The two lizardmen were thankfully not bothering with looking after the prisoners, this gave them enough time to finish smearing themselves in mud and soon extract themselves from the cage.
“I need you to do me a favor though,” Ludwig said before the two left.
“What is it?” the girl said.
“I need you to make a small commotion after you escape, nothing too big that it will draw the other guys over, but just enough for these two to go and check it out,” Ludwig said.
“I told you, this commoner is trying to use us as bait!” Tommy’s face twisted into a sneer.
Ludwig’s expression darkened. The ungrateful bastard was grating on his nerves. Just moments ago, Tommy had been a trembling wreck, desperately clinging to hope, and now he had the audacity to sneer and call Ludwig a “commoner” as if he weren’t the very reason Tommy was alive. For a fleeting moment, Ludwig considered grabbing Tommy by his collar and throwing him back into the cage. Let him see how long his noble blood could fend off a hungry lizardman. But Ludwig dismissed the thought. There wasn’t time for petty revenge—not yet, at least.
“Shut up!” the girl said. Ludwig, was it?” she said. I don’t know about the commotion, but I have a slow-burning spell I can use it’ll blow up after half an hour. I’m currently injured, so I can’t run fast or far. You’re going to have to wait a bit for your opportunity,” she said.
“Good enough for me, also what’s your name? I never got to hear it,” Ludwig said.
“Talia, Talia Moor,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, Talia, now please, go on ahead I’ll be waiting,” Ludwig said.
The two crept into the shadows, their muddy forms blending with the surroundings. Ludwig watched them go, his fists clenching as Tommy skulked ahead without so much as offering Talia a hand to steady her injured leg.
“Fucking waste of air,” Ludwig muttered under his breath, shaking his head before turning back to the lizardmen.
He couldn’t fully rely on the two to cause enough commotion, though it would be helpful he knew well that if they take too long, the Champion would probably come back earlier than expected.
Of Ludwig’s personal abilities and skills, he didn’t have much to work with. He took another glance at all of his abilities and muttered, “I didn’t think it’ll come down to this.”
Glancing down at the dirt beneath his feet, Ludwig felt the reckless idea form in his mind. It was dangerous, untested, and could just as easily backfire as succeed. But it was his only option.
“This is such a bad idea,” he confirmed to himself. “But I don’t see another way.”
“Though I have no idea what might come out of this,” he muttered, “But I hope it’s enough to cause issues. “Rise!” Ludwig said as he placed his palm on the ground.
The mana in his body dipped down to almost nothing. And a massive sigil painted itself on the ground, spreading like black ink on paper, maleficent and horrid, the mana gathered and poured out into the ground.
[Your mana level is critically low, you might fall {Unconscious}]
[Since you are an undead, you cannot fall {Unconscious}]
[You lack the understanding to summon a loyal undead]
[Your Luck stat plays a role in easing the process of the summoning]
[Your affiliation with Deus Necros further eases the process of the summoning]
[You have called forth {Lizardman Zombie}]
[Warning, your current Wisdom and Charisma are too low to control {Lizardman Zombie} he will consider you an enemy once he sees you]
Ludwig was completely stupefied by what just happened, this was just a small attempt to see if he can create enough commotion, though he couldn’t use his mana for anything else, since he couldn’t use the [Fireball] spell as it will instantly reveal his position, his only thought was to try and use the undead summoning sigil, and apparently he succeeded in creating an undead.
A clawed, rotting hand burst through the soil, followed by a grotesque body that clawed its way into existence. The creature was a sick parody of its former self, its flesh sloughing off in patches to reveal decaying muscle and broken bones. Red pinpricks of light burned in its empty eye sockets as it groaned and stumbled forward. which mixed frighteningly well with the atmosphere.
He backed away from the creature that began groaning as it finalized its manifestation and pulled the attention of the two Lizardmen with it.
Ludwig wanted to inspect it, but he feared that it would pull the Zombie’s aggro, as many people have already felt the use of [Inspect] on them. And honestly, it would serve him no use, this is nothing but a pile of rotten flesh and bones, all it would ever amount to was to act as a meat shield for the incoming lizardmen.
The two lizardmen rushed the zombie and Ludwig took the chance to go around the area, using the {Low Presence} passive he got earlier to pull through without being noticed.
The sound of battle wasn’t too high, and the lizardmen only hissed at the Zombie and poked it around, the latter looked too slow and too confused to do anything, enough that Ludwig gave up on it.
‘It’ll die soon I guess, but it bought me enough time,’ he said as he moved inside the cave.
He didn’t know if there could still be more lizardmen inside, but seeing that no one came out of the cave besides the Lizardmen queen and the champion earlier, he braved the dangers and walked in.
The cave was dark, but not enough to hamper an Undead’s sight, Ludwig’s vision was perfectly clear during both night and day and he could see the inside of the cave with ease. There was nothing worthy of note inside.
