Part 7 of 8
At this rate, the wyrms will all be killed and disappear into the spiders’ stomachs along with the eggs and their contents.
Until someone arrives to prevent that future from coming to pass.
“I think this has gone far enough.”
It’s a man shrouded in darkness.
His body is completely covered in black armor that almost looks like a carapace.
His handsome face is dark-skinned as well, giving him the overall impression of the embodiment of the color black.
The only exception is his red eyes, which are now staring coolly at the spiders.
He looks at me for just an instant, then averts his gaze.
…Perhaps it was my imagination, but his expression almost seemed as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.
How rude.
But who exactly is this rather impolite fellow?
Surely he is no ordinary human, since he’s appeared here in the Lower Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
In fact, is he even human at all?
I attempt to Appraise him, but the result reads simply CANNOT BE APPRAISED.
Cannot be Appraised?
It’s a similar result to when I Appraised the master, but while that great being somehow blocked my Appraisal, here it is impossible to begin with.
This person must be on a similar level to the master, then, or perhaps something even more mysterious. That is the only possible conclusion.
Especially given the reaction of the nine spiders, who are all eyeing the man with a wariness that borders on fear.
These same spiders defeated those earth dragons with ease, but they are treating this man with the utmost caution.
He must be strong.
So strong that I doubt I could lay a scratch on him.
I didn’t even sense his arrival, after all.
He must have used Teleport, but I didn’t even notice.
Unbelievable.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint that someone was about to teleport here.
His skills with magic must be extraordinary.
If I didn’t know better, I might even suspect that he could be stronger than the master.
“Withdraw at once. Any further violence will be taken as a declaration of war against me personally.”
At that, the spiders all freeze in place.
For a moment, everything is perfectly still.
Then the spiders turn around in perfect unison and flee the area at incredible speed.
Unable to keep up with their sudden acceleration, all I can do is watch them leave in shock.
Sensing a gaze on my back, I turn around to see the man in black armor, staring at me with an impossible-to-read expression.
“Why are you following those creatures?”
His voice sounds genuinely puzzled.
In fact, his bafflement is so like that of an ordinary human that the tension leaves my shoulders.
“It’s obvious, is it not? To pursue the pinnacle of magic.”
I puff up my chest.
“The pinnacle of magic. In other words, you wish to improve your magical abilities?”
“Indeed.”
That strikes me as an oversimplification, but I decide to agree instead of wasting valuable time quibbling over the details.
I am not simply seeking to improve my magic. I wish to reach the ultimate heights of what magic is capable of.
“Why are you so concerned with refining such a thing? They are a part of that which wiped out your men, you know.”
Why would I want to refine my magic?
What a ridiculous question.
“If I do not strive for the greatest heights of magic, then who will?”
It’s quite simple.
If I do not attempt to reach the pinnacle, then no one will.
That is why I must reach it. I have no other choice.
If I am humanity’s strongest mage, then I must be stronger in magic than anyone else.
Otherwise, I…
Hrm? Otherwise, what?
The man looks uncomprehending for a moment, then shakes his head as if he’s given up.
“It would be in your best interest to stay away from them.”
“I can do no such thing. There is still so much that the spiders can teach me. And I have yet to meet that great being again.”
Yes, it’s simple.
I am following the spiders to learn from them and to encounter the master of magic again.
I cannot stay away from them when I have yet to accomplish either of those goals.
“I see.”
The man does not look particularly disappointed by my refusal.
Or is it that he’s been wearing the expression of someone looking perturbed from the very beginning?
Heavens, what a terribly rude man.
“Well, then. Ahem. If you are doing this of your own free will, I will not stop you. However, could you not at least put on some clothing?”
…Ah.
That’s right. I’m completely naked.
I suppose it’s common sense for any human to react like this.
However, if I wish to reach the pinnacle of magic, I cannot let myself be held back by common sense forever!
“Hmph. You must be young yet to be disturbed by something like this.”
I am not so weak as to be embarrassed by such a paltry matter!
Look upon me!
This is how the man called Ronandt lives!
“Ah. Erm. I see. It’s quite clear that you are beyond help. In which case, could you not perhaps go from this place now?”
“Indeed! I shall take my leave!”
I must catch up to the spiders before they leave me behind for good.
Thus, I turn my back on the man in black and chase after them at once.
MEETING OF THE PARALLEL MINDS #4: OMGÜLI-GÜLI!
“So are we gonna talk about how we went to pick up some eggs on sale only to have a final boss show up?”
