The Labyrinth Part 2

“There’s no end to this,” the Scholar yelled. His condition was worse than the Witch. Blood and gross-smelling green slimey liquid covered his whole body. His face turned greener than the slime.

Not only that, but the green liquid ate into his clothes. His skin turned red, accompanied by itchiness. They continued to itch even under his skin. Even though he had wiped himself with a magicked handkerchief, he couldn’t do anything about the slime his skin had already absorbed.

The centipede reared its head and spewed more green slimy liquid into the air, and the putrid attack rained down on the party.

The Succubus, next to the Witch, twirled her scythe overhead at such a high speed that it acted as a shield that spun away all the green liquid.

The Paladin raised his sword above him, and the sword absorbed the green attack into its blade without leaving a single drop to stain the Paladin’s armor. Luckily, this time, the Scholar was standing next to the Paladin, so he was saved from being rained down upon for a second time today.

The Fleur had green vines and leaves that covered her body, making her look like a walking plant. The plants absorbed the green liquid, protecting the Fleur from the mess, making her the cleanest out of all the people in this group.

After the green shower ended, the Paladin rushed forward with his sword and sliced at the centipede’s belly where it was the weakest. His attack left a scratch that healed almost immediately as soon as his sword left the creature’s body. If the Paladin hadn’t caught sight of that, he might have thought his attack didn’t have any effect.

The Succubus followed up on the Paladin’s attack and sliced away at the giant bug’s many legs. The creature screamed in pain as its legs flew off its body. New legs grew out before the cut-off legs fell into a pile of detached legs awaiting their new dead companions.

The Fleur, still covered in the green plants, made her way to the Scholar. “I analyzed the green liquid, and I made an antidote.” She poked her hand out from the foliage. Inside her cupped palm, a clear liquid flowed from her skin. “Hurry, you might only feel an itch now, but the attack has a delayed effect that will attack your organs and kill you. Drink this.”

The Scholar, whose face couldn’t turn more green, just turned even greener from the poison. “Many thanks,” he said, quickly drinking the antidote from the Fleur’s palm.

The Witch overheard their conversation and spoke a cleansing spell in the Scholar’s direction that cleaned off all the green liquid still on him.

The centipede thrashed about the cave, hitting the walls lined with crystals. Small bits of rocks and crystals rained down on the group, but it was the dust that they needed to avoid. However, they couldn’t just shut their eyes, or else they wouldn’t see an attack coming. They had fallen for that trick before. The whole group hadn’t seen the centipede’s tail coming and had gotten thrashed to the other end of the cave. The Fleur and the Scholar had almost died.

The Witch pulled the Succubus down to take shelter under the wide brim of her Witch’s hat.

The Fleur pulled the Scholar down and bent over him, protecting him as he took in the antidote while keeping an eye on the monster. After finishing the antidote, the Scholar’s skin stopped itching.

The Paladin, who had a helmet on, shielded his eyes with his hand.

“After analyzing the poison, I had an idea,” the Fleur said. “Since all these external attacks won’t work, how about we attack it from the inside?”

“You mean, get eaten and fight our way out from its stomach?” the Scholar asked, disgust apparent on his face at the thought of being covered in slime again.

“That is a possible idea,” the Fleur said, “But I was thinking of using poison instead.”

At that suggestion, the Scholar looked much more approving. “You’re going to make the poison?”

The Fleur nodded, or rather, the blob of foliage nodded. “Please give me some time. I think I’ll need to make a large amount that’s potent enough to get it in one go.”

“Yes, let’s finish this as quickly as possible,” the Succubus said.

The Succubus had thought the Scholar and the Fleur would be dead weight, but she changed her mind.

While their combat capabilities were not very good, they were able to offer good support to the team. It was like their fight with the elementals where the Scholar and the Fleur offered more support than offensive capabilities.

She thought that the same kind of teamwork wouldn’t work when the enemies were much stronger. She was glad she was proven wrong.

Because the alternative would be that she was right, and they really would be dead weight. If that happened, she wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of them to keep her mistress safe.

“I think we can pin it down,” the Witch said. “I’ll make some webs as I did with the wyverns, but I’ll need the creature to be closer to the floor.”

They had all seen the nets in action and knew what to do.

“I’ll kick it down,” the Succubus said.

“I need to be at a high enough vantage point to cast the webs. It has to be at least that high,” the Witch pointed to a ledge on the wall.

“I can help with that,” the Scholar said. “You two can beat up the bug while I bring her there,” he said to the Succubus and the Paladin.

The Succubus narrowed her eyes at the Scholar.

“Fine,” the Succubus said. “Take the Fleur with you. We don’t want her to get hit down here.”

“Of course, already on it,” the Scholar said.

The Fleur nodded and shed away the outer layer of foliage. The leaves fell with a soft thud to the ground. The Scholar took her hand, and they jumped over to the Witch.

It wasn’t just a simple jump. It was more like a giant leap. The Fleur yelped in surprise as they soared into the air, light as a feather. In just one jump, they landed next to the Witch a distance away. The Scholar took the Witch’s hand with his other hand and jumped to the aforementioned ledge.

The Paladin and the Succubus saw the first jump from the Scholar and knew that things would be alright.

The centipede saw the sudden movement out of the corner of its eyes and locked on to its new targets. There was no easier prey and one where their trajectory was predictable. Rearing back its head, the centipede prepared to bite down on the flying Scholar and his charges.

However, before it could go after them, an attack hit its face from below. Angered by the attack, the big bug swerved its head. The Succubus lowered her glowing hand, and the residual magic faded away.

The Paladin, not wanting to lag behind the demon, sliced his sword through the air. His sword mana fanned out into five slices that zoomed towards the creature, hitting multiple spots on its giant body.