Gaia and her party were always on alert, when on a request and when they were in the city now. They were exhausted and the killer still hadn’t been found after a week. They were starting to worry since more bodies were being found daily. Thankfully, they hadn’t seen anything or been attacked yet but figured it was just a matter of time.

  That changed after another week. They had returned to the city as usual and were spending their time in the inn. They’d decided to all stay in one room until the killer was caught. This made it quite cramped considering her bonds. Gaia and Stephanie took the beds while Fergus and Griff took the floor and one of the chairs. That night after they all fell asleep Gaia woke up to some noise. She heard something being done to the door of the room.

  She quickly woke up Malachite who was groggy and he went to the entrance. He grew a bit to block the door just in case, Shadow was the next to be woken up and Gaia had her be quiet. She took up position behind Malachite. Then Gaia woke up Fergus who was on the floor by her bed. He woke up and noticed her vigilance. He then awoke everyone else and everyone was on alert.

  Fergus had his bow trained on the door while Stephanie had her boom stick aimed there as well. Griff was poised to strike and Gaia had her vines ready. The door clicked a few moments later before being slowly pushed open. The moment the door was completely open Gaia unleashed her Mana Field and the party went on attack. What Gaia felt through her field was not familiar, and was definitely stronger than them, but not peak stone rank.

  It made her wonder how, whoever it was, killed all of the hunters that were stronger than them. Her guess was either a skill or ability or even just a sneak attack. She didn’t know which and that caused her to be extremely cautious. Fergus’ arrow struck the person mid body and Stephanie’s shot struck it in the leg. Griff punched the figure in the head while Malachite was focused on defending as was Shadow, but the figure just fell backwards. When it hit the floor it splashed out like fog before completely disappearing.

  The next moment Gaia felt something appear behind them in the room. It was slightly stronger than the figure that had disappeared. She whipped her vines back and cut whatever it was, but the being had already grabbed her shoulder. She also sensed the figure had grabbed Stephanie. She reached out and took her hand before her Mana Field completely dropped. The next moment she felt like they were free falling. She still had Stephanie’s hand as they fell so she knew she wasn’t alone. She also realized Liv was within her armor which was a relief.

  They fell for what felt like a few minutes before they landed on a hard flat surface. As soon as they landed the hand let go of them and Gaia tried to use her Mana Field. Her field only reached out about fifteen feet and cover the room they were in. It wasn’t able to reach any further than the walls, floor, and ceiling of what Stephanie quickly told her was a cell. She also realized the presence had disappeared. She started panicking but Stephanie calmed her down. Stephanie herself wasn’t calm but they both calmed down after a bit when they realized Fergus and Griff knew they were taken. They had likely seen them be taken. The two didn’t really have much choice but to stay there and hope they were found. Hopefully, before they were killed like the hunters before them.

  As Gaia and Stephanie were kidnapped Fergus and Griff were shocked. They had hit the person before it had just dropped back and disappeared. The next moment it had appeared behind Stephanie and Gaia before grabbing them and taking them with it. They had almost started panicking before Fergus ran to find Flora. They were the most trustworthy bronze rank party he knew and they cared about Gaia and Stephanie.

  Griff followed close behind and quickly found their inn room. They started banging on the door frantically and it was opened in anger by Jess.

  “What the hell are you two doing? Don’t you know we’re-“ She started before seeing their worried expressions.

  “What’s wrong?” Titania immediately asked after seeing them.

  “Stephanie and Gaia just disappeared from our room.” They started before telling them exactly what had happened.

  A few minutes later Titania had woken up her entire party and the group went out to search the city. They started with the areas that were shady and areas where there was little foot traffic. It took them until noon to check these areas and they’d even enlisted the city guard for their search. They didn’t find anything and decided to move the search into the sewers beneath the city. They had an expansive network of sewers and had some basic slime monsters that kept the area clean.

  The sewers spanned the entirety of the city, so the search was going to be time-consuming. The search started by the town center. Flora and the Legion were the main parties that started the search. The guards would start their search by the city’s gates and work inward while the parties would work outward from the center. Griff and Fergus split up as did Gaia’s bonds. Griff and Shadow went with the Legion while Fergus and Malachite went with Flora.

