NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter Fifty One
The face was grotesquely large and oval-shaped, a permanent, terrifying grin carved across it, revealing black, jagged teeth.
The sky shattered like glass, and from each crack, colorless tentacles emerged.
The Chthonian was enormous, though smaller than the demoness. But Devalgar knew better. He knew of the eldritch horror that had somehow noticed his dimension.
CRASH
THUD
The creature landed, and Devalgar felt his domain strain under its presence. The Chthonian's grin turned towards the demoness.
Devalgar had never faced a Chthonian before, but he’d heard the stories—more like warnings.
Never look at a Chthonian directly, for not even Gods can keep their minds intact
If you ever run into a Chthonian... you're screwed
Warnings. All of them. Devalgar kept his gaze unfocused, drifting away from the cosmic newcomer, preparing to flee from his own domain.
He expected horrific outcomes once the creature fixed its gaze on the demoness—agonizing tortures, perhaps even the demoness dropping dead on the spot.
What he didn’t expect was a standoff.
The Chthonian stared at the demoness, and she stared back. Yet, she did not scream or collapse in pain. Instead, she tilted her massive head, perplexed.
‘Now's my chance,’ Devalgar thought. Distracted by the spectacle, he decided to escape.
He took one step.
The Chthonian spoke. "X̵̻̮̽¶̷͓͂̊¶̵͈̃̀∆̵̨̂÷̶̦̇ͅπ̴̧̞̈̊^̴̤͐√̷̜̱̕Ẍ̶̡̊%̸̥̻̃̉€̷͔̭͠¥̷̧̣͊€̶͂͜|̴͚͍̓̍Ẍ̴̺̘¥̵̖̑͌€̵̣͒ͅ¢̴̨͑͛£̶̦̜̽¢̸̡̘̈́€̴̖̭͂¥̴̙̰̋X̶̜̯̾$̷̖͗$̴̢̟͒̏#̸̜̩͌$̴̢̝̓#̸̙̕X̸̳̑͜X̴̦̃" Its voice was a cacophony of madness—piping flutes, shrieking strings, and thunderous drums.
The sky shattered completely, replaced by the void’s endless purple. The land beneath them grew diseased, covered in tumors and deformities.
Devalgar noticed none of it, for when the Chthonian spoke, his soul withered. Purple ooze dripped from his ears as he clawed at his own eyes. His skin turned sickly green, peeling off in chunks.
In a desperate act, he tore out his heart and threw it into the distance. His body crumbled soon after.
Meanwhile, the face-off disintegrated as the demoness lunged forward the moment the Chthonian spoke.
The Chthonian’s grin widened with glee as the demoness threw a haymaker.
BOOM
The punch connected, slamming the Chthonian into the ground, turning the land to slag.
Its tentacles lashed out, wrapping around the demon, expecting her to decay from its touch.
The demon’s skin cracked and broke where the tentacles gripped, but she remained unphased. She opened her gaping maw and bathed the Chthonian in flames.
As the dimension absorbed into the void, the Chthonian, unharmed, ripped the demon’s arm off with its teeth, magma-like blood flowing as it swallowed her limb with manic laughter.
But the laughter stopped when the demon grabbed its throat with another arm, lifting the eldritch horror, even as tentacles tried to rip her apart. She yanked hard on one of the tentacles.
"¥̷̧̅͒Ξ̸̯̞̏$̷̡̛͖̆$̸̬̈#̷̝͖͂¥̶̜̮̾₦̴͕̙̐◊̸̭͙̆͂¶̶̧̜̾̑¶̶͕̔∆̷̮͉͑́÷̵̞̜̒π̸̱̓͘†̴̨̪̃̕√̷̢̇̎¶̷̻̤͆̔҉̴̹̼͆̍X̴͇̥͗͝¥̶͖͑́ͅ€̴̼̤̍̍₪̷͕̺͛|̸̩̕‽̴͖̺̑Ж̵̛͈̀¥̶̩̈́̕€̵̹͋̉¢̶̙̅͑₤̴͇̠̕¤̵̜͓̉͗Ω̷̝̉⌬̸͉͒́!̵͚̺̃!̶̺̇̎" The Chthonian's scream ripped reality as its tentacle was brutally torn off.
Stunned by the power of its cry, the demon hesitated, giving the Chthonian a chance to break free. It leaped into the sky, disappearing into the void.
All of this happened in eight seconds—from the Chthonian's arrival to its escape.
The demoness searched for more enemies, finding none. Then, she crumbled, and a tiny figure fell from her.
"Owie... My head... What happened?" Maple looked around at the twisted landscape. "Am I still in another world? Where's that vampire? I have to beat him to leave, right!?"
The dimension was collapsing, yet Maple wandered the soupy terrain, looking for Devalgar. "What do I do? I don't see him!"
"Think like Sally," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Sally would—"
Her stomach growled.
"Takoyaki. Mmm, something smells good." Maple's eyes snapped open, her gaze fixed on a massive tentacle. "It is Takoyaki!" she declared happily and ran over to take a bite.
