Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 4th Day, 21:10
Because of her thirst, the woman woke up and opened her eyes.
She slowly moved on an especially large bed and reached out for the water jug placed next to the bed, but failed to touch anything.
Then she recalled that no water jug had been placed next to the bed earlier today, and involuntarily clicked her tongue.
“Oooh”
She yawned. Like an elderly person, she was accustomed to sleeping and waking up early, therefore having been asleep for just one hour was certainly not enough rest.
Swallowing, she placed her hand on her throat, and only got down from the bed when she felt the saliva going down her throat. Taking a thick bath towel placed on one side of the bedcover, she wrapped it around her naked body, put on a pair of slippers and walked outside.
This mansion was the main base within the Capital and was the property of Hilma, head of the drug traders. Logically speaking, the ten or so people positioned within this mansion ought to be quite busy, but it was eerily silent, as if nobody was around.
Hilma was surprised as she walked along the corridor. If all the nobles had left, then sooner or later this mansion would be quiet. Even still, wasn’t it a little too quiet?
In this mansion, calling out to the nobles would definitely elicit a response.
Speaking of nobles, even if they were the eldest son and wanted to succeed the family, this would usually happen rather late in their lives, when they were roughly thirty years old.
Prior to this, they were given allowance to spend as they wished, by their fathers who were the head of their families. Because they were already married adults with children, they were invited to this mansion for their entertainment.
Wine, women, drugs. Flattering compliments were spoken into their ears. Conversing with other nobles in the same situation resulted in them building closer relationships with each other. In doing this, they enjoyed themselves and established connections at the same time.
Once that noble took over the family, it was time for the harvest. If the noble tried to stand up against them, they would be given the stick. On the other hand, if the noble was willing to support them, they would be given the carrot. Like this, the circles of nobility were slowly being infiltrated.
She walked along the silent corridor to find some water to drink.
In fact, she didn’t despise silence, she even preferred it over noisiness. Her entertaining personality when nobles were noisily forming friendships was only a facade. However, the atmosphere right now was simply too unnatural. This silence cast a chilling sensation, causing her to feel as if she was the only person in the mansion.
“...What happened?”
The guards could not have left this place without saying a single word. If there really was an abnormal situation that happened, shouting would immediately give away her own position, which would be a really bad turn of events. Hypothetically, if she were to return to her room and hide under the covers, what then? Doing that would be too passive.
It was necessary to take action when the situation called for it, otherwise one would be devoured like prey. This was her belief and she had been able to climb all the way from being a high-class prostitute to her current position because she strongly adhered to this way of thinking.
Looking around the corridor she could see that apparently nobody was present, and she quickly ran to get out of this place.
She trusted her own sixth sense, and the place she ran towards was a hidden room which only she knew about. That room contained many magic items, precious gems and escape passages. Although this place was the headquarters within the capital, there were still many other bases distributed all around the city. It looked like it was about time to flee to one of them.
Proceeding forward while trying her best to be silent, she suddenly noticed something was wrong.
“What, what is this?”
She involuntarily gave off a soft groan when she saw a strange phenomenon outside of the window.
The thin glass was covered in ivy, completely blocking the sunlight from outside. No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to open the window even for a small crack.
She frantically looked at the other windows along the corridor. All of them were covered with thick ivy.
“W-what the? J-just who…”
Before she slept, the scene had definitely been different. In the short span of only an hour, it had become like this. It had to be the result of somebody’s magic.
But, who exactly? What was his objective?
She had absolutely no clue, but knew that the situation was incredibly dangerous right now.
“Dammit!”
Swearing as she trotted along, she did not even care if her bath robe had come undone. No matter what, it was imperative to get inside the small secret room.
Arriving at the stairs, she looked downwards. It was deathly silent.
She gingerly walked down the stairs, making use of the rays of light that seeped in from the tiny gaps amongst the ivy. Thanks to the thick carpets laid on the stair, she was able to descend without a single noise. She was immensely grateful for this.
“——!”
It was only when she arrived at the floor below that she was stunned with surprise.
There was a figure standing in the corridor, staring at her. The figure itself seemed to melt into the darkness, but it wasn’t like the way thieves hid themselves in the shadows. It was because the figure’s skin itself had a dark complexion, being a dark elf with heterochromatic eyes that shone in the darkness.
The dark elf stepped out of the dark. She wore a young girl’s clothing. In her hand she held a dark staff, and her eyes were looking directly at Hilma.
Behind this mysterious young girl was the hidden room.
She recalled the layout of the mansion as she made her decision, and edged closer whilst trembling in fear.
Some nobles must have brought it in as a play-thing, in that case whatever happens to it does not matter.
However she immediately discarded this wishful thought.
It appeared that Cocco Doll had already been captured. In order to avoid any unfavourable consequences from future power struggles, she had long since prepared escape routes to safe houses. As such, the subordinates in this mansion would never bring in irrelevant people without making some form of report.
“Hey, ojou-chan.”
When a sound was uttered, Hilma frowned in surprise.
As a high-class prostitute, she had come across all types of people. Experience told her that the one she saw before her was not a young girl, but a boy.
The clothes were luxurious, the type which most people could not get their hands on. They were high-class goods that even Hilma could not obtain.
The dark elves had always been living in the forests, but now one with an unknown gender had appeared inside the Kingdom, wearing unusually luxurious clothing.
Had the surrounding atmosphere not been so abnormal, she would have assumed she was looking at a slave of a noble, one meant for their peculiar desires.
“...You, what are you doing here?”
The other person was completely unguarded, and slowly got closer to her.
“O-oba-san, are you the most important person in this mansion?”
Even if she was called an oba-san, she was not unhappy in the slightest. For such a young elf, her age must certainly be at the point to be appropriately called oba-san.
“No―”
She was about to say this, but suddenly, she got an extremely bad feeling.
She had tremendous trust in her own intuition. Compared to her common sense, she trusted her intuition even more and had therefore been able to survive up to this point. Common sense could betray her, but her intuition would never do so.
“Yes. Yes that is so. I am the most important person in this mansion.”
“I-is that so. That’s great.”
The boy smiled. Hilma heart ignited with a fiery desire, as if she had the urge to defile a beautiful object. It was that kind of pure smile.
“U-uhh, that’s not what I heard from the people here.”
As if in response to the boy’s words, the nearby window opened. There stood a young girl in a maid costume, her body wafting with the smell of blood instead of perfume.
Hilma covered her mouth with her hands, holding back a cry of despair.
The maid held a man's arm in her lovely hand. The arm’s shoulder muscles were visible as if it had been ripped from the shoulder.
“W-What!”
“E~eh, that, it seems like someone wants to attack this mansion. We need to finish everything before they get here. So I brought her with me.”
“Please don’t mind me. It has been a while since I have been this full, and I am really satisfied right now.”
The mouth did not move, but still emitted a noise. It was an extremely surprising matter, but Hilma still had other things she wanted to ask. Especially about what exactly the maid had been eating, since it caused her body to shake non-stop. Hoping it was different from her expectation, Hilma asked:
“T-then, m-me too? You also want to eat me?”
“Ah? Ah, not so. Oba-san is different.”
It was not reassuring. Her intuition warned that a worse fate awaited her.
“—Then, young man, would you like to come here for a bit of pleasure?”
The cloth covering her slowly slid off, revealing her shoulders.
This was the body she took pride in. As a high-class prostitute, all those that she serviced were upper-class nobles. Therefore she had devoted all her efforts to shed excess fat, maintaining her attractiveness. No matter how honest the person was, they would be unable to take their eyes off her; Even a small child would be aroused. She had tremendous self-confidence in this aspect.
However, no emotions could be seen in the juvenile’s eyes.
That also means to say that my attractiveness is not as great as the maid on the side! Even if I myself had changed business, I’m still a professional. Even if it is an emotionless person, it is still possible to induce raging desire! I can do this!
Moving sinuously like a snake, she showed off her graceful body while advancing slowly, getting closer in an unsuspecting manner.
However, she could not detect the boy’s lust.
That was why it was necessary to use other means. Her hand slowly moved, moving past the boy’s neck — and then activated a magic item — Viper’s Tattoo.
The snake tattoo drawn on both hands suddenly materialised, with the snake raising its sickle-like fangs to bite into the boy’s body. Anyone who was bitten by this powerful neurotoxic snake would immediately spasm before departing this world. For Hilma who lacked combat ability, this was her killer move.
However the boy nimbly grabbed the incredibly fast poisonous snake with one hand and crushed it without hesitation.
The viper tattoo slowly returned to Hilma’s wrist. Because the materialised entity was killed, it would take roughly one day’s time in order to recover. During this period it was impossible to activate it again.
