They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 43: Stay Away from Me!
Boom!
An explosion thundered through the forest beneath the night sky.
Vera knew Faye had fired another Thunderbolt Arrow to stop the Flesh Amalgam behind them.
“Don’t stop. It’ll catch up again soon.”
At Faye’s warning, Vera ran even faster with Fiona on his back.
If the creature had not insisted on retrieving every scrap of flesh blown from its body, it would have caught them long ago.
Even with those delays, Faye had used every Thunderbolt Arrow. The next time the creature reached them, escape would probably be impossible.
The three were here because the gate had fallen.
The collapse happened in an instant.
Not long after Branch Guildmaster Oberon finished his speech, a horrifying monster emerged from the dungeon.
Vera still remembered its appearance.
Diamond-shaped scales shimmered with strange colors in the setting sun, and dark-green venom continually seeped from its body.
Three serpent heads twisted through the air and gazed greedily down at everyone present.
Before it, Vera felt like prey already trapped in its coils, able only to wait for it to swallow him.
Fortunately, the Three-Headed Serpent did not choose him. It targeted the most richly dressed man on the battlefield, the Branch Guildmaster.
Oberon also appeared not to have expected the monster to attack him first while he stood in the rear.
When all three heads spat venom at once, he hastily conjured a wall of light. The poison corroded it instantly.
Venom splashed across half his body. Every adventurer heard the hiss of dissolving flesh and his inhuman scream.
Marshall finally seized Oberon and dragged him from the battlefield.
With the two highest authorities fleeing in disgrace, why would the remaining adventurers fight to the death?
The barely stable defensive line collapsed at once. Everyone competed to escape, wishing they had two extra legs.
The monsters appeared to enter an all-you-could-eat feast. Any adventurer they caught became food.
Fortunately, Vera’s party had moved to the edge of the formation early and survived the first wave.
Before they could flee, however, a Dragonbeast swept its thirty-foot tail toward them after slicing through two adventurers in succession.
Vera’s curved sword was already covered in chips and could never block the strike.
At the last possible instant, Fiona cast an impact spell beneath their feet and blasted the three of them apart, narrowly saving them from being dismembered.
The tail still tore open Fiona’s chest.
They gave her a Healing Potion immediately, but she remained unconscious.
Vera had no choice but to carry her.
They did not flee toward Hushwind. Many adventurers ran in that direction, and even more monsters chased them.
In the chaos, Vera escaped into the forest to the west.
Fortunately, only one monster followed.
Unfortunately, one was more than they could handle.
The monster behind them had been assembled from the corpses of humans and monsters. Vera did not recognize it, but its grotesque form unquestionably came from the Ninth Stratum.
Even at full strength, the three might not have defeated it. In their current state, they had no chance.
Only Faye’s five Thunderbolt Arrows had delayed the creature this long.
Now those special arrows were gone.
The cracking of crushed undergrowth sounded behind them again.
“It’s coming...”
Faye’s exhausted voice held despair. They truly had no options left.
Vera spoke. “Faye, give me your bow. You carry Fiona and run.”
“No!”
Faye understood immediately. Vera intended to lure the monster away alone.
“If anyone goes, it should be me. I’m faster. I might escape.”
“Neither of us can escape.” Vera exposed the lie without hesitation. “You know I could never abandon you.”
“And you think I can watch you throw your life away?”
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