Chương 75: 1-74 Stomping grounds

Josef managed to rip out several more handfuls of vines before the tide was upon them. Going by the shudders and continued wailing all around him, he could tell it was hurting the boss monster, though he would have little time to relish that fact, now that he had countless more problems to deal with. Just as in their very first encounter with the plant by the side of a canal, the sound had called out droves of the small, worm-like parasites, which didn't take long at all to home in on his position.

This time, he would have to face them without the aid of his friends. Sure, Dusty was by his side, but the bunny could hardly be a wall that kept all of the creatures away from him. They didn't even appear to be interested in him at all, as they kept crawling precisely towards Josef's position.

"Rip this thing apart, I'l keep them busy!" he shouted before drawing them away from the lump of vines in a mad dash. The worms were emerging all around him, but there was still a little room to move, if he was quick to capitalize on it. Just like he expected, none of the creatures bothered going after his familiar, who was busy shredding the evil plant thing. Did his rabbit just speed up by growing extra sets of teeth?

He couldn't linger on that disturbing sight at the edge of his vision, because the parasites had finally managed to cut his path off completely. However, he had been prepared for that, and what awaited them was neither the soft meat they expected to bury in, nor the hardened defenses of earth-mana reinforced skin. Instead, their little teeth met nothing but air, as the human disappeared with a loud popping noise right in front of their nonexistent eyes.

He knew it had been a bit of a gamble, but if he had to buy his familiar as much time as possible, then he couldn't just stand around and take hits. Still, ditching defense in favor of moveability left all of his nerves feeling on edge, even after the first teleportation had succeeded. Drawing them all to one part of the cavernous room had opened up a decent chunk of space on the other end of it, and he had long enough to accumulate space mana and maintain a line to his targeted position.

Even so, he had only bought himself seconds at best, because monsters that didn't rely on sight were apparently not as confused by the maneuver as those Rachse had been so many floors above. Readying himself for a second jump, Josef knew that it would likely be the last one he could make before there was too little room to maneuver. There were more worms pouring into the room, so available space rapidly dwindled by the second.

"Catch me if you can." He chuckled dryly at the sight of a wave of monsters surging his way, straight from where he had disappeared from. By now, he was cutting things much more closely than he would have liked, barely weaving around lunging worms, some of which managed to graze him. He was feeling thankful for every single point of Dexterity he had gotten, and promised the system to spend more on it if only these horrible creatures didn't get to bury inside him.

With barely a flicker of concentration, he decided to commit to it right this instant, assigning whatever points he could to Dexterity. He knew there were levels available, even though he hadn't checked while they were still fighting. 6 Dexterity gained Had he really gained three levels already? The mere fact that he had enough time to calculate this showed how much room that extra burst of mobility had bought him.

Even if he wasn't that much faster than before, the control over his own body had improved notably from that immediate boost. Gaps between attacks that appeared too small to slip through before suddenly looked much more comfortable. On top of that, the sudden change of pace confused some of the parasites that had already taken aim at him, causing them to miss their lunges by a substantial margin, momentarily widening the room he had to maneuver.

He had held out so long, Josef was almost starting to feel competitive about his evasive streak, before the encirclement was finally too complete for him to slip out of. That was when he pulled on that cord of space mana and disappeared into the distance once more. Arriving at his targeted location, he didn't bother replenishing the energy needed for another teleportation, and instead changed his mana to be in tune with his earth affinity.

Already dancing around the first few lunges of worms near his new location, he knew the battle would grow too crowded to find another safe spot to arrive at. He had led these creatures by their noses for long enough. Now it was time to face the tide. Not that he had any plans to just take their attacks, earth affinity or not, because he didn't want to risk getting infested by a parasite more than necessary.

Using water to trap and kill groups of these creatures was no longer a viable tactic now that he had no one else to cover for him. He needed to keep up his protection all around, or risk falling to the first attack to slip by his notice. Fortunately, he had a spell that worked just fine, without requiring him to drop the earth mana.

Sending out streams of mana, he rapidly lashed out at everything nearby, draining many and even bisecting a few unlucky ones that got caught at a bad angle and were dragged along until their defenses failed. There was no precision or aim to his technique, because there were too many enemies not to hit several at any moment. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Technically, there was a weak spot to this approach, because his own defense was open where those streams exited his body. Which was why he sent them out from the center of his chest, keeping that hole in one easy to defend location. And if one of them did manage to get there? He didn't want to experience one of these creatures burrowing into him, but if they did, they would encounter a turbulent welcome.

After all, his heart was on a field day, sweeping up all the mana he sucked into his body using that violent internal stream of energy to syphon it all. It would probably turn any intruder into a meal, as long as there weren't too many at once. There wouldn't be. He made sure of that. Josef's form lacked any grace of a real hand to hand fighter, but it got the job done, as every strike was a guaranteed hit. Sure, he never struck what he had aimed at, but he rarely even tried to target something in the first place.

