NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 34: Fierce Battle
From the hole in the castle's second floor, a rope was thrown out and dangled down to the ground.
Then Stella appeared. Clad in heavy chainmail, she clung to the rope as she slid down, her legs flailing. Just before reaching the ground, she released the rope and landed with a thud.
Next came Sean, carrying a longbow on his back and a hardwood crossbow in his right hand. After firing a few arrows into the hole, he wrapped his left hand and legs around the rope, swiftly sliding down to the ground.
Sean helped Stella up and quickly led her away from the castle, heading toward the birch forest behind it.
The last to emerge was the burly Barrett. He stowed a large shield into his spatial ring, then grabbed a black, can-shaped object and threw it into the castle. He then seized the rope and, with agile movements, slid down to the ground in a second.
Barrett pulled out a throwing axe and severed the rope from the second floor before running off toward the birch forest without looking back.
A loud "bang!" erupted from the wall hole, as if the castle had sneezed. A cloud of gray dust burst from the hole, suggesting that the object Barrett had thrown into the castle had exploded.
Soon after, several long tentacles emerged from the hole, followed by a massive pair of pincers. Giant cockroach-like creatures crawled out, and behind them, mantises the size of adults pushed through the hole. Their razor-sharp forelimbs swung as their compound eyes scanned around, with powerful hind legs propelling them toward the direction the three humans had fled. Iron beetles wriggled out of the castle and headed toward the birch forest.
Following them, a swarm of countless insects surrounded a short, maid-like figure, slowly emerging from the hole...
Entoma Vasilissa Zeta stood on the back of an iron beetle, rapidly advancing toward the birch forest. Her mask-insect face showed no expression.
She was also a member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's combat maid squad, of the Arachnoid race, skilled in commanding insects.
Barrett sprinted desperately ahead. In front of him, Sean was running at full speed, carrying Stella on his back. To their dismay, the cleric girl was terrified of insects. As the massive bugs swarmed from all directions, her legs went weak, forcing Sean to carry her.
They headed toward EeDeChi's location, intending to warn the battling adventurer captain that another terrifying foe had arrived. They hoped EeDeChi would quickly flee and avoid further entanglements with the iron fist maid.
"What's the situation over there?" EeDeChi asked Barrett and the others while pushing back the iron fist maid with a swing of her sword. She had also noticed the swarm of insects and the sounds of numerous creatures crawling on the ground.
"Captain, another maid has shown up, and she controls insects! There are too many bugs for us to handle! Fuck! I've been an adventurer for twenty years, and I've never seen anything like this!" Barrett gasped, cursing for once.
The sound of the crawling insects grew closer. EeDeChi looked up and saw a bizarre girl in a maid outfit standing among the black swarm of wings and antennae, rapidly approaching.
"The Justice Value is -100, close to 'evil'," EeDeChi observed the Insect maid's Justice Value above her head. She swung her sword to deflect a heavy iron fist punch coming from behind, then nodded and said, "Let's take out this insect controller first, and then we'll deal with the one with the gauntlets."
She twisted her body, quickly turning around. Her left foot scraped a large trench into the ground as she ignored the menacing iron fist maid beside her and charged toward the Insect maid with her sword raised.
The swarm of insects quickly closed in, with several bugs wrapping around Barrett, Sean, and Stella. Fortunately, the bugs were numerous but not very strong, so they could handle them for now.
Insect maid Entoma looked at the adventurer captain with a sweet voice, "So, you're EeDeChi?" With that, she flicked her maid robe sleeve, and a long, thick centipede emerged, its hundred legs writhing as its black pincers opened wide to bite EeDeChi.
EeDeChi shook her head. "Less talking." She braced herself, twisting her waist and powering her arms. Her giant sword sliced through the air, cutting the centipede in half with one swing.
Entoma took a step back and raised her insect-like arms. A yellow paper talisman flew out:
"Thunderbird Talisman!"
The paper transformed into a blue thunderbird, which darted toward EeDeChi and exploded in a crackling burst of electricity.
EeDeChi brushed off her clothes, looking slightly puzzled. "Hmm? A talisman?"
Seeing her attack was ineffective, Entoma produced three yellow talismans with red designs from her robe and sweetly said:
"Chidori Talisman! Sharp Slash Talisman!"
Bright blades of light surged from all directions. EeDeChi spun her giant sword to shield herself, blocking the attacks.
Frowning deeply, she shouted, "Playing with talismans? You're not from this world! Prepare to die!"
Outside the manor, Sebas, watching EeDeChi's battle, narrowed his eyes in alarm. "This is bad! That adventurer girl held back when attacking Yuri. We need to pull Entoma out immediately!"
But his warning came too late. EeDeChi leaped into the air, her giant sword swinging down with force.
