Part 7 of 8
She was living proof that my memories of Earth were real, not just my imagination.
And at the same time, our reunion gave me the courage to commit to living my second life to the fullest.
After that, I met others, like Fei, Ms. Oka, Yuri, and Hugo, and got to experience those bonds from Earth again.
My former classmates were here in this world.
In that case, Kyouya must have been here somewhere, too.
Surely we would get to meet again someday.
I often dreamed of the day we’d be reunited with Kyouya. We would reflect on our memories from back on Earth and talk about how our lives in this world had been so far.
But the scene in front of me says that that’s not going to happen.
“Cool, so you do remember me. I thought you might not recognize me, since I look a little different now.”
Kyouya’s tone is perfectly friendly.
However, Tagawa and Kushitani are lying at his feet.
If what Kyouya said is true, then they’re not dead, but that doesn’t change what he did and what it means.
Kyouya is our enemy.
“Kyouya…is that really you?” I ask, despite knowing the answer.
“Yep. Kyouya Sasajima, in the flesh. It’s been a while, Shun, Kanata.”
I don’t want it to be true, but it is.
Even if he hadn’t answered, I would have known.
My gut instinct already told me that this can’t be anyone but Kyouya.
His gentle tone and even his face haven’t changed from our old lives.
All of it brings memories flooding back.
He’s not a fake or an illusion.
His face looks exactly like it did back on Earth.
And the reason is right there on his forehead.
Two horns.
Two devil-like horns growing from his forehead.
Most likely, he’s not a human or a demon but a monster that looks humanoid.
If Fei’s example is any indication, when a reincarnation who’s a monster turns into human form, they seem to take on the same face they had in their past lives.
Of course, he doesn’t look exactly the same.
Back in our old world, Kyouya was short, but now he’s considerably taller, with tight muscles like hardened steel.
He’s slender, but somehow he reminds me of a blade.
A blade that never breaks and cuts in two anything that touches it.
“Why?”
Again, another pointless question escapes my lips.
“Hrm? I thought that was obvious. To destroy the elves.”
“What?!”
Kyouya’s answer catches me off guard.
I don’t know what I was expecting him to say to my vague question.
But I can’t help being surprised, even though I should have known.
“If anything, I’m the one who’s stumped as to why you guys are helping the elves in the first place. I guess they must’ve suckered you into it.”
“What do you mean?”
I ask another question despite myself.
It’s not as if I never had my doubts.
Katia has always voiced her distrust of Ms. Oka, and Sophia has made similar hints, too.
But I still can’t forgive Hugo for what he’s done, and since Sophia and her comrades have been manipulating him behind the scenes, that means I can’t trust them, either.
But the person in front of me now was my best friend in our old lives.
Should I listen to what he has to say?
“You know the elves cause nothing but harm to this world, right? You must be crazy to protect them. It’s not too late to—”
“Don’t let him fool you!”
Ms. Oka sharply interrupts Kyouya.
“I don’t know what the administrators are planning, but it can’t be anything good! Shun, you mustn’t forget what they did to your kingdom!”
She has a good point.
They’re the ones who used Hugo to overthrow my kingdom.
What gives them the right to say the elves are the ones causing harm, after what they did?
“That was—”
“Besides!”
Kyouya starts to speak, but Ms. Oka isn’t finished.
“It was the demon army who killed Julius the Hero! Isn’t that right?! Eighth Army Commander Wrath!”
Ms. Oka points right at Kyouya.
He’s one of the leaders of the demon army?
And his name is Wrath…?
The information hits me like a blow to the stomach.
I shouldn’t be that surprised, since Sophia is part of the demon army, too, but it’s different when it’s about Kyouya.
The demon army killed my brother Julius.
My best friend is a part of that.
I’m so dizzy I can barely stand.
“Doesn’t look like I’m gonna get through to you,” Kyouya says unhappily.
“It’s just like Master said. Our little teacher here has them totally fooled, so they won’t listen to us.”
A fresh wave of suspicion toward the elves starts to rise in my mind.
As Sophia speaks, Ms. Oka’s eyes widen, too.
I sense some slight hesitation from her.
Does Ms. Oka not completely trust the elves, either?
Next to her, Anna seems at a loss, while Katia and Hyrince are keeping a careful eye on Kyouya, Sophia, and even Ms. Oka.
Fei’s back is turned toward me, so I can’t see her expression.
What should we do?
What’s the right move here?
But before I can make a decision, the situation progresses on its own.
Light Magic shoots down from the sky, swallowing up Kyouya and the others.
“What was that?!”
I look up to search for the source.
There, I see some elves floating in the sky.
“Sir Hero! Return to the village at once!” one of them shouts.
“Hey, you! What do you think you’re doing?!” Katia yells back up at them.
