Part 6 of 8
It uses its giant weight and the pull of gravity to slam into its opponent with frightening force.
But the dragon dodges it easily, slipping across the ground and the air alike.
Spears of earth burst up from the ground, wounding the snake.
Its high defense prevented them from penetrating its skin, but they’re still definitely doing damage.
The snake tries to dodge the spears, but they burst out of the ground wherever it touches. With its giant body, it’s impossible to avoid them all.
The only way to avoid the attacks of this earth-controlling dragon would be to flee into the air.
But just as I think that, rocks fall from the ceiling.
This is a labyrinth, after all. We’re surrounded by earth on all sides, and to this dragon, all of it serves as a potential weapon.
Then the earth dragon uses itself as a weapon, too, charging at the snake.
Those fangs, those claws, and that tail as sharp as a sword.
The serpent is overwhelmed, completely at the mercy of the dragon.
Watching this scene unfold, to me, is beautiful.
That dragon is even stronger than I imagined.
There have been many times when I’ve thought I couldn’t possibly win.
Mother, D, Administrator Güliedistodiez.
However, although I was frightened by their strength, I never yearned for it.
Right now, I am truly yearning for that dragon’s power.
I want to surpass it, even.
Even I don’t know where this urge is coming from.
But for some reason, I feel like I need to fight it.
I’m not strong enough just yet.
But it’s not a height that’s beyond my reach.
So I’ll keep leveling up and rise to the challenge.
The giant snake gets hit with a breath attack and falls to the ground.
I know that breath very well.
Because, of course, I’ve experienced it for myself.
Remembering the fear I felt at that time, my body trembles again.
But it’s not just fear this time. Part of me is trembling with excitement.
The dragon tramples on the corpse of the snake.
I burn that powerful image into my brain before teleporting away.
I want to carve it into my brain until the day I finally challenge it.
The creature I have to surpass.
The source of my trauma.
The earth dragon Araba.
MERCY
As we enter the castle, it’s eerily silent.
Normally, there would be guards stationed throughout, but there’s no one to be found, and a stillness even more complete than the quiet of the night outside settles over the castle.
It’s as if there’s no one inside at all.
In fact, aside from a single point, my Presence Perception isn’t picking up on anything.
Except for a single point.
Amid the strange emptiness of the castle, that lone point clearly indicates a presence.
It’s almost certainly a trap.
But after coming this far, we can’t turn back now.
That Ronandt person decided to spare us, but I’m not so foolishly optimistic to think that whatever’s waiting for us in here is going to do the same.
It could be Sophia and the ninjas, or maybe something even worse.
I steady my resolve and head toward the point.
It’s in the throne room, which is essentially the heart of the castle.
No conversation passes between us, probably due to the tension.
All around us, we’re surrounded by silence so complete, it hurts the ears, and darkness threatens to swallow us whole.
Then we arrive at the throne room.
A majestic room with an intimidating atmosphere, usually reserved for audiences with the king.
“Brother Cylis…”
My older brother Cylis sits on the throne.
And prostrated before him are Leston, Klevea, and Katia’s parents.
Four soldiers stand over them, holding swords to their throats.
The soldiers’ eyes are empty, devoid of any light or will.
“I am…the king,” Cylis declares in a flat voice.
His eyes, like the soldiers’, are so clouded that he can’t possibly be himself.
Are they brainwashed?
Most likely.
Clearly, though, it’s different from the kind that was used on Katia, Anna, and the others.
“This throne…is mine. I…am the king. King…”
Cylis’s stuttering voice doesn’t contain a single trace of his usual intensity.
“None…who threaten my place…shall live.”
The soldiers’ swords swing down toward the captives.
We won’t reach them in time!
Katia screams.
Hyrince grits his teeth in anguish.
I ignore both of them, running forward and shoving the soldiers away.
Their swords must have been sharp, or else the soldiers were powerful. The heads of the four captives fall to the floor without the slightest resistance.
No human being can survive after having their head cut off.
But if I use my skill, I can save them!
I lift up Leston’s fallen head and hold it to his neck.
Then I use the skill I secretly acquired.
The skill called Mercy.
The change is immediate.
Leston’s neck reconnects itself, and he begins to breathe again, coming back to life.
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Taboo LV 5] has become [Taboo LV 6].>
Mercy.
A forbidden skill that resurrects the dead.
This is the skill Katia questioned me about, saying it was no ordinary healing magic. A skill that brings about miracles.
That time, when Katia fired magic at herself to get rid of the brainwashing, she really was mortally wounded.
Her HP dropped to 0, and she died.
However, I used this skill right away and brought Katia back from the dead.
Once I revive Leston, I do the same for Klevea and Katia’s parents.
In the process, my MP all but runs out, and my Taboo skill level goes up to 9.
Mercy is probably the only skill in existence that can revive the dead, but it has serious conditions and disadvantages, too.
Firstly, it consumes a large amount of MP.
The only reason I could revive four people was because my skills greatly increased when I became the hero.
Also, if the body is too damaged, it can’t be revived.
This time, I was able to reattach the severed heads to their bodies, but if I tried it with only one or the other, it probably wouldn’t have worked.
Finally, it’s only effective for a short period after the person’s death.
I haven’t experimented with it, of course, so I don’t know exactly how long, but my sense is that it’s probably only a few minutes.
Any longer than that, and the skill won’t even activate.
