First Commission - Sewers (3)
All the filth flowing through the city's sewers, and every being discarded by the city, converged into a single space.
Follow the waterway stretching hundreds of meters downward, ever downward, and you'd reach the final destination.
Before me yawned an endless abyss.
A bottomless pit whose depths I couldn't gauge... a chasm leading who-knows-where, one I had no desire to even guess at.
Beyond the channel I'd followed, countless other waterways emptied into the pit's edge, dumping their cargo of filth far below.
The city's drain, or as it was called, Tartarus.
This was the deepest part of the sewers.
And then.
"...So you're the tentacle monster."
Thump. Thump.
Directly above that drain, a mass of flesh in a form too grotesque to describe writhed.
Now I understood. The reason every extermination team had failed so far. And why the dying full-body suit had desperately tried to stop me.
A cluster of flesh sprouting grotesquely from the ceiling.
Nearly dozens of meters in diameter, with countless organs protruding here and there like a teratoma, giving off a profound body horror vibe.
It looked like a boss from some dark fantasy horror game.
Mouths screaming meaningless cries, nostrils and ear holes protruding like sea anemone suckers, pulsing irregularly... countless organs and tissues throbbed periodically.
Thump.
Thump.
That was the source of the vibrations echoing through this underground space.
The crowning touch of grotesquery: the flesh-colored tentacles sprouting in patches everywhere.
Dozens, hundreds of them undulating as they sought prey, resembling sea anemones.
It had devoured countless victims with those tentacles. Perched atop this abyss where all the city's discarded refuse flowed, it had gorged on the rotting organic matter carried in, swelling its body ever larger.
Its original form was impossible to guess.
Having absorbed so many victims and mutated by the polluted sewage, it was long twisted beyond recognition.
Just like that monster in the hazmat suit I'd seen earlier... perhaps the fate of humans eroded by the sewers was to become that lump of flesh.
I looked up at it.
...It looked down at me.
Hundreds of eyeballs packed tightly together, all staring solely at me—it was quite the sight.
Not that it wasn't disgusting, of course. Just meeting its gaze felt defiling, unclean.
After a casual eye-greet, the battle began immediately.
I summoned my Grimoire into my right hand, and the monster extended its tentacles.
Sssslither...
The repulsive tentacles approached with the smooth glide of a snake over a wall.
[Grease] [Breeze]
I chanted before the tentacles could fully lunge.
[Grease] lowered the friction coefficient around me, creating a slick slide, while [Breeze] generated wind enveloping my body.
Fwoosh-!
The [Breeze] boosted my mobility while also stabilizing my direction on the slippery surface.
A combo reminiscent of a hovercraft or ice skates.
Shieeek!
The contracted tentacles shot like crossbow bolts, but I was already double-accelerated.
Kaboooom—!
The tentacles chased my afterimage, smashing the innocent floor, while I slipped away leisurely on the wind.
Shrrrr...
I flipped the Grimoire's pages for the next spell as the monster's eyes struggled to track me and its tentacles flailed wildly, missing their mark.
In that instant, I chanted again.
[Fireball]
Whoosh-!
A fireball of purifying flames launched.
BOOM!!!
For a moment, an explosion roared, and a flash illuminated the vast cavern.
When the light faded, the tentacle monster was wreathed in flames, writhing as if stung.
But it wasn't some pushover; despite the purifying fire, it merely flinched... no real damage.
This was the limit of being a low-rank mage.
Once I took down the tentacle monster, I'd need to seriously study magic. I couldn't keep relying on low-rank spell combos and mods forever.
Anyway, I still had plenty prepared.
Landing the fireball was just an intermediate step.
I looked up, and now it was the monster's turn.
Shieeek!
Dozens of tentacles launched again, blanketing the area.
Bam, bam, kaboom!
This time, not precise strikes but wide-area barrages to corner me.
But still too slow to catch me.
'Not enough tenacity.'
I weaved between the pillar-like tentacles stabbing the floor, preparing the next spell.
[Aqua Ball]
An unmodified [Aqua Ball] for inanimate targets.
Shloooor...
Sewage plummeting into the abyss reversed gravity, sucked toward my palm.
Rumble rumble...
The monster slammed tentacles into the floor and swept them like a mop, trying to trap me with no escape.
But the counter was simple.
This was the 17th District's main drain, so [Aqua Ball] drew in massive water volume.
[Water Jet]
Sometimes, brute force was the answer.
Krunch!
The massive water blade I'd formed severed the tentacles, and I slipped through the gap.
[GRRROOOOAAAR-]
The cut seemed agonizing; the monster bellowed heavily.
