Chapter 114: Nightmare 8th Floor (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: Nightmare 8th Floor (2)
‘...Could that be it?’
It was a long shot, but still.
In this endlessly sprawling desert, there was only one thing that could be considered a separate space.
The pits from which the Sandworms emerged.
They must crawl around underground before bursting out onto the surface…
Which meant there had to be an underground space, right?
I couldn't think of any other possibility.
It was certainly worth a try.
I had to get inside one of those pits.
‘But how…’
How the hell was I supposed to get in?
The Sandworm had died before its body had fully emerged, so it was now plugging the hole.
To get in, I’d have to deal with the corpse first.
Should I just wait for another Sandworm to pop out and use that pit instead?
…No. That would be a waste of time.
I didn't know what the compass number doubling every two minutes meant, but I felt like I should keep it from increasing as much as possible.
After a moment of thought, I released the flow of time.
KABOOOOM!
First, I launched a Flame Strike.
I focused the fireball on a single point, completely blowing apart the section of the Sandworm’s body that was blocking the pit’s entrance.
The ground caved in, widening the mouth of the pit.
Now the problem was the rest of the corpse still inside.
I jumped, then stopped time.
After finishing my Mental Focus, I fired a fully charged Destruction Ray into the pit.
Pssssshhh…
After vaporizing as much of the Sandworm corpse blocking the pit as I could, I attempted to enter.
I advanced with Skin Hardening activated.
The darkness wasn't an issue, thanks to Night Vision.
‘Ugh, gross.’
A disgusting stench assaulted my nose.
I soon came face-to-face with the remaining chunks of the corpse.
Deciding this wasn't going to work, I called on the Demon King.
‘Demon King, please put up a barrier and just push straight through.’
The Sandworm’s body fluid was toxic.
Skin Hardening was a skill that blocked physical attacks, not chemical ones.
Still, my Sixth Sense wasn't screaming danger, so I probably could have just gritted my teeth and pushed through bare-bodied…
But my clothes would melt, and it was just better to leave it to the Demon King.
‘Please use as little power as possible.’
—I know, so stop your incessant chirping.
The Demon King took over my body.
A Frost Barrier enveloped his entire form like a suit of armor.
CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE!
With the barrier up, the Demon King flew through the tunnel, plowing straight through the Sandworm’s corpse.
Just how long was this thing?
We had to travel much farther than I expected before we finally passed through the end of the corpse.
“Whew.”
I took my body back and proceeded down the now-clear underground passage.
The steep incline gradually became more gentle.
…Was this the right way?
It had to be.
I kept moving forward, a considerable sense of unease growing within me, until…
I came to a forked path.
I stopped time and considered which way to go.
Outwardly, the two tunnels looked identical.
Well, nothing to do but guess.
I headed to the right.
The passage soon opened up into a cavern-like space.
It was a dead end, with nowhere else to go.
Hmm… did I choose wrong?
The moment I turned to leave, my Sixth Sense blared a warning.
I quickly threw myself back toward the cavern entrance.
SPLAAAAASH!
A green liquid poured down from the cavern ceiling.
The floor where I had just been standing melted away.
Was it a poison, like the Sandworm’s fluid?
Judging by my Sixth Sense’s strong reaction, this was far more potent.
‘A trap…’
For me, this felt like a good sign.
The very fact that there was a trap here seemed like proof that there was something in this underground passage. So, going underground was the right answer after all.
I returned to the forked path.
This time, I took the left tunnel.
After walking for a while, another forked path appeared.
…What is this?
Don’t tell me I have to find my way through a maze.
[2,049]
I took the path on the right.
Before long, I hit another dead end.
I clicked my tongue. Without even stepping into the cavern, I turned back to the fork.
I went left.
Proceeding onward, I came to a third forked path.
Surely it’s the right one this time, I thought, choosing the right path again…
But it was yet another dead end.
…Seriously, I don’t think I’ve had a single shred of luck while clearing these Nightmare floors.
I went back and took the left path at the third fork as well.
Why do I keep running into forked paths?
The traps were also bland, not at all what you’d expect from a Nightmare floor. Was I even making any progress?
Just as I was thinking that…
“Oh.”
This time, instead of a fork, a wide space appeared.
And there was something inside.
‘…A puzzle?’
In the middle of the cavern floor was a large, rectangular frame, and next to it lay scattered rocks shaped like puzzle pieces.
Besides the tunnel I’d come from, countless other tunnels riddled the cavern walls in every direction.
I approached for a closer look.
The stone fragments even had pictures on them. It was definitely a puzzle…
‘I’m supposed to solve this?’