Therefore, I won’t be able to revive my father, since he’s been dead for several days.
It might have been different if I revived him right after he was killed, but I doubt that Hugo and Sophia would have allowed that.
If I could have defeated both of them in the few short minutes while revival was still possible, then I could have saved my father.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the power to do that.
Finally, the biggest disadvantage of all is that the skill level of Taboo rises.
Taboo is a dangerous skill. The Church considers even acquiring it to be just cause for execution.
When I acquired the Mercy skill, I was given this skill, too.
I had to quickly level up my Concealment skill to cover it up.
Yuri always expressed an almost disturbing level of hatred toward the skill.
At the moment, Taboo doesn’t affect me negatively in any way.
It’s just a matter of how society views it.
However, from what Yuri’s hinted at, it seems like something terrible happens if the Taboo skill reaches level 10.
Apparently, even Yuri doesn’t know what that is.
She said even having that knowledge would be a great sin in itself.
Since my Taboo skill is level 9 now, that information is very relevant to me.
But even knowing that reviving one more person could bring it to level 10, I don’t think I would hesitate to use Mercy if someone precious to me was dying right before my eyes again.
I check that Leston, Klevea, and Katia’s parents are all breathing normally, then look toward my brother Cylis on the throne.
There, I see a pitiful figure indeed, mouth hanging half-open and mumbling the word “king” over and over.
The soldiers I knocked over, too, are still lying on the floor despite seemingly being conscious, and they make no move to stand up again.
Hyrince and Katia watched them vigilantly while I was using Mercy, but apparently, that was an unnecessary precaution.
Their minds have been completely destroyed by Hugo’s brainwashing.
In the end, Mercy can revive only the body itself.
It can’t repair a broken mind.
“Shun, let’s go.”
Hyrince beckons me to leave Cylis as he is.
“That man wasn’t brainwashed when he set you up and killed your father. This is what he deserves.”
Even if there’s no sign of them now, there are probably more brainwashed soldiers around, not to mention the queen.
On top of that, Sophia could easily show up.
So we’re better off escaping than trying to recapture the castle.
But first, we have to check on the teleport point.
A teleport point can warp someone to another registered teleport point.
But the one in the castle is broken.
The other destination point is in the empire, so they probably destroyed it to prevent us from invading.
Once we confirm that the teleport point is broken, we quickly leave the castle.
Leaving my brother Cylis behind.
Fei complains about the extra weight, since we have four more people than we started with, but I don’t think she means it.
She flies slowly and carefully, since there are four unconscious people on her back now.
Even though she’s making a show of complaining, I can tell by the gentle way she’s flying that she’s being considerate toward the people she’s carrying.
Overwhelmed with relief at her reunion with her parents, who she thought were lost, Katia clings to her unconscious mother and father and weeps.
As for me, I’m still thinking about Cylis.
There was always very little contact between us.
The queen saw me as an enemy, so I rarely interacted with him.
Whenever I did see him, he was always wearing a sullen expression.
Even when we did speak, it was only businesslike greetings or work-related information.
Even though we were brothers, there was a great deal of distance between us.
Still, based on what Julius told me about him, Cylis wasn’t always like this.
When he was young, he truly wanted to make the kingdom a better place for its people, just like our father.
But at some point, this turned into an obsession with the position of king, and he became distant from his brothers.
This was probably the influence of his mother, who wanted to put her own son on the throne.
But Julius still seemed to believe that Cylis would regain that pure heart of his youth someday.
And yet, this is how things ended up.
Hyrince says nothing.
He probably had more interactions with Cylis in the past than I did, but his face doesn’t reveal his feelings.
“Shun, don’t worry about Cylis. He chose his path himself, and that’s just how it ended for him. There’s no reason for you to feel bad about it.”
Beyond hiding his own feelings on the matter, Hyrince comforts me instead.
With Cylis in that state and my father killed, I don’t know what will happen to this kingdom.
But still, we were able to save Leston, Klevea, and Katia’s family.
I’m sure we can rebuild this kingdom someday.
I hang on to that hope as we leave the capital.
???
“Deviation due to resurrection confirmed.”
“Hmm. That’s fortunate. Otherwise, we would’ve had to take care of it ourselves again.”
“……”
“In this case, maybe we should have let him resurrect the king, too.”
“……”
“I know, I know. You think I’m being too soft, right? I entrusted this job to you lot. So I have no intention of criticizing how you go about it.”
“…That is good to hear.”
“Sophia and the others are already on the move, right? I guess the elf village is next.”
“……”
“Now, I realize you can handle this. I’m not worried. But you know, they don’t live those long lives of theirs for nothing. Don’t let your guard down.”
“……”
SPIDER VS SPIDER
Dragon shock!
I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m totally in post-dragon shock.
Once I got back home, the terror sank in, and it took me a whole half a day to recover.
Seeing two earth dragons together when they’re already strong on their own…yeah, that had some impact, but I was still fine.
But earth dragon Araba is another story.
How am I ever gonna fight that?
That giant snake, which I already thought was too strong for me, got totally crushed with virtually no effort when it fought Araba.
What’s so scary about that? All of it.
The effortless movements that easily dodged all of the serpent’s attacks.
Sure, those movements were pretty fast, but even more dangerously, they were precise.
It enacted the optimal evasive action at every given moment, smoothly incorporating its skills along the way.
