Book 7, Chapter 85 - Giant Octopus

Emerald Star’s underground city was ringed with angry snarls, b.l.o.o.d.y corpses and the stench of conflict . It was like stepping into the depths of h.e.l.l .

Autumn sat upon the back of her dragon, gently playing her flute . Her hair danced on sweeping gusts of wind and her green dress fluttered . Her young, pretty face was serene as she played as though she was lost in her own world . She forgot herself, forgot the carnage – all there was, was the music .

Below her a milling horde of creatures shuffled forward . They crawled over and around one another in a chaotic flood . They snarled and snapped, some releasing b.a.l.l.s of fire and smoke into the air . Tension filled the atmosphere as Autumn’s army met other creatures and tore them apart . Meanwhile Natessa and her elite crew followed with thousands of troops in tow . They cleaned up what the monsters missed .

The creatures were strong, but not particularly intelligent . Autumn’s will commanded thousands of them and robbed them of the ability to distinguish friend from foe . Like a buffeting tide they swayed back and forth while soldiers cut them down .

Wave after wave were culled . The brutality and efficiency of the extermination was impressive, especially since the monsters were also at one another’s throats . The number of monsters Autumn was able to control was static, but she could s.h.i.+ft that control as she wished . Chaos was the result among the snapping swarm .

Azura led her Awakened through the fray, cutting down scores of beasts . The intensity of the fight was more than they’d expected after being told to evacuate . However, though the scene was drenched in blood only very few Awakened were killed or wounded in the fighting .

Defense was the first priority of Greenland’s troops . Most precious were their Awakened . Of course it was not like they were defenseless themselves . Aside from a few unlucky souls, casualties were minimal .

Pigblossom yelled at the top of his lungs . “Something’s going on up ahead!”

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His cla.s.smates looked in the direction he indicated . There was a cl.u.s.ter of black buildings on the horizon that varied greatly from the surrounding Elysian-style structures . All of them were connected together, forming a ma.s.sive honeycomb framework . Yet while the exterior looked like iron, it moved, undulating like some sort of organ . Not alive, more like a nest .

No doubt about it . This was where the monsters were coming from . Whatever sp.a.w.ned them was waiting inside .

Nothing about it seemed G.o.dly . Some other intelligent species was probably responsible and the G.o.ds merely pilfered it . It was the only way to explain what something this odd was doing here .

But where it came from wasn’t important . Natessa ordered the attack .

Autumn, also noting the alien hatchery, commanded her beasts forward . The nine-headed wolves took to the air, but as they prepared to strike a strange power was released from the structure .

Whoosh---!

It was formless but palpable, was.h.i.+ng through the area with a deep hum . All the beasts were thrown into a frenzy, even breaking Autumn’s control . She scowled at the affront .

This strange power took her by surprise, not least of which because it was so similar to her own . It exerted its will on the beasts, forcing an order among the mindless things . As she watched they formed a defensive perimeter around the hive .

Yes, this was the place . Inside the brood mothers hid, slave to some overpowering will . It made them endlessly produce more offspring and controlled the hordes like puppets . Now, it was aware of the threat on its doorstep .

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The Shepherd G.o.d tried again to take their minds, pouring more of her psyche into the attempt . She succeeded in domineering several of the wolves and forced them to renew their attacks . With searing plumes of flame they swooped by the nest . The intense heat caused the exterior to crack .

Another pulse of intense psychic energy was released from inside . As though from some enormous, invisible hand, the wolves were s.n.a.t.c.hed up . They struggled and thrashed but could not move as the consciousness battled against the Shepherd G.o.d’s control .

She would not tolerate these powerful creatures being wrested from her, so she fought back . Neither mind would back down and as they contended, the wolves howled in agony . Eventually it was the unseen controller that could not sustain .

The ground collapsed beneath the hive as from the ground a number of blood red tentacles burst forth . They lashed out at the wolves, flinging deadly barbs that dug into the creatures . Each of the spines was lined with delicate suckers .

Even more bitter wails rose from the beasts . They shriveled and shrank as all the fluids were drained from them, until only husks hung limp from the tentacles’ grasp .

“That’s what we’re after . Quick, prepare the artillery . Destroy it!”

Natessa knew these tentacles belonged to the hive’s protector, a powerful and terrifying beast whose intelligence matched its strength . The Shepherd G.o.d’s power could not overcome its strength of will .

At her command, Greenland soldiers pushed the eboncrys heavy artillery weapons to the fore . A few moments later orbs of highly concentrated energy fired from the ground like small moons or comets . With incredible speed they raced across the caverns and slammed into the heart of the tentacles .

A thunderous explosion followed . More of the stony floor crumbled . However it did not destroy their foe, only infuriate it further . The creature heaved itself from beneath the ground to reveal it’s true face – a colossal, undulating octopus several hundred meters tall .

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It was no ordinary monster . Hundreds of tentacles writhed around it, each one a lethal weapon . One swipe could tear through most defenses and attack with elemental energy . Judging by the way it fought off the Shepherd G.o.d’s control, it also had the mental strength of a Master Demonhunter .

This beast was a thing from the far reaches of s.p.a.ce, placed here to slumber for countless millennia . Here it had slept soundly until these hateful insects awakened it . Already ill of temper, the rude awakening stoked its fury even higher .

A dark gleam s.h.i.+ned in the creature’s eye . It was a representation of intense, concentrated psychic power . Where it stared the beasts were forced to capitulate with its will . The lesser beasts fell in line, forming into a snarling army .

As a cohesive unit they threw themselves at the fiends under Autumn’s control . A vicious fight ensued, sp.a.w.ning a shower of blood and limbs .

Whooomm, whooomm, whoommm .  The octopus released another wave of power . Its will dug into the  minds of the humans like hot iron spikes . Greenland soldiers, unable to withstand the unseen a.s.sault, howled in agony and fell to their knees . Even a number of the Awakened screamed in pain and were overwhelmed .

Dozens of barbed tentacles reached out . A storm of wind, lightning and hail blasted through the area . The powers this monster wielded were nothing short of extraordinary . There was no question why it was chosen to defend the hive . If something didn’t change, casualties would begin to swell .

Natessa knew it was time . Her and her elite had to act . “Now . ”

The Giant of h.e.l.l’s Valley and her core warriors leaped into action . Relics came to life, flinging their power into the body of the octopus . Under their focused a.s.sault, the monster suffered terribly .

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However, the beast was ma.s.sive and hardy . While the wounds it suffered were hideous, they were far from enough to take it down . More tentacles came whipping by, bringing with them a deluge of mental attacks .

It was becoming clear to the humans that the octopus was good at ranged attacks, and the powers it wielded covered a huge area . Against a large force like Greenland’s soldiers, this promised to wreak havoc . But against a single enemy the beast had difficulty targeting its ire .

Barb flung herself forward, hacking off a tentacle with one heave of her sword . It sloughed to the ground but instead of falling still the limb sprouted bony spikes . It flailed among the humans with wild abandon, creating a zone of mangled corpses .

“Stop it!” Azura cried .

The Awakened around her fired arrows of energy at the limb . It took two dozen blows before it was too badly mangled to do any more damage .

Azura then turned to the monster . With her short swords she chopped off two more tentacles . Now that she knew what to expect, she quickly carved both limbs to pieces before they even hit the ground .  

Elsewhere, Gabriel was weaving his Shadethread . The malignant weave cut apart the beast’s extremities, leaving very little behind . Since the octopus relied on these tentacles to attack, if the appendages were removed the monster would be weakened .

The behemoth was incensed . How dare these arrogant, insignificant vermin try to fight back! It was time they learned their folly .

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