Tagawa and Kushitani were lying right near Kyouya.
Katia was relatively close to them, too, so she nearly got caught up in the elves’ attack herself.
There’s no way the elves didn’t realize that before they attacked.
“Sir Hero, the Demon Lord is approaching the village! Since you have the Hero title, you’re the only one who can oppose the Demon Lord!”
The elves ignore Katia’s accusations and continue to address me directly.
The Demon Lord is heading toward the elf village?
The reincarnations who are still in the village come to mind immediately.
“Leave this area to us, and hurry there at once!”
I don’t know whether to obey the elves or not.
All kinds of thoughts whirl around my mind, making it hard to figure out what to do.
“Hero, come with me. I can use teleportation.”
A single elf approaches me, holding out his hand, as I hesitate.
“That’s not gonna happen.”
Suddenly, there’s a blade protruding from the elf’s chest.
He collapses dead before my eyes.
Behind him I see Kyouya, who threw the sword.
Tagawa and Kushitani are still lying at his feet, but I’m relieved to see them stirring a little.
However, I’m in shock that Kyouya killed an elf without hesitation.
“All units, attack!”
Behind Ms. Oka and Anna, a group of elves arrives in perfect formation.
They send magic and arrows flying toward Kyouya and Sophia.
“Don’t interrupt us.”
Sophia swings her arm.
The elves’ attacks are all blown away at once, and a red liquid spews from her arm, scattering through the air.
The liquid moves as if it has a mind of its own, shooting toward the elves.
By the time I even move to stop it, it’s too late. All the elves the liquid has touched begin to dissolve, emitting a horrible sound and stench.
“Geh?!”
Turning around, I see Hyrince, who’s blocked some of the liquid with his shield.
The red liquid seems to be trying to coil around his shield, attempting to cover it completely.
Behind him are Anna and Ms. Oka.
The elves in the sky attempt to attack Kyouya with magic and arrows of their own.
“Back off.”
His attack reaches them before they can even fire.
Swords.
An immense amount of swords appear out of nowhere, piercing the elves like skewers.
Looking closely, I can see that the swords are manifesting around Kyouya, then shooting upward at a high speed to attack the elves.
He must be bringing them out of another dimension with Spatial Magic.
And my guess is he’s using the Expel skill to send them flying so quickly.
But the most frightening part is the blades themselves.
Once they pierce through the elves, they explode.
The explosion injures even the surrounding elves who haven’t been stabbed.
Though they look like swords, they’re more like missiles.
It’s the same kind of swords that Kusama used to blow up the teleport points.
These dangerous exploding swords are flying around everywhere.
The elves have no way of dealing with such powerful anti-air fire.
“Stop!”
Without thinking, I swing my sword toward Kyouya.
It wasn’t my intention. My body just moved on its own.
“Yeah right. You really think you can cut anyone with such a crummy sword?”
Kyouya repels my blade easily.
Above us, the barrage of sword missiles continues.
On the ground, Sophia’s red liquid engulfs the elves, melting them into nothing.
Somehow, Fei has removed the red liquid from Hyrince’s shield.
But there’s no time to be relieved.
The battlefield around us has turned into a hellscape.
“Sorry, Shun, but I need you to go to sleep for a bit.”
The sword in Kyouya’s hand sweeps toward me.
In that moment, I feel like everything’s happening in slow motion.
“Shun!”
I hear Katia cry out.
But I don’t have time to avoid Kyouya’s sword.
I grit my teeth, preparing for the imminent pain.
But instead, someone slips in front of me.
Blood whirls through the air.
Someone else’s body weighs down on mine.
The body of Anna, who took Kyouya’s blade in my place.
“A…Anna?”
I catch her falling body, covered in blood.
She doesn’t answer.
“C’mon, I wasn’t going to kill you. If she didn’t cover you like that, she wouldn’t have died.”
Kyouya’s cool voice falls empty on my ears.
She’s dead.
Anna’s dead.
She died to protect me.
The second I realize that, I invoke my Mercy skill without a moment’s hesitation.
I’m not letting Anna die like this!
She came all the way here with us out of guilt over being brainwashed by Hugo.
Maybe this is atonement for her, but it’s the last thing I want!
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Taboo LV 9] has become [Taboo LV 10].>
<Condition satisfied. Activating the effect of Taboo. Installation in progress.>
As soon as I revive Anna, something floods into my mind.
“Gaaaaaaah?!”
My head throbs with pain.
I feel like it’s going to split in two, but it doesn’t.
I writhe around on the ground as it flows into me mercilessly.
Katia runs up to me. “Shun! Stay with me!”
She performs Healing Magic on me.
But there’s no point.
This isn’t the kind of pain that Healing Magic can do anything about.
