Rogue Poluda

  Chapter 28 : Encounter

  Bell Cranel's heart pounded as he descended the spiraling tunnel into the 22nd Floor. The mid-level Dungeon air hung heavy with humidity and the scent of rot. Enormous tree roots twisted across the cavern floor, forming dark alcoves that flickered in the dim light of glowstone crystals. Bell's every sense was on edge-something felt off. Perhaps it was the eerie silence; not a single monster cry or skitter had greeted them for several minutes. He swallowed hard, adjusting his grip on the Hestia Knife. Stay alert... Each footstep of his party seemed too loud in the hush.

  Just ahead, Alise Lovell strode confidently, red ponytail swaying. The former captain of the Astraea Familia moved with casual grace, one hand resting on the hilt of her elegant mithril rapier. Bell still couldn't believe she was here with them in the Dungeon. Only yesterday she'd reunited with Ryuu and joined their group under special Guild permission. Now Alise was leading the formation as if she'd always been part of Hestia Familia. Even in the gloom, Bell could see her emerald eyes scanning for threats. Despite the tense atmosphere, Alise's lips were curved in a small, reassuring smile. "Stay close, everyone. Middle floors like this can be tricky," she said lightly, voice echoing. Her calm confidence eased the knot in Bell's stomach a little. She's incredible... he thought, admiring how unruffled she seemed. Beside him, Ryuu Lion silently kept pace, her face composed but eyes warm whenever they flicked to Alise. This was the first time Bell had seen Ryuu truly at ease in the Dungeon-having her long-lost captain back had lifted a great weight from the elf's shoulders.

  Behind them, the rest of Bell's party followed carefully. Welf Crozzo had his greatsword out, broad shoulders taut with readiness. Liliruca Arde kept to the center, amber eyes sharp behind her goggles as she balanced her huge backpack of items. Mikoto walked near Lili, one hand hovering over her katana's sheath, while Haruhime lingered close to Mikoto's other side with her fox ears pressed flat in nervousness. It was the full Hestia Familia, united and reinforced by Alise's presence. For the first time, Bell felt they might truly be prepared for anything.

  Yet the oppressive quiet persisted. No distant howl, no rustle of monsters in the undergrowth-like foliage. Welf frowned. "Not even a squeak from a bugbear or mad beetle... It's too quiet." His whisper echoed. Lili nodded, ears twitching as she listened. "It's as if the floor has been emptied," she murmured. Mikoto's purple eyes narrowed. "An irregular? Or perhaps a floor boss is on the prowl outside its usual chamber..." Her words trailed off, uncertainty thick in the air.

  Alise halted at a junction where the tunnel opened into a cavern shrouded by giant tree trunks. She raised a hand, signaling the party to stop. Everyone tensed, weapons drawn. Bell felt a prickle across his skin-danger. He stepped up beside Alise, and Ryuu did the same on her other side, forming a trio at the vanguard. The three exchanged glances. In that moment, Bell saw the unspoken understanding between Alise and Ryuu-a bond forged years ago. Alise's smile faded as she studied the darkness. "Eyes open. I don't like this feeling..." she whispered. Ryuu's pointed ears twitched. "Captain-" Ryuu caught herself and corrected softly, "Alise. I sense something watching us." Bell inhaled sharply and peered into the black spaces between roots and stalagmites. He couldn't see anything, but a creeping dread climbed his spine.

  They advanced slowly into the cavern, back to back in a defensive circle as Lili directed softly, "Form up as practiced. Protect Lady Haruhime." Bell took front guard with Alise and Ryuu flanking him. Welf and Mikoto guarded the sides, Lili and Haruhime stayed center. It was a formation born of trust and countless battles-though Alise was new to it, she slotted in seamlessly. The red-haired woman spared a quick glance over her shoulder, giving Haruhime an encouraging wink. Haruhime managed a brave smile and began quietly murmuring the start of a protective enchantment under her breath, fingers trembling around her grimoire.

  They passed a massive root cluster that formed a natural archway-and Bell saw it. At the base of a gnarled tree trunk lay the remains of an adventurer's shield, shredded and pockmarked. And next to it, the ground was littered with... spines. Long, dark-green quills stuck out of the earth like arrows. Bell's eyes widened. Quills? A monster with projectiles? He knelt quickly, tapping one with his knife. The tip broke off, oozing a viscous purple fluid. Poison. A waft of acrid odor burned his nose and he recoiled. "Everyone, careful!" he warned, "These needles are coated with venom."