“It’s not that surprising. Güli-güli is the general manager of the dragons, right? Obviously, he wasn’t gonna take it lying down when we beat three earth dragons and then went after their eggs.”
“Oh yeah, I guess the first time we met Güli-güli was right after we beat that fire dragon. That brings me back.”
“Dammit! I thought we were finally gonna get to eat a wyrm egg!”
“Right, right. We never got to eat that egg we picked up in the Upper Stratum way back when ’cause those humans set our home on fire and chased us out.”
“What d’you think happened to that egg anyway? Since our home was on fire, maybe it got boiled?”
“I’d say it probably got fried.”
“Don’t you remember how hard that shell was? It might’ve actually survived the fire and wound up hatching.”
“Whaaat? No waaay.”
“Yeah right. That thing definitely got fried.”
“Dammit! All this talk about eggs is making me wanna eat some!”
“Yeah, but that’s not gonna happen. If Güli-güli’s protecting them, we’re never gonna be able to lay a hand on those eggs.”
“Actually, since Güli-güli showed up and all, maybe we should rein it in down here for a while.”
“Mm. I guess if we keep killing off dragons and wyrms and stuff, Güli-güli might snap sooner or later.”
“Should we leave the Lower Stratum, then?”
“But if we do that, how’re we gonna feed this giant family of ours?”
“Anyone know a good hunting ground?”
“Sure we do.”
“Huh? Where?”
“C’mon, think. A place where there’s tons of prey that gives out tons of EXP, too.”
“Ooh, I gotcha.”
“So basically, you’re saying we should start taking action for real?”
“I guess our spider underlings have grown quite a bit by now.”
“That’s true. Suppose it’s time, then.”
“Okay, let’s get started.”
“Step one of our plan to wipe out humanity is a go.”
THE BOY HERO’S STRUGGLE
People are getting blown away before my eyes.
The sight of them flying through the air almost seems like a joke.
But of course, getting blown away like that isn’t going to end painlessly for those people.
It might look like a farce, but this is still reality.
Some of them hit the ground headfirst, snapping their necks at unnatural angles and killing them instantly.
But most aren’t so lucky, and their bodies fall down in a horrific state.
I’ve never seen a human burst open before.
The nightmarish scene continues before my eyes.
It’s hell on earth.
Beyond the masses of screaming, fleeing, dying people, I see the monster that’s creating this nightmare.
Forcing my shaky legs to move, I—
I wake up with a jolt.
Once I see that the scene in front of me is just the room I’m currently staying in, I breathe a sigh of relief.
It was just a dream.
I press a hand over my chest, where my heart is pounding intensely.
I have a pulse. That means I’m alive.
That in itself is a relief.
The shirt beneath my palm is soaked in sweat.
It always happens like this when I have that dream.
The dream that forces me to recall the time when I encountered the monster called the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
It was terrifying.
I am still a child, but I’ve become the hero.
Which is why I was sent to participate in that battle as an observer only, so I could experience the battlefield as soon as possible.
It was a certain victory, I was told, so there wouldn’t be much danger.
But in actuality, my first experience on the battlefield turned out to be a terror.
I learned for the first time how easily people can die.
When my mother gave birth to my younger brother, Schlain, the physical toll took her life. With that grief in my heart, I first learned the true weight of death.
But on that battlefield, death was everywhere I looked.
People died one after another with horrible ease.
I was so terrified that my legs were trembling, but I knew I had to face my fear.
Because I’m the hero.
I don’t remember very well what happened after that.
I think I ran up to the Nightmare, only to stand there stock-still, unable to do anything.
But I’m told that my arrival distracted the Nightmare long enough to buy our people time to cast a big spell.
The spell burned the Nightmare up into nothing, and I miraculously survived.
I feel like someone protected me, but I don’t really remember.
After that, all kinds of people showered me with praise.
“You really are a hero.” “It’s thanks to you that the Nightmare was defeated.”
But I didn’t do anything.
I couldn’t.
And I still don’t know if what little I accomplished was right.
Looking out the window, I see the ruined walls around the town and the destroyed homes that still haven’t been fully rebuilt.
I played a part in creating this scene.
The people who live in this town were attacked by an army that I was allied with.
And the Nightmare I stood up against was fighting to protect this town.
Who was really in the right?
“Heya, Hero. How’s it going?”
When I return from my near-daily routine of monster hunting, I encounter a familiar face.
It’s Aurel, the girl around my age with the unusual manners.
Apparently, she’s from the Empire and is staying in this town due to complicated circumstances.
“I’m all right.”
“I have a reward for ya after all that hard work.”
