kscans

Chapter 235 - The Great Serpent

Chapter 164: The Great Serpent

SHAAAA!

"Raaaargh!"

I 'placed' the pommel of my sword, swung like a hammer, directly in the path of the approaching stinger.

Just as my Spirit Eye predicted, the Mushussu's tail collided with the pommel. With a deafening roar, its light-brown exoskeleton shattered and flew apart.

Even as it cried out in agony, the most ancient of dragonkin flashed its foreclaws and leaped toward me. I swung my sword—accelerated by wind and flame—down at its head.

The steel pommel smashed through scales that could repel rifle rounds. It cracked the skull beneath and crushed the brain, slamming the creature into the floor.

I charged through the swirling dust toward the next enemy.

Whether by its pit organs or some other means, my opponent had pinpointed my location without relying on sight. It moved to intercept me with a tail I shouldn't have been able to see, but I, too, perceived its attack by tracking the flow of mana.

Dropping to my left knee, I slipped under the stinger in a low crouch and swung the hilt upward.

"Jiiieeeaaaaahhh!!"

The pommel struck the Mushussu’s neck at a diagonal angle and, with the added acceleration of wind and flame, forcibly slammed it to the ground.

Its massive body—larger than a horse or even a bear if you included its tail—shattered the floor, bounced once, and crashed into a wall several meters away. It stopped moving.

Following through on my swing, I spun around without losing momentum and stood up, turning my gaze to the next enemy. But...

Jiii...!?

Its powerful tail was pinned by ice and a forked staff, and just as it opened its great maw to spew toxic mist, `Blanc`'s battle axe came swinging down.

The thick, wind-wreathed blade shattered its fangs and, without slowing, sliced clean through from its upper jaw to the corner of its eye.

As Blanc completed its swing, it was yanked back by a wire that flew from behind. An instant later, the Mushussu, its upper head gone, smashed its foreclaws into the floor.

It took two, then three more steps before toppling over, the monster already beginning to turn to salt. Confirming that all enemies in my field of vision were turning white, I kept my weapon raised and glanced at Erina-san.

"That's the last of them in this area! Great work, everyone!"

Hearing her words, I let the tension drain from my shoulders, shifted my grip on my sword, and sheathed it.

"Yeah, good work."

"Good work. Shall we take a short break?"

"Seconded!"

"Yes."

Nodding at Mia-san's words, I leaned my back against the wall next to Erina-san.

I looked down at my palms, opening and closing them to check my condition.

Excellent work, everyone. But Kyouta-kun, are you all right? That technique, 'Satsugeki' or whatever it's called... it looks like it hurts your fingers.

"A little, yeah. The gauntlets keep my fingers from getting cut, but since I'm using wind and flame, they really dig in."

I offered a wry smile through the earring.

If I'd done that without any protection, my fingers would undoubtedly be torn to shreds by now. The Mordschlag and half-swording stances were fundamentally designed with the use of gauntlets in mind.

Still, it hurt. Fortunately, thanks to the healing from my Sage's Nucleus, I was in perfect condition aside from some lingering pain.

"It won't affect my combat performance. I can keep going."

"Rotation, Kyouta-chan! Using centrifugal force effectively is key for striking! You gotta spin, spin, spin!"

"Right."

"I sometimes think... Erina-san and Kyouta-kun, your fighting styles are completely different, yet you interact like a senior and junior student."

"I'm the senior, huh! Alright, junior, massage my shoulders!"

"Are you from the Showa era? It's true our fighting styles are totally different, but Erina-san's pure technique is overwhelmingly superior. The principles may differ, but in the end, the result of 'getting close and defeating the enemy' is the same. I can learn from her fundamentals. Plus, she knows a wide variety of fighting techniques."

"Heck yeah!"

Erina-san puffed out her chest with a smug look, and Mia-san nodded, saying, "I see."

"As a reward for such a fine junior, I shall give you this! Want a yakisoba-pan too?"

"Ah, thanks. I'm good on the bread, though."

"Got it!"

"The senior-junior roles have suddenly reversed..."

I took a sip of water from the canteen Erina-san handed me and let out a small sigh.

"So, Aira-san. About where are we in the dungeon now?"

Mhm. You're quite deep in. You should be nearing the boss room soon.

"Understood."

About an hour had passed since we began our exploration.

Along the way, we marked a spot near an exit and were now heading toward the area where the boss appears.

