Chapter 46: Not the Strange Creatures
The passage sloped downward.
Nathan didn’t notice at first, because the descent was gradual—barely a degree every few meters. But when the lamp began to show the floor’s angle by how the shadows stretched backward, he realized.
*We’re physically descending. The dungeon has levels.*
*And we’re on the second.*
The ceiling stopped having luminescent moss. The pale green light faded gradually until it disappeared. From that point on, only the oil lamp illuminated the path. The oil light was yellower than the moss’s, and it cast Nathan and Liaraen’s elongated, shifting shadows against the irregular walls.
Liaraen stayed half a step behind.
The short dagger in her right hand no longer hung with the relaxed posture of the first fight. Now she held it with the tip slightly raised, and her arm was tense in a specific position—learned by observation over the last few minutes.
Nathan didn’t comment. The observation was progress.
Soul Sense reported presences ahead.
Not the devourers. Not the listeners. Different. Larger. But few. Four. Nathan counted twice to be sure. Four presences, distributed in a pattern that wasn’t natural. They were waiting in formation.
"Sprout."
"Yes?"
"Four presences. In formation. They’re waiting."
"Formation as in ambush?"
"Formation as in they’re not waiting—wait, that’s the same thing."
"How big are they?"
Nathan processed the signatures with Soul Sense a moment longer.
"Considerably larger than the previous ones. Denser signatures. These aren’t minor corrupted creatures. These are... superior."
"Level?"
"I can’t quantify exactly yet. But definitely above what I estimated upon arrival."
Liaraen stopped for a second.
"Nathan. Condition two."
Nathan looked at her.
*Condition two. If Soul Sense detects anything above C-Rank, I activate the stone. No discussion. No negotiation.*
"I still don’t know if they’re above C," Nathan said. "They could be C-Rank. Could be low B-Rank. The signature isn’t clear enough to be sure. And even if they were low B, four manageable-level creatures don’t justify burning the stone."
"You’re justifying yourself."
"I’m calibrating."
"Nathan."
"Sprout."
Liaraen looked at him for a full moment.
"Fine. Calibrate whatever you want. But if at the moment of contact you confirm they’re above C, we activate the stone right there."
"Accepted."
They continued.
---
The passage ended in a chamber.
This one was different.
Wider than the previous ones. With a high, irregular vaulted ceiling. The floor had circular carved marks, as if at some point they’d been used for a ritual or some specific function, now darkened by dust. Four stone pillars supported the vault. And on four sides of the chamber, four dark passages led off in different directions.
In the center, distributed in exactly the pattern Soul Sense had indicated, were four creatures.
Nathan stopped at the entrance.
Raised the lamp.
And for the first time on the journey, he understood why previous adventurers hadn’t returned.
The creatures were enormous.
Each stood approximately two meters tall from floor to shoulder. Thick bodies covered in dark, hardened skin that looked like leather overlain with bony plates. Heads elongated forward, ending in broad snouts with teeth protruding from their lips. Small, round, black eyes. No visible pupils. Muscular arms ending in massive claws they probably used to dig tunnels when not fighting.
And behind each one, extending from the base of the spine and curving over the head, a stinger.
Like a scorpion’s. The size of a human forearm.
Nathan looked at them for a moment.
*Moles. Giant humanoid moles with scorpion stingers.*
*Corrupted by centuries of exposure.*
*This isn’t D-Rank. This isn’t C-Rank. This probably isn’t even in the kingdom’s standard catalog.*
The four creatures turned their heads toward the entrance simultaneously. The black eyes fixed on the lamp. The stingers rose in unison. And one of them—the closest—emitted a low, guttural sound, specifically intelligent.
A sound that wasn’t a roar.
It was a word.
In a language Nathan didn’t understand but that was clearly communicative.
The other three responded with similar sounds. Coordinated. Like a quick discussion.
And then the first began to walk toward Nathan.
The other three spread out to cover the other three passages.
"Nathan."
"I know."
"They’re cutting off our exits."
"Yes."
"Stone?"
Nathan thought about it for exactly one second.
*Four large creatures. Coordinated. Intelligent. Blocking exits.*
*But also physically slow creatures due to their size. With signatures Soul Sense can still process. With movement patterns readable at a distance. And with skills I have unlocked and am reasonably sure will work in this environment.*
*I can handle four.*
*Probably.*
"No stone," Nathan said. "Not yet."