“You! What did you do to Shun?!”
Fei glares at Kyouya and Sophia, but they both just look confused.
Of course they would. They have nothing to do with my current state.
This is my punishment for maxing out the Taboo skill.
<Installation complete.>
And now, I know the true meaning of Taboo.
“Diiie!”
But time isn’t going to stop while I process this transformation.
While Sophia looks at me in bewilderment, one man sees a perfect opportunity.
It’s Hugo, finally pulling himself up off the ground after I beat him down.
He’s been holding his breath, waiting for his chance to deliver a vengeful blow to Sophia for betraying him.
But his blade never reaches her.
Sophia blocks it easily with her broadsword and flicks it back, sending him flying.
“Dammit! Go to hell! You’re still just stupid Rihoko!”
“Hmm?”
The moment Hugo utters that name, seething rage seeps from Sophia’s body.
When she was Shouko Negishi, this was the nickname people used to mock her behind her back.
“Real Horror Girl,” or “Rihoko” for short.
She was given this nickname because she was bony and thin and always had a dark expression on her face.
That name hardly applies to Sophia in this world, who has a totally different appearance and aura from the old Shouko Negishi.
This seems to be a sore spot for her, because now she’s radiating murderous rage toward Hugo.
Even though it’s not directed at me, I still have to stop myself from trembling.
However, she herself doesn’t attack Hugo physically.
Instead, a slim white hand suddenly grabs Hugo by the back of the head.
In the next moment, something wriggles out of Hugo’s ears and disappears into the hand of the person standing behind him.
Hugo crumples like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
The person who did it stands quietly above him.
Her eyes are closed, and she makes no further movements.
I have no idea how long she’s been here.
“Master, would you mind not interfering like that?”
If there’s one word to describe the person Sophia calls Master, it would be “white.”
A white little girl.
There’s no other way to describe this girl but “white.”
White hair.
White skin.
White clothes.
There’s almost no color anywhere on her but white.
Seeing the girl, Hyrince’s eyes widen.
I recognize her, too.
There’s no mistaking her from Hyrince’s description.
The last person Julius fought.
The person who killed him.
But I know her for another reason, too.
Fei is also staring at her, at a loss for words.
I understand why.
We were told this girl was dead, after all.
Ms. Oka, the one who originally gave Katia that information, looks even more shocked than Fei.
It seems Ms. Oka herself had no doubt that she was dead.
“But…how?”
Ms. Oka whispers in disbelief.
In response, the white girl bows her head.
“It’s been a long time, Ms. Oka.”
The white girl, my brother’s enemy.
I’ve seen her face before, though the colors were different then.
Even with her eyes closed, there’s no mistaking it.
I saw her face often in my previous life.
In our class, there were a few people who particularly stood out.
Kengo Natsume, who was the leader of the boys.
Mirei Shinohara, the leader of the girls.
Shouko Negishi, who stood out in a negative way as Rihoko.
But there was one person alone who stood out more than them.
The boys all admired her for her beautiful looks, while the girls watched her from afar.
Aside from Mirei Shinohara, who harassed her, everyone else had a hard time ever talking to her because she seemed so unapproachable.
“Wakaba…”
The person before us is none other than Hiiro Wakaba, a reincarnation who was supposedly dead.
EVOLUTION, DIVISION, PROPAGATION
Since Güli-güli was nice enough to provide me with food supplies, I’ve decided to give evolving a shot.
I’m still not sure if this wimpy body can handle evolution, but I’m just gonna trust that it’ll work out!
So I begin the evolution as I chow down on the earth dragon corpses.
As soon as the evolution starts, I can feel my SP decreasing at an alarming rate, so I speed up the task of stuffing earth dragon meat into my stomach.
My SP is decreasing almost as fast as I can refill it with food.
As I continue this little game of chicken, my body starts to change.
By the time I’ve polished off several earth dragons, the changes have stopped, and the evolution is complete.
That was close!
I almost ran out of SP there.
Just how much SP does it cost to evolve, anyway?
Well, I guess it was probably only this bad because I forced an evolution on my new freshly hatched, inexperienced body.
If I was in my original body’s condition, I’m sure it would’ve been a lot easier.
Now then, how are my stats looking?
