Valcan's Desperate Defense
The Insect King, Valcan, was a clever one. Having lived for over a century, he possessed a wealth of experience. Thanks to that, he understood his own weaknesses all too well. He knew better than anyone that his frail body was his greatest vulnerability. That was why he had prepared numerous means to protect himself from the outside world—bottles, paralyzing poisons, dimensional insects, summoned beasts, and more. In short, even if someone targeted his true body, the core of his weakness, they would inevitably face considerable difficulty.
'Ugh...'
I hadn't overlooked that fact, but experiencing it firsthand was far more annoying than I'd expected. I couldn't even land a proper strike no matter how close I got. '...Still, it's fine.'
I forced down my impatience. Time might favor the enemy, but there was no need to panic. I would calmly whittle him down. Keep carving away until I forced him to use that. That was my first objective for now.
It was then that he suddenly muttered something.
"Pierce through."
Purple magic circles began forming all around me. It was a pattern I'd seen countless times in the game. My body moved before I could even think. The next moment, countless spikes erupted from the spot where I'd been standing. Each one was as thick as my thigh. Astonishingly, every spike was a type of insect.
'Dimensional Thorn Insects.'
Valcan's greatest masterpiece, and the loyal guards that always protected his fragile body. These creatures, clad in dimensional magic, usually hid in the gaps of space and only emerged with their weapons when he called. Fortunately they carried no poison, but since they could appear from anywhere at any time, I had to stay constantly alert.
"Oh? You dodged that. How did you know?"
I ignored his words and charged straight in. As I brought the holy sword down once more, another living wound opened on his arm. More than five minutes had passed since the battle began, and his arms were now covered in quite a few such wounds. None of them were fatal, however.
"Heh heh. This is truly enjoyable. This hero's party is worth fighting. I heard the previous hero's party was nothing but trash... but it seems they finally picked a decent one this time?"
"I've always thought this, but you talk way too much. Can't you just shut up and fight?"
Even so, the wounds must have stung quite a bit. Yet he continued to smile leisurely. He still thought he could handle this.
"You seem rather impatient, Hero. You must know that time is not on your side either."
I glanced behind me. Adel and Kamilla were steadily cutting down monsters. Perhaps because they'd grown accustomed to the insect-type monsters, their slaughtering speed had increased noticeably. Even so, they still couldn't keep up with the rate at which new monsters poured from the summoning circles.
"Struggle all you like. In the end, I will be the last one standing."
Valcan extended both hands and began forming hand seals. An ominous mana writhed in his palms, and two more purple magic circles appeared—identical to the monster summoning circles he'd drawn earlier. Monsters began pouring out from them just the same: Sand Worms with acidic blood and one-meter-long thorn-covered bean bugs. Kamilla spat out a curse at the sight.
"Damn it! There's no end to them!"
"Yulise! We need additional support. We can't go on like this!"
Valcan burst into laughter at their exchange.
"I can feel it. I can feel my children gathering here. You are all fated to be crushed beneath them."
"It doesn't matter how many come."
I gripped my sword. The Saintess's prayer must have finished, because a new light was now emanating from the holy sword.
Judgment's Flame has permeated the sword!
Your blade shall become the flame that eradicates evil.
One of the Saintess's buffs. It allowed additional damage against the designated enemy.
"I'll just cut you down before that happens."
I accelerated my blood flow to the maximum. My wildly pounding heart filled me with exhilaration. Blood Flow Acceleration allowed me to do far more than I'd initially thought. Not only did it increase strength and speed, it also accelerated the circulation of mana. And that mana could then be used for physical reinforcement.
Shuuuuk!
I gathered mana in my legs as if burning fuel, tempering every muscle fiber with it. The instant my muscles contracted to their limit, I charged at him once more.
Bang!
A speed on an entirely different level from before! It was an attack that exploited the opening created by his momentary lapse in focus after he'd grown somewhat accustomed to my previous pace.
"What?"
He couldn't help but be startled by my sudden increase in speed. I swung my sword down without hesitation.
"Kuhack...!"
His face twisted in pain. The holy sword, now empowered by the additional buff, carved horizontally across his shoulder. His dark-red blood sprayed outward in a fan shape. It was a near-critical wound. He wouldn't be wearing that leisurely smile anymore.
"That felt damn good."
"You bastard..."
