Chapter 61 – The Demon’s Mouth (2)
Crockta struck down with the Ogre Slayer, which doppelganger turned and avoided.
The greatsword hit the transparent wall.
Kaaang!
It was cracked, but not broken. It truly was gnome technology. Crockta turned back towards the doppelganger.
“What the hell are you?”
The doppelganger just laughed. It had the body of a gnome, but its joints were distorted, like it wasn’t really a gnome. The doppelganger’s face was still in the air, but its body was moving around the wall, blocking it.
The corners of the doppelganger’s mouth went up as it whispered, “It is calling…”
Crockta once again swung his greatsword. The doppelganger jumped up high. It was in an instant. A tremendous speed. The doppelganger climbed on top of the barrier that was sealing the Demon’s Mouth and looked down at Crockta. The orc grasped the handle of his greatsword.
“What is calling you?”
The doppelganger opened its mouth. Crockta hesitated since he expected an answer, but the doppelganger spewed out a green liquid instead. Crockta blocked it with his greatsword. The blade blocked most of it, but he still felt pain from his right shoulder where the liquid had hit. His flesh started melting.
“Dammit!”
His body shook. It was a truly awful monster.
Crockta stepped back. It was so fast that he couldn’t catch it with his skills. He would need to make the doppelganger come to him.
“This?”
Crockta pointed to the Demon’s Mouth with his greatsword.
“Is this your aim?”
The eyes of the doppelganger turned strangely. Its face turned back, its eyes turned upside down , and its mouth went up. Spin. It moved like it didn’t have a rigid body. The upside down face of the doppelganger laughed.
Crockta’s mouth distorted as he swung his greatsword at the barrier.
Kaaaang!
He wielded it once again.
Kaaang!
The cracks on the barrier gradually widened. Crockta’s attacks caused the cracks to widen even further. The eyes of the doppelganger kept spinning.
Crockta spat out, “If this is your purpose, I will bring it to you.”
Crockta stabbed Ogre Slayer into the largest gap and twisted it. The barrier wall collapsed and air rushed into the interior. The moment that Crockta pulled his greatsword from the remnants of the barrier, his heart started pounding.
An unknown aura leaked out from the hole in the barrier. It was so dark that he had trouble breathing.
“Kiyaaaaah!”
The doppelganger emitted a baleful scream as it rushed towards Crockta.
“Bul’tar…!”
He brandished his greatsword, its blade cutting at the doppelganger’s body. It flew to the other side of the barrier with a yelp and sagged on the floor. The skin broke apart and revealed red blood.
Its interior organs, that weren’t at all like a gnome’s, were shown. It was a bizarre creature. The doppelganger’s eyes turned red. It stretched out a flurry tentacles that resembled a spider’s legs and crawled towards Crockta. It grew beyond the threshold of a gnome’s body and fired even more green fluids at its adversary.
“Kuok!”
Crockta avoided it. The doppelganger’s fluid passed by Crockta and touched the Demon’s Mouth.
Shaaaaaah…
The darkness moved at once. Crockta couldn’t believe his eyes.
Darkness was the absence of light, but right now the darkness was swallowing up the light and filling up the interior with darkness. The light source emitting the light was buried under the darkness.
His field of view started becoming dimmer.
“What…”
Crockta looked back. The corrosive liquid sprayed by the doppelganger was now cradling the cursed belt. It gradually melted and entered the Demon’s Mouth. The Demon’s Mouth closed together.
Jingle.
The Demon’s Mouth fell to the ground with a loud sound.
“……!”
Beyond the dim darkness, the Demon’s Mouth seemed to move.
Crockta thought that he was imagining it, but the belt really was moving. Cracks started to form at the steel teeth in the center of the belt, revealing black insides that seemed to be chewing on something.
“Kiyaaaaah…”
The doppelganger made a strange sound resembling laughter.
Crockta was gripped by an instinctive fear. He seemed to be surrounded by two evil monsters. He had to leave this place. In particular, the newly awakened demon started to emit a demonic aura that he couldn’t afford to deal with. He thought that he was going to suffocate.
“Dammit!”
Crockta turned around. Crockta rushed towards the door of the laboratory in a strategic retreat. The doppelganger blocked Crockta by shooting its strange tentacle along the ground, its face still smiling. Crockta felt an instinctive loathing as he stabbed his greatsword downwards.