<Arachne LV 1 Nameless
Status: HP: 5,331/38,111 (green) +0
SP: 33,557/33,557 (yellow) (details)
Average Offensive Ability: 35,799 (details)
Average Magical Ability: 42,170 (details)
Average Speed Ability: 41,063 (details)
MP: 5,681/44,024 (blue) +0 (details)
: 924/33,557 (red) +0 (details)
Average Defensive Ability: 35,682 (details)
Average Resistance Ability: 42,068 (details)
Skills:
[HP Ultra-Fast Recovery LV 8] [Height of Occultism] [Magic Divinity LV 8] [Magic Power Conferment LV 10]
[Magic Conferment LV 3] [Magic Power Super-Attack LV 3] [SP Rapid Recovery LV 10] [SP Minimized Consumption LV 10]
[Destruction Super-Enhancement LV 7] [Impact Super-Enhancement LV 8] [Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 6] [Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 7]
[Shock Super-Enhancement LV 7] [Status Condition Super-Enhancement LV 10] [Mental Warfare LV 10] [Energy Conferment LV 10]
[Ability Conferment LV 7] [Energy Super-Attack LV 5] [Divine Dragon Power LV 8] [Dragon Barrier LV 6]
[Deadly Poison Attack LV 10] [Enhanced Paralysis Attack LV 10] [Rot Attack LV 7] [Heretic Attack LV 9]
[Poison Synthesis LV 10] [Medicine Synthesis LV 10] [Shieldsmanship LV 3] [Thread Genius LV 10]
[Iron Defense LV 7] [Divine Thread Weaving] [Thread Control LV 10] [Psychokinesis LV 9]
[Throw LV 10] [Expel LV 10] [Dimensional Maneuvering LV 10] [Kin Control LV 10]
[Egg-Laying LV 10] [Concentration LV 10] [Thought Super-Acceleration LV 6] [Future Sight LV 6]
[Parallel Minds LV 10] [High-Speed Processing LV 10] [Hit LV 10] [Evasion LV 10]
[Probability Super-Correction LV 10] [Stealth LV 10] [Concealment LV 2] [Silence LV 10]
[Odorless LV 8] [Emperor] [Offer] [Conviction]
[Hades] [Corruption] [Immortality] [Heretic Magic LV 10]
[Wind Magic LV 10] [Gale Magic LV 10] [Earth Magic LV 10] [Terrain Magic LV 10]
[Seismic Magic LV 1] [Light Magic LV 8] [Holy Light Magic LV 3] [Shadow Magic LV 10]
[Dark Magic LV 10] [Black Magic LV 10] [Poison Magic LV 10] [Healing Magic LV 10]
[Miracle Magic LV 10] [Spatial Magic LV 10] [Dimensional Magic LV 9] [Abyss Magic LV 10]
[Hero LV 2] [Great Demon Lord LV 1] [Charity] [Perseverance]
[Pride] [Rage LV 3] [Usurp LV 4] [Satiation LV 10]
[Sloth] [Wisdom] [Destruction Super-Resistance LV 6] [Impact Nullification]
[Cutting Super-Resistance LV 6] [Piercing Super-Resistance LV 6] [Shock Super-Resistance LV 6] [Flame Resistance LV 9]
[Flood Resistance LV 3] [Gale Resistance LV 8] [Terrain Resistance LV 9] [Bolt Resistance LV 3]
[Holy Light Resistance LV 6] [Black Resistance LV 9] [Heavy Super-Resistance LV 8] [Status Condition Nullification]
[Acid Super-Resistance LV 8] [Rot Super-Resistance LV 6] [Faint Super-Resistance LV 1] [Fear Super-Resistance LV 4]
[Heresy Nullification] [Pain Nullification] [Suffering Nullification] [Night Vision LV 10]
[Panoptic Vision LV 4] [Jinx Evil Eye LV 9] [Inert Evil Eye LV 8] [Sealing Evil Eye LV 3]
[Antimagic Evil Eye LV 2] [Repellent Evil Eye LV 7] [Warped Evil Eye LV 4] [Annihilating Evil Eye LV 6]
[Five Senses Super-Enhancement LV 10] [Perception Expansion LV 8] [Divinity Expansion LV 9] [Celestial Power]
[Ultimate Life LV 10] [Ultimate Movement LV 10] [Fortune LV 10] [Fortitude LV 10]
[Stronghold LV 10] [Skanda LV 10] [Taboo LV 10] [n% I = W]
Skill Points: 165,700
Titles:
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Assassin] [Monster Slayer]
[Poison Technique User] [Thread User] [Merciless] [Monster Slaughterer]
[Ruler of Pride] [Ruler of Perseverance] [Ruler of Wisdom] [Wyrm Slayer]
[Fearbringer] [Dragon Slayer] [Ruler of Sloth] [Monster Calamity]
[Champion] [Human Slayer] [Human Slaughterer] [Rescuer]
[Medicinal Technique User] [Saint] [Savior] [Ruler of Charity]
[Guardian] [Human Calamity]
>
Am I seeing this right?!
My stats went up a ridiculous amount!
They were already really high after I absorbed Mother’s power, but since I leveled up a bunch of times after that, I guess they’re really out of control now.
