Ch.402Fighting the Mountain NPC. (8)

About 5 hours after the Behemoth battle began.

[⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!]

“Huff, huff. D-damn it. Are we really going to die here?!”

The 500 knights and adventurers led by Devil were completely exhausted as they clung to one of the front legs, looking at wounds that were only now beginning to tear. Even the situation from about three hours ago, when they seemed to be making good progress on both hind legs, hadn’t advanced to the point of amputation yet.

The beastkin of Siltra and the elves were distributing their forces between the front and hind legs to provide rotation breaks, but their strength didn’t seem to be making much of an impact either. Jack and the acting dean, Ragni Bluemoon, had said there were about 20 people strong enough to deal effective damage, including themselves as guild masters, but that assessment now seemed wrong. In reality, the people attacking the front leg, including himself, weren’t making any real progress.

‘Even so, to think we can’t kill it even with its limbs restrained while we beat on it. I can see why eight nations failed even when they combined their strength thousands of years ago.’

While this massive body was currently bound by an ingenious strategy, just roaring and taking hits, if those trapped legs were to break free and start moving, everyone here would disappear without even leaving a speck of bone dust behind. And yet…

“Damn it. Even with it immobilized, there’s no way to bring that head down to the ground…”

“Guild Master! Time to switch. The beastkin and elf forces have come to relieve us!”

While staring at the enormous head that seemed to be floating in the sky despite its feet supposedly being buried in the ground, a white adventurer who had been acting as his adjutant announced the shift change. This was already the second rotation. Really, could they defeat this monster at this rate?

“Good work. Let’s replenish our strength. Dinner preparations are ready now.”

“Thank you, Sir Elf Knight. I expected this to take a long time, but I never thought we’d end up setting up a camp in front of this massive monster.”

“Haha, we’re surprised too. To think of using an entire city as a trap—the wisdom and decisiveness of the human elder, or should I say dean here, is truly remarkable. We couldn’t have thought of using Siltra’s forest as a trap even after a thousand years, and even if we had, it would have taken another thousand years to make that decision.”

After saying this, the elf knight drew his sword and immediately struck the Behemoth’s leg. As expected, since it wouldn’t cut, the sword just bounced off with a loud “clang!”

In fact, most people had tried stabbing the monster’s legs with swords and spears without success. At best, my sword was making small cuts here and there, allowing others to try to widen them, but even then, I had a feeling about what would happen once we reached bone. The elf knight seemed to share this feeling as he sheathed his sword and picked up a nearby hammer.

“…Sigh, even with the situation set up like this, we’re still powerless. That incredible magic that flew in at the beginning—that’s what it was, right? I wonder if it could be fired a few more times. Of course, I’ve heard from other magic folk that such tremendous power can’t be used repeatedly.”

“Haha. Well, if we keep dragging this out, maybe they’ll fire another one someday. We’ll have to be careful not to get caught in it ourselves.”

“Hahah. Indeed. Well then, please go have your meal.”

“Yes, good work.”

After this exchange, I retreated to the rear camp with my forces, and the sound of elves and beastkin striking the monster’s legs began to echo again. Once we reached a position far enough away to see the hind legs…

-KWAAAAA!!!

“…They’re still going strong over there.”

Almost all our forces were concentrated on one front leg, while Jack, his three women, the elf elder, and the minimum personnel needed to establish a base were at the back. At this rate, I wonder if the hind legs might be severed first.

Water pillars and waves that had been continuing since midday, plus the whirlwinds that had been added a few hours ago—I was beginning to wonder if this was really something humans could achieve.

“…After I finish eating, maybe I’ll go take a look. There might be some hint for cutting the front legs.”

Since the rest period was one hour, that should be possible. With that thought, I decided to finish my meal quickly.

*

“I didn’t think we could bring it down in a day, but I never expected we wouldn’t be able to trigger even one pattern.”

“Hueh…”

I stared blankly at the Behemoth’s leg while Rei, who had collapsed from MP depletion after using too many Connectors, lay on my thigh. If I keep pounding away at it like this, it won’t die anyway. I think it’s better to eat, recover stamina, and then fight. But considering we sacrificed an entire Neti to bind this monster’s limbs, the results are disappointing. Maybe we just lack firepower.

‘Ragni’s queen beam penetrated its eyeball, but there’s no sign of it starting any patterns like foot stomping or tail swinging.’

I suppose foot stomping is impossible since its feet are buried in the ground, but the tail is buried under the landslide, so we’d know if it started moving. That’s why we assigned only minimal personnel to the rear and sent most to the front, but now I wonder if it would have been better to gather everyone at the front legs to focus on just one. However…

‘…No, if one leg gets severed and its HP drops enough to trigger the breath pattern, that would be a different problem.’

