BXBX NOVEL Chapter 378 377: Worthy Summon (1)
An unearthly groaning reverberated from the pit, a low and guttural sound that shook the ground and rattled your bones, and many of the more sound sensitive Beastkin flattened their ears at the noise, visibly shaken by the groan.
Pursing my lips, I stared at the pit before approaching Mom, who was shouting out orders to the various squad leads in the area.
"Jahi, stick close to your squad. I don't know what's coming out of that pit, but it can't be good. Especially not when it's a catalyst summon and the undead from earlier have all tumbled into that pit as well... Focus on avoiding the attacks until I say otherwise, alright? Keep your Light Magic to a minimum for the moment, since these things despise Light Magics. Alright?"
Mom's ruby eyes were deathly serious, and I nodded as she stared at me, her expression set as she scanned my features before patting my shoulder.
"Good. Go. Be safe, help those that need it. This isn't going to be an easy fight..."
Gesturing for me to leave, I walked towards the thinner part of the assembled troops, wanting to bolster the line a little more.
"Anput, make me a shield; a large one. Leone, when... whatever it is comes out of the pit, figure out how to best defend against it; I have a feeling that this'll be a defensive bout on our end for the most part, so... Iaso, Liga, you two need to get it together and focus up, unless you're alright with dying; if you are, let me know so I can put you out of your misery now."
I turned to look at the Snakekin and Tigerkin, both of whom shook their heads at me, fear in their eyes as they looked back towards the pit.
"Alright. Well... let's see what we're dealing with..."
Anput closed her eyes and summoned a thick sheet of metal before molding it into a tower shield, handing the simple metal plate to me before creating one for herself, sweat gathering on her brow as she created metal from nothing, not having much on hand to work with.
As for Leone, she focused on the pit intently, her crimson eyes narrowed as her fingers danced by her side, configurations of various Ritual Circles flickering in and out of existence near her thighs as she summoned multiple different configurations.
We all waited for a few moments more as we stared at the pit, before the groaning grew to a crescendo as more and more groans joined it, creating a chorus of raspy, guttural groaning.
The lights inside the pit flickered before growing bright and brighter, the ground shaking more and more as something ascended from the pit.
"GET READY!"
Standing the closest to the pit was Mom and Nirinia, the two strongest inside the group holding their weapons tightly as they observed the pit.
Mom's skin was still layered with lazy flames that lapped at her armor, while Nirinia was shrouded in a gentle breeze as her Dadao rested on the ground, the golden blade shining in the light of day.
A gigantic hand as large as Mom was tall clawed at the edge of the pit, and I grimaced as I saw the various pieces of skin grafted onto a grotesque skeleton, the various skin tones placed haphazardly over the thick bone structure and mass of flesh.
On the back of the hand were a few faces that groaned in pain, their eyeless sockets weeping pus as the summoned creature rose from the pit, emerging in its contagious glory.
Vaguely humanoid in shape, a three armed creature crawled out of the pit, unsteady getting to its feet as it stood up fully, towering well over forty feet tall.
Parts of its skin and flesh were peeled away, revealing the fused bones underneath that created its skeletal structure, while the flesh looked melted and hastily pressed together.
As for the skin, it was stitched over the flesh in patches, the various skin tones creating a patchwork layer of protective skin that shimmered with small runes.
Two girthy legs ended in large clumps of bone that resembled hooves, the muscle and skin bulging as the creature stood up, while the faces that were scattered about weeped a translucent pus from their eyes.
The creatures torso was riddled with opened wounds that seeped festering blood, and maggots had already begun to crawl through the decaying flesh around the wounds.
Like the Necrotic Lord, the creature had its ribcage revealed, where its giant Core pulsed with that sickly green light, almost like a beating heart.
With two left arms and a single right arm, the creature displayed its rippling muscles as it reached down towards the earth, grabbing large chunks of stone and wielding them like knives.
Lastly, its short, stubby neck ended in what the Necrotic Lord had summoned; a giant, clean white skull rested on the creatures neck, and Leone muttered "A Fenghuang?" as she stared at the avian skull.
A large beak curved down, the darkened keratin of the beak peeling away, while the beak itself was chipped slightly, creating jagged edges along the already razor sharp beak.
Like the rest of the undead, the Fenghuang skull had no eyes, instead housing those green flames, which licked gently at the birds bone, darkening the clean skull and warping it.
Opening its beak, the creature let out a low clicking noise as it titled its head, looking down at the assembled legionnaires before raising its three arms.
The groaning intensified as the various faces sewn onto its patchwork skin wept more, the pus coating the creature in a slick membrane.
"What's a Fenghuang again, Leone?"
"A bird from the far west, tends to be tied to fire and purity since it starts the cycles of life in the great forests by burning everything down... Giant creatures that could raze cities if provoked, and deadly with their natural affinity for fire."
Clicking again, the skull of the purity bird turned as it scanned the legionnaires, before it focused on me and opened that giant beak, letting out a sharp chirp as the flames in its eye sockets flared angrily.
"Well... shit. Alright, time to move!"
Runes flickered to life inside its maw, and the Fenghuang began to shoot twisted magic at us, the flames green and sticky as they peppered the earth around us, sizzling and popping as they chewed through the rock.
Opening its maw again, the Fenghuang was about to launch another barrage of those corrosive fireballs at us again when scarlet flames slammed into its chest, burning away the pus membrane and searing its flesh, causing the creature to let out a high pitched clicking sound as it turned towards Mom, raising those arms as it slammed the chunks of earth it grabbed earlier down at her.
Gritting my teeth, I watched as she sliced through the one hand that slammed onto her, severing a few fingers off the creatures hand before she jumped back, avoiding the gout of green flame that enveloped her previous spot.
"Maybe this'll be a worthy fight then..."