  Flora started moving north through the sewers while the Legion took south. They had enlisted a few other parties to take the other directions. The League had most bronze rank parties on patrols around the city. They hadn’t had anyone search the sewers yet as they believed the killer to remain in the city. The sewers were rarely checked and had some monsters within that were strong but kept the slimes population from exploding.

  Flora was moving north and had a map of the sewers that allowed them to mark areas they’d checked. The other parties had similar maps that all linked so they would know when one found the area, if it was down there. They spent the entirety of that afternoon searching and didn’t find anything. They were getting more and more worried about their missing friends.

  By the time it was getting dark they’d only searched a third of the sewers. They tried to continue but it wasn’t feasible. At night, the stronger monsters came out and killed the slimes that had reproduced throughout the day. These monsters were rabid and attacked everything within the sewers. They had their own territories that the others cross into.

  They were left alone as they didn’t do any damage to the structure or even try to get out. They were mid-level bronze rank and stronger than most parties. At night monsters tended to frenzy when they spotted people though which made them that much more dangerous. The group reluctantly ended their search and left the sewers. The group returned to the inn and rested. None slept as their worry kept them awake.

  The next morning came much too slow for their liking. As soon as the sun was rising Flora, the Legion, and Gaia’s party members were immediately in the sewers continuing their search. They searched for some hours before finding something that seemed off. There was a section of the sewers that wasn’t on the map they had. Flora had found a section as did the Legion. There were at least two sections they’d found not on the map.

  They quickly went on the alert and started their searches through these new sections. Fergus was with Malachite and Flora searching this new section. They were in the center of the group as they searched the area. As he looked around the area was similar to the sewers but had some irregularities. The sewers were mostly stone with walkways along the edges for people to traverse. The walls were made of carved stone and small pipes were along the middle of the roof and under the walkways.

  The new section was similar but there was what appeared to be metal along the walls. There were a few solid metal doors with some kind of latch around eye level. He opened one and wished he could forget the sight. Inside the metal room was a horror made of flesh. It was humanoid but had way too many appendages. It had a center mass with around five heads, twelve arms, and six pairs of legs all on a single body. It was unmoving showing it was likely dead. He immediately shut the latch and emptied his stomach.

  When they checked the other doors they were met with similar sights. It appeared to be some kind of experimental lab. Titania had gone in one after noticing something in its chest. She cut it out and realized it was a core. The core appeared to have been implanted while alive which caused the uncontrolled growth. They immediately marked it on their map as an illegal operation. They continued their search around the lab and eventually found a door at the end.

  This door was much larger, marked with red handprints and when they cleaned it they saw an odd symbol. It looked like some kind of dark structure similar to a monolith rising from a circular pool. The pool was a sanguine red and looked like it was the pupil of an eye. The monolith had some kind of script along its faces. At the top was an impossibly dark liquid drop with a different script written inside. The drop was mesmerizing and disturbing at the same time. The scripts were completely different from any language the group had seen but had a sinister feel to it. The symbol was not one they’d ever seen or heard of before.

  After seeing the symbol, they thought the worst and were right. When they opened the door they found a room with a single table inside. There was blood everywhere. Blood coated every inch of the room and they noticed the table had straps to tie limbs down. Along the wall were medical instruments. They noticed some signs of recent use but there was nothing they could use to find the culprit. They made their way out of the lab section before stopping to process what they saw. After an hour, they continued searching, much faster than before.

  Griff was with Shadow and the Legion. They had found a new section of the sewers as well. Their section was much more ostentatious. There were tapestries with bright colors depicting battles and a coronation. All of the creatures depicted were monsters. Not one was the same. The only creature that was depicted in every single piece was a humanoid creature with multiple different monster parts attached to its body. It looked to have the head and torso of a human. Three pairs of arms made from a different monster each. One pair was a long multi jointed arm with claws at the end of a elongated hand. Another looked like the tail of a scorpion made of liquid. The third was like a regular pair of human arms, if you didn’t count the numerous mouths with serrated teeth. The being had six legs one pair being scaled with the others being spider like and directly beside them.

