Chapter 293: Swallower of Souls
Mana-Infused .̸̠̑/̷̧͖̮͚͐̕.̵͙̣͍̩̜͉̏/̸̩̖̐ͅ.̸̮̙̰̖̜̾̽͌̌̽͛̾͐/̸̛̗̘̼̳͕͔͕͚̈́̈̑̅̑̚.̴͉͉͌̃̊͆̈́̄͘.̶̱̔̌̓͊̚/̸̜̞͉͙͔͖̬̇͋͜.̵̘͔͇̘͇̄̓̃͜/̵̧̺̼͖̠̮̩͚̒͒̑̂̈̿̃͠ D-
I twisted another blasphemer into service, interrupting the thought-light before it could announce the Coreless’ final death - and before he could even scream out to alert the others.
Without the captive Coreless to worry about, I was able to press the blasphemers harder. Finally, the plant-flesh had risen up against the intruders in truth, vines and thorns and spores and more assaulting them as they traveled. While most of it was blocked by the mana-powered wind that twisted in the air around them, and much of what remained by the ore-flesh that laid in wait behind that, the assault still succeeded in something.
It slowed them down - and, more importantly, it kept me hidden while it did it.
Distracted as they were by the plant-flesh around them, I found that I could slither around their feet with relative impunity, only slowed by the wind that whistled around them. Even then, I occasionally found my chances, if I angled myself just right against something the blasphemers were stepping towards, leaving the barrier of wind with nothing to do but press me uncomfortably against it.
Then, when the blasphemer stepped forward again and the wind passed over me fully, I was already inside. From there, I could simply invisibly slither my way up unfeeling ore-flesh and wait for an opportunity to strike.
On one particularly heated assault, a thought-hiss sent two of my newly created once-blasphemers stumbling into one of their allies. The three tumbled over, falling into a mass of barbed thorns.
In the midst of the fall, careful not to get myself crushed, I transferred over to the blasphemer-that-still-was and sunk my fangs into the back of his neck. This time, I was sure that the others noticed the scream. Yet, with the thorns that continued to try sinking into the man, scratching at his ore-flesh in an unthinking fury, I was also sure that they didn’t realize what the real cause was.
Mana-Infused .̸̠̑/̷̧͖̮͚͐̕.̵͙̣͍̩̜͉̏/̸̩̖̐ͅ.̸̮̙̰̖̜̾̽͌̌̽͛̾͐/̸̛̗̘̼̳͕͔͕͚̈́̈̑̅̑̚.̴͉͉͌̃̊͆̈́̄͘.̶̱̔̌̓͊̚/̸̜̞͉͙͔͖̬̇͋͜.̵̘͔͇̘͇̄̓̃͜/̵̧̺̼͖̠̮̩͚̒͒̑̂̈̿̃͠ D-