Published at 27th of November 2020 07:50:48 PM
Chapter 312
The city outskirts .
We had moved to the walls and immediately prepared to fight .
“Trying anything too complex will only result in failure . We have to stop it from moving . That’s all . ”
Adlus unsheathed his sword and glared in the direction where the ground was shaking .
“We will do everything we can to stop it . And then Asagi will deal the final blow . You can do that, can’t you?”
“Yeah . I won’t miss it again . We have nowhere to run, after all . ”
We had moved away from the buildings, as we wanted to avoid getting crushed when they came toppling down . But now cavern walls were at our backs . And there was no exit near to us . This was to avoid having the entrance collapse and end up sealing us inside .
In other words, we were trapped . This was where we had to fight . It was the final stage .
The shaking grew stronger and louder . But it was definitely slower now compared to when it had first charged . The wounds and severed legs had done their job .
“I can see it!”
One Adventurer cried just as its head appeared from between two buildings . Its numerous eyes were looking straight at us .
What was it? Its purpose . Why had it appeared?
I had so many questions, but I suppose they would have to wait until it was dead . It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you could capture alive .
“Still… Monster-monster-monster . It doesn’t sound right . How about giving it a name? Scolopendra Goblin!”
Hmm, Adlus . What a dork .
“It is too long, annoying, and more importantly, nobody cares . It is clearly not a goblin . It is just a monster . ”
Daniela said rather savagely . Adlus must have been proud of what he had come up with, because he looked at Daniela with a blank expression . Daniela ignored him and gathered jade energy into her hands . Wind magic .
“Now, it is time to fight . ”
She nocked an arrow, drew, and then fired it along with a boost of magic . Her arrow traveled faster than any of the other arrows that were unleashed by the Adventurers at the same time . And it went straight into the monster’s head .
“GGGGRRRRRGGRRRGG!!!”
Once again, it sounded like numerous voices combined into one . I held back the urge to cover my ears and waited for my opportunity .
“Now!”
Adlus shouted, and a second volley of arrows and magic attacks were unleashed . Half of the Adventurers that were with us were rear guards . And their firepower was a sight to behold .
The arrows pierced into the monster one after another . The magic bullets tore out its flesh, carving away its body .
Like this, as countless projectiles filled the air, the advance guard did not have a lot to do . I wasn’t going to get caught in that even if it was an order .
That being said, I couldn’t exactly run away either . And so I waited . My sword was unsheathed and in my hand, but I wasn’t really doing anything . I suppose it was just my way of making it known that I was just as enthusiastic as the others who were actually doing something .
However, battles were always unpredictable . And we weren’t bored for long .
“Hmm . Goblins are coming . ”
Manager muttered . This information that she gained from Shadow Read spread out immediately . Those of us in the advance guard all shouted to each other and waved our swords, welcoming the enemy .
Still, we had assumed that all the goblins were dead . But now they seemed to pour out of the shadows of a building . They swung their rusty weapons as if to defend the giant monster . We of the advance guard met them, easily striking the weapons out of the hands of the goblins and cutting them down .
Even as the giant monster was targeted by the rain of arrows and magic, it continued to move towards us . Its numerous eyes were now unrecognizable after the damage from the explosions of fire, thunder, wind, and earth magic .
“Haaahhh…what chaos…”
The giant monster . The ear-shattering noise of magic attacks . The goblins that crawled out like cockroaches . And the Adventurers who disposed of them .
And yet, there was hope of victory in all of that .
It could no longer see after all the ranged attacks had taken out its eyes . It crushed goblins with its feet as it moved, and the weapons on the ground carved its body up even more . It was getting slower by the second . Now that it was being attacked by all sides, surely it would have no energy to do anything else .
I took out Schwartz Tempest and waited . And while I waited, I activated Jack of all Trades, Master of None, and simulated my next attack . I had done this many times before . But I was going to rely on my old master anyway . It was my strength . I was both safer and more confident this way .
I was able to believe that there was no way that I wouldn’t defeat it .
“Alright…!”
I muttered quietly and activated Legs of the God Wolf . Then I raised the speed until the sounds of the wind were high-frequency .
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I started it off in a crouch while holding a greatsword, which was not ideal, as I looked up at Daniela who was still unleashing arrows . Daniela noticed and then nodded at me . I nodded back .
‘Ready, steady, go . ’ I thought to myself . And started . My first step caused the ground to crack under my foot, and then I leapt into the air . By my third step, I was already in front of the monster .
“Kamiyashiro Style – Water Blade Azure Fusion!”
