Ch.1192Why Don’t You Guys Just Fight Amongst Yourselves?

# The Spider Woman with Twelve Limbs

A spider woman with twelve limbs, an orc with six tattooed muscular arms, and a mass of eyeball wings that made me doubt whether these were truly creatures of this world.

Though their appearances and the quality of energy they emitted varied greatly, one thing was certain—all three were demigods who had awakened divinity.

Unlike the other two, the six-armed orc lacked a halo, but the purple tattoos engraved on his body glowed with divinity in place of one.

‘The spider woman seems to be the weakest… but I can’t tell which of the other two is stronger. Do you know?’

[Fool. How could one determine such things by aura alone? Strength is not determined merely by the total amount of power.]

‘Well… that’s true. We have to consider things like compatibility and skill level.’

As Hersella said, superiority in strength wasn’t determined solely by the total amount of power one had accumulated.

Even I had defeated enemies clearly stronger than myself several times through differences in compatibility or skill.

There were also two or three instances where I won by sheer luck, but as they say, luck is also a skill, so that could be counted as winning through superior ability.

Anyway, for these reasons, which was stronger between the six-armed orc and the eyeball wing mass could only be determined through actual combat, but…

[Based on my experience, however… monsters whose attacks are difficult to predict tend to be more troublesome opponents than warriors with excellent skill and capability.]

If forced to guess, Hersella’s answer was that the eyeball wings would likely be more difficult to deal with.

‘But… honestly, you don’t have much experience fighting such creatures, do you? I feel like I’ve fought them far more often.’

[Nonsense. They were certainly rare, but there were monsters in the East as well. Fallen spiritual beasts or their descendants and such.]

Ah, is that so?

Come to think of it, even my Frosting was made from the scales of a monster that Hersella had personally killed when she was merely at Champion level.

After numerous enhancements, it had now far transcended the limitations of its original material, reaching performance comparable to a divine artifact.

‘Well, fine. So you’re saying the wing creature looks most troublesome?’

[Probably so? With that appearance, it’s impossible to even guess how it might attack until we experience it firsthand.]

‘In that case…’

I should be most wary of that one when fighting.

If possible, I should deal with it first, before a full-scale battle reveals all my cards.

– Shing.

I gripped Durandal’s half-drawn hilt with strength as I observed the eyeball wing monster floating in the air.

“——.”

There was no particular reaction.

Without showing hostility or fighting spirit, only strange waves of alien divinity spread outward in concentric circles with each slow flap of its wings.

‘Surely it didn’t just come to watch…?’

Honestly, I was beginning to doubt whether it had really come to fight us at all.

[Well, if that were the case, it wouldn’t have revealed itself so boldly.]

‘I suppose so?’

Judging by the hostile attitudes of the other two demigods who had arrived together, this one too, despite its apparent indifference, likely shared their purpose. Probably.

“Well then… shall we begin?”

Anyway, we couldn’t just stand here having a staring contest forever.

I fully drew Durandal and deliberately released the divinity of stars and dawn that I had been suppressing and concealing.

– Whoosh!

A pillar of light rose like a signal fire.

Unlike my former clumsy self, my divinity had grown powerful enough to rightfully claim the title of demigod, and it now radiated with pale yet brilliant light.

Starlight descending into an abyss where neither sun, moon, nor even sky was visible.

– Rumble!

The released divinity became an invisible wave that shook the air, shattering the concealment magic that had been hiding the fortress.

Was it okay to just break it like that? Well, who cares—we’ve been discovered anyway.

Once detected, concealment magic was nothing but a waste. It was more beneficial to quickly release it and redirect that power to protective formations.

“…What an unpleasant light. It hurts my eyes just looking at it.”

“Khah, impressive presence at least.”

As I released my divinity with starlight pouring forth, the spider woman and six-armed orc at the base of the wall immediately reacted, staring directly at me.

The halo that appeared beneath the spider woman’s feet spun rapidly, spewing dense darkness, while the tattoos on the six-armed orc’s skin writhed and flashed.

Their fighting spirit and killing intent intensified.

The invisible pressure I emitted collided with their energies in mid-air, creating lightning-like sparks and chaotic shockwaves.

“Let’s see if your skill matches your presence!”

The six-armed orc laughed heartily as he swung his six great swords, creating a blade wind.

– Crash!

The ground split with a thunderous boom where the slashes touched it, and the scattered wind swept up debris, creating a swirling vortex.

A blatant show of strength. His fierce and violent fighting spirit spread in all directions like rampaging lightning.

“Enough of your nonsense, orc.”

“Nonsense?”

“I generously tolerated you following me like a thief, but now you intend to steal my prey?”

The spider woman glared at the orc with disgust, her eyes twisted with displeasure.

“There are limits to such impudence, you savage beast.”

“Ha, you talk well for a bug with nothing going for it except numbers.”

…Aren’t they on the same side?

I had assumed they were definitely allies, but the way they were arguing over who would fight me didn’t seem like they were comrades who had come to fight together.

“You didn’t tolerate it—you had no choice but to tolerate it. You feared your miserable life would end the moment you made me your enemy.”

“My, it seems you’ve developed a disease from living too long. A severe delusion that no medicine can cure.”

Far from being comrades, they displayed such fierce hostility toward each other that they could easily be mistaken for sworn enemies.

“…Shall we test whether it’s a delusion or not?”