Aurel hands me a fruit.
Looking around, I see men eating the same fruit.
She must have brought them as refreshments for the Empire people working on the wall.
“Thank you.”
Not wanting her kindness to go to waste, I accept the fruit and take a bite.
“There seems to be a lot of fruit in this town,” I remark, thinking about how often fruit seems to be included in meals here.
“Yeah. I guess there was this thing called a Divine Beast who liked ’em, so they were starting to get into cultivating more of ’em, right? And it happens to be harvest time for some of them now or whatever.”
I almost spit out the fruit in my mouth.
That “Divine Beast” must be the Nightmare.
That terrifying monster…liked fruit?
It’s a little hard to imagine.
But the people in this town really did worship the Nightmare.
I know this, because the townspeople sometimes accuse me of killing their Divine Beast and throw stones at me.
Looking at them, I start to wonder who the real villains are.
The Nightmare I saw was truly the stuff of haunting dreams, almost too terrifying to be real.
But to the people of this town, it was a Divine Beast to be worshipped.
“Sir Hero! There you are!”
As I think back on the Nightmare, a voice reaches my ears.
It belongs to a man in the uniform of a Word of God soldier, running up to me as he shouts.
“What are you doing? Were you not told that today is the departure ceremony?” The soldier frowns.
Today, the Ohts and Word of God soldiers gathered in this town are having a ceremony before they advance to the next town.
I was told I should participate. However…
“I thought I gave you my answer already. I won’t be participating, and I won’t be advancing to the next town, either.”
“Please don’t say such things. It’s quite concerning.”
The man really does look anxious.
More specifically, his expression is that of an adult perplexed by an unreasonable child.
But I’ve made up my mind.
I won’t participate in this war any longer.
I can’t stop the war, but I can certainly refuse to give my support.
I want to stay in this town and help them rebuild.
I won’t simply do whatever adults tell me to anymore.
I’m going to act on my own decisions and do what I believe is right.
“I’m staying in this town, no matter what anyone says. Please pass on that message.”
“That simply won’t do.”
Since he came to fetch me himself, I’m guessing this soldier is of decent standing. But right now, his expression is one of pure distress.
I almost feel a little bit bad, but I don’t intend to change my mind.
Just as I’m about to open my mouth to reiterate my decision, I hear a distant roar.
Recognizing it as the sound of people screaming, I start running toward the source immediately.
When I arrive, I realize I’ve come to the departure ceremony that I was so adamantly refusing to attend.
Full of soldiers, the place is in total chaos.
“What happened here?!”
“Sir Hero?!” The soldier I spoke to turns to me in a panic, spit flying everywhere as he shouts like a madman. “It’s the Nightmare! A Nightmare swarm is attacking us!”
As soon as I hear the word Nightmare, my body shudders involuntarily.
But what does he mean by a “swarm”?
The answer soon appears before my eyes.
“It can’t be…”
As I look on in horror, a swarm of white spiders comes charging at the gate.
“Close the gates!”
Shouts ring out through the chaos.
Terrified of the countless spiders coming toward the walls, the soldiers nevertheless know what they have to do, and they jump into action.
Immediately, they close the gates that were open for the departure ceremony.
At the same time, other soldiers climb to the top of the city walls and prepare to attack the oncoming spiders.
I try to follow them, but someone grabs my shoulder.
“Sir Hero, please run!”
Turning around, I see Sir Tiva, the Empire knight who’s often with Aurel.
“It’s too dangerous here. Take shelter somewhere in town.”
“I’m going to fight, too!”
Tiva’s grip on my shoulder indicates that I don’t have a choice, but I refuse anyway.
“No.” Tiva shakes his head. “You’re still young. Much too young to die here.”
The pressure on my shoulder grows.
In his eyes, I see grim determination.
Just like that, I know without a doubt: This man was at the battlefield that day, too.
He knows firsthand how terrifying the Nightmare is.
And because of that, he also knows that we have no hope of winning this fight.
“Even so, I have to fight!”
I can’t run away now.
I don’t know how or why, but I know I need to stop the oncoming swarm of spiders.
These aren’t like the Nightmare who protected this town.
For some reason, I can sense without a doubt that they intend to bring calamity on this town and all its people.
I shake off Tiva’s hand and climb up the wall.
Looking down, I see that the spider swarm is already closing in on the wall.
The soldiers are attacking with magic, arrows, and more, but to little effect.
There are simply too many of them. If one spider goes down, another simply takes its place.
How many spiders are there?
It looks like at least ten thousand to me, likely a great many more.
