Chapter 21: Plague God (3)
Isaac wrapped himself in a thick monk’s robe, concealing his features under the hood. He had yet to return Isolde’s Sword of Judgment at his side.
The mission ahead required utmost secrecy.
With the chaos offspring by his side, Isaac ventured towards the plague’s source that had been discovered.
Over the past days, he had dispatched chaos offspring to trace the source, and finally, they had a lead.
Isaac reminisced about the plague-infected boar from two years ago, which he had initially dismissed as a local ailment.
However, the current situation hinted at a more sinister plot. There seemed to be an intelligent scheme targeting the monastery.
As they approached the boarded-up area, Isaac was taken aback. This sealed-off section was meant to cover an abandoned cellar.
Considering the attack came from outside the monastery, he figured the culprit would also be external. But now, the chaos offspring was clearly heading underground, within the monastery.
After a moment of thought, Isaac used the sword as a lever to dismantle the makeshift wall. There was no choice but to check. He stepped through the debris and descended the stairs.
Just then, a message from the Nameless Chaos appeared.
[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]
[The Nameless Chaos finds this sanctuary abhorrent.]
[The Nameless Chaos wants the ‘purification’ of this desecrated sanctuary.]
[Award from Chaos awaits you.]
“‘Sanctuary?’” Isaac pondered the message, something completely new to him.
The Nameless Chaos had never seemed to care when Isaac prayed to the Codex of Light or studied its sacred texts. Even when openly critiquing or despising the tentacles, there was no reaction. But now, the Nameless Chaos appeared more disgusted by something below these stairs than ever before.
“There must be something.”
***
A lukewarm, sticky breeze rose from the stairwell. Despite it being winter, Isaac wrinkled his nose at the strange warmth, almost like being hugged by sweaty, massive flesh.
Suddenly, Isaac felt his left-hand tentacle squirm. Instinctively, he swung the sword.
Snick! A rat, nearly the size of a small puppy, leaped down towards Isaac, only to be cut in half by his blade.
“What a pig-like creature…”
Another tentacle moved.
Thump.
A rat hit by his foot squeaked and scurried away, alerting others in the dark. Glowing red eyes started emerging from the shadows. Isaac, a seasoned rat hunter, recognized them all as rats.
“These darn rats. Always so many, and now they’re flooding out from here?”
Isaac realized why there was a never-ending supply of rats. Something underground in the monastery was constantly producing them. Unbeknownst to Isaac and Gebel, they had been thwarting the plague’s assault all this time.
Rustling sounds echoed around him. Countless rats moved in sync, like a field of grass swaying. Isaac readied his sword as they charged.
The rats, small on their own but a force in numbers, bravely attacked. Individually weak but relentless as a group.
And they had used the darkness to their advantage before, turning larger beasts into prey.
But this time, they faced a new adversary.
Thump, crack!
With a swing of his sword like a golf club, several rats were flung away. Those that hit the walls left behind bloody marks. Driven by frenzy, they failed to understand what was happening.
Isaac calmly retreated, methodically slicing, stabbing, and dismembering the charging rats. Despite the glowing red eyes surrounding him, his swordplay showed no hesitation.
Snick, snick!
Only when the scent of blood overwhelmed the decay and the rats hesitated did they stop attacking. Despite their numbers, not a single one could land a bite on Isaac.
Even when those little buggers tried climbing on him, they were stopped by the thick robe wrapped around his limbs. Isaac had a feeling the rat swarm would attack as he went to face the source of the plague.
‘Rats ain’t a problem, no matter how many.’
Even after swinging his sword a few times, Isaac’s breathing barely changed. No fancy moves were needed when dealing with just rats. A perk he got when he was 14 was to thank for that.
[You can snack on small critters anytime.]
This perk didn’t just mean Isaac could eat rats with his tentacles. It meant the rats were about as threatening to Isaac as a chick is to a lion. A top-notch predator.
Whether it’s a hundred chicks or a thousand, it’s all the same to a lion. Isaac watched the rat swarm closely, not intimidated by their big numbers.
Plus, Isaac had some other perks.
[You’re super strong with the ‘Snack’ perk from the plague giant bear.]
[You’re a pro at finding weaknesses with the ‘Snack’ perk from the plague wolf.]
The plague animals Isaac had chowed down on had become his strength now. Spotting weaknesses and using his tireless strength, Isaac found openings in the rat swarm and took them out in one go. There was no need for fancy sword moves against such small fries.