Insect maid Entoma clearly sensed the danger. She lifted her head, her mask falling away, revealing a set of sharp jaws and rapidly contracting compound eyes, exposing her true form.
From her back, four long, segmented legs shot out, piercing through her maid outfit and crossing in front of her like shields.
The sword's energy slashed out, severing all four of Entoma's segmented legs.
Seeing that defeat was imminent, a black beetle carried her away, quickly fleeing in the opposite direction from EeDeChi.
During the earlier battle, EeDeChi had noticed that the iron fist maid had a Justice Value of 150, and since she feared that the iron fist maid might also be under control, she had only used about a third of her strength against her to avoid causing harm.
But now, with the Insect maid's Justice Value at -100 and using powers clearly not from this world, EeDeChi decided to stop holding back.
As she saw the Insect maid trying to escape, EeDeChi was about to give chase when Barrett's shout came from behind her: "Captain, save Stella!"
It turned out that the iron fist maid, whom EeDeChi had abandoned in the fight, was now charging at the stationary Stella with her massive steel wolf-fang gauntlets. Barrett and Sean were entangled with several red-footed worms and couldn't help.
"Is this a diversion tactic?" EeDeChi shook her head. "Eliminating evil should be the priority! We can't miss this chance. We must capture and interrogate this talisman-wielding bug master thoroughly."
Without another thought, she gripped her sword and leaped towards the Insect maid.
Seeing the iron fist maid getting closer to Stella, the young cleric was in imminent danger. After Sean shot through the head of a green-scaled bug, he gritted his teeth, abandoned his bow, and drew his short sword. Using Martial Art, he fought his way through the swarm and positioned himself in front of Stella, barely managing to activate his defensive Martial Art: Solid Fortress.
For Sean, who excelled with a bow, close combat was not his strength. His short sword collided with the maid's fists, the blade snapping and the hilt flying away.
The iron fist maid knocked Sean's sword away with her left hand and struck his shoulder with her right. Sean spat blood, crashing to the ground. His shoulder was pierced by several of the spiked gauntlets, bleeding profusely. It was clear his arm was useless.
Seeing Sean, covered in blood, lying in front of her, Stella finally came to her senses. She rushed to Sean, who was writhing in pain on the ground. Terrified, she shakily cast a healing spell, ignoring the iron fist maid who was right beside her.
"Damn it! The bastard! How can she just leave her teammates to die?" Barrett fumed as he watched EeDeChi run off.
He knew that without help, both Sean and Stella would die under the maid's crushing blows. Barrett raised his long sword and impaled a cockroach-sized bug on the ground. He crushed a vial of insect repellent powder in his hand, releasing a grayish-white smoke that made the surrounding bugs scatter temporarily.
Taking advantage of the brief respite, he pulled a throwing axe from his spatial ring and hurled it at the iron fist maid with all his might. The maid deflected the axe with a swift move, but Barrett quickly threw two more axes, enchanted with flying magic. The axes spun with a cold, sharp gleam, slicing towards the maid from different angles.
The iron fist maid had no choice but to temporarily spare Stella and Sean on the ground. Her fists clashed together, smashing Barrett's axe to pieces.
Barrett rolled over and quickly pulled out a long spear from his spatial ring, thrusting it upward at the maid. The maid abandoned her target on Stella and easily sliced through the spearhead, turning her attention to Barrett.
As the maid's massive spiked gauntlet came smashing toward him, Barrett felt a pang of bitterness. He knew he was no match for the iron fist maid and that he wouldn't last against her. Still, he charged forward, hoping to buy some time.
With the gauntlets coming at him like a storm, Barrett's years of experience as an elite adventurer kicked in. He swiftly pulled a kite shield from his spatial ring and planted it on the ground. He activated two high-defense Martial Arts in quick succession:
Martial Art · Unyielding Fortress!
Martial Art · Steadfast Shield!
It was as if a battering ram had crashed into the kite shield; the shield vibrated and hummed, and Barrett's arms went numb from the impact.
But a seasoned adventurer doesn't just cower and take a beating. Barrett rose slightly behind the Adamantite kite shield and lunged out with a swift strike of his long sword.
A rare smile flickered across the iron fist maid's composed face, adorned with narrow glasses. She smoothly sidestepped the attack and appeared instantly on Barrett's left side…
Meanwhile, EeDeChi was pursuing the Insect maid. The Insect maid tried to counterattack several times but was consistently repelled.
Soon, EeDeChi cornered the Insect maid against the castle wall. With the Insect maid's Justice Value at -100, escape was impossible. The adventurer captain sneered, raising her giant sword high, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
Suddenly, a sharp voice cried out from above: "Stop!"
EeDeChi looked up to see a blood-red spear descending from the sky!