by Okina Baba
Heh-heh-heh.
The arch’s physical power is a threat, sure, but not if it can’t even hit me.
The arch taratect makes some thread.
Oh, better not touch that stuff.
I know all about that.
Spider thread is bad news.
If you get caught, it’s all over.
Well, even if I did get caught, I could use Teleport to get away if I had to, but still.
A web of thread flies toward me.
As I dodge it, I see the greater taratects starting to move out of the corner of my eye.
Ah, I guess I should probably take this more seriously.
Knowing that the traps I set up all but guarantee my victory, it’s a little hard to feel any tension.
Plus, I’ve gotten strong enough at this point that I no longer have to worry about getting obliterated if a single attack hits me.
My raw physical stats are already high now, and I’ve got Magic Divinity, Mental Warfare, and Dragon Power all pushing them even higher, sooo…
If I really wanted to, I could make them even higher with Wrath, but that seems like a little much, y’know?
I mean, the Wrath skill increases my physical stats by a huge amount.
How huge, you ask? Well, at skill level 1, it already raises them just about as much as my level-9 Mental Warfare skill does.
And it doesn’t even consume MP or SP.
However, when I use it, I automatically take on the status condition Madness.
Thanks to Heresy Nullification, Madness doesn’t totally take over me or anything, but I still don’t really want to use it ever again.
I’m plenty strong without it, and when it comes down to it, I’m a magic type anyway.
Why would I throw away my magic to get into some stupid physical fight?
Anyway, taking Perseverance into account, my real HP easily surpasses 10,000.
Nothing could possibly destroy all that with one blow, or at least, I’d like to think so.
Anyway, this arch definitely can’t.
Its strongest attack has to be Deadly Poison Attack level 10.
And it uses Utility Thread to make sure its target can’t escape.
It’s a vicious combo. If I didn’t have Teleport, even I might be doomed if I got caught.
And I know what I’m talking about, since I’ve used that kind of combo plenty of times myself.
But like I said, I have Teleport, so I can get away easily enough.
Sure, physical attacks from a giant monster like that are scary, but since I’ve got the upper hand in speed, it’s not even gonna graze me.
Other than that, the only real threat is if a big group attacks me all at once, but I’ve got my traps to take care of that.
Now, let’s test out my new trap, “Welcome to the Sauna.”
The arch is stepping into it right now.
There, the thread I set up in advance stops it in its tracks.
Heh-heh. I made the thread so thin it’s practically invisible, then stuck it to the ground so you’d never notice it!
That’s what I call a sticky trap!
All I had to do was guide my victim there.
But this is just the beginning.
With stats as high as the arch’s, it could probably break out of the thin thread spread across the floor with sheer brute strength.
And even if it can’t escape, it still has magic to make long-distance attacks.
The arch’s weapon of choice is Poison Magic, one of my own favorites.
Depending on the situation, it could even become a fixed turret.
Although in my case, my poison resistance is high enough that it wouldn’t do much damage anyway, so it’s no big deal.
In a normal fight, yeah, a dragon-class monster is horrifying.
But this time, it messed with the wrong opponent.
After all, I know most of this thing’s attack patterns already.
Think about it.
Think of all the strategies I’ve cultivated over time.
Setting up thread, fighting with Poison Fang, firing magic.
That’s exactly what my fighting style looks like.
I’m sure this spider’s no different.
We’re both spider monsters, and I used to be a taratect, too.
It’s only natural that our strategies would overlap.
“I already know your every move before you do it!” Like that kinda thing.
I might have even been able to win in a fair head-to-head battle.
Not that I would bother risking something that dangerous.
I brush against the arch, rendered immobile by my thread.
Then I use Dimensional Magic: Range Teleport.
This is a trap I came up with to use against Araba.
Ultimately, I decided it wouldn’t work on a dragon’s high resistance and Imperial Scales.
But an arch taratect doesn’t have that skill.
And its resistance isn’t nearly as high as my magic is powerful.
The arch is teleported along with me.
Our destination: above the magma lake in the Middle Stratum where I fought the fire wyrm.
Welcome to the hot, hot sauna.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
How do you like the view of the fiery red-hot magma?!
Must be awful for a spider whose weakness is fire!
Even I’m uncomfortably hot!
But this should be much worse for the arch than it is for me.
Below is the ocean of magma, so falling would undoubtedly mean certain death.
I’m small in size, so I can land on one of the little islands scattered about.
But the arch’s body is around fifty feet long.
None of the rocks down there is big enough for something so huge to land on.
On top of that, this environment will drain its HP just by being here.
I spent a long time building up my Fire Resistance skill, but the arch doesn’t have it at all.
