Chapter 43

“No, there’s a misunderstanding…”

“What misunderstanding?! Kill this wicked goblin! Wind Strike!”

I could see the knight right in front of me unleashing an attack. I managed to evade but I couldn’t evade all of it. The ensuing winds of sword energy brushed past my arms.

[You have suffered 25 damage.]

[You have suffered 33 damage.]

[You have suffered 23 damage.]

[You have suffered 20 damage.]

This guy…

At this moment, my eyes turned ferocious. I approached quickly and tried to hit the knight, but I could see someone coming from behind. “I’ll handle this one. Attack the goblin called Ragneos in the rear.”

“Kik? Kerenos?”

“You know me? You are a decently skilled goblin but that is it.”

Simultaneously, Kerenos’ spear moved at a high speed. The speed was so high that my eyes widened. I instinctively extended my dagger.

…Keuk, this wasn’t normal. I could see sparks coming from the shadow dagger in my hand as I blocked the attack. My heart sank when I discovered I was almost pierced in the heart and killed.

“Not bad. Then can you stop this? Violently Blowing Winds!”

The spear poured down toward me like the name of the skill suggested. The tip of the spear split into dozens of copies and rapidly aimed at my vital points. Shit. He should give me a chance to talk!

Kerenos was strong. He was at least level 80. Considering that he was an intelligent NPC rather than a monster, his level should be approximately above 100. The problem was that I couldn’t stand up to him if I didn’t use Rising Sun. At first, I was able to hit him a few times but I was gradually allowing more blows.

I quickly gasped from the fast attacks. “Pant… hey.”

“Shut up. Whirlwind!”

This bastard was really…!

* * *

Meanwhile, Ragneos smiled scornfully. He had come to look for the spider king but it was natural for him to laugh because humans were blocking his way. “Knights of Windia. Kikik. You’ll pay the price! Swamp of Despair!”

He waved his staff in front of him and the land in front of him became a swamp. Swamp of Despair was an upper-grade version of Swamp of Pain. The range was broader and more widespread. Black hands rose from the ground and wandered through the land like a flower blooming in hell. In the end, the knight in the front couldn’t avoid it and was caught. “Ugh! Save me!”

A black hand dragged the knight into the swamp. The space of despair closed firmly. Ragneos’ face was full of laughter as he saw the power of despair. “Kikikikikik!”

“Kuock!”

The Knights of Windia were ready to rush forward but couldn’t. They were people who rode the wind. They were vulnerable to fire magic and would be burned to ashes.

“Foolish humans. Feel the pain of hot fire!” Multiple flames started to form around Ragneos. “Flames of Fury!”

The flames swept through the knights. Ragneos was even more excited as the acrid smell filled his nose. “Kyahahaha! Very good! Very good!!”

Boom boom boom bang!

“Kuaaack!”

“Kuaack!”

“Aaack!”

The knights were hit by the flames and screamed. Ragneos felt that he could use this opportunity to wipe out Windia’s knights completely.

He shouted in a haughty voice, “Come out, Giant Spider Queen…!”

* * *

Thump! Thump! Thuuump!

Kerenos and I were forced to stop fighting at the sudden earthquake.

…It was kind of ominous. I thought I had never seen anything like this before. My hunch wasn’t far off the mark. The ominous sound got closer and the result was as expected.

“Shiiiiik!”

The birds were frightened by the sharp cry and fly up in unison. Yes, this sound…

[Lv. 120 (Champion) Giant Spider Queen]

“Shit…”

It was short but it implied everything. Shit. The female was much bigger than the spider king. I wasn’t the only one who was shocked. It was the same for the knights of Windia, including Kerenos, and the young lord watching the fight from behind. Everyone couldn’t keep their mouths shut as they gazed at the overwhelming spider.

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is shaking his head.]

“Shiiiiik!” The spider queen waved a huge foreleg while running toward Ragneos. The knights screamed in the face of the sudden attack.

“Kuaaack!”

“Ack!”

“S-Stop it!”

However, the knights couldn’t stop it. The spider queen crouched down and I could see Ragneos naturally riding her back. I looked at it and spat out a word, “…Bullshit.”

Were there any better words for the situation than this?

Ragneos cried out, “Tie all the humans together with cobwebs. Spider Queen…!”

“Shiiiiik!”