  It was an odd being and was the one that appeared to be crowned as a king of the monsters. They continued through the section that was an offshoot of the sewers walkway. The tapestries continued showing many battles and the same being was depicted in every one. A few things changed on it. An arm was different in one while it had more arms in another. They were cautious as they moved and reached an opening around a corner. It opened into a large throne room where they saw a symbol on the stone throne. It was the same one that Flora and Fergus had seen in the lab section.

  The throne room was massive and had six other chairs lining the hall. They searched the area and found a small wooden hatch behind the throne. They opened it and went down where they found cells. There wasn’t anything but bones in them so they made note of the area and went back to continue their search.

  The two groups met up in the center of the city as the sun set. They hadn’t found any trace of Gaia, Stephanie, or the killer. They did share what they’d found and decided to search east and west for something similar when they searched tomorrow. The groups hopes of finding their friends alive was quickly dropping. It had already been almost two days since they were taken. They once again barely got any sleep as they were exhausted from the day and the things they’d seen.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  That next morning they set out into the sewers. They went east and west today and found more sections that weren’t on the map. One was a completely circular tunnel that led to a few rooms. These held cells. It also had a map that held all four of these sections and another below the center of town. The other was a perfectly square carved tunnel that led to a large metal door. They opened it and it was multiple feet thick. The room behind held a map that filled one wall and had multiple areas of the world marked. This one had a paper that held the symbol and a few written lines.

  The two teams regrouped at the center of the sewers again and they relayed what they’d found to each other. They were all worried since it seemed to be some kind of organization or cult. From what they’d found it appeared the cult was targeting multiple cities and had some kind of plan. They couldn’t tell what the plan was but from what they’d discovered it couldn’t be good. Griff pulled the paper with the writing on it and showed it to everyone. It read as follows.

  Monarch of Blood.

  Group one has failed in the experiments. Results show cores cannot be implanted to gain the power of monsters. They cause uncontrolled growth and killed the subjects within minutes. Only one has been created successfully.

  Group Two has continued their task of obtaining subjects for research. The city guard has started to suspect something but have yet to discover their actions. They have started to abduct from the villages instead.

  Group Three has discovered the Lords Throne Room. There were a few cells found behind the throne but were not touched. The room itself was cleaned but otherwise undisturbed.

  Group Four has continued monitoring the progress of the overall mission. A few of the other branches have gone silent but the majority continue unnoticed.

  Subject 3648

  Race: Human

  Gender: Male

  Age: 20

  Result: Success.

  Core of a Spectral Abomination was implanted. Has gained the Spectral Abomination’s power. Has the ability to split into multiple copies that can act independently. When one is killed it dissipates and power returns to the original.

  Subjects mental state was changed. Seeks bloodshed. Takes pleasure in the pain and despair of victims. Implants a core into victims fatal wound. Appears to be a side effect of core implantation.

  Will continue monitoring.

  “It seems to be a report to someone called the Monarch of Blood. It seems to be some kind of cult with multiple branches. It looks like they want to gain the power of monsters or worship some kind of monster king maybe.” Jess stated after a bit.

  “The killer seems to be this experiment subject that was considered a success. What the report says confirms what Fergus and I saw at the inn. After we killed it it disappeared and then another grabbed them before disappearing.” Griff said.

  “We also don’t know if he’s already tried to or already killed them yet. My main worry is the cores being placed in them. I hope we get there before he does something to them.” Douglas said worriedly.

  “According to this map there’s another section underneath this area. Let’s try and get in there first then deal with whatever we find.” Francois said a bit grimly.

  The group began searching the surrounding area and couldn’t find anything to lead them downwards. Griff happened to feel that something was off with a section of wall not far from the main sewer hatch. He walked by it a few times and placed his hand on the area but couldn’t find anything amiss aside from the feeling. He called Jess over and she cast a spell before going to a specific section and pressing it. The wall slid downwards revealing a stairwell heading down. They cautiously walked down it while Titania checked for traps and disarmed the few she found. They continued down the stairs for about half an hour before reaching the bottom.

