Ch.92Approaching Hundred Feet

*Crackle-crackle-crackle…*

From beyond the sharply curved passage to the left, countless footsteps approached from the darkness where the lantern light couldn’t reach.

Not a “thud-thud” or a “rumble,” but a sound that could only be described as a “crackle-crackle-crackle” echoing in rapid succession. When I first heard it, I expected dozens of enemies to swarm out.

But the owner of those footsteps rounding the corner was just one creature—a giant centipede crawling along the ground with its countless legs.

“Eek…! F-Flame Lance!!”

Jessica’s face turned deathly pale as she cast her spell faster than anyone else, attacking the giant centipede that had appeared before us.

“Flame Lance! Flame Lance!! Flame…”

“Wait, Jessica! Are you trying to turn the passage into a sea of fire?”

“Ah…!”

The fiery lance with its high penetration power pierced through the chitin-covered giant centipede, burning it and beginning to fill one side of the passage with flames.

Thinking we might collapse from carbon monoxide poisoning in this enclosed space, I hurriedly stopped Jessica. The giant centipede, which had been approaching through the flames, was blocked by Seti who bravely stepped forward, preventing it from coming any closer.

“S-sorry. I just can’t stand things with lots of legs…”

Hmm, I definitely can’t stand crawling things with many legs either.

For Jessica’s mental health, it would be best to quickly dispatch this three-meter-long big-sized centipede.

“Alright, there’s only one enemy, so let’s concentrate our attacks and take it down. Phyllis, save your magic for now.”

“Got it.”

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

*Bang!*

I fired my magic bullet gun, aiming at the elongated rear part of the centipede to avoid hitting Seti who stood at the front.

The four magic bullets fired from Phyllis’s rifle and my revolver easily penetrated the centipede’s shiny black back.

Despite its tough appearance, its defensive capabilities didn’t seem particularly impressive.

“Hiyah!”

*Slash!*

*Screech!!*

Several legs on the right side of the centipede fell to the dungeon floor as they failed to completely avoid Seti’s widely swung spear. The giant centipede retreated from Seti at a speed that didn’t match its enormous body.

“If it’s giving us distance, I’m grateful.”

“Wait! It’s about to use magic. The ground will shake, everyone lower your stance!”

I was about to load magic bullets and fire six fanning shots when I heard Jessica’s warning and quickly dropped to one knee.

Almost simultaneously, something like ripples seemed to spread across the ground from beneath the centipede’s body, and the dungeon floor we were standing on began to undulate like the surface of boiling water in a pot.

“Whoa!”

“Ugh!?”

“Ouch!”

As the ground began to surge up and down and shake in all directions, we had no choice but to lie flat on the ground, getting knocked around while waiting for the vibrations to end.

Even though we had been warned, we were completely helpless. If we had been caught unaware, someone might have hit their head badly and lost consciousness.

“Look ahead! The enemy is approaching!”

“What!?”

Hearing Phyllis’s urgent cry, I managed to look forward and saw the giant centipede crawling along the wall toward us.

I hurriedly tried to aim my revolver at the centipede, but due to the shaking ground, I couldn’t even get into a proper shooting stance, let alone aim.

Just as I thought we wouldn’t be able to counterattack or even dodge the centipede’s attack, Seti, who was lying in front of me, showed an unbelievable movement.

“Hup!”

With her legs spread wide and only her toes and left hand touching the ground at three points, Seti sprang into the air as if defying the laws of physics.

Like a startled cat, her body curled into a ball as she rotated half a turn in midair, then used the tip of the spear in her right hand to push off the ground and change direction for a second jump toward the centipede.

Spinning around with her spear, Seti gripped it with both hands and slashed down at the centipede’s head from above.

*Slash!*

*Screeeech!!*

As the centipede’s head was severed, the shaking ground calmed down.

The centipede’s long body that fell to the floor continued to writhe, perhaps due to the characteristic vitality of arthropods, but after waiting cautiously for a moment, it went limp and then scattered like black mist, disappearing along with its head.

“That was amazing, Seti. Very impressive.”

“I’ve never seen anyone escape a Rumbling Centipede’s earthquake attack like that before.”

“I’m confident in my sense of balance.”

Seti flashed a shy V-sign while blushing slightly at her companions’ praise.

Where the centipede had disappeared, a fairly large magic stone remained as proof of our victory.

“That earthquake attack was quite threatening. I hope the cave won’t collapse.”

“It’s just a temporary phenomenon using magic, so it won’t affect the actual terrain. The poison in its fangs is actually the most dangerous part.”

“Poison… with that appearance, it makes sense.”

