Act 2: Chapter 26: Giant Spider
Act 2: Chapter 26: Giant Spider
「Jumbo form of a Ragno… is it?」
I spotted three especially large Ragnos amongst the pack that was rushing towards Rosemonde.
I hadn’t heard about the Jumbo Rango species in the explanation provided by the guild staff earlier.
「OI, YOU PEOPLE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE JUMBO ONES! AT THIS RATE, I’M GONNA GET EATEN BY THEM!」
Rosemonde shouted at me.
Even though I didn’t do anything to her even when she attacked me without even hearing my explanation earlier, this condescending attitude even when she was literally asking us to save her was a huge minus.
Well, that might be a side effect of becoming famous.
「LISTEN, THOSE JUMBO SIZE ISN’T JUST FOR SHOW! THEIR SKIN IS WAY TOO TOUGH. HALF-HEARTED ATTACKS DON’T WORK ON THEM! IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL WHEN THERE’S ONLY ONE OF THEM, BUT FEW OF THEM APPEARING AT ONCE IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME! THE SILVER LINING IS THE FACT THAT THEY’RE SLOW! THAT’S WHY DO SOMETHING TO ATTRACT THEIR ATTENTION!」
Those Jumbo Ragnos were… defense specialists, huh.
「NGUH!?」
Rosemonde ran toward us, but she fell spectacularly after her feet got entangled in something.
Upon a closer look, I saw another Ragno tangled in her feet from underground.
Even though she was running desperately for her life, it seems she couldn’t dodge a surprise attack from the Ragno who hid their figure underground.
That moment, the Jumbo Ragno was about to squash Rosemonde beneath its bulky and heavy body.
「W-WAIT! EVEN IF YOU EAT ME, I’M NOT THAT DELICIOUS!」
「Sigh, as if they’re going to hear such childish excuse.」
I kicked the ground and appeared in front of Rosemonde. It was right when the defense specialist was about to eat Rosemonde.
Considering the worst situation in which my attack couldn’t pierce through Jumbo Ragno’s defense, which in turn would put Rosemonde’s life in jeopardy… I guess I should draw my sword.
Thus, my hand moved on to the grip of the 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》.
Which reminds me, this was the third time I was drawing this sword from its sheath since I left cocytus.
One time during the battle against Zorophilia, and another time when I just left cocytus, not knowing left from right or the common sense of the outside world I… ended up turning a goblin into dust with a single slash from this sword.
「K-KANATA-SAN! S… STOP! I-I DON’T THINK YOU HAVE TO GO AS FAR AS DRAWING THAT SWO–!」
Too late, I’d already brandished the sword.
My attack split the ground, the shockwave killing the Ragnos around me while blowing them off in the air as blood spurted from their bodies.
Yet, the shockwave from my slash didn’t just end like that, the trees around me were also cut by the shockwave.
The Jumbo Ragno who received the slash directly was bissected into the upper half and lower half, and then turned into black sand as the 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》’s magical power eroded their body from inside.
「Hah, they’re not a big deal after all…」
I stored the 《Hero Sword; Gilgamesh》 back into its sheath.
By my side, Rosemonde was looking at me with her jaw hanging open and a dumbfounded look on her face.
「Impossible… how can it be… not even my strongest attack leave a scratch on its skin…」
「… Uhm, are you okay?」
「THOSE GUYS WERE NOTHING IF I WERE FIGHTING THEM IN MY PEAK STATE! REMEMBER THAT!!」
Rosemonde was making a desperate excuse toward me.
「I see….」
Then, Philia walked to my side.
A giant, pure white arm appeared from the ground in front of Philia the moment she hoisted her right arm forward.
It was made from 《Dream Sand》 like before.
I was reluctant to show this in front of Rosemonde, but well, I guess there’s nothing wrong with showing her a glimpse… of our power.
The one, big round eye in the back of that hand was looking at Rosemonde and I, and then sent a wink at us.
When I turned to look at the origin of this phenomenon, I saw Philia was smiling proudly.
Though that wink might be intended to reduce the eeriness of its outer appearance… A scary thing was still scary.
I glanced at Rosemonde again.
She… was looking at the eye in the back of the hand of the pure white giant arm with a dumbfounded look on her face.
「EY!」
Philia made a squeezing motion with her hand while shouting in her adorable voice.
The eye of the two Jumbo Ragno was squeezed out from their body which was crushed into minced meat by the giant white arm.
Normal attacks couldn’t pierce through their thick skin huh.
Though Rosemonde was looking at that spectacle with a dumbfounded look on her face for a while after that, she suddenly hit her head with her own hand.
「W-Wait a minute, what are you doing! Your injury is already bad enough!」
「That’s right… Calm down, I’m Rosemonde! It’s not that I’m weak, that guy and the little girl over there is the abnormal one! Remember, I’m an A-rank adventurer, 《Rosemonde of Extermination》!」
Rosemonde muttered by herself, seemingly trying to regain her self-confidence.
… Though her body was fine despite being filled with Ragno bite wounds here and there, I’m afraid that there are a few screws loose in her head after her head knocked on something.
That moment, I saw Pomera swinging her cane from a separate place.
「Spirit Magic, 8th-Rank; 《Laelaps Fang》」
Beast-formed thunder materialised in front of Pomera.
It made a beeline toward the last Jumbo Ragno, gouging the ground in its wake.
Any normal Ragno who blocked its way got zapped and blown away as it turned into charcoal. The Jumbo Ragno was also turned into a giant lump of charcoal upon being zapped by that lump of lightning.
「That’s the last of those jumbo one, Kanata-san! Now let’s take care of the little ones!」
Rosemonde was looking at Pomera’s magic with an expressionless look on her face.
「C-Calm down. That feat is a piece of cake for me. Moreover, that guy, that little girl and the lass over there are the abnormal ones… I’m still, still…」
Rosemonde was completely at a loss for words, unable to say any excuses anymore.
She was sitting with her knees on the floor, and no, it wasn’t seiza, her leg formed “M” as she sat on the ground.
「… She lost her confidence huh.」
「I wonder where her self-confidence from before went to!?」
Though she seems to be able to retain, albeit barely, her self-confidence when Philia and I showed our power, it seems her mind got short circuited when the third person, Pomera, entered the fray too.
「Though I felt unfathomable strength from that brat… how can that stupid looking lass handle 8th rank magic with such ease… And from spirit magic which boasts its firepower yet hard to control on top of that… That, that will only make me, who chose to go solo to make the full use of my magic while equipped myself with those heavy and rigid protectors, like a fool…」
W-Why did she suddenly turn dere!?
The scene of us slaughtering those Jumbo Ragnos with such ease might have dealt a finishing blow to Rosmonde’s crumbling self-confidence.
「Uhm… are you just… naturally making fun of Pomera right now?」