Episode 377
The larvae had emerged from the sand, so I thought of the group of sandworms that I fought against at Sandstorm Hill. However, I knew that these ones were much stronger the moment they appeared.
First of all, they were three times bigger. But unlike the sandworms that only had mouths, these ones had several eyes and several pairs of legs. As expected, they were just like dragonfly larvae.
I wondered how I would deal with them. I ran through my options, weighing one method against another.
"Uwaaaah!" With a loud roar, one of the giants charged at the larva in anger. He was wearing a helmet that even had horns on it, giving the impression of a charging bull.
Baaang!
The moment the horns on the helmet hit the larva, there was a loud sound like a thunderbolt and the larva's body tilted slightly.
There were many types of giants, just like humans. As far as I knew, the biggest ones were giants from the north. That was because the north was their origin. However, despite being from the south, this guy was as big as the giants I had seen in the north. Naturally, the power behind his headbutt was formidable. It seemed as if it would even be able to push over a rock the size of a house.
Still, even a charge strong enough to knock down a rock didn't seem sufficient to kill a centurion-class monster.
Thump!
The slightly tilted larva didn't collapse; instead, it just regained its balance. The insect's unique compound eyes were dyed red.
Just as the giant hesitated, sensing that something was wrong, the larva's forelegs shot out like whips and coiled around him, binding him.
"L-let go of me!" the giant cried out. He struggled desperately, but the extended forelegs were buried deep, hooked cruelly into his flesh. He let out an echoing scream, one that could only come from terrible pain.
That wasn't the end. The larva's mouth opened and it devoured the giant's face. It even ate the helmet.
Crunch.
I wondered if the sound of crunching came from the helmet, or from the skull. Blood poured out as the iron collar that had lost its owner fell down.
It was at this point that I arrived at the larva. I thought to myself, It's incredibly big.
I'd heard from somewhere that if all living things were in the same weight class, insects would be among the strongest. I thought it was nonsense the first time I heard it, but facing these insects directly, I could somewhat understand.
I glanced down at the dagger in my hand. I normally wouldn't be able to kill the larva even if I stabbed it with this toothpick-like weapon a thousand times.
However, I infused mana into the dagger. A blue aura soared from its blade. I didn't use my internal energy as usual, though; it was just ordinary mana. This was naturally far from an efficient operation method.
So what? I thought. It didn't matter. My internal energy had increased tremendously through my various experiences. On top of that, this place was a desert, a scorching land where yang qi was everywhere. That meant there was no burden even if I poured out mana like this.
Now, no one could deny that the weapon in my hand was a longsword. However, my mana wasn't only at this level.
More. Bigger, longer, harder.
I kept infusing the dagger with mana filled with intent, which thoughtfully followed my instructions. The mana blade, which was only the size of a longsword at first, started to grow in size again. The violently surging mana was reminiscent of blazing flames.
Up to this point, it could still be controlled. Besides that, most manifested mana forms resembled flames, so there would likely be no suspicion.
"Gasp!"
Maybe because my senses had become more sensitive from the mana management, I heard a gasp in the distance. It was probably Michael.
It was only natural, since the dagger he handed over had become a giant sword that even giants couldn't wield properly. Of course, it wasn't heavy because it had only become big through mana. On the other hand, just because it wasn't heavy didn't mean it was easy to handle. No one else would be able to fully handle this mana release.
Naturally, that wasn't the case for me. Needless to say, the Dark Sky Moonward Peak and First Fire Technique weren't easy to control. Handling mana with no attributes was far easier, even if there was a huge amount of it.
The huge blade that had been soaring toward the sky now fell down in a straight line. It delivered a single, clean strike. The massive larva had managed to withstand even the giant's charge, but now it was cut cleanly apart. The destructive power was exactly as I expected—no, it was more than expected.
Is this okay? I thought to myself.
I liked the technique I'd improvised. It wasn't without its drawbacks, but facing such huge monsters, its advantages clearly outweighed them. I briefly thought about whether to consider it a martial art, but ultimately decided it was simply better to think of it as a technique. That meant I had to think about what to name it.
Kaaaak!
Before I could come up with a name, a second enemy rushed at me. Perhaps because it had legs, it moved quite quickly on the ground, unlike a sandworm.
I tried to swing the huge sword once more, but at that moment, the dagger I was holding crumbled into dust and scattered. Thinking about it, there was no way that an ordinary weapon could hold this much mana.
I rolled to the side to dodge the charge. I thought I had completely avoided it, but I felt something grab my ankle.
I glanced down and saw that it was one of the larva's legs that had stretched out. Its strength was so great that I felt my body being dragged forward in an instant. The world turned upside down and the hook at the end of the leg flashed as if it was about to dig into my skin.
At that moment, I moved my tail. I infused mana into my tail and swung it like a mace, smashing the larva's leg to pieces.