Unlike the way I bulldoze through everything with the sheer power of my skills, this was more like watching a martial arts master who’s honed his movements for many years.
Those magnificent moves had nothing to do with skills or stats. It was pure artistry.
On the flip side, there was the nasty attack method that worked in time with those movements.
Attacking at the same time as dodging.
Not only that, but on top of the flawless “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” strategy, there was the nightmarish assault of magic chasing the opponent down at the same time.
Isn’t it kind of unfair to use Earth Magic inside a labyrinth?
A labyrinth has earthen walls and ceilings, not to mention the ground, you know?
If all that was weaponized and came after you all at once, there’s no way you could dodge it.
Since I have Foresight, I might be able to get by, but I’m not confident I would last very long.
So attacks that come from all sides and leave you no place to run, coupled with flawless evasion based on sheer technique.
Most importantly, there’s Araba’s own judgment, which commands all that power.
Not to mention, I have no way of telling, since the snake never landed a single attack, but because it’s an earth dragon, I’m sure its defensive power is ridiculous.
There’s not a single weakness to be found.
How am I supposed to beat that?
I just can’t picture myself winning a fair fight against that thing.
Hmm.
In that case, maybe I should come up with a way to make it an unfair fight?
I continued leveling up for several days in the Lower Stratum as I tried to think up strategies to beat Araba.
Right now, I’m in my home, lying in wait.
A group of monsters my Detection picked up on is heading directly this way.
Considering most Upper Stratum monsters run away as soon as they see me, it’s very unusual for some to be approaching me.
They’re clearly coming this way on purpose, targeting me.
But I suppose I know why.
And I know exactly what they are, too.
The group appears.
Leading the way is an incredibly huge monster.
<Arch taratect LV 31
Status: HP: 4,466/4,466 (green) +1,400
SP: 4,267/4,267 (yellow)
Average Offensive Ability: 4,399 (details)
Average Magical Ability: 3,004 (details)
Average Speed Ability: 4,237 (details)
MP: 3,182/3,182 (blue) +1,400
: 4,262/4,262 (red) +1,288
Average Defensive Ability: 4,315 (details)
Average Resistance Ability: 3,101 (details)
Skills:
[HP Rapid Recovery LV 5] [MP Recovery Speed LV 7] [MP Lessened Consumption LV 7] [Magic Power Perception LV 7]
[Magic Power Operation LV 7] [SP Rapid Recovery LV 2] [SP Minimized Consumption LV 2] [Status Condition Super-Enhancement LV 3]
[Destruction Super-Enhancement LV 2] [Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 4] [Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 8] [Impact Super-Enhancement LV 3]
[Shock Super-Enhancement LV 1] [Magic Power Attack LV 6] [Magic Warfare LV 4] [Mental Warfare LV 7]
[Deadly Poison Attack LV 10] [Poison Synthesis LV 5] [Threadsmanship LV 5] [Utility Thread LV 3]
[Thread Control LV 10] [Telekinesis LV 2] [Dimensional Maneuvering LV 8] [Hit LV 10]
[Evasion LV 10] [Probability Super-Correction LV 2] [Danger Perception LV 10] [Presence Perception LV 10]
[Motion Perception LV 10] [Heretic Magic LV 10] [Poison Magic LV 10] [Healing Magic LV 4]
[Destruction Super-Resistance LV 1] [Cutting Super-Resistance LV 2] [Piercing Super-Resistance LV 2] [Impact Super-Resistance LV 4]
[Shock Resistance LV 9] [Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 8] [Rot Resistance LV 6] [Heresy Resistance LV 5]
[Pain Nullification] [Pain Super-Mitigation LV 2] [Vision Enhancement LV 10] [Clairvoyance LV 2]
[Night Vision LV 10] [Vision Expansion LV 7] [Auditory Enhancement LV 7] [Olfactory Enhancement LV 2]
[Tactile Enhancement LV 7] [Ultimate Life LV 2] [Magic Hoard LV 8] [Ultimate Movement LV 1]
[Fortune LV 1] [Fortitude LV 2] [Stronghold LV 2] [Monk LV 7]
[Talisman LV 8] [Skanda LV 1] [Satiation LV 4] [Taboo LV 7]
Skill Points: 34,500
Titles:
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Monster Slayer] [Poison Technique User]
[Monster Slaughterer] [Thread User] [Monster Calamity] [Human Slayer]
[Champion]
>
So strong?!
Why does this SPIDER have higher stats than an earth dragon?!
Okay, well…yeah.
I guess I was expecting this.
This thing looks like a pale, smaller version of Mother. It’s probably just one step away from becoming another one of her, so of course it’s not gonna be weak.
That’s right.
The group of monsters coming to attack me are spiders, just like me.
Technically, since my species has changed via evolution, we’re not exactly the same family. But I was originally a taratect, too, so I guess they’re sort of like close relatives.
Behind the arch taratect, there are three greater taratects, which are about a size smaller than their leader.
