Into the Cave

The four people walked deeper into the cave and encountered the bones of an Olitiau that they had killed last time. That part of the cave was much darker because there were no holes for the sunlight to penetrate from. Graham relied on Jacco's headlight as the source of light while Luuk and Agatha seemed to be able to see just fine. As a Thief and a Slumberer, they both had night visions. Graham signaled at Jacco to focus the flashlight that was strapped around his forehead on the white things in front of him.

The state of the Olitiau's bones was like the first Tsuchinoko's; they were no longer intact. Something had munched on the white material and left the pile lying on the ground in a mess. There were no traces of flesh left, unlike what they encountered before with the Tsuchinokos' carcasses, so at least this time, there was no rotting smell.

"I'm guessing the Olitiau we just encountered was the one eating this one and probably the Tsuchinoko near the entrance, and the three corpses we just found," analyzed Graham while stroking his chin.

"But why eat the one in the entrance before the three? Isn't that the farthest where it lived?" asked Luuk.

Graham kept rubbing his chin with his hand and looked at the pile of bones in front of him closely. He remembered that he and Luuk had severed its head, so the skull should be lying around somewhere. However, there was no such thing.

"Here's what I think happened. The Olitiau we just killed lived near here and was drawn by the smell of blood from this one. That's when it came here and ate it. After that, it was probably drawn by the smell of the three carcasses, but there was too much so it couldn't finish them. The location of the three corpses and the one near the entrance weren't too far, so it must have been drawn there as well, and seeing there was only one, it finished it quickly," he said.

Luuk made an approving expression with his face.

"It sounds plausible,"

"Of course. It's my theory," replied Graham proudly.

Agatha approached the pile of bones but completely ignored it. She was looking ahead at the pitch-black space. It was getting even darker up ahead.

"Shall we proceed?" she said. Her calm blue eyes looked glimmering in the dark.

Graham nodded. He let Luuk take the lead again and the group followed. Jacco, who was standing at the rear, provided Graham with lighting so he didn't need to use his lighter for now. However, he was ready to take it out at any time for illumination or for quick divination.

They had only walked for several meters when suddenly their sense of danger was triggered. Graham gestured at Jacco to cast his headlight upon the designated spot. Slowly, four giant figures revealed themselves. They were Tsuchinokos grouped up together! However, they were all sleeping, seeing as they hadn't moved at all even when the group was close by. Agatha's ritual had been effective against them.

"They are in a bigger group than last time," said Graham, and then turned to face Agatha and said quietly, "They are called Tsuchinokos. Their weakness is under their bellies, so we have to flip them over or somehow plant a trap that will attack them from below. I think the latter is not a problem for you,"

Agatha nodded and then walked around to find the perfect spot.

"I think here should be good," she said softly.

She used a small decorative knife to slit her wrist and blood came gushing out quickly, pouring down to the ground. She let the blood gather until there was a tiny puddle there, the width of an adult's head. Once there was enough blood, she covered her wound and moved aside several meters, and created more blood puddles roughly the same size as the previous one. She then looked at Graham and spoke quietly.

"I can only create this much for now, or otherwise, I'll be out of the fight,"

After saying that, she covered her wound with her hand and waited several seconds. Graham wanted to use Order to close her wound instantly but it seemed to be unnecessary. The moment she let go of the wound, it had started to heal.

Agatha unzipped her purse and took out the same pouch containing gunpowder that she had used before and sprinkled some on the pools of blood. Now, her preparation was ready and she gestured at Graham.

"Let's begin," said Graham, signaling at everyone to start.

"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"

Badum! Badum!

The loud sound of Jacco's drum woke up the Tsuchinokos. Their tongues stuck out to locate the target and the irritated short snakes with bloated bellies quickly charged at Jacco. However, the three people in front of him were ready to intercept the attack.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack Jacco mine!"

He made a quick swiping motion with his right hand and one of the Tsuchinokos stopped in its track. Its snake face couldn't show expression, but if it could, it would have shown a confused look. Luuk didn't attack the snake because its hard scales would only render his attack ineffective, so he just let it stand there.

As the other three Tsuchinokos got closer to Jacco, two of them were about to slither right on top of the blood puddles that Agatha had prepared. Seizing her chance, she quickly chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Bloodshed and Manslaughter, imbue my blood with explosive power!"

The gunpowder reacted with the blood and created tiny sparks. The moment the blood made contact with the enemies' bodies, it exploded violently.

Kaboom!

The two Tsuchinokos were thrown into the air several meters and fell down on the ground not far from the explosion. There were gaping holes where their bellies had been with blood flowing and destroyed organs spewing. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere around the explosion, creating a view that was usually only seen in horror films. The yellow eyes of the creatures slowly became lifeless as death came to take their souls.

"Watch out!" shouted Luuk.

The last Tsuchinoko was unaffected by the explosion and had gotten close enough to Jacco to attack him. It raised its head and showed its fangs, ready to spray venom onto the enemy.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Reconciliation, declare fighting forbidden in this area!"

While Agatha was preparing her blood traps, Jacco was also busy creating a circle around him with his own blood. With his chanting, the designated area was now a safe zone where attacking intentions couldn't manifest. The Tsuchinoko, who was inside the zone, lost all aggression and the desire to fight. It stood there motionlessly like nothing was happening.

Badum! Badum!

