Gigaesingwan (1)

"Have a seat."

"Yes."

I sat down across from Montblanc and flicked a glance at the fairy standing behind her. That's the same one I saw last time.

Zoldik, the fairy who served as Montblanc's escort, was standing guard at her back. A little disappointing. If it had been a different fairy, I could have dug up some information. Once you'd been around as long as I had, a single look at a status window was enough to tell you how strong someone was.

"How is the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dungeon raid coming along? Progressing well?"

Heh heh heh... this fucking bitch?

The way Montblanc's eyes sparkled as she asked made a curse rise in my throat all on its own. Just how long was I going to have to wait before I could swear at her to her face?

Honey on the lips, a dagger in the gut. That was the idea. I smiled and answered her question.

"We ran into some trouble along the way, but the raid is proceeding smoothly. We've cleared through the second underground floor. After a short rest, we intend to take on the third."

"...You already cleared the second underground floor?"

The answer came from behind Montblanc. Zoldik, her fairy. He must have been genuinely shocked. The same bastard who kept a deadpan face every time I visited was staring at me with his eyes wide open.

Damn it.

Zoldik's reaction confirmed it. Montblanc had deliberately left that information out. There was no other reason for him to look like that.

"That's our Alan. In that case, you should be able to clear the Catacomb in the near future."

"Yes. Ah, and I apologize, but is there another level 80 dungeon available?"

"Why do you ask?"

"We can clear the Catacomb, but to be honest, there have been more difficulties than I expected. In particular, the fact that the boss monster can cast its curse across spatial boundaries... I hadn't anticipated that at all. It's manageable for now, but continuing the raid while constantly having to dispel the curse is proving quite burdensome."

"Hmm~ Is that so? There is a dungeon that fits the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠conditions you want. But it's rather far. Will that be all right?"

"If the dungeon can be cleared, what does distance matter?"

"Very well. I'll provide you with that dungeon as soon as the Catacomb is finished."

"I am nothing but grateful for your boundless generosity."

"Heehee."

Having gotten what I needed, I exchanged a few more meaningless pleasantries and then stepped outside.

If it were up to me, I'd keep running the Catacomb...

The original plan had been to push my stats as high as I could in the Catacomb, even if I couldn't raise my level. But the Gigaesingwan's curse — the one that ignored spatial limits entirely — had blown that plan apart.

Right now I was the highest level in the party, so the curse landed on me. Once everyone hit 80, there was no telling who it would hit. Even I had gone on a rampage under that thing. What the hell would the others do?

If Aquaril or Oralisa got hit by that curse, what would happen was obvious. They would kill every other party member except me and try to lock me up. A fairy's deepest desire was to be with their Master — which meant I would be looking at a yandere Aquaril or a yandere Oralisa. I couldn't let that happen, so I had no choice but to switch grinding dungeons.

I just want to live without walking on eggshells.

"Let's go, Aquaril."

"Yes, Master."

I hid the bitterness and headed back to the mansion with Aquaril. Along the way I picked up a few gifts for the party.

After Alan left, Zoldik stared at the seat he had occupied and finally opened his mouth.

"...I am astonished. That he is still alive is surprising enough, but to have overcome the curse..."

He was so stunned that the corner of his eye was twitching.

It was no exaggeration to say Littleberry belonged to Montblanc. Her eyes and ears were planted everywhere, and everything that happened in the city was reported to her in real time. So of course, the moment Alan's party returned to Littleberry, the news reached Montblanc and Zoldik.

I was sure at least one of them would be dead.

Zoldik had hoped Alan — the man who had captured his master's attention — would die in the Catacomb. Or if not die, that at least one of his party would. Because the dungeon they had gone to raid was the Catacomb.

If the Catacomb had been just another run-of-the-mill dungeon, he never would have thought that. But it was the Catacomb — that Catacomb — and the boss monster on the third underground floor had a way of dragging out the desires a person kept buried. Zoldik had been certain Alan's party would take casualties.

But when the lid came off, the exact opposite of what he had hoped for was waiting. Not a single member of Alan's party was dead, and they had cleared all the way through the second underground floor without a hitch. It was far faster than when Zoldik himself had led the organization's people through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Catacomb. Back then, it had taken him a full two months just to clear the second underground floor.

"Heehee. I know. He's something else, isn't he?"

"....."

Watching Montblanc smile with such open satisfaction, Zoldik bit his lip where she couldn't see. He hated it when his master gave her attention to anyone else.

So that's the kind of power you were hiding, Alan.

Whether or not she sensed the jealousy consuming her fairy, Montblanc was thoroughly pleased with herself for having figured out what Alan was concealing. The first time she had faced him, she had known at a glance that he possessed some kind of powerful weapon. The composure he had shown in her presence was the confidence of a man who held something formidable.

An ability to dispel status ailments of at least [Special] grade or higher.

Based on the nature of the dungeon and what Alan had just told her, Montblanc pieced together what his secret weapon was.

But that's not all there is to it, is it?