If it was someone else, they’d probably be coughing and getting weak in this plague den by now. But Isaac was immune, no sweat.
‘Looks like they’re getting scared.’
The rat swarm noticed more rat corpses around them than live ones.
Rats are clever creatures. They’ll boldly charge at tougher foes in numbers, but if they feel outmatched, they’ll bail on their pals and flee. Fear and panic soon spread among the rats. Isaac saw the openings in the rat swarm at that moment.
Thump.
Isaac dashed forward, his tentacles swinging.
The tentacles split into strands, grabbing the rat swarm like claws.
Pffft!
Rats pinned to the wall popped like balloons.
His tentacles gobbled up the rats, and the chaos descendant with Isaac sucked their juices eagerly.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the rats panicked and bolted through the gaps. But Isaac wasn’t letting them off easy.
‘This ends today.’
Isaac injected parasites into the squirming rats on the ground. Those infected rats convulsed and burst. Half a dozen chaos descendants were born from the mess.
“Eat ‘em all.”
These chaos descendants born from rats weren’t super tough, but they could handle around ten rats each comfortably. Their lifespan was about a week. The chaos descendants Isaac had set loose in the mountains also began moving on his command.
They slipped into the wall cracks, leaving behind a heavy scent of blood and quiet.
Isaac felt a sudden pang of hunger.
Using the tentacles’ cool abilities, like a ‘flesh storage’ that quickly digests whatever it ate, and if used too much without hunting, it munches up Isaac’s own energy.
Lately, Isaac had been all about quarantine and treatment, not having a proper feast. But hey, he managed to stay fed thanks to his tentacles having a feast on wolves and bears.
But man, the hunger he felt now wasn’t just about running out of beasts to chow down on; it was more like an emotional emptiness that hit him every time he used his abilities.
‘Alright.’
Chirp.
Out of the darkness appeared a rat, but not any old rat—it had two heads and was half-rotten.
Isaac immediately knew this rat was special.
“Follow me.”
That message popped into Isaac’s mind as the two-headed rat vanished into the dark. It wasn’t the voice of the nameless chaos or the chaos descendants.
Isaac grinned, feeling pretty sure his hunch was right.
He had finally sussed out which being was behind the plague and controlling those infected critters.
Isaac followed along as he was told.
He licked his lips, eager for the upcoming face-off.
He was already super hungry.
***
The underground path started getting rough and ancient-looking. The architecture changed from the monastery’s neat style to something way older and cruder.
Checking out the engravings on the walls, Isaac realized the monastery was built on top of some ancient setup.
‘Just as I suspected.’
Isaac had been here before.
More like he had explored this place while playing ‘Nameless Chaos.’
And it felt like déjà vu.
Thud. Isaac hit the bottom of the stairs. The cellar below was a crumbling mess now, but the altar’s size hinted at its past significance.
Lying on that altar was the former big shot of this place.
A massive rat.
This rat was as huge as the bear Gebel once took on. But it had a weirdly large body compared to its limbs, making it tough to move. Only its belly was swollen, giving off a sickly green glow.
The giant rat fixed its glowing green eyes on Isaac.
“How dare a lowly creature mess with the master plan of the great one… Who are you?”
Isaac chuckled at the rat’s words. Before he could reply, the rat boss cut in furiously.
“Hush, you creature. I’m not talking to you. A little critter like you can’t possibly sniff out and ruin my plans. There’s gotta be someone backing you. Show yourself.”
“Talkative one for a rat piglet, aren’t ya?”
Silence took over the dungeon. The giant rat stared at Isaac before speaking.
“Do you even know who you’re talking to? I am…”
“The Rat Mother Zihilrat, right?”
The Rat Mother Zihilrat.
The Plague Queen, mom to a whole bunch of rats.
Known as ‘Rat Pig’ by gamers.
Isaac finally got what was really going on. The monastery where he’d been hanging out for years was actually a famous ‘Nameless Chaos’ dungeon.
A lair teeming with the god-awful Plague Queen and her followers.
So, if things had gone as planned, the monastery would’ve been wrecked by the plague in two years, left deserted or totally empty.
‘But not anymore.’
Isaac, who had beaten Zihilrat countless times in the game, just casually glanced at her.
‘If I eat that, I’ll be stuffed.’
