A wet, phlegmy chuckle filled the air as we entered the final grotto, and a voice grated into our ears as the speaker turned to stare at us.
A large mountain of fat, the Fiend looked similar to the Goblin Boss that we had seen days prior, but instead of simply being a living, breathing pile of flesh and an icon of gluttony, this Fiend was revolting to look upon, as well as downright nauseating after anything longer than a couple of seconds.
Pallid green flesh hung off of its frame, the fat weighing it down and stretching out its skin, whilst pockmarks scattered across its flesh and revealed the sickly green sinews that wept out pus beneath; alongside the pockmarks that damaged its appearance, large pimples and boils gathered in clumps all over the place.
Pus leaked from the open wounds and welled up inside the Fiend's acne issue, each one jutting out far from the Fiend's flesh and threatening to burst with the tiniest amount of pressure, joining with the pus that already leaked out of its skin as well as the oils and accumulated grime, creating a concoction of filth that was caked onto the Fiend.
"Welcome, welcome~! Ah, I knew you'd come sooner rather than later~! Yes indeed I did..."
Three large chins fell from the green face of the Fiend, and it gave us a wide, toothy grin as it stood up from the small pool of murky 'water' far away from us, revealing more of its disease ridden body and making my lip curl in disgust as I felt bile rise into the back of my throat, almost making me gag.
Each tooth was either charcoal black or mustard yellow, and a visible hot vapor puffed out from its thin lips whenever it spoke, whilst the two nubby horns on its head shone beneath the pale light of the grotto.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"You killed off that rather annoying Ka bastard that was prowling around for me... saved me the trouble! Hah! Got what they deserved... these are MY grottos! Mine! All this Nature Mana, waiting to be converted and changed! Ah, what better place for Decay to take root! Now all I need is for you to die as well... Yes, that is all I need now..."
Rubbing its hands together, the Fiend climbed out of the pool and revealed the rest of its humanistic body, the only differences being the taloned toes and long reptilian tail that swished lazily behind it; otherwise, it was just a nine or ten foot green skinned fatty with severe hygiene problems.
"Ah, but of course... there's also the venerable Sla'Caligo present, yes? Hm... is she as beautiful as all of the others always proclaim? I wonder..."
The Nua Fiend stroked its chin before waving off the various Undead around us, taking a few more steps forwards just to pause when Cali appeared beside me, wearing a rather obvious disgusted frown as she looked the green skinned mountain of fat up and down.
"Oh... Oh yes... They were right~! Such beautiful curves, such delectable skin! Why are you mingling with the mortals, Sla'Caligo? Why don't you come and lay with me, hm? I can give you so much if you'd just give me the chance..."
She shuddered as she sneered at the Fiend, shaking her head and drifted back a few feet as she hid behind us, saying "I've only ever laid with a single Nua Fiend before, and that was more than enough for my entire lifetime! So damn greasy, so hideous, utterly deplorable! All of you!"
Chuckling in response, the Fiend just shrugged and added "Even with a body fit for a Nua's all encompassing, heavy love~? Are you certain, Sla'Caligo?"
"Something that should be considered entirely a boon can sometimes be a damn bane..."
Her murmur made me glance back at her - mainly so that the nauseating feeling would subside a little for the moment - and she just smirked at me as she said "My appearance takes on whatever is the most arousing for that individual, so currently... I'm probably rather hideous in that bastard's eyes."
That made me frown as I looked at her, before glancing at Anput, Leone and Jahi, wondering just what they saw... and just how tempting Cali was to them; I was obsessed with them, yes, but objectively, Cali was always the finest eye candy ever, and if I wasn't willingly bound to each of my partners, I would definitely not be opposed to seeing what this Arch Fiend of Lust had in store for me...
"Aw, you flatter me~! Trust me, I want to show you as well, but someone~ just wants to be so annoyingly loyal and devoted... hmph..."
