Master of Infiltration Terror

The master of infiltration ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terror. Why does a boss-level monster always barge in whenever I try to infiltrate something? It was exactly like the time I was searching for a map in the Ant Cave executive quarters and the most foul-tempered officer showed up. And now, the moment I tried to plant some bombs, Jungle Orc Chieftain Uberlak walked right in and wrecked the entire plan. It wasn't a completely fatal setback, but it was still damn irritating.

I have to kill Uberlak here.

When carrying out the plan to rig the quarters with bombs and wipe out every executive-level monster in one blast, the creatures' heightened sense of smell for gunpowder and their sharp danger instincts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠proved to be massive obstacles. That was why I'd tried to prepare everything while they were still outside. But from the instant Uberlak stepped inside, the plan changed from terrorism to assassination before the explosion.

The problem was that I didn't have any quick assassination method capable of dropping Uberlak on the spot. Even with my spider webs' improved cutting power, they were only effective against low-class monsters. Taking down an executive-level threat, especially a semi-boss among them, in a single strike was asking too much. There was one possible method, but it had nothing to do with stealthy assassination, so I needed to figure something out fast.

He's furious right now and can't properly read the situation, so he hasn't noticed the gunpowder smell yet. By the time he regained his senses and picked up on the strange odor, it would already be too late. If I was going to act, it had to be now. Even as I hesitated, my window of opportunity kept shrinking.

Decide fast. Act instantly. After muttering those words once, I moved the moment Uberlak began removing his equipment to rest.

"What the—?!"

There was nothing stupider than talking during a surprise attack, so I sprang into motion. He'd taken off his helmet to breathe easier, which left his neck completely exposed. In that split second of confusion, I shot out my spider web, wrapping it around his throat and yanking with every ounce of strength I had to crush his windpipe.

Uberlak realized my intent instantly and tried to shout a warning, but—

"You think this is enough to catch me?!"

The only piece of gear Uberlak had removed was his helmet. The rest of him was still clad head to toe in iron armor, making other targets difficult. In other words, his neck was my only viable point of attack, but that also meant my strikes were concentrated in one spot, which made them easier for him to defend against.

It won't cut. The web could sink into the skin, but slicing through muscle or bone was clearly beyond its current limits. If I'd at least had the second leg from the spider title, things might have been different. Still, there was no time to grumble. The fact that I needed to take Uberlak down hadn't changed.

I squeezed every last drop of power from my body, gripping the web with crushing force and tightening it around his neck as far as it would go. If I couldn't slice it, I'd strangle him instead. The dense, razor-thin strands dug deep into his flesh. Even his thick hands wouldn't be able to deal with it properly. This had become a battle of endurance, and the odds were heavily against me.

"Glurk... glurglurglurk!"

After that first shout, I'd cinched the web so tightly that his airway was completely blocked. Uberlak couldn't produce any proper sound. Sensing that he might actually pass out if this continued, he started hurling anything he could grab at me.

The distance was only about three meters. In the already cramped barracks, flying beds and desks left me no room to dodge. It came down to a brutal race: would Uberlak suffocate from his crushed windpipe first, or would I get smashed by the projectiles and collapse?

The explosions have their limits too. No matter how much I used Pepais to divert attention outside, the choking sounds and blasts from inside the barracks would eventually draw reinforcements. That would put me at an absolute disadvantage, so I had no choice but to use my final option.

I'll trust only in the damage reduction.

Rather than waver and fail to finish him, it was better to end it in one swift strike. I shifted backward to pull the web taut, opened my subspace pouch, and yanked out the gunpowder. Pepais, reading my thoughts perfectly, dumped the powder straight into Uberlak's mouth.

Boom!

"Barracks! Explosion inside the barracks!"

"This one's real! I smell gunpowder mixed in!"

"Glurrrr!"

The instant the gunpowder detonated, the jungle orcs sensed the disturbance and swarmed toward the barracks. Uberlak radiated killing intent, as if to say something that pathetic wouldn't kill him. Since I hadn't held high expectations for the cheap gunpowder the monsters had prepared, I stayed calm and moved on to the next step.

Chrrrrk.

No matter how cheap the powder or how tough his hide, an explosion from the inside was still an explosion from the inside. His durability was bound to drop.

"What are you going to do about that?"

I hadn't expected a single blast to finish him from the start. If one didn't work, I'd use two. If two didn't work, three. Since I'd resolved to use the gunpowder even if it revealed my position to the jungle orcs, I had to see this through to the end.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

I kept shoving more gunpowder down his throat and detonating it, gradually increasing the scale of the blasts. The jungle orcs rushing in to protect Uberlak were caught in the explosions without understanding what was happening and were hurled outside. I continued detonating charge after charge until ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the message finally appeared.

I had taken Uberlak down.

"That bastard killed Uberlak!"

"It's him!"

The remaining problem was escaping the barracks. The endless string of explosions had already set the stage for me. The shoddy structure built by the monsters couldn't withstand the repeated blasts. A huge chunk of debris crashed down between me and the orcs, forming a makeshift wall.

Not all of them came. It looked like some had already been drawn elsewhere by the earlier explosions Pepais had set off. Still, over seventy percent had stayed inside the collapsing barracks trying to save their boss. That was a decent achievement.

"At least you won't die alone."

I leaped toward the hole blown open in the ceiling, scattered gunpowder across the jungle orcs' position, and detonated it one more time.

Boom!

The orcs, who still hadn't grasped the situation and were stumbling around in confusion, were crushed beneath the collapsing debris and blast, rendered completely combat ineffective. By the time other monsters came rushing toward the jungle orc barracks after hearing the noise, I had already slipped away from the scene using my spider webs.

When you don't possess overwhelmingly superior combat power, there's only one way to handle multiple enemies.

Guerrilla tactics. Hit and run, hit and run, slowly chipping away at their numbers. The ideal outcome would be to keep this up until only the boss monster remained, but such convenient circumstances were unlikely. For now, I was satisfied with having removed the jungle orcs.

Jungle orcs, monkey goblins, and banana kobolds. Of the three main pillars guarding the jungle fortress, I'd crippled the jungle orcs. Two remained. The monkey goblins were especially troublesome, so they had to be eliminated without fail. Goblins riding monkeys solved their mobility problem, closed the distance quickly, and fired poison darts, making them incredibly difficult opponents.

I went after the jungle orcs during the time I could have used to hunt the monkey goblins... but why did the banana kobolds stay quiet?

I hung from a cliff crevice I'd discovered while suffering the penalty for liking honey too much and reexamined my plan. The biggest source of unease was how cleanly I'd taken out the jungle orcs. It almost felt like they had wanted me to do exactly that—stealing supplies from the gunpowder warehouse and using them to annihilate the barracks.

Until a few dozen minutes ago I'd been pleased with how many monsters I'd killed, but now that I thought about it, the whole thing seemed far too suspicious. Logically, if the barracks had been destroyed, it made no sense that only the jungle orcs would gather there. No fortress would sit idle claiming an attack wasn't in their jurisdiction when the base itself was under assault.

Should I conduct another reconnaissance?

Since it was clear something suspicious was going on, I decided to assess the situation once more instead of rushing in. But before that...

I need to secure the hidden skill first.

Time was tight if I wanted to clear this place, but I had no intention of charging ahead blindly and dying. Therefore, in addition to my contract with the spirit, a spec upgrade was absolutely necessary. My Will had risen by three and finally reached thirty-three, which meant I was now at the threshold where I could properly manipulate spider webs.

In other words...

I can finally use Cat's Cradle properly. It meant I could wield the spider webs in earnest.