Chapter 37: Like Squashing Pumpkins!

The four companions were exploring the interior of the cave, following the course of the river with torches in hand that illuminated the darkness. Kimora walked slowly and stealthily, staring profusely at every nook and cranny.

"Is dat a sp-spider?!..." she asked scared.

"No." the others answered.

"Oh good...

Is dat a centipede?!..." she asked again frightened.

"No... are you going to stop?!

Last time in the Behemoth's lair you didn't behave like this…" Jorael said in exasperation.

"Ah! She did exactly the same thing.

You were passed out..." explained Bromur.

"Will ya stop distractin' me!?

I am focused on checkin' the rock walls and the ceiling!" Kimora yelled.

"You should look straight at your feet..." Cyn'Thia whispered, as Kimora immediately stared right at her feet, to find a beetle-like insect as big as her head walking between her legs.

"NOOOOOOO!!!" she screamed and jumped back in fear, trying to leave the cave.

"Ah ah ah! Come on sister, it's a little insect!

It will be funny!" Bromur exclaimed while he grabbed her by the belt holding her weapons.

"Nooo! Ya can have as much fun as ya want!

LEAVE ME!" Kimora shouted.

"Didn't you say you would help me because you are in debt for life?" Jorael said.

"Sigh... Why are ya bein' so mean!" she complained.

"It's because we need your precious help." he stated in seriousness.

"Oh... If ya put it like dis..." Kimora said, blushing a little.

"I will lead the way.

Stay behind me." said Jorael.

"S-sure..." she whispered as she walked behind him as he said.

They continued walking along the river, but as they went deeper into the cave, a nauseating stench slowly began to fill the air.

"What a horrible stench..." Jorael whispered.

"Ah! It smells like fermented Hrodrmuntynrm..." Bromur exclaimed remembering a Dwarven dish.

"I absolutely don't want to know what it is." Cyn'Thia said in disgust.

"Oh... Sister it's because you don't eat meat!

It is one of the finest delicacies. We take Hrodr's meat and let it rot in a sack underneath..." the Dwarf was explaining, but was interrupted by Jorael who said:

"That's enough!

The smell is almost unbearable ahead..."

The four continued to walk following the river, but the stench became stronger and denser, until after a bend they reached the end of the river where the cave opened into a huge space. To everyone's abhorrent amazement, before their eyes was a mountain of decaying corpses rising from the source of the river at least twenty mels high on the rock face above where the river originated.

"I-is this the cause of the contamination?!

What the fuck is going on!?" Jorael cried out in shock.

"This is too much..." Cyn'Thia whispered in horror as she retched.

The pile of dead carcasses consisted of what appeared to be a mixture of demons and magical beasts covered in greenish-yellow feces, slowly rotting and polluting the once-clear waters. The feces were a clear signal of who the culprit was, and Jorael did not waste any time announcing the responsible of such atrocities:

"Krypsters work, but up to this point ..."

"W-what?! The mega-bugs ?!" Kimora cried in fright.

"Yeah... the little thing that a while ago passed under you was one of their little ones..." Jorael answered.

"SO, YA KNOW IT AND YA KEPT GOIN' TO THE END, DRAGGIN' ME WITH ALL OF YA?!" she screamed angrily again.

"Sure, because we have to fix this..." he whispered.

"Ah ah ah! What's the plan Brother?" Bromur asked excitedly.

"We have to... climb this pile of corpses and shit." he replied as the Elf felt retching again.

"Why?" Bromur asked.

"Because... the nest is up there and this is their dump." Jorael replied.

"NO!

No, no, no, no.

I'm leavin'..." Kimora said as she turned around.

"Are you sure you can get out of here alone?" Jorael asked slyly.

"Sigh... let's do it quickly.

But I'll be the last to go up..." she finally said as she gave up.

"It seems acceptable to me.

After reaching the top, we will be in their territory.

They will begin to attack us ferociously, to protect their Queen and their larvae. Males are about 2-3 mels in size, the Queen... is another matter.

They have a hard carapace and their six legs are razor-sharp, hence their name Slashers, because they can slice flesh like butter.