Like Cerberus, the master of this dungeon doesn't typically move around much. Only when a new boss monster is 'produced' does it get pushed out and start to wander.

According to the Self-Defense Force, there's currently only one in the labyrinth. If we're going to challenge it, now is the time.

...Still, are you really going to fight it? It seems like you could level up just fine on the Mushussu alone.

"That might be true. But I want to proceed at as fast a pace as possible. We have school, so we can't just stay cooped up in a dungeon forever."

Honestly, I think you should just quit school. If something happens to Japan, a high school diploma won't mean a thing.

"Oh, it will. Like if something happens and we have to flee the country. Or if the SDF makes a huge leap forward in dungeon clearing and adventurers become obsolete. A diploma is incredibly important, don't you think?"

What a buzzkill.

"It's just reality."

In a world like this, you never know what might happen. Since the Day of Awakening, the things you'd think 'would never happen' happen all the time. Just like a dream. Whether it's a good dream or a nightmare is a toss-up, though.

In any case, it's important to be prepared. At the very least, if I don't graduate high school, the anxiety about my future is enough to make me puke.

"I think that's a good way to look at it. Besides, enjoying campus life with you and Erina-san sounds like fun!"

Oho? The two of you are going to be my juniors, you know? My little sanctuaries and sources of comfort in university life?

"No way. Mia-san aside, you'll have graduated long before then, Aira-san."

I'm going to grad school, so it's fine!

"A grad student shouldn't be using freshmen as a sanctuary. If anything, you should be helping them."

Hey, grad students are busy with all sorts of things. Probably.

"'Probably,' she says."

"Hey! Senpai, does your university have a ninja studies department?!"

"Like hell it would."

Barely... no, it doesn't...!

"It's not 'barely.' It's an absolute no."

"So close!"

"Fine, whatever."

I sighed and screwed the cap back on my canteen.

"Erina-san, if you would."

"You got it! Kyouta-chan, let's do our best in the ninja department together!"

"You can go by yourself."

"!?"

With the self-proclaimed ninja making a face that screamed betrayal behind me, I rolled my shoulders.

"Shall we resume exploring?"

"Yes, let's."

Ukon had already finished collecting the drop items and was standing guard with Blanc and the others.

I took one deep breath. A small routine to switch my focus.

"Erina-san, you ready?"

"Of course! Let's do this!"

I nodded at her usual energetic reply and focused my attention on the earring.

"Alright, we're moving out."

Yeah. Be extremely careful.

"You got it, senpai! We're gonna put on a real show for you! Look forward to it!"

After a wry smile at Erina-san's needlessly sharp shadowboxing, I called out to the golems and we started walking through the dungeon once more.

Ten minutes passed. We had one more battle, but broke through without difficulty.

We came to a long, gentle staircase and slowly descended.

After about five minutes, my feet touched stone pavement. The torches on the wall couldn't illuminate the whole space, but a massive sphere of light in the eighty-meter-high ceiling allowed us to see everything.

If I had to describe this place, it would be a drained, colossal swimming pool, or perhaps a decaying harbor.

Either way, it was a space that must have once held a vast amount of water. We were standing on what looked like a dock.

I jumped down a drop of several meters, landing on the rough, exposed rock floor. We pressed onward.

We were a good distance from the stairs. Finally, the time came.

"It's coming! Straight ahead, from below!"

"Got it!"

At Erina-san's call, we all leaped backward in unison.

The next moment, the ground dozens of meters ahead of us exploded.

No, that wasn't right. Something enormous had just burst through the hard rock floor.

Slithering out. A great serpent emerged from the massive hole in the ground. Its torso was over five meters in diameter, and its length was easily ten times that.

In the blink of an eye, the monstrously huge body slithered out onto the ground... into the place that was once filled with water. It closely resembled a snake, but it planted arm-like forelegs as thick as its torso onto the rocky earth.

It had verdant scales, and a purple mist leaked from the corners of its mouth. Its eyes shone like gold. Its fangs were as long and thick as several humans, and two horns of no less imposing majesty swept back from its head.

It was clearly not a creature a mere human should challenge, especially with just a sword.

Basmu.

One of the eleven monsters born of the goddess Tiamat, the very embodiment of all the world's venomous snakes.

The great serpent, ruler of the seas, that swallowed animals and people alike, a creature so mighty that even deities chose to placate it rather than attempt to slay it.

