Uriel and Ininise were now on the second floor of the ruined house, which turned out to be in much better condition than the floor below. Only a few windows were broken, but little else compared to the destruction downstairs.
Neither of them yet knew what kind of creature could produce such heavy sounds with just its footsteps. Uriel thought that, now that they had destroyed the staircase, nothing would happen to them; however, the sound of flesh shifting did not stop, and it kept growing louder.
Neither of them spoke, remaining silent, focused on any movement that might occur.
Finally, the footsteps stopped. The monster was inside the house. Sounds like gurgling and liquid dripping onto the floor were all that could be heard. However, something suddenly changed: the sound of something dragging itself nearby made their skin crawl.
Somehow, Uriel understood that the creature knew something was there—and now it was searching for them.
Something appeared, dragging itself upward along the staircase. It looked like a chunk of raw flesh, surrounded by what seemed to be fat, but the difference was that it moved and pulsed as if it were a heart.
The piece of flesh kept stretching endlessly until it finally reached the center of what would be the second floor. Uriel stood in a corner, facing Ininise, acting as a human shield so that nothing would happen to her.
Suddenly, the newly formed flesh tentacle began to tremble uncontrollably, as something seemed to travel through it from where it originated—likely the main body. Uriel didn't know what it was, but he knew that the moment they attacked, the creature would realize they were hidden there.
A high-level monster.
Finally, whatever was moving inside the tentacle reached the end, and at its tip, an eye that looked human emerged. The moment it appeared, Uriel raised his mace and rushed forward to strike. There was no point in hiding anymore if they were going to be seen anyway.
Uriel's mace collided with the eye; fluid splattered and spread everywhere. Ininise fired a magic missile with precise aim, striking the middle of the tentacle and severing it, followed by the small magical explosion generated upon impact.
The rest of the flesh tentacle quickly withdrew, and a chilling scream rose from below.
"RUOOOOOOOOOO!"
Now, the sound of flesh and footsteps rushed toward the staircase. The scream was powerful enough to alert the rest of the imps nearby. Uriel knew this because, the moment it echoed, shrieks and numerous footsteps began heading toward the abandoned house.
Uriel could only hope that the other climbers had dealt with most of those in this area.
Masses of flesh tentacles and eyes began crawling up the staircase.
"Ininise!"
"Yes!"
Ininise fired her magic missiles as quickly as her class limitations allowed. However, no matter how many she burned, it did not stop them from gathering right in front of the staircase they had built.
Uriel couldn't believe it—this creature was separating parts of its body and reassembling them elsewhere to move freely past the obstacle he and Ininise had created.
He ran toward where this mass of flesh was forming again. The size of the gathered flesh was already rivaling the height of an adult man, and from what he could see, much more flesh from the lower floor was still on its way, slowly arriving.
Uriel raised his mace and struck the creature again and again. The force was such that it crushed the forming flesh, which, when damaged, broke apart; however, Uriel's one-handed mace was not large enough.
He knew it: at the end of the day, his mace was not made for this. In combat classes, they had taught him that this type of weapon was designed to shatter armor; a cutting weapon, like those used by Kaelira, Malach, or even Ralzire, would have served better in this situation.
An arm quickly formed on the creature's body, slightly reducing its size, and it struck Uriel, lifting him slightly off the ground and forcing him back. Uriel felt the air violently driven out of his chest.
Ininise, who saw everything, shifted her focus to the main body and fired. The flesh burned under the power of the magic missiles. At first, it seemed to work, but the tentacles changed direction and began gathering in front of the creature, forming a shield of flesh.
But she did not stop—she was determined to give Uriel as much time as possible to recover from the blow.
Uriel regained his breath, ready to face his enemy again, but to his dismay, he realized there were no more flesh tentacles climbing the staircase, which meant the creature before him was now complete and ready to attack.
The wall of flesh collapsed onto the ground, returning to the creature's body. The attacks had likely prevented it from reaching the size it once might have been; however, it was still twice the size of a normal person.
Countless eyes appeared across its body, watching every possible angle of attack. Numerous mouths with all kinds of teeth lined its limbs, and a grotesque main mouth, located where its torso should be, writhed with delight as drool dripped endlessly. Uriel had the feeling that the damned creature was eager to devour both Ininise and him. He tightened his grip on the mace, ready to give everything in this fight.