Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 24 — All the Loot

Heading down, Noah soon watched the dirt path be taken over by wild growth, as he walked through the forest, trying to steer himself. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task, given the trail of destruction left behind. Even the vegetation was thinning, being torn to shreds by whatever resided here. He had to rely on Tony to keep his sense of smell under control, as his new senses had quickly started to overwhelm him.

Noah kicked a corpse aside, feeling the blood and guts clinging to his shoes. “Gives me the creeps,” he said, watching the torn up corpse, as if the creatures had lost interest midway as the creature had died.

Walking ahead, Noah felt Tony shiver once. A moment later, the symbiote manifested in his eye-bat form next to him.

“Ahead?” Noah asked, and Tony gave a nod.

Crouching through the bushes, Noah stilled his breathing. Meditation activated, focusing his attention and increasing his focus, he felt every sense meld into one. Moving slowly, and with careful steps, Noah moved further.

A cave entrance was right ahead, and Noah could hear the creatures crawling all around inside. Raising his hand, he sent Tony in.

The symbiote split his body into smaller clones, before sending one inside, while the others scattered around the area. [Diffused Transformation], Noah noted. Tony’s advanced tier ability. So far he had not had much opportunity to test it. It put a strain on Tony to be split like this, his attention divided across multiple forms. They’d both need some practice with this, but now wasn’t the time.

A moment later, Tony returned, sending a pulse of thought. Noah gave a nod, readying himself.

From the cave, a gray looking creature moved outside. Its body was an oily silver, with plates of armor, its face being a circular gaping maw with razor-like teeth all around it. A green acidic saliva dripped from the creature, as the monster tried to jump at Tony, to take a bite.

Thrusting with his spear, Noah skewered the monster, momentarily surprised by the clang of the armor plating on the creature.

“Alright, let’s see,” Noah said, extending his hand towards the creature. The ability activated with a pulse, as the creature’s body began to dissolve into silvery particles.

Rolling a luck check… successful!

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth - lvl 36].

2 credit points obtained.

That was less credits than he’d expected. He hummed to himself. A few moments later, Tony brought out a few more creatures. This time, Noah charged his spear with Obliterate, slashing in an arc as he cut through all three at once. As the notifications for the kills chimed, he used Celestial harvest.

Rolling a luck check… successful!

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth - lvl 41].

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth - lvl 38].

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth - lvl 32].

7 credits obtained.

1 x Iron Teeth fang obtained.

Noah opened his Astral Vault tab, before he rolled with his entire 9 credits.

1 x Rusty dagger obtained.

Taking out the dagger, Noah saw the blade was chipped, with rust covering all over it. If he struck it too hard, he suspected it would shatter and leave rusted metal inside whatever thing it was plunged in.

“I guess it’s better than a pebble,” Noah said. A moment later, he saw Tony rushing out, as the symbiote sent a shiver of alarm. Noah prepared himself, watching as something stirred in the darkness. A moment later, a large group of worms appeared in his sight, all rushing towards him like a cresting tsunami of silvery teeth and death.

“Shit!” Noah cursed, throwing his dagger as it killed one, barely making a difference. With a quick Blink he teleported back, creating distance. Flying rapidly, Tony sunk back into Noah’s body, as the Symbiote began to work hard to manage Noah’s sensory input.

Letting Obliterate charge, Noah transformed his hand into its monstrous form, as clawed slashes cut towards the hoard. Starforged arms manifested around him, a blade on each hand, as Noah moved into the wave of creatures. Diffused Transformation got its time to shine as Tony rapidly changed Noah’s body to its monstrous form. His muscles bulged, his skin taking on a dark shade of black. The red in his eyes shifted as well, while claws grew from his hands and feet. Unlike with Metamorphosis, Noah did not gain a boost of attributes, but there was also no time limit on usage for this.

Growling, as he felt Tony’s innate hunger mix with himself, Noah leapt into the swarm. Notification upon notification chimed in his head, as his claws tore through the blanket of Iron-teeth, Celestial Harvest crumbling their corpses for loot. His claws struck their armored shells, Tony hardening his own skin as the iron teeth latched onto his body. Noah let them, allowing the Crimson Rot to seep into his blood and fill their bodies.

His mana blades slashed through the hordes, keeping the crowd at bay as they only allowed as many monsters as Noah could take on at once to attack him. Hundreds of teeth latched upon his skin, burrowing in only to find crimson rot filling their bodies, and killing them from the inside.

