"Back up, back up!" I shouted as I blasted the Abomination’s head off.
I was just about to take a step back when I heard a piercing shriek. It cut through even all the sounds of fighting, silencing the Abominations all at once as well. The Abominations climbing out of the pit froze, and were quickly taken out by Gennady and I.
"What… happened?" the Dwarf asked, panting.
"I don’t know," I said, warily edging closer to the pit. The Abominations there had stopped moving as well. They just stood in place for a moment, before they began to lumber their way back down the hole. "What are they doing?"
"There," Gennady said, pointing at the center of the pit. At the very bottom, standing amongst both living and dead Abominations, stood an Abomination that emitted a brilliant glow from its core. It lighted up most of the hole, showing clearly all the figures of the Abominations waiting down there. And I finally saw.
There were not just hundreds of Abominations. There were thousands.
The Abomination that halted them— that saved our lives— stood taller than the rest. It did not have a hunched back, or a limp body, but instead, it stood almost as if it were still alive. The blue bulbs had receded slightly back onto the skin, although they still remained slightly lumpy, but more than that, it also covered the body almost entirely. More than half of the body had been consumed by Abomination, and the core growing proportionally in size along with it.
"Atrocity," Gennady breathed out the word. "That’s supposed to be an Atrocity. Different from the rest somehow. While other Abominations grow stronger and smarter with the more bodies they manage to amass into themselves, Atrocities are an anomaly that somehow only need one.
"I… don’t understand. They’re supposed to be incredibly rare. The Holy Xan Empire claims they never saw them unless there was an Amalgamation about. And even then, only one or two. Why is there an Atrocity here?"
I looked at Gennady, staring with a haunted gaze down at the Atrocity, then down at the Atrocity itself, staring up at us with a keen intelligence in its eyes. Slowly, I shook my head.
"I don’t know," I repeated myself from earlier. "But I guess it’s a good thing for us."
"What? Why?!" Gennady looked at me in shock. "Atrocities are said to be Inquisitor killers— they can be killed by Inquisitors too, but it’s not easy. The recommended protocol given out by the Holy Xan Empire indicates that if an Atrocity were spotted near a city like Locke, all of its citizens are to be evacuated immediately. We need to go back. We need to warn—"
I interrupted the Dwarf by raising a hand. He quieted himself, glancing at it in confusion. Then he screamed at me as Fireball formed on my palms, before I threw it down into the pit.
"What are you doing?"
"Exterminating them," I said, not even looking at him.
I continued throwing Fireballs at the mass of Abominations waiting down below.
"You’re crazy! Insane! You’ll get us both killed! You’ll—"
Gennady slowly cut himself off as he realized nothing was happening. The Abominations were not reacting. The explosions echoed in the cavern, as the wall and ceiling itself shook, but there was no chittering. No swarm of Abominations coming at us.
"Why aren’t they…"
"I don’t know," I repeated myself a third time. "I told you, didn’t I? They don’t attack me unless I attack them first."
"But you’re attacking them right now!" the Dwarf argued.
"Yes, I am," I said simply. "And that Atrocity is stopping them from attacking me back."
I had stopped launching Fireballs down the crevice, fearing for a possible cave-in. I began raining down Fire Arrows and other smaller spells that could be cast rapidly. Abominations fell one by one, being culled ever so slowly.
And the entire time it happened, the Atrocity just stood there, staring up at us. At me. Its eyes never left me, and despite doing nothing else, I felt a shudder go down my spine as it watched me. I continued the onslaught, lighting the pit aflame, crushing the Abominations with falling rocks, and slicing them up with blades of wind.
Eventually, all that was left was the Atrocity. It stood amidst the fire, as a column of smoke rose up and threatened to suffocate me. Amidst the dead Abominations. Then it too fell. Dead.
I slumped over the floor, tired. I had never expended myself as much as I did today. I had been starving, injured, and lost in the Free Lands after I escaped Bys, but that feeling of exhaustion paled in comparison to this. I felt like I could not even feel the mana around me anymore. I could not cast another spell, and I did not think I could even operate a mana tool.
Gennady glanced down at me, opening his mouth to say something. I saw it move, but I heard no words. My vision blurred.
And then I passed out.
Chapter 17: Escort Mission
It was morning when I woke up.
I pushed the nice, thick blanket off of me, as I rolled comfortably off of the queen sized bed. I glanced out the silk drapes, out into the quiet street as people went about their day. I rubbed at my eyes—
Waitaminute, this is not my bed! This is not my room! Where am I?!
I frantically searched myself for all my belongings, and found that I still had everything on me. Just then, the door to the room creaked opened.
"Damned Humans, always trying to rip— oh, you’re awake."
A stout man with a broad chest stepped in, carrying something on his hand. It was Gennady, and he walked up to me.
"I just bought these from—" he started, but was
