Bursting through Meena’s back were spider-like appendages. And from the white threads covering her left hand, Leon surmised that the girl before him was a spider-type monster.
[God damn it, why does it have to be a SPIDER!?]
Leon the Golden Wolfman, for all his hereditary physical prowesses and his unique skill, the <<Gold Bless>>, had his share of deaths in God’s Dungeon — the first of which was to the Swamp layers’ boss monster, the Queen Spider.
Leon’s agility was already exceptional even back then, but in the vicinity of the Queen Spider’s nest, his speed was nullified. Once ensnared in spider silk, he was helpless, eventually succumbing to the monster’s venomous bite.
“Raaah!”
Recalling those days, Leon’s face turned pale, but his action was swift. As his left arm was ensnared in the white threads, he grabbed his sword with his free right hand and chopped it right off. Meena, now holding just the severed left arm, stumbled backward.
“HUH!?”
Meena, surprised by Leon’s decisive severing of his own arm, slid across the ground. As Leon distanced himself to safety, he glanced at the spot where his left arm had been, his face contorted in pain and tears welling up.
“Shit, that HURT!”
Having battled on the frontlines of God’s Dungeon where death only meant resurrection, Leon had experienced situations where body parts were lost. While the loss of his left arm affected his balance, he managed to straighten his spine and proceeded to extend his right hand towards Meena.
“So, little miss… mind giving me back my left arm?”
“…Why?”
Meena, puzzled by Leon’s seemingly demanding demeanor despite losing his left arm, shook her head. Then, she pierced the ground with the appendages protruding from her back, levitating herself to chase after Leon.
Capturing someone as agile as Leon was nearly impossible, however. Even Meena’s attempts to ensnare Leon with solidified spider silk at close range were all deftly avoided.
“Why are you running? C’mon, come with me! It’ll be fun!”
“If you’re asking me out on a date, maybe try again when the state of emergency is over! Besides, what ARE you? You’re actually pretty cute for a monster.”
“…Didn’t you say that you’ll do whatever a woman asks of you? I heard you say that on a Pedestal! What a liar.”
“You’re misquoting me! I said my WIVES, not just any woman!”
As they bantered, Leon swiftly circled behind Meena and attempted to sever the appendages protruding from her back. However, they turned out to be as tough as steel. Meena, letting out unnerving grunts, swung them around wildly, prompting Leon to quickly retreat out of their range.
“Man, they’re tough. I don’t think I can cut them…”
“Yeah, you can’t. A liar can’t hurt me.”
“Cool, cool. I’m not about to hurt a girl anyway.”
“…!? Ow…!”
Meena, while momentarily distracted by Leon’s words, got hit with a swift arrow to her head. The arrow bounced right off, but Meena then held her head in pain.
Christia, who flew in after receiving a report from the knights, was nocking an arrow in the cursed bow made from the materials of the Devourer Dragon. Other reinforcements arrived, one after another, mainly Clan members of the Labyrinth Conquerors.
“It’s probably a spider-type monster! And it’s strong enough to break the city’s Shield! Better not get too close!”
Leon kept his eyes on Meena as he warned the reinforcements. Meena, realizing her disadvantage as she saw their numbers increase rapidly, gritted her teeth in frustration and decided to retreat. She moved her appendages rapidly, almost like stamping her feet, and dashed towards the city’s Shield in a hanging posture.
“Don’t let it get away!”
“Give me back my arm!”
Christia, shooting an arrow at the fleeing Meena, and Leon, desperately trying to retrieve his arm, showed no mercy. Since it would take much longer for him to heal up if he were unable to get his arm back, Leon was not about to hold back even if the opponent he was facing had the appearance of a young girl.
However, even Christia’s arrow, released with force, only caused Meena slight pain — she was just that abnormally tough. Other attacks, including skill-based ones, also had no effect whatsoever.
Arriving at the Shield surrounding Sentrea, Meena tightly clenched her blackened hand and then thrust it at the Shield as she had done before — but this time, she could not bust her way through.
“What!? Why!?”
Meena, panicking, repeatedly punched the Shield, but her hand would not pass through. In truth, the Shield was broken — many times over, even — but as it turned out, it had been layered multiple times in that particular area.
The head of House Babenberg, whose senses were synchronized with his Shield, had already sensed Meena’s previous breach. Observing the battle through a telescope from the tallest building in Sentrea, he had fortified the Shield in the direction Meena was retreating.
Although the Shield itself could be broken, it kept being reconstructed, keeping Meena detained. In that gap, the Labyrinth Conquerors caught up with her, maintaining a certain distance while continuously launching long-range attacks.
Among them, Christia’s arrows, combined with the power of the cursed bow she wielded, seemed to be dealing damage to Meena. Eventually, wounds appeared on Meena’s arms and legs, making other attacks effective in those areas. Black Mages aimed for those spots, casting one fire-based skill after another.
“Stop!! It burns!!” Meena’s anguished voice echoed amidst the flames, causing some to halt their attacks.
