'Which way?' asked Ulric at a junction a little deeper into the cave.

'You're our best guess, darling.' said Elzbieta as she peered into each tunnel. 'I can't make a judgement on which one's better.'

He sniffed the air around the split again and stepped into one tunnel. 'If that plant is further underground, my guess would be this tunnel. The air smells a little fresher in the other one, which makes me think it leads back out or doesn't lead very far.'

Elzbieta nodded. 'Then we'll take this one.' she said and went in with Ulric while the others followed closely.

Ulric halted a short while later. 'I smell blood.'

'Fresh?' asked Elzbieta.

He frowned. 'Yes, but old as well.'

'Kaui, keep your grenades ready.' said Elzbieta.

'Already in hand.' she said.

'Don't move too far away from me, I can blast an attacker back.' said Valdys.

Cautiously, the party moved forward until sounds of clothing ripped to pieces mixed with open mouth smacking and low grunts. Moving in total silence around a tight bend in the tunnel, they looked into a chamber with a troll sitting with his back towards them. It's head bobbed and weaved as it tore on something and ate it. With a casual toss, it dropped what it ate aside and the party held their breath.

Kaui looked away at once. 'That's a man's leg!'

'Fuck!' said Ulric when his stomach turned. 'I knew I should expect this eventually here, but to actually witness it right in front of me is a bit much. Crap!'

'I'll take care of it.' said Elzbieta and stepped silently and swiftly towards the troll's back, and hew his neck with one swing. The troll's head rolled to the side and she turned away from the carnage and blood soaked ground in front of the troll' s body. 'From the clothes and the weapons lying near the wall, I'd say this was one of the adventurers.'

Ulric looked up at her pale face. 'You all right, my dear?'

She stroked his neck. 'I'll be when we're farther away from this scene, darling.'

After more junctions and winding tunnels, Ulric halted the group again. 'I have no idea what I'm smelling or hearing, but there are a number of them.'

Elzbieta went to scout ahead and located a large chamber with a flock of birds, half the height of a human, and only feathers covering their backs and the top of their wings. 'Kruks.' she said.

'Something new again?' asked Ulric.

'An ugly, large bird monster that should only be found in demon territory. There's a whole flock of them.'

The others arrived and Ulric took a quick peek into the chamber. 'And I thought vultures were ugly and nasty.' he said and turned to Elzbieta. 'Suggestion?'

'This many is dangerous and hard to handle. They're pretty quick on their feet and if they surround us could overwhelm us in numbers.'

'We could take them on in this tunnel.' said Iphigenia. 'If we lure them here they can only come from one side.'

Elzbieta nodded. 'If we hold them off, Kaui could throw a few grenades in their midst.' She turned to Ulric. 'Darling, you'll have to bait them.'

He chuckled. 'I'll run through them like a pup on a square full of pigeons.' he said and sneaked as close to the entrance to the chamber without the kruks spotting him, then rushed in and ran close to the wall while slapping their heads. 'Chicken!'

Iphigenia sniggered. 'Sometimes I wonder about your sanity.'

He rounded the chamber while the creatures croaked loud at him and revealed the origin of their name, and he headed back towards the entrance. 'I was summoned into this world that's like a fantasy game and into a demon wolf's body, and you think I could stay sane all the time?' He dove into the tunnel with the first kruks hot on his tail. 'Incoming!'

Just before he reached the girls, Valdys thrust out her hands and the kruks right behind him were thrust violently back into the ones behind them. He turned around and chuckled. 'I'm glad I'm not the one taking that blow for once.'

She blasted another wave of the bird creatures before the others kept their distance among their killed or hurting peers. 'They learned fast.' said Valdys.

'Our turn.' said Elzbieta, and she stepped forward with Iphigenia and Ulric. The kruks crowed furiously at them and several attacked again, but the three hew and smacked them down without leaving room for any of the birds to get through. Kaui moved closer and threw two grenades in a row at the flock inside the chamber.

The blasts rang through the open space and left two small craters strewn with body parts and fatally wounded kruks. 'They're scattering!' said Ulric. 'I'll go in!' He breached the line of kruks in front and began his hunt of the ones fleeing to the ends of the chamber.

