Chapter 261: Going to the Labyrinth (4)
Chapter 261: Going to the Labyrinth (4)
The giant turtle’s breath was a 'Compressed Water Bullet.'
Whether it had some means of compressing water inside its body or not, a mass of water with intense destructive power came flying rapidly from its mouth.
[Avoid it first, think later!]
"Everyone, to your positions!"
At Laura’s command, the three on the front line scattered forward simultaneously.
Serica to the left.
Yoanna to the right.
And me, straight down the middle.
Whish.
I lowered my body as if sliding on my knees, tilting my head back.
I felt like my knees were getting scraped as I slid like a soccer player performing a goal ceremony, but the heavy Dark Tuscany armor ground into the earth instead, propelling me forward.
"Watch your backs!"
Laura’s voice drifted from the side, and simultaneously, something flew past me like a flash of light.
Daggers imbued with magic power and pink magic bullets.
Yurdias’s throwing daggers and Astarotte’s magic bullets headed for the turtle’s mouth, where the water mass had just emerged.
Clang!
The giant turtle immediately tucked its head back inside.
The attacks struck near the hole in the shell; the magic bullets ricocheted upward, and the daggers rolled across the floor.
[It’s damn fast at retreating!]
The speed at which it pulled its head in was incredible—faster than me, even with the momentum of my slide, and faster than the two charging from the sides.
[Watch the head! Captain, fire into the hole!]
"Three shots coming!"
The moment I shifted my body slightly to the side, golden arrows grazed my armor and burrowed into the turtle’s shell.
Thud-thud-thud!!
The sound of something embedding itself echoed, and the limbs protruding from the shell twitched.
Laura’s attack was a success.
I harbored a small hope that it might have died instantly, but there was no such luck.
"Lewd Man! I hear the sound of water inside!"
[It’s the mouth, right?! Just dodge it!]
I gripped my axes in both hands and ran in an arc.
I ran with the intent to throw myself out of the way depending on the direction of the attack, and fortunately, the bastard extended its head toward me.
[Huh?]
The beast's head was, quite literally, like a glans.
It wasn't the same head that had fired the Compressed Water Bullet just moments ago; instead, a head with a split underside and a mushroom-like cap popped out.
[What kind of dick-like—]
"It’s dangerous!"
I heard Laura’s scream from behind.
Between the sound of water from within and my own intuition, something had been triggered.
I felt it too.
I had seen this giant turtle before in a Clan Raid.
That was why I knew all too well what the dirty jokes about this giant turtle were, and what the motif for its appearance was.
—What? Turtle Lord? Don't give me that bullshit. This bastard's name is the Kwachu Turtle!
[Shit!]
I threw myself to the side, and something erupted from the creature's split mouth.
Pshhhhhhh!!
Soaking the ground below and splitting the earth vertically, water sprayed out like a high-pressure water cutter, targeting us.
"Kyaaaak!"
Astarotte, who was about to use magic from behind, screamed and spread her wings.
Laura threw herself to the side immediately, and the water spewing from the new head sliced straight across the bare ground.
"Ugh, the floor is getting disgusting to step on...!"
[Don't step in it! Unless your life is on the line!]
I couldn't let them step in it.
I couldn't allow it.
I could not forgive this piece of shit for spraying that from that kind of head at my women, and then dripping droplets everywhere without even shaking itself off properly.
"Haaah!"
Serica, who had closed the distance in the meantime, swung her sword at the shell.
Her Aura Blade, fully loaded with mana, sliced through the part of the shell where a limb was trying to emerge.
[Serica! Something’s coming out from inside!]
"...!!"
Serica tried to swing again to widen the cut, but something lunged out from within, forcing her to retreat hastily from the hole.
Pshhh!
Streams of water sprayed out like a shower hose, splashing in all directions.
Far from letting the water touch her, Serica leaped back all the way to where the long-range dealer, Laura, was maintaining distance.
"Ugh... I really hate this."
Serica wiped her skin with her hand.
"Lewd Man! Is a swimsuit really appropriate for this?!"
[Once we get that, there won't be any problem!]
"But we don't have it now!"
[You dodged it well!]
I ran across the floor and took a great leap upward.
My goal was partly to attack the hole Serica had cut, but also to target the Kwachu Turtle's weak point.
[Yoanna!!]
"I was waiting."
Yoanna, who had landed the heel of her high shoe onto the Kwachu Turtle's shell at almost the same time as me, immediately reached down with her left hand.
"Burn to death in the fires of hell, you filthy monster!"
Whoosh!
The Black Flame igniting from Yoanna’s left hand swept over the Kwachu Turtle’s shell and flowed downward.