The Behemoth’s breath pattern. That breath it uses just once is a pattern that kills you if you don’t know the warning signs. And that’s just in the game—if this massive creature swings its head around and spews that area-of-effect breath like in the game, casualties would be in the thousands, no, tens of thousands. If we’re not careful, our total annihilation is guaranteed. That’s why we chose the method of cutting off all its legs.

‘If it puts its belly on the ground, no matter how much it swings its head, the breath will only go forward. If we cut off its hind legs, it won’t be able to lower its head, so people directly below should be safe. That’s what Ragni and I decided, but can we really cut off even one leg at this rate?’

“Ugh… J-Jack?”

“Oh, you’re awake? Feeling bad?”

“I-I’m sorry. I got too excited.”

“Yeah, you were really going at it.”

“Uwuu…!”

Thanks to her getting fixated on something strange and rampaging without realizing her MP was depleted, she almost brought down one of the Behemoth’s hind legs. Honestly, I wanted to ask, “Is that really you?” She was thrashing about without getting tired at all.

“It’s bent a little but definitely. Do you think it’s broken?”

“It looks that way, but since I don’t know how to use swords and such, I can’t tell just by looking at the exterior.”

“Fufu. I don’t think there’s a sword that could withstand being wielded by Jack’s strength anyway, right?”

“…I guess not.”

Unless it’s equipment made from various rare minerals like those in the game, it would be impossible. And in reality, such equipment doesn’t exist. More precisely, they’re treated as legends like the elves of Siltra, magic folk, or spirits. In [Eight], equipment made of mythril or obsidian existed properly, but most weapons in this world are made of steel, with the better ones made from field boss materials. Perhaps this is because the world’s crises keep disappearing due to my actions, which has slowed the development of weapons—I’ve been thinking that lately.

“…Wouldn’t they sell mythril equipment in [Aiti]? I’ve heard their equipment is very durable.”

“I should visit someday. But that’s something for after we defeat the Behemoth.”

Yes, for Gore’s sake too. And for Rei, who’s starting to struggle with just one magic sword. Honestly, considering how well Miho and Chikuyo’s equipment is performing, I haven’t paid enough attention to equipment. Well, I did properly take care of Ira’s equipment!

While I was chatting with the recovering Rei, some of Siltra’s forces who had been setting up camp near Miho came over to distribute food and tried to set up a camp here, but I told them it wasn’t necessary. I mean, if they set up camps around all four limbs and something happens, there will definitely be casualties. We’ll just go rest over there.

“Understood. But you’re really amazing. With bare hands, really?”

“Rei here, who’s resting, has a [Skill] that allows her to do such things. Since you’re from Siltra, you know about skills, right?”

“Oh… The blessing of [Skills] that appears once in thousands of years even among elves. And you’re human—that’s impressive.”

This is also a problem. We’re planning to move to Aiti soon, but the awareness of [Skills] isn’t widespread across the world. The average level of Siltra’s forces is in the late 200s. Some might be seeing small effects from passive skills, but those with active skills might not even be able to use them despite having them. In my case too, I can only see the stats and skills of those who have high affinity with me—our party members. There’s no way to spread this knowledge. If even half of their forces could use skills, the speed of subjugating the Behemoth would increase significantly.

Sigh, is this also a consequence of me killing demons in advance? I should properly consult with King Ponia and Ragni later…

[GUOOOO⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!]

“Kyah?!”

“Ugh?!”

“Kuk!!”

The monster suddenly let out the most terrible roar yet, causing me and even the elf knight who brought the food to cover our ears. W-what? Did Miho and Chikuyo do something?!

“Th-that’s impossible. They’ve also entered their rest period. Our attacks weren’t causing any real damage…”

“Wait, please take care of Rei here.”

“Eh? Jack?!!”

I left the collapsed Rei with the elf knight and ran toward the face to see what was happening. Damn, the monster is so huge that just moving to check its face takes several minutes, which is really annoyi—?!!

-KWAKAKAKAKAKAKAK!!!

“W-what?!!”

[Jack!!!]

As I ran at full speed and reached the point where I could start to see the Behemoth’s sunken leg, a sharp voice that sounded like it was shouting through a megaphone rang in my ears. Ugh, Luxuria?!

[The, the Behemoth!! This massive thing is trying to pull out its front leg!! Avalitia is resisting, but this is strange! Maybe!!]

This creature might not have been exerting any force on its sunken leg until now. Hearing Luxuria’s urgent voice, I ran like mad while breaking out in a cold sweat.