It sends chills down my spine thinking that if it weren’t for Seti’s exceptional physical abilities, one of us might have fallen victim to those poisonous fangs.

From now on, if a Rumbling Centipede appears, it would be best to pour firepower from a distance and deal with it quickly.

~ ~ ~ Hector’s Party Perspective ~ ~ ~

Hector’s group, who had entered the dungeon one step ahead of Will’s party, was also attacked by a Rumbling Centipede.

The overwhelming firepower of the double-barrel shotgun in the narrow passage succeeded in turning the giant centipede into a rag with just three shots, but that didn’t mean Hector’s group had defeated the Rumbling Centipede with ease.

“Huff… huff… damn, a mere monster daring to use magic.”

“Urgh…”

“This doesn’t look good. Seems he’s been poisoned.”

They too had struggled with the Rumbling Centipede’s earthquake attack.

Hector, who had been casting a spell, collapsed and hit his forehead on the surging ground, and could do nothing but writhe in pain while clutching his face.

Peter, the man with the cutlass, had twisted his ankle when he fell and was now suffering as poison spread throughout his body after being bitten on the shoulder by the Rumbling Centipede.

If blowing off the centipede’s head with the double-barrel shotgun had been even slightly delayed, these three would have become the Rumbling Centipede’s meal by now.

“Mr. Hector, can you remove the poison with magic?”

“Hmph, of course. If I couldn’t do it, no mage could.”

Although he had just shown the disgraceful sight of losing his balance and falling during the battle, that did nothing to diminish the value of Hector Jones as a genius mage.

What is required of a mage is the ability to provide solutions to various situations that cannot be handled by gunmen alone.

Just by removing the Rumbling Centipede’s poison and treating the bite wounds, Hector proves himself an indispensable member of this party.

“Ugh… thank you. I feel like I might live now.”

“It will take some time for the poison to be completely removed. We’ll rest for about five minutes before moving on. Rick, keep watch on our surroundings.”

Though Hector had unnecessarily high pride, he wasn’t stupid enough to look down on his party members or insist on forced marches due to being blinded by treasure.

He was fully aware that his party was at a numerical disadvantage compared to Jessica’s group, and therefore understood that maintaining optimal condition for all party members was the key point to conquering the dungeon.

However, he also had the confidence that while they might be outnumbered, his party members’ individual capabilities and experience were superior.

The man named Rick with his double-barrel shotgun served as both mapmaker and mid-range combatant, while also acting as the party’s porter with his excellent stamina. Peter, who wielded a magic cutlass and pistol and could engage in close combat with monsters, was an indispensable talent as the party’s vanguard.

Unlike Jessica’s party of misfits, this was an elite few.

Hector was convinced that as long as they could maintain everyone’s condition at its best, there was no obstacle they couldn’t overcome.

“This labyrinth is unnecessarily vast while having little of monetary value.”

“Well, we did find some gold crafts in the treasure chests. They should fetch about 500-600 gold when sold.”

“Let’s collect as much as we can before that Jessica woman’s party starts searching in earnest.”

“Hmph, they probably planned to enter after we cleared out some monsters so they could move around safely. That’s the only way that incompetent Codex Mage and her F-rank rejects could hope to return alive.”

“Hmm…”

While Peter thought the cat-folk girl showed quite good movement, regardless of what the young man named Will was like, he didn’t voice this opinion.

Although they had only been together for about two weeks, both men had a good grasp of Hector’s personality, and could easily sense through the atmosphere that he and the woman named Jessica had an antagonistic relationship.

They simply needed to accompany Hector until he reached B-rank while steadily collecting their pay.

There was no reason to poke their noses into this difficult mage’s personal affairs, and they had no intention of actively opposing him unless he made a serious misjudgment as an adventurer—this was the common view of both Rick and Peter.

“Well, since our condition seems to have improved, let’s move on. There might be more valuable items ahead.”

“Understood. You’re drawing the map properly, right?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve accurately marked the place where we just fought the centipede.”

Rick showed Hector the map he had been creating as he spoke.

The map he had drawn not only showed the general structure of the path Hector’s party had taken, but also meticulously noted places where they had encountered monsters, discovered treasure chests, or locations with notable features.

In terms of detail, it was of excellent quality that wouldn’t lose even to the map created by Mina, who was a dwarf.

With this capable mapmaker by his side, Hector was confident they could complete the dungeon investigation much faster and more accurately than Jessica’s party of novices.

With that satisfying thought, Hector continued exploring the dungeon.

No one noticed that there were already significant discrepancies between the map and the actual terrain.