36 Dangerous Situation
Igarashi and Sasori looked everywhere for wondering Geovishaps. It had been about a few minutes after they arrived at Tianqui Valley and so far, they still haven't encountered a single Geovishap.
Normally, these creatures would notice you even if you're a mile away. Not only that, but they were also aggressive and annoying to deal with because of their constant movement and disrupting your attacks.
The most annoying part is when they get on their "Rolling" stage where they roll around the ground while attacking you. As for you, you're not able to do anything because they keep moving.
And this is what Igarashi doesn't want to encounter. As such, he devised a plan for the two of them.
He will act as bait while Sasori, the one that wields a vision, would attack. A simple, crude, and bold plan but it's worth a try. As for Murasame, since it only inflicts its curse every 7 days, Igarashi planned to only use it during a dire situation in case their plan fails.
'Where are they...' Igarashi thought. It was unusually desolate in Tianqiu Valley. There were some Hilichurl camps but Hilichurls were nowhere to be found. Igarashi already speculated that the Geovishaps must have attacked the local Hilichurls.
He looked around again for any silhouette in the distance as the afternoon sun rose from the horizon. 'Still nothing...'
Igarashi then saw a river nearby and inspected the area. Seeing that there were no enemies, he decided to rest there. "Sasori, let's take a break here and map out the area. After that, let's scout to find some Geovishaps."
"Umu." Sasori nodded as he followed Igarashi to the other side of the river whilst carrying his polearm.
Igarashi took out some parchment papers from the system inventory and also took out his pen. 'From our path there to here...' He started mapping out their route.
He hopes that they will be able to control and cover more ground if he maps out the area in case any Geovishap appears. At least, they could find an area on the map for an advantage.
While Igarashi was drawing the map, Sasori was guarding the area. His polearm never left his palms and his vision is always ready to be used.
Igarashi expertly maneuvered the pen to create some linings depicting the surrounding mountains and the ruins that were nearby. At this moment, Igarashi stopped sketching as his eyes slightly contracted. 'Wait a minute...'
He found something on the map that he just now remembered. He dropped the pen and took the map before standing up with confused eyes. 'This location is...'
On Sasori's side, he had been circling their surroundings ever since Igarashi started sketching. But at this moment, he suddenly stopped as he noticed something... Unusual.
*Rumble*
*Rumble*
Sasori bent down and inspected the ground beneath, only to see some small pebbles shaking and rattling from the ground. "Huh...?"
And at the distance, the sound of rumbling was coming closer. Sasori stopped bending down and looked where the source of the rumbles was coming from. He looked in the distance and saw some disturbances.
Sasori squinted his eyes to focus more but was interrupted by Igarashi who was panicking. "Sasori! Let's get out of here!'
Sasori didn't know why he was panicking but did not question him. He nodded and they both started running.
'Crap... I'm such an idiot! How could I forget?!' Igarashi was cursing himself inside his head.
The both of them ran towards the route they entered before but were stopped by... A horde of Geovishaps!
It was a group of Geovishaps consisting of seven members that were rolling on the ground.
"Turn back to the other way!" Igarashi shouted.
One Geovishap is already annoying, make it three and you will be forced to use all of your elemental bursts, but seven? It's better to run away than to face such numbers.
The two of them ran in the opposite direction. With the east side already guarded by the Geovishaps that caused a rumbling, the south route with Geovishaps chasing them, and with the mountains in the west blocking them, there was only one place to go.
That is, inside the ruins across the lake. North.
Though, there is a massive problem with that. 'The primo Geovishap is in there!' Igarashi thought.
He knows this boss too well. After all, he had to kill it to raise his Xiao to level 90 back in the game. It was annoying and took a lot of time.
'We can't go in there...!' Igarashi thought. The Primo Geovishap is extremely strong if you are not prepared with a shield or someone that can provide a shield.
He then looked in the east and south directions and almost felt his soul leaving him.
The Geovishaps from all the directions were... Going in one direction! And it was them!
They were cornered. And Igarashi was frightened beyond many levels, but he is forcefully keeping his calm composure to not let the situation get worse.
