Chapter 14
Her thirst made a woman wake up and open her eyes.
She slowly rolled to the bedside and reached out for the water jug placed on the nightstand, but her hand failed to touch anything. Damn, I forgot about it!, she thought and clicked her tongue.
She yawned. Having been asleep for just one hour was certainly not enough rest. Swallowing, she took a thick bath towel placed on one side of the bed cover, wrapped it around her naked body, put on a pair of slippers and started walking.
This mansion was Eight Fingers' main base within the capital and it was property of Hilma, head of the drug traders. Logically speaking, the ten or so people positioned within this mansion ought to be quite busy, but it was eerily silent, as if nobody was around. Hilma was surprised as she walked along the corridor. If all the nobles had left, then sooner or later this mansion would become quiet. Even still, wasn't it a little too quiet?
In this mansion, calling out to the nobles would definitely elicit a response. Speaking of nobles, even if they were the eldest children and wanted to succeed the family, this would usually happen rather late in their lives, when they were roughly thirty years old. Prior to this, they were usually given allowances to spend as they wished, by their fathers who were the head of their families. Because most of them were already married adults with children, they were invited to a mansion where they could have secret entertainment: games, booze, sex, drugs and so on.
Flattering compliments would be spoken into their ears in the meantime. Conversing with other nobles in the same situation resulted in them building closer relationships with each other. doing this, they enjoyed themselves and established connections at the same time. Once a noble took over his family, it was time for the harvest. If the noble tried to stand against them, they would be given the stick. On the other hand, if the noble was willing to support them, they would be given the carrot. Like this, the circles of nobility were slowly being infiltrated. All thanks to Hilma's hard work.
She walked along the silent corridor to find some water to drink. In fact, she didn't despise the silence, she even preferred it over noisiness. Her entertaining personality when nobles were noisily forming friendships was only a facade. However, the atmosphere in the house right now was too unnatural. The silence cast a chilling sensation, causing her to feel as if she was the only person in the mansion.
"... What's going on?"
The guards could not have left without saying a single word. If something bad happened, shouting would immediately give away her own position, which would be a really bad turn of events. If she were to return to her room and hide under the covers, what then? But she was not a scared little girl. Doing that would be too passive. It was necessary to take action when the situation called for it, otherwise one would be devoured like prey. This was her belief and she had been able to climb all the way from a prostitute to her current position because she strongly adhered to this way of thinking.
Looking around the corridor she could see that apparently nobody was present and she quickly ran to get out of this place. She trusted her own sixth sense and the place she ran toward was a hidden room which only she knew about. That room contained many magic items, precious gems and escape passages. Although this place was the headquarters within the capital, there were still many other bases in the city. It looked like it was about time to flee to one of them.
Proceeding forward while trying her best to be silent, she suddenly noticed something was wrong.
"Huh? what's this?"
She involuntarily gave off a soft groan when she saw something strange outside of the window. The thin glass was covered in ivy, completely blocking the fading sunlight from outside. No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to open the window: it just would not budge. She frantically looked at the other windows along the corridor. All of them were covered with thick ivy.
"W-What the fuck? Just who..."
Before she slept, the scene had definitely been different. In the short span of only an hour, it had become like this. It had to be the result of somebody's magic. But, who exactly? What was their objective? She had absolutely no clue, but knew that the situation was incredibly dangerous right now.
"Dammit!" Swearing as she trotted along, she did not even care her bath robe had come undone. No matter what, it was imperative to get inside the small secret room. Arriving at the stairs, she looked downward. It was deathly silent. She walked down the staircase, making use of the last rays of light that seeped in from the tiny gaps amongst the ivy. Thanks to the thick carpets laid on the stairs, she was able to descend without a single noise. She was immensely grateful for this.
"—!"
It was only when she arrived at the floor below that she was stunned with surprise.
There was a figure standing in the corridor, staring at her. The figure itself seemed to melt into the darkness, but it was not like the way thieves hid themselves in the shadows. It was because his skin had a dark complexion, being a Dark Elf.
The demihuman stepped out of the dark, blinking with the heterochromatic eyes that shone in the darkness. Wearing a young girl's clothing and holding a staff of dark, gnawed wood, the Dark Elf looked directly at Hilma.
Behind this mysterious figure was the hidden room. She recalled the layout of the mansion as she made her decision, and edged closer while trembling in fear. Some nobles must have brought it in as a plaything, in that case whatever happens to it doesn't matter.
But she soon discarded this wishful thought. Coccodore had already been captured. In order to avoid any unfavorable consequences from future power struggles, she had long since prepared escape routes to safe houses. As such, the subordinates in this mansion would never bring in irrelevant people without making some form of report.
"H-hey, who are you?"
When that voice resounded, Hilma frowned in surprise. As a high-class prostitute, she had come across all types of people, but a male Dark Elf dressed as a girl was a new. And the clothes were luxurious, the type which most people could not get their hands on. They were high-class goods that even Hilma could not obtain.
Dark Elves had always been living in the forests, but now one with an unknown gender appeared inside one of the best guarded places in the Kingdom's capital, wearing luxurious clothing. Had the surrounding atmosphere not been so abnormal, she would have assumed she was looking at a slave of a Great Noble, one meant for peculiar desires.
"...You, what are you doing here?"
The other person was completely unguarded and slowly got closer to her.
"Are you the most important person in this mansion?"
She was about to lie, but suddenly she got an extremely bad feeling. She had a tremendous trust in her own intuition. Compared to her common sense, she trusted her intuition even more and had therefore been able to survive up to this point. Common sense could betray her, but her intuition would never do so.
"Yes. Yes that is correct. I am the most important person in this mansion."
"I-Is that so. That's great." The boy smiled.
Hilma's heart ignited with a fiery desire, as if she had the urge to defile a beautiful object. It was that kind of pure smile.
