by Okina Baba
Which makes perfect sense.
The strength of her real stats is based on the strength of her soul, after all.
Sure, physical strength comes into play, too, but the soul is the main source of power. It’s not surprising that the spiritual body—essentially her soul itself—would be just as strong.
In other words, our spirit bodies are comparable in ability to our real bodies, too.
But in our case, we’ve been split into fragments by Parallel Minds, which means we each have only a certain percent of that strength.
The fact that this battle is still grueling despite the fact that Heresy Nullification negates any attacks against us just goes to show how enormous the difference in strength is between Mother and our real body.
We keep getting blown away, charging, and latching on again.
It’s only after repeating this cycle for days that we’ve finally reached the point where we’ve caused visible damage.
Hey, don’t ignore me!
Ugh, so annoying.
I haven’t been slacking off, either, you know.
Hey, former body brain.
What?
Doesn’t it seem strange to you?
I don’t have to clarify what I’m referring to.
There’s something strange about Mother’s actions.
In this spiritual battle, as long as we have Heresy Nullification, we don’t have to worry about getting hurt.
We know we’ll defeat Mother eventually, even if it takes a long while.
It’s obvious how this will end.
That being the case, of course Mother’s going to try to foil our plans.
The first counter came in the form of an arch taratect–led spider army that she sent after our real body, which was in an area too small for her to enter herself.
Arch taratects are particularly powerful subordinates of hers, able to hold their own even against a dragon.
She probably thought that would be enough to kill our real body.
But instead, our real body turned the tables on them using some rather nasty tactics, beating them at their own game.
That was all well and good.
But it’s what’s happened since that’s strange.
Since the arch taratects lost, Mother obviously has to make another move.
Otherwise, at this rate, she’s gonna die.
However, Mother hasn’t shown any signs of attempting anything else.
This is despite the fact that she still has underlings to control.
Ever since I ate part of Mother’s spiritual body, I’ve been able to see through her eyes.
I’m not sure where in the labyrinth it is, but somewhere there’s a huge spider army, including arch taratects.
Mother is at the heart of it all, unmoving.
Looking at this, I can tell that the force she sent after our real body before was only a small portion of her army of followers.
Why doesn’t she send the rest of them after our body?
I just don’t get it.
I mean, our real body is strong, if I do say so myself.
Sure, we were able to defeat the arch taratects only through the use of underhanded tactics, but we also fought an equally strong opponent—no, even stronger—the earth dragon Araba, and won in a fair fight.
Still, if two or more arch taratects attack the main body at the same time, they certainly have a solid chance of winning.
And yet, Mother isn’t doing that.
Even though she has way more than two arch taratects.
She just sits there idly while battling us spirit projections, as if she’s waiting for something.
Well, I’m sure if she sent such an impossibly large spider army after our main body, it’d just use Teleport to run away without hesitation.
…Wait a sec.
Could it be that Mother understands that, too?
She knows that I have no problem running away from a fight I know I can’t win?
That’s very possible.
Mother and I have been connected by her Kin Control skill since the moment I was born.
I doubt she pays much attention to every one of her countless children, but considering how uniquely I’ve been doing things, I might’ve caught her eye(s) somewhere along the line.
If Mother’s been using that skill to monitor my actions, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s familiar with my behavior patterns by now.
In fact, maybe she used that knowledge to carefully arrange that first army in a way that would make me think that I might have a chance of winning if I fought hard.
Really, if I had fought that army fair and square instead of using dirty tricks, I have the feeling my odds of losing were just a little higher than my odds of winning.
If it was just the arch taratects, I think I would’ve won.
After factoring in that mob of followers, my chances were pretty slim.
But that slim chance was key.
It would’ve been tough, but it wasn’t so terrible that I definitely couldn’t win.
If I think I stand a chance, I can’t bring myself to run away, even if my odds of losing are much higher.
In the end, of course, our side won with room to spare.
Still, if Mother actually thought things through that far ahead, then she must be craftier than I gave her credit for.
I’d say that’d make her as smart as a human being, or maybe even smarter.
In which case, her current lack of action is downright suspicious.
If she doesn’t do something, we spirit bodies are going to beat her.
Why would she just sit around like that?
Just biding her time, almost like she’s waiting for something?
No, not “almost.” That’s got to be it.
But what’s she waiting for, then?
As if to confirm my sneaking suspicions, Mother’s hitherto motionless body suddenly shifts into action, as does the enormous spider army around her.
All of them move at once.
The spider army splits up into several squadrons, each spearheaded by arch taratects, before dispersing. At the same time, Mother starts to move at a speed much higher than seems possible for her enormous body.
She got us.
Mother was waiting for this moment.
Contact the main body!
I can’t! Mother’s interfering with the connection somehow!