I was dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of a puzzle.
…Then again, a Cube appeared on the 3rd Floor. Was this really so surprising?
In any case, there was no point in dawdling.
I immediately prepared to solve the puzzle.
I stopped time and counted the pieces. It was a 100-piece puzzle.
I released time and was examining the puzzle pieces, each nearly as big as my body, when…
Ruuuumble…!
A vibration shook the cavern.
Suddenly, a Sandworm burst out from one of the tunnels.
…Now what?
KABOOOOM!
I blew the Sandworm’s head off before it could pull more of its body out.
After dealing with it quickly, I turned my attention back to the puzzle.
Let’s see.
First, I started moving the pieces one by one.
I began by laying them all out on the floor so I could see them at a glance.
This would be much faster than just trying to piece them together randomly.
‘The corners first.’
Next, I stopped time again and searched for the corner pieces.
I was fitting them together one by one when…
Ruuuumble…
Another vibration, and a Sandworm burst out from a different tunnel. Again?
I dealt with that one by blowing its head off and went back to the puzzle.
But a moment later, another vibration.
The Sandworms kept emerging, one after another, with short intervals in between.
‘Son of a…’
What was this about?
Were they just going to keep popping out to interfere?
At this rate, it would be impossible to focus on the puzzle.
In that case, it was time for the Demon King again.
‘Demon King, please freeze all the tunnels shut. Make it as solid as possible.’
Fshhhhhhh-!
As requested, the Demon King froze all the tunnels.
No longer needing to worry about Sandworms, I focused on solving the puzzle.
Thud.
I moved the large pieces one by one, fitting them into place.
It wasn't difficult, but with so many pieces, it was bound to take time.
Unlike the 3rd Floor, there didn't seem to be a time limit.
Still, I felt a sense of urgency.
Because…
[131,071]
The number on the compass was continuing to grow exponentially.
I conserved as much time as I possibly could by stopping and starting time.
Once I had assembled a good portion of the puzzle, I could make out the image…
An Antlion?
The picture was of a creature that looked like an Antlion.
Whatever it was, I kept putting it together.
And after quite a long time…
‘…Done!’
I had finally finished the puzzle.
As I fit the last piece in…
Fshhh!
The puzzle glowed faintly for a moment before the light faded.
I stared at the completed picture.
An Antlion.
And were those maze-like lines drawn on the Antlion’s body?
I wondered what it meant.
[33,554,434]
The number on the compass had surpassed thirty million.
I had tried to solve it as fast as I could, but it still took over twenty minutes.
Since the number was doubling, it had shot up in an instant.
What on earth could this be…?
The less I understood, the more my anxiety grew.
I looked around.
…So what am I supposed to do now?
Even though I’d finished it, nothing had changed except for that brief flash of light from the puzzle.
The most noticeable feature was the maze drawn on the Antlion…
Was this important?
The maze started at the Antlion’s mouth, and at the end point, there was a drawing of a heart.
I had no idea what it meant.
For now, I stopped time and traced the path through the maze.
Just in case, I memorized the entire route. It felt like it took hours.
I released time. The moment I thought about heading back outside…
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—
The ground began to shake.
It was a massive vibration, incomparable to the movements of the Sandworms from before.
“...!”
My Sixth Sense screamed a warning.
It was coming from below.
‘Demon King!’
I immediately swapped with him.
The Demon King covered his entire body with a protective barrier, just like before.
And in the very next instant…
…RUMBLE-CRUMBLE-CRASH!
The ground surged upward, slamming my body against the ceiling.
The barrier protected me from the impact, but my body was continuously pushed back.
Something enormous was rising from beneath the ground.
That was all I could tell.
“Tch.”
WHOOOOSH!
The Demon King conjured a small Cold Storm around his body and blasted his way upward.
He broke straight through to the surface.
Flying high into the sky, I looked down…
‘…You’ve got to be kidding me.’
What is that thing?
The desert was in turmoil.
Sand was being sucked into a single point, like a giant antlion pit.
GROOOOOOOOOH—
The form that finally emerged from the sand was… a giant Antlion.
No, “giant” was a massive understatement. This was a super-duper-mega-colossal monster.
I could see the corpses of the Sandworms being sucked into the Antlion’s maw.
Next to this thing, the building-sized Sandworms looked no different from actual ants.
I knew at once.
That thing was the boss of the 8th Floor.
‘But what the…?’
Isn’t this a bit much?
The biggest monster I had seen until now was the Frozen Hydra in Zone 4.
This thing was at least ten times bigger.
