Ray pushed Penny back with a firm hand. "I don't know if it's real or not, but it doesn't matter. It's not part of our world. Let's just find this Shepherd, kill him, and get out of here."

  He then turned to Luke and grinned. "Aaaaaaaah, fresh meat!"

  "You have to stop doing that," Luke said.

  "Oh, come on," Ray complained. "It was a little funny."

  "I see no humor in this terrible place," Mateo said, stepping out in front of the group. "Let us delve deeper into the belly of evil and root out the devils living within. We must cleanse this place!"

  It was darker down there, with shadowed corners where the artificial light couldn't quite reach. The smell didn't let up for a moment as they continued deeper into the basement floor. Moans from zombies soon sounded ahead in the gloom, but it wasn't zombies who appeared.

  Inspected: Abomination. Level 6.

  Inspected: Abomination. Level 7.

  Inspected: Abomination. Level 7.

  Inspected: Abomination. Level 5.

  They were human, almost, except someone or something had pieced them together from different people. The one at the far end had one enormous arm, the other dainty, from a woman. Its legs were mismatched, and the head much darker in skin tone than the rest of it. They were all like that. Stitched together with what looked like leather thread, pus oozing from gaps where they hadn't quite got the stitching right. They were naked, all of them, and worst of all, their mouths were sewn shut and their eyes were open wide in fear, like they could see what they'd become but couldn't control themselves.

  Words spilled out of Penny's mouth, disgust and fear twisting the melody from If You're Happy and You Know It:

  "If you're writhing in the dark, I’ll light you up!"

  "Got your bones where your face was, that’s messed up!"

  "Scream and squirm, you little freak, now taste the lightning streak!"

  Lightning crackled and struck the one in the middle. Limbs were torn off and scattered in all directions. Ray disappeared into stealth, and Mateo hurled his spear, striking one right in the chest, killing it before the spear disappeared and reappeared in his hand.

  A third fell from an unseen blow delivered by Ray, and then Colt charged forward, slamming the last one with his shield, then slashed, tearing the Abomination apart.

  "If whoever did that gets us," Penny said, her voice low, "I want you to kill me before it can do that to me."

  Hannah grinned at her. "Sure thing!"

  "It won't come to that," Luke said, stepping forward to join the others.

  It had been a quick fight without injuries, their opponents slow and harmless. They continued deeper until the path split into two different hallways.

  "Should we split up?" Ray asked.

  "Hilarious," Luke grunted as Mateo steered them down to the right.

  Skeletons and zombies appeared, but by then, the group was able to dispose of them without issue, and Luke saw his experience bar crawling upward. In the next room of note, one that looked a lot like a library, with a ceiling much taller and bookcases lining the walls, they found a gilded wooden chest near the far wall. But that was not all they found.

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  A new type of monster stood guard over it.

  Inspected: Flesh Golem. Level 9.

  Like the abominations, it was pieced together from human parts, but now there was no rhyme or reason to them. Legs, arms, hands, hips, and feet, every piece imaginable, were heaped together in the rough shape of a man. Two legs, two arms, and a head, except the head was a collection of what must be ten or fifteen hands, each of them holding several eyeballs. Luke shuddered as the eyeballs swirled to face the group, regarding them.

  It stood there, waiting for them, taller than Colt and twice as wide. It didn’t have any weapons or even hands to speak of in the traditional sense. Luke wondered how it would fight. He soon got his answer as Ray appeared, leaping through the air behind it, his dagger raised in both hands. Ray slammed his weapon down into the Flesh Golem's head, shouting as he pushed, eyeballs popping and leaking.

  Rather than fall down, the flesh golem reached around, grabbing for Ray. He leapt back, dodging the slow move with ease. What he hadn’t expected was for the arm to shift, grow longer, reach again, quicker this time. Human arms slithered forward, moving along the golem's bulk until they reached the end of the arm, where they grasped for Ray.