Seriously?
That’s not good.
I don’t know what skill she’s using, but she seems to have temporarily cut us spirit projections off from contact with the main body.
Now we can’t tell our real body that it’s in danger!
It’s all too clear now what she was waiting for.
The moment our real body went outside.
Now she’s distributing her troops throughout the labyrinth, where our main body will teleport to at the first sign of trouble—cutting off our escape routes in advance.
Then, when our body has nowhere left to go, the queen herself will lead the rest of her army to hunt us down.
From the bottom of a deep, dark pit, Mother begins to race upward at a horrifying speed.
And as soon as she approaches the ceiling, she opens her terrible mouth.
Out comes the attack that destroys everything: Breath.
A pseudo-breath attack using the Dragon Power skill, likely modeled after the kind used by real dragons.
However, just because it’s not the real thing doesn’t mean it’s weak.
In fact, it explodes with more force than a real dragon’s breath, smashing through the thick ceiling of the labyrinth.
The earth shakes as if the world’s been turned upside down.
Huge meteorite-size rocks plummet toward the bottom of the pit like rain.
After the debris stops falling, it gives way to a clear blue sky.
If I could, I would scream, You’re kidding me, right?!
Seriously, Mother? You broke through the labyrinth itself
to get outside?
My sense of security, the assurance that surely Mother was too large to ever leave the labyrinth, vanishes in an instant.
Mother has escaped the cramped confines of the cage known as the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
And now, of course, she’s heading straight for our real body.
Who has no idea that any of this is happening.
ENTERING THE GREAT ELROE LABYRINTH
“U-um, hey. The thing is, I kinda can’t swim…”
After Basgath agreed to guide us yesterday, we finished our preparations and are now about to enter the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Instead of the entrance that was guarded by a fortress, we’re currently standing by the ocean.
“Listen up. If you jump off this cliff, there’s an entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth on the ocean floor below. We don’t have any idiots who can’t swim here, right?”
That was the question that prompted Fei’s reluctant confession.
When everyone stares at Fei with disbelief, she shrinks in embarrassment.
Even Basgath was probably joking when he said that; I doubt he actually expected that someone in our group couldn’t swim.
Now he scratches his head awkwardly.
By the way, we’re all in swimsuits right now.
Which means that Basgath had already told us that we’d be swimming, and yet Fei held out until the very last minute to admit that she can’t.
“You really can’t swim?”
Hyrince breaks the awkward silence with a somber tone.
“Yeah…”
Fei’s voice nearly fades into the wind.
This is kind of…unexpected.
In both this life and her previous one, Fei has always seemed like someone who can do just about anything.
But now that I think about it, I guess I’ve never seen her swimming.
Of course, there aren’t any safe places for swimming, like pools, in this world, so we’ve rarely had the chance to do it here anyway.
There was a pool at the high school we went to in our previous lives, but since boys and girls had separate swim classes, I never saw her swim then, either.
In short, I have no way of knowing how bad she actually is.
“Fei, what’s the best you can do?”
“Beats me. In our old world, I couldn’t even swim eighty feet. And I haven’t tried it at all in this body.”
That wasn’t a very helpful answer.
Does that mean she can swim a little bit, just not eighty feet?
Otherwise, she probably would have just said she can’t swim at all.
Plus, with her status, I bet she could manage to swim somehow.
Her stats alone are higher than mine.
She is a dragon, after all.
“What should we do?”
Hyrince furrows his brow.
Fei is the strongest fighter in our group.
Since we’re going to battle Hugo, we can’t just leave her here.
“If you’re having trouble, I’ll help you get down there.”
Katia shoots me a glare as soon as I say it, but what else are we supposed to do?
Fei’s body is heavy.
She may be in human form now, but she still weighs the same as she did as a dragon.
When she’s in this form, she gets around this by using Heavy Magic to manipulate gravity.
But underwater, she might have to cancel the spell, since she won’t be able to control it precisely.
If that happens, I’m the only one who would be able to support her weight, since my stats are the highest.
It doesn’t make sense for anyone but me to take on that job.
Katia must know that, which is probably why she’s merely glaring at me and not saying anything.
I feel like it would be less intimidating if she would just say something, to be honest.
“Fei, you had better swim like your life depends on it.”
Katia directs her wrath toward Fei instead.
It sends a chill down my spine, even though it wasn’t directed at me.
Fei nods silently, but I’m pretty sure I see her face go a little pale.
“Hoo, boy. Are these kids gonna be able to keep it together?”
“I don’t know if I can promise that, but there’s not much we can do.”
Basgath’s raised eyebrows and Hyrince’s sigh are a little painful.
“All right, kiddos. Focus! The ocean is the water dragons’ territory. If you let your guard down, it’ll snap you up just like that!”