It definitely helps that my stat-increasing skills like Skanda all got maxed out because of Mother.
And now here we are!
Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to imagine anyone out there being stronger than I am.
And yet I’m still not on the same level as the Demon Lord. Ouch.
Well, that covers my stats, anyway.
But the main feature of this evolution wasn’t increasing my stats.
No, the biggest selling point was the changes to my form.
First of all, I’ve gotten a lot bigger.
I’m still small compared to the adult taratect I saw when that arch attacked, but I’m definitely not travel size anymore.
But frankly, I don’t really care about that.
The biggest change is the part that’s grown out of my head.
The upper body of a human.
It kinda feels like I have two minds, in a weird way.
Sort of like Parallel Minds but also different.
It’s almost as if I have two brains thinking about the same thing at the same time. In fact, that’s probably what’s happening.
I also have two fields of vision now.
One is the same as before, aside from being a little higher, since my body is bigger.
The other is a view from a higher position than that.
I slowly peer around at my surroundings from that vantage point.
Oh man.
Up until now, my head’s been connected to my torso, so I had to turn my whole body if I wanted to look around. But now, I can secure a wide range of vision just by moving my neck.
I look down.
Oh hey, boobs.
I guess I really am female, then.
Most males probably wouldn’t have a chest like this.
Since I couldn’t tell what was what on my old spider body, I worried from time to time that it might actually be male, but I guess it was female after all.
Well, I kinda figured, since the Demon Lord looks like a girl anyway.
Hmm. I’m technically only around two years old or so, but I’ve got an adult body.
I look at my hands, flexing them experimentally.
It’s perfectly normal that my fingers move when I will them to, but I’m excited nonetheless.
In fact, I can tell that I’m starting to smile.
I’m usually the fairly expressionless type, but it’s great that I can smile naturally now if I want to.
Yep. This is great.
I have a human body.
It’s been so long, I was starting to forget what it felt like.
My lower half is still a spider, but I’m very familiar with the sensation of this upper half.
I lean over to examine that lower half.
Then the spider eyes of my lower body and the human eyes of my upper body meet.
Whoa, I’m making eye contact with myself!
The face I see there surprises me.
It’s…my face.
The way my face looked in my previous life.
My eyes are red and my skin and hair are super-white now, but the actual facial features are exactly the same.
Since I’ve been reborn and all, I was kinda expecting a new face, so this is a pleasant surprise.
The smile on my human face deepens.
It’s sort of turning into a smirk.
Oh geez.
What’s going on here?
I’m so happy that it’s hard to describe.
Hee-hee. Heh-heh-heh-heh!
My feet tap around on the floor like they’re trying to dance.
In fact, I kinda do feel like dancing!
After basking in my happiness for a little while, I decide my upper half probably doesn’t look super-appropriate, so I make a bra out of thread.
As I’m finishing up, the huge amount of eggs around me starts to shake.
One of the shells breaks, and a tiny spider appears.
Then another and another.
A few of them already contain my transplanted Parallel Minds.
My Egg-Laying skill produced a total of one thousand eggs.
I used one of them myself, so there are nine hundred and ninety-nine left.
“All right, ladies and gentlespiders! Let’s see what you’ve got!”
I address the newborn babies out loud.
Ooh.
That’s right. Since I have a human form now, I can actually talk.
To be honest, I did this to test out the Egg-Laying skill and attempt my Parallel Minds transplant experiment, so I hadn’t really thought about what happens once they hatch.
I guess I’ll just let them fend for themselves in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
What do you mean, I’m a bad parent?
There are a few Parallel Minds mixed in there, which are basically me, so they can be parents in my stead.
I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to leave them a little food, though.
I take out some food from Spatial Storage that I haven’t finished eating yet and put it on the ground.
The baby spiders flock over to it at once.
Look at all these little spiderlings crawling around. It’s so…creepy.
Anyway. What am I gonna do now?
I’ve achieved my goal of evolving into an arachne, which I originally wanted to do so that I could communicate with humans properly and thus get ahold of a decent meal.
But now that the Demon Lord’s made a mess of my whole local god thing, it’d be a pain to try to make new contact with people.
Even when they were worshipping me, I didn’t know how to communicate with humans.
Just because I’m an arachne who looks and talks more like a human now, that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly good at social interaction.
And since the Demon Lord’s shown up, I can’t go back to that town anymore.
It’s a bummer, but I’m gonna have to leave that place behind.
Alas, my sweet, sweet offerings…
I guess I’ll make one last check to see if there are any more offerings near the forest entrance, and then I’ll skedaddle.
With that, I teleport to the forest near the town, but there’s just one little problem.
The town is on fire.
And a bunch of soldiers are fighting in there.
One side is the town’s defense force.