With a last pincer attack, the remaining kruks were driven into a corner and quickly killed by Elzbieta, Iphigenia, and Ulric, while Kaui and Valdys collected the mana stones and Susi piled up the bodies in one corner. 'This is a nice amount.' said Valdys.

'Are they valuable?' asked Ulric while he wiped his paws.

Valdys held up a stone. 'They're worth a bit of money because these are used to store and release mana, and not easy to come by.'

Ulric looked closer at the faint red glow of the stone. 'I think I see it.'

'Correct. The brighter it glows, the more mana is stored within.'

'We should go.' said Iphigenia. 'The explosions might have triggered other creatures.'

The party continued on after quickly gathering the rest of the stones, and Ulric sensed a slight pressure in his ears after moving through the winding tunnels for a while. 'I think we've gone deeper.'

'Yes.' said Elzbieta. 'The tunnels are going down at a very shallow angle. It's hard to notice because of the bumpy ground and the constant change in direction.'

'How much farther do you expect we'll have to go before we find the seeder?'

'I don't know, darling. Maybe if the next creature's a strong one, we could be close.'

'Daddy? I hear something behind us.'

Ulric listened while the rest kept silent. 'Footsteps. Heavy. Maybe four or five creatures.' he whispered. 'I can't smell what they are.'

'Do we wait for them here?' asked Iphigenia.

'We could see if there's a better place to take them on up ahead.' said Elzbieta. 'If not, we're still fighting them in a tunnel like this.'

Iphigenia nodded. 'All right.'

The party moved quicker while keeping totally silent until Ulric stopped. 'Footsteps ahead.'

'Shit!' said Iphigenia. 'Surrounded.'

'It would happen sooner or later.' said Elzbieta. 'What does it sound like in front of us?'

'Many light footsteps and a few very heavy ones.'

'Take on the ones behind us first? Surprise attack?' asked Iphigenia.

Elzbieta nodded. 'I think those will be easier to handle.' she said and looked at Kaui and Valdys. 'See if you can do some damage before they get close.'

The girls gave her a nod and everyone hurried towards the sounds that had followed them.

In the dim green light of the tunnel, the group of trolls looked extra sickening and monstrous as they charged towards Iphigenia, Elzbieta, and Ulric. Standing abreast, the three let the first two trolls swing their simple clubs, evaded the blows, and lashed out with their swords and fists, while Kaui threw her grenade and Valdys shielded their side from the blast. The one troll that was still alive but heavily wounded was dealt a merciful quick blow by Elzbieta.

'Everyone all right?' asked Ulric while the girls collected the mana stones from the bloody corpses.

'Ready for the next fight, although I fear what we'll face is much worse than this.' said Iphigenia.

'They'll arrive soon. We'd better move away from the slippery mess before it interferes with our fight.'

It didn't take long for the first goblins wielding crude stone knives and hammers to arrive when the party had moved towards them. The tunnel was wider and higher where they stood, but their tactic was still effective. The goblins shrieked and cried as they were cut down or blown up, but they didn't stop coming. 'Just how many of these can a seeder produce!?' asked Ulric while he punched a goblin in his throat and silenced him permanently.

Iphigenia stabbed and slashed her attacker open from his gut to his neck. 'A lot when it's old and large enough! This one's too strange to tell!'

Cackling cheers rose from the back of the goblins and heavy footsteps echoed through the tunnel. 'Here it comes!' said Elzbieta.

The goblin ranks split and Ulric tried to keep his focus on his fight despite his surprise. 'Minotaurs!?'

The two bovine demons weren't like the hairy bodybuilders with horns he'd seen so often depicted, but bulky bulls twice his size with thick legs and arms, and they carried the same crude hammers as the goblins used, only a lot larger. They wasted no moment to smash down on the intruders.

Ulric jumped out of the way of the hammer crushing a hole in the ground. 'Whoa! They're fast!'

The goblins cheered while Iphigenia deflected one blow aimed at her and the force pushed her back. 'Just because they're big doesn't mean they're slow!'

Ulric delivered a blow to one stomach but the minotaur swung his hammer at him right after. 'Damn! I felt so strong all this time but now it's like I'm the weakling!' he said as he rubbed his fist.

Elzbieta evaded a hammer hit and stabbed at the minotaur's leg. It cried out in a mixed roar and moo, but kept on attacking. 'Minotaurs aren't the biggest monsters either! You'll face worse ones!'