At Basgath’s scolding, we drop the light bickering and tense up.
“All right, here we go! Follow me, you lot!”
With that, Basgath jumps off the cliff.
The rest of us follow close on his heels.
Plunging into the water, I quickly look around.
Right nearby, Fei is flailing her limbs in a frantic attempt at swimming.
She doesn’t seem to be drowning, but she’s not really getting anywhere, either.
Grabbing one of her hands, I pull her along.
I don’t know if it’s the Heavy Magic or the effect of the water, but she doesn’t feel heavy at all.
It shouldn’t be too hard to reach the entrance with her.
I start swimming, following Basgath.
We dive deeper and deeper. After maybe thirty feet or so, the entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth comes into view.
Basgath swims into the gaping hole in the rock face first.
He’s followed in order by Hyrince, Ms. Oka, Anna, and Katia.
Just then, I suddenly feel a presence behind me.
Turning apprehensively, I see a huge creature swimming toward us serenely.
A water dragon.
It looks just like the Loch Ness Monster.
As soon as it sees us, the water dragon charges without hesitation.
“Mmph?!”
Fei struggles to get away, but all she can manage is whipping around in the water, making very little progress.
I try to quickly move us away, too, but of course the water dragon has the edge on underwater maneuvers. At this rate, it’ll catch up to us before we get to the entrance.
If it reaches us, it’s all over.
Fighting a water dragon while holding my breath underwater would be nothing short of suicide. On top of that, my weapons are currently in Basgath’s Spatial Storage bag, so I’m unarmed.
Fei glances at me and sees my panic, then turns around and opens her mouth.
A torrent of brilliant light rushes out from her throat.
It’s a breath attack!
The breath surges through the water toward the water dragon.
Defending itself, the water dragon counters with a breath of its own.
The light dragon’s and the water dragon’s attacks collide, sending shock waves out through the water.
Luckily enough, the waves push Fei and me right into the entrance to the labyrinth.
As we’re sent spinning through the narrow tunnel, our bodies tumble off the walls repeatedly.
Not wanting to get separated, I pull Fei toward me and hang on tight.
It’s almost like we’re hurtling through a waterslide with no safety measures whatsoever.
For a second, it feels like we’re floating.
Finally, we crash to the ground magnificently.
In my attempt to shield Fei from the impact, I end up getting slammed that much harder.
Somehow, we’ve made it to the cave at the end of the tunnel.
Opening my eyes, I see Basgath with a torch in hand.
His body is pretty scratched up.
Everyone else has a considerable amount of scrapes, too.
We were basically flushed at high speed through a fairly long tunnel, so I guess we’re lucky the damage wasn’t worse.
It’s certainly better than it would’ve been if we’d ended up fighting that water dragon.
However, although the wounds are shallow, our bathin
g suits have all been torn in some places.
Ms. Oka and her childlike body are fine, but Katia and Anna have been left in a pretty suggestive state.
Also, Katia is glowering at me as she covers up her ripped swimsuit with her hands.
“Urk, sorry.”
“I won’t dare to ask what that apology is for, but perhaps you could let go now?”
At Katia’s cold words, I realize I’ve been holding on to Fei this whole time.
Suddenly deeply aware of her soft skin pressed against my body, I hastily pull away.
“S-s-s-sorry!”
“Hmm. Well, you saved me, so I guess we’ll call it even.”
I bow my head in gratitude to Fei’s generous decree.
“Argh! With a start like this, I dread to think how the rest of the journey’s going to go!”
Privately, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Basgath.
At any rate, since we’re all scratched up, we’d better treat our wounds.
We have to change into our regular clothes, too, but it’d be better to take care of our injuries first, right?
Although the women probably don’t want to remain in this state any longer than they have to.
“Well, at least we managed to enter safely, more or less. Welcome to our hell on earth, the Great Elroe Labyrinth.”
Groaning at Basgath’s dramatic line, I set about preparing some healing magic.
MOTHER ATTACK
Having decided at random to head toward the mountains, I enjoy my first stroll since being reincarnated.
In my previous life, I was an honorary shut-in who left the house only to go to school (I don’t really remember going anywhere else, anyway). But this time around, I’m a healthy young spider who enjoys the outdoors!
Since I never left the Great Elroe Labyrinth until now, I guess technically I’ve been a shut-in this whole time, but that’s ancient history now!
Walking is super-fun!
I guess humans really do need sunlight to live.
Can’t produce vitamin D without soaking up some sun!
Not that it matters to me, since I’m a spider now!
Still, just enjoying a little sunshine is raising my energy levels waaay up.
Really makes you realize how great the sun is.
Although I guess I don’t actually know if this planet calls its star the sun or what have you.
As a side note, there’s only one sun here, too.
