Royal Princess of Blood

It was a massive dark monster with a dozen tentacles, and they squirmed disgustingly as the teeth at the edges spread out, revealing mouths drooling with saliva. They must be tentacles it used for digging, but considering its size it must be having difficulties moving around. At the center of all these tentacles was a worm-like head, with several things all over it which can be assumed as eyes, looking in all directions.

Suddenly, the bottom of its tentacles parted, revealing even more sharp teeth, more sticky substance dripping from them. The shrieks it unleashed were deafening, painful to the ears. And most of all, it was disturbing to the heart as it sounded like screams or cries. It was a grotesque creature, as if different molds of flesh had come and merged with it. Utterly disgusting and horrifying, a horror and an abomination of nature. But perhaps this one ought not to even be considered part of nature at all, it would be repulsive to be considered as one.

Taneva grimaced at the sight of it. Both astonished and disgusted. “Damn, this is one of a kind. This thing must be centuries old. Just trapped here in the dark caverns.”

Hartwin quivered, a chill running down his spine. “I’m starting to feel like not going back to this archipelago ever again. I have seen plenty of horrors already.” There was only so much monstrous monster he could see. Well, he was used to monsters, but there was a limit. And this one here was just too much. It was so grotesque that it tickled his brain, and ‌not in a good way. Not at all. And he was horrified at the thought of fighting it. Therefore… “Can I leave this one to you? It looks beyond me.”

Taneva nodded. “It shouldn’t take long.” After leaving a ball of light, he charged towards the monster. The Cursed Children went ahead first and attacked the monster, giving a little distraction. The monster swung its tentacles at them, lashing out with incredible speed. Nira was unable to dodge them and ‌therefore was crushed violently, her body flattened on the floor.

With a clear chance, Taneva swung his spear in the air, sending a wide and powerful slash of light. The slash hit one of the tentacles. However, to his surprise, the wound was a bit shallower than he had expected, it didn’t even severe it. Granted, he didn’t put much strength into it. The monster had hard skin, it would seem. He coated his spear with magic and swung down at a tentacle, digging deep into its flesh.

At that, the monster cried so loudly that it made the chamber shake, and everyone’s eardrums ached. He swung again and severed one of its tentacles. This agitated the monster, and it quickly sent multiple tentacles towards him. Taneva tried driving them off, but one of the tentacles managed to grab him by the legs, then at the same time another lashed and wrapped around him.

Taneva grunted in pain as the teeth on the tentacles pierced deep into his body, his blood dripping to the ground. To be honest, he was surprised to discover the sheer powerful grip the monster had, that even he struggled to break free. However, he forced himself to move, putting more power into it, and slashed the tentacle with his spear, followed by another slash of magic that wounded the tentacles. Immediately after landing back on the ground, he thrust his spear, sending a piercing magic that punched a hole through one of its tentacles.

The Cursed Children drove their claws into the monster's limbs, tearing it apart like savage beasts. Taneva sprinted towards the monster and headed for its head. He leaped and raised his spear, intending to strike down there and then. However, the monster’s head opened up, baring some teeth-like things, and then suddenly, the teeth shot out towards him.

Still, Taneva ignored them, and they cleanly struck him all over his body, one even struck him in the eye. He heavily swung down his spear, cleaving through the monster’s flesh. At the same time, his blade unleashed a powerful slash of light in its swinging motion, striking the monster at point black and slicing forward. The monster’s head was sliced in half. Shrieks erupted from the tentacles, and it writhed around violently.

Taneva backed away, pulled ‌the teeth out of his eye, and watched as the monster’s tentacles swung around. However, to his confusion, it didn’t appear to be stopping, waning away. And instead, it stopped for a moment before the tentacles moved towards them.

What the…? Just what kind of evolution and adaptation did it go through to survive that?

As if these tentacles had minds of their own.

Taneva held out his spear to block a tentacle and then jumped over the one that tried to strike from his right side. While in the air, he swung his spear and sent a slash of light loaded with more power, and it severed a tentacle.

“Hmph, able to attack without the head’s eyes… So it’s seeing through some other means. Interesting creature.”

Well, there were other ways animals could navigate dark places like this. But at the moment, it wasn’t significant. He jumped back a distance and drew back his spear. He poured mana into it and threw it toward the monster. The moment the spear struck the monster, an explosion of mana erupted, ripping the monster apart.

But that wasn’t enough.