Having taken action yet unable to achieve the result she had envisaged, Hilma was caught in the worst possible situation and couldn’t help but retreat slowly. What terrified her the most was the fact that despite the chain of events that had transpired, the boy’s expression had not changed even once. Even when he was attacked, neither anxiety nor hostility could be seen.
“Ah, ah, then, let’s… get moving.”
“Where to?”
In the moment that Hilda harboured this doubt, a surge of excruciating pain came from her knee. It was so severe that she could not even stand up, and helplessly fell onto the floor.
“Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!”
She issued a pained shout; the pain was enough to make her sweat heavily. She unwillingly glanced at her knee and immediately regretted doing so.
Her left foot was twisted in the opposite direction, the bone visibly exposed as it had pierced her flesh.
As Hilma cried, she also thought about using her hand to press down on the painful area, but she hesitated, afraid.
The boy grabbed Hilma’s hair and dragged her outside.
An observer of this scene would not be able to tell that she was being dragged along with a powerful force. His strength was immense, even causing many hairs to be yanked out, yet he paid no attention to this.
“No! No! Please stop!”
The boy glanced at the wailing Hilma, but did not halt his pace for even a second.
“Quickly! We’ll get in trouble if we don’t hurry up!”
Part 2
Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 4th Day, 22:20
After assaulting the mansion, Entoma Vasilissa Zeta walked out through the main door.
She picked up a piece of paper that was lying next to her feet, crumpled it into a ball and threw it towards the mansion.
The original plan was to sweep the mansion clean of humans, then retrieve important books and valuable items before retreating. Like fleeting birds, they were to leave no trace that they had been there, and since time was tight, they would only take what they could. However, in the end the house had been left completely empty, as if it had been cleared out by thieves.
Nonetheless, this was also completely fine because Demiurge, the one who had sent Entoma and Mare here, mentioned that this was a possibility. But then again, the overall time spent here had exceeded their estimations by far.
Together with the other demons, Mare and her should have departed much earlier. Mare had taken the most important person of this mansion and went ahead to the rendezvous point. Because there was still enough time, the lower-class demons brought along a mountain of stolen goods and were preparing for everybody to evacuate.
That should have been the case, but then they discovered an underground storage which was completely packed with stolen goods and illegal drugs during their retreat.
The appropriation work was therefore slowed down.
Firstly, the underground area was divided into many rooms, with valuable items and many cheap goods piled together, making it incredibly difficult to search through. It was basically like finding a specific tree in the middle of a forest. Even if it were Entoma and the demons, they could not possibly relocate all of the items, as such it was necessary to locate the desired tree within the forest.
If the woman taken away by Mare had still been here, this problem would have been dealt with early on, but it was already too late for that.
Entoma and the demons stuffed the goods which they deemed to be trash to one side of the room. Even for demons who had far more strength than humans, this was rather cumbersome work. But thanks to this method and their efforts, they were able to successfully take away all of the items that had value.
As the person responsible, Entoma, who stayed to the end, had the refreshed expression one would have at the completion of an assignment. She looked at the night sky, using her hand to wipe off her sweat. Although she did not secrete a single drop of sweat, that was how she felt.
“Ha. Everybody move the items away then~”
Obeying Entoma’s command, huge insects the size of a man carrying large amounts of cargo on their backs flew into the night sky. These giant beetles were all summoned through her entomomancer ability.
Their wings gave off a heavy and low vibrating sound, and then the insects flew in a straight line formation towards their destination.
After personally sending off the insects transporting the heavy goods, Entoma pondered as she looked at the object she held in one hand.
“Ah, must resist eating. I must, I must.”
With a ‘bop’ sound, she gently knocked herself on the head, and brought the severed hand of a man to the area below her chin. The man’s hand then disappeared with a ‘chomp chomp chomp’ sound as Entoma’s throat continuously moved. Her expression was extremely cute, but the smell of blood had also slowly spread out.
“Women’s fat is soft and the meat tastes delicious. Children’s fat is thin, and the meat tastes great as well. But, ah, the best is of course the textured meat of men.”
She nimbly avoided the bones as she ate, then threw the rest of the hand into the mansion.
“Thank you for the meal!”
She bowed in the direction of the mansion, and, in order not to be late, she began to head off to her destination in accordance with her orders. However she had not taken many steps when a nearby sound made her stop.
“Yo. It is a beautiful night, is it not?”
“...Tonight is a beautiful night indeed, but I gather it isn’t so wonderful for you?”
It was unclear whether the one who slowly revealed herself was a man or a woman. Although it felt like she was a woman, her physique was that of a man.
“You, what are you doing here?”
“Taking a walk.”
“...You, what was it that you ate so eagerly just now??”
“Meat.”
“...Human meat?”
The manwoman’s voice was as cold as ice, yet Entoma was not fazed at all. She didn’t care what kind of emotions humans harboured against her. If they dared to interfere, they would be crushed; If they did not, they would be ignored. If she were hungry, they would be caught for food. For Entoma, this was all their existence amounted to.
Slowly, the manwoman lifted her war pick. After seeing this action, Entoma spoke in a troubled voice for the first time.
“Then, have we met before?”
The manwoman had an incredulous expression, and thought to herself “Could that be?”, but did not voice this out loud.
“I am here because of work. Having you as my opponent will be troublesome, and moreover my stomach is full right now.”
“...Please excuse me. I am one of the Kingdom’s top-class adventurers. Upon encountering a man-eating monster, I cannot allow you to get away. Your continued existence in the human world is a problem.”
“Ah, so troublesome. But you are strong. In that case I’ll turn you into preserved food.
For the first time Entoma looked straight at the manwoman.
She couldn’t help thinking that this was a powerful warrior.
Mm, yes, definitely very strong.
Entoma was not a pure warrior, so she had no means to assess the strength of her opponent. However, she did not consider the other side to be stronger than herself.
“Oriyaaa!”
The manwoman darted over, and sent her war pick crashing downwards.
Entoma elegantly dodged the attack. But a follow-up attack immediately pursued her, with the war pick making a significant change in direction mid-swing, heading straight for Entoma. This movement was not a smooth blow relying on centrifugal force, but was instead a move purely based on an illogical amount of brute force.
Once again Entoma flashed out of the way, and activated her special ability.
“Ah!? Do you only know how to run?”
The war pick began rotating, creating a large vortex of wind which circulated above the manwoman’s head, ruffling her hair.
“Heh, do you like to spin things around and make woosh woosh sounds?”
The manwoman clicked her tongue in response to this jeering. When Entoma once again activated her skill, the hammer swung downwards from above. With some difficulty she managed to dodge and the war pick buried itself deeply into the ground after missing its target.
Entoma laughed at her using the same move. Her expression did not change, and the mocking gesture exposed their difference in strength.
That manwoman caught onto the overwhelmingly powerful Entoma’s carelessness.
“Get crushed!”
Having the spiked war pick as the epicentre, the surrounding ground began to collapse, or rather, the rocks scattered. It was like an earthquake had occurred. For the first time, Entoma was unable to maintain a leisurely posture, but the effect of the opponent’s magic item did not collapse everything.
Entoma saw the opponent uproot the sunken war pick.
She could not help getting annoyed.
She cursed her own carelessness.
Avoiding that previous attack had been incredibly easy. Humans would find it very difficult to escape the earth-shattering shock waves because the collapse of the surrounding ground would result in a loss of balance. However Entoma was a battle maid and all the magic items she possessed were high-class. This degree of destruction was insignificant to her.
However, there was one problem.
While avoiding the flying debris, the maid outfit she wore had become dirty.
Could such a matter be forgiven? This was high-class clothing bestowed to Entoma by the Supreme Beings.
So— it ends here then.
Hostility hidden under the mask of Entoma’s face emerged.
It ends here.
—Kill.
She embraced murderous intent, not the type of emotion that humans had when toying with insects. The war pick swung heavily towards Entoma.
Entoma thoughtlessly raised her left hand to block the hammer. Since she was not at the level of the Floor Guardians, simply using her left hand to block the hammer could not possibly leave her unscathed.
Then, at the moment of contact, the sound that rang out was not metal hitting flesh but rather the sound of metal colliding with a hard object.
A shield was attached to Entoma’s left hand. This was not an exaggerated metaphor. An eight legged insect had attached itself to Entoma’s wrist.
“Wh-what is this!”
“You see, I’m an entomomancer. So I can summon and use them at my will.”
She stretched out her right hand and an insect flew out from the darkness. A long bug resembling a broadsword attached itself to the back of Entoma’s right hand.
“These are blade insect and armoured insect. I originally did not plan to kill you, but you cannot be forgiven!”
