Chapter 99
In comparison, the next creature was far, far simpler. I didnt use the mental connection due to the amount of bone used previously, and the skeletal structure of this creature had to be different than I initially intended. For this monster, pure death magic was needed.
The remaining two brains formed the nexus, which wasnt a problem since this wasnt an overly complicated creature. A four-legged skeletal bone structure was created with every bit of remaining bone to make it as strong as possible. Then I began layering muscle and connective tissue, and a small death core I had saved went in the center next to the nexus, both of which were covered in dense muscle.
You may wonder why I didnt make it so magic could be stored in these muscles. Our bodies store magic naturally, and the cannon was made to amplify that ability. In creatures that dont require lots of mana, theres no point.
The skeletal structure had no neck, but that didnt stop me. I had enough muscle and tendons to make it work. I built a thick neck that was nothing more than a flexible mouth that could split open. Its inside was lined with every one of the sharp lizard teeth pointed backward, ensuring anything it grabbed would have a hard time pulling itself free. The mouth led to a pouch in its stomach where potent death magic would break down and absorb whatever it could.
In some ways this reminded me of a bear, if the bear was shorter and built like a sumo wrestler with scaly, nasty skin. It had two eyes, and its four muscular legs had thick claws that would inject poison with every attack.
The creation of this monster was why I wanted the fluid. In the construction of this undead spell, I had included in the diagram the formula for the poison I discovered with Raventhat was included near the end, without the addition of death energy, as I worried it would interfere with the poison.
The result was a creature far from my most magnificent creation, but it was still a powerful fighter. I pulled up its description.
Flesh Horror
Undead Construct
Level: 62
Created by: Ezekiel Vernizac
This is a flesh golem. Highly resistant to bludgeoning damage and is generally hard to kill. Anything it devours will be added to its bulk, further increasing its strength. It has a poisonous bite, and its claws leave behind deadly poisons that will raise anything that dies into a zombie.
Raven showed up when all that was left of my piles of material were a cluster of eyes. I briefly debated making something, but decided I didnt care and had the flesh horror eat them.
Maxwell and Raven shuttered when they saw the neck of the flesh horror extend as it sucked the eyes up with a popping sound.
Upon reaching the landing room at the bottom of the stairs leading to the next floor, I could immediately tell something was different. Light shone through the cracks around the single large door leading out of the room. Pushing open the door, the three of us stood in amazement as my minions pushed on ahead.
This floor was likely bigger than the one we just left since the ziggurat continued to spread out and get wider the deeper it went. From the map, I guessed there would be more storerooms of some kind in here, but that was not what we found. Maybe once there had been rooms for storage, but those were gone now and covered by plants.
The door opened out onto a crumbling hill with a crumbling, overgrown pathway leading farther down. This floor and the floor below it had either collapsed together or been intentionally combined into one. Daylight filled the room from several crystals mounted in the ceiling; it wasnt magical light, flickers of beams of light came in from the direction of the harbor, likely with some kind of focusing lens out there to shine the light in.
The combined floor was covered in trees, vines, and all kinds of plant life. Across the large chamber was another steep hill. Three streams were visible, each of the same thick red liquid that flowed along the outside of the ziggurat. Like the marsh outside, the plant life was tinted red, but the plants in here seemed far more vigorous and strong.
Most of the floor below us was covered in uneven terrain. If you looked closely, you could see where it had been initially broken up into different fields. My only guess for a place such as this was that it was some kind of greenhouse.
I followed my minions out. The volans death wing was already scouting around as the flesh horror took up the forward position, backed up by the mobile cannon. I had no doubt there was more than plant life in this room, though if the marsh were any indication, the plant life itself would be a challenge all on its own.
It didnt take long for our presence to be noticed, and a thundering sound reverberated between the hills. A herd of six bloodred bovine charged up the hill toward us. All of them had vicious black horns and eyes that burned a bright red. I had the time to pull up a brief description, only reading the pertinent details.
Blood Bison
Level: 64
Blood bison are a monstrous predator of any blood biome that hunt in packs. Both males and females have vicious horns that deliver necrotic poison.
Even as I finished reading and relaying the information to Maxwell and Raven, I ordered my minions to attack. The blood bison, while strong, were not fast, though they were gaining speed even rushing uphill. If they had any degree of intelligence, they wouldve waited for us to descend before they attacked, but they werent, they were stupid.
My flesh horror bounded in to reach them, and I followedeven with the new minions my role was still at the front line. I heard a tune from Maxwell as I passed my mobile cannon. The cannon fired, and I got to see just how effective it was for the first time. The results were spectacular.
The nexus controlling the cannon had a threat prioritization function, so I let it pick its own target. It decided that the bison in the very center was the highest priority target. The bolt of crackling purple and black energy smashed into a bisons face in an explosion of energy, the head splattering. The creatures front legs buckled and it smashed into the ground dead. When I glanced back at the cannon, it was already charging up another shot tracking a new target.
Damn, Maxwell said. We need more of those.
