Chapter 718 Forced Retreat, And Start Of The Count Down.
FLAP! FLAP! Zaleria flapped her wings, blasting toward the ceiling. "Careful not to hit the stones," Bela cried, seeing the ceiling approach.
"We should hurry..." Cain said, but suddenly felt a hand grab his ankle. "JO!" A hulking cockroach with blue lines on his body had climbed Zaleria.
"DAMN! IT!" Cain growled as the monster pulled him down. The two of them fell to the ground.
"CAIN!" Zaleria turned her head, roaring.
"Why didn't you turn your flames?" Morena growled.
"Do you want me to burn them?" Zaleria growled, looking at Bela, Lolth, and Hati.
"We have to save him! That one is their queen!" Baalzebul screamed, pointing at the cockroach who dragged Cain down.
"Queen?" Bela looked down. To her, all the cockroaches looked the same.
BAM! Cain and the cockroach queen fell to the ground.
Cain stood, glaring ahead to find himself surrounded by cockroaches. The queen stared at him, smiling and pointing at him. "JO!"
"Can you move out of the way? I need to go down." Cain said, pointing his staff at the queen. "JO! Griiiii!" she growled.
"I don't understand your tongue." Cain pointed his staff at her. He then smiled, causing it to disappear, "I already tried magic, and it didn't work."
Cain's hands flashed goldenly, and he took a stance, glaring forward with his eyes glowing golden.
"JO!" One of the cockroaches leaped at Cain, swinging a fist faster than the eyes could see.
CRACK! Cain turned his body, countering with a punch to the guts. The cockroach's insides exploded as the holy magic tore its way.
~Cain! Let me handle this~ Lolth's voice rang in his head, ~But I need access to your divine energy~
Cain smiled, ~Fine, do it~ His body flashed, and his arms split into six limbs. Quickly, his body took Lolth's appearance, a half-drow half-spider.
From the divine light surrounding his body, the Yochlol emerged in their drow form, holding holy weapons.
"Today's dinner is cockroaches," Lolth's smiled, feeling Cain's power coursing through her body. Her head jerked as her body accelerated.
A couple of cockroaches found themselves already chomped, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Lolth screamed, and the ground started to shake, and all of the spider devils in the layer fell under her control, rushing to the battlefield.
"JO! HO!" The cockroach queen growled, glaring around and pointing toward the coming spiders.
"JO? KI RINA! DEY GA JORAN IM JOGO KI MA. GO HANI HIOS SHIN DI BA! (Kill? Think again! They are immortal in hell like you. But have the support of a god)." Lolth said, glaring at them.
"You can speak our language?" The queen cockroach stared at Lolth, taking a step back.
"If course I can. All I needed was to learn it from the spiders here. Do you mind retreating?" Lolth looked at her with a smile.
"Sorry, but we can't." The queen shook her head, "His orders are to stop you from going down for a month. We can't just let you pass."
"Someone seems to be ordering you around. Who is it?" Lolth glared at the queen.
"I can't say." The queen replied and stared at her soldiers, "Kill her, don't let anyone escape."
All the cockroaches stepped forward, but they stopped. Web tieing them in place while Lolth smiled, "Sorry, I'm not here to win. I'm here to make sure you don't win." She leaped up. "Keep them down, little ones." Lolth flew away with her angels. She bought enough time for the other to escape.
"Get back here!" The cockroach queen screamed, her legs tied down. She quickly swung at her neck, trying to die and resurrect in another place, but the threads caught her hand.
"I'm not letting any of you pull that trick again. Good luck." Lolth waved her arms as she left the place.
Thud! Lolth landed in the caverns between Malbolg and Maladomini, looking at the girls who rested there. "I'm back," She smiled, giving control back to Cain.
As Lolth's body transformed back to Cain, he took a deep breath, and she walked out of his back. "See? I didn't eat you." Lolth smiled.
Cain looked at her, smiling. "I'm happy you didn't try anything funny."
"I can't blame you for not trusting me. But for now, let's think of a way to deal with those cockroaches." Lolth said, looking at Baalzebul, "You lived with them and must have an idea."
"Individually, they are weak." Baalzebul said, "But they are dangerous since they attack in swarms."
"We know that. How about you tell us how to eliminate them?" Lolth sighed.
"This is hell. As long as they want it, they will resurrect as much as they want." Baalzebul explained.
"Can't we just burn them?" Zaleria looked at them with a passive face.
"Killing isn't an option. We need to keep the cockroaches still long enough for us to find the path to Cania." Cain replied. "Give me a moment,"
Cain sighed, calling Lilia, ~Master, I need your help~
~Ara! That's rare of you. What do you need~
~An army of almost a million devilish hulking cockroaches in the seventh layer of hell. I want them gone.~
Lilia thought, ~Killing them is a problem. Did you try immobilizing them~
~It doesn't last as long as I need,~
~Fine, I could make a chemical to keep them still for a week, but I need you here to gather some stuff. And also use your blood.~ Lilia replied.
~The cockroaches are trying to prevent me from reaching Cania in less than a month. Can we beat that?~
~Depending on how hard you work, I can set you up in two weeks with enough chemical poison~
Cain nodded, looking at the girls, ~Fine~
"We're retreating for now. We don't have enough power to keep the cockroaches still. Lilia has an idea. So we will meet her in the elvish capital." Cain said, opening a portal to take them to Gracie fortress(Glasya's fortress)
"Are we going back just like this?" Zaleria stared at Cain.
"I suspect it's the ice hero behind all of this. We can't act rashly." Cain replied, "Let's go back, get the right items ready, and come back."
Lolth looked at Cain, "She said one month, but I suspect that was a while ago. Three weeks might be the best we can get."