THe fermentation demon was huge.
It towered over the three of us, tossing its shadow over us as it stood urpight.
ANd i thought that it was tall when it was crawling on its limbs!
What was supposed to be skin was a gross mingling of roots. Moss covered the roots, making the beast a verdant horror from the earth. It had eyes, two holes in its "skull" that spewed green wispy flames. THe flames brightened when it looked at us. A mouth that could swallow the three of us whole peeled into an angry grin.
It had eight limbs. Four legs, two arms and two long pincers that emerged from its hips. IT reminded me of a mutation of those anthropomorphic ants from that bug movie I liked as a kid. In my past life, that is.
Thorns the size of my arm jutted out of its body at random angles. Some of its roots looked brittle and thin compared to others. It seemed like that was its weak points.
"Was it you who destroyed my gods home?" it growled. "And killed my kin?"
Even if I wanted to say something, I couldn't. I was too terrified to speak, worried that the demon would crush me if I spoke. My grip tightened on my staff.
Noir was the only one to speak. "You and your god and his spawn are abominations. I was simply doing the work of my god!"
Geez! Was she trying to get us killed?
The giant demon hissed, then thenn crouched over noir. It smelled of spoiled earth.
"You have no idea what youre talking about, mortal. Your god is just as blasphemous as mine."
That angered Noir. With the flick of her arm, she hurled a mote of rotting energy at one of the demon's weak spots. I silently ordered the selkie to rush to her side, in case she needed protecting.
THe demon didn't even wince when the rot energy struck it. As soon as its flesh decayed, the moss on it doubled in size to cover the hole. As quickly as the wound was made, it was healed!
So this will be a tough task. THank god i leveled up or I was useless.
I ordered the selkie to launch a barrage of water blasts at the demon, aiming for its weaknesses. THe demon sat up right, trying to swat the selkie aside . The Scarlet Bunsen melted its arm off with the flick of his fingers.
My mana was getting low. If the Scarlet was tied ot my mana, I'd be completely depleted.
Pulling the selkie back, i let noir bathe the fermentation demon in rot magic. Hungry clouds blanketed the titanic creature, obscuring it for a second.
We all stared in silence as we waited for the clouds to part.
Noir gripped her wand, violet energy waiting at the tip of her wand. I gulped, calling the selkie to my side. THe Scarlet Bunsen closed his eyes, then chuckled.
"Relentless vermin." he said.
At that moment, a green limb burst from the cloud. It thrashed in the air before sweeping to the ground. It raked across the earth, tearing up the ground as it made its way toward Noir and I.
Noir managed to flip over the limb, firing two spells at the demon.
I however stared in horror as the limb came fro me. I couldn't do a freaking back flip like her! And the selkie didn't have enough power to cut through the limb. My only summon who did have that power was…
THe Scarlet demon apparated by my side. Raising his hands, he manipulated the water in the air. Sending it at the limb, he corroded the limb just as it would have hit us.
When Noirs rot cloud dissolved completely, the fermentation demon roared. ITs flesh struggled to regenerate, the moss continued to heal parts that melted away.
It sent a second limb at us, one of the long pincers on its abdomen. Noir fired a puff of smoke at is face while the Bunsen sent moisture to the limb.
THe giant demon's face melted away just like its pincer. It tried to grow a second pincer but the Scarlet bunsen wouldn't allow that.
With barely any effort, he called water around our foe. The water gyrated into the demon, grinding it to nothing in the matter of seconds!
I fell to my knees, struggling to breathe. Noir did the same.
We did it! We defeated the demon!
"Why the hell are you of of breath?" Noir snapped. "You barely did anything!"
"Yeah, but…" my mana had depleted completely. The selkie returned to its card form. "I'm out of mana."
How did I run out of mana? I barely used any. The Scarlet demon grinned at me. Was it using my mana to use those spells?
I noticed that it cost mana to keep my summons out and to use their abilities. When the Scarlet Bunsen demon was summoned, it didn't drain my energy. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I don't think it used my mana when it used spells earlier.
A green mist came over us. The last remnants of the fermentation demon washing us in its stench as a thousand spores settled into the grass.
"Gross!" I spat. Some of the spores landed in my mouth. It was not a pleasant taste, like eating dirt.
Noir looked at me, a worried look on he rface.
"What? This stuff isnt poisonous is it?"
She stood up and ran to me. Shoving me down, she layed on top of me. Something whizzed overhead. It would have hit me if she hadn't done that. We rolled over just in time. A second blade crashed down on the spot we just occupied.
