Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Centipede's Demise
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“……What does this look like to you, Erika?”
“Um… a centipede-shaped rock…?”
Iris and Erika approached the centipede-shaped rock step by step. The part crushed by the pillar was completely shattered, and the rest wasn’t exactly intact either.
Lize had already been examining the edge of the rock. When the spot she was looking at suddenly crumbled without being touched, she flinched in surprise.
“Or maybe a monster shaped like a rock. Do you think something this bizarre could form naturally?”
“Impossible. Even if it were carved from stone, shaving the surface this precisely would be too much. If there was a sculptor who could craft something this massive and perfect from rock, they’d be too busy being dragged around by nobles to come here.”
“I was thinking the same.”
Iris removed her helmet. Silver hair cascaded down her back.
“Then, what this rock means is pretty much set.”
“No way……”
“Yeah. That legend. The corpse of a monster that looks like a rock. Or more precisely, part of the corpse. There are signs it was sliced off by the pillar.”
“This remaining part is already terrifyingly huge, and you’re saying it was originally even bigger?”
“Yeah. At least ten times bigger, minimum. My guess is it was about the same height as the castle we live in.”
“Was this the cause of the vibrations?”
Her silver eyes scanned the pillar that had crushed the centipede-shaped rock.
The base was shattered, making it look like it had toppled forward. The cross-section was still incredibly sharp, and bits of stone were embedded here and there, suggesting it hadn’t broken long ago.
It seemed like repeated impacts in one spot had finally caused it to give way, but there were no signs of damage from any weapon.
“I can’t say for sure, but probably. For some reason, this thing kept slamming into the pillar. That’s what broke it and left it like this. The vibrations we felt were definitely from it ramming the pillar.”
“That explains the marks on the walls too. Things are starting to make sense now.”
Erika recalled the vast cavern they’d passed about ten minutes ago. The bedrock floor had been completely torn up, and the walls had cracks in places or were outright collapsed.
At the time, she hadn’t known why such destruction was down here, but if this centipede had caused it by slamming into walls and pillars, it all fit.
“You nailed it. This centipede explains all the anomalies we felt.”
Iris stroked the surface of the rock. Her gauntlet prevented any tactile feedback, but the sound of metal clanging against it and its solidity were unmistakably stone fragments.
If it had been just a bit less refined, or didn’t look so unmistakably like a centipede at first glance, Iris would surely have dismissed it as just a rock.
“Where did the rest go? Is it dead?”
The centipede’s body was severed where the massive rock pillar had crushed it. Iris lightly leaped over the pillar. Erika followed right behind.
On the other side of the pillar was the ragged cross-section of the centipede, torn apart as if someone had forcibly ripped through a segment.
“Doesn’t look dead. See here. The segment is cut unnaturally. It was crushed by the pillar and then severed. Whether it cut itself free to escape or the impact was too much and it broke off, the front part probably got away alive just fine.”
“Not great news.”
“Whether our attacks will even work is questionable. A normal rock, I could break with a bit more force, but if it’s a monster, it’s bound to be several times tougher than regular stone.”
Erika stared blankly at the roughly torn end of the centipede-shaped rock. A fleeting question crossed her mind: who could have done this?
But it was just a fleeting thought. Who did it was obvious.
“Well, I can guess who did this.”
“Yeah, this is—”
“Our hotshot newbie’s handiwork. Duh?”
Lize, who had leaped over the pillar in place, stood atop it. Then she jumped down to the other side where Erika and Iris were.
“……Exactly.”
Iris nodded lightly in agreement. That’s what she’d been about to say. Who else but that recklessly bold newbie could pull off something like this in a dungeon that wasn’t some casual stroll spot?
“I thought she’d stay put since she said she’d wait below, but she’s already made a huge mess. Without even knowing what’s in my heart.”
“If you want to nag, save it for when we regroup with the newbie, sis. I won’t stop you. Iris, we should hurry too.”
“Got it. Let’s move as fast as we can.”
The helmet covered her head again, hiding her silver eyes and silver hair. Lize had already started walking ahead. Iris and Erika followed behind.
From far off, the thudding sounds began to echo again.
—Crunch!
A sharp stalactite fell onto the head of the rock centipede as it slammed its head against the wall and thrashed wildly.
The stalactite that struck the rock centipede’s head shattered to pieces, and the culprit that had smashed the stone writhed in agony, twisting its exoskeleton segments with all its might.
That was the gimmick of phase 3. Up to making it ram the wall was the same as phase 1, but you couldn’t just crash anywhere—you had to position it under the stalactites on the ceiling.
That way, they’d drop on its head like just now. Do it 20 times, and it’s cleared.
For reference, that was the 19th. One more, and phase 3 ends, moving to phase 4—the real boss fight.
After thrashing alone for a while, the rock centipede panted as it raised its body. Then it gnawed at the ground with its lower jaw, burrowing into the rock and vanishing.
Having self-amputated the tail crushed by the pillar, it disappeared faster than in phase 2. A few legs clinging precariously to its body finally gave way and fell off.
Even after detaching, they twitched on their own for quite a while.
‘The knight captains should be arriving soon.’
I briefly wondered where the three I’d left above were now. Since this didn’t happen in the game, I couldn’t be sure, but they’d probably reached somewhere deep underground by now.
Of course, it was just a guess. I wasn’t a computer, and this dungeon was way bigger than in the game, so precise calculations were impossible.
About a minute after I sat down to wait, the rock centipede burst out. A massive crack was visibly forming on its face.
Twenty headbutts into walls, twenty into pillars, another nineteen into walls, plus nineteen stalactite hits—its head was bound to shatter.
I just waited calmly, doing nothing special. I rolled to dodge thrown rocks and sprinted away from its wild body slams.
It seemed furious, clacking its lower jaw as it prepared a charge pattern. The moment I saw it, a surge of relief hit me. Finally, time to say goodbye to this filthy thing.
I wasn’t going to clear phase 4 anyway. I’d leave it to the three knight captains—they’d handle it themselves, so why bother moving?
‘A bit of a shame to miss the clear EXP.’
EXP could be farmed. The EXP from an early gimmick boss like this could be made up by wandering around for a few days.
Plus, the knight captains weren’t the type to die to a mere rock centipede.
I positioned myself in front of the wall where the final stalactite was. The rock centipede slowly picked up speed as it approached. I stood still against the wall and repeated what I’d been doing.
—Kuuuung!
And the same thing happened as before. The rock centipede smashed its head into the wall, thrashed alone, and a stalactite fell on top.
With a crunch, the stalactite that plunged into the rock centipede’s head this time practically split its skull in half. Shattered fragments flew everywhere.
With half its head gone, the rock centipede flailed far more violently than before. I’d already retreated behind the wall. Couldn’t risk getting hit by debris.
‘Finally over.’
I stretched languidly. A boss fight exhausting in every sense. I never wanted to do it twice.
It didn’t even think to burrow into the rock and vanished into the nearest crack, wriggling desperately. The gap, barely wide enough for me before, had widened at least threefold.
Following that would lead to the rune room for phase 4, but no need to go now. I’d wait here for Iris, Lize, and Erika, then go together.
I sat in a spot with the best view of the path and began waiting for the three.
‘How should I explain it?’
While mentally rehearsing how to make them accept what I’d done.