<Greater taratect LV 29
Status: HP: 2,845/2,845 (green) +189
SP: 2,833/2,833 (yellow)
Average Offensive Ability: 1,766 (details)
Average Magical Ability: 2,099 (details)
Average Speed Ability: 2,744 (details)
MP: 2,101/2,101 (blue)
: 2,839/2,839 (red) +786
Average Defensive Ability: 2,710 (details)
Average Resistance Ability: 2,102 (details)
Skills:
[HP Rapid Recovery LV 1] [MP Recovery Speed LV 2] [MP Lessened Consumption LV 1] [Magic Power Perception LV 6]
[Magic Power Operation LV 5] [SP Rapid Recovery LV 1] [SP Minimized Consumption LV 1] [Destruction Enhancement LV 8]
[Cutting Enhancement LV 8] [Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 1] [Impact Enhancement LV 5] [Status Condition Enhancement LV 9]
[Mental Warfare LV 4] [Deadly Poison Attack LV 5] [Threadsmanship LV 2] [Spider Thread LV 9]
[Thread Control LV 5] [Cutting Thread LV 5] [Poison Synthesis LV 2] [Dimensional Maneuvering LV 2]
[Hit LV 10] [Evasion LV 10] [Probability Correction LV 5] [Danger Perception LV 10]
[Presence Perception LV 10] [Motion Perception LV 10] [Heretic Magic LV 10] [Poison Magic LV 8]
[Destruction Resistance LV 6] [Cutting Resistance LV 6] [Piercing Resistance LV 8] [Impact Resistance LV 9]
[Shock Resistance LV 5] [Status Condition Resistance LV 8] [Rot Resistance LV 3] [Heresy Resistance LV 1]
[Pain Nullification] [Pain Mitigation LV 8] [Vision Enhancement LV 10] [Telescopic Sight LV 7]
[Night Vision LV 10] [Vision Expansion LV 5] [Auditory Enhancement LV 4] [Olfactory Enhancement LV 4]
[Longevity LV 6] [Magic Hoard LV 2] [Instant Body LV 6] [Endurance LV 6]
[Herculean Strength LV 6] [Sturdy LV 6] [Monk LV 1] [Talisman LV 2]
[Acceleration LV 6] [Overeating LV 9] [Taboo LV 4]
Skill Points: 29,500
Titles:
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Monster Slayer] [Poison Technique User]
[Thread User] [Monster Slaughterer]
>
This one’s probably the strongest of the greater ones.
Sure, after seeing the arch’s status, this seems like no biggie by comparison, but it’s still rather strong.
Its stats are lower than the fire dragon from the Middle Stratum, but it’s got way more skills.
If they fought one-on-one, the fire dragon would probably have the advantage because of spiders’ fire weakness, but overall, I’d say their power’s on roughly the same level.
And the other two are similar in stats, so basically, I’ve got four dragon-class monsters on my hands.
On top of that, they’ve got a ton of small taratects and some adult taratects milling around, too.
Ah, and even a few of the rare Poison variety.
Ooh, there’s a few small lesser taratects, too! Now, that takes me back.
They’re sooo weak.
I feel like just a light push would be enough to kill them.
Gazing off into the distance, I think about how far I’ve come from being one of those.
Oh, right.
Sorry, I got sidetracked for a second there, since I wasn’t really expecting this big of a crowd.
But I did know this would happen.
That a bunch of taratects would come to attack me eventually.
Why?
Because I’ve been picking a fight with their boss.
It all started when I was fighting the fire dragon and was surprised to find myself thinking of it as “irritating.”
So when all my Parallel Minds teamed up to search for the source of this oddity, that’s when I found it.
Basically, I was being controlled.
To be more exact, it was more like the preliminary stages of control, or like I was unconsciously being fed thoughts that weren’t my own.
Apparently, since Mother is a “queen” and all, she has a skill that lets her control her children.
And so, I started to feel the effects of that skill, if only a little.
As it turns out, she doesn’t control all her children, just the ones that reach a certain level of strength. And I guess I crossed that line somewhere along the way.
I think the reasons she couldn’t completely control me are my high resistance stats and the fact that my race is no longer taratect, probably.
Honestly, I would never have noticed if it weren’t for the weird feeling I got while I was fighting the fire dragon, and I had no awareness that I was resisting it, so I’m not really sure why it didn’t work on me.
Those are just my best guesses.
Anyway, basically, she was trying to manipulate me.
So of course I couldn’t just let that slide.
That’s right. I decided to launch a little counterattack.
Since Mother was trying to control me, that meant there was sort of a mental path there, connecting us ever so slightly.
So I used that path to do some reverse-engineered hacking.
I figured I’d try it with Parallel Minds, and what do you know, it worked.
So now aside from me, the main brain, the other Parallel Minds are all hard at work reverse-attacking Mother, to rave reviews.
How should I put it?
Sorta like a spirit parasite or a soul virus or something.
Well, you get the idea.
I’m basically crunching away at my mother’s soul.
So obviously she’s not just gonna sit there and take it.
Which means that as my Parallel Minds continue their intense mental battle against Mother, she’s dispatched something like a SWAT team to take me down in the physical world.
I seem to be winning this sorta soul-ish battle against her, but if she showed up in person, I’d definitely lose.
That’s why I built my home in a space between the Middle and Upper Stratums where Mother can’t enter.
She’s strong enough to stomp a fire dragon without even thinking about it, but because she’s so huge, she can’t enter such a small area.
The arch taratect that’s before my eyes right now is damn big, too, but apparently, it can barely squeeze through this passage somehow.
Now then, we’ve got a huge spider army here, with four dragon-class hotshots in the lead.
From the outside, you’d probably assume I’m in hot water.
But think about it. If I knew these guys were coming, do you really think I’d just sit here waiting without making any preparations?
These guys are spiders.
And I’m a spider, too.