They both kept running until they finally saw an opening. The very same opening that leads to the Primo Geovishap's den. 'Tch. If it comes to this, I can just use the teleport!'
Igarashi felt slightly relieved remembering one of the system's functions and immediately requested for a teleport. 'System! Teleport us!'
Igarashi waited for a few moments, only to be shown a single message that sent chills all over his body.
[Currently in the middle of a quest.]
[Unable to use this function.]
"..."
Frightened, confused, and furiousness was filling up Igarashi's mind. 'What do you mean?!'
The system did not reply. Like always.
Seeing that there was no reply, Igarashi bit down on his lips. Soon, blood started dripping down his mouth.
Sasori noticed and immediately got worried. "W-What happened?!"
Anger was clouding Igarashi's vision. Worry was in his mind. And most importantly, sadness. 'Sasori...'
He looked at Sasori who was trying to tell him something whilst pulling his shirt.
It was at this moment that a crude, stupid, and bold idea emerged in Igarashi's mind.
He bit down on his lips again before asking him, "Sasori... Would you follow me? Even if... It's to the depths of the earth...?"
Sasori was confused for a moment before burying his head into Igarashi's clothing. "Of course I would... You're... You're my family..."
Igarashi saw this and caressed his head. Sasori couldn't cry because he doesn't have any water inside of him but Igarashi feels his emotion.
He closed his eyes and hugged Sasori's head. "Then... Let's go."
Sasori stopped burying his head to Igarashi and completely understood what he was saying.
It was a do-or-die situation.
'Perhaps... If I can manage to get close enough...' Igarashi thought as he looked at the Murasame.
It was a bold and daring plan he just made. Stab the Murasame to the Primo Geovishap and kill it. That was it. That was the plan.
Seeing the approaching Geovishaps, Igarashi looked at Sasori before nodding. The latter saw his nod and also nodded.
They stood in front of the cave entrance. On Igarashi's arm was a long Katana while Sasori had his polearm and his vision tied together.
"One..." Igarashi said, unsheathing Murasame.
"Two..." Sasori continued.
"Three!" The both of them said before jumping down.
It was a long fall but not that deep to cause major injuries. Igarashi dropped on his buttocks while Sasori dropped on his body.
It was dark but the sun's sunlight somehow still manned to get through to illuminate the whole cave.
And on the center of the said cave, a giant dragon-like monster was sleeping.
Igarashi stood up and tidied his clothes and so did Sasori. "That's it. That's the Primo Geovishap."
"Umu..." Sasori nodded, tightening his grip on his polearm.
"If we can kill this thing and obtain its materials, perhaps we can use them to fight the Geovishaps outside. After all, the Primo is technically their king." Igarashi explained. They still need to kill two Geovishaps to complete the quest, after all. "That, or maybe find another exit after killing it."
"Yes," Sasori replied, this time, sparks of lightning were starting to come out of his polearm.
The two of them nodded silently and approached the Primo Geovishap. And just like their original plan, they will need someone as bait while the other kills. And at this situation, it seems like Sasori is the bait. "You can handle it, right?"
"Umu. I've been... Creating techniques." Sasori replied as he pointed his polearm at the Primo.
His polearm then changed. Purple lightning started appearing around his polearm that covered it whole. Its size increased from a regular polearm to a massive polearm covered with purple lightning.
Seeing Sasori's ability, Igarashi smiled. "Materialization, huh?"
"Yes," Sasori replied, not taking his eyes off the Primo.
Speaking of the latter, it seemed to have noticed the pair of intruders in its den and started showing signs of waking up. It slowly stood up to release a loud growl.
"RAAGGGHHHHH!!!"
(A/N: I do not know how to make monster sound effects.)
The roar was really loud and it seem to have reached the outside too. However, the two people that were with the Primo did not even budge and just looked at it.
The Primo saw the intruders and immediately became hostile. It started moving its large body made of crystals and various rocks, making a loud noise of rocks clicking together.
"Let's go!" Igarashi shouted. He then started running with the unsheathed Murasame on hand.
