Divine System: Land of the Abominations-Chapter 283: The Depths (1)
The creature’s head swiveled toward Arthur with unsettling speed, and that circular maw opened wide, releasing a shriek. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Then it charged.
The ground shook with each step as the Abomination barreled toward Arthur, moving with a speed that seemed impossible for something so large. But Arthur was already moving, his footwork carrying him to the side in a smooth arc that put him just outside the creature’s reach.
His sword flashed out, the blue runes blazing with sudden light, and a crescent of cutting energy erupted from the blade. It struck the creature’s shoulder, slicing through the bone plating with a sound like shattering glass.
The Abomination roared again and swung one massive arm toward Arthur. He ducked under it, rolled, and came up with his sword already positioned for another strike.
That was Nero’s cue.
He burst from the left flank with dazzling speed, his spear held low, and drove it toward the creature’s exposed side. The point struck true, punching through the softer flesh between the bone plates and sinking in a good foot before hitting resistance.
The creature twisted toward him with shocking speed. However, instead of retreating, Nero pressed forward with his momentum, driving his spear deeper and leaning all his weight down, nearly throwing the creature off its feet.
Not only had he gained more Seals of Sin, but his strength had also increased tremendously thanks to the Potion of Change he had consumed. He was not given any time for a retreat as the circular maw of the Abomination came snapping down over his head.
From the right, Jacob’s waraxe descended in a brutal overhead arc, the amber runes flaring with light. The blade caught the creature across its back, and the sound of the impact was like a boulder being dropped on stone. The bone plating cracked, shattered, and the waraxe bit deep into the flesh beneath.
The Abomination shrieked, its body convulsing, and suddenly the smaller aberrations Nero had sensed earlier burst from the shadows.
Three of them, each roughly the size of a large dog, with the same faceless heads and circular maws. They moved with terrifying coordination, two going for Jacob while the third came straight at Nero.
He brought his spear up just in time to intercept the lunge, the point catching the creature in what might have been its throat. It thrashed, its maw opening and closing mere inches from his face, close enough that he could smell the rot on its breath and see the layers upon layers of teeth spiraling inward.
He twisted the spear, felt something vital give way, and the creature went limp. He kicked it off the blade and turned just in time to see Arthur’s sword take the big one’s head clean off in a single, perfect strike.
The body collapsed, twitching, and green ichor fountained from the stump of its neck.
Jacob had dealt with his two attackers, both now lying in pieces around his feet, his waraxe dripping with gore.
The entire fight had lasted perhaps forty seconds.
Nero stood there, breathing hard, his heart hammering in his chest. Not from exertion but from the sheer intensity of it, the way violence could erupt and end so quickly that the mind barely had time to process what was happening.
Arthur wiped his blade clean on the fallen creature’s hide, his expression calm.
"Grade C," he said matter-of-factly. "The young ones were Grade D."
Jacob’s brows creased deeply, "That was a Maw Tyrant. The damned thing usually has more spawns than this. Enough to overwhelm a small squad of Templars. Isn’t this a bad sign?"
"Well, this one was mostly alone. Perhaps the rest of its children were killed or wiped out by some disease." Arthur replied with a shrug. "Regardless, it’s dead now. Nero, collect samples from the smaller ones. Jacob, help me with this one. The Church will want the bone plating and the gall in that stomach."
Nero moved to obey, kneeling beside one of the smaller corpses and drawing his short sword to begin the messy work of harvesting.
The bodies of the Abominations were really disgusting. However, he was not new to dissecting them. One could say he was even at home with it, seeing as it was what had fed him for more than a month when he traversed the wilderness on his lonesome.
The mission was to assess their ability to handle certain grades of Abominations in combat. This was to ensure that all potential candidates met up to the minimum standard. Nero felt they had more than proven themselves already.
They also had to harvest certain materials from certain Abominations should they come across them and hand them over to the Church for fitting rewards that would be split across the temporary team.
The harvesting took longer than the fight...
Nero worked methodically, his blade cutting through corrupted flesh as he extracted the choice pieces the Church would find valuable. The smaller Maw Spawn didn’t have much worth taking beyond their teeth which were hard as steel and a small gland near their throat that secreted a paralytic venom.
He wrapped each piece carefully in cloth from his pack once he was done.
Arthur and Jacob were handling the larger corpse, and Nero could hear them grunting with effort as they worked to pry loose the bone plating. The pieces were large, each easily the size of a shield, and would fetch a considerable price from the Ironherd Order for use in armor or weapons.
"Nero," Arthur called out, his voice strained with effort. "We need leverage here. Bring your spear."
Nero wiped his blade clean and moved to join them, wedging his spear beneath one of the larger plates and applying pressure. The bone resisted for a moment, then came free with a wet tearing sound.
"Good," Arthur said, carefully setting the plate aside. "Two more and we should have enough. The rest is too damaged to be worth carrying."
Jacob was elbow-deep in the creature’s chest cavity, his face twisted in concentration as he searched for something. "I can feel it... there. Got it."