Since it has HP Rapid Recovery, its HP’s not really going down, but it’s still gotta hurt.
So now its HP Rapid Recovery is essentially useless.
Sure, it’s using Dimensional Maneuvering to support its huge body in midair, but now it has to face off with me, a highly disadvantageous opponent, in a field of flames, its biggest weakness.
Talk about a checkmate.
Heh-heh-heh. Regret your foolishness for challenging a clearly superior spider as you perish!
Now, time for the Repellent Evil Eye!
Repellent Evil Eye is the evolved form of Heavy Evil Eye. Now, instead of just dragging an opponent down, I can pull it in any direction I choose.
And not only can I pull—I can also push with it.
If I use this pushing power on the space surrounding me, I can even make a sort of barrier around myself.
Although, since the air and stuff also get pushed away from me, I can’t use it that way for very long.
Also, it may have evolved and gained more functions, but its strongest forte is still pushing downward.
So I aim that downward force at the arch and push with all my might.
As if it weren’t struggling enough to keep its huge bulk in the air already, now I’ve added even more gravity.
You can fall if you want, okay?
C’mon, the worst that could happen is that you’ll die.
Now then, hurry up and fall so you can serve as EXP for me, please.
The arch taratect somehow holds out with its Dimensional Maneuvering.
Then it makes a thread and shoots it toward the ceiling.
Really? Can’t you just fall?
It’s not like I’m gonna let you get away.
I use a Black Magic spell, Black Bullet.
Black Magic is the even more evolved form of Dark Magic, one step below Abyss Magic.
It’s not as powerful as Abyss Magic, but it’s certainly easier to use and has a simple but effective attack spell.
Name
ly, this one—Black Bullet.
It’s the enhanced version of the Dark Magic spell Dark Bullet, and as the name implies, it fires a jet-black ball.
Along with the Dark attribute, it also seems to have the Shock attribute, so it explodes when it hits its target and does extra damage.
By the way, since it’s a high-class magic, it’s much more powerful than it looks.
The Black Bullet hits the arch’s butt as it produces thread.
The shock sends the thread flying in the wrong direction, and the arch’s HP decreases.
All right, let’s wrap this up.
I fire a barrage of Black Bullets without mercy.
Will it fall into the magma first?
Or will it run out of HP first?
What’s it gonna be?
The arch is doing its darndest to survive.
Oh yes, it’s trying hard.
It withstands my attacks, uses Healing Magic to fix itself up, and even acquires the Dark Resistance skill.
I gotta admit, this thing has guts.
Good effort, buddy.
Now die already, will ya?
My Black Magic reaches level 3 from the constant barrage, so I use the new spell.
This one’s called Black Spear.
It’s the spear version of Black Bullet, so it also causes Piercing attribute damage.
The Black Spear goes right through the battered body of the arch taratect.
Finally, the giant spider, whose stats exceed those of an earth dragon, breathes its last.
My level goes up by 4 all at once.
I peel off my molted skin.
All right, all right. Better collect the corpse before it falls.
I grab the falling arch and teleport back.
Honey, I’m home!
I’ll have to enjoy this meal later.
Well, “enjoy” is probably a stretch. The body is poisonous, so it’s definitely gonna taste awful.
Yep, that’s right. Your captain disappeared with me and came back as a corpse.
I can understand the remaining spider troops’ panicked reactions.
Okay, you there, my good pal Greater.
Sorry, I know you’re busy being scared stiff right now, but would you like to go to the sauna, too?
One greater taratect, into the sauna!
From there, I simply repeat the same strategy I used on the arch.
The Middle Stratum, which once caused me so many hardships, now serves as the key to my greatest trap yet, eliminating the spider troops without mercy.
I finish off all three greater taratects with the same method, then wipe out the rest of the bunch by firing magic at random.
The stats of the adult taratects and stuff barely crack a thousand.
As I am now, they’re nothing but small-fry to me.
Huh? Small lesser taratects?
They died just from the shock waves of my other attacks, so what?
The arch, the three greaters, the grown taratects, and miscellaneous extras all go down before you know it.
Between the handful of bigger game and the large number of small-fry, I end up making out with a huge amount of EXP.
Thanks to that, I’m leveling up like crazy over here.
Ba-ha-ha! I can’t stop chuckling.
With a nasty trick like this, I can beat all kinds of bigger game without a problem.
Well, I guess I had some extra advantages this time, but still.
It’s just like the old saying goes, really.
You can never be too prepared!
THE NIGHTMARE OF THE LABYRINTH
What horrible timing.
That was my first impression when I was told about this job.
I had just received a letter that my child had been born, and I was looking forward to going home, when the assignment came in.
On top of not being able to be at my wife’s side while she was in labor, now I won’t even be able to go and see my child’s face before I’m called to the line of duty.