As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered in spiders.
The horrifying sight fills me with fear.
But behind me are the people of this town and that girl with the strange manner of speaking.
I can’t run away now!
I use Holy Light Magic, the magic I learned when I became the hero.
The handful of spiders hit by the attack goes down, but a flood following them simply tramples their corpses.
I keep using the spell, but it’s not fast enough.
There are too many of them.
The spiders at the forefront of the swarm soon reach the wall.
“Huh?!”
And then, without slowing down, they simply start climbing.
“G…gaaah!”
The soldiers try to fight back in a panic as the spiders close in.
The monsters in this area could never climb walls. But these spiders are speeding up it with no problem whatsoever.
The wall might as well not even be there!
“Down! Get down now!” shouts a man who seems to be a general.
But by then, the first spiders have already reached the top of the wall, and they bear down on us like a tidal wave.
One rises up right in front of me, baring its fangs!
I quickly draw my sword and try to block the attack, but my body is simply too light to stop the spider’s charge, and I tumble backward.
“Agh…!”
Thrown off the wall, I hit the ground below.
I manage to stand up despite the pain and see soldiers fighting off the spiders that have already crossed over the wall.
The soldiers hold their shields forward and try to push the spiders back, but more and more spiders keep coming, pushing ever forward.
A thread shoots out and hits one of the shields, dragging shield and soldier alike into the swarm of spiders.
“Aaagh! Help me!”
The soldier screams as he disappears into the endless wave of spiders.
The same scene is unfolding all over the wall.
Truly, the stuff of nightmares.
But I have no time to be shocked, because the spiders are closing in on me, too.
“Aaaaah!”
All I can do is swing my sword and try to fend them off.
THE OLD MAN CHALLENGES THE SPIDERS
I chase after the spiders, but they’ve already disappeared completely.
They must have used Large-Scale Teleport to go elsewhere before I could catch up.
I cannot help but admire the magical prowess it would take to transport such a large gathering in so short a time.
At a loss for what to do next, I suddenly remember the words the black-clad man spoke to me.
Put on some clothing, eh?
True enough, I have been naked for perhaps too long now.
I suppose I could return to the town for the time being to retrieve some clothes.
I can try to search for the spiders after that.
With that decided, I teleport back to the town.
Specifically, into the room where I had been permitted to stay.
Even I still have enough sense to recognize that appearing buck naked in public would not be ideal.
However, I hear quite the ruckus outside.
Is there a festival or something?
At any rate, I should start by putting on some clothes.
I rummage through my things.
“Ah!”
I’m still searching for clothes when I hear an exclamation behind me.
Turning around, I see Aurel staring at me.
Oh dear. I completely forgot about her.
“Old geezer! Where the hell have you been all this time?!”
“Ah, erm, well… Finding myself?”
She seems to be rather angry that I left her here for so long.
Hrm. I suppose I can’t blame her.
But when I was leading such an intense life, you cannot blame me for forgetting about a little girl or two, either.
“The hell do you have to be naked for?! Wait, now’s not the time for that! You came back just in time! A huge swarm of spiders is attacking the town! You gotta put that fancy magic of yours to use here. Go get rid of ’em for us!”
“What’s that?!”
A swarm of spiders?!
Could it be?
The same spiders I was with until not long ago?
“Just to be certain, would that swarm of spiders happen to be white?”
“Hell if I know! Just put somethin’ on and get out there, man!”
Aurel retrieves some clothes and pushes them into my hands.
And yet, it is not that simple.
If this swarm of spiders is the same one I know, do I even stand a chance of winning?
And yet, given the timing of the matter, it must surely be them.
Then, indeed, this is an impossible task.
“Come now, Aurel. We must run away!”
“Huh?!”
My bold declaration is met with a wild shout from Aurel.
“Don’t be a dumbass! All those soldiers are fighting out there right this very second! If you’re not gonna work now, what’re you even good for?! Without your magic, you’re just a useless old geezer!”
Isn’t that going a little too far?!
Hrm. But my magic isn’t nearly strong enough to stand up to those spiders.
“C’mon, please! Sir Hero… Julius is out there fighting! You gotta save him!” Aurel looks at me pleadingly, her eyes brimming with tears. “Aren’t you the strongest mage in the world? Just go out there all full of yourself and beat the crap outta those monsters like you always do! I’m begging you, please!”
Aurel’s plea fills me with consternation.
I am not the strongest mage in the world.
After all, I was soundly defeated by the master.
Surely, I cannot take on those nine spiders, each of which rivals that great being in power.
