Chapter 50: Soil Sucking
Bee watched as Void danced around the earth demon's blows. The demon seemed utterly lost as it spun around, trying to follow the small black blur nipping at its heels. In fact, she might have said that its blows looked clumsy, but that was only in comparison to Void's darting form. Still, that didn't mean that the monster was harmless. Every time a fist or foot hit the ground, she could feel the vibrations even from a dozen yards away. It wasn't quite enough to crack the granite, but if those blows were directed at her, she would be squashed instantly. The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
Bee was relatively certain that Void was not playing with the demon, but it sure looked like it was. She watched as small parts were methodically ripped off from the tremendous earthen mass and consumed by her master. It was not a fast process. Of course, such a foe was beyond her ability to damage, but her master seemed to have no issue.
Bee belatedly remembered to scan the earth demon. Sure, she had scanned them when they were in cages, but she wasn't sure which one this was exactly, and it looked more powerful than she would have expected. The results confirmed it.
NAME: N/A, RACE: EARTH DEMON, LEVEL: 32, CLASS TYPE: TANK
She already knew most things, but level 32 was the critical part. It was more than twice her own level. Dirt scattered towards her from a wayward blow, and she took a couple more steps back to avoid it.
Void's illumination showed forth brightly. Bee averted her eyes as the ghostly light made them itch more intensely than before. From the corner of her vision, she saw a bright spot appear on what must have been the demon's chest. Strangely enough, the illuminated area seemed to cave in slightly, as though it was being corroded by the light. It seemed that her master was done playing around.
—-
Frantically I danced. Every second it felt like I was courting death by a hair's breadth. The giant beast's arms came down repeatedly, thundering all around me. Only with my improved cognition speed and quick reflexes was I able to stay just ahead. My vacuum slowly siphoned away the creature's mass as I stayed as close as possible. But that wasn't the only way I was weakening it. Every time its fists slammed into the marble floor around me, more pieces of it went flying. I altered my paths slightly to collect as much stray material as I could before it was re-absorbed by the mess maker. And as it attacked faster and more fiercely, more and more of the material making up its bulk disappeared into my vacuum.
More than even that, though, my sanitation lamp seemed to be way more effective than I expected. On full power, the demon's body seemed to almost dissolve wherever it shone. This effect was also greater the closer I got. My calculations indicated that at a distance, the sanitation lamp accounted for 7.8% of the mass loss of the demon. However, closer up, it accounted for 21.2%. That meant it was scaling even better than my vacuum, though the vacuum was still doing more overall. That was very odd. I'd have to do some more testing later. It was draining my battery but nowhere near enough to cause me concern about lasting through this fight. I don't think I could run out of energy even if I tried before defeating this thing. No, the much more likely outcome would be me being crushed instead.
—
Bee leaned against the inside of the coat room door, panting. She could feel the door shake as heavy fists repeatedly pounded into it. The demon seemed to have slipped past Void as it played with it. These doors were solid oak, but even she didn't think that would hold them long. With her master trapped at the top of the stairs, she didn't think she could count on help coming either.
She looked about the room, trying to find some way out of this predicament. She cursed her terrible decision. If only she had gone through the other door, that side led to servants' corridors that she could have possibly escaped through. Unfortunately, this was just the coat room. And there weren't even any coats here.
She still had her pack and her broom, but that was it. As good as she had gotten with her broom, she didn't think she would have the strength to do any damage to a level 32 earth demon. And she definitely didn't have the speed to survive a prolonged confrontation. Inside her pack, there wasn't much left of her supplies except for the alchemy kit. But wait. Quickly, she shrugged out of her pack and started digging through it. She still had a few potions she had made earlier. She hadn't needed them for the skeletons, but maybe they could help now. There were a couple of the distraction ones that made smokescreens and a speed potion. This might just be enough to get her past the demon. Quickly she downed the speed potion.
She felt her reflexes and muscles react as though electrified. Finally, they were ready to respond, and even as she started getting ready to fling various distractions, she noticed the difference in her hand speed. Propping the pack against the wall to retrieve later, she prepared to fling open the door.
Before grabbing the handle, she dropped one of the smoke bombs. Then she opened the door and tossed another one right at the demon. They both broke, immediately billowing out grayish-white smoke. Then, using her newfound speed, Bee dropped into a slide between where she thought the creature's legs were. Judging from the fact that she wasn't immediately clobbered, her distraction seemed to have worked. Coming up the other side. She took the stairs three at a time, hopping back up to her master's side.
The speed potion only lasted for half a minute, so she didn't have much time. She spoke quickly. "Master, may I have your permission to head to the library? I don't think I'll be of much assistance here."
It gave an affirmative noise, and she took off running, trying to take advantage of all the speed she had. Bee was lucky that the library wasn't far off. When she made it around the corner, she saw another demon similar to the last at the opposite end of the junction. Luckily, it was walking away from her. She sprinted in the other direction towards the library. As she skidded to a halt in front of the door, she wildly checked for enemies. Though there were none immediately visible, she heard something coming around the corner. She slipped in and closed the door before she was caught.
Now safe in the library, Bee thought about her next moves. First, she would need to figure out a way for her to deal with earth demons. She also needed to see how many had gotten out. The worst case would be all of them, but perhaps things weren't that bad. Finally, she would definitely need more speed potions. Along with maybe some strength ones and other kinds would help her in these situations. If she could get the ingredients.
Bee sighed inwardly. Just when she had started to feel safe inside the castle... Hopefully, Void would take care of it quickly, though. It did not seem happy with the new intruders.
She quickly scanned the shelves to find anything of worth, her tiredness forgotten.