33. A New Monster
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: A New Monster
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Lionel stumbled backward.
Even an intermediate-rank explorer would be afraid of such an incomprehensible sight.
“Let’s… slowly back away.”
Karin said, her voice trembling.
They carefully retreated.
When they were some distance away from the central plaza…
Someone stumbled out of an alleyway.
A female human explorer.
She wore tattered leather armor.
She staggered towards them.
Gillian stepped forward, torch in hand, and stood before her.
“Hey, are you alright?”
The woman’s head tilted to the side.
“Are you injured? Can you talk—”
Crack.
The sound of bones snapping.
The woman’s head continued to tilt at an unnatural angle.
Something was wrong.
Lionel gasped.
Gillian instinctively gripped her great sword.
The woman’s lips stretched into a wide grin.
Whoosh!
Gillian swung her great sword. But the woman leaped backward, dodging the attack with inhuman speed.
Gillian froze for a moment.
The woman’s body convulsed.
Her head began to detach from her body, her bones cracking even more.
The party watched in horrified silence as her spine, from the cervical vertebrae to the coccyx, was pulled out of her body.
Like a parasite emerging from its host after having consumed all of its flesh and fluids.
Splat. Squish. Thud.
The internal organs that were still attached to the spine spilled onto the ground.
Her rib cage, illuminated by the torchlight, spread open like a grotesque flower.
A sharp stinger, like a scorpion’s tail, protruded from the end of the spine.
It was a centipede using a human spine as its body.
Her face was still that of the human female’s.
The headless body collapsed.
Like a discarded husk.
“Gillian! Snap out of it!”
Karin gripped her daggers and charged forward.
The human-faced centipede landed on the ground and shrieked.
“Kreeeeeeek!!”
Its grotesque cry echoed throughout the streets and reached the plaza.
Gillian snapped out of her daze and swung her great sword.
The human-faced centipede dodged.
Clang!
The great sword struck the ground.
Whoosh!
The centipede’s stinger lashed out, aiming for Gillian’s neck.
Clang!
It bounced off Gillian’s plate armor.
Karin seized the opportunity and slashed with her daggers.
Slice.
The human-faced centipede’s face was split in two. It then collapsed onto the ground.
Green blood oozed from the wound.
It twitched feebly, then stopped moving.
“…We saw these on the fourth level. I… I didn’t recognize them because they were wearing human faces, but now I do.”
Gillian said, her voice trembling.
Why was a monster from the fourth level here?
Had it somehow moved between levels?
His thoughts were interrupted.
“They’re coming!!”
Lionel shouted from behind.
He turned around and saw the hundreds of goblins and explorers in the plaza charging at them.
“Run!!”
They didn’t hesitate.
They ran with all their might.
Jeong Yoo-shin was the slowest.
They ran at full speed for about twenty minutes.
He was out of breath.
The distance between him and the others was increasing.
He glanced back.
Hundreds of human-faced centipedes, having shed their human disguises, were swarming towards them.
“Into the alley!!”
Karin shouted.
They ran into an alley.
They went through the maze-like alleyways.
He barely managed to keep up.
“Damn it!!”
Karin swore.
Dozens of human-faced centipedes were swarming towards them from the other end of the alleyway.
And even more were coming from behind.
Some were even crawling on the walls.
They were trapped.
“Prepare for battle!! Ahiman, block the rear!!”
They quickly formed a defensive formation.
Gillian blocked the front.
Lionel, Ahiman, and Jeong Yoo-shin stood in the center.
Karin guarded the rear.
Ahiman closed his eyes and began chanting.
Lionel’s arrow signaled the start of the battle.
Crack!!
The arrow flew with a loud crack.
Boom!!
The face of a centipede crawling on the wall exploded like fireworks.
Lionel fired arrows rapidly.
Crack!!
Crack!!
Headless centipedes rained down onto the alley.
“Haaaa!”
Gillian roared as she swung her great sword.
The holy symbols engraved on the great sword glowed brightly.
Gillian, swinging her great sword like a whirlwind, held the front line.
Karin darted among the centipedes, her daggers flashing as she went for their faces.
Slice!
Her two daggers sliced through the air, splitting the faces of the human-faced centipedes in two.
Dozens of corpses piled up in the alleyway.