  Welf crouched beside him, grimacing at the stench. Mikoto drew a talisman from her pouch, sensing the miasma. "What monster leaves these?" Welf muttered. Lili's face had gone pale; she rifled through her mental bestiary. "Quills and poison... could it be a Venom Hound? But no, those are smaller." Haruhime hugged her talismans, tails quivering in fear. Bell carefully pushed aside a broad leaf and then saw what made Lili's voice die in her throat-a half-devoured form of a dungeon lizardman, its scaled body riddled with identical quills.

  Alise stepped closer, her jaw tightening at the grisly sight. She touched the dead monster gently with her boot. "Killed by those needles..." she murmured. "But these are far larger than any I know on this floor." She exchanged a look with Ryuu. The elf's eyes were haunted, as if recalling an old nightmare. Ryuu's voice was tight. "Captain, you... don't think..." Ryuu couldn't finish the thought, but Bell understood. His heart skipped. Quills, deadly venom, something slaughtering everything... It was disturbingly reminiscent of that creature-the Juggernaut. Bell felt cold sweat on his palms. The Juggernaut he and Ryuu had faced deep in the Dungeon had used razor shards of its body to kill, and its very aura had been terror. Could another such horror be here?

  Alise looked between Ryuu and Bell, noticing their uneasy expressions. "You two know something," she said quietly. Bell opened his mouth to explain, but a wet crunch echoed from the darkness beyond. Everyone froze. Skreee... A low, chittering hiss resonated through the cavern, raising every hair on Bell's neck. Slowly, Bell lifted his gaze toward the sound. High above, on a twisted tree limb, two glints of dim light reflected back-a pair of eyes, watching them.

  "Above us!" Bell shouted. In that split second, the darkness erupted. A hail of whistling quills showered down from the blackness. "Scatter!" Alise cried, already moving. Bell dove to the side, rolling over a root as several poison spikes slammed into the ground where he'd stood. Mikoto yelped as one grazed her shoulder, slicing her sleeve; she winced but kept running. Welf lifted his greatsword like a shield-three quills thudded into the blade, inches from his face. Lili grabbed Haruhime and pulled her behind a bulwark of stone just in time, a needle skittering off the rock with a plink.

  For an instant, Bell's vision was chaos-shadows and darts raining from above, his friends dodging for cover. A primal screech reverberated, filled with unbridled hate. Bell's blood ran cold at the sound. It was intelligent, full of rage-a monster's cry unlike the mindless roars he knew. He scrambled behind a fallen trunk and shouted, "Is everyone okay? Sound off!"

  "One scratch-nothing vital," Mikoto called back, though her voice was strained. She pressed a hand to the shallow cut on her arm; already the skin around it was angry red, veins darkening. Poison. Welf cursed under his breath, ripping the embedded quills out of his sword. "I'm fine! Blasted needles-almost had me." Lili peeked from behind the stone, crossbow in hand. "Haruhime and I are uninjured." The pallor of her face belied her calm tone. Haruhime clutched her fox-tail and nodded quickly, though tears of fear brimmed in her eyes. Ryuu had flipped backward in a graceful arc and now crouched beside Bell, her wooden sword drawn. The elf's face was steeled, but Bell saw it-just a flicker of dread in her teal eyes, recognition of an all-too-familiar threat. "I'm alright," she said softly. Finally Alise's voice came from somewhere to Bell's left: "Still in one piece!" There was a fierce determination in her tone.

  Bell pressed his back against the trunk, panting. His heart thundered. Above, the creature skittered across the ceiling of the cavern with a horrible scraping sound, claws against stone. In the meager light, he caught glimpses of it: a long, serpentine silhouette slithering between stalactites, its body covered in spiny protrusions. It moved unnaturally fast, one moment on the ceiling, the next clinging to a vertical pillar of rock like an insect. Bell's stomach clenched. It was like a dragon, yet lean and flexible as a snake. And those eyes-he'd seen them for an instant-glowed with a cunning malice.