Forty minutes later, the tentacle was gone, and Maple patted her belly. "That was so good! Now for dessert..." She spotted something red and pulsing nearby. "Oh?" She picked up the beating object. "A monster?"
She took a bite of the vampire's heart and froze. "Oh my gosh! It tastes like candy!!" she exclaimed, devouring it in seconds.
DING!!
|| Maple has leveled up ||
|| A̷b̷s̵o̷r̴¶̸b̸e̵d̶ ̴d̵|̴u̵n̸g̸e̶o̷n̶ ̶c̵o̷©̷r̶e̶ ||
|| New territory located ||
|| New function unlocked: Guild Dungeons ||
|| Current Dungeons: ×1 ||
|| Blood Borne Dungeon ||
"Huh?" Maple blinked at the notification.
DING!!
DING!!
```
------------------------------------
| Maple Tree Guild Lv 3 |
| ----------------------------------- |
| GP: 4050 |
| Members: |
| - Maple: Lv 3 (Guildmaster) |
| - Chrome: Lv 2 |
| - Yui: Lv 2 |
| - Mai: Lv 2 |
| - Sally: Lv 10 |
| - Kasumi |
| - Iz |
| - Kanade |
------------------------------------
| Inventory |
------------------------------------
| Armory |
------------------------------------
| Buffs |
------------------------------------
| Skill Slot: |
| - Lord of the Blood Borne •New• |
| (Available to designated members)|
------------------------------------
| Dungeons |
| - Blood borne dungeon |
------------------------------------
```
"So this was a dungeon. But where’s the final boss? Was it that vampire? If so... where is he?"
As Maple pondered, the dimension shifted. Blue painted over the purple sky, gravestones popped out of the ground, and structures grew into massive buildings, cathedrals full of coffins. Within one of these cathedrals lay a familiar vampire, now resting in his coffin.
"How do I get out of here?" Maple asked the blue screen.
A portal appeared beside her. "Neat." She stepped through. 'Maybe I’ll search somewhere else before finding Sally... What are the chances of something weird happening again?'
<--- ### --->
In a distant office, Sally felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Hmmm. My Maple sense is tingling. She’s done something weird again." Sally muttered, pausing from her paperwork.
A blue screen appeared before her.
DING!!
```
------------------------------------
| Maple Tree Guild Lv 3 |
| ----------------------------------- |
| GP: 4050 |
| Members: |
| - Maple: Lv 3 (Guildmaster) |
| - Chrome: Lv 2 |
| - Yui: Lv 2 |
| - Mai: Lv 2 |
| - Sally: Lv 10 |
| - Kasumi |
| - Iz |
| - Kanade |
------------------------------------
| Inventory |
------------------------------------
| Armory |
------------------------------------
| Buffs |
------------------------------------
| Skill Slot: |
| - Lord of the Blood Borne •New• |
| (Available to designated members)|
------------------------------------
| Dungeons |
| - Blood borne dungeon |
------------------------------------
```
"I knew it!" she shouted, her voice echoing in the office.
<--- ### --->
"Oh yeah, they're dead. Definitely dead. Deader than dead even," Daisy said, poking the massive face, bigger than she was tall, with her short sword. She scrunched her nose as the blade sank into the cyclops’ eye, making a wet squelch.
Behind her, the twins stared down the damaged cliffside, all the way to the fiery river of lava below. The molten rock hissed and bubbled, a seething mass of heat that made the air shimmer.
Yui wiped her forehead, the earlier adrenaline slowly fading. "What now?"
Mai rested her hammer on her shoulder, eyeing the horizon beyond the cliff's edge. "What we always do, I guess. Clear the dungeon, clean up the rest of these monsters."
Yui cracked a smile, twirling her own hammer idly. "Just like Maple, right?"
"Exactly," Mai grinned, her eyes gleaming.
Daisy glanced back at the two sisters, her expression softening for a moment. "You two are way too cheerful after all that," she muttered with a shake of her head. Then, with a small smile, she added, "Tell you what, when we’re outta here, drinks are on me."
Mai and Yui exchanged a look, a little surprised, but they chuckled together.
"Uh, you know we’re kinda… underage for that," Yui said, half-joking but with a touch of hesitation.
Daisy snorted, wiping some dirt from her cheek with the back of her hand. "After a day like this? Trust me, nobody cares. Besides, in a dungeon, age doesn’t matter. You stare down a cyclops and live to tell the tale? That deserves a drink."
Yui raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth quirking up. "So, what’s the plan? Toast to survival with… cider or something?"
Daisy waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever works. Even if it’s just water, we’re celebrating."
Mai chuckled, swinging her hammer lazily. "Alright, I’ll hold you to that."
Yui nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "But only after we’re done here. Let’s finish up first."
Before anyone could say more, the ground trembled slightly, a low rumble echoing through the cavern. Cracks formed at the edge of the cliff where they stood, making the three of them back up instinctively.
"Okay, enough chit-chat," Daisy said, gripping her sword tighter. "Let’s wrap this up and get out of here."
With a renewed sense of focus, the three adventurers moved deeper into the dungeon, ready to face whatever was left.