The greatsword with the watery blue blade . It was incredibly sharp and fast as it thrust forward . Furthermore, the magic energy in the blade expanded, causing an explosion that did more damage than a mere thrust .
Like this, I shot through the tunnel I had created through the monster . What was left, was a monster with a hole in its head . Immediately after, the magic attacks that had been unleashed before I shot forward, reached the monster .
The Adventurers were to attack it and seal the use of its eyes and legs . And then an attack that was so fast it wouldn’t be able to do anything even if it saw me .
That was Adlus’s plan . Well, he knew how to make the most of our talents .
Ultimately, we had been able to take the monster down . It was a fight I couldn’t have won alone, and a fight they couldn’t have won without me . It was a fight that made us believe we could take on any monster as long as we worked together .
The Jades all returned to the surface . Manager led the group back through the passages and out the hollow of the Nise Yggdra tree . They were probably back at the campsite by now .
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, we’ll be fine . You take care of the others . ”
“…Very well . But if something happens, run . ”
Adlus said . And then he too disappeared down the dark passage .
Now it was just Daniela and me in the underground city . Why? Well, we had not found out anything about the monster . Well, I did have an idea . The place that it had appeared . It had come from the direction of the facility that the Queen’s Knight Goblin had discovered .
Someone had done something that resulted in its creation . That was the only explanation . However, we couldn’t be completely sure . And so Daniela and I decided to go and check .
Silence had fallen over the city . The monster was dead and the goblins had been annihilated . So, who had created the monster? It was bugging me .
“Well, that thing destroyed so much . ”
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“Cultural heritage, huh?”
We walked through the abandoned city . I knew that this was no time for sightseeing, however, it was hard to relax, and I kept looking around excitedly . This wasn’t the kind of thing you could see every day . I wanted to burn these images into my brain .
We arrived at the tower . Now it was just a straight line to the facility . But as the monster had destroyed buildings in its wake, it was a little difficult to walk .
“Woah . ”
“Asagi . Be careful . ”
“I’m fine . I’m fine . ”
The occasional brick tried to trip me, but we continued on our way .
It finally came into view . However, the building was in ruins, thanks to the monster . It did not even retain its original shape . Regardless, we had to make sure that all of the equipment was completely destroyed . The thought of something like that monster being born again was unbearable .
“I cannot detect any monsters…”
Daniela muttered as she used Presence Detection . I agreed, and so we pushed away the rubble and moved inside .
It was a mess . The equipment had all been in the basement, and there had been a room further on where the goblins were kept for breeding . If that was where the monster had been born, it was no wonder the ceiling was broken and both the basement and first floor were filled with rubble .
“None of this looks salvageable to me . ”
“Still, we should make sure of it . ”
There was something that looked like a control panel that had been crushed when the building collapsed . I wasn’t sure if the floor was part of the machinery, but it was made of something like glass, which was also cracked .
We tried pressing buttons but there was no reaction . When pulling out the panels of the floor, the only thing we saw was torn cables and wires . I didn’t see how anyone could repair this stuff, unless an ancient elf suddenly popped out and did all of the work .
“…Hmmm . It should be fine . We should go . ”
I got off of the floor and brushed the dust off of my clothes and stretched my back .
“…Ahh… Daniela . Let’s go . ”
I called . There was no answer .
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“…Daniela?”
Worried, I walked over to the spot that I had last seen her . It was a dangerous area, where brick walls leaned over, ready to topple . Daniela was standing in the shadows . It was too dark to see her face .
“Daniela . ”
“…Asagi . Look . ”
“Huh?”
When she turned to look at me, I saw that her expression was serious . Maybe tense . She was pointing at a small hatch on the floor . It was round and just large enough for one person to go through . It looked exactly like the one I had found when I discovered the Automata .
“I saw the same thing in the ancient elven ruin . You know, where I found the Automata and the appraisal glasses . ”
“So it is related to them . ”
“This…we can’t just ignore it . ”
“But it might be dangerous . ”
That was true . Even the first time, I had been so excited and hadn’t considered the possibility of traps . And this place had a facility that had been working until recently . It could definitely be dangerous .
“But we’ll always be worried if we don’t check it . We have to be sure…”
“…That is true . It will be hard to sleep knowing that we may not have dealt with the root of all this trouble . ”
Daniela sighed and then lay a hand on the handle .
This was a ruin that was hundreds of years old . What would be waiting for us on the other side?
It creaked loudly as she turned the handle . And started to wonder .
What would we find?
Or who…
There was no way to calm my fears . Still, I looked into the depths of the opened hatch .