  He stabbed at a hand and turned invisible, but it was too late. An arm grabbed him, then several more, pulling him closer. Ray reappeared in the Flesh Golem's grasp, wriggling and kicking, trying to get free.

  "Why are you just standing there? Help me!" Ray shouted.

  Shadows surged from Hannah, reaching the Flesh Golem's feet, then climbing, reaching all the way to the arm holding Ray. She strained and heaved, but then slumped. "It's too strong."

  Colt lurched forward into a lumbering run, his shield held high, as Mateo leapt up on a table, then over to the next, and the next, to get a clear line of sight. He threw his spear into the creature’s chest, where it stuck without doing visible damage.

  Ray was pulled closer to the flesh golem’s bulk, and Luke watched in horror as the thing seemed to just yawn open, a hundred arms reaching to embrace its victim. Then Colt was there, slamming into the Flesh Golem, pushing it off balance. The two fell back over the chest, crushing it under their weight. Gold coins spilled out, glittering in the dim light.

  "Colt!" Penny shouted. "Colt, get away from it!"

  Ray was still stuck, but was no longer in danger of being absorbed by the Flesh Golem, at least not for the moment. Luke ran as well, a step behind Mateo. He slammed the quarterstaff down on the arm holding Ray, but it was like striking a stone wall. Changing tactics, he put a hand to the monster’s writhing form of feet, thighs, and even ears. Hands reached up and grabbed him, pulling him down toward it, but Luke put a foot on it to fight against the pull as he quested into the Flesh Golem’s insides using Threads of Mana.

  It was a jumble. Each part was its own thing, but melded together. Mana flowed from one piece to the next, the glue keeping the thing from falling apart. Even pieces that weren’t touching were connected with mana, not just one piece to another, but every piece to every other piece, like an impossibly complex weave.

  Good thing for Ray, Luke was a Lifeweaver and knew his way around threads. He sliced through the creature’s mana paths with Needle of Life. Each stroke severed connections between pieces as he hacked without a plan or preparation, going about it in a frenzy. The Flesh Golem threw Colt away like a discarded doll and sat up, its many eyes turning to Luke, its free hand reaching.

  Luke cried out and slashed again, cutting off the last thread of the Flesh Golem’s mana, severing its arm. The pieces fell apart, like the bones of the skeletons, and Ray rolled, got up to his feet, and disappeared into stealth.

  The Flesh Golem's arm struck out for Luke, but shadows rose to hold it for a brief moment, allowing him to reach Colt, who lay in a heap against the wall he'd crashed into. Getting down to his knees next to him, Luke glanced over his shoulder at the monster. Its wriggling eyes turned this way and that, looking at its severed arm and the many appendages scattered on the floor.

  A chant rang out, words full of vengeance set to the rhythm of We Will Rock You by Queen.

  "You broke his bones, now feel my hate!"

  "Fists like thunder, you're too late!"

  "Three bolts down, now MEET YOUR FATE!"

  Lightning blasted through the room again and again, striking the golem in the chest and scattering more of its parts across the floor. It stepped back and fell again, but didn't stop moving.

  He checked the head injury and found Colt bleeding from a gash at the side of his head. After stitching that together, Luke delved deeper, finding nothing out of the ordinary to explain his unconscious state. The fighting kept going behind him as Luke moved to heal the broken bone. That done, he drew back his hand and slapped Colt across the face.

  The huge Vanguard blinked, opened his eyes, and then widened them, reaching forward to point over Luke's shoulder. Luke turned, felt a weight drop into his stomach, then activated The Healer's Moment. The Flesh Golem's extended arm was an inch from Luke’s face, reaching out with a cluster of hands. It smelled horrendous, like leftover meat forgotten at the back of the fridge.

  Seconds ticked down. Luke tore his eyes from the creature and closed them. Instead, he reached out with Threads of Mana. One at first, then a second, and after struggling to keep his focus, a third.

  That was all he could do, three thin threads of mana against a hulking monstrosity. The Healer’s Moment ended, and the arm closed in on Luke.