He grumbled as he feinted and punched the minotaur's side. It only stepped aside with a grunt. 'There goes my fantasy about being the all-powerful hero and get to the last boss with ease.'

Even though the girls managed to stab and cut the minotaurs, the large creatures were not fazed enough to back off. Ulric was glad to see Kaui and Valdys handle the goblins the same way as the other creatures, but the fight took too long and drained their energy. They needed a chance to get at the minotaur's weak spots but they were quick with their hammers. 'Dammit! I really have no choice!' he growled. 'Elz, get ready to really cut into him!' He took one deep breath, and jumped at the minotaur in front of her.

The monster swung his hammer towards the growling bloodwolf, but before it hit, Ulric jumped up again, took the full force of the blow at the handle, and clamped tight around the hammer and lower arm. The minotaur roared and grabbed Ulric's neck to pull him off, but Ulric kept his tight grip. A sharp pain between its legs froze the monster on the spot. Ulric felt his pain as the minotaur mooed high and curled up on the ground.

The other minotaur wasn't distracted by the wailing and attacked Ulric at once. A moment later it suffered the same fate. Ulric could only be thankful as a fellow male that Elzbieta put a quick end to their suffering.

'I hope this was the worst the seeder spawned.' Kaui said. while she collected mana stones from the goblin bodies after the last had been slain.

Iphigenia cleaned the blood from her sword. 'I doubt it, the seeder will probably keep the best defence close to it.'

Ulric rubbed his ribs gently. 'Worse than this?'

Iphigenia nodded and laid her hand on his chest. 'Most likely. Are you all right, Wolfie?'

He took a deep breath until his ribs hurt. 'I'll be all right later. That time I shielded you from the rock slide was less painful.'

Elzbieta rubbed his neck. 'You did take the full blow from a minotaur, darling. Do you need a break?''

He shook his head. 'We can't give the seeder time to grow more monsters. I'm all right enough to continue fighting.'

Elzbieta nodded. 'I think we're close.'

Her intuition was correct when some time later the party found themselves in a large chamber with intertwined light and dark thick vines growing up into the high ceiling. Within the vines, a light green orb pulsated slowly, and more vines spread out from the centre with dark purple pods attached. One of the pods split open, and a large dark grey creature with four arms slid out from the thick and dark blue ooze sloshing out of the burst pod.

'Oh crap.' said Elzbieta as the creature rose up from the ground on its thick legs and blinked four black eyes.

'That bad?' asked Ulric.

'That very bad.' said Elzbieta. 'That's a dark fiend, a very tough creature that's almost impossible to hurt.'

'Even by us?'

'Even by us.'

'Then that's very bad.' Ulric said and carefully stretched his arms and legs. 'Weaknesses?'

'Reasonably simple minded. But it doesn't need to be smart to obliterate its opponent.'

It spread its four arms as if it just woke up and uttered a deafening roar that shook the chamber. Ulric groaned softly and stepped towards it. 'We'll just have to find its weak spot then.'

With four arms, the creature three times his size blocked every attack from Ulric and the girls as if it were swatting at bunnies. 'I can cut it but it's like it doesn't even care!' said Elzbieta after getting another hit in on its leg. 'Its hide is too thick!'

'Stabbing it doesn't work!' Iphigenia said as she dodge to avoid getting slammed between two of the large hands.

Kaui threw a grenade at its feet but it left nothing more than a faint bruise on its hide. Ulric delivered a punch with his spiked fist and barely drew blood. 'This really is a tough son of a bitch!' he said while evading a hit from the creature's fists.

'We need something stronger to pierce its hide!' said Valdys while she pushed back the creature with a blast from her shield powers.

Ulric rushed to her side. 'Quick, give me several grenades.'

Kaui opened her satchel for him. 'What are you going to do, Master?'

He grinned at her. 'Something very foolish.' he said and ran towards the creature with an armful of the lethal jars. 'Keep it occupied!' he said to Iphigenia and Elzbieta.

'Don't do anything stupid, Wolfie!' said Iphigenia as she evaded a swing from the creature's arm and slashed a shallow cut into its forearm.