Good, I thought. Ever since the battle of Sandstorm Hill, I had been constantly training my tail muscles whenever I had free time, and now it was paying off.
My body, which had been lifted quite high, fell immediately after I severed the insect's leg. At least there was sand underneath me, so I wouldn't get hurt too much if I fell. At least, that was my somewhat complacent thought.
Suddenly, the sandy ground turned over and a larva with its mouth wide open appeared. It wasn't a new enemy; one of the three had just disappeared due to burrowing underground. They were all big, and one of them stood tall like a mountain and blocked the view, so I'd just missed this one.
I came up with a useless excuse while thinking about how to overcome this difficulty. If I fell into its mouth, it would probably be messy, but the inside of the body was more fragile than the outside. Maybe I'd be able to deal effective hits even without a weapon.
No, I thought. I suddenly had an eerie feeling and threw my body forward.
If I used a technique, the recoil could allow me to move through the air. However, that method was too advanced for a wandering lizardman to use, so I held back.
Salpha.
The moment I muttered to myself, a wind suddenly blew. It was a gentle breeze, but that was enough. I immediately tightened my grip and grasped the flow of air. It sounded a bit fancy, but I was just using my internal energy to let myself ride the wind.
The angle of my fall was distorted. I fell along a trajectory that meant I narrowly grazed the larva's mouth rather than falling straight in.
It doesn't matter if I don't have a dagger, I thought as I raised my claws. I'd forgotten that there were other useful weapons on my body besides my fists.
I coated my claws in concentrated energy and tore through the larva's legs. Possibly due to the added momentum from the fall, the larva's outer shell was torn to shreds like a piece of paper.
The attacking part was easy. I just had to swing my arms as I pleased. The difficulty was controlling my movements so the larva's blood wouldn't come into contact with my body. As expected, its bodily fluids were poisonous. That was the reason why I'd abandoned the plan to fall straight into the mouth.
Bang!
The corpse of the larva I'd just cut emitted a foul stench. By the time I landed, its chest, abdomen, and tail were in tatters. It didn't matter how big it was; such wounds meant it was as good as dead.
That meant two had been killed. As for the last one, I looked around and soon found a huge pit. Judging from the shape, it seemed to have crawled back under the ground again.
A technique that could be used right now flashed through my mind. For some time, I'd been thinking about what kind of special move I could give Luzard. At least it wasn't a full-fledged martial art, so it wasn't that difficult to create a single technique.
I stood in front of the pit and took a deep breath. My chest instantly doubled in size. Rather than simply inhaling, I pressed the air deep into my lungs and compressed it to the limit. It went beyond stiffness to the point of numbness. It eventually reached the point where no more air could be contained.
"─────!"
I exhaled compressed air toward the pit, creating a roar so loud that it was hard to believe it came from my mouth. The shockwaves rippled across the sand and the larva leaped out with a terrible scream. It looked like a fish struck by lightning, blood pouring from its entire body.
A success.
I decided to call it Dragon's Roar. It was a kind of sound technique, but strictly speaking, I wasn't proficient in it since this was the first time I had used it.
Generally, sound techniques were difficult to handle without experience. If used carelessly, they could easily affect those around the user. I just used one this time because certain conditions were met: There were no allies nearby, and it was easy to adjust the range since the opponent was hiding under the sand.
The reason I'd suddenly used a sound technique that I wasn't familiar with was because it was a technique that didn't fit me at all. I had deliberately created a martial art that Luan would never choose.
In any case, I finished off the larva that leaped up with my claws, marking the end of the battle. I wondered if that meant I'd secured 300 points.
Should I look for artifacts? I thought as I examined the larva carcass while looking around. I could feel the presence of only one being. It was someone who hadn't run away even though three centurion-class monsters attacked.
"B-Brother... What is your identity?" Michael stuttered.
I looked elsewhere instead of replying, toward the place where Director Ailak was.
***
"I'm here to see the director!"
Immediately after the appearance of three centurion-class monsters, Ailak had fled without looking back. He shouted in a rough voice when he arrived at Block 106, "Hey! Are you listening? This is Ailak from Block 107! I came to see the director of Block 106!"
There was no response even though he shouted until his throat burned. Ailak found the silence strangely ominous.
Every prison cell in the labor camp had a different size, shape, and appearance. In particular, Block 106 had a strong reputation and was two or three times larger than Block 107.
However, Ailak felt reluctant rather than envious every time he stopped by Building 106. It wasn't because the building was old, though. In the first place, all the prison buildings were old. Rather, it was due to the inexplicable eeriness he felt from Block 106. It was better when the sun was up, but he got goosebumps when seeing it at night.
"It is important—"
Ailak stopped talking mid-sentence.
