blueteamnovel Chapter 43 The Gnoll and the Mind Flayer
Chapter 43 The Gnoll and the Mind Flayer
Ronan first moved to a corner where there were no gnolls, then raised his right hand with his sword fingers together and drew a circle in the palm of his left hand.
The circle was initially dark because when he drew it, he didn't think about what the circle should represent.
He then placed his left palm over his left eye.
In this way, only he could see the scene within the circle, and it would not be exposed to the sight of other gnolls.
He entered a cave, using his magic to maintain the Mystic Light Technique while contemplating the scene inside.
Immediately, a vision appeared in the circle in the palm of his left hand.
He saw two torches burning inside the cave, casting a dim, yellowish light on the cave's surroundings.
The firelight illuminated an iron statue in the cave.
The statue is over three meters tall and depicts a large jackal covered in battle scars.
He was covered in a suit of armor made of a shield and a breastplate, bound to his body with heavy iron chains, and decorated with pieces of flesh.
He held a three-headed flail, wore a sinister smile, and exuded an aura of evil.
Upon seeing the three-headed flail, Ronan immediately knew that it was a statue of Yenogu, the gnoll lord, a bloodthirsty beast, and the demon lord of the 422nd level of the Abyss.
In front of the statue was a large pile of rotting flesh, the animal of which was unrecognizable, swarming with flies and crawling with maggots.
Beside the rotting flesh were about a dozen hyenas.
The hyena lay on the ground, its abdomen swollen frighteningly.
Inside the cave, there were several irregularly shaped stones. At first glance, they seemed insignificant, but upon closer inspection, they appeared to be arranged in a formation, surrounding the rotting flesh and hyenas.
Ronan suddenly remembered that this was one of the birth rituals of the gnolls in the legends of Faerûn.
By feeding hyenas carrion, the newborn gnolls are born from the hyenas' bellies through the desecration of the Yenoghurs' power.
Ronan saw the hyena's belly swelling at a visible rate.
"Waaaaah..."
The Mystic Light Technique can only show the scene, but cannot hear any sound.
But the wailing was so loud that Ronan, outside the cave, could hear it.
Ronan immediately used the [Gathering Beasts] technique to try and hear what the wailing voice was saying.
He then understood the meaning of the wailing.
"It hurts...it hurts so much..."
"Let me die..."
"It hurts so much, damn it..."
The next moment, blood began to seep from the abdomens of the dozen or so hyenas simultaneously.
The hyenas howled even louder.
Before long, the hyenas' round bellies were seen to split open one after another like watermelons.
One by one, jackals, their fur soaked in blood and intestines hanging from their necks, pried open the hyenas' bellies and crawled out.
The hyena's howling stopped abruptly.
Then, a jackal soldier, hunched over, entered the cave and bowed twice to the statue of Yenogu.
Then, it moved its mouth, as if saying something to the newborn gnolls, and then turned and left.
The nascent gnolls, their backs hunched, lined up and followed the gnoll soldier out meekly.
Ronan continued to approach another cave, using his mystical light technique to examine the scene inside.
Several caves were empty, showing signs of gnoll life, and were likely the dwellings of gnoll soldiers.
There were no beds or other necessities inside. He guessed that the gnolls simply slept on the ground inside, and the cave was just a place for them to shelter from the wind and rain.
As Ronan continued to move his gaze, he saw a gnoll in a cave, a gnoll that was clearly different from the gnoll minions.
Within the Mystic Light Technique, he could not see the monster's stats.
However, judging from the monster's slightly larger size than the gnoll minions, its fine leather armor, and the rather exquisite flail at its waist, it can be deduced that this gnoll is a leader.
The leader's mouth kept moving, as if he were reprimanding the jackal minions in front of him who had their heads bowed.
After Ronan finished looking, he changed the location where the Mystic Light Technique was displayed to a nearby cave.
This cave is much larger than the other caves we just saw.
There was a simple prison inside, where humans were imprisoned.
These humans numbered about thirty, their faces pale and their clothes dirty.
In a corner of the prison cell, there was still some undried excrement.
He wanted to rescue these people, but not now; he had to do it after killing all the gnolls.
Then he looked at the other caves.
At this point, according to his calculations, there were about fifty gnolls in the lair, with three leaders.
If the average level of the adventure party is below level 5, there is little chance of survival after entering the lair.
Of course, if there is a mage in the adventure party, then that's a different story.
Because some wise mages can always come up with ways to break the deadlock and defeat the strong with the weak.
Ronan then turned the location where the Mystic Light Technique had manifested to a nearby cave.
This cave is larger than the others.
The humans were seen tied together with ropes and lined up in a row.
The line consisted of about twenty people, with a jackal soldier holding a rusty flail watching over every three people.
At the end of the line was a wooden cross-shaped frame.
At this moment, a girl of about sixteen years old was tied up on it, her face full of panic.
Beside the cross-shaped frame, two jackal soldiers pressed the girl's head onto the cross, seemingly to prevent her from moving.
In front of the cross-shaped wooden frame stood a much larger gnoll, with green eyes and longer, sharper fangs.
Judging from the appearance of this gnoll, it is very likely to be the "Gnoll Yenogu's Fang".
The "Yenogu's Tooth" was using its wolf-haired claws to scoop something out of a stone basin.
Ronan's mind stirred, and he shifted his gaze to see a slightly whitish, transparent liquid in the stone basin.
In the liquid, white worms with wrinkled bodies swam around, sometimes opening their mouths to reveal the sharp serrations inside.
"Isn't that a Mind Flayer tadpole?"
Ronan initially thought it was just an ordinary gnoll den, but he never expected it to be related to Mind Flayers.
None of the gnolls he killed before entering the valley saw the Mind Flayer Tadpole.
It seems that the Mind Flayer Tadpole was not implanted in the head of every Gnoll.
However, upon further reflection, he realized that this made sense.
Because cultivating Mind-Stealing Tadpoles is no easy task.
The number of Mind-Stealing Tadpoles is limited, and these limited tadpoles should naturally be used in more useful ways.
These gnoll minions can be controlled with just one "Yenogu's Fang," so there's no need for tadpoles.
Using the Mind Flayer Tadpole on humans is clearly a better choice.
Ronan guessed that there was probably a Mind Flayer tadpole inside the head of the "Gnogian Yenogu's Tooth".