All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 50: Soil Sucking

Bee watched as Void danced around the earth demon's blows. The demon seemed utterly lost as it spun around, trying to follow the small black blur nipping at its heels. In fact, she might have said that its blows looked clumsy, but that was only in comparison to Void's darting form. Still, that didn't mean that the monster was harmless. Every time a fist or foot hit the ground, she could feel the vibrations even from a dozen yards away. It wasn't quite enough to crack the granite, but if those blows were directed at her, she would be squashed instantly.

Bee was relatively certain that Void was not playing with the demon, but it sure looked like it was. She watched as small parts were methodically ripped off from the tremendous earthen mass and consumed by her master. It was not a fast process. Of course, such a foe was beyond her ability to damage, but her master seemed to have no issue.

Bee belatedly remembered to scan the earth demon. Sure, she had scanned them when they were in cages, but she wasn't sure which one this was exactly, and it looked more powerful than she would have expected. The results confirmed it.

NAME: N/A, RACE: EARTH DEMON, LEVEL: 32, CLASS TYPE: TANK

She already knew most things, but level 32 was the critical part. It was more than twice her own level. Dirt scattered towards her from a wayward blow, and she took a couple more steps back to avoid it.

Void's illumination showed forth brightly. Bee averted her eyes as the ghostly light made them itch more intensely than before. From the corner of her vision, she saw a bright spot appear on what must have been the demon's chest. Strangely enough, the illuminated area seemed to cave in slightly, as though it was being corroded by the light. It seemed that her master was done playing around.

—-

Frantically I danced. Every second it felt like I was courting death by a hair's breadth. The giant beast's arms came down repeatedly, thundering all around me. Only with my improved cognition speed and quick reflexes was I able to stay just ahead. My vacuum slowly siphoned away the creature's mass as I stayed as close as possible. But that wasn't the only way I was weakening it. Every time its fists slammed into the marble floor around me, more pieces of it went flying. I altered my paths slightly to collect as much stray material as I could before it was re-absorbed by the mess maker. And as it attacked faster and more fiercely, more and more of the material making up its bulk disappeared into my vacuum.

More than even that, though, my sanitation lamp seemed to be way more effective than I expected. On full power, the demon's body seemed to almost dissolve wherever it shone. This effect was also greater the closer I got. My calculations indicated that at a distance, the sanitation lamp accounted for 7.8% of the mass loss of the demon. However, closer up, it accounted for 21.2%. That meant it was scaling even better than my vacuum, though the vacuum was still doing more overall. That was very odd. I'd have to do some more testing later. It was draining my battery but nowhere near enough to cause me concern about lasting through this fight. I don't think I could run out of energy even if I tried before defeating this thing. No, the much more likely outcome would be me being crushed instead.

In a last-ditch effort to speed up the process, I tried spraying it with my new spray bottle. Unfortunately, the liquid misted out in a small puff. I had to move out of the way as its arm passed through the mist. There was no visible effect as the liquid came into contact with the dirt making up its body. That was too bad. Now that it wasn't my mortal foe, I had come to appreciate how effective liquid was at getting rid of dirt. I was hoping it might wash away this creature made of dust. But it seems that the quantity wasn't enough to do anything. Maybe as with my other abilities, it would get stronger with use and levels. However, for now, I stowed away the new tool.

We'd only been in this dance for 10 to 15 seconds now. Still, I could already see that the creature's total mass was significantly reduced. I estimated it to only be 97.3% of its previous volume. That meant that if this continued, I would win in about 5 to 6 minutes. The creature might not be completely vanquished, but it would be small enough that I could probably suck it up more wholesale. However, I wasn't sure I had the time. I didn't know if this creature had any friends or, worse if it would realize it was losing and go for Beatrice instead.

So far, it mainly ignored Beatrice, choosing to focus on me instead. I was doing my best to be a distraction, but I couldn't be sure that would last forever. A particularly close blow sent me flying forward. It had missed my rear by millimeters, but the shockwave hit me hard enough to jolt me off my wheels. I flew through the air for a few feet before touching the ground and regaining control. I had no choice. Between needing to end this quickly and wanting to be safe, the best option was to weave between its legs, getting closer than I had dared this whole time.

There was a good reason for that. As I moved between its legs, trying to find the best places to hide, it started stomping its feet. It didn't seem to see where I was, which was my only saving grace. If it had been able to locate me, I'm sure I would have been pancaked, but its stomps came essentially randomly. The constant threat of being crushed wasn't the only issue, though. The shockwaves of each step shook the ground, making me lose my grip briefly on the floor. This made it slightly harder to twitch out of the way of the next strike.

I looked at the carpet fluttering in the breeze from my suction. These were desperate times. I would have to risk damaging it to end this. I cranked my vacuum power up to the max. The wind howled. It seemed to lash at the beast. At this rate, it would be unable to damage me in less than a minute.

