“Hah!”
I –Sasaki Aya– woke up.
“Eh?”
I didn’t die?
I look at my own body.
There’s no big wound.
Even though I remember my body being torn apart.
I look around.
This is the space at the back of the waterfall that I like.
The one that’s right at the exit of the lair.
“Mother-sama! Everyone!”
I ran to the lair.
That was a dream! Everyone is alive!
That must be the case!
The familiar big rock that protects the entrance of the lair was destroyed from the inside.
The inside that was normally so lively was now dead silent and there’s no one.
“Cold…”
It is not the usual home.
It is the same as that nightmare.
It wasn’t a dream…
“Uh…uh…wuuu…”
Tears overflow.
The last moments of everyone were burned in my eyes.
Those hollow eyes.
The bloodied Mother-sama.
Why…did something like that…
The lair of the Lamias had a spell cast that only allowed Lamias to enter.
That’s why it is impossible for enemies to enter —unless someone betrays them.
Elder Sister-sama —no, that Bitch.
My siblings, Mother-sama, my older sisters…
I don’t know why, but I am alive.
Then, I will crush the enemy.
I must not die until then.
…
After that, I hunted monsters. Hunted, hunted, hunted, hunted, and continued hunting.
Especially harpies.
I was crushing them completely wondering if that boss might come out, but when they fly away, it is hard to catch them.
They have begun to run away the moment they see me.
Damn it!
The place I sleep in is the Lamia lair where there’s no one.
The door has been destroyed, so it isn’t as safe as before, but I don’t know any other place.
I thought that maybe the traitor would come back, but she didn’t show herself.
Where did she go?
Maybe she bit the dust somewhere.
But in the off-chance that she is alive…
I will kill her.
Killing that traitor and the boss of the harpies is my reason for living.
But I am not that strong.
Now that I think about it, Mother-sama has said this: “If you want to become stronger, eat humans. They hold strong powers blessed by the Gods. If you eat a human with high mana, you can become stronger. Just like me.”
The current me cannot defeat the boss of the harpies.
I have to become stronger…
I can’t go choosing my methods.
◇◇
I continued fighting all alone for a while.
One day…
I noticed that a big sound was made from the underground lake.
I hurriedly jumped out from my lair.
I thought that maybe an enemy attacked, but it seems like that wasn’t the case.
The monsters are gathering.
That’s…humans?
Are those the so called adventurers that the older sisters were talking about?
There’s two humans.
A bright red haired girl, and a black haired boy with gray attire.
The girl must be a mage, she has a staff after all.
What’s the man? Lightweight armor, and a dagger.
A thief, maybe?
Mana is overflowing from the female mage.
I can feel a powerful lifeforce.
(If I attack her…if I eat her, maybe I can become stronger?)
But before that, there’s the hated harpies.
I will deal with those first!
I observe those two while crushing the harpies.
If I had to compare, the overwhelmingly stronger one should be the mage woman.
The man has lifeforce comparable to that of the goblins around here.
That’s what I thought at first.
But…
(No… The problematic one is the man.)
They were surrounded by several tens of monsters.
The female mage is desperately chanting magic, and trying to evade the sea serpent and the strings of the arachnes while raising screams.
On the other hand, the man holding a dagger…
(Does he have eyes on his back?)
He was avoiding the attacks of the harpies that were coming from the back with minimal movements.
Nimbly escaping from the sea serpent that jumps out from the water.
Cutting the arachne webs deftly.
Even though he doesn’t look like he has much physical strength, he was dealing with all the attacks carefreely as if he were dancing.
(Moreover, what’s with that calmness of his?)
Even though he was fighting for his life here, avoiding the attacks of the monsters by a paper-thin difference, he scratched his cheek.
It is as if he is saying ‘good grief, this is troubling’.
(The problematic one is that black haired man… Let’s hunt him first.)
I raised my concentration.
Even so, that gesture of scratching his cheek…
I feel like I have seen it before, but I can’t remember.
◇◇
– Makoto POV –
“Damn it, they are not decreasing in numbers.” (Makoto)
“[Falling Meteor]!” (Lucy)
The spell that Lucy shot raised a gigantic water splash.
This is already the 7th spell shot.
It got several monsters, but there’s still a lot.
“Are you okay, Lucy?” (Makoto)
“Yeah, I am still okay in mana.” (Lucy)
As bottomless as ever, Monarch Mage.
But her concentration is already at its limit.
“Lucy, don’t use magic for a while. I will continue evading.” (Makoto)
“U-Understood…” (Lucy)
Lucy was swaying as she wrapped her arm around my waist.
I look around.
There’s more than 50 monsters surrounding us.
Most of the monsters are low or mid class.
There’s 2 that I have to be careful about.
One of them is the giant crocodile-looking monster.
King Crocodile.
There was information about it in the guild.
It is apparently the ruler of the underground lake.
Just that, it seems like it isn’t interested in us right now, and is attacking orcs and goblins.
That’s why I am not worried about it.
The problem is the other one.
By the time I noticed, it was already mixed in the free-for-all fight, a single lamia.
(I heard that Lamias normally act in groups though…)
This Lamia is acting alone.
At a glance, it looks like it is fighting the harpies and arachnes and has no interest over here, but…
(She is aiming at us…) (Makoto)
The Detection Skill’s alert has been ringing for a while now.
(Moreover, she is crazy strong.) (Makoto)
Lamias are Mid Class.
But this one is crushing orcs with one hit, and ripping apart the wings of harpies as if they were paper.
Or more like, the harpies ran away when they saw that Lamia.
On that point alone, we are lucky, but that one Lamia is a lot more worrying…
It has been 10 minutes since the time I used the Spirit Magic.
I want to use a big spell and deal with the monsters, but…
(In a situation where that Lamia is aiming at us, I don’t want to use magic.)
It would create an opening.
I want to distract her if possible.
“Lucy.” (Makoto)
“Haah, haaah… What?” (Lucy)
“No, it is nothing.” (Makoto)
I was going to tell her to be careful about that Lamia, but it doesn’t seem like she has the leeway.
I will deal with it.
I purposely have my back face the Lamia.
I have a 360° view, so it is not like I am letting the Lamia out of my sight.
(Will she take the bait?) (Makoto)
I avoided the attacks of the surrounding monsters with my back still directed at the Lamia for a while.
I wait for that moment with a dagger in hand.
(Here it comes!) (Makoto)
The Lamia lunges at us, closing the distance.
(Fast!) (Makoto)
I swing my dagger the moment I turn around, but it painfully cuts air.
[Water Magic: Ice Needle]!
I cast my real intention, the blinding spell.
Ice needles were created right at the face of the Lamia, and shot.
(She avoided it?!) (Makoto)
This is the first time this spell has been avoided.
“Damn it!” (Makoto)
This is a bit bad.
I am a total mess at close combat.
The eyes of the Lamia and I meet in close distance.
(What a beautiful monster.) (Makoto)
While holding an out-of-place impression, I readjust my posture to protect Lucy.
But it isn’t attacking at all.
The monster in front of me had her eyes wide open as if it were surprised.
“Takatsuki-kun…?”
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