I have no choice but to run…and yet.
“You ran away?”
A voice echoes somewhere in the back of my mind.
Those are my very own words from a long time ago.
“Was that oath of ours a lie? I thought we were supposed to protect humanity together! Where did you run away to? Why?!”
My far younger self cries out deep within me.
That was when the previous sword-king vanished.
During his reign, the people of the Empire called him a god of swordsmanship.
That man was my comrade and friend.
“With my sword and your magic, we will protect humanity,” he once said to me.
We fought side by side, protecting the Empire from the demon invasion.
I thought we would go on fighting together forever.
I never once doubted that.
And yet, one day he suddenly disappeared.
He fled from his own duties like a coward.
From his rank as the strongest swordsman in the world.
From his role in the very future of humanity.
I felt that I had been betrayed.
And at the same time, I swore that I would never run away.
Not from my rank as the strongest mage in the world, not from the expectations of the people, and not from the future of humanity that rested squarely on my shoulders.
…Why was I so determined to reach the pinnacle of magic?
…What was the reason that I so passionately sought more power?
Ah, I remember now.
I remember why I’ve been striving all this time!
So I can protect the people in the stead of the former sword-king who fled from his role!
And yet, I thought to run away from peril that threatens the people because I cannot win?
Unbelievable.
I must do no such thing.
My magical prowess exists for the purpose of protecting people.
If I run away, I really will be nothing but a useless, creepy, naked old geezer.
“Do not cry, child.”
I pull the clothing out of Aurel’s hands and hurriedly put it on.
“Leave it to me.”
I will not run away.
Not from my rank as the strongest mage in the world.
Even if that is a false, unreliable title, I must not run away from it.
Victory would be a difficult task.
But I can at least save the hero who Aurel is so worried about.
I rush outside, leaving Aurel standing there in shock.
When I arrive, the battle is in a grim state of affairs.
The soldiers have no battle formation or strategy to speak of, simply trying to fight back against the spiders that press down on them.
I doubt that formations would work against the spiders anyway, since they can move freely through three-dimensional space.
They leap over the soldiers’ shields, attacking them from behind. No wonder their formations are in tatters.
“Do not think poorly of me for this, sisters, brothers.”
I aim for a place where many of the spiders are gathered and use a large-scale Fire Magic spell.
I still have not mastered the art of packing more magic power into a spell.
But the spiders are naturally weak against fire, so even a basic Fire Magic spell has an impact.
If the nine ringleader spiders don’t show up, I may be able to take them on after all.
“Here I go!”
I spray Fire Magic around as much as I can without catching any of the soldiers in it.
All over, spiders burn up into cinders.
Losing their numbers and their momentum, the spiders begin to be driven back by the soldiers, who have regained some fighting spirit thanks to my assistance.
Among them, I see one short-statured young man.
That must be the hero Aurel was talking about.
Goodness, such a small child should not be taking part in a battle like this by any means.
Looking past him, I see another spider bearing down on him.
The boy is unable to react in time and simply gazes up in horror at the fangs closing in on him.
Quickly, I blow the spider away with a fireball.
“You’ve worked hard, my boy. Leave the rest to me.”
No sooner do I speak to him than the boy collapses, perhaps exhausted from the physical and mental strain.
I catch him before he hits the ground.
“Master Ronandt!” Just in time, Tiva comes running up to me.
“Take care of him for me.”
I hand the boy off to Tiva, then turn to face forward.
Before my eyes, the spiders I lived alongside not long ago stand ready for a fight.
BABY SPIDER BEATDOWN
The Demon Lord, Vampy, and Mera have all gone into town.
To kill time, I’m amusing myself by remodeling the puppet spiders as usual, when suddenly, I detect a warp in space.
The telltale sign of a Teleport spell.
Someone’s about to warp here.
Who? I don’t even need to bother wondering.
I’d recognize that waaay-too-perfect manipulation of space anywhere.
Just as I suspected, Güli-güli appears before me.
If there’s anyone else in the world who’s this good at Teleport, well…let’s just say I hope there isn’t.
As an administrator, Güli-güli uses Teleport even more precisely than I do.
Even though I have Height of Occultism, too.
I doubt anyone else could be on this level.
“It’s been a while.”
The puppet spiders are visibly alarmed by Güli-güli’s arrival, but I nod as calmly as I can.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll cut straight to the point: Your copies are on a rampage. Please do something about it.”
Come again?
Hmm? What did he just say?
My copies are on a rampage?
Wait, what? Does he mean my Parallel Minds?
