Chapter 129
Chapter 129
[Touka, instructions—]
[You should step back this time . ]
[…Acknowledged . ]
Without any questions, Eve stepped back .
Eve said so herself, that she could win against it .
An opponent that the strongest Blood Champion couldn’t win with a fair fight .
Well, she could request to act as a decoy that would distract the attention of the enemy .
However, she may get injured in the process .
She may even get seriously injured for doing something unnecessary .
I want to avoid a situation like that .
Eve’s special characteristics aren’t something that could be easily replaced .
Night vision .
Sensor-like hearing .
I don’t want these two to end up becoming useless as a result of making them decoy .
There is no time for me to prepare the combination technique with Pigimaru before the monster arrives .
I hide behind the trunk of a tree and check out the situation .
The creaking noises began steadily approaching our direction as trees fell one after another .
It has a large body that can’t weave its way between the trees .
That thing’s already in a distance where I could see it .
It’s a gigantic slug .
The base of the monster reminds me of that .
There were two golden eyes on top of its head .
Those eyes remind me of the compounded eyes of dragonflies .
Even the mouth between its two eyes also looks like the mouth of a dragonfly .
Also, there are multiple things growing out from its back .
Those things kind of resemble an elephant’s nose .
Furthermore, there were humanoid arms growing out from both sides of its body .
The blood vessels were bulging out of its thick, muscular arms .
And, there was its really large frame .
Speaking of its size alone, it slightly exceeds the size of the Soul Eater .
Elephant Slug .
There were two of them .
Are those the Human-Faced?
[…………… . ]
No, they weren’t .
Human-Faced should have more “human”-like faces .
Along the way, Seras had told me about them .
The Soul Eater was certainly under this category, however those two weren’t .
[Nuuuuuuooohhh! Booooooorrroooorrrrooooooooooonnnn!]
A bizarre shrill roar shook the air .
Something that I guess would be some kind of birds flew away from the source of the sounds .
Perhaps, they sensed the presence of the Elephant Slugs and ran away .
Even so…
[I see . ]
For a moment, the feeling of delight exceeded the calmness I’ve been trying to hold on to .
[So, it’s you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds . ]
Dondondondondondondon——!
With the earth trembling in each of their steps, the Elephant Slugs reduced the distance between us without pause .
Even though that thing looks like a slug, its speed doesn’t look like a slug at all .
Its undulating explosive speed…
It doesn’t really fit the slow image of slugs .
It’s honestly kind of creepy .
Hmm?
Ah, I see .
So, they could use those arms as support when they want to change directions huh .
The head of the elephant was swinging left to right .
[………………… . . ]
Perhaps, they were looking for me and Eve .
I could feel it .
It’s great delight and killing intent .
I guess it feels excited hunting its prey .
However, it seems that its perception ability is duller than I had expected .
It’s the type where it has a wide field of vision, but its ability to sense the presence of others is quite weak huh .
And, they are now—
[Welcome . ]
—within my range .
[]
Crack, crackleee—
Cracklee—
[Ooouuoo!? Oorrrooouuooohhh… . . oohhh—!?]
“An opponent that the strongest Blood Champion couldn’t win with a fair fight . ”
Snorting, I emerged from behind the trunk of the tree .
It may certainly be as she said but—
[That’s only if we were to fairly fight against it . ]
I don’t really have to fight from the front .
All those b*lls.h.i.t about fighting fair and square or having that spirit of fairness could eat sh*t .
Defeating them by trickery…
Surprise attacks…
Both of them are good .
[Finally finding the prey that you let loose— you must have been really delighted that the hunt continues… But before you noticed it, the hunter becomes the hunted . ]
The two Elephant Slugs have stopped in their places .
These two were standing still in front of me, just like two cliffs standing side by side .
The great delight and killing intent that they have been releasing earlier .
Now, they had turned into bewilderment and rage .
[Ooouuuoooohhh—-! OOouuooohhhnnnn!]
I also decided on using the skills that I could stack with the others .
Of course, it was to increase the number of skills I could use .
And, the finishing blow would be—
[]
Fssshhhh! Gussshhhhh!
Blood began spouting out all over the body of the two elephant slugs .
The monsters’ blood began raining down upon the surroundings .
[Oggguuueeeeehhhhhh!?]
The more they violently struggle about while they’re paralyzed, the more damage they would receive .
However, the monsters couldn’t even stop their own bodies from rampaging .
No one could resist it— once has been invoked on them .
[Oggooooo… giiii… riii—-]
Sinking in the pool of their own blood, they died .
The surroundings began descending to silence again .
[Oh?]
So, I could level up here huh…
There’s also the experience points I’ve acc.u.mulated so far .
However, the experience points these two monsters have given may be reasonably high .
The combination of the experience given by these two was enough for me to level up .
[…My MP has also fully recovered . ]
Eve rushed over .
[Is it done, Touka?]
[Yeah . ]
Her leopard eyes looked at the monsters’ corpses like she found it hard to believe what she’s saying .
[You defeated that monster without even breaking a sweat… while I could only run away with all of my might . I could only feel embarra.s.sed with how I acted…]
I think it’s quite amazing that she managed to escape from those guys before though .
[That’s an opponent you couldn’t win against if you fairly fight against it . By the way, these guys weren’t Human-Faced, right?]
