[DCI] Chapter 76 - Lethal Embrace (Patreon)

“These numbers don’t look too promising…” Shuri commented as we faced the small army of wolves.

Aisha scoffed to the side. “Girl, in front of the swarm we fought in our previous Dungeon, these mutts don’t amount to much.”

“Mayhaps, but dare I consider these toxic mutts better than a bunch of bones,” Levia pointed out.

“Want it or not, we have to take them down, especially now that someone is pissed,” I said, eyeing the leader since the other lupines seemed to wait for the Alpha’s orders. “Keep in mind that we are stronger than them by default since it’s us who have been chosen to save this Assignment. For once, we need to take the initiative and pressure these monsters as much as possible.”

“I think you forgot about someone.” Our Armorer threw me an anxious glance.

“Nope.” I smiled at her. “I simply believe in your defensive capabilities and experience. Out of all of us, you are still the least probable one to get hurt. So, let’s get at them before they can come up with a plan.”

“I’m not a fan of big dogs…” Aurora commented, taking a step back to hide behind Aisha. “Especially those that seem to glow with evil energies…”

As Levia readied an arcana with an area of effect spell, the Alpha began taking a deep breath.

“Watch out for its spit or breath!” I warned everyone and we pulled apart to minimize the chances of getting hit.

But, contrary to our expectations, nothing direct came our way. Instead, the Werewolf exhaled strongly right into the ground at its feet and sent a cloud of greenish gas our way. It rolled forward so fast and spanned over such a wide area that noone managed to escape its range. I had hoped that Levia’s filtering spell would protect us at least partially, but the stinging pain made itself apparent in my lungs fairly quickly.

Aisha wasted no time and was already gaining speed within her Whirlwind. All the toxic fumes were pulled into her rotations, creating a small tornado of poison. After a few seconds, she jumped out of it, taking a deep breath she had been holding during this entire stunt. The cyclone of death slowly strolled away from our location.

Unfortunately, we had already been affected by it.

“Am I tripping or are there three Alphas now?” My slightly wobbly mate asked, squinting her eyes.

While we had been enveloped by the invasive smoke, the wolves spread out around us in a circle, and as she had noted, three Werewolves now stood before us. Their silhouettes seemed to blur a bit at the edges, but they looked as real as the first one we had stumbled on. They took different stances, though, so it was difficult to tell what the hell was going on.

“Hallucinogenic pollutant,” Levia stated. “It seems to be affecting our senses and making us think there are three enemies instead of one. I can assure you that there are not. But, that will not make figuring out which one is real any easier.”

She didn’t get to add anything else as the pack chose that moment to launch their first assault.

I was positioned near the charming Witch so it was my responsibility to keep her safe while she racked that sexy brain of hers for any possible solutions to this issue. Smacking away one of the glowing wolves, I caught the sight of Shuri courageously running straight at the Mirror Trio, taunting the Alpha with plenty of expletives. Aisha was fairly busy making sure our temporary companion didn’t end up as a snack for the wild dogs since they seemed rather intent on chasing after the household cat.

As she activated her Piercing Roar, most if not all monsters paused briefly and turned their vicious snouts her way. The ten that had been pestering the duo became frozen thanks to the debuff affecting the targets in close vicinity. I made the best out of this opportunity and speared through one distracted wolf while sending both handaxes after another. The first one fell from the deep wound but the other one noticed my attempt and was only scratched.

The rest kept themselves relatively out of range, skulking around and waiting for a good moment to strike. These guys were definitely much smarter and better organized than the earlier grunts we had to take down near this lair.

“I have an idea, but it does not provide much help instantly,” Levia said as I stepped closer again.

“Tell me.” I attentively observed our surroundings.

“My Hex cannot target what does not exist. But, I still need to either touch the real Alpha or strike it with my arcana to land it properly. An opponent of this rank might shrug it off immediately if I try to cast it from afar,” she explained.

“So, to track the actual body, we still need to figure out which one it is.” I sighed heavily. “Wait. Tracking. That’s it. Get your Hex ready.”

Levia shot me a curious glance, but I was already reaching out to my other mate.

~Aisha! Use your Bloodlust on the Werewolf! It lets you know the target’s position when it’s nearby!~ I requested from our Berserker.

~Brilliant!~ She cackled madly.

A second later, a loud growl reverberated throughout the area with a distinctively different tone and character from the ones already filling it from all directions. There was no doubt hers was a superior one with all that draconic resonance.