The other is waving a flag I saw back on the battlefield, the Ohts flag.
Did they send a separate force directly to the town on top of all the troops at the battlefield?
One of the gates has been broken open, and the Ohts soldiers are storming into the town.
The defenders are fighting hard, but most of their forces are out on the battlefield, so they don’t have the numbers to last for long.
At this rate, the town’s going down.
But there’s something that catches my attention even more than that.
A group of elves is attacking the lord’s mansion.
THE SERVANT’S STRUGGLE
I am a servant of the Keren family.
I live to serve my master, my mistress, and their young daughter.
So it was unthinkable for me to be defeated by thieves or to put the mistress and her child in danger.
A most unacceptable blunder.
Yet instead of reprimanding me, my master was concerned for my safety.
I am blessed to serve such a wonderful man.
Which is exactly why he is worth putting my life on the line for.
“Merazophis. How fares the evacuation of the townspeople?”
“Unfortunately, it does not seem to be going well.”
“I see.”
My master’s face is full of anguish.
The Ohts soldiers have invaded his beloved town.
They must be a detachment that separated from the main troops to attack the town directly.
Ohts has carried out a foul strategy to target the innocent townspeople, without even blinking an eye.
My master likely intends to stay until the very end.
He has a strong sense of duty.
To him, it would be inexcusable to flee while any of his people still remain.
Because he is staying, his wife intends to stay, too.
She wants to be close by his side until the very last moment.
They truly are a perfect pair.
That is why I have bottled away my own paltry love for my mistress.
It would be an honor to die in their service.
“Merazophis. Please take care of my daughter…of Sophia.”
My master’s words put a stop to my resignation.
He wants me to flee and take the young miss with me.
“Master, I cannot—”
“Merazophis. You are the person I trust most of all. I want to place her life in your hands.”
“I feel the same way. Please.”
My master and mistress are making a request of me.
Not an order. A request.
“Very well. I shall protect her no matter what.”
I wonder what kind of face I’m making right now?
No doubt it is becoming unfit to be seen by their eyes.
I use my sleeve to wipe away the tears that blur my vision.
Then I accept the young miss from my mistress’s arms.
At that moment, someone bursts in through the window.
“Go!”
My master pushes my back, forcing me out of the room.
I run through the corridor and reach the entrance hall.
But there are more intruders there, bows at the ready as if they were lying in wait.
I quickly turn back to head for the rear entrance, but then a terrible pain strikes my back.
I grit my teeth and try to start running, but as soon as I take the first step, an arrow pierces my leg.
I tumble forward to the ground.
Trying to protect the infant in my arms, I land in a poor position.
As my arm hits the ground, it emits a dull, dreadful sound.
Pain so severe that it threatens to render me unconscious assails me.
Most likely, my arm has broken.
But the intruders afford me no time to recover.
Pushing my back against the wall, I somehow manage to stand.
Something that was already stabbed into my back, likely an arrow, gets pushed in even deeper as a result.
I hold the young miss tightly with my broken arm and use my free hand to pull the sword out of my belt, preparing to face the enemy.
There are four of them in total.
All of them wear hoods that conceal their faces.
Outside the wide-open doors to the entrance hall, I see the mansion’s guards lying on the ground.
It seems I should not expect reinforcements.
As it stands, I am already a dead man walking.
I doubt anyone would say I stand a chance.
Still, I have no choice.
As if in mockery of my determination, the intruders draw their bowstrings.
With my back against the wall, I cannot move a single step.
If they would only come within the range of my blade, I would at least be able to put up a fight, even if in vain.
Can I not be allowed even that much?!
My own powerlessness nearly puts me on the verge of tears.
In that instant, I feel a prickling pain in my neck.
Looking down, I see that the young miss is biting me.
Not only that, but her teeth have pierced my skin, and she is drinking my blood as it flows from the wound.
I barely have time to question what’s happening before my body undergoes a dramatic transformation.
Somehow, it grows warmer in direct proportion to the blood I’m losing.
Strength wells up within me, and the pain of my wounds starts to fade.
It’s as if for all the blood seeping out, something else is flowing into me.
A feeling of empowerment engulfs my entire body.
I feel as though I’m becoming a different person, no longer myself.
Under normal circumstances that would be horrifying, but my mind is too intoxicated with a sort of sweet numbness.
Without knowing why, I feel as though I can win now.
I move my legs, even the one that was rendered immobile by an arrow.
Nonetheless, I take a step forward and immediately find myself in front of one of my opponents.
Then I thrust my sword directly into his startled face.
For some reason, the resultant blood that splatters across my face is terribly appealing.
Its smell tickles my nose like the fragrance of a fine wine.
Something strange is happening to me.
But I do not question it too deeply.
