Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-88

Gross. Really gross.

That'd be the perfect description for the thing he's seeing right now.

A demon whose body is like a big, black gelatinous mass that writhes as it crawls the tunnels. It's covered in warts that constantly leak out black and yellow-ish colored goo. It's like a giant maggot with the way how its body pulses with every move.

What makes it more disgusting is the fact that, whatever this thing is, has a cannibalistic streak. Ashton could make out several demons being savored inside its mouth as it writhes forward. He could even hear the screeches of its victims which made his skin crawl.

It has a foul appearance, presence, and smell. It's disgusting to look at and every single action it does is nightmare-inducing. But, nothing could top the one thing it did which nearly caused Ashton's knees to buckle in fear.

The creature stopped at one point, and Ashton couldn't help but notice that it stopped precisely at where he disappeared.

He then heard the unmistakable sound of sniffing. He didn't even know that this creature had a nose. But when it's done sniffing around, its body wriggled fiercely, then stopped.

"Ghhk...kugh...kergfh..."

What could be described as gurgling sounds escaping from that creature's maws? Ashton was so unnerved that he was so tempted to cut off the connection outside, however due to his need to know, he didn't.

...and he might've regretted that decision.

"H...h...hu...hum..."

"Hu...man."

"Hum..an."

"Huma...n."

"HUMAN!!!!"

Blood drained from Ashton's face. He never expected something like this. A demon that can talk.

Its voice was nightmare-inducing, it sounded like thousands of people were speaking the same thing at the same time. The creature also reacted so strongly that it did something that Ashton didn't know was possible.

He heard it hacking and coughing, then it faced the ceiling and opened its maws so wide revealing what seems to be endless rows of teeth. He saw the other demons it's savoring suffering whilst impaled on its teeth, writhing in despair and screeching in pain.

From the center of the maw, a flesh pod suddenly popped. From it, emerged a man who only has half of his upper body intact. He has long black hair which is currently covered in black goo, his skin was as pale as a corpse, his arms hang limply on the side and his eyes were void and empty, dead for all intents and purposes.

The lower half of the man's body was fused with whatever this monstrosity is. He then saw a single tentacle rising and plunging itself at the back of the man's head.

Ashton had to watch as the man jerked a few times as if electrocuted. Then all of a sudden, the man suddenly moved.

"A...lingering...scent of...human...here." the creature talked through the man's body, which made Ashton shiver in horror.

"...been a long...time since...human...came here...missed their...taste...want to...to...to...devour!!"

"Human!! Flesh!! Human flesh!!! Mine!!!" The man twitched while roaring in insanity.

Ashton made no mistake. He knows that the man is dead, the foul creature is just using his body to, perhaps, talk better.

Still, this doesn't make this situation any better for himself.

It seems that he had been far too naive, thinking that he could just breeze through this whole underground tunnel system without endangering himself. In hindsight though, nobody could expect him to need to hide his scent as well, but alas...

The creature can now use this to track him down. And judging by what he has seen so far, this creature would be a massive pain in the ass to deal with.

Ashton could literally see those mad-looking array of horns it has. This one has four fully grown pairs and one pair that's already halfway there.

This thing is a matured demon! If that hasn't been obvious from the moment it spoke using Humanity's Language.

"...w-where are...you...little human...come out...come out...wherever you are..." the creature stuttered as it continued patrolling the tunnels.

It sniffed now and then, trying to get hold of Ashton's tracks. This will prove to be a lost cause since Ashton is no longer physically there.

Now, if that ain't a relief or what...

"Babe, seriously? What the hell is up with your luck? I thought you told me that you increased your fortune?" Aria's voice sounded behind him.

"I thought it did..." Ashton whined weakly.

"Then what the hell is this?" Aria was stressed-out and exasperated. "How the hell did you find yourself confronting a matured Nightmare Devourer?"

"Okay, first of all, I didn't encounter it."