The spiderwebs that emerged were much faster and larger than those belonging to the spider king I met the other day. I knew that female spiders were stronger but I didn’t expect it to be like this. Cobwebs covered the sky.

“W-What is this?”

“D-Damn!”

The cobwebs were attached to everyone except myself. Kerenos was no exception.

“Kuock, shit!”

He tried to break the cobwebs with his spear but he couldn’t break it. The spider queen pulled at the cobwebs with her forelegs.

“Uwaaah!”

“Aack!”

“Save me! Aaack!”

All of a sudden, Windia’s knights had gathered in one place. They were all bound by the same cobwebs, like chopsticks tied by a rubber band. It also included the little lord.

Edward shouted, “S-Save me! Who can save me?”

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is frowning at the sweet potato development.] (Sweet potato= frustrating development, like the clogged feeling in the chest when eating a sweet potato)

…Why did this kid come? He was still a noisy little boy. Previously, he was speaking proudly like a lord but looking a this, he was just a child. Hah, a kid with a lot of baggage on him.

“All humans must die! I’ll burn all of you! Kahahahat!”

Ragneos crazily waved his staff and flames sprang up behind him. The flames swelled with a sinister energy. It was a precursor to Flames of Fury, which previously terrorized the knights.

…I guess I had to save them? In fact, I wanted to watch them being attacked due to my resentment of being hit, but it seemed like a dangerous situation. It was better for me to save them. I started running quickly.

“I won’t kill you all at once. Taste it painfully one by one!” Ragneos waved his staff and the first flames flooded toward a person.

“Shit!”

“Wahh! No!”

“Aack!”

They were struggling to unravel the cobwebs. The little boy was so afraid that he fainted. I quickly danced in front of them. “Flying Weather Dance.”

“…?”

Kerenos and the knights looked at me with bewilderment. It was the same for Ragneos.

“Zigma…?” Ragneos cocked his head with a puzzled expression.

My body performed a dance that I had become so familiar with that I could do it with my eyes closed. The flames of the sun appeared at my feet and I naturally flew toward the flames.

“Rising Sun.”

Smoke and dust scattered. The concentration of fine dust here was very poor. The storm caused made everyone unable to open their eyes. Once the dust cleared up, I—as Zigma—stood with the sun at my feet.

“Zigma! What are you doing? Are you betraying me?” Ragneos must be very angry based on the dark light in his eyes.

I told him, “Shut up. Kiik.”

At the same time, Zigma’s Transformation was ended. Shoes were revealed followed by green pants. Ragneoes’ eyes widened as a white shirt appeared.

“Y-You!”

Everyone’s eyes became bigger. They all looked the same.

Once the full appearance was revealed, Kerenos asked with a disbelieving expression, “Old man????”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“No, how…?” Kerenos was dumbfounded.

“Damn guy. I transformed into a goblin yet you blindly attacked me. Once we go back, I’ll be kicking your ass first.”

“Haha, you really are the old man. This tone is exactly like the old man’s tone.”

Ragneos was furious. “Human! You were a human!”

“Do you understand now?”

Ragneos’ brow became more deeply wrinkled. On the other hand, I had good skin. It was because I often put on cucumber masks with Mido. What did Mido say at that time…? Ah, yes. The best skin.

“Kruruk! I’ll kill you!! I will kill you!”

[The goblin priest Ragneos is becoming hostile to you.]

Yes, this was it. A feast of flames started to pour down like rain. However, they didn’t matter to me. According to Proma, the sun was the highest rank of the fire attribute.

I didn’t do anything special to the flames—I merely kicked the flames back into the sky. Windia’s knights were entranced by the dazzling kicks. They stared at me with blank expressions and forgot they were being attacked. Kerenos murmured, “…The old man is in good shape.”

“Kuooock! Spider Queen! Tie him up with cobwebs!”

“Shiiiiik!!!” The spider queen screamed and launched the cobwebs over a wide area like before. It was a truly huge area. I shook my head as I felt like I entered a fishing area with large nets.

“Old man…!” Kerenos’ urgent voice was heard from behind me. Still, it was okay. I couldn’t miss this great opportunity. I quickly pulled out the Giant Spider King’s Inner Core and held it forward. The cobwebs were sucked in instantly.

-977/1000.

-983/1000.

-999/1000.

Dding-!

[The Giant Spider King’s Inner Core has absorbed all the cobwebs.]

“It is the best.”