~They are too close together! Can’t pinpoint the main one!~ Aisha added afterwards.

I cursed, dodging a vicious bite, and watching my attacker get skewered with earth spikes from underneath. Chancing a glance towards the Boss, I saw Shuri trying to keep it busy to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately, three versus one wasn’t a fair fight. Especially when she had only a one-in-three chance that her accurate attack would hit something material. The trio danced around to prevent her from locking on a single one in case she struck the true Werewolf.

~We need to coordinate our attacks. Force them to split up. Take note of our positions. On three, I will charge at the utmost right one from my perspective,~ I shared my plan with my summoned teammates.

Not wanting to separate, Levia hopped onto my back and wrapped her legs around my waist. Letting go of my longsword, I imbued it with both Armsweaving and Telekinesis, freeing my hands to hold her steady. With three floating weapons, I charged straight at Shuri’s position.

“One!” I shouted as Levia blasted an enemy off our back with a wave of force.

The ground trembled slightly and I recognized the telltale of Aisha’s Launch. Soon enough, a loud warcry came from above as she soared in the same direction with her greataxe held high, one panicked catgirl attached to her back the same way Levia was glued to mine, releasing a less threatening cry.

“Two!” I said loudly moments before the duo landed.

Anticipating the upcoming tremor, I jumped at the correct moment and avoided being thrown off by their enhanced impact from Ground Pound. Shuri wasn’t yet used to such tactics and fell onto her ass, located in the very epicenter of the earthquake, which didn’t make her that much more vulnerable considering the fact that all three Alphas lunged away in separate directions.

“Three!” I finished the countdown and grabbed my sword with both hands, aiming an overhead slash at the opponent that had just entered my path.

At the same time, Aurora shot a silvered bolt at the Werewolf on the left of them while Aisha followed her combo with Sunder, sending the arc of violent energy at the enemy from practically point blank.

“Mine!” she announced even before the blow connected.

As my attack sliced right through a mirage with zero resistance, I let myself fall flat on my belly, getting smeared with mud all over my face in the process. But, it was an insignificant sacrifice in front of Levia being provided with a sound foundation to stand on, meaning my back, so that she could invoke her Dealer’s Flick and launch an arcana imbued with Hex at the proper Alpha. From the corner of my eye, I saw Aurora’s projectile pierce through an illusion too.

The very second Aisha’s Sunder struck the main body, making it flinch, Levia’s perfectly aimed metal card cut into the monster’s tough flesh. It glowed purple before that aura seeped into the Werewolf, which angrily pulled the projectile out and tossed it aside with a feral snarl.

But, the damage was already done.

“Aurora! Shuri! Go after the pack! Aisha and Levia can now identify the real one!” I ordered the ladies.

While Shuri was part of our connection, she wasn’t yet proficient in using it to share quick thoughts and it might just confuse her more than help her in battle. They were better off handling the mutts while the three of us took down the big bad. Thankfully, both girls simply nodded and went along with my command showing no signs of objection.

Yet, the villain of this Dungeon clearly didn’t want to cooperate.

As Levia ran ahead, I spun around to get back on my feet. That was when I saw the Alpha prepare what looked like an actual spit this time, and my guts weren’t wrong. A jet of acidic green substance surged out of its jaws, which Aisha and Aurora easily avoided. But, Shuri wasn’t the most maneuverable person in this party and some of it clipped her shoulder and arm.

“Ah, shit, shit, shit, shit!” The Armorer swung her coated limb up and down in an attempt to get rid of the caustic saliva before it ate through her plates. “Reinforce Armor!”

A golden sheen glimmered over her gear as she activated the previously passive ability, and the dangerous sludge slid off it like water off those repellent fabrics you sometimes saw in commercials. Yet, she hadn’t come out of it completely unscathed. I could see a few holes through which the acid had seeped inside, and a big part of her protection over that side was weakened.

Aisha and Levia forced the Boss away from her as I sped towards our new friend. Aurora threw some kind of caltrops past Shuri, which made the wolves back away. Arriving at their side, I fished out a healing potion made by my talented Witch and hastily poured it over the damaged plates, making it follow the path the acid had taken earlier.

