Deus Necros Chapter 308: The Perturbant's Lullaby

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

The hunter rounded on Ludwig, his face a mask of fury and horror. Spittle flew from his lips as he shouted, the veins in his neck standing out like cords. "We could have saved them! Helped them!"

Ludwig didn't flinch. He simply turned his head, directing the hunter's attention to where the flas had burned away the concealing vines. Dozens of mummified forms beca visible in the flickering light—so still standing, held upright by the roots that had grown through them; others collapsed in poses of eternal agony. Their eye sockets blood with the sa sickly roses, their mouths frozen open in silent screams.

"Yeah." Ludwig's voice was flat. "Do you truly believe that?"

The hunter's face went slack. His sword arm dropped, the tip of his falchion digging into the earth as his knees threatened to buckle. "Shit," he breathed. Then, louder: "Shit! Shit!" His head snapped up, eyes wild. "You said you'd seen this before. I'm—" A shudder ran through him. "I'm listening. Any ideas."

For the first ti, sothing almost like amusent flickered across Ludwig's features. Pride and arrogance always crumbled so quickly when death ca calling. "Well," he said, surveying the nightmare around them, "since it's just you and ..." He nodded toward the deeper forest. "How about we go farther in?"

The hunter barked a laugh that edged on hysterical. "Not a chance in hell. We're getting to that rowboat and—"

The air whistled. Sothing massive and dark hurtled out of the trees, slamming into the trunk beside them with enough force to shower them in splinters. The hunter scread—a high, undignified sound—as the wreckage of their rowboat collapsed at their feet, along with what remained of the sailor. The man's body had been... rearranged, his limbs bent at impossible angles, his torso caved in as if by so trendous force. His face, remarkably intact, was frozen in an expression of pure terror.

Ludwig didn't so much as flinch. He simply looked from the wreckage to the hunter, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Do I even need to comnt?"

The hunter's breathing was ragged, his face slick with sweat. He closed his eyes for a long mont, then nodded. "Deeper into the island it is."

Ludwig led the way, Durandal flashing in precise arcs to clear the path. Everywhere he looked, the forest watched back. The leaves trembled without wind. The flowers turned to follow their progress. Even the shadows seed to twist in ways that defied the torchlight. It was all alive. And all of it was dead. A mockery of nature, beautiful and grotesque in equal asure.

The hunter stumbled along behind him, his breathing growing more labored with each step. "You... you hear that?" he panted, dragging his sleeve across his sweat-slick forehead.

Ludwig paused, head tilting slightly. "No. What is it?"

"It's..." The hunter's eyes had gone distant, his pupils dilated. "Familiar. Like a... like a lullaby." His lips curved in a dreamy smile utterly at odds with their surroundings.

Ludwig's hand shot out, gripping the man's shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Oi. Wake up." He gave the hunter a sharp shake. "Do you think this is a place for lullabies?" His voice dropped lower. "You're being bewitched. Stay focused."

The hunter blinked rapidly, so clarity returning to his gaze. "R-right," he stamred, shaking his head as if to clear it.

Ludwig released him, his attention already shifting forward. As an undead, such petty illusions couldn't touch him—which ant whatever the hunter heard was close. Very close. He pushed aside a curtain of hanging roots, and there, in the clearing beyond...

It knelt in the damp earth, its elongated fingers cradling nothing. The remains of a healer's robe clung to its fra, the fabric fused to flesh in places, stained pink and brown with old blood and newer blooms. For a heartbeat, it didn't react to their presence. Then it humd.

The sound vibrated through Ludwig's bones, wet and wrong—not a voice, but the scrape of thorns on bone. His grip tightened on Durandal as the thing's chest split open with a sound like tearing parchnt. Not in attack. In offering.

From the hollow within, rosebuds swelled, their petals glistening with sothing thicker than dew. The air grew heavy with the cloying scent of rotting lilies and fresh copper.

Slowly, deliberately, it stood. Its legs unfolded like a mantis rising, joints bending at all the wrong angles. Where a face should have been, only a seam of thorns remained, parting slightly to drip nectar. The eye sockets blood with tiny white roses, their roots threading through bone like veins.

Then it sang.

The sound slithered into Ludwig's skull, not through his ears but through his very bones. He felt it like roots pushing between his thoughts, whispering in a language of damp soil and unfolding petals. His eyes narrowed, glowing faintly as he activated his power.

[Inspect]

Vassilisa's Perturbant

Level: 85

Danger Level: 💀

HP: 85,000/85,000

Damage: 120-650

Tier: Elite Cursed

Status Effect:

[Thorn-Womb Blessing] - Regenerates 1.5% HP per second while standing on cursed soil. All attacks inflict [Bloomrot].

[Bloomrot] Reduces target's healing received by 15% per stack (max 3 stacks).

Skills:

[Lullaby of the Flesh-Surgeon] (Aura, Passive)

All enemies within 15m suffer 30% curse progression speed if infected.

Allies under [Bloomrot] suffer -20% ntal Resistance, occasionally seeing the Perturbant as an ally.

[Surgical Communion] (Active, 12s Cooldown) On hit, implants a Rosebud in the target.

After 30 seconds, the Rosebud detonates for 15% Max HP damage.

[Womb of a Thousand Roots] Roots in a massive area all targets trapped in this skill, and applies [Bloomrot] [Bleed] [Root] and [Proliferation]

[Grafted Resilience]

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