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  Alise emerged from behind a boulder, standing in the open to draw its attention. "Face us, you damned monster!" she shouted, voice echoing defiantly. In the gloom, her red hair and scarlet armor plating seemed to blaze. Bell realized she was deliberately baiting it. The creature paused in its frenetic movement, perhaps surprised by the lone human bold enough to challenge it. With a guttural hiss, it began to descend a wall, entering a shaft of faint crystal light. At last, they saw their attacker clearly.

  Bell felt a chill despite the humid air. The monster was massive-at least eight meders long. Its body was dark green and scaled, like a dragon's hide stretched over a sinuous frame. It stood on four splayed, clawed feet when on the ground, but its posture was low and serpentine. Along its back bristled hundreds of long quills, each tipped with glistening purple poison. The face was draconic yet strangely lean, almost skeletal, with needle-like fangs protruding from its maw. And its eyes... its eyes held a cruel intelligence, gleaming yellow slits that darted between each of them.

  "A-A dragon? Here?" Welf breathed, stepping up alongside Bell with disbelieving horror. Lili's throat bobbed. "No... I think I've heard of this in stories-Peluda," she whispered. "A creature with a snake-like dragon body and venomous spines... But those are supposed to dwell in the Deep Floors." Her words trembled with fear. Bell's mind raced. Peluda-a name from an old bestiary entry he'd once read, a monster known to be as lethal as it was rare. What was one doing here? And why... why did it feel so evil?

  Ryuu's knuckles were white around her sword. Bell heard her sharp intake of breath. "That thing... it feels just like..." she murmured, unable to finish. Alise's gaze never left the monster as it crept closer, but she spoke, voice tight with restrained emotion: "The Juggernaut." Ryuu flinched at the word. Bell's chest constricted. Alise had guessed what he and Ryuu feared-this creature's murderous aura was the same as that calamity. Bell remembered the carnage the Juggernaut had wrought on the deep floors, how unstoppable it had seemed. And now a similar horror was before them.

  The Peluda lowered its head, lips peeling back in a grotesque approximation of a grin. "Adventurersss..." a sibilant voice issued from it, surprisingly clear. It could speak-at least that one word, dripping with hate. Bell felt a jolt. A talking monster confirmed it: this was a Xenos, one of the intelligent monsters he had sworn to help. But everything about its glare promised no kinship, only malice. The creature's voice bubbled into a guttural snarl. "Kill... you... all." The final word twisted into a screech as it lunged forward.

  "Scatter and regroup!" Lili cried out, trying to maintain formation, but the Peluda's sudden charge shattered their circle. The monster barreled at Alise, recognizing her as the provocateur. Alise stood her ground with a fearless grin. "Come then!" she yelled, bracing. At the last instant she sidestepped with incredible agility, avoiding the monster's snapping jaws by a hair. Her blade flashed out, scoring a line of sparks across the creature's scaled flank. The Peluda howled in irritation, whirling far faster than something its size should. Its tail whipped around, a blur of spines aimed straight at Alise.

  Ryuu was there in a blink. "Alise, above you!" Ryuu's warning came as she interposed herself, wooden sword raised. The tail collided with Ryuu's block, the force sending a shockwave through the air. Ryuu gasped at the strength, feet skidding back. Quills from the tail shattered, spraying. One nicked Ryuu's cheek, drawing blood; another glanced off Alise's shoulder plate. Alise's eyes went wide. "Ryuu!" In that heartbeat, Bell darted forward with lightning reflexes, seizing Ryuu by the waist and pulling her out of range as the tail slammed down, exploding the ground where she'd stood into splinters and poison dust.

  A cloud of toxic purple mist billowed from the broken quills, forcing Bell, Ryuu, and Alise to retreat coughing. Mikoto unfurled a paper charm and incanted, "By the cleansing wind, disperse!" A burst of enchanted air current cleared the poison fog before it could engulf them. But in that moment of chaos, the Peluda Xenos scuttled back into the darkness with alarming speed. Its mocking hiss echoed from somewhere above. It was toying with them-striking and vanishing like a ghost.

  Bell's arms trembled as he steadied Ryuu. She had a shallow cut on her face, and beads of sweat from the poison's burn dotted her skin. "Ryuu, are you okay?" he asked urgently. She nodded, regaining her footing. "I'm fine... just a scratch." Alise checked her own shoulder where a quill had glanced off her crimson armor. The spike hadn't pierced the special plate, and Alise appeared unaffected by the poison. Bell recalled that Alise's equipment was said to protect against venom-a relief, given their foe.