Unlike ordinary flames that would soar toward the sky, Yoanna’s flames flowed down along the grain of the shell, seeking the flesh they wished to incinerate.
[Stop hiding and come out! Show us your true, filthy form!]
Crunch!
I brought my raised axe down with a heavy strike, burying it deep into the shell.
Kieeeeeek!!
The Kwachu Turtle began to thrash.
The bastard, struggling with its exposed arms and legs, pulled everything back inside its shell—likely in an attempt to shake us off.
This pattern.
It was familiar.
[It’s a body slam! You three on the ground, watch out!]
I stepped on the back of the axe blade I had driven in, pushing it deeper, and used the axe as an anchor to lower my center of gravity.
Pwhaaaaaaaak————!!
A stream of water as wide as the hole erupted from the Kwachu Turtle’s body.
Propelled by the jet-like stream, the Kwachu Turtle’s massive body slid toward the wall—right toward Yurdias, who was about to toss a dagger into the hole.
"Hmph...!"
Yurdias reached upward and fired a crossbow-like device toward the ceiling.
Thud!
The bolt struck the ceiling at a considerable height, and Yurdias grabbed the rope, winching herself up.
The wire was strong enough to support her weight, and the turtle slammed its body into the wall.
[Yurdi!]
"I'm fine!"
Fortunately, the anchor embedded in the ceiling didn't fall despite the wall's tremors.
"And... I didn't get touched by the water!"
She wasn't just dangling; she used the strength in her arms to pull her legs up into a cross-legged position, barely avoiding the spray.
"Asti! A foothold!"
"Step on this!"
Astarotte, who was flying in the air, used magic to create a pink platform in mid-air, and Yurdias threw herself onto it to regain her stance.
"Phew. If that touched me, my clothes would've been ruined."
"I know. ...More importantly, the battlefield is constantly disappearing."
Just as the two worried, the places to stand were indeed vanishing.
"Maybe if the droplets splashed to places we can't see, these actions might actually be meaningless?"
"Asti, don't say such horrible things!"
"But it's true. Thinking logically..."
"Always the mage, aren't you!"
Laura screamed and fired an arrow.
The arrow of light, which didn't just fly straight but curved like a hawk with a will of its own, burrowed into the body of the Kwachu Turtle pinned against the wall.
Tremble.
The Kwachu Turtle’s entire body shuddered.
Feeling the subtle vibration beneath me, I drove the axe even deeper and reached out a hand toward Yoanna.
[Take my hand, Yoanna!]
"The Black Flame is—"
[I think water is going to spray from inside this thing!! Toward the wall!]
"!!"
Yoanna immediately clung to me, and soon the Kwachu Turtle spewed water toward the hole it was pressing against the wall.
Pwhaaak!!
[Everyone, get on here if you can!]
The direction the Kwachu Turtle was flying was toward Laura, and Yoanna, while being held by me, raised her flag-spear high.
"Excuse me!!"
Laura leaped high from her spot and grabbed the shaft of the flag-spear that Yoanna was holding tightly with both hands.
[Got her?!]
"Yes!"
[Watch out for the impact!]
K-boooooom!
The Kwachu Turtle slammed into the wall once more.
The impact was so great my body shook enough for the axe to almost slip out, and I worried for a moment that Laura might fall.
"Phew!"
Laura was hanging on by hooking her legs around Yoanna’s spear shaft, and she slid down to stand beside me.
"To think this is the safest place..."
[The shell being the hardest part means, conversely, they made it tough because there's no other way to defend it.]
The Kwachu Turtle’s movements suddenly stopped.
The axe I had driven in continued to sink deeper due to my weight, and on top of that, Yoanna had let her Black Flame flow downward, roasting the Kwachu Turtle from inside its own body.
Drip, drip.
Something resembling water began to leak from the Kwachu Turtle’s holes.
The way it trailed out looked exactly like it was bleeding, and I checked the turtle’s condition.
Then, just in case, I uttered the magic words.
[Did we get him?]
If it didn't die from this, Phase 2 would begin.
...
...
...
Clunk!
The sound of a mechanism moving echoed.
We turned our heads and were soon able to confirm the result.
[As expected.]
I gave everyone a thumbs up.
[You're all experts who could clear this with your eyes closed.]
Laura. Serica. Asti. Yurdi. Yoanna. And Lewd Man.
Depending on the situation, the squad composition might change, but for now, fighting with this lineup was optimal.
[Shall we head down and fight some more?]
"Lewd Man."
Laura hastily raised her hand.
"Can we please wash up in some water before we go down?"
[.......]
Before entering the 31st floor, we ultimately had to leave the cave and wash our bodies.