“Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”
“Persistent, aren’t you?”
Even while blazing like a campfire, he dares to talk. I immediately stepped back and shouted.
“Form up, everyone! They’re going to assault us!”
[Where’s the contractor!?]
“I’m going to catch that bastard!”
[Contractor! Be careful! I’ll help too!]
What?
I involuntarily glanced back. There was Rue, throwing her main body towards me. I caught Rue with one hand and immediately hooked her onto my waist.
“You’re giving up your body too easily.”
[If the contractor dies, it’s all meaningless.]
“Then I absolutely cannot die.”
[So let’s hurry and chase after them!]
“Quartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartzquartz! How can you do this!”
With a chilling scream, the abomination shook and fled from me. I guess it had been soaked in oil; the flames were steadfast against its flailing.
Shall I turn it into complete ash?
“Sprinkler.”
If the fuel’s running low, burn more, right? That’s common sense!
I sprayed oil all over, hitting not just the main body but also the contaminated membranes. This oil was magical, so it wouldn’t be easily brushed off.
The main body conjured numerous clones from the membrane to try to block me, but they just sizzled like meat on a grill.
“■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!”
“I have a lot of questions, but… you can’t answer them.”
I’m not even sure if it’s willing to. I swing my shovel to strike the burning clones. The flaming ones couldn’t even resist my attack, getting shoved aside.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t drop a branch this wide and substantial in the World Tree; it was beyond my strength. However, buying some time for a moment was possible.
I immediately kicked off the ground and charged at the main body.
Since the main body was still immobilized, strangling it quickly should be easy…
…but of course not.
I rolled over the membrane, feeling a horrific pain in my stomach. The membrane seemed to be burrowing into me. So, now that it’s an enemy, is it going to consume me without hesitation? I immediately expelled flames all over my body to burn away the membrane.
“…This is messed up.”
I ran away, after all.
Where did it go?
Ignoring the many monsters emerging from the membrane, I searched for the main body’s position. Having sustained damage, it couldn’t have fled far.
Before I could be completely surrounded, I spotted the main body twisting about on a branch several meters away.
Then I have to go.
Without hesitation, I started running towards where the main body was.
My target is, of course, the main body.
[Contractor?!]
“Hold on tight! Unless you want to fall from hundreds of meters up!”
[Kyahhh!]
I kicked the ground. The chill wind of the high altitude wrapped around me. Just before gravity slammed me down, I reached out my hand towards the branch and activated the device I had attached to my arm.
“Is this why spider people ride all the time?”
My body, which was about to fall, swung back and forth in the air.
For someone who confidently extended their arm, I looked rather pathetic.
My right arm, supporting my weight, felt sore. I thought a superhero-style swing was out of the question, but still, as a beginner, isn’t this pretty decent?
While I was having these inconsequential thoughts, I pressed the button on the device. A pulling sensation closed the distance between me and the branch rapidly.
“It’s been a while.”
“■■■■?”
I wish you’d speak in a way I could understand. Adjusting my grip on the shovel, I glanced at the battlefield. I could see monsters running toward the elves, not under the control of the main body.
They should manage just fine.
With baseless faith, I coated the shovel with oil. My shovel won’t stop until it turns that bastard into ash.
“Hey, how about dying quietly?”
“Quartz… How…?”
What in the world is Quartz that’s drawing such an unbelieving stare from them?
I just hope my Status Window will answer me after this.
I stepped onto the contaminated branch, simultaneously emitting flames from my feet. The membranes trying to consume me couldn’t even approach me.
“Are you going to keep saying Quartz Quartz? I’m your enemy, not your ally.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m human.”
“I don’t… understand…”
There’s a mix of noise in the voice. Why is there noise even when we’re speaking the same language? I want to resolve this curiosity, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll have the chance.
The main body has now revealed its hostility toward me as well.
“Traitor…■■!”
“Traitor? I was never on your side to begin with.”
I set my shovel ablaze. The power of the divine beast overseeing purification and resurrection ignited the shovel into a torch.
The main body seemed to have decided not to just take it anymore, pulling its melted head off to reveal an oddly shaped arm. One arm had multiple other arms sprouting from it like flower petals.
Just looking at it makes my stomach turn, so I thrust my shovel forward.
“Hey, this is our area, so you should scram.”
“■■! ■■■!”
The main body, as large as an ogre, charged directly at me. Its face was filled with deep-seated betrayal.
A primal feeling of disgust sent shivers down my spine.
I silently heightened the fire on the shovel blade.
The fight is just beginning.
I leapt outside the branch.
When the main body turned toward me, losing its target, I pressed the launch button on my device. The hook, flying through the air with a tremor, pierced one of the monster’s faces.
What was already a hideous face now twisted even more, blood spurting everywhere.
“You won’t be able to see the World Tree anymore. How about you laugh and die?”
“■■…!”
Has the overwhelming rage caused it to lose its sanity? The many voices emanating from its numerous faces sounded more like beasts’ howls than anything human.
I wanted to block my ears, but right now, I’m suspended in mid-air. It’s impossible to block my ears before I land.
So let’s go back.
To the ground.
“Hey, how about we go skydiving together?”
“■■?”
I opened the last oil bottle. I pressed the recovery button. I threw the lubricating liquid beneath the rapidly approaching monster.
