Chapter 34: "Seppuku"

Chapter 34: "Seppuku"

First, we need to lead this guy out of the village....

"I'm curious about something."

Heidi told me that the Death Worm that was supposed to be chasing her somehow changed course and returned to the village.

If you ask me, it was conveniently heading this way when I used my second [explosion]

It doesn't look like it has eyes, so it must be aware of its surroundings in some way.

I wonder what they are reacting to.

If it was a movie or something... heat, smell... no, it would be hard to identify them since there is so much fire around it.

Sound then? I don't think so either. A sign. ...... What's that sign?

No... a sign?

Let's try.

I'll make a fireball as big as I can.

Death Worm turned its head toward us as if it had been bounced.

That's easy to understand. Magic.

If that's the case, it makes sense why it acted the way it did earlier.

While chasing after Heidi, it reacted to my magic and headed my way.

That's right, even if it can't see, it can still aim at the target.

The reason why it was able to accurately attack me after the first [explosion] is now clear.

But why did it ignore me after I was blown away?

Was it the range of the spotter? Or was it because they couldn't detect me after I finished shooting?

After I put out the [fireball], I changed my magic to [waterball]

I fire it at the Death Worm's head.

It hits and the water ball pops.

I slip by the side of the Death Worm and move away from it without taking my eyes off of it.

I hear Heidi's confused voice from behind me, but I leave it alone for now.

Five meters away, the Death Worm turns its head toward me.

At 10 meters, the Death Worm chases after me, spewing its venom.

At 15 meters, I pick a place where no one is around and run. It was still chasing me.

20m. I felt the distance was getting closer, so I hit one more time with [Water Ball] + [Ice Freeze]

The water ball that hit him freezes the ground, and the Death Worm stops moving.

...The moment I used the magic, its movements became quicker.

It is surely reacting to the magic.

Then how is it chasing me after I finished shooting?

25 meters, the Death Worm has broken the ice bind.

30 meters, it is still chasing me.

35 meters, it's slowing down.

40 meters, it has stopped moving.

But it's still pointing its head this way.

50 meters. It's no longer targeting me. It's head is moving around as if it lost sight of the target.

...If it is this far away, it will not be recognized.

It seems to be able to tell something is there within about 50 meters, though it is rough.

The exception is magic. When magic is used, it reacts immediately.

It seems to be able to recognize the magician quite accurately.

If attacked from out of range, it runs into the source of the magic.

If it's in range, it's spitting venom or biting, something like that.

That's the outer shell. The natural means of attack would be magic.

I have gathered most of the information I need.

But I'm glad I didn't replace the whole body with a demon's. If I had, I would have been chased to the ends of the earth.

Demons are always using magic, so it would have been very obvious.

It's convenient, but due to fuel consumption issues, only a part of the brain - the part needed for magic - has been converted to demon design, but the rest of the brain is still the same.

At first it was a worm, but now it has become a creature that I don't really understand what it is.

... I've come a long way, come to think of it.

Water Ball launched.

The Death Worm immediately lunged at me.

Okay... Come this way.

The distance is wide enough.

We're going to get out of the village...

Multiple magic hits landed on the Death Worm.

...Hey, hey. Who's that....

For a moment, I thought Heidi had done something unnecessary, but it seems the survivors of the villagers had attacked.

"You monster!"

"How dare you take my house!"

"I'll kill you!"

More than a dozen people charged at the Death Worm, their mouths filled with hatred for it.

I tried to use magic to distract it, but...this won't help.

The first few fell prey to the venom, and the next few were wrapped around the Death Worm's massive body and slid down by the spikes on its surface.

In a corner of my mind, I think that I have become less able to control my emotions since I got into this body.

I feel tears streaming down my cheeks and wonder if I have ever been such a crybaby.

The monster was going to spit out its venom.

I had no desire to lose.

If I widened the gap between us, it would take time to close it again.

If I did so, the possibility of saving him, even if only a small one, would disappear.

...Oh...I think I'm dead this time.

I wish I could apologize to him.

I close my eyes and brace myself.

...?

No matter how long I waited for that moment, the poisonous liquid did not come down.

I fearfully look up.

The monster is not moving at all, with its mouth open towards me.

I stared at the monster for a few seconds....

The monster's body trembled and it slowly collapsed and stopped moving.

What in the world...?

I turned my eyes to the monster's wounds.

"What the...!?"

I gulped.

A black string-like object wriggled across the surface of the wound... and disappeared.

I stared at the wound again with my eyes, but I couldn't see the string from earlier.

What was it?

What was that string-like object?

The moment it came into view, I felt a tremendous sense of disgust...no, fear....

I shook my head and put my questions aside.

I don't know why the monster stopped moving, but I have to get him out of there as soon as possible...

I was about to widen the wound in a panic when a human arm sprouted from the wound.

I quickly jumped backwards to get away from it.

The arm that had sprouted out touched the monster's body as if to check it, and then retracted.

I was so shocked that I couldn't speak.

The protruding arm was familiar to me.

I thought for sure it would not die instantly, but inwardly I also thought it was only a matter of time.

But no way...on his own....

"...... Phew. It stinks inside the monster."

He came out of the belly in his usual mucus-covered state.

He didn't look particularly injured, and his demeanor was normal.

I froze, unable to move.

"Are you... okay...?"

He may have just noticed me, but he only turned his gaze toward me.

"As you can see. This time, though, I'm chilled."

Hearing this, my strength suddenly drained out of me and I slumped to the ground.

"Ha...ha...ha...th...thank goodness!"

For some reason, a strange smile escaped my mouth.

What is this guy doing?

I wasn't sure how to react to the woman slumped in front of me with a tearful smile on her face.

Does it matter?

My whole body was in a mess, but I had gotten my money's worth.

I'd better check on that later.

I'd better take a bath and wash my clothes quickly.

...I'll pay someone to wash my clothes for me.

I guess that's impossible under the circumstances....

I look around lightly.

The number of dead is around 50, and the number of injured is about double that.

Damage to buildings is only about 30%. Part of this is my fault, though.

As I recall, the population here was about 400.

A little more than 10%, that's quite a decrease.

But still, just one of them did this.

Two or three of them will destroy a village.

It's that tough. The stationed knights and ordinary adventurers won't be able to handle it.

It would be better to seize the ruins before the next one comes.

It is possible that some of them are already out there, but... the ruins come first.

Let's get going.

But first.

"I need a change of clothes."

Let's at least get rid of this mucus.

...And then I'll have to take care of Heidi, who's smiling like she's broken.