Entoma took a step forward and thrust out her blade.
The manwoman’s armour cracked and blood spewed out, but this was far from being a fatal wound. She was completely unable to avoid Entoma’s serious blow but had only suffered a minor injury.
She had just declared herself to be a highest-class warrior of the Kingdom, and this was not an exaggeration. At her level, there were no longer any adversaries.
Although Entoma was not purely a warrior like Yuri, she was still a battle maid and possessed a strength far out of reach for humans.
She once again launched a slash, causing blood to spew and staining her cheeks.
This time the attack caused a wound much larger than the previous one, and was no longer a minor injury.
“Your movements changed! Is this the real you?!”
Manwoman roared again, swinging the war pick heavily downwards. However Entoma’s armoured beetle repelled the hammer. The powerful impact travelled across the manwoman’s entire body, rendering her unable to take a single step even with her full strength. As she struggled to move, her pride ignited fierce anger within her.
The manwoman mustered the burning rage within her, smoothly launching a combination of strikes. Her attacks raged like a violent tornado. The terrifying aspect of this was that it was created through the application of ‘martial arts’ unique to this world. However, Entoma wielded her armoured beetle and blade insect with extreme proficiency, and was completely uninjured by this fifteen-combo attack.
Entoma did not know that the previous attack was Blue Rose Gagaran’s slaying move which utilised many kinds of martial arts at the same time— a Super Combo. Each surging strike had the weight of her full strength. It was capable of even breaking the martial art ‘Fortress’, and only a small number of geniuses could use the defensive skill ‘Invulnerable Fortress’ which could resist this attack. However Entoma had only relied on her naturally grown muscles to block.
This was because of the level gap between the two individuals, and also due to the absolutely overwhelming disparity between the two race’s physical capabilities.
Desperation emerged in her opponent’s eyes, but Entoma felt nothing. She only wished to kill the opponent.
"—Fuuuu~"
The manwoman gasped for air as if she had just surfaced from underwater and stopped her flurry of attacks. The blade insect on Entoma’s right hand drew back like a bow and flew towards the manwoman’s chest like an arrow.
The target was Gagaran’s chest. The war pick rose in the air, but was as slow as a turtle. Entoma’s attack pierced Gagaran’s chest before she could respond to it.
Or so it was supposed to.
The sword cut through the air. Since the blade insect lost its target, it flew into the night.
With a “fuu”, Entoma turned her gaze to search for the intruder that had caused the interruption.
In the distance there was a girl clothed in black. Behind her was the heavily breathing manwoman.
“I’m sorry, Tia. I thought I was done for.”
“Surprisingly, it seems that the blood flowing through Gagaran really is red~”
“You rascal! You’ve seen me injured many times before!”
“I even thought you would bleed green blood. Power Up!”
“Rather than ‘Powerup’ that would be more like a race change!”
“Class change then!”
Hearing their relaxed conversation, Entoma could not help but feel anxious. As a powerful adversary herself, it was necessary to clearly demonstrate the difference in strength at a glance whilst at the same time quickly defining her own position.
“Well, it’s about time to end this. Did you say your farewells?”
For the first time, Entoma assumed a fighting posture. The manwoman — Gagaran — was not a frightening adversary; the problem was the newcomer— Tia. If her clothing was not that of an assassin, then it was that of a ninja. The pre-requisite of that job class was level sixty.
If she really was a ninja, then even Entoma would not be able to obtain an easy victory. Now was not the time to be saying “Ending this fight by holding back on full strength!”
“「Spider Talisman」!”
Entoma’s movements were even faster than the opponent as she activated the four pieces of talisman held in her right hand.
The moment the talisman fell onto the ground, it turned into an enormous spider.
The level of this spell was equivalent to a ‘3rd tier Summon Monster’ spell, because the creature summoned was not a powerful monster, but would already be a great help in testing the opponent’s true strength. Furthermore it would allow her to buy some time to prepare for battle.
Although insect-made weapons were powerful, they had many weaknesses. One was that the weapon summoning consumed a large amount of time.
“「Shadow Clone」.”
Just as Tia’s ninjutsu skill activated, her image shimmered and another ‘Tia’ appeared in the original spot.
All this time Entoma had been wary of Tia. Clones from the ‘Shadow Clone’ skill had roughly one quarter of the original body’s battle power, but only the shadow’s evading ability was determined by the amount of magic power granted to it by the main body, nothing more. This shadow might be a strong opponent for the talisman spider, but for Entoma it was a piece of cake.
However, the real problem was how well the original body was capable of fighting. Entoma summoned her killer weapon— steel projectile insects. At the same time, she attached a talisman to herself and began to strengthen her ability.
Steel projectile insects flew out from an unknown spot and densely covered her left wrist.
These were three centimetre long insects that had a metallic shine, with a triangle-shaped body and razor sharp tip. Its appearance was very similar to that of a bullet. As for this insect’s use, of course, was consistent with its bullet-like form.
In order to avoid the talisman spider’s attacks, the shadow clone had to use its full strength, and the main body had to join the fight alongside the clone. After a long while of battling like this, they only managed to kill one talisman spider, so it seemed that her level was not any higher than Entoma’s. If this was the case, even if the battle against Gagaran were to resume, victory would still be certain.
—Looks like it’s all as I had predicted.
No mercy. Using overwhelming strength to bring about a speedy victory.
The heaviness on her left hand brought satisfaction to Entoma and she pointed directly at Tia.
Entoma’s left wrist was several times thicker than normal because of the bugs covering it. Following her movement, all of the insects began to move in unison from her wrist, rushing into the sky. Gathering into groups, the insects’ wings gave off a sound similar to an automatic gun. Even the ally talisman spider which was within firing range was ruthlessly mowed down, and within a moment, a total of one hundred and fifty insects made their way towards Tia.
A single insect was enough to puncture steel, and these one hundred and fifty insects could even pierce through a gigantic tree. In the face of this deadly barrage of bullets, Tia activated her ninjutsu.
“「Immovable Adamantine Shield」!”
A large shield radiating with multiple colours appeared in front of Tia. This radiance was enough to split apart the large dark hexagonal shield, creating a collision with the insect swarm. In an instant, the shield shattered with a crisp sound, but also at this moment the insect bulletstorm stagnated, and Tia who was standing behind was uninjured.
Entoma couldn’t resist but metaphorically click her tongue even though she didn’t actually possess one. Forcing her opponents to reveal their hidden trump cards one by one would eventually illuminate the path to victory. Although her current attacks were being dealt with for now, the moment her attack pierces through, they would be swept away like a flood from a broken dyke.
She used the blade insect to deflect the incoming kunai and the insect shield was then used to defend against Gagaran’s blow which came from above. It was an exceptionally mighty blow which descended from above, causing significant damage to the armored bug which screeched out in pain.
Her eyes should have been blinded because of the dazzling light given off by the adamantite shield, and therefore it should have been impossible to defend against Gagaran’s surprise attack. However Entoma’s eyes were not affected by something of this degree. Her field of vision was wider than that of humans, and was able to cover the direction of this attack.
At the same moment that she determined this pursuing attack to be incredibly dangerous, her body glided away as if she was on top of a lake — seemingly without even moving her feet, her body had already pulled a considerable distance away from Gagaran. Although Gagaran possessed a large physique, her movements were lithe and she had almost completely recovered from her wounds. She stood beside Tia, crushing the steel bullet insects which made bursting sounds, as she spoke in a cold voice:
“This isn’t good; I’m not sure if we can win against her. What was that just now? Wasn’t our timing perfect? She was obviously unable to see in this direction, yet was still able to block.”
“A wide field of vision perhaps?”
“Rather than that, it seems more plausible that there are other reasons though. She has insect abilities, so it seems more likely that she used some kind of special sensory magic… Speaking of which, she possesses an overwhelming advantage. Why didn’t she attack us while we were talking?
“Only a true predator would go for the kill after determining the opponent’s true strength.”
“So that’s it. She’s waiting to see the true extent of our strength, very different to our chibi-chan. This cautious fellow really is a troublesome.”
“To be made light of by mere humans to such an extent is really distasteful. Well, there are other reasons but… Hora, come forth. In that case these insects aren’t needed anymore.”
The insects attached to Entoma’s right wrist dropped to the ground one after another, and disappeared into the darkness with a rustling noise.
“In place of that... Come forth.”
An insect as long as a centipede slowly wrapped around her wrist. Its body length was over ten metres long, the front end had abnormally sharp teeth and its eyes were still closed.
This was the strongest insect that she, an entomomancer, could summon — the thousand whips insect.
