Arc 1 - Ch 11: "VS Cultist"

CHAPTER 11 - "VS Cultist"

This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki

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-Siegfried and Azure found a campsite in the middle of the Vilona woods whilst searching for mana flowers, and were ambushed by a group of four fungi knights! Upon realizing the party's true motives, the fungi knights released them from their captivity, however, Azure attacked the Chief Knight of the camp and was put to sleep by one of his spore spells, and to make matters worse, a masked assailant has shown up at the camp, tasked with killing the party and preventing them from reaching Rigel, the Shaman Cultist!

-The Masked Assailant threatened to kill Siegfried, and now, he must defeat the cultist.

Siegfried: "I have no plans of "spilling my guts", you dirty shaman. Your accomplice Rigel cursed me, and I'm going to hunt him down until he removes that curse. You're just a roadblock on the path to my victory, and I'm going to eliminate you."

-The masked assassin then tilted his head in confusion, and asked him a question-

[???]: "Siegfried, Rigel is not my accomplice, if anything, I'm his. He is my boss. Also, I am not a shaman, I'm a poison mage. Siegfried, why do you decline the offerings of the cult and show such malice toward me, yet possess the clothes of the dark mages?"

Siegfried: "You see, these clothes are a misunderstanding. I have no affiliation with the dark mages. However, it seems that this misunderstanding has put me into a bit of trouble that I must now deal with."

[???]: "Killing me will not resolve your issue. If you were to best me in battle, you would still have Rigel to deal with, and a battle with him would only ensure your death. Your only option is to come with me now."

Siegfried: "Why should I go with you? Aren't you here to kill me anyway?"

[???]: "I come bearing news, Siegfried... Before I left to hunt you down, my boss left me with a very special message for you. He's offering to save your life if you agree to come with me to Oakheart, and heed his words on the Dark Mage's Cult."

Siegfried: "-- !?"

-Siegfried's face was overcome with a look of shock.

~~FLASHBACK~~

Rigel: "Oh, and before you go, Gurix, please inform Siegfried that he has one final chance to change his mind and that I will remove his curse if he agrees to join Hasher's Cult. I'm sure if we had one of "those people" in our ranks, that our agenda would be greatly boosted."

Gurix: "Understood, Rigel. Where will you be if I was to return with Siegfried?"

Rigel: "I will be waiting near the entrance to Oakheart. Bring him there and I will remove his curse."

Gurix: "Yes sir. Is there anything that I should know before interacting with Siegfried?"

Rigel: "Nothing that you should be concerned about. He is heavily under-leveled, so dealing with him should be of no issue. However, that girl with him appears to be a powerful mage, probably more powerful than you, so I would be cautious of her."

Gurix: "Understood. I will keep a close eye on this mage girl. I'm heading out now, Rigel, stay safe..."

Rigel: "Good luck Gurix, you know where to find me."

~~BACK TO THE CAMP~~

[???]: "Rigel told me to tell you this. He warned me of the mage girl you've been traveling with, however, it seems she won't be much of an issue, ehehehe... I have said all that there is to say. Now then, Siegfried, what is your choice? Will you come with me?"

-As he asked his question, Gurix held his blade under his eyes and sharpened his gaze.

Siegfried: "-- --"

-Siegfried glanced over to Koh, almost as if asking for his approval to initiate in battle. Koh looked at Siegfried, nodded, and waved over his men.

Siegfried: "Sorry, mystery man, I have no intentions of coming with you. I'm not going to leave Azure behind. I'll have more than enough time to take you down and reach Rigel myself. With me, Azure, and these four fungi, we should have no problem taki-"

-The masked assailant suddenly removed his mask to reveal a pale face with deep-red eyes, and a wide smile with sharp teeth. He interrupted Siegfried-

[???]: "It seems we couldn't come to an agreement, Siegfried. That's too bad. I was almost ready to spare your life. By the way, the name's Gurix. Prepare to be gutted, Siegfried."

-Suddenly, at an incredible speed, Gurix lunged toward Siegfried, with a terrifying gaze, and a wide smile. His blade made a sharp sound as it cut through the air, and Siegfried quickly dodged out of the way.

Gurix: "Interesting, so your reflexes seem to be sharper than I thought. Guess I'm just going to have to move quicker then!"