The green spores were landing on a patch of grass. That gross was mutating into a tangled mess of vines with limbs, a head and legs. On its back was two wings, insect like in nature. Its eyes were large flowers with yellow petals and a shiny black center. THe creature stared down at us, its mandibles twitching angrily.
"I haven't taken this form since my rebirth." It had the same voice as the fermentation demon, though it wasn't as loud. "You have forced me to an weaker form. For that you shall pay."
Its front limbs were two verdant blades as sharp as swords. It sent its blades at us, making a downward slash. I barely managed to block with my staff in time. Noir managed to dodge a stab meant for her head; rolling out of the way, she hurled rot magic at the demon's face.
"You fail to understand my power, mortals!" the demon yelled. Its face didn't regenerate as fast as the giant's, but its reaction was much quicker. Swinging both of its arms at Noir, who once again dodged the attack, the demon spread its wings and took to the air. I tried to blast the demon with my staff, but got a yellow warning from the system.
"Insufficient mana. Recharge mana using a potion, or rest to regain energy."
Gulping down the stamina potion, a yellow liquid that tasted like oranges, i watched Noir face off against the new demon.
IT regenerated like the giant had, though it was obviously weaker. But Where it lacked regeneration and strength, it made up for in speed.
Noir fired two spells at it as it dove to attack her. IT strafed around both attacks and took a slash for her head. Noiru threw up a violet energy shield that shattered when the demon's blade arm met it. Grimacing, it retreated and took to the air. Noir was getting tired. Her spells were getting sloppy and her reaction time wasn't as fast. I assumed she was low on mana, but I couldn't tell since I couldn't read her system.
The bug like demon made two more attacks. Its first one met the same fate as the previous one, being blocked by the magic shield Noir summoned. Its mandibles twitched rapidly as it pulled back and launched a third attack. This time Noir didn't summon a shield. She dropped to the ground, breathing raggedly.
Sensing her weakness, the demon came in for a second attack. IT slashed her back with an upward swing, then stopped to watch her wail in pain. Then it kicked her, sending her flailing like a rag doll several feet away.
"No!" I yelled. My stamina had returned. It barely did anything to my mana, but it's not like I could do anything. I barely had enough to fire an attack at it.
Or seal it.
Activating the spell to seal the demon, red mana swirled from my staff as i aimed. The demon was too focused on Noir to notice me, considering me less of a threat than her.
The system notified me that I had three sealing charges. Each charge would take half of the little mana I had. I needed to get this right the first time. Otherwise Noir and I could die.
And i didnt want to die again. I had too much money.
I sent the sealing spell at the demon, Red mist darting from the green creature. THe demon turned just in time to see the attack, but not enough time to dodge it. Red light burst from the ground beneath it then swallowed it whole. In a flash of light, the demon vanished and a card fell to the ground where it was.
I hesitated, expecting the card to burst and release the demon. It didn't.
Rushing to the card, I picked it up; Noir groaned, rolling over onto her side. She Looked badly beaten, her face bruised, her arm mangled from where the demon kicked her.
THat didn't matter now. I still needed to focus on the real demon. Or so I thought.
"Where is the giant?" i asked her dumbly. "Did it run back to the canopy." i scanned the horizon for the canopy. It was destroyed too much for a giant tree thing to hide inside of it.
Noir clutched my pant leg. "You fucking idiot!" she coughed. "That is the demon!" she pointed to the card in my hand.
"Oh." i gasped. I felt dumb. That Explained why a random demon had come out of nowhere to attack us.
"Demons regress to lesser forms when they are beaten. That drone form must have been one of the fermentation demons past forms."
THat made sense. I remembered a similar bug like entirety from a manga i read as a kid. When the heroes beat it to a pulp, it slowly regressed to its weaker form, too.
Do the rules of this world follow manga logic?
I looked at the card, expecting to see either a giant beetle of roots or an insect of grass. My heart dropped when i saw the card.
"Common Loot Obtained.
Mound of Grass(Common Rank)
Abilities: none.
NOthing to see here. Jut a useless pile of grass."
I blinked. I turned the card over to see its back. Then back to its face. Then i scrubbed the card with my sleeve, hoping to wash off whatever illusion covered my card.
Surely, I sealed the demon, and not some useless pile of grass!
Noir used me to stand up. She grabbed my wrist to see what i was gawking at. Together we blanched.
Behind us, the demon's voice asked if we were done.