Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Under the Mountain
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“The moment the pincers gathered, multiple shockwaves were released. What tremendous evil power. I’m not sure if it’s right to call it evil power, but... The chieftain’s armor must already be shattered.”
Davi, who had been watching, already had a sword gripped in his hand.
The queen’s full body came into view as it fully emerged onto the passage. Its size was at least three times that of a typical ground worm.
Sssssssss!
The queen let out a grotesque sound from its split jaws left and right, raising its pincers, and at the same time, a massive chunk of ice began to form above the fallen Babdal’s head.
“Ice Meteor?”
In terms of rank, it was a powerful ice magic right below Tempest. And not just one, but four or five at once.
“Ku, kuwa! U, move! Move, I said!”
A massive ice chunk plummeted down onto the writhing Babdal.
More precisely, onto the light shield enveloping his body.
Kwajijijijijik!
“Prince!”
Davi’s voice rang out from behind. I had already activated flight magic and landed in front of the fallen Ancient Bear, blocking its path.
“Babdal! You okay? Your size is too big, so even three shields couldn’t cover you fully!”
“Claude! I told you not to help!”
Babdal shoved at the light shield that had blocked for him with his paws.
“This is the duty of the chieftain, me! This is the fight of us Ancient Bears! Outsiders can’t interfere!”
“Outsider? Why am I an outsider?”
Yeah, right. I stretched my arm toward the approaching ground worm queen in the distance and grinned.
“I’m kind of an Ancient Bear too, aren’t I? Since I ate your core.”
“......What?”
“I saw earlier you weren’t affected by the cold at all. You’re already half bear. So give up. I’m not an outsider.”
Whatever the case, I couldn’t let Babdal die here. I needed him for the war against the otherworld later, and there were still cores I had to receive.
Ky rarararararak!
The queen suddenly reared up, rippling its dozens of legs on its underbelly like waves.
Ugh, that’s disgusting.
Through the lord’s eye, I could see it drawing up some kind of power from within...
“Kuh! Dodge, Claude! You’ll die if you get hit by that!”
“What is that thing?”
Kwang!
In an instant, the queen slammed its tail end into the ground and writhed its abdomen, beginning to suck something in.
“It spews out ingested soil! Even we can’t withstand the cold, the deadly poison, mixed with fragments of the ground worm’s hard carapace, scattered everywhere!”
“Yeah?”
“There’s still time! We all die once that starts! Everyone, stop fighting! The queen’s going into frenzy! Failure! It’s a failure! Everyone, run outside!”
At Babdal’s shout, the bears who had already wiped out the guard worms turned and ran toward the exit.
What? After coming all this way, we’re just running away like this?
They must have planned to finish her off before she used that ultimate move...
“The queen’s shell was too tough. Even the elf lord’s sword couldn’t pierce it. I failed. My body won’t move. At least you survive, Claude.”
“Well. If we’re at it...”
I grimaced, imagining the ground worm queen’s soil-spewing spectacle in my head.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we all survived?”
If the opponent was a queen, it’d only be polite to counter with a queen of our own, right?
“Ignis.”
Fwoosh!
“Cold!”
The queen of fire curled up and whined the moment she was summoned.
“What is this, Claude? Why is it so cold here? We’ll all freeze to death like this.”
Was that something for the Spirit Queen of fire, whose whole body was blazing hot, to say?
“If it’s cold, why not light a fire?”
“Correct.”
Ignis smiled and turned her body.
Then, toward the massive ground worm queen about to spew something, she hurled the fireball gathered in her hand in one go.
Ziiiiiiiiik!
Something the worm had just vomited collided with the massive fireball, producing fierce steam.
Followed by the explosion.
Kwaaang!
But the queen of fire didn’t stop.
“A worm infused with ice essence. Worth killing.”
More excited than usual, the queen spun her body like a dancer and began madly hurling fireballs from both hands.
Throw.
Kwaaang!
Throw.
Kwaaaang!
Throw again.
Kwaaaang!
Each one rivaled Tempest in sheer firepower. I backed away, feeling the indoor air pressure change from the successive explosions.
“Ignis? That thing’s already done for, isn’t it?”
“What did you just say?”
Ignis finally stopped her fire show after a while and turned toward me.
All that remained in the wake of the inferno was pathetic wreckage.
The only part still maintaining shape was the tail end embedded in the ground. The victorious queen leaped over and thrust her arm deep into it.
Chiiiiiik!
Ugh, what the hell is she doing?
“Hoh, there it is.”
Ignis pulled something from the enemy’s corpse and tossed it my way.
“Catch.”
“Hm?”
Caught off guard, I received a sky-blue lump the size of my head. Ugh, it’s cold! Why is it so freezing? Didn’t I max out my cold resistance?
“This is ice essence.”
The queen flew to my side in an instant and smiled.
“Sometimes creatures are born harboring things like this. Even among them, this is the largest essence I’ve seen. Good call summoning me. It would’ve been a headache otherwise.”
“Yeah? So what do I do with this?”
“Essence is a kind of magic tonic. But only for beings of the corresponding attribute.”
“F-Fire Spirit Queen...”
Meanwhile, Babdal dragged his body back, avoiding Ignis. No wonder, with something like that suddenly appearing. I cast recovery magic on Babdal’s body to reassure him.
“Don’t worry. She won’t harm you. Ignis is contracted to me.”
“A contract with a Spirit Queen... A human?”
“A human who’s also an Ancient Bear? Plus Ancient Wolf and Ancient Seal to boot.”
“......”