-Gurix turned around sharply and made his way toward Siegfried. He had estimated Siegfried's next track of motion and prepared to slice him open. He slashed his blade, and Siegfried had dodged again, moving to the left. However, Gurix had estimated this pattern of movement, and quickly slashed again to the left, making a large cut across Siegfried's torso.

Siegfried: "ACK!-"

Siegfried to himself: "Ouch, ouch ouch, ah this hurts. Damnit, he got me. He's smarter than I thought. I'm really going to need Koh and his men to come in clutch for this one."

-Gurix looked at Siegfried and smiled devilishly, laughing as he went about, spinning his blade in his hand.

Gurix: "Gotcha, Siegfried. MmmmmahHAHA, your blood looks delicious, I can smell it from all the way over here! I can't wait to taste it..."

Siegfried: "You, you masochist...tsk! This hurts."

-Gurix commented about Siegfried's blood, and how it looked "delicious". Could he be a vampire? No, he couldn't be, the sunlight had no effect on him, and he was far from pale. He was just a sadistic dark mage who enjoyed bringing pain to others.

Siegfried: "Ah, shit... This really hurts... someone, please help me."

Gurix: "Ah, AHAHA, how's it feel Siegfried? Allow me to show you the gracious motions of an assassin!"

-Gurix lunged at Siegfried once more, spinning his blade through the air, and slashing at Siegfried. Siegfried put his arms over his torso and braced himself. Suddenly, Koh ran over and pushed Siegfried out of the way, and took the slash himself. Koh had been slashed across the face and began to bleed.

Koh: "SIEGFRIED!!"

Gurix: "AH!? What's this? Sacrificing yourself for your worthless friend over there? Look what you've done to yourself! You're bleeding from your head now! Guess that helps me, a little."

-Koh glared at Gurix with a look of sheer anger. He proceeded to his feet, and shouted to his men-

Koh: "SOH, TREAT SIEGFRIED'S WOUND. ROH, MOH, ATTACK GURIX!"

Fungi Men: "YES SIR!"

Gurix: "Huh?"

-Soh ran over to Siegfried and dumped out a mysterious bottle of green liquid which he had grabbed from one of the tents. The sensation stung at first but immediately began to clean and heal Siegfried's major gash on his torso. It also repaired his clothing! This was an applied healing potion. These kinds of potions were to be applied directly to the wound, rather than consumed.

Soh: "Are you okay, Siegfried-sama? Your wound looks to be very deep. I hope he didn't slice through any organs."

Siegfried: "It really hurts, but I'm not bleeding out too much. I'm pretty sure he missed my organs. Thank you, Soh."

-Soh gave a concerned look toward Siegfried, as he continued to pour the applied healing potion upon his gash.

Gurix: "Look at you, wasting an entire potion on a simple gash wound. By the time I'm finished with you all, you won't have any of those left to use!"

-Moh and Roh approached Gurix menacingly and stared him down. Then, like a duet, they simultaneously said these words to him.

Moh and Roh: "Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to pass further into our camp, per word of our Chief, Koh. Attempting to advance will only result in your death."

Gurix: "Hah, these are your reinforcements? They're barely half my height! What a joke. I'll dice you up into fine bits of mushroom..."

-Gurix quickly looped around Roh and Moh numerous times in succession, in an attempt to throw them off balance and make them dizzy, however, this was quickly thwarted by Roh and Moh casting a spore spell together.

Moh and Roh: "Sporae!"

-Spores began to fill the air, and Gurix immediately lept away, flying a few feet into the air before graciously landing on his two feet. Gurix was a poison mage himself, so he knew of the potent effects that the spores had. Siegfried, however, had caught a whiff of the spores and became dizzy himself.

Siegfried: "Soh, the spores, they're affecting me! Can you do something??"

Soh: "Siegfried! There should be an antidote in one of those tents, it's a pink liquid held in a small flask, drink it!"

Gurix: "Aww, did you try and put me to sleep? What a fruitless attempt. You friendly-fired your own teammate! He's going to fall asleep, and then my job will become ever so simpler!"

Moh and Roh: "Tsk! Damn, he's fast..."

-Siegfried ran toward the tents, guarded by Soh. He rummaged through the supplies until he came across the pink liquid which Soh had mentioned to him. He drank the liquid, and it tasted awful! But, he swallowed it all regardless. He began to feel more awake.

Gurix: "Applying too many potions to yourself at once can have adverse consequences, Siegfried! I gave you the chance to come with me, and you wasted it! Accept your fate! Allow me to spill your guts upon these campgrounds!"

