Ch.1190The Longer the Tail, the More Likely It Gets Stepped On.

# Naraka

Naraka was originally the dwelling of ancient dragons and giants, but after thousands of years of various races seeking refuge there, it has become almost like another world in its own right.

This means that many beings, of many diverse races, have established tribes and nations there.

Most of them had fled there after losing their former might, and rather than wasting strength on conflicts, they quietly focused on recovery…

…but that’s already an old story. After thousands of years of waiting, they have nearly regained their former power, and with that recovered strength, they’ve turned their blades against each other.

Concerned that returning to the surface would only repeat past events, they decided that gaining power beyond their former peak was the priority, rather than merely regaining it.

Until now.

—-

Somewhere in the mountain ranges of southern Naraka.

– Skitter skitter skitter.

Through a vast cave where hundreds of tunnels, large and small, were connected like a spider web, spider-like humanoids with half-human appearances hurried about busily.

Their number was at least one hundred thousand, even by conservative estimates.

This enormous and complex cave was the kingdom of the spider-type Ain race, the Arachnes, a colony they themselves named “Sernite Basilio.”

“Total annihilation… by trolls and ogres? Incomprehensible. Unless their ‘king’ personally intervened, it should have been impossible.”

Just as an empire is ruled by an emperor, a kingdom naturally has a king to rule it.

In the deepest heart of Sernite Basilio stood a magnificent structure resembling a temple, and in the center, upon a throne, a woman sat reclined.

The demigod who was queen, goddess, and mother of the Arachnes.

“It seems they weren’t defeated. According to reports, the fortress collapsed with the entire ravine, leaving no foundation, and the troll and ogre forces are also missing…”

“Hmm, missing… That suggests there was an uninvited meddler.”

Upon hearing that the forces sent to occupy the Dreng Ravine Fortress had been annihilated along with the fortress itself, the Queen of Arachnes immediately suspected—no, was convinced of—a third party’s involvement.

If trolls and ogres had defeated her forces, the fortress itself should have been intact or under reconstruction.

Of course, there was a possibility that this had been the troll forces’ intention.

Perhaps they had abandoned defense from the start, lured the Arachnes inside, then collapsed the fortress along with the ravine to inflict fatal damage—something along those lines.

However, in the Queen of Arachnes’ view, that possibility was about as likely as a sea dragon suddenly bursting from underground and flooding the entire cave with seawater.

While Naraka’s trolls and ogres had established something close to tribal nations and conducted their own training and education, they still couldn’t overcome their fundamental intellectual limitations.

In other words, they lacked the brains to employ tactics like luring enemies into a trap to annihilate them.

Not only were they incapable of coming up with such ideas, but even if they did, they lacked the patience and acting skills to successfully execute them.

“Come to think of it, haven’t those troublesome extinct species suddenly become remarkably quiet lately?”

“By extinct species, do you mean things like the Walking Flood, the Oppressive Shadow, or the Glacier Turtle?”

“Indeed. They’ve been unusually quiet. Unlike their nature.”

“…Looking back, they certainly haven’t shown any movement for about half a month.”

“I thought they were conserving strength before the great war… but perhaps they’ve already been subjugated. Just like my children.”

So in the Queen of Arachnes’ judgment, the collapse of the ravine fortress and the annihilation of her forces was most likely the work of a third party, not trolls.

“Who could have done such a thing…?”

“Well… it seems someone new has set foot on this land. And they’re quite vigorous.”

Since she had been monitoring the movements of the existing powers in central Naraka, she judged that this intervention came not from them but from a new force.

This was indeed an accurate assessment. Though not perfect, as she couldn’t identify the opponent’s identity.

“What should we do?”

“No need to ask. Shouldn’t we avenge our children’s grudge?”

Of course, that was just for now. If she didn’t know who the opponent was, she would persistently search until she found out.

It wouldn’t be that difficult.

“Find the tracks they’ve left behind. They’re making quite grand moves, so no matter how they try to hide their actions, their limits will be quite clear.”