Do not hit them on the back, but instead hit them in one of their multiple eyes on their face or in the soft parts starting from the mouth to the belly.

Understood?" Jorael asked after explaining in detail.

"Just your explanation gave me the creeps..." Kimora whispered.

"Ah! Let's do it!" Bromur said as he prepared himself with Forseti.

"Jo... I don't know if I can climb that... thing..." Cyn'Thia whispered nauseated.

"Haste and run?" Jorael asked jokingly.

"NO! Anything but that!" cried the Elf.

"Then let's go clean the infestation." Jorael said as he made his way into the river.

They began to climb the mountain of rotting corpses and carcasses from the river's waters, and with every step they took they fell into decaying flesh, making the climb difficult.

"Why do I feel like I'm walking on empty sacks?!" Bromur exclaimed.

"Because that's basically what these remains are.

Krypsters eat by sucking internal fluids and organs with a proboscis coming out of their mouth and… "Jorael was explaining but suddenly Kimora screamed as she covered her ears with her hands:

"LALALA!

I can't hear anything!

LALALA! "

"Stop screaming now! You'll call them all on you!

We're almost there!" Jorael whispered as he nearly reached the top of the pile of bodies leaning against the cliff face.

When they all got up there, it didn't take long for the bugs to notice their presence. The space on the cliff was vast, and many insect monsters were resting on the ground, while others were tending the small larvae, and still, others were eating sucking from other carcasses.

"Ah! A nest full of ugly beasts! Come and get some!" Bromur yelled, brandishing Forseti.

"Do we have to?!" Kimora asked frightened hiding behind the Dwarf.

"Jo, what now?" Cyn'Thia asked with the bow ready.

"Fire at will!" Jorael yelled as he prepared to cast: "Elektronvolt!"

Multiple flashes shot from his Arcane heptagram, bolting through the air and electrocuting the insects that were now alerted and were approaching them. However, the powerful Magic was not enough to kill the beasts that only slowed their run a bit, to furiously resume running a little dazed.

"Shoot your damn beam!" Kimora screamed in fear, still hiding behind the Dwarf.

"No... better to not consume Magic. Sword time." Jorael said as he pulled out Crimson Justice.

Meanwhile, Cyn'Thia began firing arrows relentlessly at them, hitting them in the eyes and soft parts under the carapace. As the attack of the beasts was imminent, Bromur and Jorael struck two of them under the mouth, mortally wounding them. A third insect came to Kimora who, instead of fighting, escaped the attack of the beast and shouted:

"NOOOO! LEAVE ME ALONEEE!"

She started running around, escaping from the monster's attack, but at the same time, she unwittingly acted as bait, because all the resting insects woke up and started chasing her.

"Ah ah ah! Sister, your battle tactics are fun!" Bromur shouted.

"CAN YA STOP LAUGHIN' AND HELP ME?!" Kimora cried furiously as she ran in circles chased by the Slashers.

"Perfect, now we know that all the Krypsters are fully awake and chasing her." Jorael whispered.

"Come on, let's help her..." Cyn'Thia said.

While Kimora ran around, her companions began killing the monsters one by one, starting from the back. As time passed, Krypsters' numbers began to decline, and quickly Kimora was the only one left to run.

"NOOO! STOOOOP!

LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed continuously as she ran around and around her companions, who laughed in the middle.

"Should we stop her?!..." Cyn'Thia said taking pity on Kimora.

"Ah! I hope the Sister will overcome her fears..." Bromur whispered.

Jorael approached Kimora and with his hand, he grabbed her arm to make her stop and said:

"It's over for now."

"NOOOOO! LEAVE ME... huh?! It's over?!" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Almost... we have yet to meet the Queen." he replied.

"..."

She remained silent with a pale face looking Jorael in the eyes because the terror for her was not yet over. They began to walk forward, while Bromur made sure to crush any maggots in his path with his metal sabatons.

"Ah! Like squashing pumpkins! Ah ah ah!" he commented laughing as usual.

"Disgusting." whispered Cyn'Thia.

"What? Do you want to save them too now Sister?" the Dwarf asked, provoking her.