It seemed the mess maker was intelligent enough to understand if it didn't change things, it would fail. However, it didn't want to go down without a fight. So the next thing it did was drop. Next, it tried to crush me under itself in a giant belly flop. The sudden cease of crushing blows was the only thing that gave me a warning, but it also was the only thing that let me get out from underneath it. It only took me a second to process what was happening, and I used it to make my escape.

Sure I was no longer in danger of being crushed, but I also was not damaging it nearly as effectively. Finally, it stopped and looked at me for a solid second. This gave me a bad feeling.

It swiveled and turned around. Only then did I realize that it had gotten between Beatrice and me. I came out on the wrong side of his feet and was no longer protecting my charge. It raced towards the stairs, and I followed at full speed after. I wasn't sure what I could do, but I turned my vacuum on high and tried to take off as much of it as possible. I cared even less about keeping the carpet intact now that Beatrice was in danger. It didn't seem like I was capable of stopping it, but I could do as much damage as possible.

I hadn't thought it was intelligent enough to see that I was protecting her. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it just thought I was too annoying to deal with and wasn't worth fighting. However, it didn't matter now. I had a human to protect.

Luckily Beatrice had decent self-preservation skills. Seeing the beast charging at her, she turned and leaped down the stairs as fast as she could. The demon was right on her heels. She ducked into one of the side rooms and slammed the door shut as it landed at the foot of the stairs. The door didn't seem like it would be enough to stop the beast, but it might give her more time. It started hammering on the door, trying to break it down, but it was having surprising difficulty getting through. This castle was really made of strong stuff. Not only was it high quality and beautiful looking, but it was built to last.

I stared down at them from the top of the stairs. I was helpless. Without someone to transport me down, there was nothing I could think of to affect the fight further. As the creature battered at the walls and door, the only thing I could do was turn my section on full power. I could see a small stream of dirt heading toward me, but it was insignificant compared to before. It would be a long time before it made any appreciable difference.

—

Bee leaned against the inside of the coat room door, panting. She could feel the door shake as heavy fists repeatedly pounded into it. The demon seemed to have slipped past Void as it played with it. These doors were solid oak, but even she didn't think that would hold them long. With her master trapped at the top of the stairs, she didn't think she could count on help coming either.

She looked about the room, trying to find some way out of this predicament. She cursed her terrible decision. If only she had gone through the other door, that side led to servants' corridors that she could have possibly escaped through. Unfortunately, this was just the coat room. And there weren't even any coats here.

She still had her pack and her broom, but that was it. As good as she had gotten with her broom, she didn't think she would have the strength to do any damage to a level 32 earth demon. And she definitely didn't have the speed to survive a prolonged confrontation. Inside her pack, there wasn't much left of her supplies except for the alchemy kit. But wait. Quickly, she shrugged out of her pack and started digging through it. She still had a few potions she had made earlier. She hadn't needed them for the skeletons, but maybe they could help now. There were a couple of the distraction ones that made smokescreens and a speed potion. This might just be enough to get her past the demon. Quickly she downed the speed potion.

She felt her reflexes and muscles react as though electrified. Finally, they were ready to respond, and even as she started getting ready to fling various distractions, she noticed the difference in her hand speed. Propping the pack against the wall to retrieve later, she prepared to fling open the door.

Before grabbing the handle, she dropped one of the smoke bombs. Then she opened the door and tossed another one right at the demon. They both broke, immediately billowing out grayish-white smoke. Then, using her newfound speed, Bee dropped into a slide between where she thought the creature's legs were. Judging from the fact that she wasn't immediately clobbered, her distraction seemed to have worked. Coming up the other side. She took the stairs three at a time, hopping back up to her master's side.

The speed potion only lasted for half a minute, so she didn't have much time. She spoke quickly. "Master, may I have your permission to head to the library? I don't think I'll be of much assistance here."

It gave an affirmative noise, and she took off running, trying to take advantage of all the speed she had. Bee was lucky that the library wasn't far off. When she made it around the corner, she saw another demon similar to the last at the opposite end of the junction. Luckily, it was walking away from her. She sprinted in the other direction towards the library. As she skidded to a halt in front of the door, she wildly checked for enemies. Though there were none immediately visible, she heard something coming around the corner. She slipped in and closed the door before she was caught.

Now safe in the library, Bee thought about her next moves. First, she would need to figure out a way for her to deal with earth demons. She also needed to see how many had gotten out. The worst case would be all of them, but perhaps things weren't that bad. Finally, she would definitely need more speed potions. Along with maybe some strength ones and other kinds would help her in these situations. If she could get the ingredients.

Bee sighed inwardly. Just when she had started to feel safe inside the castle… Hopefully, Void would take care of it quickly, though. It did not seem happy with the new intruders.

She quickly scanned the shelves to find anything of worth, her tiredness forgotten.

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