"...yet."

"Yet. Damn it!" Ashton cursed, "Second, this isn't my fault! Had I known that I'd see something like that in the tunnels, I would've considered jumping down instead."

"And finally, how'd you know what this thing is called?" He asked cause he didn't know what that creature is until Aria spoke, he knows it was a demon but that's it.

"Ah, I don't know if that's its real name or not. I just based it on the records we've seen before. You know, the one we referred to when we were trying to locate where we are?"

Ashton thought for a bit and said: "Ah right! The expeditions records! I remember that. They said something about encountering a Nightmare inducing Demon Devourer. Is that where the name came from?"

"Yep." Aria nodded, emphasizing the 'p' sound. "It's fitting isn't it?"

"Yeah." Ashton sighed as he nodded. "It makes sense too. That thing still has the corpse of the last human it ate. It is even using him to track me down. How vile."

"You'd think it'd long since digested that man, but I guess it has other ideas. Said ideas that I most likely would never want to know thank you very much." Aria grumbled as she plopped down on the couch next to him.

Ashton refrained from commenting. He still finds himself reeling from the shock and horror he witnessed just now.

Honestly, how does anyone expect him to face something like that? Does he wanna know? Would he even try to simulate a battle against this thing in the Simulation Zone?

Well, the answer to the last part was most likely yes. If he wants to continue his descent downwards, he needs to confront this bullshit of a demon.

At this point, he too was starting to question if his luck really increased or decreased instead. He'd like to think that it's the former but now...he's starting to doubt it.

"Either way, I guess I should've been more careful." Ashton sighed, "It's just...I didn't know that I also have to hide natural scent on top of hiding my presence as well. I'd like to think that I'm being thorough and careful with whatever I do outside but things just happen all the time and-"

"Shh..." Aria placed a finger on his lips and cupped his face with her hands, she brought him to her bosom and heard him sighing in comfort. "Quit blaming yourself. This isn't your fault. I know you're trying your best."

"...boob heaven." He hummed as he snuggled closer.

Aria rolled her eyes and said: "Really?"

"What?" His head rose and pouted at her. "You're the one who initiated this so take responsibility."

And with that, he dove right back in, snuggling closer for more warmth.

"But yeah, I get it." He mumbled while basking in the warmth of Aria's valleys. "I'm just frustrated I guess, it's nothing new. I'll bounce back from this."

He emphasized the word 'bouncing' as he bobbed his face on her chest, eliciting a giggle from Aria.

"I guess it's more Simulation Training for me." He added, "I not looking forward to it though, considering I'll have to fight a matured demon."

"...this is going to become a routine isn't it?" Aria wondered out loud.

"Yeah I can, see that happening." He replied, "Me trying to navigate the way back home, being stopped every now and then to train whenever I meet a demon that could potentially kill me. That's going to get repetitive."

"But you'll always come-out on top. You'll end up victorious because if you don't then nobody could. I believe you." Aria smiled at him.

"Mn." Ashton nodded, "And I also believe in Boob Heaven Supremacy."

"Ash!!"

Aria giggled as Ashton lifted her shirt and snaked his head inside, stopping right at her cleavage and humming in satisfaction.

"Mountains, yay."

Aria chuckled as he firmly claimed his spot on her cleavage, refusing to leave, forcing her to cuddle with him.

The connection outside has long been forgotten. Ashton clearly doesn't want to deal with it right now. He would rather bask in the glory of his mini-paradise instead of dealing with a nightmare inducing headache right now.

As for Aria herself, well she doesn't mind this either. She's not really disturbed by his boyfriend's behavior since he wouldn't do this if he knew she'd be uncomfortable with it.

Besides, she's rather fond of his mildly pervy antics too. At least he's not shy to express what he wants. She'd rather have that instead of Ashton keeping everything bottled-up.

"Ooh, boob sweat, yoink!"

"Ash!!!"

On second thought...