Even though the empire is in a festive mood now that a long-awaited prince has finally been born.
The current sword-king has been blessed with few children and had half given up until he finally had a son.
The child’s name, Hugo, was announced throughout the country shortly after his birth. It’s easy to imagine how overjoyed the sword-king must be.
I would like to celebrate my own child’s birth in a similar way, but if anything, it fills me with melancholy.
Of course, this is mainly because I cannot go and meet my child, but the nature of this mission makes my heart all the heavier.
I’ve been instructed to tame the mysterious monster that’s appeared in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
If I cannot, I must destroy it immediately.
Those are my instructions.
The request came from the small kingdom of Ohts, which contains an entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
This labyrinth is essentially the only means of traveling between the continents.
The exception is teleport points, but the only people who can use those are important royal figures or extremely wealthy individuals.
The kingdom of Ohts asked our empire for help because of a strange increase in the number of monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The empire immediately sent the troops stationed nearest the border into Ohts Kingdom.
This unit is composed chiefly of second and third sons of nobles, but they are no less powerful than any other troops.
It was assumed they would find the cause of the abnormality and quickly return home.
And that is indeed what happened.
However, it was not in the way we expected.
The troops actually fled home.
They ran from a mysterious spider-type monster.
According to the report, one look at the monster told them it could easily annihilate them all.
The cause of the so-called outbreak was that the surrounding monsters had all fled from this spider monster, driving other monsters out of their habitats.
The investigating troops reported that the monster was beyond their abilities and that a special force would have to be assembled to defeat it.
At first, this report was laughed off as utter foolishness.
However, the detailed written report and the testimony of the labyrinth guide who accompanied them confirmed the danger of this monster.
At the very least, its danger level is A.
It may even reach level S.
If such a dangerous monster was to come out of the labyrinth, the damage would be catastrophic.
But at the same time, strange rumors began to spread.
A spider monster that helps humans was spotted in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
A local investigator immediately sought out the source of this rumor.
It turned out to be a group of adventurers who claimed they were attacked by a dangerous Elroe baladorado in the Upper Stratum, when the spider suddenly defeated it and even healed their dying party members.
What utter nonsense.
That was my thought on the matter.
As a monster tamer, I am much more informed about monsters than the average person.
Monsters have low intelligence, but they are not completely without minds of their own.
But only a legendary-class monster would have enough will and intellect to take an action like that.
If this story is true, that spider monster must be a legendary-class monster, and a considerably intelligent one at that.
There’s no way I could defeat a beast like that.
However, if it actually did help people, then perhaps it is friendly toward humans.
Perhaps that means I could tame it with a little luck?
And now, my turn has come.
I really have no luck at all.
If this spider monster truly is a legendary-class monster like the rumors indicate, I doubt I stand a chance of winning.
Even
if that’s not the case, it’s still certain to be at least an A-rank monster.
Taming a monster like that is quite difficult.
To form a contract with the Creature Training skill, one must either win the monster’s acceptance or force it into the contract with brute strength.
Monsters are rarely willing to subordinate themselves, so it’s usually necessary to defeat them first.
So I would have to render this A-ranked monster immobile without killing it.
In a situation where it’s already difficult enough to win at all, this condition makes it all the more challenging.
Especially against a monster that’s at least danger level A.
If it’s any higher than that, even defeating it at all will be extremely difficult.
I needed to bring some support.
And yet.
“Harrumph. To think one such as myself should have to explore a labyrinth, at my age? How unlucky.”
Next to me is the empire’s most powerful mage, Master Ronandt.
He is, indeed, an incredible mage, but his personality can be rather difficult.
He can be wild and selfish, to say the least.
The man will coolly ignore orders and abuse those around him.
“Master Ronandt. If this monster is S rank or above, we will be in dire need of your power. Please try to bear with me.”
“I know that. Come what may, I shall handle it with ease. Consider your safety guaranteed.”
The man is generally good-humored and amusing, but the problem is that his attitude doesn’t change at all even on the battlefield.
Still, there’s no denying his strength.
He is known as the strongest human mage and has the power to back up that claim.
Our party for this mission is made up of myself, Master Ronandt, thirty warriors from the empire, and four guides.
I would have liked to bring the labyrinth guide who was with the previous party, but he flatly refused.
He said he had no desire to go anywhere near that thing again.
It’s a shame, but there’s nothing else for it.
I suppose I should be appreciative of the information that even a skilled veteran labyrinth guide was so fearful of this monster.
Not that this information is exactly reassuring.
At any rate, our first duty is to locate the monster.
“Hmm. Is this not the place where the earth wyrm’s corpse was said to have been found?”