These days, I tend to wander around in the labyrinth, but deep down, I’m still the type who likes to set up webs and wait for prey to get caught in them, y’know?
So of course I’m not gonna sit here and not set up any traps!
The arch taratect slowly shifts into action.
I predict its movements with Foresight.
Then dodge.
The arch’s fangs pass right through the spot where I was a millisecond ago.
Yikes!
So fast?!
Well, I guess this is the monster with the highest speed stat I’ve ever Appraised.
Plus, its Hit is maxed out, and Probability Super-Correction is at level 2.
Without my quadruple combo of Thought Acceleration, Foresight, Evasion, and Probability Correction, those fangs probably would’ve gone right through me.
Damn, that’s scary.
But no matter how fast it might be, it’s still slower than me.
Even with the arch using Magic Warfare and Mental Warfare to increase all its stats, I’m still much faster.
Plus, my Magic and Mental Warfare skill levels are higher anyway.
In fact, my Magic Warfare has even evolved into Magic Divinity.
Magic Divinity is a way more powerful version of Magic Warfare, of course.
On top of having a stronger effect than its weaker version, it even increases the rate at which magic stats go up.
Thanks to that, my already ridiculously high magic-related stats are now at truly unfathomable levels.
When I activate Magic Divinity and Dragon Power at the same time, my magic attack power and resistance easily reach the ten thousands.
Heh-heh-heh.
The arch’s physical power is a threat, sure, but not if it can’t even hit me.
The arch taratect makes some thread.
Oh, better not touch that stuff.
I know all about that.
Spider thread is bad news.
If you get caught, it’s all over.
Well, even if I did get caught, I could use Teleport to get away if I had to, but still.
A web of thread flies toward me.
As I dodge it, I see the greater taratects starting to move out of the corner of my eye.
Ah, I guess I should probably take this more seriously.
Knowing that the traps I set up all but guarantee my victory, it’s a little hard to feel any tension.
Plus, I’ve gotten strong enough at this point that I no longer have to worry about getting obliterated if a single attack hits me.
My raw physical stats are already high now, and I’ve got Magic Divinity, Mental Warfare, and Dragon Power all pushing them even higher, sooo…
If I really wanted to, I could make them even higher with Wrath, but that seems like a little much, y’know?
I mean, the Wrath skill increases my physical stats by a huge amount.
How huge, you ask? Well, at skill level 1, it already raises them just about as much as my level-9 Mental Warfare skill does.
And it doesn’t even consume MP or SP.
However, when I use it, I automatically take on the status condition Madness.
Thanks to Heresy Nullification, Madness doesn’t totally take over me or anything, but I still don’t really want to use it ever again.
I’m plenty strong without it, and when it comes down to it, I’m a magic type anyway.
Why would I throw away my magic to get into some stupid physical fight?
Anyway, taking Perseverance into account, my real HP easily surpasses 10,000.
Nothing could possibly destroy all that with one blow, or at least, I’d like to think so.
Anyway, this arch definitely can’t.
Its strongest attack has to be Deadly Poison Attack level 10.
And it uses Utility Thread to make sure its target can’t escape.
It’s a vicious combo. If I didn’t have Teleport, even I might be doomed if I got caught.
And I know what I’m talking about, since I’ve used that kind of combo plenty of times myself.
But like I said, I have Teleport, so I can get away easily enough.
Sure, physical attacks from a giant monster like that are scary, but since I’ve got the upper hand in speed, it’s not even gonna graze me.
Other than that, the only real threat is if a big group attacks me all at once, but I’ve got my traps to take care of that.
Now, let’s test out my new trap, “Welcome to the Sauna.”
The arch is stepping into it right now.
There, the thread I set up in advance stops it in its tracks.
Heh-heh. I made the thread so thin it’s practically invisible, then stuck it to the ground so you’d never notice it!
That’s what I call a sticky trap!
All I had to do was guide my victim there.
But this is just the beginning.
With stats as high as the arch’s, it could probably break out of the thin thread spread across the floor with sheer brute strength.
And even if it can’t escape, it still has magic to make long-distance attacks.
The arch’s weapon of choice is Poison Magic, one of my own favorites.
Depending on the situation, it could even become a fixed turret.
Although in my case, my poison resistance is high enough that it wouldn’t do much damage anyway, so it’s no big deal.
In a normal fight, yeah, a dragon-class monster is horrifying.
But this time, it messed with the wrong opponent.
After all, I know most of this thing’s attack patterns already.
Think about it.
Think of all the strategies I’ve cultivated over time.
Setting up thread, fighting with Poison Fang, firing magic.
That’s exactly what my fighting style looks like.
I’m sure this spider’s no different.
We’re both spider monsters, and I used to be a taratect, too.
It’s only natural that our strategies would overlap.
“I already know your every move before you do it!” Like that kinda thing.
I might have even been able to win in a fair head-to-head battle.
Not that I would bother risking something that dangerous.
I brush against the arch, rendered immobile by my thread.
Then I use Dimensional Magic: Range Teleport.
This is a trap I came up with to use against Araba.
Ultimately, I decided it wouldn’t work on a dragon’s high resistance and Imperial Scales.
But an arch taratect doesn’t have that skill.
And its resistance isn’t nearly as high as my magic is powerful.
The arch is teleported along with me.
Our destination: above the magma lake in the Middle Stratum where I fought the fire wyrm.