"U-Uhh, that's not what I heard from the people here."
As if in response to the boy's words, the nearby window opened. There stood a young girl in a maid costume, her body wafting with the smell of blood instead of perfume.
Hilma covered her mouth with her hands, holding back a cry of despair.
The maid held a man's arm in her lovely hand. The arm's shoulder muscles were visible as if it had been ripped from the shoulder.
"W-What!"
"E-eh, it seems like someone else wants to attack this mansion. We need to finish everything before they get here. So I brought her with me."
"Please don't mind me, human. It has been a while since I have been this full, I am really satisfied right now." The maid's mouth did not move, but still emitted a noise. It was extremely surprising, but Hilma still was afraid. Especially about what exactly the maid had been eating, since it caused her body to shake nonstop. Hoping it was different from her expectations, Hilma asked:
"T-Then, do you want to eat me?"
"Huh? Ah, no, no. Mistress is different."
It was not reassuring. Her intuition warned that a worse fate awaited her.
"—Then, young man, would you like to come here for a bit of pleasure?"
The cloth covering her slowly slid off, revealing her shoulders.
This was the body she took pride in. As a high-class prostitute, all those that she serviced were upper-class nobles. Therefore she had devoted all her efforts to shed excess fat, maintaining her attractiveness. No matter how honest people were, they would be unable to take their eyes off her. Even a child would be aroused. She had tremendous self-confidence in this aspect.
However, no emotions could be seen in the juvenile's eyes. That means to say my attractiveness is not as great as the maid on the side! Even if I changed business, I'm still a professional. Even if it is an emotionless person, it is still possible to induce raging desire! I can do this!
Moving sinuously like a snake, she showed off her graceful body while advancing slowly, getting closer in an unsuspecting manner. However, she could not detect the boy's lust. That was why it was necessary to use other means. Her hand slowly moved, moving past the boy's neck—and then activated a magic item, her [Viper's Tatto].
The snake tattoo drawn on both hands suddenly materialized, with the snake raising its sickle-like fangs to bite into the boy's body. Anyone who was bitten by this powerful neurotoxic snake would immediately spasm before departing this world. For Hilma who lacked combat ability, this was her killer move.
However, the boy nimbly grabbed the incredibly fast poisonous snake with one hand and crushed it without hesitation. The viper tattoo slowly returned to Hilma's wrist. Because the materialized entity was killed, it would take roughly one day's time in order to recover. During this period it was impossible to activate it again.
Having taken action yet unable to achieve the result she had envisaged, Hilma was caught in the worst possible situation and couldn't help but retreat slowly. What terrified her the most was the fact that despite the chain of events that had transpired, the boy's expression had not changed even once. Even when he was attacked, neither anxiety nor hostility could be seen.
"Ah, ah, then, let's...get moving."
"Where to?"
In the moment that Hilda harbored this doubt, a surge of excruciating pain came from her knee. It was so severe that she could not even stand up, and helplessly fell onto the floor.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!"
She issued a pained shout; the suffering was enough to make her sweat heavily. She unwillingly glanced at her knee and immediately regretted doing so. Her left foot was twisted in the opposite direction, the bone visibly exposed as it had pierced her flesh. As Hilma cried, she also thought about using her hand to press down on the painful area, but she hesitated, afraid.
Then, the boy grabbed Hilma's hair and dragged her outside. An observer of this scene would not be able to tell that she was being dragged along with a powerful force. His strength was immense, even causing many hairs to be yanked out, yet he paid no attention to this.
"No! No! Please stop!"
The boy glanced at the wailing Hilma, but did not halt his pace for even a second.
"Quickly! We'll get in trouble if we don't hurry up!… Entoma, I leave the rest to you!"
"Ok, Mare-sama!"
"Somebody help meeeee!"
After assaulting the mansion, Entoma Vasilissa Zeta walked out through the main door.
She picked up a piece of paper that was lying next to her feet, crumpled it into a ball and playfully threw it toward the mansion, letting out the silvery laughter of a happy girl.
The original plan was to sweep the mansion clean of humans, then retrieve important books and valuable items before retreating. Like fleeting birds, they were to leave no trace that they had been there and, since time was tight, they would only take what they could. But in the end the house had been left completely empty, as if it had been cleared out by thieves.
Nonetheless, this was also completely fine because Demiurge, the one who had sent Entoma and Mare here, mentioned that this was a possibility. But then again, the overall time spent here had exceeded their estimations by far.
Together with the other demons, Mare and her should have departed much earlier. Mare had taken the most important person of this mansion and went ahead to the rendezvous point. Because there was still enough time, the lower-class demons brought along a mountain of stolen goods and were preparing to evacuate.
That should have been the case, but then they discovered an underground storage which was completely packed with precious stolen goods and illegal drugs. The appropriation work was therefore slowed down.
Firstly, the underground area was divided into many rooms, with valuable items and many cheap goods piled together, making it incredibly difficult to search through. It was basically like finding a specific tree in the middle of a forest. Even if it was Entoma and a lot of demons, they could not possibly relocate all of the items, as such it was necessary to locate the desired tree within the forest. If the woman taken away by Mare had still been here, this problem would have been dealt with earlier on, but it was already too late for that.
Entoma and the demons stuffed the goods which they deemed to be trash to one side of the room. Even for creatures who had far more strength than humans, this was rather cumbersome work. But thanks to this method and their efforts, they were able to successfully take away all of the items that had value.
As the person responsible, Entoma, who stayed to the end, had the refreshed expression one would have at the completion of an assignment. She looked at the night sky, using her hand to wipe off her imaginary sweat. Although she did not secrete a single drop, that was how tired she mentally felt.
"Ha. Everybody move the items away then."
