TALES OF A WITCHER - Season 8 Episode 26

In the depths of the maze-like cave, the tremor above their heads grew louder and louder.

Pasha knew that they were quickly approaching with unstoppable numbers.

She stretched her tentacles into the soil and rose above ground, where she “saw” everything that was happening outside the mountain—the dark mass of demonic beasts were rampaging between the mountains and all of the entrances to the maze ruins were blocked by Fearful Beast of Hells. The demonic hybrids behind them were furiously tearing apart the flesh and bones of the beasts until they could open up a space between them—they had no choice, or else they would be crushed to death by the rest of the demonic beasts behind them at the cave entrance.

Despite the desperate struggle of the hybrids, the passage would soon be blocked once again by the flood of demonic beasts and the only way to get through was to repeat the previous actions. This had resulted in a bloodbath in front of the entrances before the demonic beasts even launched their attack at the core area.

Chaos ensued underground as the Wilderness Beasts crawled around within the different layers of the earth. Their head full of tentacles could easily sense the weaker parts of the ground, and the oil-like substance on its skin allowed it to burrow through the ground effortlessly, carrying within its long tube-like body a large number of demonic hybrids. Once a monster like that broke through the defensive line, it would often incur a massive amount of casualties within the ranks of the defenders.

Even some mutated Flying Beasts had appeared in the sky, but they could only hover in the air as they were unable to enter the underground ruin.

This was an unfathomable experience. She did not directly witness the scene unfold in front of her, but whether it was the shrieks coming from above the mountains, the tremors within the layers of the earth, or the sounds of rock and soil mashing together, they were all accurately transmitted into her mind through the thousands of tentacles, forming countless vivid images.

This was the largest scale invasion of the demonic beasts since the beginning of this winter.

Pasha withdrew her limbs and descended to an even deeper layer below.

From time to time, some loose clumps of dirt would fall from the ceiling and smash into the braziers at the sides of the passage—she did not need the flames to see every single stone in the ground, but those who had turned into God’s Punishment Soldiers did need them. She extinguished the flames in the braziers on her way back when everyone had already moved to the maze hall.

“How’s the situation above?”

As she entered the hall, she heard Alethea’s voice in her head.

“The closest Wilderness Beast to us has reached the third layer,” Pasha transmitted her words to everyone’s consciousness, “How’s the situation below the maze?”

“There is nothing unusual,” Alethea replied, “I only saw some charred black corpses.”

Pasha’s perception and understanding of fighting had changed dramatically since her body’s transformation. The originally flat world had suddenly become three-dimensional, and since their enemies were able to move freely in the ground, the survivors had to keep an eye out for the situation beneath them—As long as they were not standing at the end of the abyss, they should not ignore the deeper hidden threats.

Fortunately, a lava river flowed endlessly beneath the ruin, which sealed the larger part of the bottom of the maze and thus spared them a lot of effort. Up until now, there has not been a demonic beast that was not afraid of fire.

“How long before the Instrument of Divine Retribution is ready?” Pasha looked at Celine.

“I don’t know. Half an hour, maybe one hour?” the latter replied anxiously from the magic core’s direction, “I’ve tried my best, but the damaged position in area 43 has just been repaired and Lady Eleanor needs more time to calculate the core!”

“Don’t worry. They won’t arrive that fast,” she calmed her, “The bigger demonic hybrids will be blocked outside of the cave entrances and we’ll only have to handle the smaller ones.”

“You’re right. We can just treat it as daily training,” Elena said, “as long as we’re here, the demonic beasts will not be able to enter the hall.”

“I don’t think it may have been the best idea to retrieve the relic of gods so early. Wouldn’t it be better to have let Starfall City consume a bit more of their strength?” Someone asked.

“They would still have to defend Hermes. But without the God’s Punishment Army, those common people are worthless.” Alethea refuted her.

“The walls can effectively block the demonic beasts, and the hot oil and mangonels can also give those beasts a good beating. We would just need to stay hidden in the Pivotal Secret Temple and wait for a break in the city’s defenses to retrieve the relic.”

“There are many traps hidden under the cathedral. What if the enemies accidentally triggered such a trap? We would have been buried alive, which is still nothing compared to the relic falling into the hands of the demons. No matter what, we can’t afford to risk it.”

“Stop bickering,” Pasha interrupted, “Since we’ve already brought the relic back, we no longer have a choice but to continue with the plan. Have you already forgotten Lady Natalya’s words before the attack on the Queen of Starfall City?”

After she spoke, the others were immediately silenced, all quietly agreeing with her.

During the age of Taqila, scenes like this were rare. The low-level witches had to obey their superiors unconditionally, and anyone who broke the rules would receive severe punishment. The Union’s largest-ever conflict was the one between Natalia and Alice. Before Natalia cut all ties with Starfall City, she said those words to all her followers and then initiated the sneak attack on the Queen of Starfall City.

Since that day, the survivors of Taqila no longer held rankings in mind, and thus internal disputes became more frequent. However, Pasha did not mind this change at all—compared to the previously rigid system, she actually preferred an organization full of energy.

Just as the others changed the subject and started to discuss ways to block the demonic beasts, Pasha suddenly received an unexpected signal from one of her tentacles!

A violent tremor sounded through the earth as if a heavy object experiencing free fall crashed into the ground without any resistance. It quickly broke through several layers of the maze, and is now fast approaching the depths of the hall!

How can this be possible?

The ground was densely packed with soil and stones, not allowing any large movements and even a Wilderness Beast would take at least half an hour to drill through a layer. How was it able to move so fast through the ground?

Pasha quickly moved more of her tentacles to the direction of the movement—the more tentacles she used to watch an area, the more “pictures” she would receive.

Then, her heart sunk.

A horizontal crack of six to seven miles had suddenly appeared in that area, splitting the ground into two. It looked like a long chasm that stretched all the way to the darkest depths. A wild beast was just crawling down the soft soil along the hill, tumbling down straight towards the hall.

“Prepare to fight” Pasha warned at full volume to everyone through their consciousness, “At the direction of the magic core!”

Suddenly, while everyone was still in shock, the ceiling of the main hall exploded into pieces, and a long-necked Wilderness Beast slipped down through the gap, covered with scratches and bruises, emitting a sinister dark blue light due to the influence of the magic core. It had sustained massive damage from the crash, but even so, it completed its mission with its dying breath.

The moment the beast fell to the ground, several hybrid demonic beasts tore out of its belly and lunged towards the nearest victim, Celine.