I shook myself out of the reverie and resumed my movement down the hill. My flesh horror leapt at another bison, its fleshy body extending in all sorts of wrong ways. Those deadly claws tore into the hide and the mouth latched on to the thick neck. Its victim let out an earsplitting screeched, bucking its head to dislodge the fleshy mass.
Two of the other bison attacked the flesh horror, goring it with their black horns and stomping it with their hooves. The flesh horror retaliated with vicious white claws that left behind deep wounds filled with festering poison.
Right before I reached the first bison, I transformed Mercy into a heavy boar spear with large cross guard. I planted the butt of Mercy into the ground and dropped the point directly into the hulking creatures path. The creature lowered its horns and rammed at me, but I held my position. My blade passed just under its nose, and just as the black horns began to slam into me the creature itself came to a slamming halt with a loud thud and crack.
These monstrous bison were the biggest bulls Id ever seen on Earth. Now that I was this close to one, I realized I had underestimated how big they were. Seeing my flesh horror clinging to the side of one should have clued me in. They were closer to a rhinoceros in size than they were to a bull.
I pulled myself back, the black horn having punched through both my force barrier and chest plate with ease. The hole left in my armor healed when I poured death energy into it. The poison meant nothing to me, but I was certain this creature couldve trampled me to death in a moment. If I could have sweated at the time, I would have been dripping buckets. I had been very careless.
There was a flash and an explosion as the cannon fired on one engaging the flesh horror. Raven was atop the sixth bison with the volans, both of them lacerating its sides with their razor-sharp daggers.
When I moved to pull Mercy free, I saw that the bison I had speared wasnt dead. Its eyes burned with hatred and hunger, its back legs trying to push it forward. Where any other spear wouldve snapped like a twig under the massive creature, Mercy held. Then again, Mercy was indestructible. Its front legs only weakly pawed at the ground, its pelvis likely broken.
I pushed pure death energy through the blade coming out as necrotic poison that was further amplified by the innate festering effect of Mercy. A black stain began to spread out from where Mercy remained lodged in the bison.
I let go and headed toward my flesh horror. I trusted Raven had no problem with such a dull-witted creature. It might take her a while, but there was little these bison could do to her.
Deciding not to use the magic stored in my rings, I built my own spell. Eldritch lightning crackled through my skeletal fingers, and pointing with my hand in a finger pistol position, a bolt of black and purple magic fired out. The bolt hammered into the creature, tearing at its flank and leaving a deep, gnarly wound behind.
The creature recoiled and whirled to face me, but before it took a single step it was hammered to the side by another blood bison. It took me a moment to realize what happened. There was a hole as big around as a basketball blasted into the side of the chest of the blood bison. I even got a glimpse of light showing through the hole.
Before the cannon had killed the monster, my flesh horror had torn at it with its claws, leaving behind the all-important poison and raising this undead blood bison.
I extended my will to the creature to plowing into the side of its former ally. I could feel a death core inside, which was nice since not all of my minions would create death cores when they killed a creature. But advanced constructs like the mobile cannon sometimes did.
I debated what to do. My two new constructs had been incredibly effective and wanted more like them, but this was not the time to do that. I then realized what I needed and it wasnt anything complex in the slightest. Leaving the death core in the body, I cast the spell.
My death magic surrounded the body and began to twist and change it. I poured death energy into the spell, amplifying the raw strength of the creature it was creatingthick and stout, with four legs and four long arms ending in meat hooks. The brain was gone so I created my own simple nexus, and I didnt even bother to bring up the description. This was a simple laborer, designed to move around bodies.
By the time I was done, Raven had finished off her monster, and the other two bison had fallen, one gored to death by its previous ally. The other one was ripped apart by the flesh horror which was now happily eating it.
That seemed way too easy. Why are your cannon and fleshy things so strong? Maxwell asked as he joined me. He looked at my new minion as it stomped off toward one of the fallen blood bison. And what is that?
Yeah, theyre quite effective arent they? I agreed. As for that, its a porter. It will haul the bodies of the fallen creatures back up to the next floor where I can process them. I tried to smile at Maxwell. The flesh on my face was filling out so it was almost possible. From his horrified expression I decided not to try again for a while. As to why theyre so strong, think about it this way. Which would win in a fight, a level 1 dragon or level 10 rat?
Level is only part of the equation when it comes to strength of creatures, Raven said, joining us. You should know that.
I do know that, I just didnt think his minions would count, Maxwell protested, eyeing the mobile cannon as it strode past.
If it makes you feel better about the cannon, it cant keep up that rate of fire for more than a half-dozen rounds, I assured him. With my connection to the construct, I knew it had depleted a not insignificant portion of its reserves with just those two shots. And it doesnt recharge very fast.
Maxwell grimaced. Well, in the next fight can we try and do it a little different so I get a bit more experience. This should have been a pretty nice amount, but I got so little.
I glanced at my character sheetI was really close to another level myself. No problem, Im certain youll get more if its a prolonged fight or one with more creatures. The longer the fight, the more your magic helps to buff everything up. Regardless, I will try and adjust for the next group.
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