Entoma put strength in both her legs. She had already figured out the attack speed, offensive ability, defensive ability, evasive ability and movement speed of the two humans before her. Although she was not too certain about Tia’s ability to adapt to new situations, it was not enough to frighten her.
“Ah.”
Entoma used her hand to touch her chin, which was covered in transparent sticky fluid.
“Earlier, my stomach was definitely full. After a bit of exercise, it’s beginning to squeeze in hunger.”
Stuck on her hand was her saliva. This was the clearest evidence that she craved humans as her prey.
Humans were her favourite food. Until this moment, she had only been able to feast on vegetable fritters in order to satisfy her desires, but of course she did not come to hate the Supreme Being because of this. Furthermore, she was given permission to eat one of the human wrists which had been severed during the healing experiments, taken from a man who had been nabbed from a random village. She thought of this as a personal sign of great kindness from Ainz-sama.
For Entoma who had been restraining herself all along, the elite humans in front of her were food of the highest quality. She could not simply discard them without taking a single bite first!
The two persons who were bathed in Entoma’s ravenous gaze could not help but shudder. This was not the timid reaction of facing a powerful enemy’s murderous intent, but rather the naturally-occurring psychological aversion of being seen as a living creature’s predatorial target. And this made them shiver involuntarily.
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!”
Her high-pitched screech was as fast as the sound of a snapping styrofoam board. This was the first time that Entoma had initiated an attack since the beginning of the battle. As a predator in the act of capturing her prey, she charged directly at an incredibly fast speed.
She used the insect shield to block six consecutively launched kunai, and drew close to her targets.
When she saw Gagaran swinging her weapon and stepping forward to stand as the vanguard, Entoma had already decided which opponent she would deprive of their combat ability first.
Her right hand brandished a whip. If it were a long whip, the speed of the whip’s end would be relatively slow. This was to be expected even if it was used by Entoma who possessed superhuman strength. However this was only logical if what was brandished was an ordinary whip.
The being that was waved around was the most powerful insect the entomomancer Entoma could summon—
Originally it was supposed to be a whip with the rough shape of an arc, but it turned out to shoot out at an unimaginable angle. This whip was like an extension of Entoma’s hand, and bent in an S shape, before it launched at Gagaran with the speed of lightning.
It was a living creature at the same time as it was a weapon, and struck in an unnatural way for a weapon. Even greatly experienced adventurers had never heard of this, let alone experienced facing it before. When seeing it for the first time, not knowing what to do was the natural reaction.
But the fact they could dodge it proved they were indeed adamantite adventurers.
The insect whip was about to hit the side of Gagaran’s body, however she stumbled to avoid the attack.
“Be careful!”
—Accompanying Tia’s loud yell, Gagaran was blown upwards. This was Tia’s ninjutsu skill — ‘Bursting Flame Column’. The seemingly self-imploding explosion and flames encircled the two, and the thousand whips insect, which had done a one-eighty degree change in direction from behind Gagaran, only managed to strike the spot where her head had been.
If it hadn’t been for this almost suicidal move, there was no doubt that Gagaran’s head would have been pierced by the thousand whips insect. It was a great dodge. However, Entoma’s attack wasn’t finished. As if it was being pulled by strings, the thousand whips insect attacked from angles that were hard to defend against, changing constantly as it took cheap shots at Gagaran.
At the same time, Entoma threw a talisman at Tia — a thunderbird talisman.
In mid-air, the talisman turned into a small bird that emitted bluish-white electricity, and sprang towards Tia.
If there were two opponents, let one of them be taken care of by the insects. This was where the strengths of entomomancers lay.
There was an explosion of lightning, and the blue-white radiance spread in all directions. What emerged were Tia, who was enduring her pain, and Gagaran, who was having a hard time fending off the thousand whips insect.
“Dammit! This insect is really annoying!”
Gagaran’s head was pushed against her war pick, and her body was wrapped up by the ten meter long insect in a way that rendered her unable to move.
Tia took a step forward and stabbed with her magic dagger. The strike collided with Entoma’s insect shield and let out a fierce metallic sound.
“Flurry of thunderbird talismans~”
Entoma held a number of talismans in her left hand and tossed them outwards. The talismans turned into many thunderbirds which were smaller than the previous one. They rushed towards Tia, who proceeded to conceal herself. Unable to find their target, the small birds flew in the direction behind Tia.
Tia suddenly appeared behind Entoma from a shadow out of her line of sight. This was an ability which utilised shadows to traverse short distances. However Entoma had already noticed this because some insects’ antennae could sense the surrounding airflow. This was a powerful sensing ability which Entoma possessed.
She tossed the remaining few steel bullet insects at Tia who emerged from the shadow.
“Ku...!”
A pained groan came from the shadow and the smell of fresh blood wafted in the air. Facing Tia, who was bloodied but still held the will to fight, Entoma initiated her follow-up attack.
“Scattering explosion talisman!”
Even more powerful explosions than before appeared in front of Tia, lighting up the dark night. Against Tia who had been blown away and fallen on the floor, Entoma once again threw a sharp cutting talisman and a rushing wind talisman. Tia was covered in blood and didn’t even have the time to get up before she was sliced again, blown away and thrown on the ground.
“Tia! You insect bitch!”
The condemning voice came from Gagaran, who was wound tightly into a ball by the whip insect.
Their original plan was that while Gagaran used her brute strength to restrain the whip insect, Tia would seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Entoma’s main body.
Entoma ridiculed this under her mask.
Such foolish beings. As a battle maid of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, triumphing over humans of this level was only to be expected. The best option for them should have been ignoring the fact she was eating human flesh and running away with all their strength. It was only because they had made the incorrect choice, that this scenario had unfolded.
“...Although the order is different to what I had envisaged, so be it, nothing more could be done. Well then, which one should I eat first? Developed muscles must taste extremely delicious ne~”
Entoma once again summoned an insect, but not the type that had ferocious combat capability. The long syringe needle on its body contained sedatives.
Entoma held the insect and briskly walked over to Tia.
It looked like she could bring home some local specialties as souvenirs. There were many in the Great Tomb of Nazarick who relished in capturing humans for food.
They would certainly like this present very much.
“Eh? What?”
Entoma’s superior intuition warned her of an elongated cold object flying in her direction from above her head and she rapidly sprung a distance away. At the same time, a lengthy weapon pierced the spot Entoma had just occupied.
It was like a crystal lance used by knights, but that was not an ordinary item. Not the slightest crack could be seen on the crystal lance which had managed to crush rocks.
“Is that… magic?”
The spirit system magic caster Entoma felt something from this lance.
