NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 65
Para and Anu looked at Bastet, bewildered.
─[I’ve never seen that thing around here…]
─[If it’s something we don’t know… it must have been reborn or recently evolved.]
Thank goodness.
That Bastet doesn’t seem to be with the enemy.
Whether it’s a deception to distract Group 4 or not, it’s still unclear.
Bringing Bastet to their side is not a bad plan.
But how to persuade that creature? No clue.
Just then, Para threw a question at Bastet.
─[Are you our enemy?]
─[Enemy? What do you mean, meow?]
─[I’m asking if you want to fight us.]
─[I have no intention of fighting, meow.]
─[Then get lost! I don’t have time to deal with you.]
─[………..]
Oh.
Not bad, huh?
Looks like Para just touched a nerve with Bastet.
The proof is that Bastet’s brow slightly furrowed.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable hearing “get lost” on their first encounter.
‘Looks like we’re not pretending to ignore each other after all.’
While Para and Anu were on guard against Bastet, Aracne glanced sideways at Azelas and spoke up.
─[Azelas. They say it’s the guardian of the labyrinth, right?]
─“Probably a monster that hunts explorers…”
─[Hunts explorers?]
─“Monsters that harbor hatred for explorers and hunt them down. There’s a high probability they were forced to obey a Ruler…”
From Azelas’s explanation, it sounds like explorer hunters mostly have a history of being dominated.
And because of their harsh past under a Ruler, their hatred towards explorers is unimaginably great.
Not every Ruler treated monsters poorly, but…
In addition to hunting explorers, the reason they hunt drifters is simple.
Drifters are practically candidates for explorers.
It’s not like they’d reject someone just because they came from outside.
Para and Anu seemed to decide to ignore Bastet, turning their attention back to Group 4, shouting loudly.
─[Hey you! The first person to reveal the explorer’s position will be granted a special reprieve!]
─[First come, first served! I keep my promises!]
Of course, Group 4 wouldn’t accept that proposal.
Aracne seemed to find it absurd and let out a scoff.
─[What are you saying?]
─“Nonsense…”
Azelas also did not respond to the proposal.
The giant caterpillar carrying Group 4 growled and flatly rejected the offer.
─[Abeel, abberallar!]
The taming process was going on with the mummy skeleton…
─[Kuul, cool…]
Still bound in silk, it was sprawled out, sleeping.
Para sighed and asked once more.
─[This is your last chance. Is there really no one willing to reveal the explorer’s position?]
Azelas and Aracne lightly ignored his words.
The caterpillar shook its body, expressing its refusal.
─[Abberallar! Shut up!]
As everyone rejected the proposal, Para and Anu’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Iris zoomed in on their faces.
She seems to be a natural-born cameraman with talent for shooting.
Anyway.
It was a tense atmosphere where a battle could break out at any moment.
Of course, although the mood felt off, both sides still hadn’t hastily moved.
They were just gauging each other’s strength.
In the midst of this heavy tension.
I lowered my voice and cautiously called out to Aracne.
“Kino.”
─[Yes, Father.]
“Why don’t you try and persuade that Bastet?”
─[Are you suggesting pulling it to our side? How?]
“Offer it some tasty fish.”
─[Fish? Hmmm…]
“You guys have to send some.”
Aracne hesitated for a moment, then quickly turned to Bastet.
─[Hey! Bastet!]
─[I’m Bastet, meow.]
─[We’ll give you some fish later, so can you help us deal with those ugly guys!?]
─[What is fish, meow?]
─[Huh?]
─[I asked what fish is, meow.]
Bastet tilted its head and asked.
Aracne, flustered, turned to Iris.
─[Ah, Father. What should I explain?]
Just roughly say it’s something delicious.
And just when I was about to say that…
─[Stop the nonsense!]
Kaboom—!
Golden sand exploded as Anu kicked the sandy ground fiercely and lunged forward.
The grains swirled around Anu, who crouched low like a beast and charged at Aracne.
The distance closed in an instant.
In that moment.
Anu’s side.
Azelas’s foot sliced through the air.
Thud!
─[Gah!]
A direct hit to the side caused Anu’s body to go rogue.
Floored by the impact, Anu tumbled across the sand.