Whatever has occurred, it has granted me the power to protect my young mistress.
Why should I not use that power to the fullest?
As the intruders draw back in surprise at my sudden change, my sword lashes out at them without mercy.
But just as I’m about to finish off the last one, a powerful impact strikes my back.
It’s as if it’s shaking my whole body into pieces.
Unable to bear it completely, I fall forward.
The young mistress is thrown from my arms, tumbling to the floor.
“A vampire? It is fresh, so its stats are still low, but it could be troublesome if it reaches adulthood.”
I force my head to move, looking at the man who struck me from behind.
Unlike the others, his face is unhidden by a hood.
He seems to be a young man.
But there’s no way to judge his real age from his appearance.
Because his fully visible ears are long and pointed.
The characteristic feature of the long-lived elves.
Why are the elves working with Ohts? But more than that, what worries me most is the direction the man is approaching from.
He’s coming from the direction of the room where I last saw my master and mistress.
Did something happen to them?
The worst possible scenarios cross my mind.
“That baby is the progenitor, then.”
“What shall we do?”
“Kill it.”
The surviving hooded figure speaks with the elf.
I cannot allow them to put their words into action.
“Are you certain, my lord?”
“Just tell Oka it got caught up in the battle and we couldn’t reach it in time. If we allow a vampire to live, it will cause nothing but trouble in the future.”
“Very well.”
The hooded person approaches my young mistress.
I leap to my feet at once and block the hands reaching for the child.
“I will not allow you to lay a hand on the young miss.”
The hooded figure falters.
The elf man, however, simply stares at me with cold, narrowed eyes.
“Submit, and we will grant you a painless death. Why go so far to protect the child? That is a vampire. It will only bring misfortune into the world.”
A vampire?
The bloodsucking creature from fairy tales?
Does this mean the young miss is a vampire?
I suppose that would explain my sudden transformation.
But that does not change anything.
“That matters not. I have promised to protect her with my life. She was entrusted to me.”
Carrying out my master and mistress’s wishes.
That is my sole duty.
Whether the young miss is a vampire or not makes no difference.
“How foolish.”
The elf gathers magic power in his hands.
Until suddenly, he’s attacked by a white nightmare.
WORST ELF EVER!
Just as the elf is about to finish off the family servant, I cut in to attack.
Telepooort! And then a swift punch to the face!
That’s right! Since I have a partly human form, I can punch things now!
I still can’t really kick, though!
The elf crashes into the wall.
While the other hooded guy is staring at the scene in shock, I take the opportunity to chop his head right off with Cutting Thread.
Whew, talk about a speedrun.
Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.
I bet I could even beat a TAS runner right now.
This is probably the fastest way to do things.
I look back at the servant guy. He’s near death from all his injuries, yet he’s still gallantly trying to keep the baby bloodsucker safe.
In his eyes, I see that he’s quite wary of me.
Hmm. I guess it’s natural not to trust a half human, half spider who just popped up out of nowhere, but I did help you, you know. Couldn’t you lose the attitude?
But because I’m so, sooo nice, I suppose I’ll heal him despite his rudeness.
“What?”
As his wounds recover thanks to my Healing Magic, the man looks at his recently transformed body in shock.
“You are not an enemy?”
I simply shake my head.
Not sure if that’s enough to clear up his doubts or not.
Just to confirm, I Appraise the guy and see that his race includes “vampire.”
Ooh, that naughty little bloodsucker turned him into a vampire! Maybe because they were in a tight spot?
So this servant guy’s name is Merazophis.
Geez, that’s long. We’ll just call him Mera. Sorta makes him sound like a low-level fire spell, but let’s not worry about that right now.
I walk over to where the baby bloodsucker is lying on the ground and pick her up.
First I check with Appraisal whether she’s hurt at all.
The servant guy is freaking out, but I’m not gonna do anything. Relax.
Although I gotta say, babies are so soft and squishy, it makes me think they’re probably really tasty.
They’re small, so there’s not much meat on them, but still.
I bet those stretchy little cheeks are delicious.
Maybe I’ll sneak a teeny little taste?
I guess the cheek would be kinda weird, so how about just an arm?
It’s totally fine; I’ll just heal it afterward.
Just a liiittle bite.
As these thoughts go through my mind, the baby’s clothes start getting a little wet in the crotch area.
Oh, gross. She’s peeing, isn’t she?
Ahh. Well, I guess I can’t blame her, since her life might be in danger?
And she’s a baby, so there’s that.
But she’s a high schooler on the inside, so I dunno…
I mean, if it were me, I’d probably die of embarrassment.
Or maybe just kill whoever witnessed it right then and there.
I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything.
That’s what kindness is all about.
Plus I don’t really feel like eating her anymore.