As for Sasori, he started making his Electro spear (He named it) larger, attracting the Primo's attention. Its huge body once again moved, but this time, it intended to attack.
Sasori did not give it a chance to move further and threw the electro spear toward it.
"GRAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
The electro spear landed directly on the Primo's body, making it suffer some injuries and stay back. However, it seemed to not be enough as it soon started showing signs of recovery.
The Primo looked at Sasori and opened its large mouth, releasing a fiery breath of elemental magma.
Using his flexible body, Sasori swiftly dodged the attacks. It was then that he saw something on the Primo's leg and smiled.
As for the Primo Geovishap, it immediately stopped spewing magma as it felt danger from its lower area. It looked down to see a person wielding a Katana pointed at him.
'Die!' Igarashi thought before thrusting the Murasame up the Primo Geovishap's leg.
It was successful. Igarashi luckily managed to plunge the Murasame in a spot that is not protected by the Primo's outer hide made of various crystals.
"Gottcha..." Igarashi said.
The Primo immediately got alerted and swung its tail towards Igarashi. The latter wasn't able to dodge it but used the Murasame to take some of the damage.
Igarashi flew to a near wall and crushed into it. "Blergh!" He coughed up blood after hitting the wall.
'My body... Feels broken...' He thought as unbelievable levels of pain started spreading from his body.
But his effort wasn't in vain. The main reason is that he saw some black patterns starting to appear on the Primo's body. 'It worked...' Igarashi smiled a bit.
Soon, the black markings started spreading from the Primo Geovishap's leg to its body within seconds.
"ROAAAARR!!!"
The primo Geovishap was feeling it too. The excruciating pain spreading in its body, slowly killing it.
It howled once more before finally dropping to the ground, with its body full of black markings. It resisted, but Murasame's curse was more powerful.
*Thud!*
A loud thud was heard, signaling a sign of victory for the both of them. Sasori immediately went to Igarashi's side and carried his body.
"We did it!" Igarashi happily said.
"Yeah... We did!" Sasori replied with a bright smile.
This situation right would look very beautiful if it were normal circumstances. However, they are still far from salvation.
*Rumble*
*Rumble*
Igarashi's eyes widened and so did Sasori. The both of them were silent the whole time.
At the cave's entrance, normal Geovishaps were pouring in.
"No way..." Sasori muttered.
Igarashi was also panicking inside but immediately tried to get out of the situation. "Snap out of it! Let's get out of here!"
"Y-Yes—" However, Sasori was not able to continue speaking as a rolling Geovishap slammed into him.
"SASORI!" Igarashi desperately shouted.
The Geovishap didn't seem to be interested in Sasori and left him alone, letting Igarashi see him.
On the ground, Sasori's eyes were closed, unconscious. He doesn't have any broken parts, but the fact that he was unconscious made Igarashi even more worried.
He then looked at the Geovishaps rolling around him, as if they were making fun of him.
"These..." Igarashi muttered. Dark thoughts started clouding his mind. Unbelievable rage was surging from deep within his mind.
He bit his lips again and more good streams started coming down. "These... Monsters...!"
[Notice]
[The skill, [???] is reacting]
More and more dangerous thoughts appeared on Igarashi's mind. He had nothing else in his mind but Sasori, thinking if he was okay. 'I swear...!'
[The skill, [???] Is acting on its own accord]
However, Igarashi doesn't seem to notice any of the system's notifications. His vision was already blurry and only killing the Geovishaps was on his mind.
[The skill, [???] Is acting on its own accord]
Igarashi's body started getting up and he took the polearm that was next to him, dropped by Sasori after throwing it to the Primo.
[The skill, [???] Has reacted]
[Skill, [???] Proficiency has temporarily increased.]
[0% → 50%]
[The item, Pyro Vision is activating]
Soon, a pyro vision appeared in front of Igarashi and started floating beside him.
[The skill, [???] Shall now continue to act on its own accord]
* * *
(A/N: Forgive me if the fighting scene was not that satisfactory. I don't have that much experience in writing fighting scenes. Again, I apologize. Feel free to express your opinion so that I could learn from my mistakes.)
