Ch.73Chapter 73. Tunnel Devil (4)

Chapter 73. Tunnel Demon (4)

“Ah, Malak. You’ve arrived.”

Lakye was sweeping away the insect-humans alongside Captain Zombie.

As always, she displayed overwhelming combat prowess, but the Captain was no pushover either.

Thunk! Thunk!

Each time he swung his shield, two or three insect-humans went flying.

Several insect-humans approached and attacked the Captain’s body with their mantis-like forelegs, but they couldn’t even scratch his thick armor.

Captain Gladiator. He must have been the champion of this arena.

If creatures like these had roamed freely outside the arena, the tribal federation would have suffered severe casualties.

Fortunately, Lakye had handled them.

“How’s the situation?”

– Not good. There are too many enemies.

“…Should we join the main force?”

– No. That would only prolong the war. We’ll deal with the tunnel demon.

The creature was simultaneously providing group buffs and commanding an army.

Currently, it was just poking its head out from inside the arena without directly engaging, but who knows how long that would last.

If that massive body started moving around the battlefield even once, the tribal federation would be annihilated.

Taking it out would reduce the difficulty several times over.

“We can’t afford to waste time.”

Lakye, who had been slicing insect-humans with her meteor sword, checked the passage.

The Imperial Arena was so large it reminded one of Earth’s Colosseum.

Since it wasn’t designed for war (and hadn’t been maintained for a long time), it was less durable than a typical fortress, but its size was certainly comparable to one.

This created a problem: finding an entrance into the arena was difficult.

Even if not an entrance, we needed to find a way out of this building.

“Which way should we go?”

The outer wall had collapsed, but the inner wall was still holding.

Breaking through to get inside didn’t seem right.

Doing that might cause the entire arena to collapse.

Lakye might survive, but our warriors fighting nearby would certainly die.

– Let’s go to the roof.

So we’re going with the “mindless Lakye drop”… I mean, bungee jumping?

Let’s trust her half-human, half-god sturdy body.

“Understood.”

Lakye easily fended off approaching insect-humans as she advanced.

Captain Zombie guarded her rear, moving a step slower.

“Oh.”

Lakye, who had been running diligently, discovered an elevator.

Not a modern elevator, but a manually operated lift using pulleys.

It looked like a prison cell with iron bars, and the dried blood stains everywhere were horrifying.

Perhaps it was built to transport prisoners destined to become gladiators or man-eating beasts.

“Shall we ride it?”

– Let’s do that.

It was completely exposed on all sides, making it vulnerable to attacks, but we had no other choice.

We boarded after leaving the elevator operation to Captain Zombie.

With a creaking sound, the elevator began to rise.

Oh no, it’s quite loud.

It’s like shouting, “We’re taking the elevator to kill your boss right now~”

I didn’t expect this.

Screech!

Monsters with glowing green eyes swarmed toward us.

Whatever modifications they’d undergone, they were closer to infected beings than humans.

Could this also be an effect of the tunnel demon’s buff?

Beetle-like creatures flew in, while grasshopper and mantis-like ones climbed walls or jumped to cling to the elevator.

An opportunity to observe giant insects up close.

Monsieur Fabre would have loved this.

– Be careful.

“Don’t worry. They’re just bugs after all.”

Lakye defended the elevator, cutting down all the creatures.

Her appearance as she wielded the black curved blade with a cold expression, without the slightest disturbance, was worthy of being called a goddess of war.

This isn’t the time for admiration.

I controlled the zombie to stop those trying to cut the elevator cables.

The creatures seemed to have received orders from the tunnel demon, as they were desperate to stop the elevator.

I wondered if that demon also had a vision-sharing technique like my “divine possession.”

I checked on Captain Zombie, who was diligently turning the pulley.

Since the creatures were only focused on the elevator, he was turning the pulley without any issues.

If they just dealt with the Captain, the elevator would stop automatically. Did they lack that much intelligence?

We managed to clear out most of them with our combined efforts.

“Disgustingly numerous.”

Lakye, catching her breath, brushed back her hair.

Her glossy long black hair was covered in green blood.

The strange thing was that Totem #3, tightly fastened at her waist, didn’t have even a speck of foreign matter on it. She protected it more carefully than her own body.

Lakye’s love for her totem bordered on madness.