This was the strength of intermediate-rank explorers even against unknown monsters.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s jaw dropped slightly.
Then, it happened.
“Ugh!”
A cry of surprise escaped Karin’s lips.
Her daggers were stuck.
The sticky blood of the human-faced centipedes clung to her daggers, making it impossible to pull them free.
He could see her struggling, her movements becoming more sluggish and less precise.
Her resolve had wavered.
And she paid the price immediately.
A centipede’s stinger grazed her shoulder.
Her armor tore, and blood spurted.
Karin gritted her teeth.
“Ahiman!!”
She shouted.
Ahiman responded by casting a spell.
[Abyss Strike]
Several portals that radiated sinister auras opened in the air. Giant tentacles emerged and began to lash out at the human-faced centipedes.
Bang!! Crash!!
The massive tentacles smashed not only the centipedes but also the stone walls of the alley.
Dust and debris flew everywhere.
Dozens of centipedes were crushed and splattered.
Rumble.
The alleyway began to collapse.
The centipedes retreated.
Karin also retreated.
Crash!!
The alleyway collapsed completely.
Jeong Yoo-shin ducked his head.
Dust and debris rained down on his helmet.
Their escape route was blocked.
“Karin!!”
Gillian shouted.
The glowing symbols on her great sword had dimmed.
She was reaching her limit.
Karin stumbled and fell as she tried to run forward.
“Ugh!”
Her body wouldn’t obey her commands.
She struggled, but her body, stiffening rapidly, only twitched.
Ahiman said,
“Skar! Help Gillian! I’ll take care of Karin.”
“Alright!”
There was no time to argue.
Even though the rear was blocked, the human-faced centipedes were still crawling on the walls.
Lionel was holding them back, but he couldn’t keep it up forever.
The number of arrows in his quiver had dwindled significantly.
Jeong Yoo-shin put down the packs that he was carrying and took out a glass bottle.
Black liquid sloshed inside.
Blood oil.
A concoction that prevented grease from sticking to weapons.
He hadn’t expected to use it like this.
He saw green grease clinging to Karin’s daggers.
He wasn’t sure how effective this would be, but he still uncorked the bottle.
The black liquid poured onto his sword.
He carefully coated the entire surface of the long sword.
“What are you doing? Hurry!”
“Coming!”
At Ahiman’s urging, he ran forward.
Gillian was barely holding on, using her plate armor to her advantage.
She blocked most of the attacks with her armor and killed the centipedes with counterattacks.
“Karin?!”
Gillian asked without turning around.
“She’s collapsed! Ahiman is taking care of her.”
“Ugh! Buy me some time.”
“Yes!”
He didn’t ask what the plan was.
He stepped past Gillian and faced the oncoming centipedes.
He raised his sword high.
The high guard.
‘That cocky bastard.’
He remembered the Sword Master’s words.
He chuckled and gritted his teeth.
A human-faced centipede lunged at him.
A downward strike.
Slash!!
The bisected centipede fell past him.
“Ha!”
A diagonal strike.
He severed a centipede’s head.
‘Found their weak spot.’
The cervical vertebrae.
His experience at the monster dismantling shop had sharpened his perception.
He stood firm.
His strengthened legs, the result of his relentless training, supported him.
His sword moved like a flash of light.
He quickly severed the cervical vertebrae of three human-faced centipedes.
‘Relax your shoulders.’
The Sword Master’s advice echoed in his mind.
“Yes, sir.”
He corrected his posture even though the Sword Master wasn’t there.
His sword moved faster.
Whoosh!
Five heads flew through the air.
A human-faced centipede that was staying out of his sword’s reach lunged at Gillian.
[Sacred Weapon]
Whoosh!
A light dagger flew through the air and pierced the human-faced centipede’s skull.
The dead centipede rolled to Gillian’s feet.
But Gillian, seemingly oblivious, was muttering something, her great sword stuck to the ground.
Boom!!
An explosion echoed from behind.
Ahiman must have cast a spell.
“Skar! Poison! Watch out for their stingers!”
Ahiman shouted.
“Yes!”
He replied and resumed his stance.
Three human-faced centipedes leaped into the air.
[Sacred Weapon]
He threw a light dagger, taking one down.
He swung his sword in a wide arc, decapitating the other two.
A centipede crawling on the ground lashed out with its stinger.
