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Chapter 376: 376
"And yet," Keles said, her tone gentle but firm, "you answered. You gave him what he sought. You didn’t turn away."
Ikenga hooked her chin as he looked into her eyes "I did but i will be forsaking him soon as he unseals, I don’t like the codependency i share with the mortal creature"
Ikenga hooked his chin as he looked into her eyes. "I did, but I will be forsaking him as soon as he unseals. I don’t like the codependency I share with the mortal creature."
"Will our children share the same situation as ascended gods? Will their source of power and strength depend solely on the worship of their worshippers?" Keles asked Ikenga.
Ikenga sat back down on the bed. "That’s a question we have to ask Nana, but it likely will not be the case."
Keles joined him, sitting beside him with her head on his shoulder. In front of them was the sight of the marked ratman. They now had to keep a constant eye on the ratman for any changes as they headed back to the abyss.
On the other side of the invaded world, the demon queen Vorenza was planning a significant move against the city. The opportunity for this attack arose from the stubbornness of the ratmen living beneath the city.
After the goblin mages successfully sealed the city and other underground passages, Vorenza realized her plan to use the hybrid would not succeed. Instead, she had to utilize her powerhouses to launch an offensive against the city to move past this obstacle.
The head mage, Gurnak, after sealing the city, made an offer to the ratmen. The same offer was extended to most major ratmen strongholds and places of residence.
With the empire’s power, they could impose conditions on the ratmen, but they preferred to avoid this to prevent giving the gods an advantage. The goblins suspected that the gods were part of the invasion and believed that the gods would take advantage of their treatment to the ratmen and gain followers in turn power.
To counter this, the empire decided to show some grace to the ratmen to avoid pushing them further into the enemy’s hands. Gurnak, after making the offer, did not receive the response he had hoped for.
Following orders, he gave the ratmen two weeks to consider their decision before responding. When the two weeks passed, Gurnak received their answer again and was indeed disappointed.
The ratmen made it clear they could handle the threat of the hybrid on their own. Not all ratmen agreed with this decision, which is why Gurnak received an insider’s perspective on why they refused the empire’s offer.
Their reason was valid and reasonable, but they underestimated their race’s situation, according to the ratman insider. The official ratmen decided that if they could handle the hybrid threat alone, they could negotiate a better offer with the empire.
They knew that once they agreed to the empire’s help, they would be turned into cannon fodder for the war against the demons with no say over their lives. Their confidence stemmed from the fact that the empire did not force war conscription on them.
To the council, this demonstrated to the ratmen that the goblins truly needed their service, increasing the chances of successful negotiations with the empire.
Gurnak, upon receiving this message, was furious at the ratmen’s stubbornness and arrogance. However, he did not act against them. Instead, he reported back to his fellow mages and Vellok, who advised him to leave the ratmen alone but increase vigilance on the city. They could not allow the demons to progress further, especially after reports of demon advantages on Malzor’s side.
After giving their answer to Gurnak, the ratmen spent the entire week in silence and fear—not from the hybrids, but from the empire. They expected retaliation from the empire for not accepting its help.
However, nothing happened, which boosted their confidence even more and further confirmed their belief that the goblins truly needed their service.
The entire underground network of the city buzzed with new vigor. For the first time in many years, the ratmen felt they had control over the direction of their race.
With renewed energy, the ratmen began actively seeking out the hybrids to find their hiding places. The hybrids became the ratmen’s hope of fighting back.
The ratmen’s new vigor meant nothing to the hybrids, who were biding their time and growing in numbers. From the mess pit where they were dropped, the whole area looked completely different from before.
Every area was covered with thick white spider webs, and large eggs could be seen scattered across the nest. The ratmen ensured that the hybrids were not lacking in food sources.
The hybrids dug tunnels, making them even larger. Normally, such a scene should be impossible for hybrids, but Vorenza had initially taken steps to counter this issue.
Vorenza’s countermeasure was the now larger Ratman-Spider hybrid, whom she had made an alpha while retaining his intelligence to better serve her. This larger hybrid could now be seen hanging from the ceilings, his multiple eyes watching the different tunnels as hybrids emerged with piles of dead ratmen to serve as meals.
The area occupied by the alpha hybrid had once been a bustling ratman settlement, caught completely off guard by the hybrid attack. The ratmen were unable to mount a significant defense and were swiftly massacred. A few survivors managed to escape, spreading word of the hybrids’ presence to other settlements.
The alpha, understanding the hybrids were still vastly outnumbered by the ratmen, devised a strategy. Under its command, the hybrids transformed the captured settlement into a fortified nest designed to maximize their advantage. The plan was to hold the area, using the resources gained from the attack to grow stronger and increase their numbers.
This methodical approach was part of a larger plan: to gradually attack and assimilate one settlement after another until the hybrids gained full control of the city’s entire underground network.
Steam-powered contraptions whirred, crude machinery forged in the dim glow of fungal lamps. Ratmen engineers worked tirelessly, building weapons, scouting devices, and rudimentary exosuits powered by steam and coal. They believed that with these tools, they could confront the growing hybrid menace and reclaim dominance in their labyrinthine city.
Their plan was simple: locate the hybrids’ lair, gather intelligence, and strike with overwhelming force. A team of the ratmen’s best—a mix of scouts, engineers, and warriors clad in steam-powered armor—was sent to survey the conquered settlement. They did not realize they were walking into a nightmare.
The tunnels grew colder and more silent as the ratmen team ventured deeper into the conquered sector. The air became heavy with an acrid, metallic tang. The faint skittering of claws echoed in the distance, but when the team stopped to listen, the noise vanished as if the darkness itself was playing tricks on them.
The first sign of something amiss was the spider webs. Thin strands at first, clinging to the tunnel walls like strands of mist, but as the team progressed, they thickened. Soon the walls, floor, and ceiling were coated in a dense, sticky lattice of white webbing.
"Keep moving," grunted the leader, a grizzled ratman named Skrag, his steam-powered gauntlet hissing with pressure. "The hybrids need to know who runs these tunnels."
But the hybrids already knew.
From his perch on the cavern ceiling, the Alpha hybrid watched the intruders with cold, calculating eyes. His eight legs clung to the rock as effortlessly as a shadow, his massive, arachnid form blending into the web-covered darkness. Beneath him, hybrids scuttled through side passages, dragging fresh carcasses to the nest.
The Alpha had anticipated this. The ratmen were creatures of arrogance and pride, their newfound confidence making them blind to the dangers lurking in their home. Vorenza’s influence had made him more than a predator; he was a tactician.
He gave the silent signal. The hunt began.
The ratmen team froze as the sound of chittering grew louder, coming from all directions. Shadows moved along the edges of their lamplight, too fast to be seen clearly.
"Form up!" Skrag barked, his gauntlet’s flamethrower sputtering to life. The hiss of steam and the glow of fire momentarily illuminated the tunnel. Dozens of reflective eyes gleamed back at them.
The first hybrid struck with terrifying speed, a blur of legs and fangs tearing into the rearmost ratman. His scream was cut short as he was dragged into the darkness. The others opened fire, the tunnel filling with the cacophony of hissing steam rifles and screeching hybrids.
"Fall back! Regroup!" Skrag shouted, but the hybrids were everywhere. They came from above, from side tunnels, even bursting through the ground itself. The ratmen’s steam-powered weapons proved ineffective against the hybrids’ speed and numbers.
Those who survived the initial ambush fled, their retreat turning into a desperate, chaotic scramble through the tunnels. The hybrids pursued relentlessly, their chittering echoing through the labyrinth. Traps laid by the ratmen were turned against them as hybrids herded them into dead ends or ambushes.