While Christia relentlessly shot arrows at the girl’s injured arms, she urged those who had stopped to continue.
“Don’t stop attacking.”
“B-but ma’am… what if she’s human…?”
“If she is, she would already be dead. That is a monster. Don’t be fooled.”
As flames consumed her wounded areas, Meena, still crying out, continued to chip away at the Shield. The pursuers pointed their staves at her, trying to shake off the thought of her possibly being human.
“Oh c’mon…!!”
As the Shield, continuously reconstructed, finally broke down after hundreds of layers, the tattered Meena managed to get herself outside Sentrea. Attacks with skills aimed at her outside were prevented by a swarm of insect-like monsters overflowing from the earth. In the meantime, she jumped into a gap in the ground.
By the time the pursuers were done dealing with the monsters, Meena was nowhere to be seen.
▽▽
“…And that’s what happened.”
“Huh. That definitely was… something.”
In the treatment room where White Mages had gathered, Tsutomu nodded as he listened to Leon recounting the events. Although Leon’s left arm was still missing, it seemed the medical staff could grow him a new one in about two days.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” the knight lady who had conversed with Leon outside of the quarantine said, seemingly feeling responsible for his lost arm.
“Nah, it’s all good. No point in blaming yourself — it’s just what it is.”
The knight remained by Leon’s side, and Tsutomu, somewhat skeptically, observed Leon under her watchful eye.
“Well, you need as much rest as you can get, so I’ll leave you to it,” Tsutomu said. “I’ll be back to see the doctors in action.”
“Cool. Thanks, man.”
Tsutomu, having an interest in the White Mages who could regrow lost limbs from scratch, had decided to observe Leon’s treatment process over these two days. In fact, he had contemplated staying here the whole time, but upon sensing a silent pressure from the knight, he ultimately decided to only get the crucial information from Leon before leaving the room.
According to Christia, the girl who had attempted to abduct Leon — who had introduced herself as Meena — was associated with a religious group called the Orbis Church, which had been gaining some prominence in the Dungeon City as of late. Tsutomu remembered the girl as one of the few survivors among the civilian spectators during the Devourer Dragon’s attack, begging for her mother’s revival with her severed head in hand.
[The Orbis Church… Considering what this religion or cult is trying to do, they can’t be people from another world… Wait, actually, that still doesn’t rule out the possibility, does it?]
Tsutomu thought that if the conductor of this Stampede were human, they might be people in a similar position to himself — meaning, there could be a possibility of them being from another world. However, seeing that this religious group’s aim was to seal the Dungeon away, Tsutomu could not help but feel perplexed.
Another point of concern was the Magic Stones extracted from the insect-like monsters that had emerged outside Sentrea. According to the head of House Babenberg, the crucial aspect of the Magic Stones — which would be the magical power sealed within them — had been completely missing, rendering those stones absolutely useless. Fortunately, there was a substantial stockpile of Magic Stones in the Royal Capital, so this would not be a problem in the short term. However, the situation regarding the siege of Sentrea had made the future even more uncertain than before.
Magic Stones were not only used to fuel House Babenberg’s Shields, but also for magical tools necessary for daily life, leading to heavy consumption. Therefore, if Magic Stones could not be obtained from monsters, the supply would be restricted.
For now, there were enough Magic Stones brought into Sentrea, so there was no immediate concern. However, since they had gathered a certain amount of information about the Stampede, perhaps now was a good time to retreat to the Royal Capital.
The next day, representatives stationed in Sentrea were gathered to discuss the previous day’s events as well as the Orbis Church, after which Christia began to discuss their future actions.
“The one manipulating this Stampede is likely associated with the Orbis Church. Judging from their movements, there is a high possibility they have already infiltrated the Royal Capital. Therefore, we’ll send Leon to the royal capital for reconnaissance and confirm the situation. At least until then, we will remain in Sentrea.”
“This is just a guess, but refugees may still come from the south. How do we deal with them?”
“We won’t accept any more refugees. However, if possible, we want to secure cities other than Sentrea and relocate them there. The refugees we’ve taken in this time will also be moved there.”
Christia pointed to three cities near Sentrea, indicating plans to secure at least one of them. Members of House Babenberg and the knights expressed their agreement, and Tsutomu nodded solemnly.
“But remember, if the Royal Capital suffers a blow, we lose our supply line. The situation is precarious, especially considering we can’t expect new Magic Stones from monsters to be usable. Depending on the information we receive from Leon, we may have to prioritize ensuring the safety of the Royal Capital. Securing a city for refugees is secondary — do it only if we have resources to spare.”
If the Magic Stones obtained from the monsters in this Stampede could not be used, it would lead to a supply shortage. Without Magic Stones, the nobility’s magic would not function, and the people’s lives would be affected. Therefore, securing the Royal Capital, which stored a great supply of Magic Stones, was imperative.
After confirming there were no objections to this course of action, Christia quickly dismissed everyone and sent them back to their duties.
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