Dailah was unable to get any rest as a pair of blue eyeballs kept surfacing in her mind. She could not relax knowing that thing was out there.

Why did the girl feel so responsible for dealing with the monster? Killing the Rat Lord wasn't her duty alone, a considerable chunk of the association was already on the move and, sincerely speaking, her presence was dispensable.

Sure, she was one of the only two who saw the creature and dealt with it directly, but that's hardly an essential element for this type of operation. They would be perfectly fine without her.

If she were to go up to Daniela right now and ask to be taken out of this force, the superior would likely comply. It might cause the woman to lower her opinion of Dailah, but it isn't as if she was trying to lick her shoes, cajole her or anything of the sort. The witch had influence but what she could and couldn't do still had its limits, she certainly couldn't kick the girl out of the association nor demerit her for trying to be reasonable.

Yet here she was, dressing up with the "special robes" that had been handed, getting ready to set out onto the sewers. Scariot was with her, sitting on the other side of the tent. She had just finished putting on the boots.

The outfit they were made to wear was a thick black robe coating their normal garments and a pair of thick footwear. It was special clothing that gave them extra protection... and it'd help shield them from the filth of the sewers as a bonus.

"No matter how many years pass, dealing with that snobbish woman will never not irk me." - Scariot cut through the silence pervading the tent, clearly wanting to vent.

"Are you referring to Daniela?" - Dailah decided to indulge her partner.

"Who else would i be speaking of? She always puts on this know-everything facade, but we're the ones who must deal with her hogwash in the end."

"I don't know... she seems reasonable enough to me."

"Reasonable? That bint? Did the rats penetrated through your ears and ate your brain?"

"I mean, you can't deny the plan worked as intended in the end" - She looked away from Scariot's narrowed eyes - "...for the most part."

Some things just cannot be accounted for, she understands that now.

"Sure, sure, but that doesn't make her any less irritating." - She waved her hand in dismissal - "I'll tell you, the only reason she is treating you a bit nicely is because you're friends with that uptight Mariane." - Scratching her head, she added - "How did you two even become friends anyway?"

"She was my teacher." - Dailah finished up lacing one of her boots - "...and even though you say that about her, aren't you quite straitlaced yourself?"

"Hah? What's that supposed to mean?" - Scariot spoke in a mildly hostile while raising an eyebrow.

"When i first met you, you gave me the impression that you were more... i don't know... wild?" - She continued while scratching her chin - "Someone who isn't afraid of bending the rules?"

Shrugging, she finished her point.

"But even back then you seemed extremely reluctant to use an explosion spell. You are also always following procedures to the letter, i suppose i really had the wrong first impression of you."

Scariot narrowed her eyes as she heard the young girl.

"Listen here Dailah. I may have a dirty mouth and talk loud, but i know how to do my job." - The woman remained in silence for a couple of seconds, then sighed while facepalming - "...but given how we met, i can't blame you for believing that. I really was at a low point there."

The soft, slightly embarrassed expression on her face was replaced by a more fierce one as her next words came out.

"You on the other hand, i have to say..." - Scariot got up while waving her finger at the girl.

Dailah jolted slightly at her tone and movements. Was she about to be lectured?

"Being flexible is fine and all, but aren't you a bit too flexible? That ploy you pulled back there, it was nothing short of reckless you know."

What is she trying to say?

"You approved it didn't you?"

It was a hasty course of action, true, and she heard that using another witch's weapon is a rude thing to do, but that's just how dire the circumstances were back then.

"Yes, yes i did. And i was planning to take responsibility alongside you if things went awry. HOWEVER-"

Scariot made a thumb and pointed it at a random empty space behind her.

"That was a desperate measure, understood? It was not, by any means, a good plan. After the explosion, with the sorry state that container was left afterward, we would've served that junky Rat Lord a very pure mana stone specimen on a silver platter, had you missed that next shot.

"Do you understand what i'm trying to say Dailah? That could've gone very poorly, and we both could've been in deep trouble. And i don't mean merely having to deal with a couple of angry bosses."

Dailah tried to say something, but couldn't. She was high on adrenaline back then and if asked right now, she would've done the same thing with no regrets.

...it's true however the girl never once considered just how badly everything could've turned out. If anything she felt a bit proud of her quick wit, if only for a moment.

"As long as you understand." - Scariot walked towards the outside of the tent, covering her head with the hood of the robe. Then she stopped at the entrance and looked back towards the girl.

