The Calamity Descends

The calamity descends.

'Vedukto will definitely come.'

I could say that with absolute certainty after raiding the Jungle Fortress hundreds of times. The monster didn't recognize this place as a field dungeon, but it was a peculiar boss driven by ambition. A creature that dreamed the absurd dream of growing stronger and conquering the world. And so it harbored the idea of capturing and devouring humans in a realistic room to grow even more powerful.

'Its purpose is clear and simple.'

The reason I destroyed the Jungle Orc barracks wasn't just because it was the fastest way to deal with them. It was also to show that I had talent. If this monster believed in the ridiculous notion of growing stronger by eating powerful humans, it would see me as incredibly tempting prey.

And that thought would make it complacent, naturally drawing it out of the Jungle Fortress.

'From the beginning, it doesn't even think of the Jungle Fortress as its sanctuary. It's nothing more than a stepping stone for growth.'

A monster with ambitions ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to rule the world would never be satisfied commanding mere orcs, goblins, and kobolds. Vedukto would surely be willing to throw every last soldier in the Jungle Fortress into the fray if it meant devouring me. After all, thanks to the dungeon's nature, as long as the boss monster lived, the troops would keep regenerating automatically.

In the end, it meant an all-out war where I would face the entire legion of the Jungle Fortress alone.

'It's a bit off from the original plan, but it can't be helped.'

I had originally planned to power up first before taking on the boss, but after thinking it over, it seemed like it would take too much time. So I decided to handle both at once. With Pepais by my side and one reliable insurance prepared, I judged that it wouldn't be a big problem.

'I've obtained a spirit too, so there's nothing more to gain here.'

What I gained from the Jungle Fortress wasn't just the spirit. The honey was so good that I even figured out how the penalty worked, and I was about to obtain Cat's Cradle soon. Clearing it now was more than worth it.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

"The sound came from over there!"

"But isn't that the cliff side?"

"That human survived by hanging from a cliff before! It might not be as deep as we thought!"

After making my decision and focusing on the surrounding sounds, I confirmed that the monsters were approaching this way. Since all my preparations were complete, I immediately leaped onto a tree and looked down at them.

Tap.

"Hello there."

The flames emitted by Pepais brightly illuminated the area, revealing my position and etching my face into their minds. At the same time, I grasped exactly where Vedukto was, along with the locations of the monkey goblins and banana kobolds.

In truth, there was no need to reveal my face at this moment, but I did it for one simple reason.

"It's that guy! That human!"

"Monkey goblins, chase that human! The rest, spread out wide! And absolutely! Absolutely! Do not kill him without my permission!"

The moment Vedukto confirmed my appearance, it was already drooling at the thought of eating me as it commanded its troops. Its eyes, steeped in greed and blind obsession that cared nothing for the process and only for the result, burned into the back of my head.

As soon as the monsters started following me, I left Pepais behind and jumped around the treetops like a firefly.

"Catch him! I said catch him!"

Thudududududu.

The sound of them charging like moths to a flame echoed behind me. They chased so frantically that even if they'd been holding torches in the middle of the night, the flames would have gone out. All they could do was stare at my back and follow.

'They don't even realize they're just running in circles.'

They knew I'd given a signal toward the cliff, and they would naturally assume I'd try to lure them there. To hide that fact, I had to completely distract them.

I carefully adjusted the distance—close enough to seem catchable, yet just out of reach—so that their fingertips would almost graze my collar. I created a situation like a racehorse running with blinders on, making them unaware of anything around them.

The monsters following on the ground kept coming even if they tripped over tree roots, and those chasing through the trees continued forward even if branches stabbed their eyes. The light created by Pepais acted as a guiding lantern for them.

The only light illuminating the pitch-black darkness where even moonlight couldn't penetrate through the massive trees. The moment they felt reassured that no cliff would appear no matter how far they followed, the exact instant they continued chasing me without the slightest suspicion—

Boom!

The calamity struck.

"What the hell! What is happening!"

"The ground! The ground is collapsing!"