Obeying Entoma's command, huge insects the size of a man started carrying large amounts of cargo on their backs flew into the night sky. These giant beetles were all summoned through her entomomancer ability. Their wings gave off a heavy and low vibrating sound, then the insects flew by the moonlight in a straight line formation toward their destination. After personally sending off the insects transporting the heavy goods, Entoma pondered as she looked at the object she held in one hand.
"Ah, must resist eating now. I must save this snack for later!"
With a 'bop' sound, she gently knocked herself on the head, but nonetheless brought the severed hand to the area below her chin. The man's hand then disappeared with a 'chomp chomp chomp' sound as Entoma's throat continuously moved. Her expression was extremely cute, but the smell of blood had also slowly spread out.
"Women's fat is soft and the meat tastes delicious. Children's fat is thin, and the meat tastes great as well. But, ah, the best is of course the muscular meat of grown men."
She nimbly avoided the bones as she ate, then threw the rest of the hand into the empty house.
"Thank you for the meal!"
She bowed in the direction of the mansion and, in order not to be late, she began to head off to her destination in accordance with her orders. However, she had not taken a single step when a voice made her stop.
"Hey, it is a beautiful night, is it not?"
"...Tonight is a beautiful night indeed, but I gather it isn't so wonderful for you?"
It was unclear to whether the one who slowly revealed herself was a man or a woman. Although it felt like she was a woman, her physique was that of a man.
"You, what are you doing here?"
"Taking a walk."
"... You, what was it that you ate so eagerly just now?"
" Human meat. It tasted sooo good!"
"... Human meat?!"
The man-woman's voice was as cold as ice, yet Entoma was not fazed at all. She didn't care what kind of emotions human harbored against her. If they dared to interfere, they would be crushed. If not, she would ignored them, unless she was hungry. Then, they would be caught for food. For the cute little Entoma, this was all their existence amounted to.
Slowly, the man-woman lifted her war pick. After seeing this action, Entoma spoke in a troubled voice for the first time.
"Then, have we met before?"
The man-woman had an incredulous expression, and thought to herself Could that be?, but did not voice this out loud.
"I am here because of work. Having you as my opponent will be troublesome and my stomach is full right now. Can't we both pretend we didn't see one another?"
"... Please excuse me, but I am one of the Kingdom's top-class adventurers. Upon encountering a man-eating monster, I cannot allow you to get away. Your continued existence in the human world is a problem."
"Ah, so troublesome. But you are strong. In that case I'll turn you into preserved food."
For the first time Entoma looked straight at the man-woman. She couldn't help thinking that this was a powerful warrior. Mm, yes, definitely very strong.
Entoma was not a pure warrior, so she had no means to actually assess the fighting strength of her opponent, but she could perceive this human was far stronger and better equipped than all the ones she had seen before. However, she did not consider the other side to be stronger than herself.
"Oriyaaa!"
With that battle cry, the man-woman darted over and sent her war pick crashing downward.
Entoma elegantly dodged the blow, but a follow-up attack immediately pursued her, with the war pick making a significant change in direction mid-swing, heading straight for Entoma. This move was not a smooth blow relying on centrifugal force, but purely based on an incredible amount of brute force and fighting skill.
Still, once again Entoma flashed out of the way.
"Ah!? Do you only know how to run?"
The war pick began rotating, creating a large vortex of wind which circulated above the man-woman's head, ruffling the blond hair that peeked out of her purple helmet.
"Do you only like to spin things around with a woosh woosh?"
The man-woman clicked her tongue in response to this jeering. When Entoma activated her basic evading skill once again, the hammer swung downward from above faster than before. With some difficulty, she managed to dodge and the heavy war pick buried itself deeply into the ground after missing its target.
Entoma laughed at her and the mocking gesture exposed their difference in strength. That man-woman caught onto the overwhelmingly powerful Entoma's carelessness.
"Get crushed!"
With the spiked war pick as the epicenter, the surrounding ground began to collapse, or rather, the rocks scattered. It was like an earthquake had occurred. For the first time, Entoma was unable to maintain a leisurely posture. She cursed her own carelessness. Avoiding that previous attack had been incredibly easy. Humans would find it very difficult to escape the earth-shattering shock waves because the collapse of the surrounding ground would result in a loss of balance. However Entoma was a battle maid and all the magic items she possessed were high-class. This degree of destruction was insignificant to her.
However, there was one problem. While avoiding the flying debris, the maid outfit she wore had become dirty. Could such a matter be forgiven? This was high-class clothing bestowed to Entoma by the Supreme Beings.
So—it ends here then.
Hostility hidden under the mask of Entoma's face emerged.
Kill.
She embraced murderous intent, not the type of emotion that humans had when toying with insects.
The war pick swung heavily toward Entoma. Entoma thoughtlessly raised her left hand to block the hammer. Since she was not at the level of the Floor Guardians, simply using her left hand to block the hammer could not possibly leave her unscathed. Then, at the moment of contact, the sound that rang out was not metal hitting flesh but rather the sound of metal colliding with a hard object.
A shield was attached to Entoma's left hand. This was not an exaggerated metaphor. An eight-legged insect had attached itself to Entoma's wrist.
"Wh-What is this!"
"You see, I'm an Entomomancer. So I can summon and use insects at my will."
She stretched out her right hand and a bug flew out from the dark. It resembled a broadsword and attached itself to Entoma.
"These are Blade Insect and Armored Insect. I originally did not plan to kill you, but you cannot be forgiven!"
Entoma took a step forward and thrust out her blade. The man-woman's armor cracked and blood spewed out, but this was far from being a fatal wound. She was completely unable to avoid Entoma's serious blow, but had only suffered a minor injury.
She had just declared herself to be a highest-class warrior of the Kingdom and this was not an exaggeration. At her level, there were no longer any adversaries. Although Entoma was not purely a warrior like Yuri Alpha, she was still a battle maid and possessed a strength far out of reach for humans.
She once again launched a slash, causing blood to spew, staining her cheeks. This time it caused a wound much larger than the previous one, and was no longer a minor injury.