  The bottom of the stairwell lead into a hallway that had illumination stones along the ceiling and was made entirely of metal. They continued down it for a few minutes and entered a massive chamber. The chamber had multiple floors along the edges with cells all along the walls. There appeared to be hundreds of cells but there only seemed to be a few with people inside.

  The center of the room had a raised pedestal with channels dug from the top to the bottom where a pool of blood surrounded it. The only break in the pool of gore was a walkway that led from the back of the room. They looked at the scene in horror as the pool was nearly completely filled with blood and bodies. When they looked closer all of them had on similar robes or some white jackets. They soon heard the sound of someone cackling from behind the pedestal.

  They ran around the edge of the room to see the person standing in front of a cell. The man had a large blade in his hand that was dripping with blood as he cackled. He was sweating with exertion like he’d been fighting for a while and had cuts all over him. The man was similar to the figure they’d seen at the inn. They looked on as he walked into the cell and they heard grunts of pain.

  They immediately ran to confront him and when they arrived at the cell were shocked. They saw four of the same person taking turns cutting at Gaia as she blocked a small portal’s entrance. They quickly went on the offensive and Fergus shot one of the men in the head with an arrow. The person dropped and dissipated into fog. Flora jumped into action with Titania stabbing one in the side while John cleaved another in half. Francois snapped the neck of a third while Jess sliced the head off the one Titania stabbed. All three dropped and dissipated like the first.

  Then they heard cackling from another twenty people. They turned to see twenty different copies of the man they’d just killed. All of them approached the cell at once. The Legion immediately took up defensive positions around the portals entrance while Flora started attacking the enemies. Fergus stayed by the Legion to fire arrows while Griff took off to attack. Shadow focused on defending people where she could and Malachite was bashing the copies to hurt and put them off balance.

  After a few minutes all of the copies had disappeared. They couldn’t see any more of them and relaxed slightly before checking on Gaia who had already fallen out of the portal. Stephanie was holding her while Fern healed her when they heard some clapping from the pedestal. They turned around to see the man sitting on top of it.

  He was different from the copies. The copies all looked human with some black haze around them but he looked very different. He still looked human but had multiple cracks across his body. His face had a maniacal grin but his mouth had cracks that allowed it to literally split his face in half. His eyes were completely black aside from pinpoint white irises. He wore pants but no shirt and carried one large blade similar to a machete. He had an unearthly black haze surrounding him and removed all light that came close. Everything around him seemed to lose all color.

  In every crack that crosses his body was a black void and it released the black haze that surrounded him. He was clapping which itself didn’t sound like normal clapping each one had the sound of something cracking. With the sound came the visual cue of another crack appearing on his skin. He looked at them like they were nothing more than ants or toys for him play with before disposing of. When he saw that he had all of their attention he dropped his legs from the top of the pedestal and spoke.

  “I see you came to take my toys from me. Sadly, I’m not done with them yet. The redhead was quite entertaining. She even survived the core implant. Now, I’m just waiting to see what will happen. I guess you all can entertain me until something changes.” He stated in an oddly disjointed and unhinged fashion before standing.

  When he stood up, the cracks along his body stretched. He became around ten feet tall and his limbs were stretched. His arms became almost seven feet long and each crack worked like a joint. He jumped toward Flora who immediately spread out with John taking the attack with his great sword. Titania threw some knives that skittered off the haze that hardened when the knives connected. One hit a crack and disappeared into it. Fergus fired arrows whenever he could and Griff hit him with a palm strike that seemed to stagger him. It also seemed to bypass the haze that blocked Titania’s knives. Francois immediately went in for strikes that also bypassed the haze.

  John slashed but his sword was blocked by the haze as well. Jess used an earth spell that created boulders and lobbed them at the target. They struck him as well but parts were absorbed by the void in the cracks. She also summoned a wind blade that cut him but parts were also absorbed by the void. They realized blunt attacks and magic worked against him while slashing didn’t. They also realized they needed to avoid the area that was within the cracked sections of the man.