“Kiyaaaaah!”
The doppelganger dodged the attack at a tremendous speed.
Crockta kicked at the entrance. It didn’t open.
“Dammit!”
It was a structure that required pulling from the inside. He grabbed the knocker and looked at the doppelganger again. That creature was now crawling towards the Demon’s Mouth like it didn’t care about Crockta.
He didn’t want to see any more of the darkness, buried in the Demon’s Mouth, that the doppelganger was heading towards. Crockta bit his lip and opened the door of the laboratory.
He started running away from the laboratory. A frightening scream was heard from behind him.
“Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Corckta used a lot of effort to turn away. He ran like crazy and arrived at the entrance of the facility. The landscape outside was revealed.
Crockta’s mouth fell open.
Pandemonium. Hell.
The bodies of gnomes were flying through the air. An ogre had the limb of a gnome in its mouth, and the wyvern was munching on pieces of bodies. The trolls were giggling as they beat at dead bodies with their clubs. Blood and flesh were scattered.
Screams were coming from all over the academy. Crockta raised his greatsword.
How did this happen? At that moment, something fell.
Kuuong!
It was a troll. Crockta looked up at the sky. Wyverns were carrying creatures. Crockta groaned. It was an incredible sight.
He could hear gunshots from the gnome soldiers, but they were gradually stopping. In the place where the sound of shooting stopped, screams filled the empty silence.
“Crockta!”
Someone called to him.
“…Tiyo!”
Captain Tiyo of the Quantes Garrison ran over to Crockta with his long rifle. “Fortunately, you are alive dot!”
“How did this happen?”
“I’m not sure dot! Creatures suddenly came from the sky…!”
Crockta’s expression distorted as he heard Tiyo’s explanation. Evil creatures had started to attack the academy through a strange manner that had never been seen before. It was like something was calling them.
Crockta’s head started whirling as he looked at Tiyo. The words he heard in Quantes kept popping up one by one.
‘These days, many creatures are pouring from the north dot.’
‘In particular, the thing discovered this time… it is a belt called the Demon’s Mouth.’
‘Right now, the gnomes have sealed it, and are arguing if they should continue studying it or not…’
‘In particular, it has become strange recently. It is unprecedented for them to charge at Quantes like they have been these days… Those guys are too violent.’
‘It is calling…’
Crockta looked at the special research building that he just ran out of. It wasn’t just a building now, but a cave encased in darkness. His instincts were telling him that he had to go back. In order to resolve this situation, he had to face it.
However, his feet wouldn’t move. He was afraid of the darkness spreading over the entrance of the institute.
“Crockta! We have to move dot! Go dot!” Tiyo prompted.
Crockta’s attention was drawn to a small gnome running outside the academy. Crockta asked, “Can you stop them?”
“The guards will be mobilized dot! But…”
Tiyo’s voice trailed off.
It was only through the combination of the walls and the Asura Thousand Wave Artillery that had allowed them to stop the monsters from the north. It wasn’t easy to block creatures that had fallen inside of the walls. Maybe the worst would happen.
“…We will do our best.”
“I understand.”
Crockta struggled with his ominous feeling as he ran next to Tiyo.
A group of gnomes, made up of academy researchers and guards, was hiding while moving. Crockta and Tiyo rushed to join them.
“Uwoooo…!”
An ogre noticed them and charged towards them, scattering the wreckage of the buildings. The civilian gnomes shrieked.
Then Tiyo’s artifact, ‘General’, fired. The white flash of light pierced the ogre.
“Kuooooh!”
The ogre staggered against a building. Tiyo continued to fire his rifle. The white flashes stopped the ogres. Sweat started dripping down Tiyo’s head. Unlike the other magic firearms that were charged using magic stones, ‘General’ consumed Tiyo’s energy and magic power.
Tiyo shouted, “Run away quickly!”
The gnomes were still in chaos. Tiyo shouted again, loudly this time. As he looked desperate, Crockta swung his greatsword.
“Bul’tarrrrrrrrrr──────!”
The orc’s battle cry resonated through the center of Quantes! Crushing Roar trampled on the ogre’s spirit as he leaped towards the confused ogre. His greatsword pierced the ogre’s thick skin.