"Your movements changed! Is this the real you?!"
The man-woman roared again, swinging the war pick heavily downward. However Entoma's armored beetle repelled the hammer. The powerful impact traveled across the man-woman's entire body, making her unable to take a single step even with her full strength. As she struggled to move, her pride ignited fierce anger within her.
The man-woman mustered the burning rage within her, smoothly launching a combination of strikes: her attacks raged like a violent tornado. The terrifying aspect of this was that it was created through the application of martial arts unique to this world. However, Entoma wielded her armored beetle and blade insect with extreme proficiency, and was completely uninjured by this fifteen-combo attack.
Entoma did not know that the previous attack was Blue Rose Gagaran's slaying move which utilized many kinds of martial arts at the same time: a Super Combo. Each surging strike had the weight of her full strength. It was capable of even breaking the martial art [Fortress] and only a few small number of geniuses could use the defensive skill [Invulnerable Fortress] which could resist this attack sequence.
However, Entoma had only relied on her naturally grown muscles to block. This was because of the level gap between the two individuals, and also due to the absolutely overwhelming disparity between the two race's physical capabilities.
Desperation emerged in her opponent's eyes.
"—Fuuuu~" The man-woman gasped for air as if she had just surfaced from underwater and stopped the flurry of attacks.
Entoma felt nothing. She only wished to kill the opponent. The blade insect on Entoma's right hand drew back like a bow and flew toward the man-woman's chest like an arrow. The target was Gagaran's chest. The war pick rose in the air, but was as slow as a turtle. Entoma's attack would pierce Gagaran before she could respond to it. Or so it was supposed to.
The sword cut through nothing air. Since the blade insect had lost its target, it flew into the night.
With a frown, Entoma turned her gaze to search for the intruder that was responsible for the interruption. In the distance there was a girl clothed in black. Behind her was the heavily breathing man-woman.
"I owe you one, Tia. I thought I was done for."
"Surprisingly, it seems that the blood flowing through Gagaran really is red…"
"You rascal! You've seen me injured many times before!"
"I thought you would now bleed green blood after that power up."
"It was a class change, not a race change!"
Hearing their quite relaxed conversation, Entoma could not help but feel annoyed. As a powerful adversary herself, it was necessary to clearly demonstrate the difference in strength at a glance while at the same time quickly defining her own position.
"Well, it's about time to end this. Did you say your farewells?"
For the first time, Entoma assumed a proper fighting posture. She now knew Gagaran was not a frightening adversary, the problem was the newcomer Tia. If her last move was a [Ninjutsu] as she supposed and her clothing was not that of an assassin, then she was a ninja such as the Supreme Being Nishikienrai. The prerequisite of that job class was Level 60 so, if she really was a ninja like those in Yggdrasil, even if surely not as powerful as one of the Supreme Beings, Entoma would not be able to obtain an easy victory. Now was not the time to hold back.
"[Spider Talisman]!"
Entoma's movements were even faster than the opponent as she activated four of such talismans. The moment they fell onto the ground, each turned into an enormous spider. The level of this spell was equivalent to a [3rd-tier Summon Monste] spell, so the creature summoned was not powerful, but it would already be a great help in testing the opponent's true strength. Furthermore, it would allow her to buy some time to prepare for battle. Although insect-made weapons were powerful, they had many weaknesses. One was that the weapon summoning, especially the best ones, consumed a large amount of time.
"[Shadow Clone]!"
Just as Tia's skill activated, her image shimmered and another Tia appeared in the original spot.
All this time Entoma had been wary of Tia. Clones from the [Shadow Clone] skill had roughly one quarter of the original body's battle power, but only the shadow's evading ability was determined by the amount of magic power granted to it by the main body, nothing more. This shadow might be a strong opponent for the talisman spider, but for Entoma it was a piece of cake. Is that the best you can do?
However, the real problem was how well the real Tia was capable of fighting. Entoma summoned her sniper weapon [Projectile Insects]. At the same time, she attached a talisman to herself and began to strengthen her ability.
Steel bugs flew out from an unknown spot and densely covered her left wrist. These were three-centimeter long insects that had a metallic shine, with a triangle-shaped body and razor sharp tip. Its appearance was very similar to that of a bullet.
In order to avoid the talisman spider's attacks, the shadow clone had to use its full strength and the main body had to join the fight alongside the clone. After a long while of battling like this, they only managed to kill one talisman spider, so it seemed that her level was not any higher than Entoma's. If this was the case, even if the battle against Gagaran were to resume, victory would still be certain. Looks like it's going to be easy. No mercy.
She would use overwhelming strength to bring about a speedy victory. The heaviness on her left hand brought satisfaction to Entoma and she pointed directly at Tia. Entoma's left wrist now was several times thicker than normal because of the bugs covering it. Following her movement, all of the insects began to move in unison from her wrist, rushing into the sky. Gathering into groups, the insects' wings gave off a sound similar to an automatic gun.
Even the allied talisman spiders which was within firing range was ruthlessly mowed down and in a moment, a total of one hundred and fifty projectile insects made their way toward Tia. A single insect was enough to puncture steel, and these one hundred and fifty insects could even pierce through a gigantic tree. In the face of this deadly barrage of bullets, Tia activated a skill.
"[Immovable Adamantine Shield]!"
A large exagonal shield radiating with multiple colors appeared in front of Tia. It soon collided with the insect swarm. In an instant, the shield shattered with a crisp sound, but so did the bullets and Tia who was standing behind was uninjured.
Entoma couldn't resist but mentally click her tongue even though she didn't actually possess one. Forcing her opponents to reveal their hidden trump cards one by one would eventually illuminate the path to victory. Although her current attacks were being dealt with for now, the moment her attack pierced through, they would be swept away like a flood from a broken dike.