  The fight continued as Fern was slowly healing Gaia. Stephanie was holding her and trying to help as best she could. Douglas blocked the entrance of the cell while Jeff and Ava focused on the fight. Ava ran in and attacked a few times when there was an opening as her axe was more of a hammer. Jeff stayed back as he could only hit him with the flat of his blade. Francois and Griff were the main damage dealers as their attacks effected the man the most.

  Gaia was slowly healing but they could see something was wrong. Stephanie had seen what the man had done.

  When they had arrived at the cell they waited for a while before anything happened. After a long time they heard the man enter the chamber and walk to the edge of the cell. He phased through it by becoming a haze of black smoke. When he entered, he was staring at them both. Stephanie had immediately opened her portable forge and pulled out one of her muskets and shot home in the face.

  The next moment he had disappeared and Gaia shoved Stephanie into the portal and stood at the entrance. She heard the man grunting with frustration and effort for a long time. Then she heard the man laugh and saw blood drip down from Gaia. Then she heard the maniacal laughter of the man as he disappeared. When he disappeared Gaia dropped to her knees holding her stomach.

  Stephanie ran over and saw a wound on her stomach with a core shoved deep inside. There was also the black haze around it that kept her from removing the core. By the time Fergus and them had reached them the wound had already closed but the man came back to do the same to Stephanie. Gaia refused to let it happen and refused to move from the portals entrance no matter what happened.

  Stephanie came back to the moment and she could still see the black haze around the scar on Gaia’s stomach. There was also something else happening as Liv had disappeared at some point and she couldn’t find her. Gaia was barely conscious and Stephanie was worried. She turned her attention to the fight and saw that the man was losing. Griff, Francois, Fergus, and Malachite were whittling him down.

  Just when they thought he was done they saw something worrying. The void within the cracks suddenly spread outward from him. Everywhere it touched a black haze spread and congealed into a copy. He didn’t seem to gain any strength or health back but there were now twenty more of him. They felt weaker than him but were trouble nonetheless.

  Jeff killed one that came close and it dissipated before flying back to the man. When it reached him, some of his wounds healed and he appeared to gain some strength. This meant they had focus on the main body and ignore the copies. Otherwise, they would just be healing and strengthening him while tiring themselves out. Jeff, John, Titania, and Shadow focused on distracting the copies while the others attacked the main body.

  It took them about an hour before the man died. They had had no choice but to kill some of his copies which healed him. He had done that attack once more before Francois had killed him by crushing his skull. The entire group was exhausted when the man was dead. They immediately ran to the rest of the group and they all got ready to leave the chamber. Gaia was still barely conscious and was carried by Stephanie as they all ran.

  They ran up and out of the sewers before sprinting straight for the League. The moment they arrived John yelled out for a healer. Freya sprinted over before running to find one herself. The group ran to the infirmary as the healers were summoned. Gaia was laid onto one of the beds as a few healers arrived. They quickly asked for details about the situation before paling and working on trying to remove the core. The group was kicked out to give the healers room and they all waited outside. It took a few hours before a healer came out and spoke to them.

  “I don’t know what happened, but she’s lucky to be alive. The core was implanted about two days ago. The only reason she survived was the weird web golem she has. It had crawled inside the wound and slowly broke down the core as best it could. I don’t know what kind of effects it could have on her though.” He stated.

  The party breathed a sigh of relief when they were told that she would live but were worried about what would come of the situation. They were about to go in but were stopped as she was unconscious. They waited for a few hours before being allowed in. Gaia was still unconscious and not expected to wake up for a while longer. When they entered they saw a small Malachite sitting by her head while being vigilant. Shadow was laying by her feet and Liv was on her stomach on top of the bandages. Liv was dark red as opposed to her usual off-white color.

  It was proof of her location during their imprisonment. She was also a bit larger than before but had a few small holes and char marks all over her. She hadn’t gotten out of the ordeal unscathed. The group was just happy that they were both alive. They did see the core that had been removed from her though. Cores were usually either spherical or looked like crystals. This one looked like a large bean that was pockmarked and had been gouged out randomly. They couldn’t tell what monster it was from but there was a label beside it. “Agony Larvae” it read.