"No... but I perfectly understand what you mean." she answered.

"Now you can see the direct consequences of Magic Beasts!?" Kimora asked.

"I already knew it..." Cyn'Thia replied.

"Enough. Let's go and meet the Queen." Jorael whispered as they walked the cave through a corridor.

They arrived in another large area, but this time it was a dead end as the cave did not continue, but instead had a hole in the ceiling where the rays of the Blue Moon were shining and lightly illuminating a monstrosity.

And there they saw her, on the other side of the cave. The Queen of the Krypsters, with her gigantic body at least three times the size of a male, strangely standing in a corner.

"Why doesn't she attack us?!" Kimora cried out in horror at the sight.

"Strange." Jorael commented as they approached the Queen.

The matron bug squeaked in anger, salivating profusely from her mouth as all four approached.

"Is she... chained to the wall?!" Jorael exclaimed in surprise.

"W-who would do that?!" Cyn'Thia said, as surprised as he was.

"S-she's horrible... can ya kill her already please!?" Kimora whispered hiding behind Bromur who said:

"Ah! Wait for Brother's judgment..."

"Where's the other entrance!?

How do they feed themselves?!

This is a dead-end and the hole in the ceiling does not allow them to get out...

Don't tell me…" Jorael yelled, letting his thoughts flow out.

"What is it?" Cyn'Thia asked.

"...Someone is feeding them.

They chained the Queen with the intent to form a nest purposely here.

And they knew the Kryspters would contaminate the waters." Jorael explained.

"W-who would do such an act of cowardice?!" Bromur asked.

"I don't know... but we'll find out.

Collapse!" Suddenly Jorael cast as he pointed his hand to the Queen's head.

The ray of magical energy emitted by the inverted Black heptagram penetrated the Queen's head to exit her abdomen, and immediately after her huge lifeless body collapsed to the ground in a pool of green blood.

"Fuckin' finally." Kimora whispered with satisfaction.

"I need to ask you a favor..." Jorael unexpectedly told her.

"W-what is it?!" she asked a little scared.

"Could you stand guard just outside the hole to see if anyone comes?" he asked.

"After all dis shit are ya askin' me dat?!

It's still night outside…" Kimora complained.

"I can only count on you for this..." Jorael whispered.

"S-sure then... I'll be lurkin' there in the shadows and I'll be on guard..." she whispered a little embarrassed.

"Thanks. We'll clean up this mess.

I'll open a connection between us so we can talk." Jorael explained.

"A… connection?!" she asked in confusion as she began to climb through the hole.

"You will understand…

Let's go..." he said as he was leaving the Queen's chamber with the Elf and the Dwarf.

Kimora climbed through the hole and successfully reached the open air again, between rocks on the hill.

"I think I'll hide there..." Kimora whispered to herself as she hid among some rocks near the hole.

Suddenly a loud explosion was heard that made the ground trembling.

"W-what the fuck happened!?" Kimora cried in fright.

"Kimora... are you okay?" Jorael asked telepathically.

"W-where are ya?!

What was dat?!" she asked, moving her head to look for him.

"I'm still in the cave.

The explosion you heard was my spell.

I collapsed the ceiling between the Queen's chamber and the other. The Queen's section is now isolated from the rest of the cave to prevent this sort of thing from happening again." He explained.

"Oh ... how do I hear you talking?" she asked.

"It is a Sage power. I have opened a telepathic connection between you and me so that you can warn me if someone comes." Jorael explained.

"Ya are on my mind?!

I feel... violated." She said mockingly.

"Stop it. Now we'll clean the waters, tell me if you see anything strange." he said as he was descending the pile of carcasses with the other two.

"Sigh... fine." Kimora replied a little annoyed.

"I can only count on you for this.

Thank you." Jorael said, showing his gratitude.

"Idiot... he had to come with me..." Kimora thought.

"Er... I can still hear you..." he whispered.

"W-wha... n-no get out of my head!" she whispered embarrassedly.

"I'll contact you later then..." he said closing the connection.

"Idiot..." she whispered to herself as she patiently guarded the place.

