Chapter 49 – Broodmother (2)

Chapter 49 – Broodmother (2)

Taking a deep breath, Rowan moved to where the tunnel dropped off into the broodmother’s chamber. Then, he jumped.

The fall was over a dozen meters, but he barely felt the impact. Not wasting a moment, he charged at the massive blob of flesh before him.

[Bloodspawn Broodmother – Level 26]

The creature had gained two levels since he’d first seen it. While that was annoying, it wasn’t too big a problem, at least not if Rowan’s theory was correct.

Sprinting towards his target in the center of the room, one of his chains began to extend, balling up into a flail.

The broodmother had four bloodspawn guarding it, three regular humanoids and a single armored one. None of them were over level eight, but they could still pose a threat. So Rowan focused on them first.

Half of the mana darts he’d prepared shot forward, piercing into one of the humanoids. They stabbed into the creature’s head, breaking through its skull.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn – Level 7]

The beast had been unmoving, making for a relatively easy shot, but Rowan was still quite proud of his marksmanship. Still, he had no time to think about it.

The three other guards turned towards him, screeching in anger. Ignoring the two regular bloodspawn, he targeted the biggest threat—the armored one.

He’d truly struggled to take down the last one he’d fought. This time, though, he was not only stronger but also had more tricks up his sleeve.

With a grunt of exertion, he swung his arm forward, whipping the ball of chains at his target. The bloodspawn tried to dodge, but Rowan boosted the flail with [Chain Manipulation], speeding them up even further at the last moment.

The beast, unprepared for the sudden jump in speed, tried and failed to dodge.

Still, it managed to get its body somewhat out of the way, meaning that instead of being crushed against the stone floor, it was sent flying back as its armor was shattered.

Disappointingly, though, there was no kill notification, but that didn’t matter; the creature was, at least for the moment, out of commission.

One of Rowan’s mana daggers flew forward, stabbing into one of the remaining guards’ open mouth. It wasn’t quite enough to kill, but the blade pulled out and stabbed again, this time in the chest.

As the mana construct occupied the beast, the final humanoid rushed at him, swinging its claws with reckless abandon.

But Rowan simply channeled mana into his chains, extending them and whipping them upwards. Unlike when he’d had [Bind] the chains didn’t protest at all when being used as a barrier.

With the bloodspawn’s claws occupied with the chains, he swung a fist beneath the steel barrier, slamming it into the creature’s stomach.

As the bloodspawn doubled over, he moved forward and brought his knee up, slamming it into its chin.

The beast screamed out of its many mouths, but there was nothing it could do as Rowan slammed it onto its back and stabbed the mana dagger in his hand straight into its head.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn – Level 7]

Pulling the blade back out of the creature’s skull, he turned towards the final guard. It was still dealing with the mana construct he was controlling, though it was bleeding from countless wounds.

He threw the mana blade in his hand forward and began controlling it with [Mana Manipulation] as well. The two blades worked in unison, stabbing into the creature time after time. A second later, the beast collapsed.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn – Level 6]

With it dead, Rowan finally turned his attention to his true target. The broodmother. It was a strange creature, almost like an octopus. But not only did it have no eyes, it also had dozens of thin, tube-like tentacles.

The creature’s main body was just a blob of flesh covered in pustules. Now that he was so close, Rowan could see the silhouette of the bloodspawn the broodmother was cultivating inside each of the bubbling sores.

Since the creature hadn’t yet reacted to him, Rowan took a few seconds to prepare before attacking.

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But once he was ready, he went all out.

As his flail flew forward, his remaining half dozen mana darts shot forward as well.

The miniature projectiles pierced deep into the broodmother’s soft body, but it didn’t make a sound. He’d become so used to the bloodspawn’s constant screeching and roaring that it was more than a bit off-putting when the massive hunk of flesh didn’t give any audible output at the strike.

It made sense, though, since the beast had no mouths—unless the small holes at the end of its tentacles counted, but they were more like straws than anything else.