Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 52 Devouring Menace

?Sorry for the slight delay, my mother was hurt today so I was in the hospital, she'll be fine and all as it was nothing serious, but I needed some time to be with her.

It happens, she'll be fine by tomorrow, thank you for understanding.

As such, these next two chapters are a bit smaller than the other big chapters, I wasn't really in the mood of adding 500 words worth of fight just to stretch things out, sorry.

Enjoy.

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Testros and Misgurd carefully approached the camouflaged monster, and eventually, together with Dale, circled it within a triangular formation.

/Grr!/

Seeing them approach, the Yirg started to make some noises in protest, imitating the sound of a wolf growling and bearing its teeth, surprising Dale somewhat since even until the end, it would stick to its act…

Some people might even be fooled by how persistent it was with its act...

How frightening.

By the time they realize something is wrong, it may be too late.

Some may survive its ambush, but the problem comes after.

Even if they were strong enough to face it before, if they get injured, would that still be the same?

"Dale, do you still have one of the carcasses from the creatures we hunted?" Testros asked in a low tone without taking his eyes off the Yirg

"Yes!"

"Throw it near the Yirg, doing so will force it to reveal itself."

Dale nodded, understanding his plan.

He took out the large skinless carcass of Moss Rock, it was just the torso, albeit he had yet to gut it.

Throughout the day, Dale easily found out that he could indeed store the entire body of a Moss Rock in his inventory as long as he skinned the creature.

The System seemed to be okay with it as long as that was accomplished first.

He quickly and easily threw it close to the Yirg, showing off his strength since he was over 7M away from the creature.

And the Moss Rock body, even though its skin had been removed, still weighed over 190 kg!

/Thud.../

And the moment the carcass fell next to the Wolf...

/SPLURGE!/

"?!"

'Wow!'

In one fell motion, the wolf's torso suddenly split apart, revealing a gaping maw full of misshapen teeth!

The mouth moved forward with a sudden burst of speed, almost fully devouring the hog in a single bite.

(Image)

Dale was incredibly surprised, it was faster and definitely stronger than he expected.

The speed at which its body split apart all the way till it devoured the boar was faster than the blink of an eye.

And the strength necessary to break apart the sturdy body of the boar was no joke either, it was like the strength of a powerful industrial cutting machine lunching at you at high speeds...

Dale was fast enough to react to it, but he knew very well that if it sunk its teeth on his arm he might as well say goodbye to it.

Or even if he kept it after struggling in a tug of strength, it was unknown how much damage he would actually incur, nevertheless, he didn't want to find out.

/Gulp.../

/Silence.../

Once it was done devouring the hog, the wolf/Yirg stopped making noises, becoming almost static like a statue.

"I'm glad we checked." Testros Said with a frown as his grip tightened

"It's a variant." Misgurd replied with a nod, his eyes now fully cold

"..."

'So they know... In that case.'

"What is a variant? And how strong is it when compared to its normal counterparts?"

'The more I know, the easier it will be for me to deal with a monster with this modifier next time I meet with one.'

"Besides, won't it react to us talking to each other?"

'We've been talking like this for quite a while...'

"No it won't, don't worry Dale, as long as it remains disguised, it will never break from its act. It definitely hears us, but that is all." Replied Misgurd

"As for your other question, a Variant is the term we give to Uniquely strong monsters."

"They can be both stronger and faster, but they normally have some sort of variant feature to make them different from their counterparts."

"I see…"

'That didn't help me much as I have no idea how one looks originally... But I'll keep that in mind.'

'If Variants are different from their usual counterparts, then I may be able to identify them from afar.'

While Dale thought, Misgurd said:

"This one is definitely…"

And Testros cut him, finishing his statement:

"It's speed. Yirgs can't transform this fast and attack, they are similar to snakes as they first need to set their attack before attacking."

"Not the case with this one… Its Mutation has given it extreme speed, its enhanced strength and deadliness don't stray too far from the usual, however."

