Chapter 38 - VS Arachne's Avatar
I’m a pacifist.
If we could get by easily like with Tinya or Elise, I didn’t want to create unnecessary friction.
“Ah! This feels strange!”
“Hohoho, it’s my first time manifesting inside the tower.”
There will be a brief position change.
Compressing Ari into SD Ari, and decompressing SD Elise into boom, wow, baam, kya.
…I took in the true face of Elise that couldn’t be seen in the city or guild house.
While doing that.
“Traitors…!”
“Kyahaha, what’s she saying?”
“Arachne. Our master is very generous, you know? He might even embrace you despite that body.”
No.
I don’t have a monster girl fetish though…
But Elise’s words seemed to have the opposite effect.
“How… vulgar…! Have you… forgotten… your pride… as a demon race…!”
Arachne retorted with a reddened face.
“Heh, does pride feed you? Our master is an amazing cook too? He makes delicious food even with weird ingredients?”
What weird ingredients.
I don’t use anything inedible.
“Co…oking…?”
Why are you tapping your hind legs at that point?
Come to think of it, her epithet was Demon of Gluttony.
I wonder what she eats.
The people trapped in cocoons were just slightly emaciated, there weren’t skulls rolling around or signs of cannibalism.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I whispered in Elise’s ear.
“Ahaa. Are you curious?”
A strange smile played on Elise’s face.
Then, as if licking my ear, she put her lips close and whispered.
“She eats people’s essence. She makes them dream such intense dreams that they don’t want to wake up by intoxicating them with her poison, and ‘devours’ the essence flowing from their imagination. Huhuhu.”
What.
That’s just infinite Tsu■yomi.
Recalling when I was intoxicated by Arachne’s poison.
It felt like hmhm, uhuhu, boobs, yummy… like the dream I had when I fell asleep hugging Tinya.
This game.
Is it really all ages?
The setting is just eroge level?
“But then wouldn’t it be dangerous for me if we recruit her?”
“My my, you’ve put such a cute collar on my neck too, like handling a slave puppy. Huhu, if only I could take this off at home, your virginity would be mine– kyahung.”
The heroes’ hearing is quite sensitive.
As Elise tried to slightly cross the line, Lumi immediately growled and bit Elise’s arm with a chomp.
“Elise woof! Bad words!”
I desperately managed my expression and turned my gaze back to the scene of our intelligence 0 strategist persuading Arachne.
“Minotaur meat doesn’t taste good raw, right? If our master cooks it, it’ll definitely be really, really delicious!”
“Grilled… meat…”
What’s this.
Intelligence 0 but political power 100?
Why is the persuasion working so well?
Drool pooled slightly at the corner of Arachne’s mouth, then dripped to the floor.
“Uuu…! Lies…! Arachne… won’t be fooled… twice…!”
Raw meat, huh.
Should I try yukhoe next time?
I wonder if there are parasites since it’s a monster?
While having such pointless thoughts, it seems the persuasion ultimately failed.
Kwaang!
Wild Arachne’s avatar roared!
As expected of a boss monster, she instantly inflated her body several times. Seeing that, I quickly switched positions between Ari and Elise.
Then I swiftly aimed my Debuff-One Tool-Revolver and, bang!
Ting–
“Revela– tooor–!”
The BB gun sound that tore my heart echoed grandly, and Arachne’s eyes immediately turned to me, but.
“Arf! Arf arf!”
Since my rapport with Lumi has almost reached max level now.
Without me saying anything, Lumi barked appropriately to draw aggro.
Roughly checking the information.
“Oh boy.”
Despite being an avatar.
Almost equal to or even higher than the 15th floor boss specs I remember.
How much spirit bomb did you gather on the 13th and 14th floors?
The pattern seems almost identical too, as baby spiders started coming down from the ceiling on spider webs as soon as the real battle began.
“Lumi! Hand over aggro to Saha and focus on the small fry! Tinya help Lumi, Ari focus on the boss!”
After giving appropriate instructions, I stuck close to Yohena.
Something learned through several crises.
In moments of life and death, only Yohena could save me.
“Hyak.”
Yohena let out a shrill sound because I stuck too close, but soon started focusing on her duty as a saint — buffs and healing.
Saha swung three huge things, smacking the longest and largest hammer onto Arachne’s body with a bang.
At the same time, flames burst with a pang.
“Kyahuhuu…!”
“…?”
Arachne reflexively burst into laughter.
What’s this?
