Unsafe Working Conditions : A He Who Fights With Monsters 6+ Companion Story

Chapter 28 - Use It Like A Vacuum Cleaner

 Henri backed away from the hole with a mixed look of horror and disgust. Liam followed the taller man's example as it was dark inside the hole and he was too short to see anything anyways. Two pops came through the hole shortly afterwards followed by what sounded like popcorn and the smell of ozone tinged with cinnamon.

"Do you have any more grenades like that?" Henri's voice sounded manic.

Liam retrieved another of the blue rocks with frozen lightning in it from a bracer. Henri snatched it from him and after charging it to the point where sparks were flying from it, threw it into the hole.

"What is going on?" Liam asked while pulling another of the blue stones from his inventory. "This is the last one," Henri reached for it, charged it, tossed it into the hole.

"MORE!" Henri gestured at Liam.

Before Liam could respond, Henri turned to face the hole. Summoning his spear he created a vortex the size of his head before throwing it into the hole. Liam expected to hear the sound of howling from the hole but was surprised when it didn't.

Looking at Henri he saw the tension in the taller man's face relax a little. Liam turned back to face the hole. "What is going on?"

"There were a lot of bugs in there. The reason why I couldn't see anything was because all of the walls were covered. The lightning should have killed most of the small ones but that last vortex killed the queen I think." Henri's eyes widened. "Here they come!"

The hole looked like it was expanding at first, only then did Liam realize the bugs coming out were blackened and so numerous to make it like the walls were alive. Liam removed a purple shell from his belt and inserted it into the chamber of the shotgun and closing the action, he fired it above the hole.

The round impacted right above the hole and burst into a purple cloud that spread out for a meter before solidifying into a gel that trapped the bugs in it like chewing gum. Reaching behind his back to remove another round from his belt, this one was blue and looked just like the grenades earlier. The lightning burst from it was yellow as it arced between the bugs it left the acrid smell of burnt rock. The bugs that were trapped in the purple goo burst like blisters.

Liam withdrew another shell from his belt before thinking better of it. He instead began firing into the swarm with the magically generated flechettes. Each shot took a second to charge and with both barrels combined, he was able to take out more than two dozen every time he pulled the trigger. Each dart was magically guided by the charm on the handle which began to grow hot as he mercilessly charged and fired as fast as he could.

Henri was jarred from his state of frozen terror by the quick shots of Liam's gun. The first blocked the hole while the second was devastating to the bugs. Henri fired off a couple of wind blasts before his spear was off cooldown. Once he had summoned his spear, Liam had dispatched most all the bugs that had escaped the hole. Henri quickly smashed down his spear in succession to finish off the remaining ones.

"Henri! Can you tell how many are left?" Liam asked. They were both watching the goo over the hole harden.

"We just killed about half of what is remaining from what I can feel but they are spreading out so I can't be sure," Henri responded.

"What is the plan?" Liam resisted the urge to take charge while Henri was tasked with command. His inner urge to challenge when something was efficient or wrong warring with the ingrained structure to follow orders.

"I am going to try another vortex at the hole and hopefully take out most of them. How many more shots do you think you can manage?" Henri began to summon the ball of darkness on the tip of his spear as he talked.