Babdal couldn’t close his gaping mouth. Meanwhile, the queen of fire bowed deeply and began peering at my face from all angles.
“Your body’s improved a lot in the meantime. Claude, my contractor.”
“I ate an Ancient Bear core. What do you think? Can I do spirit possession now?”
“Hmm... Still too immature to fully accept me.”
The queen trailed her fingertip over my chest and frowned.
Chik!
“Hey! Hold on! Tone down the heat! My clothes are burning! Clothes!”
“I did it on purpose. Wanted to see you bare.”
“What? What?”
“Kidding. Hehe.”
The queen narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“Still, another one should be possible. That rock spirit, perhaps.”
“Lukkar, you mean?”
“Yes. Him, for a short while at least. Hm? Another spirit’s increased. This one’s a wood spirit?”
“Right. Wood spirit dryad.”
“Hmm... Just in case, don’t summon her with me. Might burn her by accident.”
“I’ll be careful. But...”
Then the underground plaza shook.
Kugugugung...!
Already deep underground, yet an even stronger vibration rose from somewhere deeper.
“This vibration...”
Ignis turned and examined the dead ground worm queen’s remains. Suddenly, she opened her mouth wide, making an unqueenly dumbfounded face.
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“My mistake. That worm.”
“Ground worm queen? Why?”
“It had connected its body to the tunnel’s leyline. But I hit it too hard... The shock traveled through its body to the leyline.”
“So?”
“The tunnels are starting to collapse. Run now.”
“Run?”
“No, fly. Fly away, Claude. And you, human over there!”
“Me, you say?”
Davi behind pointed at himself with a finger. Ignis approached the fallen Babdal and nodded.
“Yes, you. Run to the exit right now. I can’t babysit you too.”
With that, she swiftly scooped up Babdal’s massive body.
The slender, graceful queen effortlessly lifting the huge Babdal was somehow comical...
“Kuaaa! Hot! It’s hot, Spirit Queen! I’m burning! Burning to death!”
In an instant, Babdal’s fur started scorching, and he screamed. The queen quickly lowered the heat and dashed toward the exit.
“Sorry about that. You can endure it, right?”
“K-Kuh. H-Hard to endure...”
“Wait!”
He’ll turn into roasted bear at this rate! I hurriedly followed with flight magic and cast Protection Magic on Babdal’s body.
Right then, the plaza’s ceiling caved in.
Kugugugung!
“No time! What if the summon ends!”
I shouted, clutching the ice essence tight to my chest. Ignis, who had just exited the plaza, glanced at the suffering Babdal and replied.
“It’s fine. Can last five more minutes.”
“Took two hours to get down here? Five minutes won’t get us out! How’s your body? I used recovery magic.”
“L-Leave me, Claude. Body still won’t move...”
“Such a loyal ancient beast.”
Ignis smiled at Babdal.
“As a reward, I’ll lend some power. Five minutes is more than enough.”
At the same time, fierce orange flames erupted from the queen’s body.
Puhwak!
“Kuwah! Kuwahah!”
While the startled Babdal yelled, the queen holding him shot away at unbelievable speed.
Shuk!
A speed that easily surpassed flight magic. What the hell? Almost as fast as Tolari’s acceleration?
Kugugugung...
Meanwhile, the cave kept collapsing. Come to think of it, I’m the one lagging behind?
Uh...
No way I’m the only one getting crushed while everyone else survives, right?
Even with flight magic, I can’t accelerate as much in an underground tunnel as outdoors!
* * *
In the end, I escaped the tunnel last, together with Davi who had slowed down to wait for me.
Kukugugung...
Shortly after exiting, a roar echoed from inside the tunnel, and white dust billowed out.
Phew, that was close... Not really on the edge, but one minute later and it would’ve been dangerous.
Outside the tunnel, the Ancient Bears who had escaped ahead stood in formation. Just watching them pisses me off.
“Hey! You guys! No matter what, how do you abandon your chieftain alone and run!”
“I-It’s... fine. Claude.”
Babdal, collapsed near the entrance, barely raised his body.
“It was the plan all along. So don’t scold them.”
“The plan?”
“If we can’t kill the ground worm queen... The chieftain stays till the end to block it while the rest escape. That’s the tribe’s rule. Kugh...”
Babdal’s groaning figure looked shockingly pathetic. Probably because his lush fur had all burned off thanks to Ignis...
The other bears also looked depressed, blaming themselves for abandoning their chieftain. Babdal raised a front paw high toward his subordinates.
“But thanks to that, I survived, and we took down the ground worm queen. So we won!”
“Kuwa!”
“Kuwaa!”
“Kuwaaaa!”
Only then did the gloomy mood lift, and victory cheers poured out.
“Kuwaaaaa! The one who brought us victory is this little human here! Claude! But Claude absorbed my core. So he’s practically one of us Ancient Bears!”
“Hueong?”
“H-Hue?”
The momentarily confused bears began sniffing me one by one as they approached.
“Hmm. Yeah.”
“Definitely smells like chieftain.”
“Sniff. Our scent. Ancient Bear.”
“But lots of other smells too?”
“Still not bad, right?”
“Not bad at all! Great!”
And suddenly they hoisted me up and started cheering.
“Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!”
“Claude hurray!”
“Chieftain hurray! Ancient Bears hurray!”
“We won! Won!”
Ugh, dizzy.
I could escape with flight magic if I wanted... But the mood’s good, so I’ll sacrifice myself. Sigh.
That way, they’ll be a bit more helpful when I drag them into the war later? Is this too mercenary thinking?