The duel continued in much the same manner. Whenever I rushed in and desperately tried to inflict wounds, he used his various tools to block me. Sometimes I succeeded in wounding him; sometimes I was stopped.
Paralysis Poison has been inflicted!
As expected of a skilled opponent, he gradually developed more countermeasures.
Paralysis Poison has been neutralized!
Still, I trusted in the skills I'd accumulated and kept pressing forward. Several more minutes passed in that fashion. Countless wounds had accumulated on his body, while I had also consumed a considerable amount of mana.
Haa... haa...
Our ragged breaths echoed through the egg chamber. Then, he suddenly laughed again.
"Kuh, kuheheh..."
Though rough and breathless, his laughter clearly carried a note of composure.
"It's over now."
"......"
I paused my sword and looked around. From the passages that had been opened into the egg chamber came the sound of countless wings beating. It was as if soldiers, sensing their king's danger, were rushing to his aid. Their wingbeats were frantic and intense. After roughly ten minutes of flight, his army had finally gathered here. The battle situation we'd barely managed to maintain was about to be overturned in an instant.
"It was fun while it lasted, Hero. Your death will surely be recorded in the history books as a glorious one. Don't worry. I'll make sure my historians write it in elegant prose."
Without bothering to reply, I looked toward another spot. Amidst the fierce fighting, one woman stood alone, chanting a spell. Lily Spencer Beatrice. Our party's mage, and the foul-mouthed brat with the greatest offensive power. Her red hair fluttered as she gathered mana throughout her entire body. The sheer amount of mana converging in one place made the ground tremble. After chanting for a long while, Lily suddenly opened her eyes and spoke a single word.
"Burst."
In that instant—
Kwa-ga-ga-gang!!
Her compressed mana surged outward in all directions. The rampaging mana precisely struck dozens of passages and collapsed them with explosive force.
"Hah..."
All that remained were dozens of completely blocked passages and Lily with a satisfied expression. That girl had always said she wanted to blow things up—looks like she finally got her wish. I smirked at the dumbfounded Valcan. Those piles of rubble wouldn't hold the insects back forever. There were plenty of monsters among his forces that could be called true monsters. Still—
"That bought us another five minutes."
That much, we could endure. And five minutes was more than enough time to do whatever we needed.
Valcan's face visibly rotted in real time.
Perhaps because we'd already whittled him down sufficiently over the past ten-plus minutes, the next five minutes were noticeably easier. Trusting in the Saintess's buff, I pressed him relentlessly. Every time the holy sword swept forward, serious wounds accumulated on his body. Eventually, most of the bandages wrapped around him were sliced away, finally revealing his hidden form.
"You bastard..."
His skin resembled a dead tree—rotten, ancient wood. The flesh was so sparse that only scraps of skin clung tightly to the bone. Various insects crawled across that surface. It felt like looking at a half-rotted corpse in the process of decaying. Yet his eyes gleamed with a sinister light, creating an overwhelming sense of the bizarre. A monster who had gone mad with black magic and even offered parts of his own body. He was more like a lich than a human.
"I acknowledge it. You've prepared quite thoroughly to capture me."
He spoke. A chilling sound like metal scraping against metal echoed out. He was clearly cornered, yet his voice still lacked any sense of urgency. It wasn't because he maintained composure through some lofty level of rationality. It was simply because he still had something to rely on.
"It's been decades since I last used this technique..."
He muttered with a distant look in his eyes, then began wrapping his body in bandages once more. The severed bandages scattered around him coiled around his form. Soon his skin was completely covered again, and then he simply hardened. Literally. The Valcan who'd been fighting just moments ago had turned rigid.
I hurriedly raised my sword and tried to charge, but the defense he'd prepared activated first.
Kwa-ga-ga-gak!
As if protecting their king, thorns erupted around him—the same Dimensional Thorn Insects that had tormented me so viciously earlier. He intended to use his guards for defense rather than offense this time. And that wasn't all. Chitinous armor, the tough hide of Sand Worms, and various other defensive parts enveloped his surroundings. I swung my sword just in case, wondering if it would cut through.
Thunk!
All that came back was the hollow sound of striking something solid. Only scratches appeared on his biological barrier; his true body remained completely unharmed.
Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
'So it begins.'
His sole survival skill. Molting. While he couldn't move for a while after entering this state, he would recover from his wounds inside. And now I had to destroy that barrier before his recovery finished.
"Hoo."
Thinking about it again, he really was an incredibly troublesome opponent in every way.