She used the blade insect to deflect the incoming kunai and the insect shield was then used to defend against Gagaran's blow which came from above. It was an exceptionally mighty blow that caused significant damage to the armored bug as it screeched out in pain.
Her eyes should have been blinded because of the dazzling light given off by the shield Tia had generated and therefore it should have been impossible to defend against Gagaran's surprise attack. However Entoma's eyes were not affected by something of this degree. Besides, her field of vision was wider than that of humans and it covered the direction of this attack.
At the moment she determined the response attack to be incredibly dangerous, her body glided away: seemingly without even moving her feet, she pulled a considerable distance from Entoma. Although the human possessed a large physique, her movements were lithe and she had almost completely recovered from her wounds. She stood beside Tia, crushing beneath her feet the steel bullet insects which made bursting sounds.
She spoke in a cold voice.
"This isn't good; I'm not sure if we can win against her. What was that just now? Wasn't our timing perfect? She was obviously unable to see in this direction, yet was still able to block."
"A wide field of vision perhaps?"
"Rather than that, it seems more plausible that there are other reasons though. She has insect abilities, so it seems more likely that she used some kind of special sensory magic... Speaking of which, she possesses an overwhelming advantage. Why didn't she attack while we were talking?"
"A true predator would go for the kill only after determining the opponent's true strength."
"So that's it. She's waiting to see the true extent of our strength, very different to our demon boss. This cautious fellow really is a troublesome."
To be made light of by mere humans to such an extent is really distasteful. Well, there are other reasons but…
"Well, these insects aren't needed anymore."
The bugs attached to Entoma's right hand and wrist dropped to the ground, disappearing into the darkness with a rustling noise.
"In place of that... Come forth."
An insect similar to a centipede slowly wrapped around her wrist. Its body length was over ten meters, the front end had abnormally sharp teeth and its eyes were still closed.
This was the strongest insect that she, an entomomancer, could summon: the Thousand Whips Insect.
Entoma put strength in both her legs. She had already figured out the speed and strength of the two humans before her. Although she was not sure about Tia's ability to adapt to new situations, it was not enough to frighten her.
"Ah."
Entoma used her hand to touch her chin, which was covered in a transparent sticky fluid.
"Earlier, my stomach was full. After a bit of exercise, it's beginning to squeeze in hunger."
Stuck on her hand was her saliva. This was the clearest evidence that she craved humans as her prey. They were her favorite food. Until this moment, she had only been able to feast on vegetable fritters in order to satisfy her desires, but of course she did not come to hate the Supreme Beings because of this. Furthermore, she was given permission to eat one of the humans which had been imprisoned. She thought of this as a personal sign of great kindness from Ainz-sama.
For Entoma who had been restraining herself all along, the elite humans in front of her were food of the highest quality. She could not simply discard them without taking a single bite first.
The two who were bathed in Entoma's ravenous gaze could not help but shudder. This was not the reaction to a murderous intent, but rather the naturally-occurring psychological aversion of being seen as a living creature's meal. And this made them shiver involuntarily.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
Her high-pitched screech was as fast as the sound of a snapping styrofoam board. This was the first time that Entoma had initiated an attack since the beginning of the battle. As a predator in the act of capturing her prey, she charged directly at an incredibly fast speed.
She used the shield bug to block six consecutively launched kunai and drew closer to her targets. When she saw Gagaran swinging her weapon and stepping forward to stand as the vanguard, she had already decided which opponent she would deprive of their combat ability first.
Her right hand brandished a whip. The longer it was, the slower the whip's end would be. It was to be expected even if it was used by Entoma who possessed superhuman strength. However this was only logical if what was brandished was an ordinary whip. The being that was waved around was the most powerful insect the entomomancer Entoma could summon. it was supposed to be a whip with the rough shape of an arc, but it turned out to shoot out at an unimaginable angle.
This weapon was like an extension of Entoma's hand and bent in an 'S' shape, before it departed at Gagaran with the speed of lightning. It was a living creature at the same time it was a whip and struck in an unexpected way even for experienced adventurers like they were. When seeing it for the first time, not knowing what to do was the natural reaction. But the fact they could dodge it proved they were indeed adamantium adventurers.
The insect whip was about to hit the side of Gagaran's body, however she stumbled to avoid the attack.
"Be careful!"
Accompanying Tia's loud yell, Gagaran was blown upward. This was Tia's skill [Bursting Flame Column]. The seemingly self-imploding explosion and flames "encircled the two, and the Thousand Whips insect, which had done a one-eighty-degree change in direction from behind Gagaran, only managed to strike the spot where her head had been.
If it hadn't been for this almost suicidal move, there was no doubt that Gagaran's head would have been pierced by the Thousand Whips insect. It was a great dodge. However, Entoma's attack wasn't finished. As if it was being pulled by strings, the Thousand Whips insect attacked from angles that were hard to defend against, changing constantly as it took cheap shots at Gagaran.
At the same time, Entoma threw something at Tia. "[Thunderbird Talisman]!"
In midair, the talisman turned into a small bird that emitted bluish-white electricity and it sprang toward the ninja.
If there were two opponents, let one of them be taken care of by the insects. This was where the strengths of entomomancers lay. There was an explosion of lightning and the blue-white radiance spread in all directions. What emerged were Tia who was enduring her pain and Gagaran who had a hard time fending off the Thousand Whips insect.
"Dammit! This insect is really annoying!"
Gagaran's head was pushed against her war pick and her body was wrapped up by the ten-meter long insect in a way that soon made her unable to move.
Tia stepped forward quickly and stabbed with her magic dagger. The strike collided with Entoma's insect shield and let out a fierce metallic sound.
"Flurry of [Thunderbird Talisman]!"
Entoma held a number of talismans in her left hand and tossed them outward. They turned into many thunderbirds which were smaller than the previous one. They rushed to Tia who proceeded to conceal herself. Unable to find their target, the small birds flew off.