“You’re correct. This is the 4th tier spell ‘Crystal Lance’!” The one replying to Entoma’s question was the person who slowly descended to the rocks shattered by the lance. It was a young girl with a boyish voice, whose physique was small and who wore a mask and a robe. Yet another enemy, Entoma couldn’t help muttering. Another intruder had appeared in the middle of capturing delicious prey. It was truly cruel that she still had to endure the temptations of delicious food. “Shall we end it here?” “...Who are you? I can forgive you if you immediately leave this place. Children are very soft, and I like that, but they never have enough meat on them. I’ll play with you next time, after I eat these two.” “So that’s what you are; a man-eating monster right? Even wearing a maid outfit, what kind of joke are you trying to pull? Who’d want some bloody smelling monster like you around them?” “wHAT arE yOu SAYInG?! bItCH!” Without pausing to think, Entoma let out her real voice, then immediately clamped down on her own throat. The insult was enough to make her lose her composure and she could never forgive this young girl’s words. It was not because of primal predator urges, but because she was in an extremely bad mood right now, that she wanted to tear apart the woman before her into pieces. What did this woman say?! To me, a battle maid, which is a high-level existence within the Great Tomb of Nazarick!? Anger spilled out from the bottom of her heart. “I’LL kiLL yOu!” She could not help but to shout with her real voice, but restrained herself from puffing up in the back. “Evileye!” Tia shouted out the masked girl’s name. Entoma was determined to exterminate this enemy with all her full might: “I was wondering what you two were doing...my, my, remember lesson one. Assessing the difference in strength between you and your opponents. This one is stronger than the two of you... but weaker than me.” Evileye then shouted: “So my companions really were under your ‘care’? You monster. Come, allow me to give you a taste of being the victim of abuse.” Entoma had no idea that a fierce rage was burning under the mask of her opponent. Entoma, who was seriously wound up with the intention to kill, ran forward. In her mind dominated by hatred, the other two persons had already become annoyances on the same level as pebbles by the roadside. She actually said that nobody would enjoy my company!? The same words repeated over and over again in her mind. At the same time, the insect whip began to move. Entoma left about one-metre, and formed the rest into a large sphere. Of course Gagaran was in the core part of this shape. “Die alongside your companions, you unpleasant woman!” She swung the thousand whips insect down like a hammer. “Hmph. What a boring attack.” Evileye remained relaxed. “「Reverse Gravity」.” Entoma resisted the magic, but the insect whip lost its gravitational weight and floated upwards. If the equipment user had successfully resisted, the equipment would likewise be resistant. However in the case of insect weapons, it was not the equipment user but rather the insects themselves which had to do the resisting. Since it was like this, even if Entoma would not be affected, it would still influence the insect weapon. This was one of the shortcomings, although the insects could attack autonomously. Even if it was Entoma, she needed to discard her original plan when facing magics like this. Sensing Entoma’s intention, the insect whip gracefully removed itself from Gagaran. With the speed of a retracting measuring tape, it had formed a ten-metre long insect whip stance. While this was happening, Evileye gave directions to Gagaran who was still tumbling on the ground. “Gagaran! Get out of the way! Go and quickly tend to Tia’s wounds! If you already used up your gauntlets’ power, then use a recovery potion!” The injured humans had recovered. If it was only that, then there would be no problem. The fact that the two people were Entoma’s enemies had not changed, but considering the words of the magic caster in front of her, the situation was different. Evileye and Entoma were on the same level. If they were to help the magic caster, the situation would become unfavourable. This time, Entoma decided to make use of her ultimate trump card which she was reluctant to use. She had already used it to eliminate all enemies inside the mansion with a single breath, leaving behind two more instances when she could use it. That was the breath given off by carnivorous flies, fly breath. Such breath wasn’t emitted for the sake of eating the meat, but flies would embed their maggot offsprings into the flesh. The maggots would continue to inflict damage from inside of the victim’s body. Even more terrifying was the next step, where a large swarm of flies would emerge from the corpse, then indiscriminately attack other beings inside the area of effect, with the exception of the ability user. Entoma widened her throat. Her true mouth which did the speaking was in fact her lower jaw. To others, it was a terrifying sight, as if her jaw had slip apart. From there she spat out swarm of flies. “You! Could that power be associated with the demon gods! In that case!” Evileye, who was retaliating released a white mist. Although using cold gas to counter the attack was an extremely clever move, to completely nullify the effects was very difficult. The most appropriate magic to use would have been explosive magic to roast the entire swarm of flies. Her opponent had made a mistake. Entoma’s mind had already visualised a scenario where Evileye was devoured by the maggots, but the counter-magic used was far beyond her expectations. All of the flies coated in the white mist fell out of the air, then the mist engulfed Entoma. In that moment, Entoma felt unbearably intense pain. “Uwaaaaaaahhhh!” The entomomancer maid’s face steamed as if acid had been splash on it. At first the objective had been to nullify the opponent’s gas spittle, and they hadn’t expected that it would even reveal the enemy’s true face… “Hey, hey, could this be our chance?” Gagaran who had assumed a fighting stance with her war pick and searched for an opportunity to decisively end the fight. If she had realistically estimated her opponent’s strength, it was necessary to end the fight in one fell swoop. Gagaran did not pursue with an attack because the ten-metre long giant insect whip began to move violently, not permitting her to get any closer. However, this was nothing but the spasming of a defeated person. “This...what kind of magic is it?” Evileye replied to Entoma’s question. “Insecticide magic ‘Vermin Bane’. Two hundred years ago there was an insect demon god, and this magic was developed for the purpose of repelling the insects used by that individual. Well, it’s an original magic I came up with.” “Hey! It should be harmless for us right?” “Harmless indeed. It is especially effective on insects, but doesn’t cause the slightest harm to other organisms.” “...Her face has melted.” “Tia, that is her true face… Huh! No, that’s not the face!” As Evileye shouted out, the maid’s entire face fell off, like a scene where the facial skin had been stripped off and dropped onto the ground. There was a difference though. The facial skin which fell onto the ground had many insect legs on the backside. “That can’t be… it’s a mask shaped insect…” “kAHoooOOoH!” The maid’s throat exposed itself. A single crack appeared in the seemingly hard throat, and a large liquid chunk of matter fell out. It looked like vomit, but the biggest distinction from that was the fact that this object was still crawling on the ground. “What the…” This really was startling, even for Evileye who was stunned by surprise. It was the first time she had seen such a sight in her long existence. “—Lip insect.” Tia exclaimed towards the mucus-covered leech-like creature which had fallen on the stone-paved road. “An insect which consumes human vocal chords and imitate the voice of its victims.” The front end of the flesh coloured leech had a section which looked like a human’s lips. With an “ah, ah”, it gave out the maid’s cute voice. In full gaze of everybody, the maid’s hands which covered her face slowly lowered, revealing an appearance that was exactly the same as an insect’s. The frightful appearance made the Blue Rose members involuntarily take a step backwards. Although they had already experienced terror when the mask insect fell off due to the insecticide magic, this sight ignited their fear again. A monster from beyond this world had invaded. They couldn’t help but feel a shadow cast over this world. “yoU ACTUallY, YoU actUally Dare…” The rigid voice difficult to listen to. “Didn’t her voice become rather cute? Personally, I rather like this voice.” Gagaran’s hostility was on the verge of eruption. She was the most humane member of the Blue Rose. She was filled with an emotion as she prayed for the soul of the young girl who was sacrificed to give the mouth-lip insect a voice and clenched her weapon even tighter. “hOw dArE YoU MeRe hUmAnS AaAaAhHhHh!” In previous battles she had always fought her enemy with ease. However at this moment she didn’t have such a leisurely spirit. Well, there was no longer any need to hold back. Time to commence a fierce attack. “The real battle starts now! Neither of you two should relax! Prepare to launch even more fierce attacks than before!” Evileye cautioned the other two, but they had already predicted this before she had spoken. To ready their resolve for a fight to the death! The insect maid’s back suddenly burst out, and four spider legs extended from beneath her clothing. This posture looked as if her back had sprouted new legs. With these newborn feet, she jumped extremely high. For anyone looking, they would have drawn the conclusion that this was the effect of flight magic. From above, the monster spat carnivorous flies at the people. Clicking her tongue, Evileye casted ‘Vermin Bane’ once more. “OnLy To yOu GuYs! i WIlL Show YOu WhaT TRUe TERrOR MEAnS! aftER KIlliNG YOu GuYS i WiLl TUrN You AlL into COrpse DoLLs!” As soon as they had reached the ground, the carnivorous flies were completely obliterated. The insect maid used her compound eyes to glare at Evileye’s true face. Indeed, only Evileye was comparable in strength to this monster. If Evileye were to lose, then needless to say victory would be impossible, and both Gagaran and Tia would be massacred. However, it would be foolish to just focus on one thing. Gagaran’s spiked war pick came from the side. Even if Evileye had an advantage, they could not afford to waste opportunities against such a powerful opponent. She knew that it was very probable that she would suffer serious injuries if she was intercepted. That was why she chose to fight alongside her companions. Evileye smiled at them from under her mask. If she were to be unmasked, others would definitely make fun of her smile. The monster which was about to evade Gagaran’s strike suddenly stopped moving. That was