Thunk!

Finally, the elevator reached the roof.

Thinking the end of this battle was approaching, I looked down at the elevator floor riddled with holes…

– …!

A massive tentacle was approaching the elevator at tremendous speed.

“Oh no!”

Lakye, who sensed the tentacle’s approach with superhuman perception, quickly escaped the elevator.

The pale tentacle wrapped around the elevator and dragged it down.

Crack!

Listen to that sound.

If I’d been 0.1 seconds slower, I would have been crushed along with the elevator.

That must be a tentacle attached to the tunnel demon’s body? Impressive speed and strength.

“…I can see it.”

I followed Lakye’s gaze as she surveyed the roof.

In the center of the circular arena, a giant monster larva was turning its head in our direction.

Long tentacles sprouting from its tail end moved constantly, playing tricks on our vision.

It’s nothing special, just fucking horrifying to look at.

– Disgusting.

“I agree.”

Grooooowl-!

The creature, having spotted us, opened its hideous maw and spewed yellow liquid.

A vomit breath? Whatever it was, it looked like something you shouldn’t get hit by.

– Be careful!

Despite Lakye’s quick movements, the breath’s range was too wide for her to completely avoid.

Hissss…!

The armor touched by the creature’s vomit began to corrode. So it was an acid breath.

This won’t be easy.

“Kuh!”

Lakye removed her armor along with her outer clothing. She must have judged that her skin would get burned at this rate.

Her well-toned upper body and sexy abs were completely exposed.

Not completely topless though; important areas were well-covered with cloth.

– Ahem.

Well, this is awkward. Can’t look away in a crisis situation.

Why am I thinking of “armor-melting slimes” at a time like this?

Lakye hid behind the terrain features on the roof.

“…What should we do?”

Her face slightly flushed, she kept glancing at Totem #3.

So you feel embarrassment too.

– How about climbing onto its body via the tentacles?

Without any brilliant strategy, I just suggested something I’d seen in games or movies.

Climb onto its body, then slash its neck or stomach with a knife while coming down… something like that.

Lakye could probably make it a reality.

“I’ll try.”

She nodded and darted out like an arrow.

Perhaps because she’d shed her heavy armor top, she was even faster than usual.

The tunnel demon opened its mouth, seemingly about to fire another acid breath.

Not a second time.

– Paya!

“Yes!”

I gave an order to Paya through divine possession.

The small fireball fired by the sturdy one went straight into the tunnel demon’s maw.

Bang!

A small explosion occurred inside its mouth.

How’s that feel, bastard?

The tunnel demon is just an intermediate demon with a rather large body, not a high-ranking one.

We can definitely win.

“Haah!”

Lakye jumped from the roof and grabbed one of its tentacles.

She moved between tentacles like rock climbing, heading toward higher ground.

The tunnel demon, with its aggro drawn to the sturdy one, fired an acid breath.

Whoosh!

Our monster pigeon safely avoided it with high-altitude flight.

Fortunately, the breath couldn’t reach that high in the sky.

Thanks to the sturdy one buying time while sweating profusely, Lakye was able to reach the creature’s neck.

By the time it noticed and tried to counter, it was too late. She quickly used the “Totem of Confusion.”

Grooooar-!

The tunnel demon spewed green blood from its burned mouth.

So it works even on something like this. It looked to be around level 7-8.

“Haah!”

Lakye deeply embedded her meteor sword in its neck and made a complete turn.

Blood seeped from its neck as well as its mouth.

It wasn’t over yet. Lakye slashed downward along its belly as she descended.

She might not be able to cut through its stomach, but she could make it bleed to death.

Groooan…

Making a weakening sound, the tunnel demon’s body slowly collapsed.

Thud-!

We won.

It wasn’t particularly tense or dramatic, but we won after a struggle.

From the main body to its minions, it was quite troublesome.

Suppressing the urge to cheer, I checked my status window.

[A blessing is available to learn!]

Right. Defeating such a monster should yield a new blessing.

I checked the details.

[Enhanced Tattoo (Lesser): Grants tattoos that enhance physical abilities to followers. Followers gain the strength of a bear, the agility of a deer, and the skin of a hippopotamus. The tattoo lasts for 24 hours.]

Wow…

This is a group buff skill!