The ogre collapsed. It tried to grab him, but Crockta hacked at it with his greatsword. After being struck by the greatsword many times, the ogre finally vomited out blood and became silent. Crockta pulled his greatsword from the ogre’s body and placed it on his shoulder, blood flowing down his sides.
The image of an orc warrior covered in the blood of an ogre thrilled the gnomes. However, this turmoil called more enemies as Ogres started to emerge from other buildings. They discovered Crockta standing over the body of the ogre and roared in anger.
“Kuooooh!”
The ogres rushed like crazy, the trolls running along with them. The wyverns drooled as they circled above him in the sky.
Crockta started laughing.
This battlefield was absurd. How likely was the possibility of victory? Any commander would be silent and pray for luck in the war. Maybe their defeat was confirmed.
Tiyo called out to him, “Crockta!”
“Take the civilians to the red building! There is an emergency bunker in the basement dot! Wait there until the reinforcements come!”
Tiyo and the guards stood side by side.
“What about you?”
“I will build a defensive line here dot.”
It was quite far away from the bunker, but somebody had to stop them. They only made a line here due to the narrow terrain.
“I will fight with you.”
“I don’t need it dot.” Tiyo grinned. “Crockta is Quantes’ guest! It is the duty of our Quantes Garrison to defend it, so don’t get in the way.”
Tiyo placed General on his shoulders and the guards also prepared their magic power. Several ogres were running. Wyverns sat on top of buildings and flashed their sharp teeth.
“Go quickly Crockta! Once again, I am delighted to welcome a guest to the beautiful city of Quantes dot.”
Tiyo laughed. Crockta thought he was a funny person with a gun, but he cracked a joke in such a dangerous moment. There were those types of people, the type to crack dark jokes before the end.
“What are you standing around for, Crockta? Go sightseeing!” Tiyo shouted as he aimed General.
The defensive line opened fire towards the creatures. Colorful streams of light hit the enemies. The civilian gnomes started running in the direction of the bunker.
Crockta nodded. “I understand. Please take care of this place, Tiyo.”
“Yes!” Tiyo yelled out in response.
“…Eh?”
The orc warrior Crockta started to run in a direction away from the bunker.
“What…”
Crockta’s body instantly disappeared. The place that Crockta was heading was the special facility that was now tinged black.
***
The wind and the sound of moaning. The sound of flesh being eaten in the darkness.
Crockta walked inside.
It hadn’t changed from when he entered with Eileen, but it seemed like a completely different place. It felt like he was stepping foot into a place where he wasn’t invited to. Darkness spread between him and his goal as it whispered to Crockta.
The meaning was unknown, but it was definitely evil. Dark and moist. A laughing corruption.
Crockta felt like he was walking inside of a cave.
Why had he come here?
He just didn’t like Tiyo’s actions. Those who pretended to be cool in such a way would regret it later as they died.
The level of civilization in Quantes was good, and there weren’t many places in Elder Lord with such development in technology. A city where each room had a warm bath, where the restaurants sold delicious steaks, and where the knowledge and developments were continued in a modern academy, deserved to be preserved.
He wanted to kill that doppelganger bastard. Crockta would slaughter it with his sword. It had crawled around and laughed when it attacked Eileen, and also at the academy incident. Now Crockta would tear its face apart with his greatsword.
He stood at the entrance of the lab.
Crockta smiled. Yes, that was the biggest reason.
‘It’ was calling him.
He kicked open the door.
It was distant. Darkness filled the inside of the laboratory like the lights were turned off. It was a darkness that seemed to enter his body every time he inhaled. From then on, something whispered in his ears.
‘Come.’
Crockta walked forward. At that moment, two lights appeared in the darkness. They were eyes. Crockta could see that it was the doppelganger. However, it didn’t move in its normal bizarre manner. It approached Crockta like it was an empty doll.
Chobeok. Chobeok.
The doppelganger extended something to Crockta.
It was ‘it.’ Crockta looked at the doppelganger, which was no longer alive. The doppelganger was consumed by ‘it.’
It whispered to Crockta.
……
Demons liked gambling and sweet temptation. They laughed as they swallowed the duped humans. How about this time?
Right now, Quantes’ fate was up to him. Their survival was on his shoulders.
The bonus stage. Maybe it was the final stage. Would he accept or turn around?
Crockta responded, “You cocky bastard.”
Crockta laughed and placed ‘it’ on his waist.