Its size was simply absurd.
‘Demon King, my body.’
I took my body back from the Demon King.
I stopped time and unleashed a fully charged Destruction Ray downward.
I aimed for the Antlion’s head, but…
…GROOOOOOOOOOOOH!
The Antlion let out an eardrum-shattering roar.
Toxic body fluid gushed like a waterfall from the spot the Destruction Ray had pierced.
The attack worked.
It worked, but…
The creature was so massive that hitting it with a Destruction Ray felt like pricking it with a needle.
It felt like it would take an eternity to kill it.
I stopped time again.
‘This makes no sense…’
A ridiculously huge monster like this is the boss? On the 8th Floor?
I might be able to kill it if I spent an eternity trying, but for any other Nightmare Clearer, it would be completely impossible to fight.
No, they wouldn’t have even been able to escape to the surface. They would have just been eaten… huh?
A thought suddenly struck me.
‘The maze.’
…Could that maze drawing have been…
A map of the Antlion’s internal body?
And the heart at the end was its weak point?
That would make sense.
If the intended strategy wasn't to defeat it conventionally, but to enter its body and attack its weak point from the inside.
‘Was I supposed to get eaten all along?’
If so, I could just fly into the Antlion’s mouth right now, but…
How much more time would that take?
The number on the compass was making me extremely nervous.
I had memorized the maze, but I had no idea how long it would take to reach the weak point.
‘…Demon King.’
I asked him.
‘How long do you think it would take to defeat that thing?’
The boss appearing meant I was near the end…
Wouldn’t it be better to just use the Demon King’s power to defeat it as quickly as possible?
If that was even an option.
—Does it matter if I overdo it a little?
‘As long as it doesn’t cause an overload…’
—Then hand it over.
I immediately gave my body to the Demon King.
Looking down at the Antlion, the Demon King brought his hands together.
And then…
FSHHHHHHHHHHH—!
The energy of the bitter cold began to gather.
It compressed endlessly.
It was compressed so much that it looked like a single droplet of water.
My Willpower hit rock bottom in an instant.
“Recharge.”
At the Demon King’s word, I stopped time and replenished my Willpower.
As soon as I filled it, the Demon King continued compressing the energy.
An immense power, so vast it gave me goosebumps just watching, was contained within a single, tiny droplet.
I refilled my Willpower several times.
He stopped just before it would have caused an overload.
The Demon King swept his hand downward.
As the Extreme-Cold Droplet fell toward the Antlion…
Crack.
From the point the droplet touched…
The Antlion began to freeze. At an incredible speed.
It took less than ten seconds for its entire colossal body to freeze solid.
Crumble-rumble-rumble.
The frozen Antlion then shattered into pieces and collapsed.
‘Wow…’
It was a complete instant kill.
After finishing off the Antlion boss like that, I descended and took my body back.
Haaaa…
Exhaling a cloud of white breath, I stared at the boss’s remains.
One side of the desert was completely devastated.
Even though I had defeated the boss, the clear message hadn't appeared.
I checked the compass.
[134,217,728]
The number had surpassed 100 million.
Then, something changed.
[0/134,217,728km]
“...?”
Next to the number on the compass, the unit “km” had appeared.
…What does this mean?
Unable to understand, I kept staring at the compass.
But there were no further changes.
Even after two minutes, the number didn't increase.
Frowning, I lifted my head.
“...”
In the direction the compass was pointing, the oasis was still there.
Did this mean I had to reach it to clear the floor?
Wondering if something had changed, I started moving toward the oasis.
After moving a short distance…
[1/134,217,728km]
The number on the compass changed.
I stopped again and stared at the compass.
“...Wait a minute.”
Don’t tell me…
Does this mean the remaining distance to the oasis is 100 million kilometers…?
I started moving toward the oasis again.
[2/134,217,728km]
After moving a bit more, the numerator increased to 2.
It seemed my guess was correct.
‘This is insane…’
I have to travel over 100 million kilometers?
Flustered, I did the math.
Right, I still have the Warp Device…
If I keep warping every 10 minutes?
I can travel 60,000 km per hour.
Plus the distance I cover by moving, so it would be a little more than that.
So, if I assume I can travel roughly 1.5 million km per day…
It would take about 90 days to reach the oasis.
“...”
Ninety days?
Ninety days?
…But there are only 20 days left on the Nightmare’s time limit.
[Nightmare]
Personnel: 476,803
Time Limit: 19 days 22 hours 52 minutes 3 seconds
Highest Floor Reached: 8th Floor
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
Only one thought echoed in my mind.
I’m so fucked.