The sharp stinger aimed for his foot.
He stepped back and stomped on the stinger.
Crunch!
The iron plate of his work boot crushed the stinger.
“Kyaaaaa!”
The human-faced centipede shrieked.
He gripped his long sword in a reverse grip, thrust it into the centipede’s mouth, and twisted. The centipede twitched, then went still.
“Good work, Skar! You held them back.”
Gillian stepped forward.
A holy aura emanated from her body.
“Everyone, get ready to charge!!”
Gillian lowered her stance, her great sword pointed forward.
“Understood!!”
He looked back and saw Ahiman carrying Karin on his back.
Lionel had picked up the discarded packs.
Their eyes met.
Lionel nodded silently.
[Holy Lance]
Gillian’s great sword was enveloped in a holy aura.
The radiant aura made the great sword seem twice as large.
Boom!!
Gillian vanished.
Only a flash of light remained.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes widened.
The path ahead was clear.
Dozens of human-faced centipedes were splattered against the walls of the alleyway.
Gillian, still in her charging stance, stood at the other end of the alley.
“…Holy shit.”
Overwhelming speed and power.
“Run!!”
Lionel shouted.
Jeong Yoo-shin snapped out of his daze and ran.
They sprinted out of the alleyway.
They were back on the main street.
“We’re almost there! Just a little further north!”
Lionel shouted.
Just then, hundreds of human-faced centipedes swarmed out of the alleyways behind them.
There were at least a thousand.
Lionel’s face paled.
“Run!”
Gillian suddenly collapsed.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Similar symptoms to Karin’s.
She must have been stung by fragments of stingers that had pierced her armor or helmet during her charge.
“Shit.”
Lionel clutched his head, his lips trembling.
Jeong Yoo-shin hoisted Gillian onto his back.
‘Holy…’
The immense weight made his legs buckle.
His face turned red.
He gritted his teeth.
He wouldn’t have been able to carry this weight without his level up.
“Skar! Thank you.”
Lionel said.
“…Don’t mention it.”
They ran north.
How long did they run?
It felt like an eternity.
Carrying the weight of the plate armor, the beast-person, and the great sword, he felt like he was going to die.
The angel and the devil on his shoulders screamed at him to drop Gillian.
‘Shut up! Shut up, you crazy bastards!!’
He could abandon a ranged attacker, but not the party’s only tank.
The number of centipedes pursuing them increased.
He saw a large, circular tower in the distance.
And the hundreds of human-faced centipedes in front of it.
If they continued on this path, they would run into them.
Lionel gritted his teeth.
“Into the tower!”
“Gasp… Pant… Trapped like rats. The worst possible scenario.”
Gillian muttered between gasps.
“We have no choice!”
“…”
They ran towards the tower.
Crash!
The wooden door of the tower burst open.
They stumbled inside.
The first floor of the tower was surprisingly spacious.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it was empty.
“Ahiman! Block the entrance!”
“Understood.”
Ahiman put Karin down, moved to a corner, and began to chant again.
Lionel took out all his remaining arrows.
Jeong Yoo-shin put Gillian down and knelt, his heart pounding.
“Gasp… Pant…”
“…Thank you.”
“Gasp… Pant… Be quiet.”
He snapped, irritated.
‘That plate armor is seriously too much.’
Gillian fell silent.
Jeong Yoo-shin caught his breath, stood up, and retrieved his long sword.
“Here.”
Lionel approached him and handed him a potion filled with a yellow liquid.
Jeong Yoo-shin raised his visor, uncorked the potion, and drank it.
“Phew. What is this?”
“A tonic.”
“Why are you carrying this?”
“It’s better than a healing potion. Please, buy us some time.”
His depleted stamina returned. He felt strength surging through his body.
With his renewed energy, he remembered something he had forgotten.
“I have an Anti-Poison scroll in my bag.”
“It won’t be very effective. The poison is mixed with otherworldly energy.”
Ahiman said, stopping his chant.
‘Damn it.’
It was too late to run. And he didn’t want to.
Hundreds of human-faced centipedes shrieked outside the tower.
He stood at the entrance of the dark tower, the flickering torchlight his only companion.
He gripped the hilt of his long sword.
“Come and get me, you bastards.”
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T/N - I regret reading this chapter in the middle of the night. In other news, MC’s about to go metal again.