Ch.136Chapter 136

BANG!

As Gulmarg’s club once again demolished a wall, her composure crumbled along with it. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the possibility of them breaking through walls.

Yes, one of her predicted moves was correct, but…

‘W-why did that wall collapse?!’

She never imagined a wall could collapse with just one strike. Logically, the tunnel walls couldn’t be thin, especially when they housed armored spiders with mammoth-sized bodies.

This wasn’t some rabbit hole, but a tunnel where armored spiders roamed. Naturally, the walls should have been thick enough to serve as pillars to prevent collapse.

Yet this oaf was smashing through them with a single club as if they were made of straw! How could this be possible?

CRASH!

“T-this isn’t the time!”

As Gulmarg’s club brought down another wall with a thunderous noise, Zeloa snapped back to her senses.

She hadn’t anticipated the ogre’s strength would be this formidable, but ultimately, this strategy of breaking walls to escape was still something she could counter.

If the armored spiders could just latch onto him, no matter how strong he was, he’d struggle to attempt breaking walls.

Zeloa endured the grotesque transformation as she opened her mouth wide and released pheromones.

The potent pheromones sent the armored spiders into a state of extreme excitement, and their expanded muscles granted them explosive acceleration…

But even with their increased speed, it was impossible to reach Gulmarg as he continued demolishing walls.

A sweet scent flowed from her mouth and sticky secretions dampened the floor, but it was all in vain.

Wendigo’s clones were accurately locating the armored spiders even in the darkness and hurling ice spears at them.

What good was increased speed when an ice spear would pierce their heads the moment they got close?

SQUELCH!

“Kugh?!”

An ice spear pierced the head of an armored spider sharing vision with Zeloa, and she groaned in pain, clutching her eyes as if they were freezing.

It was merely the shock of a broken connection, but the sharp pain she hadn’t felt in a long time pierced her mind like shards.

“AAAAARGH! You useless, hideous, VERMIN!!!”

Zeloa couldn’t contain her humiliation and the pain tearing through her head, unleashing her frustration.

She couldn’t believe that despite deploying dozens of armored spiders, they couldn’t even slow down the intruders’ steps.

In truth, Zeloa wasn’t entirely blameless. The pheromones she released were so strong that the armored spiders couldn’t even think about evading attacks, instead charging recklessly.

But Zeloa wasn’t in a state of mind to make such judgments… and above all, she lacked concern for the armored spiders that were practically her children.

…Or perhaps it was just her base unwillingness to admit her own mistake.

“I, I will not be defeated by mere servants of a god!!!”

Unable to contain her rage, Zeloa let out a monstrous scream, tearing and smashing everything in her lair, but her anger showed no signs of subsiding.

Of course it wouldn’t. How could her anger subside when Wendigo and Gulmarg were happily smashing through her lair while she was having her tantrum?

It was suffocating, like swallowing burning coals.

“I’ll tear them apart myself. I’ll rip out their entrails and watch them writhe in agony as they die!”

With eyes gleaming with murderous intent, Zeloa burst out of her lair. The armored spiders guarding her lair and breeding chamber followed their mother in great confusion.

* * *

“Gulmarg, stop for a moment.”

“?”

Sensing something strange, Wendigo halted Gulmarg as he was about to break another wall. The armored spiders that had been noisily pursuing them had suddenly vanished.

What little sound remained was very faint, clearly indicating that Zeloa had changed her strategy.

“It seems Zeloa has changed her tactics.”

“Wendigo, I think we should keep moving and find Zeloa. She might be running away in fear.”

Gulmarg suggested while tapping the wall with his stone club.

Given how she had been blindly pursuing them without a proper response, it was clear Zeloa hadn’t anticipated this situation.

Of course, she might have stopped tracking them because she had a new plan… but Gulmarg thought it more realistic that Zeloa was attempting to flee.

Though she might regret abandoning the expanded tunnels, Zeloa had no reason to be attached to her lair since she could grow her brood by producing offspring.

However, Wendigo shook his head and replied to Gulmarg.

“If she were rational, that would be likely, but from what I’ve seen, she’s not in her right mind. She won’t leave this lair until she kills us.”

“Wendigo, she’s already fled once before. Everything is easier the second time.”

“That’s not wrong.”

Wendigo nodded in agreement with Gulmarg’s counterargument. Indeed, the first time was usually the hardest for everything.

However…

“But that’s not always the case for everything.”

Not everything was easier the second time around.

Especially acts that went against one’s beliefs sometimes created extreme aversion, becoming strong shackles that bound oneself.

In Wendigo’s opinion, Zeloa fell into the latter category.

“Zeloa’s belief in avenging herself against the gods was so strong that abandoning it shook her sanity. Could such a person go against her beliefs twice?”

“Hmm…”

Having his own beliefs, Gulmarg couldn’t easily answer Wendigo’s question. If one could easily abandon it, how could it be called a belief?

Convinced by Wendigo’s words, Gulmarg stood his stone club upright and gestured toward Wendigo with his chin.

He figured Wendigo must have a reason for saying all this when they could just continue smashing through the tunnels.

As Wendigo flicked his claw, two of his clones that had consumed particularly large amounts of mana approached.

Wendigo released the mana contained in the clones and tried to appease Gulmarg, who looked displeased.

