Insect Den (3)
A heartbeat echoed through the underground. A faint vibration traveled up from my feet, and a powerful surge of mana swept past me. Something major lay ahead. Something with an absurd aura clocking in at 0.7 Chaos—a monster beyond reason.
"...."
Even so, I didn't stop walking. I hadn't achieved my goal yet, but more than that, I was confident I could protect this body no matter what happened. If things got dicey, I could always call on Shin-nim for help. Though I'd prefer to handle it solo if possible.
"So that's it."
I reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a massive space. A perfect square room, empty save for an altar in the center laden with ritual tools. Atop the altar sat a pitch-black egg pulsing endlessly.
"Damn, that's big."
The egg was enormous. Even from over 200 meters away at the entrance, it warped my sense of scale. Whatever burst from that thing wouldn't be ordinary by any stretch.
"A door?"
Distracted by the egg, I hadn't noticed it before—a descending door behind the egg. Maybe that's where I'd find the grimoire, my original target. Keeping a safe distance from the egg, I circled around toward the door.
"...."
[Thump... Thump...]
In the silent space, the heartbeat rang out. It hadn't hatched yet, so with any luck, I could slip past without a fight.
"Hm?"
[Thump... Thump... Thump...]
As I kept walking, I glanced back at the egg. The hidden rear side looked slightly cracked, something protruding from the gap...
[Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump!!!]
"Knew it."
I sighed just as the egg began splitting at high speed. A colossal body crawled out from the shattered shell—pitch-black armor, an elongated torso, thousands of legs, massive fangs. Like a black dragon, it shook the space with a deafening roar.
"Ear-piercing bastard...!"
I withstood its roar and quickly assessed it. A massive centipede, coiled tight yet still making the room feel cramped. At least a few kilometers long, minimum.
"Can I... take it?"
Its presence was beyond imagination, but I noticed it was in a vulnerable state right now. It looked adult at a glance, but its exoskeleton was soft, and its body underdeveloped. The perfect moment to strike.
"Let's go."
I saw a path to victory—no reason to hesitate. I sliced my palm, drawing a blood-red magic circle.
"The waves are spears that pierce the earth."
⟨ Wave Spears ⟩
Seawater erupted from the circle with the incantation, rising into the air and forming dark blue spears. Dozens of water spears filled the void.
"Surge, waves."
The spears launched at my command, faster than wind—impossible to dodge.
Shruk! But it was a Chaos-tier freak just shy of 1.0, weakened or not. It swam through the air like a dragon, evading the spears. Mouth agape, it charged me. But it had one misconception: these weren't mere spears—they were waves.
"Burst."
BOOM!!! At my word, the airborne spears detonated, unleashing blades of water in all directions. The centipede was shredded by the onslaught. The blades tore its soft exoskeleton, green ichor oozing from the wounds.
It screamed in pain, but the damage was trivial compared to its size. It recovered fast and charged again—maybe even angrier.
"Urk...!"
Its head smashed the floor like a meteor, shattering it. I dodged aside frantically, but it reared up and lunged again.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
It kept slamming its head down, trying to crush me, while its body whipped wildly, demolishing the space. Escape routes were vanishing fast.
"In primordial Earth, there was no land. The land too is Mother's domain."
⟨ Deep Sea Manifestation ⟩
I cast immediately, slicing my palm again. Seawater gushed from the circle, flooding the space into a miniature ocean in seconds.
"No you don't!"
The centipede ignored the water and lunged to devour me, but I manipulated the currents to shove it back. I tried forming a whirlpool to grind it down, but its violent thrashing kept disrupting it. Still, I restricted its movement enough.
"Time to end this."
Time was death for a mage's foe. I slashed my wrist for heavy bleeding. Blood poured out fast—my left arm went numb. But I forced the handseal and incanted anyway.
"The master calls you. Appear here and slay his enemies."
⟨ Punisher Summon ⟩
The blood staining the sea coalesced into a massive magic circle. A flash erupted, fading to reveal a portal linking to the deep sea. A giant claw emerged, followed by an armored body and six legs.
[......]
The first deep-sea entity I'd summoned—the massive crab enforcer of oceanic sinners, the Punisher.
"Attack it!"
[Nod.]
The Punisher advanced at my command, like a moving mountain. Currents shattered against its shell. The centipede thrashed harder at the approaching foe, breaking free of the whirlpool and charging.
[.....]
Kuuung...!
Claw met maw in a cataclysmic clash. The shockwave engulfed everything; I was hurled into the wall by the currents. But they didn't stop at one exchange. The centipede coiled and tore at the shell; the Punisher shook it off and clamped its waist with a massive claw. The centipede wailed, green ichor staining the sea.
[....!]
But the fight raged on. Its waist held by a thread, yet one leg grazed the Punisher's eye. Dark blue blood sprayed as one eye was gouged.
[!!!!]
Its frenzy was crushed by the enraged Punisher's other claw. Waist in left, head in right—slowly crushed, on the verge of being trisected. The centipede resisted fiercely, but couldn't match the Punisher's strength. Victory seemed certain.
Then an unexpected third party crashed the fight, twisting events unpredictably.
[???]
"What the—"
The entrance door exploded, unleashing a tidal wave of bugs. The sea turned black in an instant.
[....!]
I hastily manipulated currents for a barrier, but the Punisher and centipede—closer to the entrance—were engulfed by the bug wave.
"...."
Only the skittering of bugs filled the air, punctuated by unidentified devouring sounds. How long passed? The bug wave receded, the sea clear once more. Thankfully, the Punisher was fine—a deep-sea entity wouldn't die to mere bugs (even hordes).
One thing had changed completely: the centipede. It had devoured the entire swarm, healing all wounds. And that wasn't all—the excess energy fueled rapid growth.
Crack! Crunch!
"This is insane."
Already huge, it ballooned further, filling the space and bursting through the ceiling. Its back crumbled the roof; hundreds of thousands of legs embedded in walls. Seventh basement, right? It thrust its head up to the first floor, then pulled back down.
"Hah."
The roar ruptured my eardrums—blood trickled, hearing gone. But the vibration through my body made it clear.
"Can you handle it?"
[Shake.]
I turned to the Punisher. Mountain-sized, yet dwarfed by the centipede that could coil around it multiple times. It shook its head at my question. This was hopeless.
[Help?]
'Looks like it.'
Shin-nim's voice rang in my ear as expected. She'd stayed silent during the lair sweep but rushed in at the crisis. I'd wanted to solo it, but one wrong move now meant death.
'Lend me some power...'
Wuuung!
'Hm?'
Just as I reached for Shin-nim's aid, Go-seo burst from my pocket and settled in my hand.
"...."
Doubts flickered, but I focused on her actions. Go-seo was my magic mentor—there had to be a reason. And sure enough, she had a plan.
"Alright."
Maybe I could win without Shin-nim after all.