With the sound of the glass shattering at the force it couldn’t withstand, I jammed my shovel blade into one of the creature’s faces. Thanks to the law of inertia, the shovel plunged deep, nearly all the way down.
“It hurts aaaaaaaaa!”
“This thing is completely hollow, aside from the contamination issue.”
The problem was resisting the contamination; as long as I blocked that, it was just a pushover, right?
No, wait, I shouldn’t let my guard down.
No matter how strong you are, a careless fighter can die from even a child’s awkward knife play.
I pulled the hook from the face, repeating the process of yanking it out and plunging it back in.
Once, twice, three times, four times, five times… By the time my arm felt numb and I was forced to stop, its face had grotesquely changed, resembling a leper.
It seemed that due to being burnt on both the outside and inside, it could only glare at me with the few remaining eyes, not making any more moves. Instead, monsters gradually appeared from the membrane… but that wasn’t important right now.
“Rue.”
[Uh, yes?]
“Can you brainwash this thing?”
[I can’t!]
Is it that she can’t because of her abilities, or is it that this creature’s mental state is too horrifying to even consider?
“Then what about giving it a suggestion?”
[I don’t know!]
“Just try it.”
“Quo…tz…”
[What are you suggesting?]
“Make it think of me as an ally and speak whatever comes to mind.”
[Huh? Got it!]
Let’s find out what she knows too.
I watched as Rue’s eyes shimmered while she cast a suggestion at the monster. In the meantime, monsters began to approach me one by one. Perhaps because the main body was well-done, their movements were a bit clumsy, yet still, a threat remained.
I pulled out the shovel and smashed the head of a monster trying to bite my arm.
“Rue! Quickly! Cast the suggestion!”
[Uwaaaaa! I’m doing it!]
My shovel darted through the air ceaselessly. Many swings were misses, but the rest undeniably sliced through the monsters’ bodies. I’d already taken down five.
But the number approaching was at least twenty.
If I was any slower, it would be over.
“Rue!”
[One minute! Just one more minute!]
Damn. This is probably going to be the longest minute in the world.
Gathering all the strength I had, I cloaked my body in flames. I didn’t want to use up my stamina for something like this, but fighting with only my feet while the monsters’ contagion ability remained wasn’t a smart move.
“Okay, which one of you wants to get well-done? Line up one by one.”
They probably didn’t have that level of intelligence, but I swung my shovel with both hands from right to left, preventing the horde of monsters from approaching.
The sound of slicing through wind, a heavy sensation. Feeling the head of the closest monster splatter.
The tips of my fingers tingled. It felt like I had fallen into a zombie apocalypse, wielding a baseball bat to smash zombie heads.
I moved my body roughly while having these pointless thoughts.
My hands were already wet with sweat, and it felt like I might drop the shovel anytime.
[Almost there!]
Thirty seconds.
It felt like it had been that long.
Yet the number of monsters still overflowed.
Struggling against the approaching crowd of monsters, I stomped on the main body. Though its melted body had been burned to a pulp and couldn’t move, I couldn’t know when it would recover.
I evaporated my sweat with flames pouring from my body. Thanks to that, the once slippery handle of the shovel became grippy again. Though my exhausted body wouldn’t return to normal…
[Ten seconds!]
The monsters’ final struggles began.
I momentarily yielded space to the charging monsters, as if it was do or die. It was unavoidable. No matter how blessed I was, my flames had a limit.
The tips of my fingers brushed past my eyes.
A sharp pain pierced my arm.
I tried to immediately pull away and swing the shovel, but I couldn’t move due to the monster’s body sticking to me.
I’m done for.
When exactly will these ten seconds pass—
[Stop!]
“…This is the worst moment of my life.”
I slashed the infected limb off with my shovel.
Thank the Phoenix’s blessing; it was a good thing. Otherwise, I would’ve been partying with those monsters by now.
“Rue. Gather all the monsters.”
[Okay!]
I watched as the monsters gathered toward me along the membrane.
Monsters that looked like poorly made red clay models of elves, those who didn’t even understand the concept of human anatomy and flailed limbs together haphazardly, beasts, and half-human hybrids… countless creatures gathered toward the branch I was on.
“Rue. Can you assemble this unsightly lot into the main body?”
[Co, contractor! Your arm!]
“…This isn’t a big deal. Just rub some spit, and it’ll grow back.”
[But arms don’t grow back like that!]
“Forget it, and just hurry. We need to eliminate them all at once.”
It’s time to send these disgusting things away.
“Oh, and make sure you open a way for us to escape.”
[Okay!]
As if welcoming a high-ranking official, the monsters divided to the sides.
Stepping onto the sticky red carpet, I slowly weaved through the gathering monsters.
“This should be enough.”
[Contractor! You can’t lose consciousness!]
“I know.”
My vision felt dizzy.
Nonetheless, I had to see this through.
I gathered all the remaining strength I had and shouted.
“Phoenix! Now!”
With the monsters piled together, it was time to finish this with maximum firepower.
Underneath the heat so intense it felt like it would burn off all my hair, I yelled with all my strength.
“Phoenix! Incinerate the branch whole! Make sure there’s no trace that those bastards ever existed!”
[Well done. A-ha-ya.]
The world was engulfed in flames.
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