Even with the magical weight behind his every strike, the parasites rarely died from his punches alone, even if they got flung far away by the blunt force. However, his Mana Stream continued to rack up kills almost passively, as the energies whipped around like flails, claiming mana and lives in the process. The highest body count fell to his feet, however, as any stomp he made was met with the squelch of a worm getting pancaked into the floor.

Unlike his fists, these left no room for the creatures to get pushed away, so they had to bear the full brunt of his attacks. Still, that didn't mean he was necessarily winning his fight. He had probably slain more of the creatures than on his entire path through the last ten floors, but he couldn't even make a dent in the tide that came at him. New worms entire the fight even now, and their appearance outpaced his offensive by a visible margin.

Where before he could maintain a tiny zone of death around him, they now surged even through that final line. Soon, he found his footing grew increasingly unsteady, as even when he didn't intend to trample one, there was always something getting caught underneath. It was like going from stomping grapes in a barrel to finding the entire world covered knee-high in the fruit.

And with his footing interrupted, his dodges turned into stumbles, as more of the creatures managed to smack into his reinforced skin at full force. It became a struggle to even stand upright, much less move around by his own will. If it weren't for the sheer flood of mana pouring back into him, ballooning the available mana in his body to a ridiculous density, he wagered some would have already broken through. Instead, he found himself like a rock in the storm, as tiny teeth scraped off him with little effect.

Whatever leftovers threatened to spill out, massive amounts by this point, he sent towards his bunny. Abandoning his mobility at last, he took a final stand, crossing his arms defensively in front of his chest, focusing fully on deflecting the parasites, with only his draining stream staying mobile. As the first worm managed to wriggle into his weak spot, Josef grit his teeth in disgust, even as the invasive feeling got swallowed up a second later.

He didn't even need to direct his inner stream, as his ravenous heart gobbled it up with glee. There had definitely been an upgrade to this thing, and he wasn't sure he would like it. Right now, though, he could not wish for a better final line of defense. Trapped in a stalemate against the endless swarm, he all but missed the nudge given by his familiar, asking for his attention. There wasn't much he could do about whatever the bunny wanted, anyway, since he was thoroughly stuck in his spot.

At least, until a massive set of teeth clamped down on his shoulders with a surprising gentleness that didn't pierce the skin, and hauled him up and away onto the back of an enormous creature. Josef's brain needed a second to catch up with this development, even as his link reassured him of his saviour's identity.

"Nice safe, Dusty." He patted one of the small patches of fur that remained on the back of his familiar. The rabbit's form had once again grown into the large shape it had used against the elemental, though his legs were now long and thick, like trunks of a tree. Clearly, the little guy had taken inspiration from his summoner's suffering and devised himself some sturdier legs.

Thanks to that more than stable extra clearance, he now found himself comfortably above the tide of worms surging through the room, though that didn't stop them from trying. At first, he was concerned for the safety of his familiar, as even if he could re-summon him later without the parasites, he didn't want his not-so-little buddy to go through the pain of having worms. That changed quickly when he saw the monsters shrivel up and die whenever they managed to stick their heads into the familiar's hide.

Whatever his affinity was, these creatures didn't like it one bit. Still, the assault continued, and they never stopped trying as the two of them made their way back to the center of the room. There, Josef saw what his familiar had uncovered, halfway buried in the ceiling above. It looked like an acorn, but the size of his own head, from which a clump of green vines grew.

It was almost as if they were trying to form a shape, though their efforts kept getting interrupted, as more of the red ones burst from the surface above, seemingly trying to strangle the giant seed.

"Even if you keep ripping them out, more keep coming, right?" He asked his familiar, though he could already guess the answer by the time he finished speaking. Finding himself high enough to try, he tugged at the acorn, trying to pull it away. The red vines swatted at him, but he ignored their feeble attempts at penetrating his defenses. It didn't budge an inch, lodged in place more firmly than what he saw suggested.

He didn't give up on it, however, because taking this thing away was sure to do something to the parasitic boss that relied on it. Lifting his hands, he barely reached the ceiling, though he suspected that Dusty stretched his body to help make it happen. With one hand on each side of the seed, he injected water with the most explosive pressure he could muster, bringing the full power of his Water Jet to bear. A mixture of soil, bark, wood, and flesh rained down on him as a massive chunk of the ceiling gave way.

Even then, the acorn held firmly in place. At last, he could see why it was so thoroughly locked in position. Josef had uncovered the upper torso of a massive humanoid figure, consisting of what looked like rotting meat, which was hidden inside the ceiling, clamping its bloody red teeth around the acorn. Gluttonous Devourer: Envoy of Hunger - Level 47 Hollow eye sockets locked onto him, conveying nothing but fathomless hunger, as the creature had decided on its next meal.