The monster before me, bearing that same name, was simply too big.

A single stir of its body made the air tremble and crushed massive boulders. Its breath became a gale, roaring like an earthquake.

The dust cloud it had kicked up still hadn't settled, swirling around it as if to accentuate its terrifying presence. The monster, large enough to swallow a tank, glared at us with its vertically slit pupils.

Its mana was overwhelmingly dense, overflowing with more killing intent than even the Mushussu.

In response, I simply and silently raised my sword. I gripped the hilt and pointed the tip at the great serpent.

I was afraid. But...

It wasn't as terrifying as that white dragon.

—OOOOOOOOOOOOH!!

As its roar cracked the very earth, I leaped. Using Flügel, I took flight and shot straight for Basmu's face.

Its golden eyes tracked my movements precisely as it raised its left foreleg.

Fast. It moved with an agility that defied its massive frame. Ignoring the foreleg raised as a shield, I swung my sword down, but even wreathed in wind and flame, I only managed to slice a single scale.

It swatted me away with sheer force, but I didn't fight it, simply letting myself fly backward.

I'd expected as much, but I doubted even my killing strikes would do any real damage. This thing was even tougher than the Mushussu's tail.

After swatting me away, Basmu slithered toward me. It closed the distance, raising a tremendous cloud of dust, and reared back its right foreleg.

But a massive stone stake erupted from the ground, blocking its path. The monster smashed through the pillar-like stake without hesitation, but it lost its balance slightly, and its right foreleg swung through empty air.

That alone unleashed a hurricane-force wind. I cranked Flügel to full power, somehow managing to avoid being blown away.

As I charged again in a wide arc, Basmu caused every scale on its body to glow.

"Tch!"

Following my Spirit Eye's prediction, I pulled up to decelerate, simultaneously evading upward.

At almost the same instant, beams of purple light shot out from the monster in all directions. Each beam was thick enough to swallow a person, a torrent of heat that gouged the earth for hundreds of meters. The dock was vaporized in an instant, and the staircase collapsed.

Weaving in a zigzag pattern to dodge, I glanced at my allies on the ground. Ukon and Sakon had become a wall for Mia-san, and Blanc, standing before them, was deflecting the beams with his battle axe.

And Erina-san was on her own, dashing across the ground, evading the attacks and the resulting shrapnel.

They were fine. In that case, I just had to do my part.

Basmu was firing beams like a porcupine shooting quills, even scraping the ceiling. I flew above it and initiated a steep dive.

I dodged the lances of light in a spiral and closed in. Swinging my wind-and-flame-wreathed sword, I slashed at its right eye.

GAAAAH!

Basmu twisted its neck, swinging its horn at me. My sword collided with it, making only a slight gash before being repelled.

I tumbled through the air two, three times, but I never took my eyes off the monster. In response, its massive jaws turned toward me.

A breath of cursed poison, unleashed with no tell.

A fog of death containing not only every poison in this world, but also 'poisons not of this world.' A space where even a high-level Awakened Person would die in two seconds enveloped me.

But it didn't matter.

Still shrouded in wind, I charged. The poison was pushed aside before it could touch my skin, and the air I breathed was purified by my Sage's Nucleus.

Its surprise attack, however, was blocked this time by its crossed forelegs.

My max-speed charge collided, and we were locked in a stalemate. The impact nearly made me black out for a second, but I gritted my teeth and endured.

Several scales cracked, but I couldn't reach the flesh beneath. What's more, the shattered scales were regenerating before my eyes.

I unleashed a maximum burst of wind and flame, but I couldn't push through. A roar from the monster sent me flying back.

"Guh...!"

Immediately after I was thrown back, pillars of ice shot like missiles from all directions, converging on Basmu's colossal body.

Their sheer mass alone was terrifying, but combined with their sharpness and rotation, each attack was equivalent to an artillery shell of the same size.

A roar and tremor even greater than when Basmu first appeared rocked the dungeon. I couldn't tell if my vision was shaking or if the space itself was trembling.

But.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!

It was unharmed. Scattering shards of ice and scales, the great serpent turned its gaze toward the attacker.

Basmu targeted Mia-san and began to slither toward her. The golems stood in its way, but stopping a charge from something with that much mass would be difficult.

But there was one other person here.

With a rustle, the 'black mantle' she wore billowed out.

"Ninja art..."