"So what do we do?" Dale asked as he looked at the 'wolf'

"Simple… Hup!"

/FWUSH!/

In one movement, Misgurd took a quick breath and stepped forward, covering the entire 7M distance between him and the monster faster than the eye could see,

/CUT!/

He cut with his sword diagonally, aiming at the wolf's body, but the Yirg did something unexpected!

"?!"

When his sword was about to connect, the Yirg's body split apart, revealing a large maw.

But because of this, the sword missed, and when it did, the Yirg's mouth snapped forward, trying to take a bite of Misgurd!

/SPLAT!/

"Humph."

However, this was barely enough to faze Misgurd who quickly sidestepped and spun in his place, delivering a horizontal cut and bifurcating a part of the Yirg's mouth.

/WAIL!/

/PIERCE!/

Taking this chance when the creature was too distracted due to the pain, Testros approached from behind and attacked!

"You're too hasty." He said to Misgurd as he pierced with his sword

With one in the front and one in the back, both of which were already overpowering the creature, it was simple to say that its destiny had been sealed…

Only a few more strikes and this fight would be over.

"Now we…"

But Misgurd was interrupted, he didn't even have the time to raise his sword once more...

/SREEECH!/

"URG!" Dale screamed as he fell onto the ground

'My ears…'

[You've been affected by the Skill, Distortion]

[Your body's Constitution flares...]

[You were incapable of fully resisting its effects]

[You're briefly stunned 0.3s]

[You've fallen into confusion 5.1s]

[Your senses are distorted 3s]

The creature suddenly let out a loud scream, stunning Dale briefly, making him avert his attention from the fight.

It was as if he was hit with a flashbang, he could still see but things were just… Spinning.

"... LE!... OUT!" Misgurd Exclaimed suddenly

"Wha...?..."

Dale heard something, so he raised his head… But he was still heavily disoriented.

When he raised his head, he almost tripped to the side, barely able to distinguish the strange and disfigured red creature crawling on the ground, moving hastily towards him!

"?!"

'DAMMIT!'

But that was all he needed to see.

'I fell for it! A fucking AOE Skill!'

'Everything is blurry and spinning… Shit! What is happening around me?!'

'Is it coming?! Fuck off!'

With the ringing still in his ears, Dale grasped his spear and took a step forward to meet the creature!

[Sta… Ac…eted]

[...Tial…ness…ed]

[Figh…acti…]

"D…LE!"

He faintly heard the sound of several notifications in his ears, they were the sounds of his Skills activating.

For a brief moment, he also heard his name.

How did the previously controlled situation turn out like this?

/PIERCE!/

The moment his spear made contact with the creature as it jumped from the ground towards his face, Dale felt his shoulder hurt immensely, but he stood his ground and continued to move his spear.

He could still feel his left hand, and he could somehow discern what was happening in front of him.

There was something red there, and it was being held by something... His spear!

So he simply aimed at whatever he thought to be its face and attacked…

And when he attacked, he did it again…

"..."

One second turned into 2, and 2 turned into 4…

"...!"

As clarity returned to his eyes he finally recovered his senses.

"DIE!" Misgurd exclaimed in a fit of anger as he raised his weapon up high

/Splat!/

With a single downward slash, he cut the bizarre creature into 2 sections, sending it once and for all to Hell.

[+2823%*2=5646% XP]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[+8 to all Stats]

[DING]

[Hidden Quest, Devouring Menace has been completed]

[No extra drops shall be given since the last hit wasn't from you]

[You've gained, Hide of the Menace*2

You've gained, Bones of the Menace*2

You've gained, Flesh of the Menace*2

+535%*2=1070% XP]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[+4 to all Stats]

[Distortion status effect has ended]

[Your Skill, Spatial Awareness 0-Star has Leveled up to 0.5-Star!]

After blinking once, Dale opened his eyes wide and took a look at the current situation:

"That was…"

'Damn Skills…'

In front of him was the corpse of a very strange creature…

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Notes