because of Tia’s ninjutsu skill, ‘Immobility Binding Paralysis’. The monster had a high level of resistance, more like a nullifying ability, so it was impossible to seal its movements completely. However creating an opening even for a brief moment would be sufficient support for Gagaran. The monster spat out white silk enhanced with ‘Powerful Strike’ from her mouth. There was enough to dye Gagaran’s upper body white. Gagaran found it difficult to break out from the rigid and adhesive spider silk by herself. Her attack was interrupted, and she staggered as she retreated. In contrast, the monster came towards her. “「Crystal Lance」!” Although it had embedded deep in Entoma, she did not appear to be in huge amount of pain. She calmly summoned insects which appeared from the darkness and gathered densely on her wrist in a bulging mass. “「Vermin Bane」!” The white gas blew over and the insects fell one by one. The monster involuntarily let out an excruciating cry of pain. The mouth in the equivalent place of a human’s lower jaw spat out the same kind of spider silk towards Evileye as it did to Gagaran. If I used magic to block this, it would simply be a waste of magic power. Since I can nullify any restraining magic. I can probably take this shot— wait, this isn't— In a panic, Evileye activated her magic. Yes indeed silky material was spat out, but compared to the ones which were shot towards Gagaran, these threads exuded a rigid radiance. “「Crystal Wall」!” The crystal barrier in front of her split apart as if it had been cut apart by a sharp blade, and shattered into nothingness. “Is that a slashing spider web!?” “A present for you!” The black wire mesh Tia threw expanded in mid-air, but failed to envelop the monster. Entoma simply passed through it like a phantom. “Sure enough, she’s immune to any obstructing techniques!” “Bah! Combat formation time!” In order to maintain a distance from the battle maid who was closing in on her, Gagaran, kicked with the intention of pushing away her opponent. Her boot collided with the maid, creating an astonishing metallic sound. Gagaran retreated while focusing on maintaining the distance whilst joining up with the rest of the Blue Rose members. They gathered while paying careful attention for any area of effect attack. "ChIKu, cHIkU, tHesE AtTAcks ...... So AnNOyiNg!!" Whilst observing the maid’s jaw mouth which was muttering non-stop, Gagaran whispered to Evileye: “Did you hear that sound just now? Her maid costume is just as hard as my armor; truly unbelievable.” “It must be woven together with sturdy metal wires. Considering how thin it is, its hardness must be far above that.” “Adamantite… looks like it is far above that too.” “Oh, so it’s not just at the same level? The equipment is of such an unimaginably high quality that my earth magic is not of much use. She’s probably wearing equipment that reduces magic damage, too. Specialized attacks probably won’t affect her that much..” “That means?” Tia’s doubt made Evileye smile under her mask. “We’ll finish this head on with overwhelming fire power.” “That’s easier said than done, isn’t it? How do we pull it off? We are done for if we don’t act soon. It also uses talismans to strengthen itself. “Everybody use your own most powerful technique! I’m going to use the insecticide magic.” “...That’s easy to understand. Well, let’s go for our final strike.” Although they said they would strike with overwhelming firepower in a single strike, in reality it was not that simple. In general Evileye used ‘Sand Field: One’ or ‘Region Petrification’ to hinder the enemy, and support the warriors, but these methods would not work against that maid. If they wanted to inflict damage, it would best to leave it to warriors like Gagaran to inflict physical damage. Evileye only needed to come up with contingency plan in case this strategy did not work. She had always believed focusing purely on attack magic was wrong, but the situation called for a desperate measure, Magic casters that rely purely on magic to attack are second rate. This is what I personally think, but this time I will have to compromise. Evileye began to adjust herself to the magic she was about to use. Even though ‘Shard Buck Shots’ was the most effective method of attack, but her teammates would also be caught in the area of effect. The mana consumption of her original spell, ‘Vermin Bane’ was extremely large and was best reserved for when the opponent was about to summon insects. This meant that right now the most appropriate kind of skill to use was the hated acid-type magic. The three exchanged a brief glance, confirming that their preparations were complete, and attacked together. Evileye used ‘Acid Splash’ as her main attack whereas Tia, who had weaker firepower, mainly relied on her supporting items. Gagaran continuously activated martial arts, executing an unending barrage of attacks. After a while, the tide of battle began to shift. The opponent was indeed incredibly strong. Many types of spider webs, talisman-based magic attacks and summoned insects were launched in her offensive attack. Not to mention that her magic items were more powerful than those possessed by the members of Blue Rose. Eventhough the number of consumables like recovery potions were starting to run out, the insect maid steadily began to retreat. If one was to ask what had caused the tide of battle to shift in her favour, Evileye would puff out her chest and reply “Companions!” There was no doubt that Gagaran, Tia and Evileye were of an inferior race compared to this monster, but they still created opportunities nonetheless. Being able to attack and recover at the same time created a favourable situation. In particular, having the means to do self-recovery and having supporting recovery through teammates was an enormous advantage. Gradually the situation became certain. “As long as we don’t screw up, we can beat her like this!” Part 3 Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 4th Day, 22:27 The outcome of the battle. Finally, the insect maid collapsed to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Evileye’s mana consumption had been severe, and her consumables were almost depleted. From an economic standpoint, she was in a serious amount of debt. “We’ve won!” Gagaran who was covered in wounds declared their victory with heavy breaths. Not a single recovery potion was left, and she had external injuries, but her physical stamina was still holding up. “Stab her throat.” “Yes.” Evileye agreed with Tia’s suggestion. The dying insect maid was still alive, as evidenced by the maid making chirping “Yeeh yeeh” sounds. In this situation where it had already lost its ability to fight, the safest and most secure thing to do was to kill it without hesitation. Tia who had taken up her sword and gone forward suddenly froze. Before Evileye could even ask “What is it?”, she already knew the reason for why she had stopped her movements. “How about we end this right here.” Unbelievably, and without anyone knowing when he had appeared, a man stood in front of the insect maid. He wore strange clothing which had never been seen before. In Evileye’s knowledge, this was a set of garments which was worn in the south - a full suit. He also wore a mask which made it impossible to see his face. However he was not human. A tail sprouted from his waist. “Hey, a relative of Evileye?” You idiot! Evileye hesitated. His dominating presence hit her as if her entire body had been struck by lightning. If she were to look at her right hand, she would discover that it was covered in sweat. “—Are you alright? Leave the rest to me. You go back first to recuperate.” He ignored the armed Blue Rose members standing in front of him and spoke in a kind tone to the insect maid. Although he was the enemy, he gave others a good impression of himself. However, Evileye knew that this wasn’t the case. The tingling sense of fear reached the tip of her very toes, and this feeling was very real. With her survival instincts screaming at her, she held her breath then spoke with a grim determination to Gagaran and Tia who were standing to one side. “...Escape! ...Fools, ignore the fact that I am here and listen quietly. That… is an overwhelmingly powerful existence. A monster amongst monsters. No matter what happens behind you, use your full strength to escape.” “...Then what about you?” Gagaran asked with a bitter voice. “Don’t worry about that. I will drag this out until you escape, then immediately use ‘Teleport’ to get out of here.” Not knowing what she had done, the injured insect maid which was not supposed to be able to move unsteadily stood up. She was not seen using any healing magic, nor did it seem like she had consumed any item. Out of nowhere an insect appeared which attached itself to the insect maid’s back. Leaving behind a few “yeeh yeeh” sounds, she flew away into the night. Helplessly watching her escape, Evileye was unable to take any action because of this man standing in front of her. The other two were the same, with their foreheads drenched in sweat and their bodies petrified, unable to move. After watching the maid depart, the man turned towards Evileye. Having lived for over two-hundred and fifty years, she had come across powerful beings of all sorts. Even so, the aura he gave out was exceptional. No, this was a nauseating and revolting maliciousness which, compared to others, was at an impossible level. As a powerful being, he should be at the same level as the Platinum Dragon Lord right? Because he is far too powerful, it is already unclear which is stronger. “You’ve waited long enough. Now then, since time is tight, shall we begin right away?” “Quick! Escape!!!” Evileye cried out. The two turned around and fled like wild dogs. There was no way that they did not feel guilty about leaving a companion behind. It was precisely because of this guilt that they had only chosen to escape immediately after Evileye had finished speaking. Trust! If it was Evileye, anything could be done. If it was Evileye, escape should be possible! However this thought was immediately overturned. “Firstly, don’t leave during introductions. It’s not that painful, let me block your transfer, 「Dimensional Lock」. Giving a greeting before departing is the proper etiquette, and delightful.” This was a skill which could only be used by the highest ranking devils or angels, and had the area effect of preventing anyone in the surrounding from using transfer magic. Evileye and her team’s retreating strategy was rendered useless. However this was not the main problem. They knew since the beginning that the best strategy would be to leave someone behind as rearguard, and that it was impossible for that person to return alive. “Death is also natural. The young survive whereas the elderly die. That is the proper course of nature.” With a life experience of more than two hundred years, the girl bid her farewell as she provoked the opponent in front of her which she stood no chance against. “
