episode_0173

“Gasps…!”

His ragged breaths are swallowed by the sound of five people running. Levi and Asti, running ahead to help Erina and Hanna, whose steps are comparatively slower, are also beginning to feel short of breath. If they slow down even a little, the mass of slime-like ooze will overtake them.

The mere glimpse of it sends an indescribable wave of disgust through their spines. To put it mildly, or perhaps more than mildly, it feels like death itself is chasing them.

It won’t kill them on contact, but the revulsion is enough to make them want to die. Even Levi, who is experienced for his age, has never encountered anything so ominous and filled with such abhorrence.

‘…….’

Even as she runs breathlessly, Erina calmly analyzes the situation. Thankfully, they know the way, but sections are blocked by partitions, forcing them to take a long and circuitous route, filling them with fatigue and frustration. Soon, they can see a way out, but the upper levels are ultimately blocked by partitions.

‘We don’t have time to break through the walls… Judging by the way it’s chasing us, that monster doesn’t seem to have intelligence.’

Its movements are simply those of pursuit. It’s not trying to overtake them; it’s slower than their running speed. The conclusion is that it’s just rampaging, but that’s even worse.

In short, even if they escape this building, there’s no guarantee the pursuit will end. The intruder who set off the alarm might be this thing. Considering the time they spent inside, it’s a sound deduction.

‘Did… that damned person set this up…?’

This is the result of trying to avoid harsh words; she wants to add a curse word. However, the timeframe is too short for her to have designed this. Her own sense of time was rather messed up, but her very existence seems messed up.

Forget unnecessary thoughts and focus on the present.

‘The biggest problem is that there’s no guarantee it won’t chase us even if we get outside. Furthermore, if we’re outside, it might indiscriminately attack, not just us.’

She glances at the others running ahead. Even without using Appraisal, she can clearly see their physical condition.

“Gasps, gasp! Everyone! Let’s make a stand!”

Erina makes a firm decision. Nobody questions her judgment.

“At least on the upper level!”

“I agree. We’re at a disadvantage here!”

“It’s a vertical drop shaft soon! Asti, create a foothold in the wall!”

Around the corner, they see the hole Erina fell through. Asti immediately leaps forward, pulls out a dagger from his pocket, quickly creates a foothold in the wall, and climbs to the upper level. There’s no time to marvel at his acrobatic maneuver; Levi follows him, using the foothold.

“Grab on!”

Levi reaches out and pulls up Aries, the lightest, first. Despite being a mage, her relative training allows her to climb quite nimbly.

“Hanna, too!”

Then, the two of them pull up Hanna, who is panting as she runs up behind them. As soon as Erina manages to climb, they all collapse, gasping for air.

Keeeeeek―!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An ear-splitting scream echoes through the passage. It pierces their eardrums as if refusing to allow them even a moment’s rest.

“That thing… does it have intelligence? We should probably consider that it’s focused on chasing us…”

“I think a little differently. Does a dog chasing a bird need intelligence to bark?”

“Whatever the answer, we decided to make a stand, so we need to prepare.”

“Hanna, stay at the back.”

It’s only natural to send Hanna, who has no combat ability, to the rear. They don’t know what kind of fight it will be, or even if it qualifies as a fight, but they all catch their breath and prepare to face the oozing mass climbing up. A feeling of disgust beyond comprehension runs down their spines. Several seconds pass. It’s less than ten seconds, but it feels like a very long time has passed. After that long tension, they finally face the monster.

“Hideous,”

The appearance of the nauseating mass is terrifyingly full of life. All sorts of things are mixed together in the mass, and each thing radiates its own individual presence as if it were a separate creature. It’s utterly monstrous, a form that seems to curse life itself, and they feel a chilling sense of dread as their survival instincts are threatened, their sweat going cold.

“A composite… an alchemic forbidden art…”

Aries mutters softly. She knew of its existence from her studies. It was a taboo, something that should never be done; as a story in a book, she’d just taken it for granted. Now she understands just how horrifying it is, why it’s forbidden. She gets chills.