Taneva pulled out a sword and dashed towards the monster, slashing it subsequently with intense speed. He cleaved through the monster so easily until eventually all the tentacles were sliced to pieces. Like how one would slice an octopus for a dish. Taneva looked around to make sure it was not moving anymore.

“An ancient creature, now dead. Lucky you,” Taneva said. “It would seem even your attacks cannot kill me. Disappointing.” He flicked the blood off his sword and returned it to his personal storage dimension. He then picked up his spear. “It’s safe now.”

Hartwin and Velar stepped forward.

“Is Estelia still alive?” Taneva casually asked.

Velar nodded. “Yes. But her fever is getting worse.”

“... We need to get out of here and get some fresh air. This place will deteriorate her condition.” He then turned towards the Cursed Children. “They’re still in human form, so it’s yet to be night.” At least that was one way to tell time.

And with that, they continued forward. They encountered a diverging cave path, and they chose the one that would lead them roughly in the direction they were going.

Time passed, and the Cursed Children had turned into their grotesque forms. Night had come. However, it didn’t take long before they seemed to ascend, which could mean they were closing in on an exit. They marched on until eventually, they felt a gentle breeze touch their skin.

A moment later, an exit was finally in sight.

Hartwin let out a sigh. “Finally! Man, I’m so hungry…”

Taneva turned towards the normal humans of the crew. They needed rest, they had been moving all day.

“We’ll stay here for now,” Taneva said. “Eat, rest, and sleep for a few hours. We move before sunrise in the cover of dark. Lay down the princess.”

They put a futon on the ground and laid the princess there. Despite hours having passed, despite the rough venture, those were not enough to wake her. She was indeed in a deep, deep sleep. They covered her with a blanket and put a fresh, wet cloth on her forehead.

Taneva turned to the Cursed Children. “Keep watch outside.” With that, the three left.

“How far are we from where we came?” Velar asked.

“If I were to guess, more or less a dozen kilometers.”

“Wow, that’s a long cave,” Hartwin casually remarked as he prepared food. “Huh, I guess we can't light a fire to cook them, lest they see us.”

Taneva sat down on the rock. “I’ll use fire magic and put a thick fabric to cover the light.” They were still a bit deep into the cave entrance, so it should be a little difficult to see them this far. But it was just to make sure. “Make sure you eat a lot, we’re running the moment we leave.”

“How far are we, anyway?” Velar asked.

Taneva looked toward the distance. “Once we pass the mountain range, further away on a barren landscape, we’ll find a little special and inconspicuous little land.”

Hartwin frowned. “Barren landscape? Is this whole place not barren already?”

“One seemed more barren than the rest. But it’s still further away, it will take days.”

“Great…”

“What do you mean by inconspicuous?” Velar asked.

Taneva smiled. “You’ll see it when you see it. And believe me, if it is ever discovered, everyone on this archipelago will go to war for it.”

“It’s that big of a deal?” Hartwin had a look of interest on his face.

“It is… paradise. A place so different compared to those around it.”

“Really? How come no one else has found it?”

“I told you, it’s inconspicuous. And even if there was someone that ended up finding it, they might never leave. And if they are a threat… Then I guess they just die…?” Taneva shrugged. “I didn’t learn much about that place.”

“Days of travel… I suspect we’ll be rushing in our movements then,” Velar said.

“Yes. Her divinity is coming out. We don’t have all the time in the world.”

Hartwin let out a long sigh. “I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out.” He was already tired, it was not ideal if things become difficult. Not only would they suffer, but they’d lose essential time. Better if things were smooth.

“We’re far from the demons, so we might have ‌‌good momentum for a while.”

***

A few hours later, a couple of hours before sunrise, a pair of imps walked the cave and followed it to the end. Eventually, as they reached the end, they found a group of humans. They could only be the humans they were looking for, as there were no other humans here. And judging from where the entrance was located, it was hard to miss this cave.

The pair of demons hid behind a boulder.

“It’s gotta be them, right?” one whispered.

“Sure they are. We need to get back and tell everyone.”

But before they could move, they sensed someone standing behind them. They instantly turned around, but not before a golden light shone.

“What—!” A spear wrapped in golden light struck the imp and was therefore engulfed in a blast of light, obliterating him.

The other imp panicked and tried to run away. But the spear easily reached him and struck him in the chest before being engulfed in a golden blast, reducing him to dust.

Taneva briefly sighed and went on to wake ‌the crew up.

“Everyone, wake up. I eliminated a couple of demons that found us. But we need to move out now.”