Does it mean it’s itchy? It seemed like quite a bit of damage for that though?
“Woof!”
Turning my gaze slightly, Lumi grabbed a baby spider’s leg, swung it around, and threw it at the wall with a swish.
“Yap!”
Then Tinya went pew pew with her Magical-Tinya-Beam.
No need to worry about this side.
“Ari? Turn slightly and aim for the butt.”
“Okay!”
The heroes now follow even somewhat strange-sounding instructions smoothly.
Why specifically aim for the butt?
Because there’s a butt there… no, not really.
It’s because spider webs were constantly coming out from around there and going up to the ceiling.
As those spider webs accumulate.
“I’ll… cover… everything…!”
Special pattern.
Clumps of spider webs fall from the ceiling with a thud, creating traps that bind your feet when stepped on.
Even when facing Arachne with raid boss specs later.
One of the patterns that makes me lose my temper every time stupid melee AI (like Lumi) steps on it.
But as the saying goes.
One who finds and removes the source of damage is a true supporter.
I don’t miss you, Storm of Time and Space.
But that teaching was very helpful to me.
Actually fighting monsters made me realize it’s possible to remove the source of damage.
Especially with weapon-wielding monsters, just taking away their weapons could drastically reduce their combat power.
Pop– Pop–
“Kyaaaa–!”
The spider web blockade strategy seems somewhat effective.
The momentum of spider webs steadily rising to the ceiling gradually began to slow down.
“Kuu.”
A strange sense of satisfaction wells up every time these deductions are correct.
As we steadily chip away at her health like that.
“Unforgivable… Unforgivableee…!”
Arachne, having filled her rage gauge, showed signs of preparing a big attack.
“Saha, now!”
I immediately signaled Saha.
Suddenly.
The background of spider colonies in the wide temple changed to a night sea.
Bang! Bang!
And fireworks went bang bang in the blue night sky that appeared instead of the ceiling!
In that frozen time, Saha shyly bounced her chest once, gripped her hammer tightly.
She swung cleanly at the illusion of fierce waves surging behind the frozen Arachne.
At that moment, very fierce flames wrapped around the hammer.
The stopped time began to flow again.
As soon as the changed space returned to normal.
Saha(swimsuit)’s ultimate skill.
“Phoenix Cleaving the Raging Waves” activated.
“Oh…”
“Cute!”
A small phoenix that gave a very warm and cozy feeling popped up next to all the heroes including me.
No less than.
Nullify 3 hits within the duration.
One of the reasons why Swim Saha is an absolute must-have in flame decks, with the number of nullifications increasing as skill level rises.
Although it shows a slight weakness to multi-hit attacks, there’s no better OP skill for dealing with big single hits.
And usually the meta is most threatened by one-shot kills.
And Arachne’s following pattern was in the form of a typical area-of-effect one-shot kill.
Thud–!
As soon as Arachne’s legs struck the ground, the earth shook and a huge impact swept through.
Moreover, thick spider web-like things suddenly shot up from under my feet, trying to penetrate my precious lower body, but.
Piyuu!
The moment the phoenix chirped refreshingly once.
As if the attack never existed in the first place, it melted away and disappeared.
And the largest phoenix.
The phoenix wrapped around Saha’s hammer, crying piyaeng instead of piyuu–
“Kyahuhuhuhuu…!”
Started burning Arachne hotly as it struck her.
…I decided not to think about why she laughs kyaruru while burning.
I guess there’s some all-ages-appropriate system that turns pain into tickling or something.
Or not.
Anyway, thanks to landing a perfect counter punch, Arachne fell into a groggy state.
“Now’s the time! Rainbow all-out attack!”
My nonsensical words seemed to make question marks pop up above the heroes’ heads for a moment, but.
Lumi and Tinya, who succeeded in exterminating the baby spiders, went yap yap.
Ari kept shooting arrows at the butt, pop pop.
Saha kept bonking Arachne’s head with her hammer, kong kong.
Her health was shaved down in an instant.
How’s that!
This is the full power of fully farmed heroes!
Although the debuff lasts infinitely until the target dies anyway, I still experienced being a pseudo-dealer by shooting pew pew with my mighty Love and Peace Revolver.
…I won’t waste gold again.
I really mean it this time.
Anyway, when her health was shaved down to 50%.
“Uuu… You’ll… pay for thiiis…!”
Normally she would have entered phase 2, but.
Maybe because she was an avatar, Arachne cleanly retreated here.
Enemy commander! Repelled!