Then, while grinding his teeth, he got up from the sandy ground and glared fiercely at Azelas.
─“Don’t touch my friend’s body. You’ll die…”
─[Alright. I’ll kill you first.]
The prelude to battle had begun.
*
The giant caterpillar, with the mummy skeleton on its back, fled to a safe spot to watch the fight.
─[Rise up.]
At Para’s gesture, hundreds of sand giants rose simultaneously.
With the giants’ appearance, the desert trembled, and a sandstorm raged.
Against that, Aracne summoned countless spider spirits.
─[Wrap yourselves in silk and bulk up!]
As Aracne’s order fell.
The summoned spider spirits emitted white silk from their bodies.
The silk continuously wrapped around the spider spirits’ bodies.
And they formed an armor out of Nullification Web.
The armor resembled a Dog Spider perfectly.
Of course, it was much larger.
It was a size that didn’t fall behind even in comparison to giants.
Para and Aracne simultaneously commanded their summons.
─[Charge!]
─[Everyone, take down those giants without leaving a single one!]
The sand giants marched forward, shaking the ground beneath them.
As their footsteps matched the rhythm, waves of sand rose.
On the opposite side, the spider spirits clad in silk armor also advanced in unison.
And finally.
The two forces collided.
─[In the name of Pharaoh, annihilate the enemies!]
─[Leave not a single one alive!]
─[Crush the reactionary forces!]
─[Yee!]
─[Yeeeee!]
─[Yeeerk!]
The ground was instantly engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos.
In the sky, fierce combat between Azelas and Anu unfolded.
Vroom—!
Each clash between Azelas and Anu created shockwaves and sliced through the surrounding air.
Their movements grew increasingly rapid.
Punches and kicks exchanged at lightning speed became almost impossible to catch on screen.
Only blurred afterimages were sometimes left behind where they passed.
In the fierce exchange above.
Iris caught Aracne’s screen again.
Behind the spider spirits.
Aracne was secretly gathering and compressing silk bundles.
After her long efforts, as soon as a dense silk bundle was completed, Aracne opened her eyes and shone crimson. Her gaze fixed on Para.
─[Absorb.]
With Aracne’s whisper.
─[Ah, no… What is this…!]
A blue light began to leak from Para’s entire body, getting sucked into the silk bundle Aracne held.
It seemed she was absorbing power.
Thud.
Para seemed to have lost strength, dropping to one knee.
─[The ability to extract the power of the soul… what kind of monster is this…]
But Para wasn’t going down easily.
He stretched out both arms and, in a voice filled with anger, let out a cry.
Then, the sands of the desert were drawn into Para’s body, and having restored some strength, he stood up straight again.
Of course, it was only a temporary recovery.
Aracne’s silk bundle continued to absorb Para’s strength.
Before he could be absorbed again, Para seemed to have decided to eliminate that silk bundle and acted immediately.
Thwoom—!
Para’s mouth grotesquely opened wide.
Gathering black energy within, it shaped into a small sphere.
─[Annihilate.]
The moment his voice resonated.
Black rays shot out from the sphere like lasers.
The enormous beam swept across horizontally.
And in an instant, it split the vast desert in two.
A sight as if the world itself was being cleaved in half.
The sand giants and spider spirits clad in silk were obliterated by the black light.
And Aracne too.
─[…I almost had a disaster.]
Her human upper body and spider lower body had been severed.
Luckily, it wasn’t a fatal blow.
White silk flowed from both severed ends, neatly reconnecting her upper and lower halves.
Very cleanly.
While the transcendent battle shaking heaven and earth continued.
Iris turned to Bastet, who was sitting beside the giant caterpillar.
Bastet sat deep in thought.
─[Fish… fish…]
Muttering the word “fish.”
Then suddenly, she sprang up.
─[I don’t know what it is, but it feels like it’s something to eat. And it must taste good, meow.]
Spreading her wings, she soared into the sky.
─[I want to try it, so I’ll help you.]
And high above.
She roared towards the SSS-Class Monster Solorb, hovering gracefully above.
─[AooOOOOOooooong!!!]
─[Did you call?]
As the sun, firmly in the sky, began to slowly tilt and descend towards the earth.