Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 172: Cause(Part 2)

"This is so gross," Groaned Tacitus, as he smashed a couple of Vermin heads with a powerful slam of his blade, before springing back as several more leapt towards him.

He then whipped his sword across, sharp crunches ringing out as the large blade slammed against the Monsters with crushing force, killing them almost instantly upon impact.

As he swung his blade across to fling them away and get the blood off, he then raised his left foot as one sprang at him and nipped at his heel, before he drove his foot down, stomping on the top its head powerfully and crushing its skull.

"Don’t back away too far from the entrance, we don’t want to give the Queen a chance to get away!" Exclaimed Aster, several Vermin trapped in the grasp of his Telekinetic Zone, before the sound of flesh ripping and squelching rang out as he twisted and mangled their bodies, before blowing them away with a telekinetic shockwave.

About ten minutes had passed since the Vermin Monster Queen unleashed the hidden swarm of her Monsters towards the Knights, their numbers seemingly endless as they continued to stream out ceaselessly.

The trio of Knights had backed away to a few meters outside the entrance of cave, intercepting and cutting down the Vermin as they rushed out of the cave.

Their task would be a lot easier if they backed off further, but they were maintaining a tight defence around the entrance to make sure that the Queen couldn’t sneak out and run away while the swarm of Vermin kept the Knights occupied.

While the Monsters were weak and no serious threat to the Knights, their sheer number was overwhelming, attacking relentlessly, so they couldn’t afford to get pushed back too far.

"Damn it, my arms are starting to ache, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up," Nile thought to himself with a grimace, as he ceaselessly swung his axes across.

He whipped his right axe across as a Vermin leapt towards his chest, slicing through its head before swinging his left axe straight down at another one, splitting its skull open, before he swung both his axes outwards as a couple more sprang at him, slashing them apart and recoiling slightly on disgust as some of their blood splattered across his torso.

He then swiftly drove his right knee up as another Vermin jumped in towards him, striking its stomach and knocking it up into the air before unleashing a rapid diagonal swing of his left axe, slicing across its body, grimacing as he felt a slight twinge in his left forearm.

Several loud crashes then echoed out as Aster fired off a barrage of powerful telekinetic blasts forwards, streaks of blood flying out as screeches of pain rang out, his attacks bashing several of the Monsters and fatally wounding them as the force of his blasts shattered their bones and ruptured their organs.

It wasn’t much longer before the number of Monsters flooding out of the cave finally began to peter out, while the Queen hung back and observed warily, paying especially close attention to Aster.

Aster noticed the stare, which unsettled him, but be ignored it as he focused on killing the remaining Vermin, the fatigue from casting powerful Spells endlessly while also maintaining his Telekinetic Zone starting to pile up.

Within a couple more minutes, all the Vermin except for the Queen had been killed, a massive pile of steaming corpses strewn all over the area, except for the space within Aster’s Zone.

Tacitus and Nile had streaks of blood splattered across their uniforms, Nile collapsing onto one knee with a slight gasp as his vision blurred, sweat pouring down his face as he struggled to catch his breath.

Tacitus jammed his sword into the ground and leaned against it, grimacing as he noticed that his boots and the ends of his trousers were soaked with Vermin blood, as Aster turned his attention to the Queen, who spun around and fled into the cave.

"I’ll leave it to you," Sighed Tacitus wearily, as he glanced at Aster.

"Yeah, alright," Nodded Aster, wiping his sleeve across his forehead before sprinting into the cave, chasing after the Vermin Queen.

The Monster raced away as fast as it could, before frantically digging as it reached the back of the cave, right as Aster swung his right arm across, firing out a rapid, slashing wave of telekinesis.

The Monster Queen roared in pain as a shallow, horizontal gash appeared across the middle of its back, before spinning around with a snarl as it picked up some rocks, flinging them at Aster.

The rocks pinged off his Telekinetic Zone as he steadily approached the mutated Monster, who roared defensively as it shrunk back against the wall, before swinging the claws on its left arm across as Aster closed in on it.

Its arm came to an abrupt halt as it entered the range of the Telekinetic Zone, before a sickening crunch rang out as Aster sharply twisted its arm, splintered bones bursting out through the middle of the Monster’s forearm as blood sprayed out.

"All this from a Low Level Monster Queen? You’re definitely stronger than a Mid Level Monster, I’d say you’re on par with a High Level...but what’s most alarming is your intelligence. Hiding your Monsters like that, I’ve never seen anything like it. Alright, time to end this," Remarked Aster, drawing out his black blade and swinging it across as he wrapped the blade with telekinetic energy, slicing the Monster Queen’s throat open.

It collapsed onto its knees while clawing at its throat in agony as Aster turned around and walked away, choked gasps ringing out behind him as the Monster bled out profusely, before a thud echoed out as it collapsed onto the ground, writhing around in pain.

"That was exhausting. Can we leave now?" Grumbled Tacitus, as Aster walked out of the cave.

"Yeah, let’s get back to the city and report this, we-...," Began Aster with a nod.

"You can handle that. I’m going home. I need a shower, I’ve never felt so gross in my life," Interrupted Tacitus in disgust, staring down at the blood on him.

"I certainly share that sentiment, the stench is unbearable," Nodded Nile, his face pale as he covered his nose, before adding as he glanced at Aster, "I have to say, I envy you, Captain. All that, and you don’t have so much as a single drop of blood on you."

"Yeah, that’s the main reason why I kept my Telekinetic Zone active the whole time, though it really wore me out. It’s been a while since I’ve been this low on Mana," Sighed Aster wistfully.

"Whatever, at least you’re clean," Muttered Tacitus dryly.

"Anyway, let’s head back, shall we?"

The three of them then made their way back to Amethyst City, Tacitus and Nile stopping by a stream to try and wash some of the blood off.

They then continued heading for the city, before Aster and Nile proceeded towards the Knight outpost, while Tacitus went back home.

As the other two reached the outpost, they headed in and entered the building, one of the other Knights inside approaching Aster as they walked in.

"Welcome back, Captain. We’ve just received word from HQ, the Commander requested your attendance for a meeting at the Capital. You need to be there in, let’s see...two hours from now."

"I see, thanks for letting me know. Just me, or Tacitus too?"

"Yes, sir, his presence was requested as well."

"Got it, I’ll drop by his place in a bit and let him know. He isn’t going to be happy about this," Replied Aster with a wry smile.

...

...

A couple of hours later, in the Knight headquarters in the Capital...

"I apologize for such short notice, I thank you all for making time to come here," Remarked Jules, glancing around at the others.

"No need to apologize, I imagine this must be regarding something important, considering how sudden it is," Replied Rione.

"So, what’s this about, Commander? Has something happened?" Chimed in Raven.

"Yes, I’ll get straight to the point. The church has discovered some new information pertaining to our current predicament, information that I believe should prove quite useful in combating the threat of the Monster Queens," Jules informed them.

"Well, that’s pretty encouraging. These things are a serious pain, so if there’s anything that’ll help us put an end to them sooner, I’m all ears," Spoke up Tacitus.

"Man, I still haven’t come across one myself. I wanna see how strong they are, I wonder how much pain they can inflict?" Mused Colt with a gleam in his eyes.

"Can you not?" Sighed Celia in exasperation.

"Ahem, let’s please stay on topic, shall we? Now, then...I’ll start with this. Based on the documents in the church archives, it’s now all but confirmed that the Hero Summoning Ritual is indeed the cause of the Monster Queens."