Meanwhile in the cave, at the source of the river, the other three were descending from the heap of gutted corpses.

"It's... soggy... squishy squashy…" Cyn'Thia commented in disgust.

"Once we're down, we'll fix this mess..." Jorael said.

"How do we do it?" Bromur asked.

"We will tear down this mountain of corpses and burn them..." Jorael explained.

"Ah! It will take a while Brother..." said the Dwarf.

"I know, but it's the only way to speed up the river's purification process." Jorael answered confidently as they finally descended to ground level.

"Wouldn't it have been better if we had moved the bodies from above?" Cyn'Thia asked.

"Yes, but I have another plan.

Move back a little... Blast!" Jorael said as he cast the Black Magic spell.

The multicolored magic sphere left the inverted heptagram and collided with the heap of decaying carcasses. It exploded causing the mountain of bodies to collapse, which dispersed into the river and cave. The bodies that fell into the river were swept away by the strong currents that now resumed their normal course, while the other bodies that fell to the ground were torn to shreds scattered around the area.

"Ah ah ah! Brother never ceases to amaze me!" Bromur said laughing.

"Now it's really a mess ..." Cyn'Thia whispered as she looked down to the ground where monsters and Demons were scattered all around.

"Huff... Huff...

Now I'm dizzy...

Could you please collect all the pieces? "Jorael asked panting.

"Yes... stay here to recover." answered the Elf.

"Thanks, Thia. Let's call Kimora...

Hey, is everything okay there?

Huff... Huff..." Jorael asked reopening the telepathic connection.

"I heard another explosion!

What are ya doin'?!" she asked concerned.

"Huff... Huff...

I took apart the pile of rotten bodies and shit." He replied still panting.

"Ya are usin' too much Magic... as always.

By the way, everything is fine here." She said.

"Huff... Huff...

I'll call you later then." Jorael said closing the connection.

...

It took Cyn'Thia and Bromur some time to recover all the bodies and placed them in a spot on the ground.

"Firewall!" Jorael cast over the entire pile of corpses, igniting a pillar of fire on them.

"All that effort to burn them. Ah!" Bromur exclaimed.

"Come on, let's go before we die of suffocation..." Jorael said.

"And Kimora?!" Cyn'Thia asked worriedly.

"She is outside and from there she will no longer be able to enter the cave." Jorael replied.

"She knows?!" she asked.

"She should have known for herself by now...

I'll call her." He said as he was walking through the cave.

"Hey, it should be dawn ... maybe you're asleep?" he asked after opening a telepathic connection.

"...ya called at the right time.

Some people are comin' here…" Kimora replied as she watched four people coming in her direction carrying a huge sack.

"Remain hidden and see what they are doing.

Don't do anything reckless!" Jorael warned.

"Duh... where's the fun in dis..." she whispered.

"Please..." he pleaded.

"Sigh... yes... I'll be a good girl..." she whispered annoyed.

"Thank you... Tell me what they are doing and who they are." Jorael asked.

"They are near.

They look like... Demons?!

There are four of them and they're carryin' a big sack with difficulty..." she described.

"Demons? Which clans?" he asked.

"Duh... I'm not good at this kind of thing.

One has fur and cat ears, one looks like a snake, the other two looks like… human pigs." she reported.

"So... a Beastman, a Naga, and two Orcs.

It's really weird." he exclaimed.

"They are so close that I hear them talkin' now:

The snake guy is tired of coming here, but the cat dude tells him to go fuck himself and stop whinin'.

The pig guys laughed, or rather, grunted convulsively... they're glad the goblins are going to… die!?" Kimora reported shocked.

"So, my guess was correct..." Jorael whispered.

"They emptied the sack into the hole ...

There was a dead Warg and a... dead Demon." she reported.

"Those bastards... what the hell are they doin'..." he commented.

"Wait... they didn't see any shitty bugs movin'.

They say it's weird.

Is the snake guy... lickin' the air?!

He is lookin' in my direction...

He said there is a human ...

Wait! It's me!" Kimora said.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" Jorael yelled, startling the others as they walked near the entrance to the cave.

"Duh... shut the fuck up!