"Don't be reckless, you won't be the only one facing the consequences. Even if you do understand the type of responsibilities you carry..."

She turned ahead again, saying as she left.

"It's about time you feel their weight."

"..."

Dailah was now alone. Realizing she had only put one boot on, she scurried to finish dressing herself.

The words Scariot spoke... somehow they felt heavier than what she intended to let on.

After putting on her other boot, it was Dailah's turn to leave the tent.

The fog had pretty much dissipated at this point. Replacing it was a cloudy sky, completely blocking out the light of the sun. From what the girl was told, rain wouldn't make these sewerage passages untraversable with the generated current, only a bit more troublesome than usual.

A huge force had gathered in front of the sewer entrance. They all wore similar attire to that of Dailah, some wielding different types of magical tools and weapons. She went on to join them.

"This isn't an everyday operation. So i want you all to listen, and listen closely."

Daniela was at the head of this crowd, explaining the situation. Besides her stood other witches, all leadership figures within the association.

"This is a joint between Pest Control, Dungeon Diving and-" - She pointed at a group of witches with her chin - "Magic Suppression, ERUMA over there."

The witch paced around as she looked over all the women present. There were so many that Dailah had trouble counting them. Probably over fifty, but not all of them would be entering the sewers. She could spot her partner, in position, bits away from her.

"This problem was originally ours - Pest Control - to deal with, but it grew far beyond our scope.

"We are up against a highly contaminated rat, one that grew to bizarrely colossal proportions and is able to control other rodents at will."

Daniela stopped and looked towards them.

"We dubbed him Rat Lord for simplicity's sake."

A few snickers could be heard in the mob. They say witches have a horrible naming sense... but she and Scariot were the ones who came up with it weren't they? The girl couldn't laugh along.

"Aside from the ability to command a mice army, we do not know of any other abilities it may possess... besides the strength that comes with its size and the resilience typical of contaminated beasts that is."

Daniela looked over to a lady beside her. Most of her body was covered due to the designated robes and boots, but one could see she had slightly tanned skin and wavy brownish hair. Based on her appearance alone one could guess she came from some equatorial region.

There were three dots tattooed under the woman's right eye, something Dailah did not comprehend the meaning of. There was no witch hat atop her head, instead choosing to cover it with a hood like Scariot did.

"Amelia from Castlehold, she is leading the dungeon divers gathered here. As some of you may be aware, the sewers and the dungeons below have a few node points. It could be the case our Rat Lord is in fact living there.

"And also, they are experienced in dealing with magical creatures. We may have to treat that thing as one... that's just how far gone it is."

Amelia gave a subtle nod, prompting Daniela to turn towards the other witch present there.

"Izebel from Gehenna, head of Magic Suppression. She has come here personally to lead ERUMA. Their ability to deal with unexpected events will play an important role during this operation. They will also investigate the possibility of human involvement."

That witch looked... strange to Dailah. She had a very voluminous and puffy black hair that partially covered her peepers. Those, incidentally, had large dark bags under them as if she had never slept once in her entire life. So prominent they were it wouldn't be strange for one to mistake them for make-up.

Even Daniela seemed to recoil while facing this person, that's just how eerie she looked. Dailah hoped she would never have to interact with her in the future. She wouldn't have to right?

"Lastly."

Her superior pulled out a bullet and put it in view of all present. It didn't look particularly special at first glance.

"This is a newly developed prototype anti-mana round, we'll give a few of them to certain key individuals."

She briefly peeked at Dailah for some reason, before saying the next words.

"You are to use this against the Rat Lord, and the Rat Lord alone. Do not waste them on some live sewer garbage."

Stashing the item once again in her pocket, she continued on to the next topic.

"Now, we'll establish the teams and formations."

As Dailah listened to the ins and outs of the imminent operation, she felt a few tip-taps on her hat. The droplets slid off the brim as she glanced upwards, dropping onto the ground.

A downpour was coming.

XXX

The sound of running water was gradually getting louder throughout the tunnels.

*CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*

The hypnotic rumbling was something it was already able to associate with the rain outside. A familiar and comforting noise it remembers even from times of powerlessness and debility.

*CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*

It thought those days were gone, yet here the Lord was. Pitful. Hatred suppressed in its heart. Forced to eat its own kin for that giant form needed new flesh.

Eventually, the wounds closed. Much of its body still hurt, but the pain had subsided compared to earlier. But its mind was still in chaos, its vision impaired.