“Perhaps it would be faster to show you.”
With a wave of his arm, Güli-güli creates some kind of screen floating in the air.
What kind of magic is that?!
But what’s on the screen is even more alarming than the screen itself.
It’s the town where Vampy once lived.
And a huge swarm of white spiders is attacking it.
Say whaaaaaaaat?!
“You see? If this is not your doing, I would like you to stop it.”
Huh? Whuh?
“And if this is your doing, I shall have no choice but to react accordingly.”
Ignoring my confusion, Güli-güli’s voice takes on a dangerous tone.
“I believe I told you before that if your actions lead to results that run counter to mine, you shall find me standing in your way. Did I not?”
Uh-oh. Am I in trouble?
I don’t think there’s any way even I can win against an administrator, right?
In which case, there’s only one correct answer.
“I’ll go stop them.”
For once, I make a firm statement out loud.
Mostly because if I didn’t, he’d probably kill me on the spot.
With that, I waste no time in starting to prepare a Teleport spell.
“You will, will you? Good.”
Güli-güli looks relieved.
I guess this was a pretty tight spot for him. If he laid a hand on me, he might very well be making an enemy of D.
Doing what he says right now is best for both of us, really.
What the hell are those Parallel Minds doing anyway?!
Are they stupid? Do they want to die? I hope so, ’cause I’m gonna kill ’em for this!
I haaate it when other people hold me back, but I never expected my own damn selves to hold me back, too!
As I rage inwardly, I notice the puppet spiders in a panic in front of me.
Oh yeah. What should I do about them?
Since they’re under orders from the Demon Lord to keep watch on me, wouldn’t leaving them here mean they’re technically shirking their duties?
The Demon Lord might get mad at them for that, even though they didn’t do anything wrong.
I guess I’d feel a little bad.
Maybe I should give them the option to at least be able to say they were watching me the whole time.
“Want to come, too?”
The puppet spiders look at one another, then nod in perfect sync.
Okay.
Then let’s go!
I teleport us behind the army of spiders.
Wouldn’t want the townspeople seeing what I look like now, after all.
Ideally, I should probably be helping the people fighting on the front lines, but I’ll just have to hope they have it under control.
What I need to deal with personally are those idiot Parallel Minds of mine.
Their spider army is so huge, you can’t even see the ground, but I don’t need to search to know where the Parallel Minds are.
They are me, after all.
Besides, when there are nine specific spiders who are emitting an aura totally different from the rest of the swarm, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that those are my Parallel Minds.
At any rate, I should probably shove my way in there and talk to them.
I don’t wanna endanger the puppet spiders, so I’ll have them hang back for now.
“Hey, dummies, what’s the big idea?”
My words come easily enough for once. Maybe it’s because it’s my own selves I’m talking to.
“Geh?! The main body! You’re onto us already?!”
One of the Parallel Minds responds to me with Telepathy.
“You wanna tell me what exactly’s going on here? Güli-güli showed up to complain to me about it.”
“Whaaat?”
“That Güli-güli sure acts fast.”
“So fast he was gonna kill me if I didn’t stop you guys! Cut it out, will ya? Seriously, what d’you think you’re doing?” I make no effort to hide my annoyance.
The Parallel Minds look at one another, then turn to me like I’m the one being unreasonable.
“What d’you mean, ‘what’? It’s obvious we should kill all the humans.”
Huh?
Excuse me?
I don’t quite understand.
“You’re not making sense.”
“If you don’t understand that, you’re the one who’s not making sense.”
…Ahhh.
I guess I do kinda get it after all.
I mean, I guess I already knew, or I wouldn’t have chased them out of my mind and into new bodies in the first place.
These guys aren’t me anymore.
They’re similar but not quite the same.
In other words, they’re their own people.
And now these other people are becoming a huge pain in my ass.
If I don’t stop them, Güli-güli’s gonna kill me, so I have no qualms about crushing them.
That being said, one against nine isn’t exactly ideal for me.
Huge as the rest of the spider army might be, their stats are so low compared to mine that I can honestly just ignore them.
But even without counting them, I’m still outnumbered.
And my opponents are my own clones.
That means their stats and skills should be the same as mine.
The biggest difference is probably that I’m a half-human, half-spider arachne, while these guys are still the same small spider monsters I used to be.
But there are nine of them.
If I try to fight all of them head-on, I’m not gonna be the one who comes out on top.
So instead, with no preamble whatsoever, I draw close to one of the Parallel Minds.
Then I swing the giant scythe in my hands, piercing through its head.
