NOVEL WEB Chapter 186
Chapter 186. Dungeon Master
In the darkness, the only light comes from a lantern in the corridor. Inside a hole blasted by tank fire, the Ant King, even after losing two front legs, remains undeterred and turns its body to face us.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
Emitting meaningless cries, it inches forward. While locking eyes with Shizuku, it gradually closes the distance.
“Shizuku! This is all that’s left!”
Yukihana shouts, tossing the remaining swords. Four swords fly through the air. Having generously used them, few remain.
Narrowing her eyes, Shizuku crouches, gathering strength in her legs for the final strike. In response, the Ant King senses something and kicks off the floor, accelerating towards her.
[Accelerator]
[Accelerator]
Shizuku and the Ant King accelerate simultaneously, resuming their battle. Kicking lightly off the wooden floor, Shizuku reaches for the flying swords.
[Aura Blink]
Creating doppelgangers with the same aura, each one reaches for a sword.
[Fist Emperor Barrage]
Charging her fist with fighting spirit and converting that power into energy, the Ant King twists its body towards Shizuku in mid-air, unleashing a rapid series of punches. The immense energy shoots towards Shizuku like beams.
The energy waves hit the Shizuku doppelgangers reaching for the swords, bursting them like balloons filled with massive energy. But as the shattered images disappear, the Ant King halts its movements.
“You fell for it.”
[Circle Sword]
Shizuku’s voice, which should have been leaping for the swords, is heard from in front, and a multitude of shining lines attack. The Ant King realizes the real Shizuku had hidden her presence and was right before it.
Countless shining lines. An attack that would be fatal if it caught one off guard would usually reveal a critical vulnerability, leading to death. However, the Ant King wasn’t ordinary. With A-rank status, the gap in status with Shizuku was significant.
Even if caught off guard, or off-balance, its high status allowed it to counterattack.
[Willow Wind Body]
With a swaying motion, the Ant King deftly dodges the approaching beams like a willow in the wind. At a hair’s breadth distance, the sword grazes its body, showing an almost perfect dodge.
After evading all of Shizuku’s attacks, the Ant King clenches its fists, crouching and gathering fighting spirit.
[Fist Emperor Strike]
With a whooshing sound, it launches a mighty punch.
[Deflect]
Shizuku blocks with her small, translucent sword, but stopping the force is like standing in front of a truck. With a crushing sound, her body folds and is blown away, slamming into the wall.
Just as the Ant King relaxes, thinking it has finally defeated its foe, a tank suddenly charges at it.
Caught off guard this time, the Ant King takes the full brunt of the tank’s assault. With the sound of wood being shredded, the Ant King is pushed by the tank.
“Nice one, Serika!”
“Heh, [Sneak] is basic, you know, basic.”
Yukihana grins, showing her fangs, while Serika responds confidently. The tank accelerates, aiming to crush the Ant King. Realizing the previous girl was a decoy, the Ant King remains calm, considering countermeasures without emotion.
Understanding the core is behind it, the Ant King knows dodging might lead to the tank firing at zero range. Even an Ancient Treant’s core might not withstand such an attack.
Grabbing the tank with its remaining two front legs, it stomps firmly on the floor, trying to stop it. The wooden floor is shredded, but the tank is eventually halted, its treads spinning in place.
The Ant King buries its front legs into the tank’s armor, attempting to lift it.
“I knew it, but what absurd strength.”
Yukihana mutters, clicking her tongue and firing the heavy machine gun. Seeing the attack, the Ant King uses its fighting technique.
[Diamond Skin]
Its exoskeleton gleams, gaining diamond-like hardness, deflecting the heavy machine gun bullets. Without a dent, it repels the powerful attack.
Lifting the tank with increased strength, the machine gun’s line of fire is obstructed. Pressing harder into the ground, the diamond-glowing legs push up, and the tank is thrown, smashing into the ceiling and flipping over.
[Fairy Sword Flash]
From the shadow of the tossed tank, a sharp sound is heard as a spatial distortion slashes horizontally toward the Ant King. The Ant King, with high-status physical abilities, judges it can dodge, but its body stiffens and can’t move.
Realizing [Diamond Skin] stiffened its joints, the Ant King couldn’t resist as the spatial distortion passed through its torso. Its body tilts and the Ant King collapses, split into two.
“Ta, ta, task.”
With a final death cry, the Ant King’s eyes lose their light, ending its life. Shizuku returns to her stance, letting the translucent small sword crumble into the sand.
“The fairy’s sword is a demon blade, a sword that can cut anything.”
Wiping blood from her mouth, Shizuku murmurs with cold eyes.
“I thought it was pretty dangerous.”
“Frustratingly, as expected of Shizuku. The plan was perfect.”
Seeing Serika and Yukihana crawl out from the emergency hatch of the overturned tank, Shizuku proudly puffs out her chest.