[That’s right . However, the Human-Faced weren’t the only strong monsters in this place . Even if they’re not Human-Faced, there were still lots of frightening monsters here . ]
[Ah, I know . I already know enough about it . ]
A good example would be the monsters from the Disposal Ruins .
Eve let out a subdued groan .
[Touka . ]
[Hmm?]
[Just before you fought these monsters, you spoke earlier as if you’ve come across this monster somewhere before? If I remember it correctly, I think you said something like “I see . So, it’s you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds . ” . ]
As expected, she really has great ears .
[These were probably “Nazoto” . ] (T/N: ナゾート)
I called out to Seras who was walking towards us with Liz .
[Seras, help me with this . ]
It seems she understood what I’m talking about .
Seras places her hand over her chest .
[Yes, please leave it to me . ]
Incidentally, Liz doesn’t look particularly confused .
When the monster appeared, she was able to remain calm .
How should I say this—- her eyes look like she believes in us .
That’s how I see it .
I step into the pool of blood and lightly lift up the monster’s humanoid arm .
There’s a hemisphere buried in the palm of the monster .
It feels kind of squishy .
If I were to compare it with something, it would be that—- it’s just like a cat’s paws .
Well, this feels comparably worse than a cat’s paw but…
A monster’s hand .
I want to check the toughness of its skin .
Alright .
It looks like this would be a good spot .
I unsheathe the dagger from my waist .
[What are you doing, Touka?]
[I’m going to chip off this fleshy bead part . ]
[What? This thing…? D- Don’t tell me— you can’t possibly be thinking of using that in our meal? It wouldn’t be easy for me to say that I want to eat something like that…]
Slightly doubtful, Eve pulled away .
[Heh— That’s not it, Eve . ]
Seras wryly smiled .
[Is that really so, Touka-dono?]
[Yeah . I’m not really chipping this off for us to eat this . ]
It seems Seras had already read about it in the book “Encyclopedia on the Forbidden Arts” that I’ve lent her .
The “Nazoto” that I mentioned earlier is the official name of the elephant slug .
[This guy is one of the ingredients I need . ]
Yes…
[—for Pigimaru’s Enhancer . ]
[Pii . ]
Is it because his name was mentioned?
Pigimaru responded .
Eve looks like she finally understood .
[Mhmm, so that’s the reason . Umu? However—]
Eve tilted her head .
She looks really troubled .
[What’s the matter?]
[You said this won’t be eaten but… it would be used for Pigimaru’s Enhancer, that means—-]
[Puyuu?]
[—It would only be Pigimaru that would be ingesting this creepy flabby part into his body?]
[………Pigii!?]
Pigimaru suddenly looked scared .
However, it will be alright, Pigimaru .
When the enhancer is completed, the appearance shouldn’t be a problem anymore .
[……………]
Maybe .
▽
It was about an hour after I collected the usable material from the elephant slug and left that area .
Without any warnings, it suddenly happened .
[——————–]
What the…?
Fwuuusshhhh!
We stood with our backs behind each other and raised our vigilance towards the surroundings .
[Eve, do you feel anything around?]
[…No, I can’t find anything . ]
[Seras . ]
[N- No… I- I also don’t know what’s happening…]
However, there certainly is something there .
The presence of a monster .
Suddenly, the presence of that monster appeared .
Of course, this is quite different from Pigimaru’s presence .
Even Pigimaru looks confused .
Eve, Pigimaru, me, Seras .
None of the four of us have noticed that whatever that thing has gotten closer towards us .
There was no sign at all .
There was nothing but that sudden appearance of the presence of the monster we felt .
It’s close .
It would shortly arrive here .
What is that?
What the heck is going on…?
Furthermore, I couldn’t even feel its hostility .
Not a single killing intent leaked out of it .
Looking at it in another way, it’s really unsettling .
We still couldn’t get a hold of how much of a threat that monster is .
However, I could feel something strange about it .
It feels quite different from any of the monsters I’ve encountered before…
[Where did that come from?]
There is nothing even after looking around .
It’s just the never ending trees lined up around us .
Even if it were hiding, we would have been able to know its position if we felt its presence was close .
Seras drew her bow and pointed it to the air .
[—-It doesn’t feel like it’s somewhere in the air . ]
And it’s also not below us .
I had a.s.sumed first that it would surprisely attack us from underground .
However, the presence didn’t come from under the ground .
No, rather than that, it would be—
[—coming from me, huh?]
———-Crackkkkk————-
I heard a sound .
The density of the presence suddenly increased in one go .
[Pigiii—!
At the same time as Pigimaru cried out, I hastily took off my backpack .
It appears like Pigimaru also felt something from “me” .
[It came from here, huh…?]
Eve is prepared with her sword in hand .
[It’s in your backpack, you say…]
Anxious, Liz clung on to Eve .
Seras also looked like she’s sweating bullets as she seems to be preparing for something that’s about to appear .
The preparation to use her Regalia of the Spirits .
[——Ah . ]
I suddenly remembered one thing .
[Could it be—-]
——-Crackkkk——–
[……… . So, it’s this . ]
I gently put down “that thing” on the ground .
Taking a step back, I called out to everyone .
[Don’t let your guard down . ]
It’s obvious why I felt the presence from me .
It’s because…
The source of the presence came from “that thing” inside my backpack .
Seras looks towards me .
[Touka-dono, that must be…]
[Yeah . ]
That black egg I obtained from Mills Ruins .
Yeah, that is—
[—-about to hatch . ]
———-Craaackkkkk————