“Wha—?!”
“Have you lost your mind, main body?!”
You’re the ones who’ve lost your minds!
I use the front scythe-legs of my spider half to slash at the impaled Parallel Mind.
In the meantime, finishing up the preparation of my large-scale Dark Magic spell, I unleash it on the rest of the agitated Parallel Minds.
No matter how fast they might be, they can’t avoid my attack if its scale is too large to escape completely.
It hits all of them at once.
Of course, that spell isn’t going to kill them.
Since they have the same stats as I do, any magic that can be invoked that quickly won’t be able to finish them off.
But it’ll work just fine as a preemptive attack.
I’m sure the Parallel Minds weren’t expecting me to attack them out of the blue.
So, before they can stand back up, I finish off the one I stabbed with my scythe.
Even I can’t do anything if my head is crushed. That’s where your brain is, after all.
Without a brain, you can’t think, which means you can’t do anything.
Luckily for me, the main body, I have both a spider head and a human head, so as long as one is intact, I can still keep functioning.
I know that for a fact, since my human head got blown off during the fight with Potimas and I still managed to get by.
But these Parallel Minds have only the one.
Psh, these boring old spiders without a human half couldn’t beat me in a hundred years!
With the head still impaled on my giant scythe, I use my spider scythes to tear this one to pieces.
One down.
Eight to go.
With one of their number taken out, the rest of them seem to fully recognize me as an enemy now.
Each of them is starting to prepare its own magic.
Seems like six of them are going to cast instantaneous spells, while the other two are charging up more powerful magic.
I’m guessing the six are going to try to pin me down with a barrage of spells so that the other two can finish me off with the big guns.
As if I’m just gonna let that happen! Divine Dragon Barrier, activate!
This is the extra-powerful form of Dragon Barrier, which dampens the power of magic.
It’s the same method the Demon Lord used to render me powerless before, so these guys won’t be able to use magic now.
At least, that’s what I thought at first.
But then I barely manage to dodge the spells that come flying at me with no regard for the barrier at all.
Crap. This isn’t gonna work.
One of the other Parallel Minds is using a Divine Dragon Barrier of its own to cancel mine out.
Black Spears come flying at me, so I dodge them or cancel them out with my own magic.
As an arachne, I have two heads and even two hearts.
That means I can do two things at the same time.
Specifically, I can activate up to two spells at once.
But there are eight opponents.
The math of two heads against eight still doesn’t work out in my favor!
I can’t quite manage to dodge or counter them all, so some of the spells hit my body.
Individually, of course, the attacks don’t do that much damage.
But as they say, too much straw will break the spider’s back.
Judging that things will only get worse from here if nothing changes, I charge toward the two who are preparing larger-scale spells.
I take a few hits from the other six on the way, but they’re not gonna be fatal wounds, so I’ll have to ignore them.
Realizing I’ve abandoned defense in favor of attacking, one of the Parallel Minds speeds over to stand in my way.
This one must have realized that magic wasn’t slowing me down, so it’s planning to stop me with physical combat.
The Parallel Mind shoots thread at me, which I stop with thread of my own.
Then I swing my giant scythe down at the Parallel Mind, but it swings up its own scythes to block me.
The result: My giant scythe slices right through the Parallel Mind’s body, scythes and all.
Sliced in half by a single stroke, the Parallel Mind turns to dust and disappears.
Sure, our stats might be roughly the same, but this was bound to happen.
Why? Because of Rot Attack.
Rot Attack imbues any physical attack with the Rot attribute, a powerful attribute that controls death.
It’s so strong that even when my stats were total garbage, it was able to take out a far more powerful monster in one hit.
However, that high power comes at a cost, since the Rot attribute hurts the user as well.
To put it simply, whatever body part I use Rot Attack with gets totally ruined.
When I first got this skill, I used it on one of my scythes to attack a monster. As a result, the monster turned to dust, and my scythe got destroyed.
So it’s basically a self-destruct attack that harms the user in exchange for dealing a huge amount of damage to the opponent.
Because I had Rot Resistance, it only did that much damage to me, but apparently if I hadn’t had that resistance, it could’ve killed me with one use.
Talk about a dangerous skill.
But wait!
All you have to do is use that dangerous skill through a weapon!
If I put the Rot attribute on a weapon, it won’t cause any damage to my body!
And maybe because it’s not a living thing, the weapon doesn’t even take damage, either.
In other words, I can now use that vicious Rot Attack without any risk at all!
Sure, the Parallel Minds can use Rot Attack, too, but they’re still just spiders.