-Moh and Roh grabbed their weapons. Equipped with a spear and a saber, they made their way toward Gurix. Gurix backed up slightly, drew his wand which was made of the wood of a willow tree, and prepared a spell of his own.

Gurix: "What are you two trying to do? Approaching me slowly will only give me more time to calculate your movements, you imbeciles!"

Gurix: "Venium!"

-Gurix cast his spell, Venium, a poison spell that sends a stream of water from his want toward his opponent. This water contains poison which is absorbed by the skin and causes long-lasting damage to be taken for a few minutes.

-The spell hit Roh, and he fell to the ground, but Moh had dodged it.

Gurix: "Hah, I got you. What were you thinking, trying to intimidate me with your weapons? You're a couple of failures! How are you two even knights?"

-Roh, laying on the ground, glanced at Moh, and nodded, as to signal something. Moh nodded back to Roh, and proceeded to look toward Gurix-

Moh: "It would appear that you are a fairly new poison-mage. If you did your research, you would have realized that poison spells have no effect on fungi. Congratulations on wasting mana!"

Gurix: "d-don't ridicule me! You have now thoroughly pissed me off. It's time for you two to perish!"

Roh: "Watch out Moh, here he comes! Guard yourself!"

Moh: "On it, Roh, thank you!"

-Moh had prepared himself for Gurix's incoming attack. Gurix then closed his eyes, and his aura began to grow. It emitted dark energy, and morphed into that of a dark spirit floating through the skies."

-Gurix opened his eyes and bit his lips. He began to bleed from his mouth, and he laughed. He drew his blade and suddenly lunged toward Roh at lightspeed, who lay on the ground. Gurix slashed his blade, and Roh was sliced open. As he lay, bleeding out, Gurix turned toward Moh and smiled evilly.

Roh: "ARRGH!!!"

Moh: "ROH, ARE YOU OKAY?? Gurix...you BASTARD!"

Roh: "...Moh...I'll be fine. I didn't expect him to attack me so quickly...watch out, please."

-Gurix licked some of Roh's blood and began to laugh. He lept to his feet, and gazed at Moh."

Gurix: "Mmmm, I never thought the blood of a mushroom warrior would be so delicioussss! mmmm, due to your lack of awareness for your partner, he was unfortunately sliced open and is now bleeding out. Now then, where is Siegfried?"

-Siegfried and Soh were still in the tent, trying to find a suitable weapon to use against Gurix. Outside, Moh gave Gurix a devious look and proceeded to say the following words as if he was reading a script aloud-

Moh: "Gurix, you have failed to heed our warning and attacked one of our own, and now it's time for you, to accept the consequences. Feel the wrath of the Fungi Knights!

Gurix: "Eh? What are you on about now?"

-Unbeknownst to Gurix, while he was distracted by Moh and Roh's attack, Koh had secretly made his way behind Gurix, and was about to unleash a sneak attack! Koh, still bleeding from his head, said the following aloud-

Koh: "You will now feel the true strength, of a fungi warrior."

-Koh had snuck behind Gurix, and drew his wand. He cast a spell at Gurix-

Koh: "Imbalentia!"

-Imbalentia is a spell used to throw your opponent off balance, and cause them to fall to the ground, dazed unable to get back up for a short time. However, Gurix reacted with lightning speed, dodged the spell, and roundhouse kicked Koh to the ground. The spell missed Gurix and instead hit Moh, knocking him over for a short time.

Moh: "ARGH!"

Koh: "OOF!"

Gurix: "Heh, dumbass. I've been trained for many years now, and my reflexes are beyond that of any normal adventurer. It's time for me to gut you open as well, Koh."

Moh: "GET AWAY FROM THE CHIEF!" [Moh gets up and grabs a spear]

Gurix: "Eh, you're still talking big? Get out of here you Penny Bun."

-Gurix quickly turned around and saw Moh approaching him with a spear in hand. Moh attempted to stab Gurix with the spear, however, Gurix dodged the attack, and slashed Moh down the middle. Moh fell to the ground, silently, and bled out.

Moh: "*gasp* ah---Koh....i'm sorry.."

-Koh looked at Moh and was enraged.

Koh: "Damnit... this guy is terrifying... We need you Soh, where are you and Siegfried..??"

-By now, about 30 minutes had passed, and Azure was starting to wake up.

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