Welcome to the hot, hot sauna.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
How do you like the view of the fiery red-hot magma?!
Must be awful for a spider whose weakness is fire!
Even I’m uncomfortably hot!
But this should be much worse for the arch than it is for me.
Below is the ocean of magma, so falling would undoubtedly mean certain death.
I’m small in size, so I can land on one of the little islands scattered about.
But the arch’s body is around fifty feet long.
None of the rocks down there is big enough for something so huge to land on.
On top of that, this environment will drain its HP just by being here.
I spent a long time building up my Fire Resistance skill, but the arch doesn’t have it at all.
Since it has HP Rapid Recovery, its HP’s not really going down, but it’s still gotta hurt.
So now its HP Rapid Recovery is essentially useless.
Sure, it’s using Dimensional Maneuvering to support its huge body in midair, but now it has to face off with me, a highly disadvantageous opponent, in a field of flames, its biggest weakness.
Talk about a checkmate.
Heh-heh-heh. Regret your foolishness for challenging a clearly superior spider as you perish!
Now, time for the Repellent Evil Eye!
Repellent Evil Eye is the evolved form of Heavy Evil Eye. Now, instead of just dragging an opponent down, I can pull it in any direction I choose.
And not only can I pull—I can also push with it.
If I use this pushing power on the space surrounding me, I can even make a sort of barrier around myself.
Although, since the air and stuff also get pushed away from me, I can’t use it that way for very long.
Also, it may have evolved and gained more functions, but its strongest forte is still pushing downward.
So I aim that downward force at the arch and push with all my might.
As if it weren’t struggling enough to keep its huge bulk in the air already, now I’ve added even more gravity.
You can fall if you want, okay?
C’mon, the worst that could happen is that you’ll die.
Now then, hurry up and fall so you can serve as EXP for me, please.
The arch taratect somehow holds out with its Dimensional Maneuvering.
Then it makes a thread and shoots it toward the ceiling.
Really? Can’t you just fall?
It’s not like I’m gonna let you get away.
I use a Black Magic spell, Black Bullet.
Black Magic is the even more evolved form of Dark Magic, one step below Abyss Magic.
It’s not as powerful as Abyss Magic, but it’s certainly easier to use and has a simple but effective attack spell.
Namely, this one—Black Bullet.
It’s the enhanced version of the Dark Magic spell Dark Bullet, and as the name implies, it fires a jet-black ball.
Along with the Dark attribute, it also seems to have the Shock attribute, so it explodes when it hits its target and does extra damage.
By the way, since it’s a high-class magic, it’s much more powerful than it looks.
The Black Bullet hits the arch’s butt as it produces thread.
The shock sends the thread flying in the wrong direction, and the arch’s HP decreases.
All right, let’s wrap this up.
I fire a barrage of Black Bullets without mercy.
Will it fall into the magma first?
Or will it run out of HP first?
What’s it gonna be?
The arch is doing its darndest to survive.
Oh yes, it’s trying hard.
It withstands my attacks, uses Healing Magic to fix itself up, and even acquires the Dark Resistance skill.
I gotta admit, this thing has guts.
Good effort, buddy.
Now die already, will ya?
My Black Magic reaches level 3 from the constant barrage, so I use the new spell.
This one’s called Black Spear.
It’s the spear version of Black Bullet, so it also causes Piercing attribute damage.
The Black Spear goes right through the battered body of the arch taratect.
Finally, the giant spider, whose stats exceed those of an earth dragon, breathes its last.
My level goes up by 4 all at once.
I peel off my molted skin.
All right, all right. Better collect the corpse before it falls.
I grab the falling arch and teleport back.
Honey, I’m home!
I’ll have to enjoy this meal later.
Well, “enjoy” is probably a stretch. The body is poisonous, so it’s definitely gonna taste awful.
Yep, that’s right. Your captain disappeared with me and came back as a corpse.
I can understand the remaining spider troops’ panicked reactions.
Okay, you there, my good pal Greater.
Sorry, I know you’re busy being scared stiff right now, but would you like to go to the sauna, too?
One greater taratect, into the sauna!
From there, I simply repeat the same strategy I used on the arch.
The Middle Stratum, which once caused me so many hardships, now serves as the key to my greatest trap yet, eliminating the spider troops without mercy.
I finish off all three greater taratects with the same method, then wipe out the rest of the bunch by firing magic at random.
The stats of the adult taratects and stuff barely crack a thousand.
As I am now, they’re nothing but small-fry to me.
Huh? Small lesser taratects?
They died just from the shock waves of my other attacks, so what?
The arch, the three greaters, the grown taratects, and miscellaneous extras all go down before you know it.
Between the handful of bigger game and the large number of small-fry, I end up making out with a huge amount of EXP.
Thanks to that, I’m leveling up like crazy over here.
Ba-ha-ha! I can’t stop chuckling.
With a nasty trick like this, I can beat all kinds of bigger game without a problem.
Well, I guess I had some extra advantages this time, but still.
It’s just like the old saying goes, really.
You can never be too prepared!
THE NIGHTMARE OF THE LABYRINTH
What horrible timing.
That was my first impression when I was told about this job.
I had just received a letter that my child had been born, and I was looking forward to going home, when the assignment came in.
On top of not being able to be at my wife’s side while she was in labor, now I won’t even be able to go and see my child’s face before I’m called to the line of duty.