Since she’s unharmed and all, I politely hand her back to Mera.
He takes the baby bloodsucker without a word.
“Hrmm. What a bizarre creature, and an unwelcome interruption.”
I turn to find the source of the voice.
The elf I sent flying is standing up, dusting off his clothes as if nothing happened at all.
Whoa. This guy’s pretty tough.
A punch from me didn’t work on him, even with my crazy-high stats?
I owe you an apology, TAS runners.
Apparently I’m not on your level yet after all.
I Appraise the elf’s status.
<Cannot be Appraised>
Now, that’s not the result I expected.
Huh? What?
Can’t be Appraised?
It’d be one thing if my Appraisal was blocked, but I can’t Appraise him at all?
Even when I use Professor Wisdom to try to force it, I still get the same result.
You’re telling me that Wisdom, which was able to get at even the Demon Lord’s stats when they were hidden by administrator authority, doesn’t work on this guy?
This could be bad.
I thought I could beat anyone but the Demon Lord now, but is it possible that this elf fella is just as bad as the Demon Lord or possibly even worse?
Uh-oh.
Maybe I shouldn’t have charged in here not knowing how strong my opponent was.
Should I grab the baby bloodsucker and the servant and get out of here with Teleport?
“Are you Ariel’s kin, perhaps? Yet I have never seen a creature with a form like this. Who are you, exactly?”
I don’t have to answer that.
And the fact that he knows the Demon Lord’s name only confirms that he can’t be good news.
Retreat, retreat!
“You are not getting away. Activate Anti-Technique Barrier.”
Around the elf, the world suddenly shifts.
I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s as though the world itself really is changing.
Everything looks the same.
Sounds, smells, taste, touch, none of that has changed, either.
But something about the world is different.
It’s like this one spot has been cut off from the rest of the world. Like we’ve suddenly been flung naked and defenseless into the middle of a winter wasteland.
What’s going on?
It feels like a world that was once kind has suddenly turned its back on me.
What’s happening to me?
But I have no time to worry about these strange feelings.
The Teleport magic I was trying to invoke evaporates. And as if that wasn’t enough, my constantly active skills like Divine Dragon Power, Battle Divinity, and Magic Divinity get canceled out, too.
This barrier can block skills as well as magic?!
Even the Demon Lord’s Divine Dragon Barrier couldn’t do anything like that!
“Hmm. I believe you may just be worthy of being my opponent. My name is Potimas Harrifenas. Remember that name. There is no need for you to introduce yourself, as you are no doubt about to die by my hand.”
The elf called Potimas sways slightly.
A moment later, he approaches me at a ferocious speed, raising a fist to strike.
Wait a second!
Aren’t elves supposed to be good at magic but physically not very strong?!
I always pictured elves being bad at hand-to-hand combat!
But if this guy’s opening with a punch instead of a magic spell, he must be a powerhouse fighter or something?!
That’s not how elves are supposed to be!
But he’s not so fast that my speed can’t handle it.
Unlike the Demon Lord, at least my eyes can still follow his movements.
I dodge his fist with ease…almost.
“?!”
The elf’s fist passes right in front of my human face.
As it grazes my cheek, it cuts my skin just a little.
I wasn’t able to dodge it completely.
But I thought he wasn’t too fast to handle?
My body wouldn’t move the way I wanted it to, so I ended up getting grazed.
Crap.
This is really not good.
In fact, it’s even worse than I thought!
I thought Potimas’s barrier rendered magic and skills ineffective.
But I was wrong.
It’s far, far worse than that.
Magic, skills, and even stats.
The barrier cancels out all of them.
It’s a barrier that rejects the system.
Inside this barrier, I’m barely any different from your average Joe.
And now I’m trapped in this hopeless situation.
Every ounce of confidence drains from my body.
My strength is entirely dependent on the system.
My stats, my skills.
Without those, aside from the fact that my lower half is a spider, I’m just like any ordinary human.
But I guess that’s to be expected.
The only factors making me anything other than ordinary are the stats and skills given to me by the system.
All the power I’ve built up until now…
It’s all been taken from me in an instant.
My mind goes completely blank.
I have to do something, but I can’t think of a single plan.
As I stand around in shock, Potimas comes at me with a roundhouse kick.
Its approach feels slow to me, but I can tell that it would cause a huge amount of damage to any normal human.
I mean, it’s so sharp that I can hear his foot cutting through the air!
The kick is aimed toward my spider head, so I avoid it by moving backward.
But while I intended to hop several feet away in an instant, my body doesn’t move the way I want, and I make it only a single step back.
The elf’s toes literally pass right before my eyes (the spider ones).
Eek!
If Thought Acceleration wasn’t slowing down time, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge that!
Part 7 of 8