Crafted by Shizuku-san. A black steel cloak imbued with Erina-san's skills. Like Flügel, it was a piece of steel armor that could be mistaken for cloth.

Its true value was 'Invisibility.' Why would she rely on a tool for a skill she already used constantly?

It was purely...

"Black Hell Cannon!!"

...to hide something from the enemy's sight—something that wasn't her Arcane Gear and couldn't be concealed by a skill alone.

A sonic assault that surpassed the earlier ice barrage echoed through the labyrinth, and almost simultaneously, Basmu's massive body was 'lifted into the air.'

A few seconds later, another earthquake. The great serpent tumbled, tearing up the rocky ground.

A trail of crimson blood painted the air like rain, forming a river.

"How'd you like that!"

Erina-san was holding a cannon nearly as tall as she was.

Adorned in black and blue, it consisted of three barrels bundled together. She supported a grip near the barrels with her left hand and pulled a lever on the side of the box-shaped rear section with her right.

The barrels rotated, replacing the one that had just fired with a fresh one.

A drop item from Cerberus. A three-barreled cannon named the Black Hell Cannon. Though, the name was something the self-proclaimed ninja came up with on her own.

The projectiles were made of the same material as Arcane Gear. It needed to be pre-loaded with mana as gunpowder, and reloading took nearly an hour.

It had no rifling, and the ammunition was spherical, so its power dropped off significantly at a distance, and aiming was unreliable at best. The recoil would tear off the arm of an ordinary Awakened Person. Furthermore, since it was triggered by an external mana source, it couldn't be used through machinery, or even by a normal golem.

But... when fired at point-blank range...

Ga, aaaaaa...!!

...its destructive power was comparable to the hellfire unleashed by Cerberus.

I charged at Basmu as it bled profusely from its stomach, giving it no time to rest. But it ignored the widening wound and slammed its long tail into the ground, leaping.

Its body, weighing over 500 tons, soared into the air. Near the ceiling, it unleashed mana from its entire body and raised both forelegs.

In that instant, a massive sphere of water materialized above the monster's head. An enormous volume of water, enough to engulf even Basmu itself, was launched toward the ground at just shy of the speed of sound.

I dodged instinctively, but the wind pressure pushed me back slightly. The 'seawater' crashed into the rocky ground with a deafening roar, spreading out like a tsunami.

"O, Earth!"

A wall of rock materialized around Mia-san and the others. It blocked the surging wave, and then magic was cast on their feet, allowing them to walk on water.

A moment later, Basmu landed in the sea. The water had spread out so much that it was only knee-deep, and getting shallower by the second, but the monster immediately began to focus its mana again.

A magic circle over 100 meters in diameter unfolded in the blink of an eye. As it spread above the monster's head, great serpents began to emerge one after another from the seawater.

These serpents, each capable of swallowing a human whole, were a part of Basmu, its kin. Each one was a formidable foe, on par with a Mushussu.

But unfortunately for them, we had a countermeasure planned.

"Freeze!!"

A staff was swung down with a dignified voice. The moment it touched the seawater, a frigid wind raged.

The serpents that were trying to crawl out were all frozen solid in an instant, turned into ice statues. Ambushed the moment they appeared, their formidable bodies meant nothing.

And in that moment, right after casting a large-scale spell, Basmu revealed a clear opening. I seized the chance and charged.

"Hmph...!"

Oooooh...!!

Its own body was frozen over, covered in frost. Even so, its golden eyes blazed as it swung its claws at me.

The speed of the claw tips broke the sound barrier. Dodging after seeing it would be too late. Therefore, I had to 'see' it to dodge.

I barrel-rolled past the sweeping counterattack and closed the distance. I swung my sword back and plunged it with all my might into its eyeball.

With a wet squelch, the blade pierced the great serpent's eye, sinking in up to my elbow.

————GIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!??

Its unearthly scream became a weapon, and I felt my eardrums rupture.

I winced from the sharp pain, but I didn't let up my attack. Its foreleg was already closing in on my back.

I placed my left hand on my right bicep and channeled mana at maximum output. From my heart to my shoulder, to my forearm, through the bracelet, down my right arm, and into the blade.

No matter how tough its body was, from the inside...!

"Burn, to asheeeees!"

"Black Hell Cannon, fire!"

The blade plunged through its eye, the cannon shoved into the wound on its belly.

Both spewed crimson and azure flames, incinerating the monster of myth.