The [Aqua Ball] still gathered in my palm as I chanted again.
[Water Jet]
The water droplets began compressing.
Now came the key part. This strike would carve a severance line into it.
The Grimoire's pages flipped furiously, searching for the needed spell.
This was a basic spell for archers and gunners—auxiliary magic even a low-rank like me could use.
Layering multiple spells, I focused my mind to the limit.
Sweat poured as time seemed to fracture...
I glimpsed the singularity of the writhing, entangled water droplets before they formed the blade.
I pointed at the monster, the singularity primed to strike.
The moment my sharpened mind merged with the water blade—
[Weightless] [Attribute Imprint: Slash] [Attribute Imprint: Pursuit] [Aiming Correction: Projectile Prediction]
Four prepared spells launched at once.
Target: the main body. Goal: sever it. My verdict was one word.
"Impact."
With the incantation, the singularity became a massive slashing blade.
Shkkk!
The flying blade scored an oblique slash across the tentacle monster's body.
[GRRRRROOOOAAARRR-!!]
The monster thrashed in agony, shaking the entire space.
Pshh...
"Ngh..."
Overusing magic brought a splitting headache and nosebleed.
'...I'm fine.'
Almost there.
The monster still burned in karmic flames.
And the massive slash mark I'd carved.
Fsssh...
Cold water invading its body mixed with the high-heat flames, steam billowing everywhere.
[GRRROOOO-]
Soon, steam shrouded the area, obscuring vision.
Confirming it, I released [Grease], halting high-speed movement.
Thud-
The sudden stop jolted my body, but [Breeze]'s wind cushioned it.
This [Breeze] was thickened from zipping around.
I extended my palm and chanted.
[Wind]
I released all the gathered wind toward the monster.
Shhh...
The wind mixed with the thick steam, and I began drawing it toward me.
Shaaaa-
Creating a steam [path] linking me and the monster.
Did you know?
This steam was born from magic interacting—essentially a lump of pure mana.
I slowly extended my hand.
The monster twitched, sensing my intent, but the tide had turned long ago.
I smiled faintly and chanted.
[Wind Cutter]
This was the finale of the long magic sequence.
Krshhhhh!!!
Countless slashes propagated through the steam medium.
Like a virus multiplying or ink staining clear water black.
Wherever steam existed, [Wind Cutter] blades relentlessly covered it.
Krash!
[KIIEEEEEEK!!]
The monster was no exception.
As the steam's source, slashes pierced skin and innards alike, shredding it.
Especially the precisely aimed slash mark—it exposed vital weaknesses, maximizing its pain.
Even after the slashes ravaged everything for a while.
"Hah... persistent bastard."
Amazingly, it still lived.
Its body minced like in a blender, dying... but
[KeeEEEK...]
It still had energy for tentacles.
A suicidal final gambit. Eyes bloodshot with tears, it aimed surviving tentacles at me, intent on taking me with it.
"Fine by me."
I welcomed it—perfect chance to test my final card.
A plan I'd theorized and verified before even entering the sewers proper.
I opened the Grimoire.
And chanted the memorized line, usable only once.
[■■]
From my back erupted dozens, hundreds of pitch-black Outer Sea tentacles.
Their momentum was like fireworks capping a festival.
The monster flinched.
No wonder—unlike its mutant fakes, these were the real deal.
But its hesitation was brief.
Knowing this was its last shot, it fired tentacles despite the futility.
Very well.
"Let's see whose tentacles are thicker—yours or mine?"
BAM!!!
The waves of tentacles clashed.
【Illusion | Completion Materials】
[Essence of the Ugly Existence] 7/3
[Collected materials exceed expectations.]
[Future 【Illusion】 spell synthesis will have higher completion quality.]
"Hoo..."
I collapsed limply to the floor.
The ceiling abyss.
The tentacle monster dangling there was fully exterminated.
"Burned it white..."
Mana depletion made my head ring; I felt on the verge of passing out.
Still...
"...Feels good."
Magic... this stuff...
Is way too fun! Amazing! Always fresh!
Of course, I was too drained to say it aloud.
The tentacle magic.
I could use the spell I'd sealed due to tracking risks thanks to this place's uniqueness.
Sewers brimmed with deceit and yin energy, and this was the deepest part—with a mana-spewing monster to boot. In such thick darkness, even tentacle magic wouldn't be easily traced.
Like water poured into the sea.
"Ha, ha..."
I laughed wearily.
Now just report to the agency and collect my pay.
A whopping 10 million credits!
Of course, getting out from this depth drained as I was... that was another issue.
But it'd work out somehow.