Jacco's War Drum was still beating since it didn't count as fighting. With one Tsuchinoko stuck in Jacco's Safe Zone, the group could focus their attention on the last one. It had regained its intention of attacking the man playing that irritating noise and was now slithering cautiously towards Jacco.

Luuk released the stolen intention and suddenly the Tsuchinoko got a very strong urge to attack Jacco. It slithered quickly towards him, completely ignoring the other three people there.

"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to roll around!"

Suddenly, the Tsuchinoko stopped in its track and involuntarily rolled around, exposing its weak spot that was on its belly. It tried to break free from Graham's control but couldn't do so. Its body was visibly jerking in its struggle.

Luuk, who was the fastest, had quickly got to its position with his knife ready.

Stab!

His knife sank deep into the creature's weak spot and blood spurt out from the wound that he created. Luuk kept stabbing until the creature was really dead, and only then did he pull out his knife.

"Now just that last one," said Graham.

The Tsuchinoko that was inside Jacco's Safe Zone was standing there without any intention of attacking. Jacco's headlight shone upon it and its dark scales were glittering. Graham was curious about the muscular man's new ability, so while the duration was still up, he walked over the blood boundary and entered the zone.

"Hmm..." he hummed while stroking his chin.

Inside the zone, he completely lost all fighting intents, be it attacking or defending. He couldn't even bring himself to lift his weapon. He felt strangely at peace like he was just walking in a park with birds chirping in the back and gentle breeze touching his face. Jacco's drum beats, which were already pleasant to his ears, sounded like chill background music to the area. After satisfied with the experiment, he walked out of the zone.

Once he was out, everything became normal again; his desire to kill the Tsuchinoko returned. He then turned to Agatha.

"Can you make it fall asleep?"

He was saving his Order for the upcoming fight, so it would be better to use abilities that would be difficult to use during a battle first.

Agatha nodded. She unzipped her purse and took out another piece of paper. After that, she kneeled on the ground and started the ritual.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Sleep, burn this paper,"

She used her lighter and lit the paper on fire. The orange flame burned gently, illuminating the small area around her with a tranquil light.

"I wish upon thee for the Tsuchinoko in front of me to be granted peaceful sleep."

The flame consumed the paper very slowly and as it turned to ash, the smoke rose to the air and blew towards the Tsuchinoko. It enveloped the creature little by little. The paper burned completely more than one minute later and the Tsuchinoko fell asleep right away, although its yellow eyes were still open.

Badum! Badum!

Jacco's War Drum was still beating, but the snake didn't wake up, which made Graham curious.

"Why doesn't the drum wake it up now?" he asked the caster.

Agatha stood up elegantly and cleaned the dirt off her knees and coat.

"It's because there is only one target, so the effect is concentrated," she explained shortly.

Luuk approached the group with hands and knife completely covered in blood. There were also some bloodstains on his clothes. He looked like a murderer walking around in that dark cave.

"Are we going to push the thing over?" he asked.

"Yes. Don't stop the drum. We need the strength boost," replied Graham.

Jacco's Safe Zone was deactivated. He kept on beating the drum for the other. Graham and Luuk walked towards one side of the sleeping creature.

"Are you forgetting me?" said Agatha.

She also took a position next to them and the three people put all their power into lifting the sleeping snake. Jacco's War Drum helped them tremendously because not long after, the creature's body started to move and they turned it upside down, exposing its weak spot.

Graham looked at the blood-soaked Luuk made a gesture with his expression.

"You're already covered in blood, so might as well take the honor..." he said.

Luuk shrugged and took out the knife that he tucked under his pants. He stood next to the black spot on the creature's belly and readied his bloody knife.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

He repeatedly attacked the creature right on its weak spot, which woke the thing up. However, it was in immense pain the moment it woke up and died not long after because of the grave injury. Now, all four Tsuchinokos had been taken care of.

"What happened to your fiery knife? There should still be some uses left, right?" asked Graham curiously.

"Yes, but I've almost used up all of the charges, so I'm saving it for an emergency," he answered.

The four people then observed the aftermath of their fight with the help of Jacco's headlight. The part of the cave that was previously peaceful now looked like a war zone. There were dead bodies of four giant snakes, two of which were badly destroyed. Blood splattered everywhere and pieces of flesh were lying on different spots. There was also a mysterious blood circle on the cave ground. If a stranger were to walk into that area, they would think that a sinister ritual had taken place there.

"Anyway, let's move the bodies to the side for now," said Graham.

Jacco didn't stop playing his War Drum and shone his light upon the bodies of the snakes. The other three quickly got busy pushing the dead bodies of the Tsuchinokos to one of the cave walls. The Tsuchinokos that died due to the explosion had its innards shaking and spilling as they pushed them, splashing them with the disgusting liquidy stuff.

"I'll need a shower after this," said Graham.

He was holding back the urge to use Order to clean himself because he was saving it for the upcoming fights.

Agatha opened her purse and took out a handkerchief that she used to wipe the tiny pieces of organs off her red coat.

Luuk didn't really care about being covered in blood while Jacco, who had stopped his drum beating, was the only one free of any stains. He looked exactly just like when he first entered the cave. Graham looked enviously at him and he quickly turned his face to the ceiling, pretending not to notice.

"Shall we go now?" said Agatha.

Graham nodded and gestured at Luuk to take the lead again. Jacco shone his headlight onto the area in front of them to help Graham see.