The ninja suddenly appeared behind Entoma from a shadow out of her line of sight. This was an ability which utilized shadows to traverse short distances. However Entoma had already noticed this because her antennae could sense the surrounding airflow.
So she tossed the remaining steel bullet insects at adventurer as she emerged from the shadow.
"Kuh...!"
A pained groan came from the shadow and the smell of fresh blood wafted in the air. Facing Tia, who was bloodied but still had the will to fight, Entoma initiated her follow-up attack.
"[Scattering Explosion Talisman]!"
Even more powerful explosions than before appeared in front of Tia, lighting up the dark night. Against Tia who had been blown away and fallen on the ground, Entoma threw a [Sharp Cutting Talisman] and a [Rushing Wind Talisman]. Tia was covered in blood and didn't even have the time to get up before she was sliced again, blown away and thrown to the ground.
"Tia! You insect bitch!"
The condemning voice came from Gagaran, who was wound tightly into a ball by the whip insect.
Their original plan was that while Gagaran used her brute strength to restrain the whip insect, Tia would seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Entoma's main body.
Entoma ridiculed it under her mask. Such foolish beings. As a battle maid of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, triumphing over humans of this level was only to be expected. The best option for them should have been ignoring the fact that she was eating human flesh and run away as fast as they could. It was only because they had made the incorrect choice, that this scenario had unfolded.
"... Although the order is different to what I planned, so be it. Well then, which one should I eat first? Developed muscles must taste extremely delicious!"
Entoma once again summoned an insect, but not the type that had ferocious combat capability. The long syringe needle on its body contained sedatives. Entoma held the insect and happily walked over to Tia. It looked like she could bring home some local specialties as souvenirs. There were many in the Great Tomb of Nazarick who relished in capturing humans for food. They would certainly like this present very much, especially her 'sister' Solution. Entoma was a gentle soul, she was always happy to share a snack with the Pleiades and everyone else in Nazarick.
She was about to start humming, when—
"Eh? What?"
Entoma's superior intuition warned her of something flying in her direction from above her head and she rapidly sprung a distance away. At the same time, a lengthy weapon pierced the spot Entoma had just occupied. It was like a crystal lance used by knights, but it was not an ordinary item. Not the slightest crack could be seen on the crystal lance which had managed to crush rocks.
"Is that... magic?"
"You're correct. This is the 4th tier spell [Crystal Lance]."
The one replying to Entoma's question was the person who slowly descended on the top of the rock-shattering lance. The voice of a young girl came from a thin figure wearing a mask and a robe.
"Yet another enemy", Entoma couldn't help muttering. An intruder had appeared in the middle of capturing delicious prey. It was truly cruel that she still had to endure the temptations of delicious food.
"Shall we end it here?"
"...Who are you? I can forgive you if you immediately leave this place. Children are very soft and I like that, but they never have enough meat on them. I'll play with you next time, after I eat these two."
"So that's what you are; a man-eating monster, right? Even wearing a maid outfit, what kind of joke are you trying to pull? Who'd want some bloody-smelling monster like you around them?"
"wHAT arE yOu SAYInG?! yOU bItCH!"
Without pausing to think, Entoma let out her real, uneven and deep voice, then she immediately clamped down on her own throat. The insult was enough to make her lose her composure and she could never forgive this young girl's words. It was not because of a primal predator's urges, but because she was in an extremely bad mood right now, that she wanted to tear apart the woman before her into pieces.
'What did this woman say?! To me, a battle maid, which is a high-level existence within the Great Tomb of Nazarick!?' Anger spilled out from the bottom of her heart.
"I'LL kiLL yOu!"
She could not help but shout with her real voice, but restrained herself from puffing up in the back of her mind.
"Evileye!"
Tia shouted out the masked girl's name. Entoma spoke toward the enemy whom she was already determined to exterminate with her full might:
"I was wondering what you were up to... my, my, following Lesson 1 huh. It looks like you were assessing the difference in strength between you and your opponent. You must be thinking that 'this one is stronger than the ones before... but still weaker than me', right."
Hearing Entoma's provocation, Evileye could not hold back, shouting out: "So, my companions really were under your 'care'? You monster. Come, allow me to give you a taste of being the victim of abuse."
Entoma had no idea that a fierce rage was burning under the mask of her opponent. Entoma, who was seriously wound up with the intention to kill, ran forward. In her mind dominated by hatred, the other two had already become annoyances on the same level as pebbles by the roadside.
She actually said that nobody would enjoy my company!? The same words repeated over and over again in her mind. At the same time, the insect whip began to move. Entoma left about one meter and formed the rest into a large sphere. Of course Gagaran was in the core part of this shape.
"Die crushed by your own companion, you unpleasant woman!"
She swung the Thousand Whips insect, still wrapped around Gagaran, at the new enemy.
"Hmph. What a boring attack."
Evileye remained relaxed.
"[Reverse Gravity]."
Entoma resisted the magic, but the insect whip lost its gravitational weight and floated upward.
If the equipment user had successfully resisted, the equipment would likewise be resistant. But in the case of insect weapons, it was not the equipment user but rather the insects themselves which had to do the resisting. Since it was like this, even if Entoma would not be affected, it would still influence the insect weapon. This was one of the shortcomings, although the insects could attack autonomously. Even if it was Entoma, she needed to discard her original plan when facing magic like this. Sensing Entoma's intention, the insect whip gracefully removed itself from Gagaran. With the speed of a retracting measuring tape, it had formed a ten-meter long insect whip stance.
While this was happening, Evileye gave directions to Gagaran who went tumbling on the ground. "Gagaran! Get out of the way! Go and quickly tend to Tia's wounds! If you already used up your gauntlets' power, then take a recovery potion!"
The injured humans had recovered. If it was only that, then there would be no problem. The fact that the two people were Entoma's enemies had not changed, but considering the words of the magic caster in front of her, the situation was different.