It ate more and more, hoping to return to its former glory, but no matter how much was ingested it would not recover more than it already had.

The Lord was now a damaged creature, broken beyond repair.

The hatred grew.

It called forth more minions. That spiteful enemy would give chase no doubt, or something within its disorderly head squeaked so.

The pack being formed wasn't as responsive or skillful as the former one lost at the gates, but they heeded the call and that was enough. As confused as it was, the art of war and violence was too ingrained in his being to be forgotten. The Lord would spread the lackeys through the darkness, hidden between the cracks, ambush the despicable humans when they least expected.

Just like they did to it.

Another piece of its intellect yelled, pleaded it to escape, but the side of its brain overflowing with contempt won out in the end.

This was the Lord and its follower's territory, the shadows were their allies. To think those conceited creatures would dare to oppose the Lord's might on its own turf.

Utter foolishness.

*CLANK* *CLANK*

Strange sounds echoed in the distance, gradually closing on its position. What is that?

*CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK*

Black turned into gloom, then into glow as a heinous bulb lit right above its head. The ugly sight of its surroundings, covered in guts and blood, could now be witnessed in all its glory.

The damned lights, they did shine their cursed rays once before didn't they? The last time humans came here in numbers. A muddied memory in the beast's shattered mind.

Stomach churning, its chest grew heavy. Thousands of small dark eyes observed the scene from a distance.

It shouldn't have avoided them at the time, it shouldn't have shown them mercy, it shouldn't have feared them.

The Lord screamed.

This time, it will not repeat the same mistake.

XXX

"Did you hear something?" - Dailah asked her two companions.

"..."

"..."

"I suppose it was nothing..."

Neither witch even looked her way. ERUMA fighters weren't known for their amicability.

Right now, the entire unit was inside the entrance tunnel from the sewers. They were waiting for the electrical lights to finish turning on. The reason they're used here instead of the more practical glowstones is simply due to safety concerns.

One would want to keep the filthy creatures that dwell in this cesspool from getting contaminated, considering it wouldn't be as easy to maintain the lamps here as it is on the surface. Even though glowstones were very weak on mana they could still become a source of contamination, especially when they came in large quantities.

On the other hand, the electrically powered lights were usually kept off. There was no need to waste resources illuminating the cobblestone for the cockroaches.

"It's done. All functioning lights are on." - Said some woman holding on to a communication device, an ancient design that used electromagnetic waves to transmit messages.

It had poor reach, the transmitted voice came with lots of static, was very prone to interference from external elements and had highly inefficient energy conversion. It was a rustic tool fated to be replaced by a magical counterpart that used mana signals instead. Though that one was still unavailable for field usage, so they have to make do with this for now.

Dailah observed the formation as they all started moving. She covered her mouth and nose with a piece of cloth as she began following Daniela's lead. All the others were using similar makeshift masks, save a few like Daniela herself. It wouldn't be good to directly inhale this smell for long. Some members would also carry additional ear protection for when the bullets and spells started flying.

The sewers were quite spacious and, from what she had heard, a complex tunnel system that was considered a huge feat of modern engineering. They would've been quite interesting to explore wasn't for the foul stench and usual darkness.

In fact, there was a recent case of a teenager who came here due to some dare she was put through by her friends, except the teen never came back. Nothing was found even after a thorough search and it was ruled she had been killed and absorbed by a potentially large wandering slime, even if it was an unlikely scenario. Most citizens were very much aware of how dangerous slimes could be and would've kept their distance.

Well, now there's a good lead on what might've actually happened to her. A fate that isn't any less horrifying, unfortunately.

The unit wasn't going to move separately, it wouldn't be necessary. Instead, each team was tasked with a specific function. At the front would be a suppressing group mostly composed of pest control grunts, that's where Scariot was. They would be dealing with swarms of rats that could come to attack them.

Along the suppressors, a secondary team would accompany them, Dailah and the two friendly witches she just tried to chat with. Their sole function would be to shoot the Rat Lord with anti-mana bullets.

Why did a new hire like her get such a critical role? The given reason was that they three were the only ones carrying rifles, the type of weapon the brought special bullets were designed for, as well as the most precise model of gun among the ones here.

Daniela further argued the girl was skilled enough with the rifle, pointing out how she was able to hit the beast during the last confrontation despite the stressful circumstances. Still, seemed like a harsh decision for the newbie, she's sure they could just arrange other more experienced riflers for the role.