“Hopefully, it won’t leave any marks. What kind of a leader would I be if I let your new lovely skin get scarred this early after the revival.” I winked at the scarlet oni. “Can you continue or does it hurt too much?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” She looked up into my eyes through her visor for just a moment and hastily sprinted past the spiky stars, throwing herself at the enraged dogs with Aurora shortly after her.

I decided to keep my gaze on both sides of the battle and chime in wherever the ladies needed me the most. Since Shuri seemed to be doing fine battering the pups to the accompaniment of Aurora’s silvered bolts, I turned to check on our main force as Levia would certainly need someone to guard her while Aisha dueled the Alpha.

To my surprise, my beloved mates worked exceptionally well together. The drakan Berserker was not giving the Werewolf any space to rest as she chased after it with powerful swings. In the meanwhile, the sly Witch rained clever spells at it, always breaking line of sight after attacking, hiding behind the back of the much taller and broader woman. 

It pissed their opponent off, but it couldn’t do anything to counter their strategy. Both girls simply ignored the illusory copies, letting them swipe, bite, chomp, and claw at them without flinching. Their thoughts pretty much unified, they shared the information provided by their skills to continuously lock on the real body. It looked both awesome and comical when viewed from the side. The Alpha was increasingly more annoyed and confused as it was being pushed back.

However, even with all that, this female was one tough bitch.

Aisha’s swings, boosted by Sharpen, barely sliced through the thick fur, cutting into the corded muscles below rather shallowly. Magic was a bit more effective, but the Werewolf shrugged off more elements than it didn’t. Lightning and cold hurt it and inconvenienced it a little, but that was all. And when it came to fire…

Well, let’s just say the Alpha avoided it like fire.

It was definitely the correct element to throw at it, but it was so damn sensitive towards fire that scarcely anything singed its fur with how quickly it got out of the way. And, obviously, Levia couldn’t just randomly launch fire-based spells all around when we were surrounded by toxic lands and swamps. One wrong turn and we could end up blown into pieces alongside everything and everyone in close vicinity.

This was truly the perfect environment for this mutated or evolved beast, whatever had happened to the initial Werewolf.

“I put my Hex on Agility but the monster is now relying on quite high Strength,” my beautiful Witch stated as I closed in. “This is proving to be a difficult encounter. I can see how the first group might have fallen to this unexpected deviation.”

Nodding, I used the surefire combo of Encourage and Command. “Aisha! Go all out! We have your back!”

A mighty roar answered my call as she invoked Berserk, gaining both speed and power. Since Levia was under no threat from the mirror copies, I charged at the one our valiant Berserker was currently battering. I knew my feeble strikes would only tickle it, which was possible only thanks to Levia’s ritual blessing, but any additional variable tipped the scales in Aisha’s favor. The more we split the Boss’ attention, the higher the chances of it making a critical mistake.

I learned rather quickly that our wise elf was right. While visibly more sluggish than before, the Alpha still packed a punch. Stepping aside from under Aisha’s swing, it literally tanked my longsword with its forearm and countered with a considerable kick to my stomach. Having my breath forced out of my lungs, I had to leave it to my drakan partner for a few seconds. 

This bitch might not have an impressive repertoire of tricks to pull out, but sometimes pure physical might was enough.

Looking back at the other pair while recovering, I confirmed that they were fairly fine too. Aurora was a talented acrobatic, hopping around and over Shuri continuously. Almost every wolf that tried lunging at her smashed into the reinforced plates of her partner’s armor, which was close to running head-first into a solid wall. I wanted to laugh whenever the catgirl gracefully bounced off our oni’s shoulders and even head, causing Shuri to quietly curse at her antics.

Before joining my amazing mates, I had to deal with two strays that had wandered away from either group. They quickly learned that while alone, I wasn’t a much easier prey. One chomped right onto the handle of my floating handaxe which I had positioned on its path moments before the attack, sending it flying at high speeds afterward. The poor bastard let go somewhere midway and we could watch a slightly more furry shooting star descend somewhere past the treeline to a soundtrack of panicked howling, broken at the end by a soft thud.

With its advantage gone, the second ambusher wanted to regroup with its peers, but it tripped over my second handaxe, also strategically set on its path, just the other way. My sword struck true and I had another head on my tally. 

The pack was dwindling before our eyes, but the Alpha remained steadfast. We needed a good window of opportunity where it wouldn’t be able to react quickly enough. Aisha was our best bet with her overwhelming power. I only had to figure out how to lock it in place long enough for her to take the mightiest swing she could muster. It wasn’t like I could just pin it down under my own weight or anything.

