Chapter 112 - Viper's Trap! (4) Hero Eater
The moment Yormungand locked eyes on us, the air in the room froze solid, and no one could utter a word.
The boss room door, which had looked over ten meters wide, now felt suffocatingly cramped next to that colossal black serpent's form. Four red eyes gleamed menacingly, and its massive body was covered in dense clusters of long, arthropod-like legs—an utterly grotesque sight. No one could stay composed in the face of something that didn't even seem like a creature from this world.
It was a Hero Eater like the one before, but the otherworldly horror and vicious aura radiating from it dwarfed even Erebos, the one I'd smashed earlier.
"KieeeEEEEEEK!!!"
"F-Fuck! What the hell is that?!"
"Th-This is insane! How...!!!"
As Yormungand let out a ear-shattering screech, the Viper's Fang members panicked and grabbed their weapons. In that instant, I swiftly shifted to my horse bolting form and called out to Lizbet.
"Liz!!"
The moment she heard my voice, Lizbet shoved the guy next to her aside and rushed to me. But the man she pushed didn't fall—he steadied himself instantly, turned to her, and reached out...
"Y-You bitch, where do you think you're—Gahk!"
"KieeeEEEEEEK!!"
The second he extended his hand, one of those massive arthropod legs slammed down, piercing straight through his torso. It skewered his human body like it was stabbing through paper. There was no way to handle that—you had to dodge, no exceptions.
"KigiiiIIK!"
"Wh-What the fuck is this...! Graaah!"
"Don't engage—evade! Hurry!"
As Yormungand rampaged, I watched several Viper's Fang members get torn apart. It seemed hell-bent on slaughtering every living thing in sight, slamming its legs down on them relentlessly and ripping their bodies ripping them to shreds.
Whatever. Didn't give a shit if those bastards died.
With Klea already mounted, Lizbet reached me, so I tensed my leg muscles and revved up my body.
"Liz! Hurry!"
"Hah, hah...! On board! Master! ...Oh shit! The gear!"
"Everyone hold on tight!"
The second I felt Lizbet climb onto my back, I yelled to the two of them and kicked off the ground at full throttle. Viper's Fang would buy us time, I figured. That's what I thought as I bolted out...
"KiaaaAAAAK!!"
Apparently done with them already, Yormungand whipped its countless legs into motion and gave chase. A quick glance back showed it smashing through the dungeon walls with its enormous bulk, legs scuttling with a shasha-shak as it closed in behind me.
Eek...! Fuck. A snake body with those legs. That size! So goddamn creepy!
"Liz! Can you slow that thing down at all!?"
"I can make it flinch a bit... but anything more's impossible!"
I glanced back and asked Lizbet, who delivered the bad news while eyeing our pursuer. She was clutching our gear, my armor, and the horse blanket tight—must've grabbed everything before hopping on.
-Boom! Thud! Kra-BOOM!
Beyond the utterly collapsed wall lay something dark and shimmering, like a starry void in space. I wanted to take a closer look, but no chance. Yormungand barreled after us in that horrifying wriggle-shasha-shak frenzy, mouth agape as it pulverized the wall.
Fuck, so gross. In a way, even creepier than the Viper's Fang assholes we'd just been facing off against!
"Klea! We on the right path!?"
"Yes! Just keep going straight!"
"Liz! How's the speed!?"
"About even...! No—it's closing in, bit by bit!"
This was nuts. With that bulk...! I squeezed out every ounce of strength, even as my breathing grew ragged—something I rarely felt—and sprinted for all I was worth. And it paid off: before Yormungand could catch up, a dimensional gate shimmered into view ahead.
"Nngh! Back off!"
Lizbet unleashed Esser Kinesis and spells from behind, but they barely fazed it. Still, we were almost there. Right in front of us!
"Going through!"
"Kyaa! Master's tail!"
As I leaped into the gate, Yormungand apparently snagged a few strands of my tail fur. Ngh...! One of the few cute points on this musclebound body...! But we'd made it out! Outside!
"We're out!!!"
Bursting free, I spotted a group gathered at a distance—mid-meal, it looked like. No time for that. This wasn't the moment to relax.
"Run!!!"
"S-Sema?! Why the sudden—?!"
Baul jumped up in shock at the sight of us, just as a massive roar exploded from behind.
"KieeeEEEEEEEEK!!!"
"!? Wh-What?!"
"Wh-What's that thing!!"
"Oh god! Goddess preserve us...!"
The priests and assorted humans dropped their plates, faces draining of color at the colossal monster emerging behind me.
"Run, now! It's a Hero Eater!!"
"Th-That's the one!"
"Kyaaa! Monster!"
"Oh Goddess!!!"
Everyone scattered in blind panic, some old priests already praying to their dead goddess. This was a mess. Couldn't carry more passengers. Yormungand was scoping out the area, buying us a breather, but if it chased again... those running humans were goners.
"Hweeeaaah! Goddess!!!"
"N-Nooo...! Not like this...!"
As the crowd milled about in chaos, Yormungand lumbered forward toward them. Those who hadn't bolted immediately, Baul included, were now prime targets.
...No helping it. Protecting my girls and me was priority one right now. Sorry, folks. We're outta here first. Baul, looks like this is goodbye...
"Kingdom Knights! Formation for large-scale subjugation—charge! I'll take the first strike!"
Just as I inwardly wrote Baul off, a familiar voice boomed from afar. A brilliant flash lit up, and someone hurtled toward us at impossible speed.
A Hero Knight. It was Brandy Marte.