Then again, having her participate in this entire operation was already ludicrous to begin with.

Behind the main group, there were dungeon divers in the middle, and the rest of ERUMA further ways back. They both would take the leading position depending on the situation. The backmost team was also able to deal with attacks coming from behind.

Mariane wasn't among them. Even being a capable fighter, she was ultimately just a researcher. There was no point in her presence as the teams involved were perfectly competent for the task.

Daniela was leading the whole unit as she was extremely skilled with magic detection. With the help of the tool she was carrying, one specifically designed for her personal use and capable of enhancing her abilities, she was on the track of the Rat Lord steps.

The woman closed her eyes as she held the staff with both hands in front of her, concentrating.

"....left tunnel." - Opening her eyes, she turned to a guide holding a map of the sewers beside her - "Where does that lead?"

"A-Ah." - The young woman, who had been seemingly absorbed in Daniela's display of magical manipulation, woke up from her stupor. - "L-left tunnel leads to... the crucifix intersection."

Daniela raises her voice to address the rest of the unit.

"Let's move! And keep your guard up, it's too quiet."

It was, indeed, too quiet. They saw no slimes, but that was expected as the creatures tended to avoid large groups like this one. On the other hand, Dailah spotted several invasive plants, probably originating from the dungeons as some didn't seem anything like the vegetation you'd find on the surface. And naturally plenty of cockroaches of different sizes, thankfully no flying ones.

However, there was an uncharacteristic absence of... rats.

Tensions high, they arrived at the expected crossing. The space opened considerably as they descended the walkway slope, water running down right beside them. The ceiling, which was around 4 to 5 meters high before, now tripled in height. On all three sides of the area, not counting the one they were entering from, other tunnels flowed their sewage water onto the pool in the middle.

In the middle of this space, water coursed down through a large drain that eventually spilled onto a large slime nest inside the dungeon, forming what was affectionately called the underground "Poopy lake". Some slimes would escape there to trod through the tunnels above, but that's also by design as they helped clean sediments from the drains.

Clearing the excess of slimes was part of pest control's duties. She expected that event to be her first time in these tunnels, not some colossal rat.

"Divers, go check the dungeon entrance." - Daniela pronounced. Somewhere here was an entrance to the dungeons that led further down, an entrance meant for humans that is.

She observed Izebel giving some hand signals to her underlings, probably telling them to comb through the place given their following movements.

Right now, Dailah and her two temporary companions were standing on top of a metal catwalk, the dirty river passing below them. She observed the water coming from the tunnel in a trance as the group waited for further instructions. It was coming on quite strongly, probably due to the rain outside.

"Getting caught up in that current would be a truly unpleasant experience, wouldn't it...?"

"..."

"..."

"...indeed it would, ha ha...." - Dailah ended up answering her own question.

She should just give up on the small talk. Instead, the girl observed their leader and her guide in front of the group. The guide seemed to be saying something.

"E-excuse me. Miss- I mean! Mrs. Daniela, can you feel if the monster is here...?"

Daniela was concentrating while holding onto the staff. After a brief silence, she answered.

"....no. I can feel traces of it, but not the creature itself." - Then, she raised her voice, intending for the others to hear the next line - "Still, don't rest yet! This thing should be smart enough to set up traps!"

As she said this, the dungeon divers came back. One of them ran up to her and began explaining.

"No signs of tampering with the dungeon entrance.... but it registered someone opening it recently. We're unsure if there were any operations in this area, we'll compare with the records when we get back."

Any gate that led to dungeons had an array of security measures set up, including one that registered transit.

"How recently are we talking about?"

"Two months or so."

Daniela was silent for a while, rubbing her chin as she appeared to be considering something. Finally, after muttering "I see", she continued with the orders.

"Either way, rats don't open doors with gem keys. Work together with Magic Suppression when we finish this quest to figure this out."

"Understood."

The woman went back to her position in the middle of the pack. The witches from ERUMA were almost finished with the sweep as Dailah observed where the sewage waste gathered in the middle of the area, supposedly going down the drain towards Poopy Lake.

But... wasn't the water a bit too close to them? Is it filling up due to the rain?

Then, she observed something floating within the liquid waste.

Small. Gray. Furry.

She strained her eyes, the water was too muddy and... it was hard to see what was in the bottom.

"...! Hey, You two!"

The two ERUMA witches turned towards Dailah, noticing something unusual in her tone this time.