Evileye and Entoma were on the same level. If they were to help the magic caster, the situation would become unfavorable. This time, Entoma decided to make use of her ultimate trump card which she was reluctant to use. She had already used it to eliminate all the enemies inside the mansion with a single breath, leaving behind two more daily instances.
That was the breath given off by carnivorous flies, [Fly Breath]. Such a breath wasn't emitted for the sake of eating the meat, but flies would embed their maggot offspring into the flesh. Then the maggots would continue to inflict damage from inside of the victim's body. Even more terrifying was the next step, where a large swarm of flies would emerge from the corpse, indiscriminately attacking other beings inside the area of effect, with the exception of the ability user.
Entoma widened her throat. Her true mouth which did the speaking was in fact her lower jaw. To others, it was a terrifying sight, as if her jaw had slipped apart. From there she spat out a swarm of flies.
"You! Could that power be associated with the Demon Gods? In that case…"
Evileye retaliated by releasing a white mist.
Although using cold gas to counter the attack was an extremely clever move, to completely nullify the effects was very difficult. The most appropriate magic to use would have been explosive magic to roast the entire swarm of flies. Her opponent had made a mistake. Entoma's mind had already visualized a scenario where Evileye was devoured by the maggots, but the counter-magic used was far beyond her expectations. All of the flies coated in the white mist fell out of the air, then the mist engulfed Entoma. In that moment, Entoma felt an unbearably intense pain.
"Uwaaaaaaahhhh!"
The entomomancer maid's face steamed as if acid had been splashed on it. At first the objective had been to nullify the opponent's gas spittle and Evileye hadn't expected it would even reveal the enemy's true face...
"Hey, hey, could this be our chance?"
Gagaran who had assumed a fighting stance with her war pick was searching for an opportunity to decisively end the fight. If she had realistically gauged her opponent's strength, then it was necessary to end the fight in one fell swoop.
Gagaran did not pursue with an attack because the ten-meter long, giant insect whip began to move violently, not permitting her to get any closer. However, this was nothing but the spasming of a defeated creature.
"This... what kind of magic is it?"
Evileye replied to Entoma's question.
"Insecticide magic [Vermin Bane]. Two hundred years ago there was an insect Demon God and this spell was developed for the purpose of repelling the insects used by that individual. Well, it's an original magic I came up with."
"Hey! It should be harmless for us right?"
"Harmless indeed. It is especially effective on insects, but doesn't cause the slightest harm to any other organism."
"... Her face has melted."
"Tia, that is her true face... Huh! No, that's not the face!"
As Evileye shouted out, the maid's entire face fell off, like a scene where the facial skin had been stripped off and dropped onto the ground. There was a difference though. The facial skin which fell onto the ground had many insect legs on the backside.
"That can't be...it's a mask-shaped insect..."
"kAHoooOOoH!"
The maid's throat exposed itself. A single crack appeared in the seemingly hard throat and a large liquid chunk of matter fell out. It looked like vomit, but the biggest distinction from that was the fact that this object was still crawling on the ground.
"What the..."
This really was startling, even for Evileye who was stunned by surprise. It was the first time she had seen such a sight in her long existence.
"… A Lip Bug."
Tia exclaimed toward the mucus-covered, leech-like creature which had fallen on the stone-paved road. "An insect which consumes human vocal chords and imitates the voice of its victims."
The front end of the flesh-colored leech had a section which looked like a human's lips. With an ah! ah! it gave out the maid's cute voice.
In full gaze of everyone, the maid's hands which covered her face slowly lowered, revealing an appearance that was exactly the same as an insect's. The frightful appearance made the Blue Rose members involuntarily take a step backward. Although they had already experienced terror when the mask insect fell off due to the insecticide magic, this sight ignited their fear again.
A monster from beyond had invaded. They couldn't help but feel a shadow cast over this world.
"yoU ACTUallY, YoU actUallY dArE..."
The rigid voice was difficult to listen to.
"Didn't her voice become rather cute? Personally, I rather like this voice."
Gagaran's hostility was on the verge of eruption. She was the most emotional member of the Blue Rose. She was filled with pity as she prayed for the soul of the young girl who was sacrificed to give the mouth-lip insect a voice and clenched her weapon even tighter.
"hOw dArE YoU MeRe hUmAnS AaAaAhHhHh!"
In previous battles she had always fought her enemy with ease. However at this moment she didn't have such a leisurely spirit.
"Well, there was no longer any need to hold back. Time to commence a fierce attack. The real battle starts now! Neither of you two should relax! Prepare to fight with your full might!"
Evileye cautioned the other two, but they had already predicted this before she had spoken. To ready their resolve for a fight to the death.
The insect maid's back suddenly burst out and four spider-like legs extended from beneath her clothing. With these newborn limbs, she jumped extremely high. For anyone looking, they would have drawn the conclusion that this was the effect of flight magic. From above, the monster spat carnivorous flies at the people.
Clicking her tongue, Evileye casted [Vermin Bane] once more.
"OnLy To yOu GuYs! i WIlL Show YOu WhaT TRUe TERrOR MEAnS! aftER KIlliNG YOu GuYS i WiLl TUrN You AlL into COrpse DoLLs!"
As soon as they had reached the ground, the carnivorous flies were completely obliterated. The insect maid used her compound eyes to glare at Evileye's true face. Indeed, only Evileye was comparable in strength to this monster. If Evileye were to lose, then needless to say victory would be impossible. Both Gagaran and Tia would be massacred. However, it would be foolish to just focus on one thing.
Gagaran's spiked war pick came from the side. Even if Evileye had an advantage, they could not afford to waste opportunities against such a powerful opponent. She knew it was very probable that she would suffer serious injuries if she was intercepted. That was why she chose to fight alongside her companions. Evileye smiled at them from under her mask.
