Chapter 86: The Monster in the Laboratory #5

Chapter 86: The Monster in the Laboratory #5

Jonathan’s face, though tense, held a look of determination.

From his expression alone, I could easily guess what had happened in my absence.

There were no other orc corpses or bloodstains around. Thanks to Jonathan drawing aggro, they must have escaped safely.

“Estel… you weren’t dead? I thought you were finally done for this time.”

Jonathan asked with relief.

“No, I died? Twice.”

I said four times in reality, but I reduced it a bit.

It’s not that I was embarrassed.

There were reasons for it. If I had fought properly, I wouldn’t have died even once.

“⋯Intruder A, resurrected again. Highly problematic.”

For the first time, emotion appeared on Alice’s wooden doll-like face.

Alice frowned and looked at me with an expression of utter weariness.

“Torn into pieces, crushed, it regenerates again. Intruder A’s regeneration power, unparalleled. Different from normal life forms. Refuses death. New countermeasures needed.”

Alice muttered rapidly.

Jonathan hid behind me, looking bewildered.

“What is she saying?”

“It seems to be a habit of hers. She just blurts out her thoughts.”

“She’s a crazy woman. Did she kill all the explorers of the laboratory until now… She looks like a normal human…”

I shook my head.

A normal human? Impossible.

“Jonathan, you shouldn’t judge easily by appearance. You thought the same when you first met me, right? That I was just a normal human girl.”

“⋯Ah. Then that woman too… Huh…?”

Suddenly, Jonathan trailed off.

Jonathan wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was fixed on Alice.

“Wh-what is that? That human- no, is she even human…?”

Creak, creak.

With the sound of bones twisting and flesh tearing, Alice’s body began to transform from head to toe.

Thud.

Blood flowed profusely onto the white snowfield. A massive amount of blood that would have killed a normal person from excessive bleeding.

Not just blood. White skin, yellowish fat, gray hair, all of it began to flow from Alice.

It was like watching an insect shed its skin and be reborn in a new form.

“W-woah! What in the…!”

“Calm down.”

“How can I calm down, Estel! It’s a monster!”

“That’s what I said from the beginning. The monster in the laboratory. That’s its true form, the real appearance of the monster in the laboratory witnessed by Carmilla’s expedition team.”

By now, Alice was reduced to just bones.

Then, Alice grew like a bamboo shoot after rain, soaring into the sky as if to reach the swirling blizzard.

Whoosh.

Alice spread her bone wings. Her bone joints elongated, and she swung her tail.

A dragon, yet a being with only bones left as its flesh had rotted away.

This is Alice’s true identity: a Bone Dragon.

“My goodness…”

Thump.

Jonathan collapsed onto the snowfield.

He seemed to have completely lost the will to fight. At least when Alice was in human form, he might have had the courage to buy some time.

But facing that colossal form was impossible.

“Elimination, resumed.”

Alice inhaled, drawing in the swirling blizzard.

A blue flash flickered within her bony body, revealing her throat.

“Get up, you bastard.”

I kicked Jonathan, who was lying on the ground in a daze.

“If you just stand there blankly, you’ll really die?”

As I grabbed Jonathan’s shoulder and lunged forward, an explosion erupted behind us.

“Unholy Breath.”

It was the Bone Dragon’s unique breath attack, possessing both cold and weakening properties.

“Estel, wouldn’t it be better to run! How can we possibly defeat a dragon like that!”

“Sorry, but I have no intention of defeating it.”

“What!?”

Ignoring Jonathan’s bewildered look, I took out a small stone from my pocket.

“Philosopher’s Transmutation Stone.”

It was a precious reward I obtained long ago in the underground waterways of Garden.

This transmutation stone changes into the tool I need most.

The transmutation stone still had two transformation chances left.

I intended to use one of those chances now.

“Why would I defeat someone that strong? I should make them my ally.”

“How is that possible-“

“Ah, stop nitpicking and do as I say. Just distract her for a single moment. You can do that, right?”

“H-for a moment…”

Jonathan seemed unsure.

It was understandable. The opponent was a Bone Dragon soaring gracefully in the stormy sky.

He might die the moment he caught her attention.

“You can do it, Jonathan.”

“I appreciate your trust, but… it might be difficult…”

“Hey, you looked quite cool earlier, what’s with this now? You’ve returned to your pathetic expression.”

“Damn it!”

Jonathan spat out a rough curse and stood up.

“If I die, at least return my corpse to the village! Aaaargh-!”

Jonathan raised his sword high, let out a wild shout, and charged forward.

“Intruder B, Orc individual, attempting futile struggle-“

Alice looked at Jonathan with the disdainful gaze one reserves for pathetic creatures.

To kill Jonathan, she didn’t even need to use her Unholy Breath. A light stomp with her massive foreleg would suffice.

‘I need to hurry.’

I quickly moved into Alice’s blind spot.

The precious few seconds Jonathan bought with his own life were not to be wasted.