“The only way to treat that disease is to split your head open and scrape out what’s inside. Do you wish me to perform the operation personally?”

– Rumble!

Their divinities clashed in response to their hostility. The air between the two demigods distorted like a heat haze, and the ground beneath crumbled as if struck by drought.

“Kee, keeeeek…!”

The Arachnes, crushed under the pressure of that energy wave, whimpered like frightened beasts and shrank back, while the nagas and trolls who had climbed the fortress wall swallowed dry saliva.

Such was the presence of demigods beginning to show open hostility—just their confrontation was enough to shake heaven and earth and overwhelm everything around them.

“Ah, so you’re asking me to smash your head?”

“Your ears must be blocked too. I should clear those first.”

That pressure was directed at each other rather than at me.

‘…What did these guys come here for?’

If left alone, they seemed likely to fight each other to mutual destruction. Could I just go back and take a nap?

I had come prepared to risk my life in battle, but the enemies were just two guys having a war of nerves with each other and one silently watching.

It was deflating to watch.

– Click.

Well, I’m just saying that—obviously I wasn’t really going to leave.

After all, they were only growling with words and presence, not actually looking to fight each other.

If they had intended to, they would have started cutting each other instead of just arguing.

It was only natural. They must realize that if they fought each other in front of me, regardless of who won, both would end up dead.

So whatever might happen later, they wouldn’t be swinging swords and claws at each other right now.

“Fine. There’s no reason to waste energy on the likes of you with ‘that thing’ before us.”

“Hmph. You’re quick to tuck your tail. The title of War Devil must be weeping.”

See?

With just one step forward from me, they immediately stopped their bickering as if on cue and turned to face me.

In the end, both sides’ primary target is me. There was no way to avoid fighting those three—or two—creatures.

“You’re listening, right? Let me ask before we fight. Who are you people?”

So I rested Durandal on my shoulder and placed one foot on a protrusion in the fortress wall, emanating an aura ready to charge at any moment as I addressed them.

“How absurd. Did you harm my children without even knowing that?”

The Queen of Arachnes, Hubrisia, answered with a laugh tinged with killing intent.

“If you don’t know, I shall tell you. I am the mother and queen of these children. Hubrisia of Sernite—”

“Not you, the others.”

I already know who you are, thanks to the Arachne prisoners who told me. What I was curious about was the identity of the other two.

“……”

Whether cut off mid-sentence or seething with anger, Hubrisia closed her mouth tightly and growled with intensified killing intent.

“Kuhaha! Yes, you have no interest in gloomy spiders either! I like that!”

The six-armed orc who had been watching burst into laughter as if something was incredibly funny, praising me before bending his knees and leaping from the ground.

“You asked who I am? I’ll answer!”

– Boom!

A charge like a fired shell. Fast and fierce like a massive thunderbolt, he rushed straight toward the fortress wall.

“Taking the initiative…!”

Hubrisia, who glared at him with irritation, also charged rapidly, stamping the ground with her four legs.

“I said talk, you bastard!”

Finally, I too leaped from the fortress wall, charging toward the six-armed orc. Fighting on the wall would instantly reduce the fortress to ruins.

And so, six great swords clashed with a blue-silver longsword.

– Crash!!

The meeting blades scattered sparks and lightning with a thunderous roar, and beyond them, the orc, grinning like a demon, shouted in my face.

“I am Caljarat. The last orc, War Devil Caljarat!”

Ah, I see? So you’re a poor lonely old man.

“Then who’s that one?”

I pushed back against his sword pressure with both arms while rolling my eyes toward the wing mass still floating motionless in the sky.

“I don’t know!”

You don’t know?

“What do you mean you don’t know! It came with you!”

I swung Durandal widely to shake off his great sword, then flowed into a strike with Frosting aimed at his face.

“Well, I don’t know! Must be because you have many enemies!”

Caljarat leaned his upper body backward to avoid Frosting. Then he swung two great swords like scissors targeting my waist from both sides.

“I don’t remember making enemies with orcs!”

I retreated by kicking off the air to avoid, then raised Durandal to shoot a blade of severance.

“I’m sure you don’t!”

Caljarat, who had tried to block with his great sword like a shield, flinched for a moment before quickly twisting his body to avoid it.

Good instinct. If he had blocked it, he would have been cut through along with space itself.

“I merely came seeking a new worthy opponent!”

Caljarat charged again, swinging his six great swords like a storm. Each followed a different trajectory, targeting my entire body.

“Ah, so you just came for a fight? And it happened to be now?”

I suppressed the spatial severance ability for defense, relying on Durandal’s own hardness and sharpness to parry and deflect his great swords.

Blades crossing dozens of times in the blink of an eye. The thunderous booms and shockwaves that followed belatedly swept around like aftershocks, slashing everything.

“So you’re just being a massive nuisance!”

“No more than you lot who go around stirring up trouble everywhere!”

“Huh, is that so…?”

His strength was surprisingly on par with mine. I was slightly faster.

However, his storm-like fierce attacks, taking advantage of his six arms, were so intense they negated that speed difference.

Even if I moved twice as fast as him to parry two great swords simultaneously, he still had four great swords remaining.

Literally the natural enemy of a swordsman. If I tried to defeat him with pure swordsmanship alone, I would face a terrible struggle.

…Of course, swordsmanship wasn’t my only ability.