Wait…

I swung around as an idea started forming in my head. ~Shuri! Get ready to be the star of the evening!~

My newest Subordinate shivered slightly as a flood of thoughts and images flooded her mind, clearly inexperienced with such a way of communication, but she responded with an affirmative quickly enough.

The next part was up to me.

“Hey there, hot stuff!” I called out to the Werewolf, slowly cranking up my Overlord’s Presence to eleven.

All three ladies paused, looking my way. My mates appeared slightly confused since I hadn’t yet filled them in, while the big and scary but definitely somewhat feminine symbol of Werewolf supremacy tilted its head at me curiously.

“Yeah, you. Who else has this perfectly fluffy and shredded body that just begs to be smothered?” I spread my arms while smiling coyly. “Listen, I know we’ve gotten on the wrong foot, but that guy over there which we took out? We did you a favor. Why even lower yourself to someone that pathetic when you could have a much better-suited mate? You know, one that can handle you at your worst? One that wouldn’t break from your deep affection?”

I had no idea if the beast could understand words, but it was one hundred percent affected by the aura I was emitting. Plus, from what I could tell, it did get the concept of what I was saying, even if thanks to the pheromones I was letting out, which might be how she perceived the energy around me.

“So, why won’t we let bygones be bygones, and switch to something more… entertaining?” I asked while running my hand down my front.

For a moment there, nothing much happened, the Alpha just stared at me unblinking while I inwardly cringed from the sound of my voice. By the look on Aisha’s and Levia’s faces, they weren’t going to let me live that one down.

Just as I was going to dive even further into this pure embarrassment, the furry lady let out a loud howl up into the dark sky, causing all the remaining wolves to freeze. Finished, she turned her vicious snout to me again.

But, this time, it wasn’t twisted in annoyance and rage.

Nah, it was full-on hunger.

“Oh boy…” I chuckled awkwardly and turned heel in less than a blink. “Make wayyyyyyyyyy! The horny train has joined the fraaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!

Heavy, rhythmic thumping resounded behind me as I sprinted in the direction of Shuri and Aurora. Thanks to my previous position in relation to the incoming truck-sized suiter, I reached my destination just in time and spun to face the charging ball of desire going full speed on all fours with a smirk on my lips.

“While I do enjoy it when my ladies like it rough from time to time, I think we still need you to take an audition with my secretary.” I snickered. “Good luck!”

Blowing the female Werewolf a kiss, I hopped aside, revealing the heavily armored Shuri standing behind me in a pro wrestler pose.

“Give Momma a hug!” I could feel the grin in her voice.

Since I had stepped aside rather late, the Alpha had no chance of coming to a stop or altering its path. It slammed into Shuri’s breastplate with a loud gong. The unyielding Armorer didn’t budge an inch thanks to her Immovable Fortress, and as her arms wrapped around the twice or even thrice bigger beast’s waist in a death grip, she upped the weight manipulation to the max.

The earth underneath them cracked as the force of gravity did its thing. Recovered from its initial daze caused by the head slam, the Alpha snarled down at the shorter girl and green acid began pooling at the back of its throat. Soon after, Shuri was hit with a splash of the corrosive sludge from above, which ran down her armor till it met with the ugly grass.

An amused chuckle answered the attempt. “The same trick won’t work twice, idiot.”

Stopping the ability, the Werewolf stared down at her in surprise, seeing that all the acid had harmlessly dripped off the target. 

Then, its entire body shivered, its fur standing at attention and its ears perking up in alarm. The very moment the Alpha glanced over its shoulder, it was met with the sight of an enraged Aisha hurling a massive greataxe straight at its neck at a perfectly sharp angle. With a powerful shout, the drakan Berserker cleaved into the monster before it could let out a single whimper, putting her everything into that single blow.

Yet, a single feminine yelp did in fact come out. It turned out that, with all of Aisha’s strength behind the attack, the blade of her axe stopped right in the Alpha’s spine, which in turn, put it a hair’s breadth away from Shuri’s visor, the two practically touching. The poor oni gaped at its shiny edge with wide eyes, holding the lifeless body of the Werewolf in her bear hug.

Judging by the grin on Aisha’s lips that she couldn’t see, this was almost by design, and would certainly cause not a small scene in just a few seconds.

But, all in all, the Boss was down.