Even though the empire is in a festive mood now that a long-awaited prince has finally been born.
The current sword-king has been blessed with few children and had half given up until he finally had a son.
The child’s name, Hugo, was announced throughout the country shortly after his birth. It’s easy to imagine how overjoyed the sword-king must be.
I would like to celebrate my own child’s birth in a similar way, but if anything, it fills me with melancholy.
Of course, this is mainly because I cannot go and meet my child, but the nature of this mission makes my heart all the heavier.
I’ve been instructed to tame the mysterious monster that’s appeared in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
If I cannot, I must destroy it immediately.
Those are my instructions.
The request came from the small kingdom of Ohts, which contains an entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
This labyrinth is essentially the only means of traveling between the continents.
The exception is teleport points, but the only people who can use those are important royal figures or extremely wealthy individuals.
The kingdom of Ohts asked our empire for help because of a strange increase in the number of monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The empire immediately sent the troops stationed nearest the border into Ohts Kingdom.
This unit is composed chiefly of second and third sons of nobles, but they are no less powerful than any other troops.
It was assumed they would find the cause of the abnormality and quickly return home.
And that is indeed what happened.
However, it was not in the way we expected.
The troops actually fled home.
They ran from a mysterious spider-type monster.
According to the report, one look at the monster told them it could easily annihilate them all.
The cause of the so-called outbreak was that the surrounding monsters had all fled from this spider monster, driving other monsters out of their habitats.
The investigating troops reported that the monster was beyond their abilities and that a special force would have to be assembled to defeat it.
At first, this report was laughed off as utter foolishness.
However, the detailed written report and the testimony of the labyrinth guide who accompanied them confirmed the danger of this monster.
At the very least, its danger level is A.
It may even reach level S.
If such a dangerous monster was to come out of the labyrinth, the damage would be catastrophic.
But at the same time, strange rumors began to spread.
A spider monster that helps humans was spotted in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
A local investigator immediately sought out the source of this rumor.
It turned out to be a group of adventurers who claimed they were attacked by a dangerous Elroe baladorado in the Upper Stratum, when the spider suddenly defeated it and even healed their dying party members.
What utter nonsense.
That was my thought on the matter.
As a monster tamer, I am much more informed about monsters than the average person.
Monsters have low intelligence, but they are not completely without minds of their own.
But only a legendary-class monster would have enough will and intellect to take an action like that.
If this story is true, that spider monster must be a legendary-class monster, and a considerably intelligent one at that.
There’s no way I could defeat a beast like that.
However, if it actually did help people, then perhaps it is friendly toward humans.
Perhaps that means I could tame it with a little luck?
And now, my turn has come.
I really have no luck at all.
If this spider monster truly is a legendary-class monster like the rumors indicate, I doubt I stand a chance of winning.
Even if that’s not the case, it’s still certain to be at least an A-rank monster.
Taming a monster like that is quite difficult.
To form a contract with the Creature Training skill, one must either win the monster’s acceptance or force it into the contract with brute strength.
Monsters are rarely willing to subordinate themselves, so it’s usually necessary to defeat them first.
So I would have to render this A-ranked monster immobile without killing it.
In a situation where it’s already difficult enough to win at all, this condition makes it all the more challenging.
Especially against a monster that’s at least danger level A.
If it’s any higher than that, even defeating it at all will be extremely difficult.
I needed to bring some support.
And yet.
“Harrumph. To think one such as myself should have to explore a labyrinth, at my age? How unlucky.”
Next to me is the empire’s most powerful mage, Master Ronandt.
He is, indeed, an incredible mage, but his personality can be rather difficult.
He can be wild and selfish, to say the least.
The man will coolly ignore orders and abuse those around him.
“Master Ronandt. If this monster is S rank or above, we will be in dire need of your power. Please try to bear with me.”
“I know that. Come what may, I shall handle it with ease. Consider your safety guaranteed.”
The man is generally good-humored and amusing, but the problem is that his attitude doesn’t change at all even on the battlefield.
Still, there’s no denying his strength.
He is known as the strongest human mage and has the power to back up that claim.
Our party for this mission is made up of myself, Master Ronandt, thirty warriors from the empire, and four guides.
I would have liked to bring the labyrinth guide who was with the previous party, but he flatly refused.
He said he had no desire to go anywhere near that thing again.
It’s a shame, but there’s nothing else for it.
I suppose I should be appreciative of the information that even a skilled veteran labyrinth guide was so fearful of this monster.
Not that this information is exactly reassuring.
At any rate, our first duty is to locate the monster.
“Hmm. Is this not the place where the earth wyrm’s corpse was said to have been found?”
“Yes, it should be.”
“Well, there is nothing here.”
We’ve arrived in what’s known as the large passage.
According to the report, this is where the monster was last encountered.
However, while we’ve found the nest that supposedly contained a dead wyrm, there’s nothing inside.
Well…technically, I suppose there’s nothing besides a few hard objects and such that might be the remains of the meal.
I look around the webs again.
Judging by the dust on the thread and the state of the inside, it seems likely that this nest is abandoned.
There are no signs it’s been recently used.
“It appears to have relocated to a new nest.”
“I see. Then I suppose we must comb the place thoroughly.”
“Right.”
We spend the next few days carefully searching the surrounding area.
However, we’ve still seen no signs of the monster in question.
“Still nothing.”
“Strange indeed. Guides, is there anywhere in this area we have yet to explore?”