However, it’s different from what Aries knew.

“It’s n-not alchemy… G-genetic engineering…”

Hanna, from a distance, speaks, her body trembling.

The important thing is not what field of study it’s in. Among the vaguely defined gelatinous mass, some human-like forms are visible.

It’s not just one. In that ominous form, and it might just be a trick of the light, face-like shapes appear in several places on its body.

“It’s coming!”

There’s no more time to observe. Tentacles of slime instantly reach out to attack them. Asti quickly steps forward and parries with his dagger. Despite its slimy appearance, it’s surprisingly firm, and the blade slightly bounces off.

In the gap, Aries chants a fire spell, creating a wall of fire. The flames immediately engulf the monster.

Kieek― Kuoooo―!!!!!!!

The terrifying scream is cut short as the fire instantly dies out.

“!? What? That thing… just used magic!”

They definitely sensed magical power. Magic is not something that can be used simply by trying. No genius can exist without theoretical knowledge. Something like that grotesque mass shouldn’t be able to use it!

However, there’s little time to be surprised. The huge body begins to press down on them. Asti fights back against the tentacles lashing out in all directions, but it’s tough.

“Levi, get the dagger! It’s not great as a throwing weapon, but… it’s better than nothing!!”

As Asti throws a dagger, Levi catches it in mid-air and deftly deflects an incoming tentacle.

“What? It’s too high-quality to be a throwing dagger?”

Slightly behind the other three, Erina invokes a blessing with the power of the divine. The effect of the blessing she received at the start of their journey still lingers, though it’s not very powerful, it helps sufficiently. They’re fighting back, but the sheer pressure of facing the thing slows their reactions. Moreover, their stamina is almost gone. It will be a single, decisive blow to settle this.

“Erina, give us orders!”

Knowing of her excellent judgment, even though she’s not a fighter, Levi asks for her instructions. He doesn’t know that it comes from her Appraisal skill, but it’s an amazing intuition.

“J-just a moment!”

However, Erina has been using Appraisal to examine the monster, but it doesn’t feel like she’s properly seeing it. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a different kind of strange feeling compared to the incomprehensible Piki. But she is definitely seeing it. The fact that she is seeing it is an advantage, but when it gets to this point, she starts doubting the skill. Lately, she’s been having subtle doubts about her skill, making it even more so. Nevertheless, Erina must say what she sees.

“…Everything. Everything appears to be a weak point! I know it sounds impossible… but… it’s as if its very existence is questionable… it’s dying!”

It’s a somewhat grotesque metaphor, but a fetus that has only come out of the amniotic fluid comes to mind briefly. If it is a forcibly created lifeform, that may not be a wrong idea.

“If that’s the case, it’s easy!”

Aries immediately strengthens her body, infusing her fist with magic. She doesn’t bother with elemental attributes; she’s going to pack as much magical power into it as possible. Levi helps create a path for Aries while deflecting tentacles. She isn’t looking directly, deflecting using the shadows on the ground, demonstrating significant training and accumulated experience.

“Hick! T-thanks…!”

Asti is focused on deflecting tentacles approaching Hanna and Erina. Since he was originally a guard, this is his specialty. The elegance of this skillful movement somewhat captivates Erina, allowing her to let her guard down just a bit.

She couldn’t say it, but the weight of her modified chest feels unusually heavy.

“Haaat…!!!!!!”

Aries concentrates her energy into a mass of magic, clearly visible to the eye, and strikes it with a focused blow. The sensation even beyond the magic makes her hesitate. Filthy fragments explode with a scream, and despite the assault from Aries, the monster counterattacks.

She swiftly takes a step back, but it’s half a step short. If she had put more power into the blow, she could have hurt Levi, so it had been the best she could do. But it wasn’t enough. Levi immediately assesses the situation and throws himself in, but he’s too slow.

They all think she’s going to take a hit. At that moment, a single, loud sound rings out.