CH 268

Episode 268 – Big Desert Mole

Author’s Note: Back to Lewin’s POV. Continuing from where we left off with Lewin’s story, which was on Chapter 263.

After sprinting down the stairs in one go, we flew out into the 28th layer. The sounds of footsteps behind us made it apparent that the Big Desert Mole was still chasing after us.

“Aruna-san, are there monsters in the area?” (Lewin)

“There are. Three monsters up front, and another four behind them. On the left, there are Maneaters hiding nearby.” (Aruna)

“We’re in a bad spot! We’re also getting chased from the back; if we get sandwiched it’ll be over for us!” (Rosalie)

“Exactly, so we’ll need to keep our distance until we can lead it to a spot where we can fight. It might be worth a shot, so I’m going to lay some Sticky Bombs. Aruna-san, please lead the way,” I instructed urgently, sounding a little panicky.

I hadn’t expected us to run into monsters right upon coming down from the staircase. We had hardly run into any monsters on our way here, and now, at the worst moment, we ran into several all at once. Plus, we were just about to wrap up our Dungeon-clearing, so it was way too unlucky.

“Got it. For now, let’s get away from these monsters. The monster behind us is close, so we might end up having to just fight it wherever.” (Aruna)

“We’ll worry about that when that time comes. You already know this, but I won’t blame you regardless of what happens, so please just lead the way, Aruna-san.” (Lewin)

Aruna gave a small nod and then began to lead the way while nimbly looking around to her left and right as she searched for enemies. After finishing up my job with throwing a Sticky Bomb at the four enemies at the entrance of the 28th layer, I followed quickly after Aruna.

As expected, the buffeting sandstorm on the 28th layer was even more intense than on the previous layer, making the visibility extremely terrible. I was anxious, and it was taking my all to catch up with them. But it was incredible that, even under these same circumstances, Aruna was still able to accurately monitor the enemies’ locations without any problems.

“I set up quite a number of Sticky Bombs near the entrance, but it’s still right on our tails.” (Lewin)

“I know. I’m going to sprint for real, are you alright?” (Aruna)

“I’m good! I’ll keep up with you!” (Lewin)

“I’ll also do my best to keep up.” (Rosalie)

We could feel the presence from behind gaining on us with great speed, so we broke into a full sprint, trying to widen the gap as much as possible. As we ran, the sand tugged at our feet, and the gritty sand painfully battered our faces. Eventually, we managed to move to a location where there were no other monster presences nearby.

“Phew. We should be able to fight here without any interruptions.” (Aruna)

“Thanks for leading the way. We should be able to defeat it as long as nothing gets in the way.” (Lewin)

“….Anyway, I don’t see the Big Desert Mole anywhere. While we were on the way here, I had thought that it was right behind us,” Rosalie commented, looking back as we were readying our weapons and equipment. We had been running for our lives, so just as I’d thought that we might have shaken it off―I suddenly felt a monster presence approaching us rapidly from directly below.

“Under the sand! It’s coming!” (Lewin)

“I know. I’ll shoot it as soon as it comes out of the sand.” (Aruna)

“I’ll attack too!” (Rosalie)

After detecting its whereabouts, I immediately shouted to alert them and then focused on trying to track it. It was extremely scary that we didn’t know where it would attack from, and I began to break out in a cold sweat.

Closer… farther… then coming closer again.

The Big Desert Mole was throwing in feints as it moved around under the sand, but I was able to keep track of its movements properly―

“Rosalie!” (Aruna)

“Rosalie-san!” (Lewin)

The moment we realized the attack was coming towards Rosalie, Aruna and I cried out at the same time. Rosalie also seemed to sense it, and after a quick sidestep, she threw her entire body into a dive to avoid the attack. The Big Desert Mole shot up out of the sands like a fish being pulled out of the water.

The Big Desert Mole had a single black, shiny horn on its head, and the claws on its hands and feet glinted with a sharp light. Its entire body was covered in a deep brown fur, making it look even more like a wild beast than I had imagined. Even so, despite its name having the word “big” in it, it wasn’t all that large; the Peak Gorilla was larger in comparison.

“[Power Arrow].” (Aruna)

As soon as I had finished getting a glimpse of the Big Desert Mole that had come flying out of the sands, Aruna shot off a [Power Arrow].

Let’s see, how will it deal with this?

I hadn’t participated in the initial attack and had taken a step back to see how the situation would play out. I had formulated all kinds of hypotheses about how it would respond to the attack while midair, but it didn’t do anything and just took the arrow to the abdomen.

“Huh? It hit.” (Aruna)

“…..Let’s attack when it hits the ground.” (Lewin)

Aruna was surprised that her arrow hit, and I was momentarily stunned as I also thought it would attempt to dodge. I immediately came to my senses and dashed forward alongside a sand-covered Rosalie, moving towards the Big Desert Mole that had now landed on the ground.

“We absolutely can’t let our guards down here.” (Lewin)

“It’s okay! There’s no room to be careless!” Rosalie chirped, sounding even more fired up than me as she commenced the attack.

After the Big Desert Mole had dove up out of the sands, it had fallen to the ground on its back. It looked way too defenseless as it lay there sprawled out on the ground, but based on what was known, it still possessed the level of strength befitting of a Hidden Boss.

I will do everything in my power to kill this Hidden Boss.

While Rosalie went up front and slashed at it with her sword, I wrapped around and attacked from a different angle. Both of our attacks landed perfectly, and just as we were about to continue with a second blow, the Big Desert Mole started recklessly flailing around its head and limbs, which prevented us from getting close and allowed it to regain its posture.

We fell back and created some distance, directly squaring off against it properly for the first time. It didn’t cry out or roar, and its round, cute eyes didn’t give off any sense of belligerence or fighting spirit. But its pride as a powerful beast must have been wounded after it had gotten shot by an arrow and slashed right off the bat, as it began to sharpen its claws by rubbing them together menacingly. Then, after nodding in our direction, it began its frenzied assault with its claws.