'I'm a man! I was made to do stupid things!' Ulric said and quickly climbed a wide stone column behind the growling creature. He tensed his legs, calculated the distance to the creature from his position near the ceiling, lit the fuses from the grenades, then launched himself with an explosive jump from his legs.

He landed into the back of the creature's neck and clamped his arms and legs around the thick neck. 'This better hurt you more than me!'

The explosion blasted through the chamber and the girls cried out. Smoke obscured the sight of the creature while it stamped hard onto the ground and shook the chamber and cried in low, bubbling shrieks and roars.

'Wolfie!'

'Darling!'

'Master!'

'You incredible idiot!' shouted Valdys.

Ulric stumbled out of the smoke cloud, clutching his chest. 'Quick, finish it off.' he wheezed.

The creature followed Ulric, crying hollow shrieks and holding its neck with its hands. Elzbieta didn't hesitate and hew at one of its heels.

The cuts went deep enough for it to fall down on one knee and Iphigenia used it to jump up at its shoulder. 'Elz! Sword!'

Elzbieta threw her sword at Iphigenia. She caught it and slashed at the creature's wounded neck.

It shrieked more and swatted at Iphigenia but its thick arms couldn't reach her.

Iphigenia slashed once more and the creature's movements stopped. It let out one last wail as it fell forward with its neck and upper back covered in black blood.

Iphigenia jumped away, landed near Elzbieta, and handed her her sword. 'This is a really great weapon.'

'Thanks.' said Elzbieta and turned towards Ulric. 'Darling!?'

'Worry later.' he groaned, and stepped towards the seeder plant. 'We need to end this first.'

The girls hurried after him as he picked up a rock, and raised it when he reached the nervously pulsating orb.

A fluttery high cry sounded from the vines and a transparent green female creature with pointy ears and a slender half human, half plant vine body appeared, and threw itself at the orb.

Ulric held the rock high. 'Are you the seeder?'

The creature looked back at him with large, yellow eyes. 'You can see me!?'

'I can.' said Ulric.

She trembled as she clutched the orb. 'Please don't hurt me!'

'You spawned creatures that killed others.'

'They said they would come to kill me!'

'Who is they?'

The creature stroked the orb. 'The ones who gave me life here. They said I had to make sure no other living being could be left alive around here because they would kill me.'

Ulric lowered the rock. 'You were told it was dangerous around here and you'd have to spawn creatures to defend yourself?'

Kaui picked up a stone from the ground. 'There's a load of depleted mana stones spread around the base of the seeder, Master. I think whoever they are, they sped up the seeder's growth by feeding it a great amount of mana from these.'

Ulric looked at the black stone. 'Someone deliberately planted her here and had her spawn monsters?'

Valdys nodded as she picked up another dark grey stone. 'I don't see a reason to supply a large amount of mana to a monster seeder, other than to spawn a lot of monsters. I found a note on an experiment in one of Demetrus's journals. Something about draining a target's resources before assaulting them.'

He looked at the female creature with hair like thin vines. 'So, they tried to get rid of the villages here.'

The creature trembled. 'I don't know anything about that.'

He looked back at the girls. 'What would they gain by doing this?'

Valdys shrugged. 'As far as I can tell there's nothing of interest here.'

'What if it was a test?' said Elzbieta and the others looked at her. 'As far as I know, monster seeders grow only within demon territory. Someone might have wanted to see what happens when one of these grows inside any other territory. If it's effective in chasing away enemies, more could be planted to expand demon territory.'

Ulric nodded. 'A plausible explanation.' he said and turned to the seeder. 'You're a danger here.'

The creature clutched the orb as it pulsated rapidly. 'Please don't kill me!' it cried. 'I won't hurt anyone else! If you destroy my orb I'll die!'

Ulric sighed and looked at the girls. 'I'm not good at this.' he said and tossed his rock aside.

Iphigenia chucked. 'I guess female creatures are your weakness, Wolfie.'

He shrugged. 'It's my nature.'

Elzbieta moved closer to the creature. 'It's not really up to us to decide what will happen to you. Your orb is the core of your being, right?'

The creature nodded once.

'Then we'll take you with us. If you try to resist, we'll have no choice but to destroy you, do you understand?'

The creature looked down, nodded once more, and reluctantly let go of the orb.

Elzbieta looked at the others. 'We'll take the orb, that's enough to disable her without killing her.'