The air inside was damp and heavy, carrying a faint metallic tang that set Ludwig on edge. Old bones and piles of hay littered the ground, the remnants of previous meals and crude bedding. Ornaments fashioned from teeth and claws hung from the walls, crude trophies that glinted faintly in the dim light.
There was a slow and constant sound of breathing coming in from deeper in the cave. It seems that the Queen wasn’t the least bit worried or maybe didn’t even notice the skirmish happening outside, after all, she probably lived her entire life unworried about anything, as the entire tribe protected and sheltered her.
Ludwig approached the deeper part of the cave slowly and just as he reached the end of the cave a notification popped up in front of him.
[You gained 1 Wayward Soul]
‘Huh?’ Ludwig frowned, how did that come to happen? He has yet to do anything.
Then it hit him, ‘Did the Zombie, that slow awkward thing, manage to kill a Lizardman?’
Ludwig didn’t have the luxury of going out and inspecting things outside, he brandished his weapon and continued on with his approach, and once he saw the Queen lying on the ground he began enacting his plan.
He already had an idea of what to do, and now with one lizardman gone, it should be easier.
He removed his leather belt and slowly approached the sleeping Queen, once he was close enough to the latter, he jumped on the back of her neck.
The sleeping queen immediately jerked her head up, and was about to scream but Ludwig had the belt ready and instantly hooked it around her mouth and tightened it.
The queen panicked and tried to use her skills, but since her mouth was closed, she couldn’t [Cry for Help] and since there were no lizardmen nearby, she couldn’t use [Instigate].
Ludwig rode on the back of the lizardmen Queen, pulling the belt with his left arm, and with a backhand grip on the ceremonial sword he jabbed it into her neck.
[Critical!]
[You caused Laceration onto {Forest Lizardmen Queen}]
[ Laceration causes the target to lose 1% of maximum HP every second!]
The Queen desperately tried to claw the leather belt away, but the moment her hand went toward it, Ludwig would yank the belt causing her arms to miss, and then send another stabbing hand onto her body.
Sadly, the laceration effect only applied once
But he still did damage.
Ludwig used all of his strength to hold on to the back of the queen, stabbing as fast and as forcefully as he could, blood sprayed all over him and across the cave, as he continued to swing down his blade. More and more, and as much as he could, desperately clinging to the Queen with his boney thighs.
The queen finding herself unable to get free, hurled her body toward the nearest wall. In his panic, Ludwig unlocked his legs and flung his body forward but didn’t let go of the belt.
The queen slammed her back into the wall meeting nothing but rocks, and the falling Ludwig who still held the belt in his hand, yanked her back to the ground.
The queen’s snout was then pinned as Ludwig stammered up and stomped it down with his foot, using all 30 points of his strength value, he stabbed once more. This time into one of her eyes. Ripping it in the process.
Ludwig continued stabbing at the Queen, he knew he wasn’t doing any real damage, the sword itself seemed to chip and crack with every swing of his sword. if she could scream, she would be causing an uproar, all she could do was suffer in silence as her remaining eye was watering both blood and tears from the agony.
A notification appeared in front of Ludwig.
[You have obtained 1 wayward soul]
Seeing that the queen was still ‘breathing’ and mostly alive gave Ludwig a small shock, after all, that could only mean that the Zombie had killed the second lizardman. Only then did Ludwig regret not inspecting that Zombie, after all, it could have had some interesting perks, and if it killed two Lizardmen then its strong enough to be an issue once Ludwig leaves the cave.
However, he was more worried about finishing this job. Once the Queen dies, who is the boss of this dungeon, they should be able to leave the area.
Suddenly, a loud crash sound echoed outside the cave, enough that the cave itself vibrated a bit causing pebbles and some dust to fall.
Ludwig had no idea what could cause such an impact, but a notification soon appeared in front of him to explain.
[Your summoned {Lizardman Zombie} has perished]
“I guess it died,” Ludwig thought.
Ludwig’s eyes shined blue as he inspected the Queen’s health bar.
***
[Lizardmen Queen]
Level 20
HP:220/2000
Damage: 1-2
Tier: Rare: {Boss}
Status Ailments: {Laceration} {Bleeding} {Blind} {Curse of Weakness} {Pacifist} {In Heat}
***
Seeing the Queen on her last breath, and her health bar almost reaching zero, he went for the final few swings, only for the ground to shake once more.
With his hand raised up, foot on the queen’s snout, and his body fully covered in blood, he turned to see the Champion standing tall at the entrance of the cave.
The Champion’s whole body seemed to be riddled with wounds and injuries, there were also marks of burns on it and some wetness remained on his belt. But his eyes looked like that of a demon in rage as he saw Ludwig standing on top of his Queen with a bloodied sword in hand.
“Well… shit.”