TEOCH 82

I read the message over and over again. It was in the hope that the content might change if I read it again, but naturally, not a single syllable of the message changed.

Don’t mess with me, you damned bastards. This is too serious to be taken as a joke. What was that about? A new boss battle? A new, strategy is required?

While I was trying to breathe properly, feeling like I would suffocate at any moment, the door connecting to the next area swung wide open with a grating sound. When the identity of the silhouette beyond it was revealed, my breath caught in my throat, belying my efforts until just a moment ago. My companions’ faces were also colored with shock.

“Wh-what in the world is that……?”

“That’s a real monster, isn’t it?!”

Slither, the thing that appeared from beyond the door crept out of the doorway as if it were a snake. The reason I specifically compared it to a snake, despite the dozens of arms attached to its sides, was that it did not use those many arms at all when it actually moved its body. It was moving lightly in mid-air as if it were gliding.

‘A centipede? No, it would be a relief if it were just a centipede!’

Looking at its brightly shining red eyes, disgusting antennae, and a hideous mandible that looked like it could cut and crush anything, it would not have been unreasonable to conclude that it was an insect. But the torso attached below its face was closer to a human’s. That is, it was closer to the human side, at least compared to a bug.

Looking only as far as its gauntly protruding collarbones and ribs, it possessed a rather human-like aspect, but the problem was that its body was long enough to easily exceed ten meters. The nauseatingly long, yellowish body was even more disgusting because it vaguely resembled a human.

The arms packed tightly and without any gaps on its sides were just as abnormal. They were certainly closer to human arms than insect legs, but the long, gaunt arms, as if they had been forcibly pulled and stretched, looked like they would break at any moment. No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem to exist to support the body.

Furthermore, its naked body was engraved with severe cuts that would make a viewer frown, and the wounds, which looked as if they hadn’t even been properly disinfected, were caked with dirty pus and clotted blood. Considering the characteristic of monsters to be able to regenerate any wound without a problem, it seemed that they were left intentionally rather than being actual injuries. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that it was a nauseating sight.

How many minutes had I been staring blankly? When I came to my senses, the monster had already brought its entire long body out of the door and was floating in mid-air, looking down at us. I couldn’t read any emotion from its inorganic eyes, but I could at least tell that it wasn’t friendly towards us. While we hesitated, not knowing what to do, it spoke first.

—Human.

A hissing, unpleasant sound clung to my ears. Its glistening red eyes slowly scanned the inside of the clearing before fixing on us. Human, it muttered again as if whispering. I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on my sword, but it turned its head indifferently and this time looked at the harpies. Iren, who had been hesitating, seemed to have finally made up her mind and stood before the monster. The monster looked at her and spoke.

—Harpy.

—Yes, we are the harpies. You are……, the messenger dispatched by Lord Herus, correct?

—Herus. My, mother and father. I, am Herus’s child.

My companions tilted their heads, unable to understand the words that came out of its mouth, but I alone understood their meaning. I was so shocked I couldn’t even compose my face. A child of Herus?! Wait, no way. That’s……. That’s a monster that should only appear in the Demon King’s castle, damn it!

One of the Demon King’s closest aides, ‘Herus, the King of Insects’, was someone with a peculiar fighting style of giving birth to children with strong combat abilities to fight in his stead, instead of fighting himself.

At first glance, it might not seem like a big deal, but all the children he birthed had the combat power of a guardian-class monster met in a normal area. It was no exaggeration to say that he was in fact responsible for the military power of the Demon King’s army. In fact, the queen spider we met in the tutorial stage was among the weaker of the monsters that came out of his belly…….

For such a being to show its face from the very first stage, this was truly something that defied common sense. No matter how much of a second playthrough this was, this was going too far. Besides, as I recall, there was no creature that looked like that among Herus’s children! Unless Herus gave birth to a new child, this was impossible!

Oh, wait a minute. Don’t tell me……, he gave birth to a new one?!

—So you were indeed Lord Herus’s messenger.

—Father’s command. Human, kill. Then, island fix.

It spoke in broken words like a small child, shaking its head from side to side. At first glance, it looked like it was slow-witted, but if that thing really was a newborn monster, then such a strange demeanor was also understandable. It was only natural that the first words a newborn uttered would not have a proper sentence structure.

‘It might be a good thing. If that thing doesn’t have proper intelligence, I might be able to use some trick to escape……!’

Thinking that, I tried my best to steel myself, but the problem was that considering the sentence written in the message just now, it didn’t seem likely. According to that message, that monster was so powerful that we couldn’t even fight it directly, and we could barely ‘escape’ to the next area only by satisfying a specific condition. It could by no means be an easy opponent.

Besides, the biggest problem was something else. We know absolutely nothing about what kind of attacks the monster uses, how it moves, or which parts are its weak spots.

If it had been one of Herus’s children that I had met in the Demon King’s castle who came here, I would have been able to escape somehow. It wasn’t just a day or two that I had played hide-and-seek with those things in the Demon King’s castle, and I knew perfectly well how to flee from them. But if the opponent is a monster I’ve met for the first time in my life.

‘I might die.’

I glared at the nameless monster, gritting my teeth. Even though I had defeated the guardians in the past and reached the Demon King’s castle, that was thanks to knowing all the guardians’ patterns and creating the most advantageous situation possible. It wasn’t because my strength was as great as theirs. If we fight without knowing the opponent’s patterns, our chances of winning would probably be less than one in a hundred.

If that monster has an instant-death skill among its attack patterns, we will lose our lives without even being able to escape properly. It is my role to figure out that pattern and find a way to block the instant-death skill, but to figure out all of that thing’s patterns, I have to repeat death several times. The strategies I’ve built up through tens of thousands of deaths are thrown squarely into the trash can, and I have to build everything up again from the beginning…….