At the edge of the cliff. The hidden fissures I had placed between the rocks exploded all at once, collapsing the cliff and sending every monster on top plummeting below.

A normal commander would have withdrawn the remaining forces and planned for later, but Vedukto did no such thing.

"Do not retreat! That human is at the bottom of the cliff! Everyone, jump down! He's dug his own grave!"

In the moment of the explosion, Vedukto had seen me leap down the cliff and issued an order that was practically a suicide command to all its troops. Its eyes, filled with the conviction that even with traps, this many forces would make no difference, looked like those of a fanatic.

"Human! Now die!"

If this had been inside the actual game, I would have spammed the skip button at that clichéd line.

"Now's not the time to be looking at me."

"What?"

It was free to stare at me with those intense eyes, but the situation wasn't going to allow it much.

"Aaaaaaaaagh!"

"General! General! Below! Spider webs! The spider webs!!!"

"Our bodies are being sliced apart!"

The moment the falling monsters touched the spider webs I had prepared in advance, their bodies were severed clean through. The highly mobile monkey goblins that fired venomous needles, the banana kobolds that threw boomerangs for sustained harassment—none of it mattered. In a space with no footing, they were nothing more than pathetic livestock before the slaughterhouse.

Unlike the jungle orcs with their tough hides or those wearing iron armor, every time they passed through the spider webs it was like shaking powder through a sieve. They were chopped into pieces and died.

If Uberlak had been alive, it might have smashed the webs together with Vedukto, but that one had been dead for a while. In this situation, the only one who could respond properly was Vedukto itself.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You have nowhere left to run now!"

Trusting in its own thick hide, it simply stepped on the multiple layers of overlapping spider webs and stood up. Even with the fragments and its dying subordinates causing the webs to sway and making it difficult to keep balance, its tenacity was truly remarkable.

Vedukto looked up at me as I hung from the cliff, staring down at the spider web, its face saying that everything was now just a matter of time. I had expended a lot of energy running away, and the moment it descended the web, a one-on-one fight would begin. It was convinced it would win without fail.

A ridiculously simple way of thinking.

"That's what I wanted to say to you."

Who was the one that had walked out of the Jungle Fortress and fallen into all the traps I'd prepared? And yet it was saying something like that.

Thanks to the massacre that had just occurred, all my preparations were finally complete.

Sssssssssss.

A grotesque, twisted, necrotic finger now bore the mark of a spider's second leg like a tattoo. Moreover, now that I had obtained Cat's Cradle, I no longer needed to perform complex mental calculations when using spider webs.

The spider web that had been stretched between the cliffs instantly transformed into binding ropes that wrapped around Vedukto. If the spider's first leg enhanced cutting power, then the second leg strengthened durability.

"What the—why won't it break!"

As expected from its predictable line, even a boss monster could no longer easily sever the spider webs that had now been pushed to their absolute limit.

"Fall like this."

With no space left to support itself, Vedukto plummeted straight to the ground without any resistance. I quickly approached it, forcing its head downward and holding its body firmly in place to eliminate any variables.

A tombstone piledriver from the top of the cliff. It didn't matter if it was a boss monster or not—this was an instant death technique that would kill it outright. I had even installed gunpowder at the exact spot where Vedukto would land, just in case. The outcome was now all but decided.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Farewell."

Boom!

Using the spider web to escape the moment before the gunpowder made contact with its body.

After that, the clean clear message rang out.

'I can finally go back now.'

I hoped nothing had gone wrong in my absence.

++++++++++++

Kuuuuu.

The clear sky over Mirinae Academy.

"Kyahahahaha!"

"What the hell, is she crazy?"

Cadets who knew nothing, laughing and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chatting warmly with one another.

Kuuuuuuuuuu.

"Today's research... is almost finished."

"Just a little more and the prototype will be complete."

Researchers pouring the present into the future.

Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

And above their heads—

"Kyahahahaha! Kill them all! Kill them all!"

"Stepping on sprouts is fun! Stepping on sprouts is fun!"

The calamity was falling.