After all, those who actively attack other races couldn’t possibly conceal their traces completely.

“Yes, Lady Hubrisia.”

That was the judgment of the Arachne demigod, Hubrisia.

—-

The spiders began to move to find their enemy.

Then, what was the decision made by the trolls and ogres, whose position was not much different from the Arachnes?

“Where fortress go! Gone!”

“Not here?”

“What nonsense, this is right place!”

First of all, most of them didn’t even properly understand the situation.

The land that had been a ravine until just over ten days ago had turned into a hill of rubble, and they merely thought they had lost their way, wondering if this wasn’t the right place.

“Leader took wrong path! No qualification! I leader now!”

“No allow nonsense! Challenge me and die!”

Lacking the intelligence to logically analyze and understand the situation, they couldn’t deduce a third party’s involvement even when looking at the collapsed ravine.

“You all stupid. Can’t see? Someone broke cliff!”

Of course, if all members were like that, the unit couldn’t function properly.

Even among the dull-witted trolls and ogres, there were one or two individuals with higher intelligence than the others.

Trolls born with magical talent, or two-headed ogres, for instance.

Usually, they served as unit commanders or adjutants, and this small reconnaissance unit included one two-headed ogre.

“You stupid! Spider no have such power!”

“Not spider. Even Spider Queen not come, busy watching ‘Him’.”

“Then who?”

“Don’t know. Another enemy. Probably big and strong like Him.”

Unlike the other members, the two-headed ogre deduced a third party’s involvement from seeing the collapsed ravine.

There was some misjudgment in thinking that whoever could destroy such a ravine must be a massive and powerful being like a dragon or giant.

Anyway, they returned with news of losing the ravine fortress and its garrison, and conveyed their suspicion of a third party’s involvement to their ‘king’.

“What insolent creature dares!!”

And upon receiving the report, their king shattered his stone throne with a thunderous roar, then rushed outside and ordered his entire army.

“The spiders can wait! Find them!”

A fierce and passionate cry like an erupting volcano. The earth split and the sky trembled at the rage of the monstrous giant as massive as a mountain.

The origin and king of all trolls and ogres.

Father of Heresy, the giant Bergelmir, had begun to move in earnest.

# Haschal

In this world, strength is evidence of countless slaughters.

The power one can build through training has clear limits, never surpassing one’s racial and physical constraints.

If you desire power beyond that, there are only three ways.

Kill many strong enemies to raise your own level, steal power from those who possess it, or offer sacrifices to transcendent beings to receive their blessings.

Karma, Mana, Dark Mana, Blessings, even Divinity are the same.

All these powers are fruits and spoils that only those who have built and climbed mountains of corpses atop seas of blood can enjoy.

That’s why we fight, why we kill.

Continuously, endlessly. Wandering in search of stronger enemies to become stronger, never ceasing to fight until our last breath—a purgatorial existence.

Whether we want it or not, we have no choice but to live this way.

If you stop fighting, if you stop becoming stronger, someone of similar ability will kill you and take that power.

In other words, this world is structured so that the stronger you become, the more powerful enemies you face.

Whether it’s individual strength or the strength of a faction, with no exceptions.

…So, what’s the point I’m trying to make?

Well, I think we’ve become strong a bit too hastily.

“Lord Haschal! Emergency! The enemies…!”

“…Yes, I see them.”

About three weeks after our victory that destroyed the Dreng Ravine Fortress.

Just as our coalition forces were growing steadily by concealing our tracks and defeating manageable enemies, a new threat appeared before our secret base.

Enemies who had clearly tracked us down and were targeting us.

‘We’re fucked.’

[Such vulgarity. Mind your language.]

It’s been nearly two months since we descended to Naraka.

I’ve grown significantly stronger than before, and our forces have become powerful enough to face a demigod if we give it our all.

[…That’s not wrong, I suppose.]

And now we face three demigods.