Ya are distractin' me!

Fuck you snake!" Kimora cried out as she began to fight with the Demons.

"W-what's going on?!

Thia, Bromur, let's run to help her!" Jorael said as he rushed out of the cave with his companions, looking for a spot to reach the top of the small rocky hill.

"SHUT UP!

Snake guy is dead now, three more remains..." Kimora screamed as she evaded the attacks of the other Demons.

"NO! Don't kill them!

Quick that way!

Haste-to-all!" Jorael yelled as he cast a major Green Magic spell on himself and the others to increase his group's movement speed.

"Why do ya have to complicate things?!

They are attackin' me to kill me!

Shit... DIE YOU FUCKING PIG!" Kimora screamed as she killed an Orc.

"ENOUGH!

We have to hurry before that idiot kills them all!

Huff… Huff…" Jorael screamed as they managed to find a way to the summit.

"Who is an idiot?!?!

Yer the idiot!

Ya left me here alone all night after fightin' those fuckin' bugs!

I warned you that ya will pay dearly...

Oh... now ya are mine Cat dude!" Kimora screamed as she killed the beastman.

"Leave at least one alive!

It's over there! "Jorael exclaimed as he cut the connection, as his group could see their Human companion from afar fighting on the summit.

"YAAA!" Kimora screamed as she struck the orc, wounding him in her arm causing him to drop his sword.

"Grunt... Go ahead you crazy Human and kill me!" shouted the furious orc.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Jorael yelled as he rushed to the scene, while Kimora threw the Demon to the ground and pointed the dagger at his throat.

"Ya are lucky..." she whispered.

"Are you stupid or what?!

I told you not to kill them!" Jorael screamed in anger as he lightly slapped the black-haired woman on the back of her head.

"Ouch! I warn ya!

I'm not the Elf who gets turned on by this kind of shit!" Kimora yelled pointing the other dagger at Jorael.

"Grunt... W-who are you?!" cried the orc in confusion.

Jorael first took a good look at the Demon. He was a brown-skinned orc, a humanoid clan with the resemblances of pigs. Unlike the Goblins, they were tall, big, and strong and could prove to be lethal opponents. Then Jorael asked:

"You're in no position to ask.

We will be asking the questions.

Who are you?"

"..."

"Why did you chain the Krypster Queen here?"

"..."

"Was that the plan for which the Goblin City would be annihilated?"

"..."

"Talk pig!" Kimora cried, still pointing her blade at the Demon's throat.

"Grunt... Mad Human talking to herself and her companions...

You can go fuck yourself... Gruntahahaha!" said the Orc laughing.

"Dis fuckin' PIG!" Kimora cried in anger as she pointed the tip of the dagger at his neck.

"Grunt... we are the Cursed, everything will be reversed!" suddenly cried the Demon as he attempted suicide by raising his head as Kimora's blade involuntarily pierced his throat.

"NO!" Jorael first shouted, then Kimora stepped aside and he immediately cast: "Heal!"

The Orc's wound was healing, but the Demon suddenly grabbed the gash in his throat with his hands and brutally opened it tearing the skin and flesh, causing the blood to gush out so hard, ending his suffering.

"Huff... Huff...

Why so much conviction…" Jorael said as he watched the Orc die.

"I've never seen such a belief in a person..." Bromur whispered in astonishment.

"It was... sickening." Cyn'Thia commented.

"Huff... Huff...

We just need to revive him..." Jorael whispered before being ready to cast a spell.

"NOOO!" Cyn'Thia suddenly shouted as she jumped and threw Jorael to the ground. While they were both lying on the ground, she said desperately:

"You will faint!

And if it happens... I don't know if you'll be able to wake up again!"

"Sister is right brother.

Stop using too much Magic." Bromur said.

"Are they... Cursed?!" Kimora exclaimed in confusion looking at the dead bodies of the Demons.

"Now you can see the direct consequences of people..." Cyn'Thia stated as she stood up.

Jorael stood up too, panting heavily as he had nearly drained his magical circuits, and said:

"It seems that our stay in the Demon Kingdom will be more complex than expected..."