Shaking her head again, she looked back at the other Fiend when they coughed and said "Enough... if you won't lay with me, Sla'Caligo, then I'll just need to kill you, hm? Or at the very least, kill your pet mortal... weaken you some, before taking you for myself... Yes, that will do well, won't it? Go, my lovelies~! Go on and give me the opening I need... Let these pathetic mortals know the name Nua'Fel!"
Grinning, it waved its hands forwards before raising them, sickly green mana swirling around its arms languidly as it began to cast its own magic, all while the Undead horde that lingered inside the grotto groaned and stumbled forwards, marching on us and beginning their impeccable strategy of drowning us in bodies and filth.
Like their master, each of the Undead were riddled with boils and covered in pus, their flesh oily and extremely soft, something that put an idea into my head; if their fur was now covered in oils, their skin covered in oils, and their flesh generally weakened, what could be of the most damage to them at the moment?
"Ammit, Leone! Utilize area of effect spells! Burn them away! Those with Fire Mana, head to the front and coat yourselves and your blades in fire! Everyone else, support them!"
The quick orders spurred everyone into movement, and the Demons began to reorganize themselves into their new positions as they did as I asked, flames illuminating the area around us in a bright orange light as their weapons and their arms were engulfed in fire.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSeeing Belian nod slightly, I turned back to the Fiend and took my own spot in the middle, watching as it's grin widened slightly as it harnessed more of its own magic, drawing mana from the various pools of water nearby and enshrouding its arms in a miasma of green.
Runes flickered into existence around it, but they also began to appear around me as I took out my wand and started to swiftly accumulate my own Fiendish Mana, the pinkish blue mana that lingered inside my Core spilling into the wand and taking the shape of a myriad of runes as I traced out a Ritual Circle quicker than Nua'Fel could complete its own spell.
A sphere of ice about as large as my head spun in front of my wand for a few moments, gathering speed and allowing my mana to cloud around it in a miniature contained blizzard, modeling itself after an electron cloud that was tightly woven around its nucleus.
When it had enough spin and was strong enough, I shot it towards the Fiend and watched as it's grin faltered, its eyes focusing on the projectile that was hurtling towards its face, and in a last ditch effort to defend itself, the Fiend raised its arm and tried to smack the ball of ice away, only to shatter it and eviscerate its hand as all the shards embedded themselves into its palm and wrist, worming into its fatty flesh and beginning to numb everything as frost began to gather on its skin.
The cloud of frosted air that I had created around the sphere now clung to the hand that had been used to deflect the sphere, nipping and biting at the flesh and freezing away the oily layer of pus and other liquids that coated the Fiend's skin, encasing it in the beginning of a deadly 'disease'; frostbite.
Its grin continued to fade as it looked up and saw another sphere flying towards it, which it was forced to dodge - or at least attempt to dodge - as it continued to gather mana around its undamaged hand, the amusement and relaxed nature it had before giving way to a seriousness as it tried to lock in.
Glaring at me, Nua'Fel raised its other arm and decided to just take the blow to the shoulder, its sickly mana coalescing around its palm and creating a sphere of gas that shot towards me in retaliation, hoping to sow this cloud of Disease inside our party and begin whittling away at our strengths, giving its Undead more time to pick off everyone until no one remained, but...
Well, a third ball of ice shot forwards and collided with the gaseous sphere, the two 'fighting' one another as severe cold and Lust fought against Disease and Decay, a battle who's outcome was decided soon enough.
The green gas began to slow down as the temperature continued to drop around it, until eventually the pinkish blue bundle of mana managed to attack it fast enough to begin liquifying the gas, turning it into green droplets that splashed onto the ground and fizzled out harmlessly.
Not all of it though, as the Lust and Ice Mana sphere gradually weakened and eventually dissipated completely, but the previous cloud of gas was now little more than a slight mist lingering in the air, completely and utterly worthless as an attack.
An attack on the senses, maybe, but nothing more, and that made Nua'Fel frown as they began to reevaluate the situation they were in.