But then, a sharp voice suddenly interrupted the monster.

—Wait.

—Ugh……?

It was Charon. While a flustered Iren hesitated for a moment, Charon, with a frightening expression, pushed past her and approached the monster.

Iren looked like she wanted to say something to her older sister, but Charon coldly turned her gaze away from her. While the monster rolled its eyes here and there at the sudden change in the situation, Charon spoke to it firmly.

—Those humans are under our authority. With what right are you now informing us that you will kill these humans?

—Right?

—Yes. In principle, the right to dispose of intruders in this area belongs to us. If it were a direct order from His Majesty the Demon King, we would have no choice but to follow, but if this matter was carried out by Lord Herus’s sole decision, it is something that should have received the consent of us guardians. Lord Herus is only the king of insects, so we harpies are not his vassals.

—…….

—Without the consent of all of us, your actions are nothing more than an infringement of our rights. You understand that much, do you not?

As Charon questioned it in a sharp tone, the monster slowly tilted its head. My companions let out a sigh of relief. It seemed they thought that if Charon used her authority as a guardian to send us to the next area, there would be no reason for us to fight that being.

But I sighed for a slightly different reason. There was the fact that the boss battle was confirmed since the system message had already appeared, but above all…….

—Consent, received. From that one.

The monster raised one of its many arms and pointed at Iren. ……So that’s how it is. I knew Iren changed her mind too easily! I had no way of knowing the exact situation, but it seemed Iren had caused trouble without the consent of her other sisters and then pretended not to know. It was possible that the other sisters had also conspired with Iren to cause this, but I couldn’t know for sure.

But it was certain that Charon had been unaware of Iren’s actions. Her face faintly contorted, but she managed to offer a rebuttal. But…….

—That was a mistake that occurred by that child’s sole decision. We did not even know the fact that you were coming to kill those humans, and I do not know what meaning a consent obtained from only one guardian has in this situation.

—…….

—Therefore, you do not have the authority to kill these humans right now. We will decide for ourselves whether to hand these humans over to you, so for now…….

—Then.

—Yes?

—Then, decide now.

The monster cut her off mid-sentence and spoke firmly. When Charon made a bewildered expression, it twisted its body this way and that as if displeased and glared at Charon. Its hissing voice, like something being scratched, slowly began to fill with irritation, and its gaunt, long arms nervously twitched, picking at the wounds on its own body.

—Wait, what did you say?

—Guardian, authority, don’t know well. But father gave command. Human killing.

—We cannot decide in a hurry. This is an important matter.

—Don’t know that. Must follow command. And…….

—……?

—Father’s commands are two. Human killing, island fixing. One give up, other one also give up.

Hearing those words, Charon’s face completely contorted. It seemed the condition Herus had given Iren was something like, ‘I will fix the island that has collapsed due to the ruin, so hand over the right to dispose of the humans.’ I didn’t know why a being who had been quietly cooped up in the Demon King’s castle until the first playthrough was suddenly trying to kill us, but……. one thing was certain.

Charon cannot stop that monster. No matter how strong Charon’s influence is, in this situation, there is no way for Charon to persuade her sisters.

—Unnie.

Lethe, who had only been listening to the conversation from behind, spoke quietly. She seemed a bit hesitant, but her eyes were full of determination, and the other sisters, though they did not step forward themselves, had similar expressions. As Charon turned around with a bewildered expression, Lethe let out a weak sigh and continued speaking. Her expression was bitter, as if she had swallowed something foul.

—Lethe.

—I have nothing but apologetic feelings for you, unnie. But you see, I think that caring for our monsters is more precious than letting those humans go, no matter what.

—I’m doing this for our monsters too! I can’t say it right now, but……!

—But Lord Herus sent a messenger to kill those humans, didn’t he! According to your logic, unnie, wouldn’t he also have some thought in mind for doing so? Honestly, we don’t know what you’re thinking, unnie! It would be beneficial for everyone if we just kill those humans and get the collapsed island restored!

—Scathach, you too……!

Charon, her face pale, looked at her sisters in turn, but they simply turned their heads, avoiding her gaze. Finally realizing that there was nothing she could do, Charon dropped her head helplessly.

Seeing her desolate expression, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy, but in truth, I was not in a situation to sympathize with her right now. Even if things went wrong, she would not have to bear any sacrifice or damage, but we were in a situation where we could be torn limb from limb by that unidentified monster if we made one wrong move.

—So they say.

Grin, the monster’s mandible opened bizarrely, creating something like a smile. With the triumphant attitude of a child who had won a fight, the monster began to tear at its own body again. Blood dripped from the monster’s hands that were digging into its own wounds, and each time the drops of blood hit the floor, they evaporated with a sizzle sound.

I knew what that was from my experience with other monsters. It was acid blood. A characteristic where if it was wounded and bled, the blood would splatter everywhere and melt the opponent’s skin, and eventually even rust the weapon that had harmed it. Right, a boss you ‘can’t win against’ should at least have something like that. It’s a pain in the ass to deal with, though.

—I’ll borrow this island. Until I kill the humans.

As soon as the monster declared so without even looking at Charon, its blood-stained hands instantly began to melt, giving off smoke. A strange black magic power flowed out from between the flesh that was melting away limply, and that magic power rose high into the sky and began to form an unidentified magic circle. Without needing to think, I realized it at once. We have to get away from that thing as fast as possible……!

[System: The fight with the 1st stage’s hidden boss, ‘Human Centipede’, begins.]

At the same time as the message covered my vision, I immediately led my companions and jumped into the forest. It was a fight with a ‘hidden boss’ I had never seen before in my life.