"The water!" - The girl screamed, pointing towards the floating rodent body.

Other witches heard the scream and began reading their weapons. As they did-

*SHOOOOSH*

A large black mass emerged from the brown pool.

XXX

The idiotic humans walked right into the Lord's trap. It had observed before, how those slimy creatures disappeared from sight once they dived into the water. Couldn't that be replicated with its minions?

Many agonized and desperately swam to the surface, against the Lord's orders. It couldn't just force them to stay there and die, it would render everything pointless. Regularly swapping upper and bottom layers of the mass, the ones on the upside would get a chance to breathe before going back under.

Of course, some would still drown during this process, but the results were good enough.

Using their tiny claws, each minion would hold onto another. Together, the strong current wasn't capable of washing them away. A strategy the Lord often used during the most terrible of floods.

All it needed to do now was wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Some of the enemies separated from their main group. It would wait for them all to gather again before dealing a decisive strike!

One of the humans in the group alerted the Lord's instincts, warning it of its danger, but the Lord chose to ignore it. If that one needed to act in a pack such as this, it shouldn't be all that fearsome.

Aside from that, another one caught its eye. A yellow-headed human. Even within its mangled mind, it remembers.

The one which broke the Lord's wisdom, split its consciousness into two.

She shouted, others from the pack raised their awareness and took fighting stances. The ambush had been noticed, no choice but to strike now.

That human, that woman, it would make sure to afflict her with plenty of despair.

XXX

A familiar sight appeared before Dailah. Many of the witches present were flabbergasted at the view, but among them, one was faster to react.

"Shoot fireballs when it's outside the water!"

Scariot screamed as she blasted two fireball-charged bullets onto the wet furry mass that almost resembled a tentacle, approaching the group. Its form was far more brittle and unstable compared to what she had fought against outside.

The girl briefly wondered how they kept themselves steady amidst the strong flow of the sewage water, but there was no time to think about that.

With just a few blasts, the form collapsed back into the water. Then-

*SHOOOOSH*

Another tentacle emerged from the tunnel behind Dailah, hurling itself towards the metal footbridge. She and the other witches on the bridge scurried off.

*BAAAAAKK*

Fortunately, no one fell even though the unit had been separated into two, but that didn't matter. The tentacle had been hit by a few fireballs, going down in flames as it unraveled.

No one was shooting at the water. Normal bullets wouldn't have much effect, not to mention fire spells.

That doesn't mean they had nothing up their sleeve, however.

Amelia pulled out a wand, a decorated baton with a few small mana stones and magical lines embroidering it. Magical wands in general were custom-made tools meant for specific users, normally higher-ranked witches. Their purpose was to enhance their wielder's spells with faster casting speeds or give their abilities more power. Some would even be custom-made for specific types of magic like the one Daniela was using.

The witch directed the rod at the muddy water. Normal people would just see an awkward scene of a woman pointing a gaudy stick downward.

But every witch present could feel the massive energy emanating from her.

*GURGLE*

Slowly, steam began coming out of the water.

And soon, multiple other "tentacles" emerged. Now, however, they had a much harder time maintaining their shapes, dropping "pieces" of it all around. A desperate last stand.

All the designated witches followed through with their fireballs. The rats got scorched if they tried rising above the water through their tentacle formations, while those that supported their comrades or ran back below were being boiled alive.

It didn't take long for the tentacles to cease attacking.

But the water level kept rising nonetheless.

"Are their bodies blocking the drains?" - Dailah pondered as she looked below. - "...! UGH!" - ...and was hit by the strong stench of overheated sewage water.

She quickly retreated, but it was too late. The girl retched as she fell on all fours.

"Blegh...!" - Removing the cloth covering her face, she threw up the remnants of her last meal.

The only saving grace of this embarrassment was that she could spot others in the same situation as her.

Still down on her knees a familiar face landed beside her, jumping from the other side of the destroyed catwalk.

"Are you alright?" - Scariot asked.

"Yes... yes. I'm fine... is the water level still rising?" - Dailah answered, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. How disgusting, what would she do for a proper handkerchief right now...

"It is. The sewers can take this much, but we have to leave soon." - Her partner said as she extended a hand towards her.

Right, she couldn't jump across on her powers alone.

She took the extended hand and stood up. Holding onto the woman she was carried over the gap, others soon followed. When everyone reunited with the main group, Daniela began giving directions.