Yet not every creature died. Some survived the initial Rot effect, drinking from Noah’s lifeblood to heal themselves. Noah pried the creatures off himself, growling as they tore out chunks of his flesh, before crushing them in his fist.

But the battle had always been one of endurance. The swarm continued to flow out, an unending blanket of Iron-teeth that clicked their monstrous maws as they ran on their crab like legs, leaping up and towards Noah.

Using Blink, Noah teleported back, before climbing up a tree. He panted, feeling his energy drained as he saw the swarm pour outwards and cover the ground. Diffused Transformation faded, as Noah used Blood Drain to recover his stamina and heal his injuries, while looking around.

“Should’ve asked Aurelia to come. Burning them would’ve been a lot easier to do,” he said, watching the swarm pour out.

A moment later, Tony chimed with a thought.

“Hit their home huh? It’ll be risky,” Noah said, and Tony sent another pulsing shiver.

Noah grinned at the thought from his Symbiote, before he jumped back down from the tree. The Iron-teeth swerved towards him, like a nest of sharks smelling blood. Noah transformed, his body changing as his form adapted under Tony’s command. With a kick he leapt over the Iron-Teeth swarm, slicing through any that clung onto him with his spear as he rushed into their hive. The bustle of the swarm grew, as a humming noise filled Noah’s head. Millions of holes filled the cavern like a giant ant hill that had been carved into this place. The Iron-Teeth continued to pour out, and Noah began to slash his way through them like an arrow piercing a wave.

Flesh and blood soaked the ground around him, his spear drinking in greedily from the monsters he slew. Blink whirred as he teleported around, rushing forward towards the center of the hive.

Tony guided him through the twisting caverns, through the swarm of monsters all around him. A sudden alarm rang in his head, as Noah took a turn and he blinked away.

A giant slash cut through where he had stood, taking down the wall. Noah stared at the monster, buzzing with insect-like wings, and two scythe arms attached to it's body.

[Juvenile Iron Teeth - lvl ??]

Noah grasped his spear tightly as more flying enemies came out from behind the creature. A moment later, he grinned, rushing in towards them. The beasts flew rapidly, rushing towards Noah as their clawed arms slashed towards him. Noah's senses guided him, as he twisted around the attack, before thrusting his spear through the monster’s throat. Another slash came at his back and Noah let go of his weapon, turning to block the strike with his own claws. Obliterate gathered on his remaining hand as he thrust it within the beast’s cut, before tearing it into three, as the monster fell to the ground.

Dimensional Pocket pulled his spear back as Noah swung it to rid it of the bloody remains of the monster, before watching the three flying creatures hovering nearby.

They stared at him, monstrous eyes twisting in consideration. A moment later, the creatures flew past Noah, rushing outside.

Surprised, he watched the creatures go, before realizing something strange. None of the smaller worm-like Iron Teeth had followed him inside.

“Are they abandoning their home?” Noah wondered out loud. He wondered if his Quest would still reward him, if the monsters simply ran away.

Walking further into the hive, Noah continued forward. More creatures began to appear, juveniles that buzzed around the hive, but few engaged with Noah. After a few moments of walking, Noah reached a wide chamber where all the tunnels from all across the hive connected.

Yet, what he saw inside was far from what he had expected.

A sea of red painted the hive, blood, flesh and chitinous pieces coating each wall. Corpses upon corpses filled the area, with the few that remained alive, trying to make their way out.

Noah’s eyes were drawn to a particularly large creature’s corpse. A giant monstrous beast with a worm-like body and large insectile legs. It’s maw gaped open with giant teeth lining all its insides, and Noah realized it to be an adult.

A chime went off in his head.

Quest: Iron Teeth Infestation completed!

Tony sent a shiver, a warning contained in the thought.

Something stirred near the giant Iron teeth corpse. Noah gripped his spear tighter as he moved closer to the beast. Slowly moving to gain a better look Noah felt surprised by what he found. A small rabbit sat next to the corpse, chewing on the remains. Its head had two curved horns, its teeth sharp like fangs with its eyes a deep red, showing madness lurking within.

[Draconian Jackalope - lvl 72]

With a pause, the rabbit stopped eating its meal as it noticed Noah standing there. As the creature's eyes turned towards him, Noah found the strongest alarm he had felt that day go off.

His senses all screamed at him of danger and a terrible realization made his gut churn.

The Iron Teeth… they weren't swarming me. They were running for their lives.

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