“With only two front legs, even the mighty ant couldn’t lift the tank easily. And we predicted it would use [Diamond Skin].”
The plan had included cutting off the front legs, knowing it would be harder for the Ant King to lift the tank with only two.
“It’s the Ant King’s specialty move. But it significantly reduces agility.”
Serika says, fixing her disheveled hair with her fingers.
“Exactly. We predicted it would definitely use [Diamond Skin] to block the heavy machine gun.”
“With the Ancient Treant’s core behind it, there was no way it could run away… It was like a game of shogi, completely cornered. That ant was pitiful. Now I see why you’re called the strongest squad.”
“It was a difficult strategy, but fortunately, it worked out.”
Shizuku shrugs and turns to the Ancient Core. There are no signs of new enemies appearing.
Shizuku and the others approach the gigantic core. The massive, five-meter-tall red crystal embedded in the wood pulses with a red light.
“The finishing blow with the Fairy Sword.”
Picking up a fallen sword, Shizuku speaks calmly while looking at the core. She slowly infuses the remaining fighting spirit into the sword.
“Help us!”
As expected, her body is at its limit, so she infuses slowly. Suddenly, with a bang, figures in white coats appear inside the core, shouting.
They bang on the core, but it doesn’t crack, and they can’t get out.
“Are you the rescue team? Thank goodness, I found myself here suddenly.”
“The experiment failed, and we were waiting for help.”
“We lost all sense of time and don’t feel hunger.”
A few men and women bang on the core and shout. Seeing this, Shizuku glances at Serika and Yukihana. They nod at each other.
“We’ve discovered a dangerous Dungeon Master.”
“Indeed. Truly humanity’s enemy.”
“How pathetic, their final struggle.”
The three nod and shrug. The people in white coats hear this and become furious, shouting even louder.
“What are you saying? Dungeon Master? Is this a joke? I’m a researcher from the Federation’s 8th Laboratory. My name is—”
“Oh, you don’t need to introduce yourself. We’ve been ordered not to listen to the devilish whispers of the Dungeon Master.”
Waving her hand dismissively, Shizuku’s emotionless response makes the researchers shiver.
“W-what are you? Joking…?”
Shizuku and the others look at the researchers without emotion. The researchers realize their gaze is like looking at lifeless stones.
“Dungeon Masters are intelligent beings that can freely control monsters and alter terrain. They’re dangerous, so we’re ordered to exterminate them immediately. This is a top-secret priority.”
“Monsters? Terrain alteration? There’s no way we could have such powers! You need to contact a superior officer! This is a mistake!”
Ignoring the Dungeon Master’s pleas, Shizuku shrugs.
“We know. They only act according to their programming. But a barren dungeon is proof of a Dungeon Master’s presence. We’ve been ordered to eliminate them as they are a threat to humanity.”
Hearing this, the researchers understand the implications of her words. Their faces pale and their mouths tremble.
“You’re going to erase all evidence! You intended this from the start! Wait, we won’t tell anyone! We swear on our lives!”
“Yes! We won’t tell anyone!”
“We never imagined it would come to this!”
The researchers plead, but the decision is final. They’ve been ordered to ensure complete extermination. It’s an absolute order, not to be questioned, even if it seems meaningless unless the secret order is revoked.
“Evil Dungeon Masters. We’ll process you as mutated monsters.”
Finishing the infusion of fighting spirit into the sword, Shizuku crouches, ready to strike.
“This can’t be allowed! Stop it, stop—!”
Desperately shouting, the three girls only look at them emotionlessly. Seeing the mechanical gaze in their eyes, the researchers despair. There is no sign of willpower in those eyes.
[Fairy Sword Flash]
With a swish, Shizuku swings her sword. The space distorts, and the core shakes. With a crack, the core shatters from the cut.
Inside the shattered core, there is no one. The researchers have vanished without a trace.
Amidst the scattered core fragments, Shizuku looked around and found the original monster core that had dropped. Picking it up, she sees the dungeon core and a golden box appear and smiles slightly.
“We did it. We got the dungeon core and the treasure chest. Serika, check the chest, please.”
“Roger that.”
Watching Serika approach the chest, Shizuku contacts Sakimori-san.
[We have the dungeon core, Sakimori-san.]
[Roger that.]
A hand emerges from the shadow, gently touching the dungeon core before retracting. The dungeon core is safely absorbed, giving them relief.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
“I’m the most exhausted. Look, I’m all battered.”
Covered in blood and with broken bones, Shizuku pouts. It had been a narrowly fought battle as always.
“Oh, it’s the Philosopher’s Stone! We can make new equipment with this!”
Raising her hands in delight, Serika holds a platinum ingot.
“I’m not drinking it, though, since it changes hair color.”
Smiling, Shizuku notices a small, thin metal piece around the Ant King’s neck. Crushing it underfoot, she thinks about reuniting with Sakimori-san, moving her exhausted body to head outside.