She had asked him once before what his goal in life was. Alan had answered that he had none. But Montblanc had seen through the lie. The eyes of a man with nothing to chase would never burn like the sun.

What are you going to show me next, Alan?

Montblanc smiled, her chest tight with anticipation.

Montblanc, fluttering with expectation. Zoldik, consumed by jealousy. Master and fairy held entirely opposite feelings toward Alan.

After three days of rest, we headed for the Catacomb to finish the raid. For all three of those days, Oralisa tried to seduce me with offers of anal sex, but I forced myself to turn her down. Even with her ass already loosened up, taking my cock in that tight hole was still a serious strain. We had a dungeon raid coming. I couldn't afford to wreck her condition. Besides, once we finished the Catacomb we were moving on to another dungeon anyway. I would take Oralisa up on her "gift" next time.

The third underground floor of the Catacomb was wider and more labyrinthine than the two above it, and it took us a full week to reach the boss room. Along the way we killed well over a hundred monsters, and I managed to push my level to 80 — the cap for 4-Star. The next highest in the party was Kanisia, sitting at exactly 79.

On top of that, I used the Molt skill nine more times over the course of the week. Every stat rose by 9 points, for a total gain of 63. Which left my status window looking like this:

"Everyone ready?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, Master."

"Oralisa's in a super good mood right now!"

I checked everyone's condition before we entered the boss room. We had cleared a path to the entrance the day before, and even though it was a little early, we had called it there and gotten a proper night's rest. Our condition was as good as it gets. It was time to face the Catacomb's boss monster — the Gigaesingwan, a 6-Star that had been flinging its curse at me so relentlessly I was sick of it.

"Abraham?"

I called to him as I stood before the door.

"Worry not, Lord Alan."

At my call, he hefted the square shield large enough to cover his entire body and readied himself to surge forward — insurance against an ambush the moment I opened the door. Aquaril and Kanisia took up sword and spear and began circulating their mana. Oralisa nocked an arrow to her bowstring.

"Opening it."

The massive stone door groaned as I pushed it open. Abraham, already in position, pushed past me and took the front of the party. Whether I should have been grateful or not, no attack came.

"That's one hell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a face. How does a skeleton even have a beard?"

Behind a horde of what looked like at least fifty Master zombies stood a zombie that looked twice their size — a towering corpse well over six and a half feet tall. Almost no flesh clung to its frame; it was wasted down to bone. The one peculiar thing about it was the beard hanging all the way down to its thighs. Looking closer, I could see a scrap of flesh still stuck to the jaw, holding the beard in place.

That bizarre-looking zombie bastard was Gigaesingwan, the boss of the Catacomb.

As the name suggested — the Grotesque Priest — this thing had been, in life, a cleric who served the Nameless God, the one deity this world acknowledged. The Catacomb was a tomb. The first underground floor held commoners, the second held Masters, and the third held the city's rulers, its nobles, and its clergy.

The clergy were divided into five ranks. The lowest was Acolyte, and above that came Monk, Priest, High Priest, and Pope. Naturally the Acolytes were the most numerous. There was one Pope, twelve High Priests, and a hundred and forty-four Priests. In other words, in life, Gigaesingwan had been one of only a hundred and forty-four Priests on the entire continent of Gaiarium.

"Do not... disturb... our rest..."

"Oh-ho? Look at that. The boss can talk?"

Gigaesingwan addressed us through dull, rotting eyes weeping pus. Unlike every other zombie monster we had run into, this one could speak.

"We're not here to disturb your rest. We're here to give it to you. I'll put you down for a nice long nap, so be a good boy and stick your neck out."

"You... are the incarnation... of the greedy... serpent..."

"What?"

I frowned at the words that had come out of nowhere. The incarnation of a serpent? What the hell was this thing talking about?

Wait. Is it saying what I think it's saying...?

My class was the mythic-grade Uroboros's Avatar, and the epithet that had appeared in the info window for Uroboros was none other than Greed.

It recognized that I'm Uroboros's Avatar?

I was so thrown I couldn't even keep my face straight. In all this time, not a single person had ever recognized that I was Uroboros's Avatar. Even Montblanc didn't know. And now a monster I was meeting for the first time had seen right through me. Of course I was rattled.

"The hell are you?"

"The greedy... serpent... has come... to steal... our rest..."

"I said what the hell are you, you bastard!"

"A-Alan?"

"Master? What is the matter?"

The party startled as I barked. I didn't care. I kept my eyes locked on Gigaesingwan and nothing else.

"You cannot... take... our rest..."

"This fucking bastard. Won't even answer, just keeps running his mouth. Fine. I'll grind everything but your head into paste."

"Alan, why are you freaking out like that? You didn't skip the cleanse, did you?"

"Kanisia."

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm going to beat the shit out of that bastard. Handle the rest of the monsters like you always do."

"W-wait? Alan? Alan!"

"Master!"

I ignored the party calling after me and launched myself forward. I had a lot I wanted to hear from that Gigaesingwan bastard.