“You’re correct. This is the 4th tier spell ‘Crystal Lance’!” The one replying to Entoma’s question was the person who slowly descended to the rocks shattered by the lance. It was a young girl with a boyish voice, whose physique was small and who wore a mask and a robe. Yet another enemy, Entoma couldn’t help muttering. Another intruder had appeared in the middle of capturing delicious prey. It was truly cruel that she still had to endure the temptations of delicious food. “Shall we end it here?” “...Who are you? I can forgive you if you immediately leave this place. Children are very soft, and I like that, but they never have enough meat on them. I’ll play with you next time, after I eat these two.” “So that’s what you are; a man-eating monster right? Even wearing a maid outfit, what kind of joke are you trying to pull? Who’d want some bloody smelling monster like you around them?” “wHAT arE yOu SAYInG?! bItCH!” Without pausing to think, Entoma let out her real voice, then immediately clamped down on her own throat. The insult was enough to make her lose her composure and she could never forgive this young girl’s words. It was not because of primal predator urges, but because she was in an extremely bad mood right now, that she wanted to tear apart the woman before her into pieces. What did this woman say?! To me, a battle maid, which is a high-level existence within the Great Tomb of Nazarick!? Anger spilled out from the bottom of her heart. “I’LL kiLL yOu!” She could not help but to shout with her real voice, but restrained herself from puffing up in the back. “Evileye!” Tia shouted out the masked girl’s name. Entoma was determined to exterminate this enemy with all her full might: “I was wondering what you two were doing...my, my, remember lesson one. Assessing the difference in strength between you and your opponents. This one is stronger than the two of you... but weaker than me.” Evileye then shouted: “So my companions really were under your ‘care’? You monster. Come, allow me to give you a taste of being the victim of abuse.” Entoma had no idea that a fierce rage was burning under the mask of her opponent. Entoma, who was seriously wound up with the intention to kill, ran forward. In her mind dominated by hatred, the other two persons had already become annoyances on the same level as pebbles by the roadside. She actually said that nobody would enjoy my company!? The same words repeated over and over again in her mind. At the same time, the insect whip began to move. Entoma left about one-metre, and formed the rest into a large sphere. Of course Gagaran was in the core part of this shape. “Die alongside your companions, you unpleasant woman!” She swung the thousand whips insect down like a hammer. “Hmph. What a boring attack.” Evileye remained relaxed. “「Reverse Gravity」.” Entoma resisted the magic, but the insect whip lost its gravitational weight and floated upwards. If the equipment user had successfully resisted, the equipment would likewise be resistant. However in the case of insect weapons, it was not the equipment user but rather the insects themselves which had to do the resisting. Since it was like this, even if Entoma would not be affected, it would still influence the insect weapon. This was one of the shortcomings, although the insects could attack autonomously. Even if it was Entoma, she needed to discard her original plan when facing magics like this. Sensing Entoma’s intention, the insect whip gracefully removed itself from Gagaran. With the speed of a retracting measuring tape, it had formed a ten-metre long insect whip stance. While this was happening, Evileye gave directions to Gagaran who was still tumbling on the ground. “Gagaran! Get out of the way! Go and quickly tend to Tia’s wounds! If you already used up your gauntlets’ power, then use a recovery potion!” The injured humans had recovered. If it was only that, then there would be no problem. The fact that the two people were Entoma’s enemies had not changed, but considering the words of the magic caster in front of her, the situation was different. Evileye and Entoma were on the same level. If they were to help the magic caster, the situation would become unfavourable. This time, Entoma decided to make use of her ultimate trump card which she was reluctant to use. She had already used it to eliminate all enemies inside the mansion with a single breath, leaving behind two more instances when she could use it. That was the breath given off by carnivorous flies, fly breath. Such breath wasn’t emitted for the sake of eating the meat, but flies would embed their maggot offsprings into the flesh. The maggots would continue to inflict damage from inside of the victim’s body. Even more terrifying was the next step, where a large swarm of flies would emerge from the corpse, then indiscriminately attack other beings inside the area of effect, with the exception of the ability user. Entoma widened her throat. Her true mouth which did the speaking was in fact her lower jaw. To others, it was a terrifying sight, as if her jaw had slip apart. From there she spat out swarm of flies. “You! Could that power be associated with the demon gods! In that case!” Evileye, who was retaliating released a white mist. Although using cold gas to counter the attack was an extremely clever move, to completely nullify the effects was very difficult. The most appropriate magic to use would have been explosive magic to roast the entire swarm of flies. Her opponent had made a mistake. Entoma’s mind had already visualised a scenario where Evileye was devoured by the maggots, but the counter-magic used was far beyond her expectations. All of the flies coated in the white mist fell out of the air, then the mist engulfed Entoma. In that moment, Entoma felt unbearably intense pain. “Uwaaaaaaahhhh!” The entomomancer maid’s face steamed as if acid had been splash on it. At first the objective had been to nullify the opponent’s gas spittle, and they hadn’t expected that it would even reveal the enemy’s true face… “Hey, hey, could this be our chance?” Gagaran who had assumed a fighting stance with her war pick and searched for an opportunity to decisively end the fight. If she had realistically estimated her opponent’s strength, it was necessary to end the fight in one fell swoop. Gagaran did not pursue with an attack because the ten-metre long giant insect whip began to move violently, not permitting her to get any closer. However, this was nothing but the spasming of a defeated person. “This...what kind of magic is it?” Evileye replied to Entoma’s question. “Insecticide magic ‘Vermin Bane’. Two hundred years ago there was an insect demon god, and this magic was developed for the purpose of repelling the insects used by that individual. Well, it’s an original magic I came up with.” “Hey! It should be harmless for us right?” “Harmless indeed. It is especially effective on insects, but doesn’t cause the slightest harm to other organisms.” “...Her face has melted.” “Tia, that is her true face… Huh! No, that’s not the face!” As Evileye shouted out, the maid’s entire face fell off, like a scene where the facial skin had been stripped off and dropped onto the ground. There was a difference though. The facial skin which fell onto the ground had many insect legs on the backside. “That can’t be… it’s a mask shaped insect…” “kAHoooOOoH!” The maid’s throat exposed itself. A single crack appeared in the seemingly hard throat, and a large liquid chunk of matter fell out. It looked like vomit, but the biggest distinction from that was the fact that this object was still crawling on the ground. “What the…” This really was startling, even for Evileye who was stunned by surprise. It was the first time she had seen such a sight in her long existence. “—Lip insect.” Tia exclaimed towards the mucus-covered leech-like creature which had fallen on the stone-paved road. “An insect which consumes human vocal chords and imitate the voice of its victims.” The front end of the flesh coloured leech had a section which looked like a human’s lips. With an “ah, ah”, it gave out the maid’s cute voice. In full gaze of everybody, the maid’s hands which covered her face slowly lowered, revealing an appearance that was exactly the same as an insect’s. The frightful appearance made the Blue Rose members involuntarily take a step backwards. Although they had already experienced terror when the mask insect fell off due to the insecticide magic, this sight ignited their fear again. A monster from beyond this world had invaded. They couldn’t help but feel a shadow cast over this world. “yoU ACTUallY, YoU actUally Dare…” The rigid voice difficult to listen to. “Didn’t her voice become rather cute? Personally, I rather like this voice.” Gagaran’s hostility was on the verge of eruption. She was the most humane member of the Blue Rose. She was filled with an emotion as she prayed for the soul of the young girl who was sacrificed to give the mouth-lip insect a voice and clenched her weapon even tighter. “hOw dArE YoU MeRe hUmAnS AaAaAhHhHh!” In previous battles she had always fought her enemy with ease. However at this moment she didn’t have such a leisurely spirit. Well, there was no longer any need to hold back. Time to commence a fierce attack. “The real battle starts now! Neither of you two should relax! Prepare to launch even more fierce attacks than before!” Evileye cautioned the other two, but they had already predicted this before she had spoken. To ready their resolve for a fight to the death! The insect maid’s back suddenly burst out, and four spider legs extended from beneath her clothing. This posture looked as if her back had sprouted new legs. With these newborn feet, she jumped extremely high. For anyone looking, they would have drawn the conclusion that this was the effect of flight magic. From above, the monster spat carnivorous flies at the people. Clicking her tongue, Evileye casted ‘Vermin Bane’ once more. “OnLy To yOu GuYs! i WIlL Show YOu WhaT TRUe TERrOR MEAnS! aftER KIlliNG YOu GuYS i WiLl TUrN You AlL into COrpse DoLLs!” As soon as they had reached the ground, the carnivorous flies were completely obliterated. The insect maid used her compound eyes to glare at Evileye’s true face. Indeed, only Evileye was comparable in strength to this monster. If Evileye were to lose, then needless to say victory would be impossible, and both Gagaran and Tia would be massacred. However, it would be foolish to just focus on one thing. Gagaran’s spiked war pick came from the side. Even if Evileye had an advantage, they could not afford to waste opportunities against such a powerful opponent. She knew that it was very probable that she would suffer serious injuries if she was intercepted. That was why she chose to fight alongside her companions. Evileye smiled at them from under her mask. If she were to be unmasked, others would definitely make fun of her smile. The monster which was about to evade Gagaran’s strike suddenly stopped moving. That was