  Around them, the others regrouped, forming a tighter cluster. Welf's face was grim. "That thing moves like a damned insect!" he growled. "How do we hit it if it won't stand still?" Mikoto grimaced from the sting in her arm. "It struck and retreated... This is a predator's behavior. It's trying to wear us down." Lili's small frame shook but her eyes were determined. "We need to find a defensible spot. This open cavern leaves us exposed." She quickly surveyed their surroundings. "There, against that rocky ledge-if we put our backs to it, it can't circle completely around us."

  "Agreed," Alise said at once, already motioning everyone toward the rock wall. Bell covered their retreat, senses straining for the next attack. Somewhere in the darkness, he heard dripping water and the faint scrape of claws. The Peluda was circling, looking for another angle to strike. And Bell realized with dawning horror that it was herding them, as a hunter drives prey. This Xenos was no ally of theirs-it was a rogue, an outcast consumed by bloodlust.

  They pressed into position with the wall at their backs. The entire party breathed heavily, adrenaline coursing. Bell found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with Alise and Welf at the front, Ryuu and Mikoto just behind, and Lili and Haruhime in the center. The dynamic had shifted-where Bell usually led, Alise now naturally assumed command. But rather than feeling undermined, Bell felt relieved. Alise's presence was like a beacon of courage. He saw her draw a deep breath, calming herself. Then her voice rang out clearly in the dark: "We don't want to fight you!"

  Bell and the others looked at her in surprise. Alise took a step forward, raising her sword defensively but not attacking. Her eyes searched the shadows. "If you can speak, you can reason. Why are you doing this?" she called. Bell realized she was attempting to reach the Xenos with words. It was a slim hope, but one worth trying-Bell himself had befriended Xenos like Wiene before. Perhaps this one could be reasoned with? He held his breath, heart hammering as silence fell. For a moment, the creature ceased moving. Those glowing eyes blinked from a high perch.

  Then a guttural, hate-filled laugh emanated. The Peluda Xenos crept forward into a pool of dim light once more, head cocked unnaturally. "Reasssson? Hah... You killed usss. All of you adventurers..." it snarled, voice gravelly yet intelligible. "No peace... only death for my kind." Bell's chest tightened. He could hear genuine rage and pain in the creature's voice-a twisted echo of what the kinder Xenos had expressed about humans who hunted them. This monster had let anger consume it entirely.

  Alise's face fell slightly, sympathy flickering in her eyes. "We're not all like those who hurt you," she tried to say, softer now. "Some of us want to help the Xenos-" But the monster's roar cut her off. "LIES!" it howled, spitting droplets of poison from its maw. "Adventurers killed me... over and over... Now I'll kill you!" Bell felt an icy realization: this Peluda was beyond reason. Perhaps in its past life, it had known nothing but slaughter, and even rebirth as a Xenos hadn't broken its cycle of hatred.

  With a shrill cry, the Peluda leapt from the wall directly toward them. "Incoming!" Bell shouted. There was no more room for talk-battle had begun in earnest. Alise's jaw set with resolve. "Everyone, prepare for combat!" she commanded. Bell raised his knives, fiery determination surging despite the fear. He exchanged a look with Alise and Ryuu on either side. This was their first fight together, and it was against something truly nightmarish. Yet in Alise's confident smirk and Ryuu's fierce gaze, Bell found courage. They would face this horror together.

  The Peluda Xenos hit the ground before them with earth-shaking force, cracking the stone floor. It reared back and unleashed a shriek that reverberated in Bell's bones. Quills bristled along its spine like a thousand drawn arrows. In the half-light, Bell saw venom dripping from each tip. He tightened his grip and steadied his breathing. The cavern lights dimmed as a cloud drifted across a far crystal-casting them all in gloom with two blazing amber eyes glaring out.

  Horror and uncertainty hung thick as poison in the air. Bell's voice was barely above a whisper as he vowed, mostly to himself: "We will make it through this... all of us." His friends around him tensed but nodded, sharing that fragile determination. And then the rogue Xenos struck, and the cavern erupted into chaos once more. The deadly encounter had begun in full, with fate itself hanging in the balance.

  (to be continued...)