Chương 51: Broodmother (4)

Rowan took a second's rest before preparing for his final charge against the broodmother. It had already realized that he posed a great danger to it, as, in the corner of his eye, he could see bloodspawn breaking away from the moshpit that was the battle every time they could. At most, he had thirty seconds before the first of them was upon him, and that was only because the vast majority of the creatures were already injured in one way or another.

Looking at the massive blob of flesh before him, he analyzed the damage. Seven of its over two dozen tentacles were severed, but that wasn't what drew his attention. No, he stared at the gaping hole in its side, left by the explosives he'd planted in it. It was nearly ten feet deep, reaching halfway to the center of the beast. As he did all this, Rowan continued controlling the mana darts inside of it, ripping through the creature's insides.

He'd already destroyed a few things that felt like organs, but now, he'd found something else. Directly in the center of the broodmother was something similar to the organs he'd already destroyed, except that it was much, much harder. No matter how much force he put behind his darts, they couldn't pierce it. He kept pushing, but as the seconds ticked by with no progress, he had to do something different, and he was running out of time.

He glanced back at the bloodpawn converging on him before calling one of his daggers back to his hand. Then, he charged. As he moved, he did two things. First, he sent four orbs of semi-stable mana flying towards the bloodspawn who were breaking off from the engagement with the ants, draining most of his remaining compressed mana. Next, he began to channel more mana into the blade in his hand, extending it as far as he could.

He'd done this before, changing the size of his daggers slightly to fit his needs, but it was nothing compared to what he was doing now. He always made daggers or small darts because they were simple, but now, he wanted something more. Rowan poured everything he had into the blade, draining his mana pool until there was barely anything left. He even brought the other mana dagger and merged its mana into the weapon he was forming. It extended, becoming a sword, then a spear, then a lance.

Soon, Rowan found himself with a ten-foot-long mana construct, and unable to hold it with a single hand, he tried to use his injured right arm as well. He couldn't properly grasp it, though, so he wrapped a tiny bit of chain around the lance's handle, pushing his two skills to their limits. [Mana Manipulation lvl 19 → Mana Manipulation lvl 20] [Chain Manipulation lvl 12 → Chain Manipulation lvl 13] He would've used more chain to make it easier, but he simply didn't have enough mana for it.

Anything he had left was going into reinforcing the chains binding the two bloodspawn that had come to protect their leader. Rowan clenched his jaw as he drove his lance into the broodmother's soft body. His needles of mana were all pressed against the core of the beast, so he simply aimed at where they were. He continued charging even as the blade of mana slid deep into the creature. But as he grew closer and closer to the broodmother's bleeding flesh, his lance still hadn't struck the core.

Gritting his teeth, he kept moving forward, desperately hoping that the weapon would strike. But he knew it was hopeless. The lance was just barely long enough to reach the massive blob's center. So, closing his eyes, he ran straight into its flesh, doing his best to ignore the terrible feeling of his body pressing up against the creature's bloodied body. Even pressed against it, he continued forcing himself forward, squishing into the broodmother's body.

Then, when he could no longer go any further forward, his lance still hadn't struck whatever the hard thing buried deep within its flesh was. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. But Rowan didn't give up just yet. All throughout the charge, his arm and chains had been pulled back, pressed against his body to minimize the difficulty of holding the massive mana weapon.

Putting everything he had behind the blow, he extended his arms, pushing them into the hole in the broodmother's flesh right behind the lance. His mana and chain manipulation further boosted the strike's speed, tearing through the broodmother's flesh. He felt it strike whatever the hard thing within the broodmother was. Then, the mana construct pierced through, stabbing into whatever it was that resided in the very center of the beast. Stumbling back, Rowan took deep, gasping breaths, trying to calm himself down.

But then he realized something: there had been no notification. Had his gamble failed? He'd been banking on the fact that the core was something vital to the creature, but what if it hadn't been? He cursed, turning back towards the broodmother, only to find it spasming wildly. A mere second later, its convulsions stopped, and Rowan breathed out a sigh of relief. [You have slain Bloodspawn Broodmother - Level 26] [Level 12 → Level 13] Now, though, he had to escape.

Glancing back, he watched the bloodspawn running towards him, screaming and screeching. There were more than a dozen of them that had managed to break off from the fight now, all rushing at Rowan. He'd been hoping that they would cease functioning with the massive blob of flesh dead, but it seemed they were able to operate independently. It could still be something else, though. He knew there were probably more of the broodmothers somewhere, so perhaps they had taken over controlling the horde?

In the end, it didn't matter. They were still able to move, so all he had to focus on was getting out alive. Just then, the explosive orbs he'd sent towards them earlier burst. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 6] [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 6] While only three died, most of them were blasted away, injuring them and increasing the distance between them and him. All except for one.

A single, hulking brute had been just past the orbs when they had exploded. The blasts had actually boosted it forward, and now it was just a few yards from him. Cursing, Rowan stumbled back. He had no mana to extend any of his chains, and those that were already long enough to defend him were occupied holding down the two beasts. As the giant lumbered towards him, coming into striking range, Rowan realized what he had to do.

Still holding the massive blade, he manipulated it with all his might, forming it into a dense blob directly before him. He hadn't had enough time to mold it into anything even remotely resembling a shield, but that was of no matter; it would still serve its purpose—hopefully. The brute roared and swung its arm outward, ready to turn him into nothing more than a splotch of blood on the ground. Rowan stared up at the beast and, letting out a growl of defiance, he raised his hastily constructed shield.

The next moment, the strike made contact, and he flew backward. As he soared through the air, Rowan felt his chains jerk and twist before shattering altogether. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten that he was still attached to the beasts that had attempted to defend the broodmother. But, thankfully, it seemed that they'd been too damaged to pull them along with him. As for his shield, cracks had spread through the mana construct, something he wasn't even sure was possible.

Still, it appeared that the shield had absorbed most of the force behind the blow, saving his arms from yet another devastating injury. Realizing his time in the air was coming to an end, he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for an impact with the ground. But what he felt something hit his back a moment later wasn't stone. It was water. In that brief moment before his body fully hit the pool that ran all the way around the cavern, he felt a sense of relief spreading through him.

He plunged into the water, and a second later, his body struck the stone floor beneath the water. Then, he blacked out. — Rowan awoke to the feeling of water all around him. He tried to take a breath, but water filled his lungs. Jerking fully awake as panic took him over, he flailed desperately in the water, only to find his hands hitting stone. He pressed his palms against the rock beneath him before pushing off. He moved upward, toward the—Rowan blinked the liquid out of his eyes. There was no more water.

He was already at the surface. Rowan tried to look around, only to begin convulsing, throwing up the water in his lungs. A few moments later, he took a deep, shuddering breath. Then, looking around, he found that the water he'd been submerged in was one of the many small streams that flowed out from the pool formed by the larger river and waterfall. He let out a little laugh. It was only four feet deep. He'd been panicking, thinking he was deep beneath the surface, when in reality, he could've just stood up.

Then, his laugh grew louder and even a bit as he realized what he'd done. He'd killed the broodmother. He'd killed the damn beast. And best of all, he'd survived.