"Nathan."
"Trust me. If I can’t, I activate the stone the second I confirm I can’t. But first let me try."
"Acceptable."
Nathan set the lamp on the floor, against the chamber’s edge. Extended both arms.
And activated *Death’s Domain*.
---
The cold wave expanded.
Nathan felt it leave his chest outward, as he’d felt when facing the extraction team in Greywall’s southeast. But this time it was different. This time there was weight in the activation. The dungeon’s enclosed space made the skill rebound off the walls. And the four creatures were physically larger than the eight previous humans.
The mana consumed was significantly greater.
*Two hundred. Three hundred. Four hundred. Five hundred.*
Nathan felt the internal drain.
But Death’s Domain activated.
The chamber’s temperature dropped. The lamp’s light dimmed. The sound of the air itself seemed to thicken. And the four creatures stopped.
Their black eyes widened.
The first one, the one walking toward Nathan, froze mid-step.
The other three emitted the same guttural sounds as before, now in a different tone. Higher. Less coordinated.
*They’re perceiving their own death.*
*But not as intensely as the humans.*
*The skill doesn’t penetrate their corrupted nature with the same ease. It consumes more mana. And produces less effect.*
Nathan didn’t have time to process the strategic implication.
He extended his right hand toward the creature in front.
*Soul Reap.*
The skill activated for the first time in his life.
Nathan couldn’t describe afterward what he felt—not even to himself. It was as if he extended something invisible from his palm to the creature’s chest, and that invisible thing passed through flesh and skin and bone plates without resistance, and found something inside the body that wasn’t physical and grabbed it.
And pulled.
The creature didn’t scream.
It stood for half a second with its black eyes empty.
Then it fell.
It fell like a sack. Without balance. Without protest. Without any of the strength it had shown just seconds before when rising. The stinger hit the floor with a dull metallic sound. The two meters of body collapsed heavily.
And didn’t move again.
```
NOTIFICATION
Skill activated: Soul Reap.
Target: Minor Corrupted Mole (Stinger).
Estimated level: 14.
Mana consumed: 200.
Status: soul harvested.
Total EXP: +600
```
*Two hundred mana.*
*One. Three remain.*
The other three reacted.
They didn’t run yet. They reprocessed. The one that had been in the northern passage turned to look directly at Nathan for the first time, and the black eyes that had until now seemed empty now had very specific attention.
Then the western one emitted a long guttural sound.
And the northern and eastern ones began walking toward Nathan.
The western one didn’t.
The western one stayed where it was. Turning its head toward the passage Nathan had entered through.
*It’s blocking the retreat.*
Nathan fired *Soul Pulse* at the northern one.
The wave shot out at normal power.
It hit the creature.
The creature staggered, slightly. Didn’t fall. Absorbed the impact almost completely.
*Soul Pulse doesn’t work on these.*
*Or works very little.*
*Good.*
He changed strategy. Extended his hand toward the eastern one.
*Soul Reap.*
Another two hundred mana. Another creature collapsed on the floor.
Two.
And the northern one was already ten meters away. And its stinger was curving forward in a movement that suggested an imminent ranged attack.
Nathan fired *Soul Reap* again.
The creature fell eight meters from him.
One.
Nathan turned.
The western one was still blocking the passage they’d entered through. With Death’s Domain still active, the creature wasn’t moving with the aggressiveness of the others. It was trembling slightly. Perceiving something its corrupted nature processed with difficulty.
Nathan extended his hand.
*Soul Reap.*
Eight hundred mana spent on four creatures.
Four hundred on Death’s Domain.
Two hundred on a failed Soul Pulse.
Fourteen hundred consumed in less than twenty seconds.
*Seven hundred remaining. A third of my reserve.*
*And I haven’t even started testing the rest of the dungeon.*
He closed Death’s Domain. The chamber’s temperature returned to normal. The lamp’s light regained its brightness. The sound of the air lightened.
The four bodies lay on the floor.
Silence.
Nathan lowered his hands.
Looked around. No other immediate presences on Soul Sense. The four passages were silent. The chamber was, momentarily, safe.