The four guides think for a while, until one finally speaks.
“There is a path nearby that leads to the Middle Stratum. Perhaps there’s a chance the monster has gone there?”
“But a spider monster should be weak to fire. That’s why we never considered it before.”
That makes sense.
The chances are low, but it’s not impossible.
The Great Elroe Labyrinth’s Middle Stratum is known as a magma-filled hellscape.
Without the proper equipment, it’s impossible to explore it.
And given our rations and the exhaustion of the past few days’ investigation, we should probably withdraw soon.
“All right. Then we will inspect this path to the Middle Stratum, and if there’s nothing there, we will leave the labyrinth.”
The guides lead us over to the path in question.
“What the?!”
The guide walking in the lead suddenly lets out a yell and freezes in an unnatural position.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. What is this? I can’t move…!”
“Wait!”
Another guide starts to approach, but Master Ronandt stops him.
“Hold up your light and look carefully. It is terribly hard to see, but there’s thread across the path.”
Following Ronandt’s words, I look closely as well.
Sure enough, I can just make out thread that occasionally catches the light.
“What is that?”
“We may have found our monster.”
On closer inspection, the thread is arranged in a neat radial shape.
It’s unmistakably a spiderweb.
“Someone cut the thread and set her loose.”
One of the soldiers approaches to free the trapped guide with a sword.
However…
“Oh-ho. So it cannot be cut?”
Master Ronandt seems impressed.
The sword swung down by the soldier, much like the guide, had stopped moving as soon as it hit the thread.
The soldier tries to yank the blade back out, but it doesn’t budge.
“Guide, bear with me. This may get a little warm.”
“A-all right.”
Master Ronandt uses Fire Magic.
He operates it expertly, to burn the thread around the guide without harming her.
At least, that’s the plan.
“Hmm? It isn’t burning?”
Lesser magic or no, spider thread is supposed to be extremely flammable, yet the web remains intact.
“I shall increase the firepower, then.”
Flames surge up from Master Ronandt, wrapping around the thread.
Dazzling light fills the dark cave passage.
“Oh dear, that’s a bit too strong.”
The guide manages to escape, albeit with partially burned clothes.
The problem is that the flames have now spread along the passage.
“Now I’ve done it.”
“Agreed. If the monster is in there, it will surely be enraged.”
In that case, we can forget any hopes that it might be friendly.
Meaning that taming it would be effectively impossible.
“If we’re lucky, perhaps this web was already abandoned, too.”
“One can certainly hope. Since it has yet to appear, either it must be away at the moment, or else it has stopped using this one entirely.”
That would be good.
If the adventurers’ claims are true, this spider apparently roams freely around the labyrinth.
And supposedly, it may even use Teleport.
I’ve never heard of a monster being able to use Teleport, which only a handful of humans have mastered.
If it’s true, that means if it’s away right now, it might teleport back here at any moment.
“Everyone, be prepared for battle at a moment’s notice,” I tell the soldiers. “We must be ready for anything.”
“Oh, no need to worry so. As long as I am here, you need not fear any monster.”
Normally, Master Ronandt’s confidence would be reassuring, but in this situation, it just seems delusional.
The thread burns out, and the fire disappears.
With the fire gone, we carefully proceed down the path.
The charred remains of the thread covered a considerably long distance.
“So it’s difficult to set fire to, but once it does catch, it’s rather brittle.”
“Yes, so it would seem. The flames have apparently spread quite far.”
Continuing along the path that seems too long to be called a nest, we come to a large open area.
“What is this?”
“The entrance to the Middle Stratum,” a guide responds.
Now that I think about it, the air is rather hot.
The path we’ve been following appears to slope gradually downward.
“Hmm?”
There’s something there, farther down.
It’s hard to tell what exactly, because of the downhill slope, but there are several large somethings lying about.
“Everyone, be ready.”
The troops get into formation and cautiously approach.
I stay back with Master Ronandt and the guards, pulling out an Appraisal Stone from my breast pocket.
“Oh-ho. An Appraisal Stone, is it? And a level-8 one, at that.”
“Yes, Appraisal is indispensable for a summoner. Do you use it as well, Master Ronandt?”
“Indeed. I have the skill at level 8.”
“That’s very impressive. Since I use an Appraisal Stone frequently, I’ve garnered enough proficiency to reach level 3, but 8 is really quite something.”
“I’ve raised it in my many years of studying magic. Only at this age have I finally reached 8. Perhaps it would be more prudent to spend one’s time using Appraisal Stones than leveling up.”
“For an ordinary person, no doubt. So, what does your Appraisal tell you of that?”
I point up ahead.
At the corpse of an enormous spider monster.
“The corpse of an arch taratect, it seems.”
Arch taratect.
A legendary monster beyond S rank, just one step below the queen taratect.
Its danger level is S.
And this one has been reduced to a mangled corpse.
Not only that, but there are also three greater taratect corpses nearby.
As well as the corpses of many other taratect-type monsters, too many to count.
“And look closely. Do you see that? It looks as if it’s been partially eaten.”
I hadn’t noticed from this distance, but apparently, Master Ronandt did.
“Which means that something not only defeated an arch taratect but preyed upon it.”
A shiver runs through my body.
A creature that preys on S-rank monsters?
Could such a beast possibly exist?
If we ran into a creature like that…
…we’d be through.
Part 6 of 8