“Don’t take it too hard. If I hadn’t sent out my clones, I would have suggested we just keep breaking walls and searching.”

But the clones that had left the forest couldn’t replenish their mana, and Zeloa’s level was not to be underestimated.

As the mana-drained clones collapsed into ordinary wooden dolls, Wendigo pushed the mana into the ground.

Roots extending from him transmitted vibrations from all directions, conveying sounds to him…

Through these vibrations, Wendigo detected Zeloa moving toward them, escorted by armored spiders.

“…As expected, she didn’t flee. Though I’m a bit surprised she’s coming in person.”

“Could it be a trap?”

“I can faintly sense Zeloa’s mana through the roots, so it’s definitely her. Her mana is so alien that I couldn’t miss it even if I wanted to.”

Perhaps due to living with a curse for so long, Zeloa’s mana and curse were inseparably intertwined.

How could one fail to recognize such unique mana?

Gulmarg was puzzled by Wendigo’s certainty. It was good news that Zeloa wasn’t fleeing, but he hadn’t expected her to enter combat directly.

Logically, a commander should stay away from the front lines…

“Why are you suddenly staring at me?”

“…I see.”

Looking at Wendigo, Gulmarg could understand Zeloa’s behavior. Thinking about it, Zeloa’s actions weren’t so strange considering Wendigo’s past exploits.

Rather than continuing to waste troops, trusting in one’s own strength and jumping directly into battle was what Wendigo did best.

If even Wendigo, who considered himself level-headed, frequently committed such reckless acts, why wouldn’t Zeloa, consumed by madness?

“…You’re not thinking that Zeloa’s actions are similar to mine, are you?”

As Gulmarg silently stared at his face and nodded in understanding, Wendigo asked in a disgruntled voice.

Strictly speaking, he made rational judgments before exercising force directly, while Zeloa was driven by twisted beliefs and a fiery temperament.

So if Gulmarg was equating him with Zeloa, it would be truly unfair…

“Wendigo, that joke is too harsh.”

“…If you’re going to lie, at least avert your gaze. And have you forgotten that I can detect lies?”

Gulmarg’s voice was resolute, but his body was honest. He slightly turned away and stared at the end of the passage, avoiding Wendigo’s gaze.

Wendigo, looking at Gulmarg with disappointed eyes, sighed and raised his mana.

‘It’s sad that even well-intentioned lies smell foul.’

It would have been nice if lies with good intentions had a pleasant scent.

…Being able to detect lies wasn’t always a good thing.

* * *

As Wendigo predicted, Zeloa appeared in person, leading her armored spiders.

Wearing armor that accentuated her figure and a helmet that revealed her face, Zeloa glared at Wendigo and Gulmarg with blazing eyes.

Her anger was so pure that Wendigo couldn’t smell any emotion from her except rage…

“She’s more composed than I expected. Though her expression looks fierce enough to pounce at any moment.”

“Ha, even as a servant of the gods, a monster is still a monster.”

“?”

Zeloa sneered at Wendigo as if she had expected this.

Knowing she was insane, Wendigo wasn’t particularly angered, but he couldn’t help feeling somewhat puzzled.

Why the sudden mention of monsters?

Zeloa pushed aside the armored spider blocking her path, stepped forward, and pointed her spear at Wendigo and Gulmarg.

“Since ancient times, monsters have tried to take heroes’ lives by taunting them with their vile tongues. But most monsters lost their lives for wagging those tongues. Do you know why?”

“It seems heroes killed by monsters couldn’t leave their stories behind… but you seem to have something to say, so go ahead.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Wendigo gestured to Zeloa as if giving her permission to speak. Granted this opportunity, Zeloa answered while grinding her teeth fiercely.

“The reason is that monsters are destined to die at the hands of heroes.”

“……”

When she suddenly brought up destiny, Wendigo stared at Zeloa in disbelief. He naturally thought she was spouting nonsense to provoke them, but the scent of her words was clean.

Even the gods didn’t know their own destinies and were banished by the Creator God, so what was this talk of destiny?

But Zeloa truly believed that her fate didn’t end here.

If she were destined to die, she would have met a hero and lost her life during her journey to this land long ago!

“You may believe you came to me by divine command. But it wasn’t the gods who guided you here, but destiny. Destiny is telling you through me that it’s time to return to being heroes—”

“Yes, perhaps monsters are destined to die at the hands of heroes.”

“…?”

Unable to bear Zeloa’s self-absorbed nonsense any longer, Wendigo nodded and affirmed her story.

Interrupted as she was building toward a climax, Zeloa glared at Wendigo with a vicious expression. She couldn’t understand why Wendigo had agreed with her words.

Wendigo placed his hand on Gulmarg’s shoulder beside him and spoke.

“As you said, a hero has arrived to kill the monster.”

“Ha. Do you think such pathetic provocation will work on me?!”

Realizing Wendigo’s intention, Zeloa mocked him.

Even as servants of the gods, monsters were still monsters. No matter how vulgar the provocation, she wouldn’t fall for…

“Even by appearance, isn’t Gulmarg more human-like? At least Gulmarg walks on two legs. And compared to you who irresponsibly produces violent monsters, Gulmarg who fights for love is more of a hero—”

“■■■■■■!!!!!”

Unable to endure Wendigo’s provocation, Zeloa let out a monstrous scream and charged forward.