because of Tia’s ninjutsu skill, ‘Immobility Binding Paralysis’. The monster had a high level of resistance, more like a nullifying ability, so it was impossible to seal its movements completely. However creating an opening even for a brief moment would be sufficient support for Gagaran. The monster spat out white silk enhanced with ‘Powerful Strike’ from her mouth. There was enough to dye Gagaran’s upper body white. Gagaran found it difficult to break out from the rigid and adhesive spider silk by herself. Her attack was interrupted, and she staggered as she retreated. In contrast, the monster came towards her. “「Crystal Lance」!” Although it had embedded deep in Entoma, she did not appear to be in huge amount of pain. She calmly summoned insects which appeared from the darkness and gathered densely on her wrist in a bulging mass. “「Vermin Bane」!” The white gas blew over and the insects fell one by one. The monster involuntarily let out an excruciating cry of pain. The mouth in the equivalent place of a human’s lower jaw spat out the same kind of spider silk towards Evileye as it did to Gagaran. If I used magic to block this, it would simply be a waste of magic power. Since I can nullify any restraining magic. I can probably take this shot— wait, this isn't— In a panic, Evileye activated her magic. Yes indeed silky material was spat out, but compared to the ones which were shot towards Gagaran, these threads exuded a rigid radiance. “「Crystal Wall」!” The crystal barrier in front of her split apart as if it had been cut apart by a sharp blade, and shattered into nothingness. “Is that a slashing spider web!?” “A present for you!” The black wire mesh Tia threw expanded in mid-air, but failed to envelop the monster. Entoma simply passed through it like a phantom. “Sure enough, she’s immune to any obstructing techniques!” “Bah! Combat formation time!” In order to maintain a distance from the battle maid who was closing in on her, Gagaran, kicked with the intention of pushing away her opponent. Her boot collided with the maid, creating an astonishing metallic sound. Gagaran retreated while focusing on maintaining the distance whilst joining up with the rest of the Blue Rose members. They gathered while paying careful attention for any area of effect attack. "ChIKu, cHIkU, tHesE AtTAcks ...... So AnNOyiNg!!" Whilst observing the maid’s jaw mouth which was muttering non-stop, Gagaran whispered to Evileye: “Did you hear that sound just now? Her maid costume is just as hard as my armor; truly unbelievable.” “It must be woven together with sturdy metal wires. Considering how thin it is, its hardness must be far above that.” “Adamantite… looks like it is far above that too.” “Oh, so it’s not just at the same level? The equipment is of such an unimaginably high quality that my earth magic is not of much use. She’s probably wearing equipment that reduces magic damage, too. Specialized attacks probably won’t affect her that much..” “That means?” Tia’s doubt made Evileye smile under her mask. “We’ll finish this head on with overwhelming fire power.” “That’s easier said than done, isn’t it? How do we pull it off? We are done for if we don’t act soon. It also uses talismans to strengthen itself. “Everybody use your own most powerful technique! I’m going to use the insecticide magic.” “...That’s easy to understand. Well, let’s go for our final strike.” Although they said they would strike with overwhelming firepower in a single strike, in reality it was not that simple. In general Evileye used ‘Sand Field: One’ or ‘Region Petrification’ to hinder the enemy, and support the warriors, but these methods would not work against that maid. If they wanted to inflict damage, it would best to leave it to warriors like Gagaran to inflict physical damage. Evileye only needed to come up with contingency plan in case this strategy did not work. She had always believed focusing purely on attack magic was wrong, but the situation called for a desperate measure, Magic casters that rely purely on magic to attack are second rate. This is what I personally think, but this time I will have to compromise. Evileye began to adjust herself to the magic she was about to use. Even though ‘Shard Buck Shots’ was the most effective method of attack, but her teammates would also be caught in the area of effect. The mana consumption of her original spell, ‘Vermin Bane’ was extremely large and was best reserved for when the opponent was about to summon insects. This meant that right now the most appropriate kind of skill to use was the hated acid-type magic. The three exchanged a brief glance, confirming that their preparations were complete, and attacked together. Evileye used ‘Acid Splash’ as her main attack whereas Tia, who had weaker firepower, mainly relied on her supporting items. Gagaran continuously activated martial arts, executing an unending barrage of attacks. After a while, the tide of battle began to shift. The opponent was indeed incredibly strong. Many types of spider webs, talisman-based magic attacks and summoned insects were launched in her offensive attack. Not to mention that her magic items were more powerful than those possessed by the members of Blue Rose. Eventhough the number of consumables like recovery potions were starting to run out, the insect maid steadily began to retreat. If one was to ask what had caused the tide of battle to shift in her favour, Evileye would puff out her chest and reply “Companions!” There was no doubt that Gagaran, Tia and Evileye were of an inferior race compared to this monster, but they still created opportunities nonetheless. Being able to attack and recover at the same time created a favourable situation. In particular, having the means to do self-recovery and having supporting recovery through teammates was an enormous advantage. Gradually the situation became certain. “As long as we don’t screw up, we can beat her like this!” Part 3 Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 4th Day, 22:27 The outcome of the battle. Finally, the insect maid collapsed to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Evileye’s mana consumption had been severe, and her consumables were almost depleted. From an economic standpoint, she was in a serious amount of debt. “We’ve won!” Gagaran who was covered in wounds declared their victory with heavy breaths. Not a single recovery potion was left, and she had external injuries, but her physical stamina was still holding up. “Stab her throat.” “Yes.” Evileye agreed with Tia’s suggestion. The dying insect maid was still alive, as evidenced by the maid making chirping “Yeeh yeeh” sounds. In this situation where it had already lost its ability to fight, the safest and most secure thing to do was to kill it without hesitation. Tia who had taken up her sword and gone forward suddenly froze. Before Evileye could even ask “What is it?”, she already knew the reason for why she had stopped her movements. “How about we end this right here.” Unbelievably, and without anyone knowing when he had appeared, a man stood in front of the insect maid. He wore strange clothing which had never been seen before. In Evileye’s knowledge, this was a set of garments which was worn in the south - a full suit. He also wore a mask which made it impossible to see his face. However he was not human. A tail sprouted from his waist. “Hey, a relative of Evileye?” You idiot! Evileye hesitated. His dominating presence hit her as if her entire body had been struck by lightning. If she were to look at her right hand, she would discover that it was covered in sweat. “—Are you alright? Leave the rest to me. You go back first to recuperate.” He ignored the armed Blue Rose members standing in front of him and spoke in a kind tone to the insect maid. Although he was the enemy, he gave others a good impression of himself. However, Evileye knew that this wasn’t the case. The tingling sense of fear reached the tip of her very toes, and this feeling was very real. With her survival instincts screaming at her, she held her breath then spoke with a grim determination to Gagaran and Tia who were standing to one side. “...Escape! ...Fools, ignore the fact that I am here and listen quietly. That… is an overwhelmingly powerful existence. A monster amongst monsters. No matter what happens behind you, use your full strength to escape.” “...Then what about you?” Gagaran asked with a bitter voice. “Don’t worry about that. I will drag this out until you escape, then immediately use ‘Teleport’ to get out of here.” Not knowing what she had done, the injured insect maid which was not supposed to be able to move unsteadily stood up. She was not seen using any healing magic, nor did it seem like she had consumed any item. Out of nowhere an insect appeared which attached itself to the insect maid’s back. Leaving behind a few “yeeh yeeh” sounds, she flew away into the night. Helplessly watching her escape, Evileye was unable to take any action because of this man standing in front of her. The other two were the same, with their foreheads drenched in sweat and their bodies petrified, unable to move. After watching the maid depart, the man turned towards Evileye. Having lived for over two-hundred and fifty years, she had come across powerful beings of all sorts. Even so, the aura he gave out was exceptional. No, this was a nauseating and revolting maliciousness which, compared to others, was at an impossible level. As a powerful being, he should be at the same level as the Platinum Dragon Lord right? Because he is far too powerful, it is already unclear which is stronger. “You’ve waited long enough. Now then, since time is tight, shall we begin right away?” “Quick! Escape!!!” Evileye cried out. The two turned around and fled like wild dogs. There was no way that they did not feel guilty about leaving a companion behind. It was precisely because of this guilt that they had only chosen to escape immediately after Evileye had finished speaking. Trust! If it was Evileye, anything could be done. If it was Evileye, escape should be possible! However this thought was immediately overturned. “Firstly, don’t leave during introductions. It’s not that painful, let me block your transfer, 「Dimensional Lock」. Giving a greeting before departing is the proper etiquette, and delightful.” This was a skill which could only be used by the highest ranking devils or angels, and had the area effect of preventing anyone in the surrounding from using transfer magic. Evileye and her team’s retreating strategy was rendered useless. However this was not the main problem. They knew since the beginning that the best strategy would be to leave someone behind as rearguard, and that it was impossible for that person to return alive. “Death is also natural. The young survive whereas the elderly die. That is the proper course of nature.” With a life experience of more than two hundred years, the girl bid her farewell as she provoked the opponent in front of her which she stood no chance against. “