“Change your form, Philosopher’s Transmutation Stone.”‘

As I held the transmutation stone and focused my will, its form began to change with a light.

Soon, a small glass bottle appeared in my hand.

“Dew of the Goddess.”

It’s a sacred-grade item, with only four existing in the world.

They say it’s dew concentrated from the Goddess’s pure essence, but it could be interpreted in a suggestive way…

That’s not important right now.

The Dew of the Goddess can remove all negative status effects.

Even mental corruption that cannot be reversed by any other means.

Yes. Even the deranged Alice can have her broken mind healed by using this item.

Click-!

Holding the glass bottle, I leaped high into the sky.

The snowfield receded below me, and Alice, flying in the sky, drew closer.

I pulled a chain from the Ring of Preservation and threw it towards Alice’s tail.

Although the chain didn’t wrap around her tail as stylishly as in the movies, I have “Telekinesis.”

Even without precise aiming, the chain, guided by telekinesis, attached itself to her tail like a magnet.

“What are you doing! You mere skeleton! Come at me!”

On the ground, Jonathan was shouting wildly.

Thanks to him, Alice hadn’t noticed me clinging to her body yet.

Despite everything, Jonathan was certainly useful.

“⋯!?”

Alice, perhaps feeling something unusual on her tail, finally turned to look at me.

“Intruder A, in close proximity to tail. Attempting erratic action. Must be intercepted.”

Alice changed the direction of her breath attack, which had been aimed at Jonathan, and fired it at me.

Roar-

As I dodged by swinging around her tail like Tarzan in the jungle, an explosion echoed from behind.

I can’t just take it lying down. I didn’t come all this way for nothing.

“Deploy Thorn Barrier. Reflect all incoming damage.”

When the breath attack missed, Alice didn’t hesitate and immediately activated her barrier.

Her bones sharpened, and dense thorns covered her body like heavily armored infantry with spears and shields.

As Alice said, if I attacked in this state, the attacker would also suffer significant damage.

But she was mistaken.

As I said, I have no intention of ‘attacking’ at all.

‘I’m here to heal you. Thank me later.’

Whoosh-

I threw the glass bottle containing the Dew of the Goddess over Alice’s head.

The glass bottle shattered against the bone thorns, and radiant rainbow-colored dew droplets poured out.

Immediately after, a blinding flash swept through the entire area.

***

“My legs hurt. Let’s rest for a moment, Mark.”

“Stop complaining! Didn’t you hear Jonathan? The Warrior Orc and Lady Estel sacrificed themselves to save us. We don’t have time to slack off.”

“Mark is right. Let’s just walk a little further.”

Wild’s face crumpled, but knowing his companions were right, he started walking again, limping.

A solemn atmosphere hung over the orcs.

Ultimately, this expedition ended in failure, just like Elder’s decades ago.

The cost was dire.

Along with Jonathan, the leader of the orc village, they had lost Estel, an irreplaceable and powerful asset.

However, the orcs did not despair.

“Snow Orcs do not give up! Let’s not let the sacrifices of the Warrior Orc and Lady Estel be in vain.”

“Yes, that’s right. Next time, we will sacrifice ourselves. Then our descendants will challenge again. Someday, we will win.”

The orcs were shedding their deep-seated defeatism and regaining the brave spirit of warriors.

They no longer feared death. As the noble sacrifices of the orcs accumulated, the orc race as a whole grew stronger, even if individuals perished.

Jonathan likely wanted to teach them this valuable lesson by setting an example himself.

“Wait a moment. Stop.”

“Wild- I know your leg hurts, but now is not the time-“

“No. I hear something! Don’t you hear it? It’s the sound of wings. Something is flying towards us!”

Wild’s eyes widened. His expression was not one of joking.

Mark and Buffalo also turned their gazes in the direction Wild was looking.

It was the sky.

A colossal figure was approaching from the sky where the blizzard raged.

Its size was absurd for just a bird.

The young orcs’ hearts sank.

“⋯Fast! Has that monster caught up already?”

Mark licked his dry lips and said.

“After Jonathan and Lady Estel, it means it won’t let us go either…”

“Buffalo, run!”

Wild stood up, his knees trembling.

“You’re the fastest runner among us. I can barely walk, and Mark isn’t much of a runner either. So, you run.”

“⋯Wild.”

“Now it’s Mark and my turn to sacrifice. It’s your turn next, so survive until then.”

Buffalo pursed his lips. At least one of them had to survive and return to the village.

The responsibility on Buffalo’s shoulders was heavier than a boulder.

“⋯Huh?”

Mark squinted his eyes.

“What is it?”

“⋯It looks like someone is riding on top of that monster.”

“What do you mean?”

Buffalo, who had been trying to escape, also stopped and stared at the sky.

Mark was right.

A small figure was riding on the approaching monster, waving at them.

As the distance closed, the figure became clearer.

“It’s the Warrior Orc! The Warrior Orc is controlling the monster!”

“Lady Estel is behind him too!”

The orcs, without a word, hugged each other and jumped for joy.