Enveloped in a blazing blue glow, Marte rocketed past me and launched like a missile, kicking off the ground toward Yormungand. He leaped to an unbelievable height, soaring straight at its body. Yormungand spotted him and twisted aside nimbly, but...
As if the dodge meant nothing, the instant Marte passed its torso, a gash far longer than his sword sliced open across it.
"KieeeEEEEEEK!!"
"Tch, just a graze! Knights, pin its feet!"
Marte flew behind it, shouting back. Heavily armored knights surged in at high speed, encircling Yormungand. With a quarter of its torso severed, it spotted them and smashed down with its grotesque legs—but unlike Viper's Fang, the knights blocked or dodged, hacking at the limbs in return.
Marte landed and charged again, unleashing sword strikes like projected sword energy. That was... a true hero...
"KieeeEEK! Kiak! KiaaaAAAAK!"
Yormungand was nimble for its size and avoided lethal blows, but its legs were getting severed one by one, and Marte's cuts multiplied across its body. His glowing aura flickered blue, firing off strikes straight out of a fantasy game. The armored knights moved with veteran precision, alternating defense and offense in perfect formation, lopping off more legs.
Black smoke billowed thick from Yormungand's wounds, and just as I thought the end was near...
"KiaaaAAAAAAAk!!!"
Like it was fleeing, Yormungand bolted back into the dungeon's dimensional gate and vanished.
"Tch, damn it...!"
Marte clicked his tongue at the missed final blow, scanning his knights and barking orders.
"Check the civilians and evacuate everyone! Then we head into the dungeon!"
...Incredible. Against a monster like that... Could I fight like him if I leveled up and boosted my stats?
"...Master. The dungeon didn't vanish..."
Lizbet and Klea dismounted, draping a cloth from the bags over my body as they spoke. Yeah. Those bones in its mouth when it appeared—probably the boss. If the boss was dead and the gate hadn't closed after we escaped... meant some Viper's Fang survivors were still inside.
"Sister Klea, and Divine Beast's group. Care to explain what happened?"
Marte sheathed his sword and approached with a serious look, questioning us. Perfect. Let's see how fucked you Viper's Fang bastards are now.
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"Haaah. So damn tired..."
It was late night by the time we finally dragged back to the inn. I dumped our gear and flopped onto the bed.
I'd briefed Marte on Viper's Fang, and he and his knights swept the dungeon... Yormungand was gone, and they found six corpses. No clue on the details, but maybe it'd escaped via another dimensional gate like Erebos.
Worse than the vanished Yormungand: there should've been seven bodies. Thanks to me ferrying Marte and two knights, we salvaged them just before the dungeon absorbed everything.
Checking the six... Bivora was missing.
Tch. Hoped they'd all croaked. Close, but no cigar.
Still, confirming they were Viper's Fang let the Kingdom Knights issue emergency arrest warrants for their near-100 members. All their businesses were about to get wrecked, with thorough investigations to root out accomplices.
Per Bivora, they'd left no evidence, so rounding everyone up wouldn't be easy... but damn, what a slippery bastard. How'd he escape that hell?
Whatever gap he slipped through, by the time the knights mapped the dungeon fully and found nothing else, it vanished. Sneaking out mid-fight... even with stealth skills, impressive.
"What happens if they catch Bivora?"
"Mm... asset seizure and execution for sure. Quite a few around him losing their heads too."
"Clarice too?"
"If ties are confirmed... yeah."
I'd mentioned Clarice, but the church folks were skeptical. No idea how they hid evidence, but they swore Clarice's usual behavior showed no signs, shielding her hard. Her public work—slum aid, demon beast hunts—made her too well-known, they said. Accused Viper's Fang and us of slander, even.
Fuck... senile old coots.
"Still, we got lucky today. Never dreamed we'd face something like that..."
"Yeah. When Master got hurt, I was ready to burn at least one of those fuckers alive."
True. Was running into a Hero Eater good luck or bad? ...Time to rethink my goals here in Essentia. No more of this shit for my girls. Ever.
"...Sorry, Master. Liz. I'm so sorry..."
As I steeled myself inwardly, Klea—head bowed, trembling—started crying and apologizing again.
All day, she'd tearfully apologized to me and Liz. Wasn't her fault at all... those Viper's Fang scum... Her pretty face was all puffy from crying.
"Klea. It's fine, I said. Not your fault. If anything, I'm sorry. Should've powered up sooner..."
"No. If I hadn't skipped the saintess exam..."
"......"
Lizbet pulled Klea into a hug, stroking her hair. Her expression thoughtful, like she was pondering something. Hm? Some idea brewing?
I watched them a moment, then scooped them both up, one in each arm by the thighs.
"Kyaa, M-Master...?"
"Viper's Fang's mostly rounded up, and Bivora's a rat in a trap now. No worries. With the church and kingdom in uproar, what can he do?"
Rubbing my face against Klea's softened her sad expression a bit.
"Church'll decide next steps and let us know. Just wait it out. Rough day—let's all crash. Too wiped to wash up. Wanna just pile in like this?"
"Ahaha...♡ Master. Great idea♡ Staying up with sex is fun, but this sounds nice too♡"
"...Hehe. Yeah. Tonight..."
Seeing a smile finally crack Klea's face eased my irritation at Viper's Fang. We stripped off our clothes and collapsed onto the bed together. Huddled close, feeling each other's warmth, my girls fondling my horse cock like they craved the heat. They buried their faces in me, inhaling my scent, until exhaustion took over and they drifted off.