The monster which was about to evade Gagaran's strike suddenly stopped moving. That was because of Tia's skill [Immobility Binding Paralysis]. The monster had a high level of resistance, more like a nullifying ability, so it was impossible to seal its movements completely. However, creating an opening even for a brief moment would be sufficient support for Gagaran.
The monster spat out white silk enhanced with [Powerful Strik] from her mouth. There was enough to dye Gagaran's upper body white. She found it difficult to break out from the rigid and adhesive spider silk by herself. Her attack was interrupted and she staggered as she retreated. In contrast, the monster came toward her.
"[Crystal Lance]!"
Although it embedded itself deep in Entoma, she did not appear to be in a huge amount of pain. She calmly summoned insects which appeared from the darkness and gathered densely on her wrist in a bulging mass.
"[Vermin Bane]!"
The white gas blew over and the insects fell one by one. The monster involuntarily let out an excruciating cry of pain.
The mouth in the equivalent place of a human's lower jaw spat out the same kind of spider silk toward Evileye as it did to Gagaran.
If I used magic to block this, it would simply be a waste of mana. Since I can nullify any restraining magic, I can probably take this shot… no, wait, this isn't—
In a panic, Evileye activated her magic. Indeed silky material was spat out, but compared to the ones which were shot toward Gagaran, these threads exuded a rigid radiance.
"[Crystal Wall]!"
The crystal barrier in front of her split apart as if it had been cut apart by a sharp blade, shattering into nothingness. "Was that a slashing spider-web!?"
"A present for you!"
The black wire mesh Tia threw expanded in midair, but failed to envelop the monster. Entoma simply passed through it like a phantom. "Sure enough, she's immune to any obstructing techniques!"
"Bah! Combat formation time!"
In order to maintain a distance from the battle maid who was closing in on her, Gagaran kicked with the intention of pushing away her opponent. Her boot collided with the maid, creating an astonishing metallic sound. Gagaran retreated while focusing on maintaining the distance while joining up with the rest of the Blue Rose members. They gathered while paying careful attention for any area of effect attack.
"ChIKu, cHIkU, tHesE AtTAcks... So AnNOyiNg!"
Whilst observing the maid's jaw-mouth which was muttering nonstop, Gagaran whispered to Evileye: "Did you hear that sound just now? Her maid costume is just as hard as my armor; truly unbelievable."
"It must be woven together with sturdy metal wires. Considering how thin it is, its hardness must be far above that."
"Adamantium... looks like it is far above that too."
"Oh, so it's not just at the same level? The equipment is of such an unimaginably high quality that my earth magic is not of much use. She's probably wearing equipment reducing magic damage, too. Specialized attacks probably won't affect her that much.."
"That means?"
Tia's doubt made Evileye smile under her mask.
"We'll finish this head-on with overwhelming firepower."
"That's easier said than done, isn't it? How do we pull it off? We are done for if we don't act soon. It also uses talismans to strengthen itself."
"Everybody use your own most powerful technique! I'm going to use the insecticide magic."
"...That's easy to understand. Well, let's go for our final strike."
Although they said they would strike with overwhelming firepower in a single strike, in reality it was not that simple. In general Evileye used [Sand Field I] or [Region Petrification] to hinder the enemy and support the warriors, but these methods would not work against that maid.
If they wanted to inflict damage, it would best to leave it to warriors like Gagaran to inflict physical damage. Evileye only needed to come up with a contingency plan in case this strategy did not work. She had always believed focusing purely on attack magic was wrong, but the situation called for a desperate measure.
Magic casters that rely purely on magic to attack are second rate. This is what I personally think, but this time I will have to compromise.
Evileye began to adjust herself to the magic she was about to use.
Even though [Shard Buck Shots] was the most effective method of attack, her teammates would also be caught in the area of effect. The mana consumption of her original spell [Vermin Bane] was extremely large and was best reserved for when the opponent was about to summon insects. This meant that right now the most appropriate kind of skill to use was the hated acid-type magic.
The three exchanged a brief glance, confirming that their preparations were complete, and attacked together. Evileye used [Acid Splash] as her main attack whereas Tia, who had weaker firepower, mainly relied on her supporting items. Gagaran continuously activated martial arts, executing an unending barrage of attacks.
After a while, the tide of battle began to shift.
The opponent was indeed incredibly strong. Many types of spider-webs, talisman-based magic attacks and summoned insects were launched in her offensive attack. Not to mention that her magic items were more powerful than those possessed by the members of Blue Rose.
Even though the number of consumables like recovery potions were starting to run out, the insect maid steadily began to retreat.
If one was to ask what had caused the tide of battle to shift in her favor, Evileye would puff out her chest and reply "Companions!"
There was no doubt that Gagaran, Tia and Evileye were inferior to this monster, but they still created opportunities nonetheless. Being able to attack and recover at the same time created a favorable situation. In particular, having the means of self-recovery and having support recovery through teammates was an enormous advantage. Gradually the situation became certain.
"As long as we don't screw up, we can beat her like this!"
Finally, after the umpteenth flurry of attacks by the three Blue Rose members, the insect maid collapsed onto the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Evileye's mana consumption had been severe and her consumables were almost depleted. From an economic standpoint, she was in a serious amount of debt. But—
"We've won!"
Gagaran who was covered in wounds declared their victory with heavy breaths. Not a recovery potion was left and she had external injuries, but her physical stamina was still holding up.
"Let's kill her."
"Yes."
Evileye agreed with Tia's suggestion. The dying insect maid was still alive, as evidenced by the maid making weak chirping sounds. In this situation where it had already lost its ability to fight, the safest and most secure thing to do was to end it without hesitation.
Tia who had taken up her sword and gone forward suddenly froze. Before Evileye could even ask why, she already knew the reason for why she had stopped her movements.
A voice colder than frost said: "How about we end this right here."