That means they can’t hold weapons.
If they use Rot Attack, like I said before, they’ll damage themselves, too.
I can use Rot Attack as much as I want with zero risk, but they can’t use it without being prepared to pay the price.
This makes a huge difference.
Since our stats are roughly the same, if I want to do big damage with a single attack, I’ll have to use a really powerful move.
And most of my really powerful moves are magic-related.
Any major spell requires a decent amount of time to prepare, even when using the Height of Occultism skill I have.
Which means that if the Parallel Minds want to cause serious damage to me, they’ll have to spend a while preparing a spell first.
I, on the other hand, just have to wave my Rot Attack–infused scythe, which of course doesn’t take any prep time at all!
This advantage will more than make up for the difference in numbers between us!
Seven to go!
“That scythe is bad news!”
“It’s Rot Attack! Don’t let her get too close!”
Ugh! I knew they would figure it out.
Realizing how powerful my scythe is with Rot Attack, the other Parallel Minds quickly move to get away from me.
In the meantime, they keep flinging magic down on me like hail.
I follow hot on their heels, but our stats are the same, which means our speed is, too.
I can keep up, but I can’t catch up to them.
At this rate, they’ll just keep shooting at me as I chase after them.
Damn. This isn’t looking good.
The pair who’s been preparing spells this whole time is getting ready to use Abyss Magic.
Um, excuse me.
How are you gonna use soul-destroying magic against me, your main body?!
I’ll die, you know?
If that hits me, I’ll die!
Are you actually totally okay with that?!
But I doubt they’d listen to me if I said all that out loud.
I mean, I’m the one who started trying to kill them first.
By now, they must see me as nothing more than an enemy.
It’s too late to stop them with words.
I can only rely on force now.
But how exactly?
Frankly, the situation’s not looking good.
I’ve been using Divine Dragon Barrier and Antimagic Evil Eye to try to hinder their magic, but they’re just canceling them out by using identical skills.
Same goes for Sealing Evil Eye.
I guess now we know that Evil Eyes can cancel each other out.
It’s precisely because our stats and skills are the same that having more numbers puts them in a way better position.
My main advantages are my human half and the fact that it allows me to use Rot Attack with my scythe, but that doesn’t matter if I can’t get close to them.
Isn’t there any skill I can use to stop their Abyss Magic?
Should I activate Antimagic Evil Eye in all my eyes?
Ah, wait a second. I might have ten eyes if you include my human half, but those guys have seven times eight eyes altogether!
The extra pair of eyes on my human body doesn’t matter one bit when there’s a boatload more on their side!
So Sealing Evil Eye won’t work, either. In fact, even if they didn’t cancel it out, I don’t know if it would have much effect.
Sealing Evil Eye renders a skill temporarily useless, but that seal is treated as a status condition.
It won’t work on a target with Status Condition Nullification.
If only I could stop them from using a skill, I would seal Abyss Magic!
…Hmm?
Prevent them from using a skill?
Wait, don’t I have a way of doing literally that?
An idea hits me, so I test it out right away.
““Huh?!””
All the Parallel Minds exclaim in confusion.
As soon as I hear that, I know my experiment was a success.
And I know I’ve won.
My victory is now so assured that I feel silly for panicking before.
Now I could win this fight while picking my nose.
I mean, I’m not going to, but still. That’s how easy this’ll be.
Talk about certain victory.
You can’t blame the Parallel Minds for being surprised.
After all, they can’t use magic anymore.
The Abyss Magic they were preparing has been totally canceled out, too, leaving all their plans in shambles.
And I’m not naive enough or nice enough to just stand around while they’re confused.
Immediately, I’m on top of them, aiming my scythe at one of their heads.
The Parallel Mind gets impaled instantly, leaving its body twitching.
Another one comes back to its senses and starts to shoot some thread at me, but nothing comes out.
“Why?!”
Drawing my giant scythe back, I swing it at another Parallel Mind.
This time, though, it manages to dodge my attack, and all of them quickly move away from me.
Still, now they’re down to six.
The body I did stab turns to dust as a result of the Rot Attack.
The other Parallel Minds have managed to move out of my range, but they’re milling around, clearly unsure how to attack me.
“What did you do?” one of them asks, as if unable to bear not knowing any longer.
But I don’t answer.
I just silently ready my scythe.
What I did is simple.
I turned off my skills.
As you might know, skills can be turned on and off.
Long ago, when the earth dragon Araba realized it’d been defeated, it turned off its skills so I could finish it off.
Part 7 of 8