"During the attack, i could feel signatures coming from there." - She pointed towards towards the tunnel on the other side of where they stood. To get there they would have to contour the entire area - "We should move as fast-"

She cut off her words. Then yelled as she turned towards the direction of the tunnel.

"Ready your weapons! Anti-mana unit, use any opening you can find!"

Narrowing her eyes, still fixed in the same direction, the high-rank witch murmured.

"It's coming."

XXX

They survived the first ambush, but that was just a taste of what is to come.

The Lord cared not anymore for power and growth. All it desired was to quench its anger.

If that required throwing every potential minion in this land at them, or even its own life, so be it.

It will destroy the despicable creatures that wronged it. No matter the cost

XXX

*RUUUMBLE*

The underground shook, the lights flickered. A big flood was coming their way, but not one made out of water.

From the blinking darkness of the tunnel, a giant mass of flesh slowly presented itself. The witches wasted no time.

Multiple shots were directed towards the incoming rodent, all charged with fireball. Even the high-ranked witches joined the fray with their own raw spells.

It was barely enough to contain the horde.

"...! More coming from the left tunnel" - Someone shouted.

"Right one too!" - Another person screamed.

"...from the tunnel behind us too!!" - One more cried.

Where does that monster find that many rats?

"Divers team! Amelia! Put up a strong barrier on the tunnel at our backs. Burn everything accumulating on the other side!" - Daniela barked her orders - "The others, focus fire on your respective positions! Anti-mana! Keep an eye out for the demonic beast!"

It made Dailah incredibly uncomfortable to just stand still in the middle of such a huge predicament. She understood the reasoning behind it, to not waste even the smallest chance of dealing a blow to the monster, but still...

Meanwhile, it was Daniela's turn to make her move.

She threw aside the detection staff and pulled out another one from her back. This one had a different design from the previous one, even looked a bit familiar to the girl.

Right... it was an oversized version of the warding wand they used before.

Moving to the middle of the pack, she activated it. Unlike the rustic version Scariot used before, this one generated a clean protection that created no environmental disturbances during the formation process, nor required her to be touching every individual meant to stay inside it.

One could ask what was the point of raising yet another barrier behind them. The reason for this was that these spherical wards were weak to pressure, and the rats would be pouring out of the tunnel's mouth with a lot of force. Additional safety measures were a must.

In the middle of that chaotic scene of witches shooting fireballs, smell of burnt flesh and rotten water permeating the air, rats reaching and scratching against the invisible ward, a wall of rodent corpses building up behind them, and a water level slowly rising due to the torrential rain and the accumulation of bodies inside the pool...

Dailah stood still, waiting for her target.

XXX

The enemies were busy containing the Lord's minions. Now was the perfect chance!

Hiding in one of the waves being commanded, it approached the group.

Apparently, there was an invisible thing stopping others from closing in on the humans, but an instinct within the Lord told it could break through using his brute might alone

The first target was already set.

That damned yellow woman was in its sights.

XXX

Daniela screamed something, but Dailah couldn't hear her.

She had spotted her target, revealing itself from the latest wave of rodents.

The girl wasn't sure whether it could break through the ward, but she wasn't thinking about that.

It was coming right for her.

Good.

She had a good view of its head that way.

Dailah readied her rifle.

XXX

The woman pointed a long object at the Lord. It had felt those attacks before and knew how destructive they were, how they could burn through its skull with flames and scorch its mind.

But they weren't enough to kill.

It would just ignore the pain.

Destroying was all that mattered now.

XXX

Dailah pulled the trigger.

An anti-mana bullet flew.

XXX

A light flashed before the Lord.

It felt an impact, penetrating its skull.

Then-

It ceased to be.

XXX

Dailah hit her target. That special bullet was immediately effective, she could almost visualize the blue light in the eyes of the creature going out as it landed, completely different from when they shot at it with normal fireball spells.

But the following spectacle was even more incredible.

All the rats moving in unison suddenly dismantled, their formation crumbling as the bodies scattered on the walkways and water, a disturbing rain made out of mice. Then, they began scurrying off in all directions, the live ones at least.

For several moments, only the sound of splashing and meat hitting the ground filled those tunnels. The witches stood in awe as the blows became sparser, giving away to the rumbling noise of running water.

"Well..." - someone muttered - "I guess this is it."

The familiar voice of her partner barked back.

"No it's not! We'll drown in shit if we don't leave right now!"

Dailah looked downwards. The waste had risen its level considerably and was now splodging her legs and boots.

Disgusting.