in a death-grip.
As such, quite a few of the Draugr are now fighting with stubs instead of fists. As much as I think of them as disposable, I feel bad seeing them like this. Knowing better than to try using Miracure upon them, I instead try my luck casting True Raise on one of them.
They're eligible targets, despite being alive and not an Undead of my creation (at least not directly)... As the dark aura engulfs one of the most wounded Draugr, I sense a change. The dark aura is rapidly absorbed and replaced with a bright white one. Confused, I inspect the glowing Draugr.
*Error- Unable to determine Statistics as this Entity is currently undergoing Evolution. Please wait for the Evolution to complete before trying again.*
O-oh?
The process takes a few minutes as the silhouette of the Draugr shifts and changes, becoming taller and wider. As the light enveloping it fades, an Undead resembling a knight clad in full plate armor is revealed. Red pinpricks of light shine from within the slits of its helmet, blinking slowly as it takes in its new form.
Is- is it sapient? It looks upon me, taking in my features, before kneeling before me. What's it Evolved into?
*Death Knight*
*The result of a naturally formed humanoid Undead having the True Raise Spell cast upon it. Wields weapons formed of solid darkness and wears armor formed of its own bones that has been reinforced with Death element. It is an accomplished fighter that excels at commanding lesser Undead. Like all Undead, its weakness is its head, though destroying it is much more difficult than with other Undead due to its heavy armor.
Using their parts is considered taboo, and it is said that whoever dares wear the armor of a slain Death Knight is cursed to wear it forevermore.*
*Rank: 5 Stars*
As I take in the information, the Knight suddenly manifests a shield, its color an abyssal black that reflects nearly no light, and moves to my side. A 'tink' issues as something collides with the shield. A mantis-like monster is reeling from the failed attack. It must be stealth specialized, for I did not even notice its presence.
Not letting it recover, the Death Knight lops off its head and crushes it beneath its boot. It looks at the twitching body, and I sense an aura of anger and disgust emanating from the Death Knight. Were they killed by Insectoids before becoming Undead?
Silently, the Knight issues orders to the Draugr, who obey without hesitation. The injured ones approach the Knight, who casts a Spell upon them, and their wounds close and lost parts regenerate.
*Spell learnt: Embalm (Lesser) - A taboo Spell that restores the HP of Undead monsters by suffusing their bodies with Death element.*
Ah- should have known there was something like that. With the Draugr healed, the group of Undead begin making their way down the tunnel in a tight formation. I hesitate for a moment, as it suddenly seems the Death Knight is taking over the Chimera slaying, before following after them.
After all, I'm sure there are things down here they'll need my help handling.