The door opened, revealing a man with a gloomy appearance. He had a skinny body and twisted eyes. He spoke in a cracked voice without looking at Ailak with his empty eyes. "Please come in."
Ailak coughed and went inside, asking, "Is the director in now?"
There was no answer. The gloomy man walked down the deserted hallway with goblin-like movements. He looked and acted as if he had been starving for weeks.
Ailak hid his annoyance and followed. This was only the third time he had entered Building 106. Every time he visited this place, he seemed to forget that he was in the desert. It gave him a strange, chilly feeling.
If it weren't for those centurion-class monsters, I wouldn't even set foot in a place like this, he thought.
It was hard to hide his impatience. He'd survived thanks to his good judgment in running away, but how many of those stupid people had survived? It was clear that Block 107 would suffer considerable damage.
In fact, this kind of thing had been happening quite often in the labor camp recently. The level of the monsters that appeared had suddenly increased. For that reason, there had been an increasing trend of cooperation between blocks in recent years.
At first, Ailak disliked that trend. He felt bad about sharing the credit with others. However, that opinion had changed now.
"The director is in here," the gloomy man said.
"Um. Thank you for the hard work..." Ailak began. Before he could finish speaking, however, the man who guided him staggered away.
Ailak clicked his tongue and muttered, "How nasty. I will remember his face."
Of course, there was nothing that could be done even if he remembered it. Nevertheless, Ailak deliberately said it loudly enough for the man to hear. He believed that his reputation would be protected if he showed such a reaction.
Then he took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Ugh..." He reflexively covered his nose, groaning due to the stench coming from inside.
The foul smell seemed to come from rotten meat, causing his stomach to complain. There were even things that resembled meat scraps scattered on the ground. It was a much darker place than the hallway, so he couldn't tell what kind of meat it was.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of gnawing on bones came from inside the room. It was impossible to tell what was being eaten.
Ailak felt his heart tighten once again, but he couldn't force himself to speak at first. After a long time, he eventually croaked out, "Are you here? Gustav?"
At that moment, the noise stopped.
Crackle.
Several candles lit up on their own and the surroundings started to be dimly illuminated. Ailak gulped nervously when he saw the figure that was finally revealed.
A huge man was sitting on the ground. That didn't mean he was big like a giant, though. The man's body was covered in fat. His body was so large that it wasn't enough to simply describe him as obese, and he seemed to be unable to move. His tight shirt and pants looked ridiculous.
Then their eyes actually met. Gustav grinned and showed his yellow teeth. Ailak couldn't smile.
"Isn't it human etiquette not to disturb me?" Gustav called out.
Hearing the somewhat slurred voice, Ailak shuddered and said, "I-I'm sorry."
Gustav grinned and put some meat in his mouth.
Uh...? Ailak blinked. For a moment, it seemed like the meat was infested with maggots.
𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
I must've seen it incorrectly, he thought to himself. Anyone who was sane wouldn't eat such a thing.
Ailak shook his head and said, "I came because I have a proposal."
"Proposal?"
"That's right. Three centurion-class monsters have appeared in my area right now. It isn't impossible for us to defeat them, but I have always wanted to be friendly with Block 106."
Gustav said nothing as Ailak continued.
"If you send me a useful prisoner unit, I won't forget to repay you." After finishing his sentence, Ailak stared at the other person under the guise of calm.
Gustav finished his food with a slight laugh before nodding indifferently and saying, "Okaaay. I accept."
"T-thank you!"
"I just have a request."
"Ah. Speak comfortably. I heard that you want several lesser race prisoners in exchange for your help. There are quite a few in my block who can be used."
"I'm tired of that now."
"Are you really?"
"Yes. I want to eat you."
Somewhat belatedly, Ailak shook his head and asked, "Wait, what do you want to eat?"
Ailak Balzac, a former mercenary in the south, was thirty-six years old. He had never imagined that these would be his final words.
Suddenly, Gustav's mouth opened to an impossible degree and swallowed Ailak's head. The head vanished in a single bite. Then the upper body disappeared with the next two bites. By the time the mouth moved a third time, there were no traces left of the human known as Ailak.
Crunch, crunch.
Gustav puffed up his cheeks like a squirrel and moved his mouth with a happy expression. The taste of the blood and flesh in his mouth was exceptional. It was a pity that it didn't have the seasoning of fear, but he sometimes wanted to eat food without seasoning.
Gulp.
Immediately after he let out a burp, the candles went out at the same time.
Gustav laughed alone in the darkness, saying to himself, "As expected, I never get tired of eating humans. Oho, ohuhuhu... Ah!"
The surprised Gustav suddenly coughed. "Y-you have to restrain yourself... Cough... Hum."
He was expressionless for a while before he soon started laughing crazily again, saying to himself, "Ahhh... This, imitating a human being... It is fun after all..."