Volume 5 Chapter 11 Goddess Holy Church Seven Heaven Apostles 'ugly' Balthazar ② - Muska
Insect Man Muska.
With orange armor, a 2-legged beetle, and scythes in both hands.
Following Balthazar's orders, he was hunting adventurers in the dungeon.
But the target wasn't the adventurers.
Specifically, he was hunting Elk, the 'eighth' recognized by Goddess Pipina, whom the Goddess Holy Church decided to eliminate.
Muska gripped his scythes tightly.
"Strong, strong..."
As Muska moved through the dungeon, he entered a large room.
There, a treasure chest was placed.
Of course, Muska had no interest in the treasure.
He glanced at the chest and was about to head to the next room when── the door slowly opened, and adventurers walked in.
Whether it was good or bad luck, the adventurers that appeared were.
"Oh, treasure... and what is that monster?"
"Insect-type monster, I see."
"..."
The leading adventurer, Merry, Yato, and 3 teammates.
Yato was already in a battle stance. The leading adventurer quickly realized.
"That thing── you guys!! Everyone, back off!! This is bad!!"
"Huh, huh? 'Bad'? A bug? 'Standing bug'...?"
The 3 team members still didn't understand.
The leading adventurer, B-rank adventurer Miles, clicked his tongue.
Merry drew her sword, and Yato pulled out a second sword, 'Horse's Return Sword,' from the 'Weapon Ring' she had somehow obtained, readying herself with a dual-wielding stance alongside the 'Sixfold Demon Sword.'
Miles understood in an instant. 'This is useful.'
Miles spoke to the 3 who still didn't understand.
"You 3, get outside right now. And find anyone, just mention my name, and bring a lot of A-rank or higher adventurers back..."
Miles tossed his adventurer plate. His gaze was fixed on Muska. He was sweating heavily.
"Go!!"
"Y-yes!!"
The 3 ran off. Miles turned to Merry and Yato.
"Sorry, I need your help..."
"Y-yes..."
"......"
"If it gets too dangerous, just run. Haha... good thing I paid for a resurrection fee in advance."
Miles had already paid the adventurer guild for a 'resurrection fee.' In case he died in the dungeon, they would send someone to recover his body and use a resurrection skill.
"Listen, if it gets too dangerous, just run, okay?"
"Y-yes."
"...No shortage of opponents."
"───Huh!?"
Yato took off running. Miles was shocked.
"...Strong opponent."
"Yeah, a strong one."
With a cross slash using dual swords, Yato attacked. Muska deflected it with his scythe. The sound of metal echoed.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
The clashing of metal rang out. It was the sound of Yato's sword scraping against Muska's scythe. Yato used the skill 'Insight Eye' to read Muska's scythe movements. She could predict the trajectory. It wasn't like Muska had something special; he was just swinging the scythe around...
"───...Tch."
"A strong opponent, interesting, very interesting."
Still, he wouldn't stop. And Yato's stamina wasn't infinite. Every time she dodged the scythe, her nerves wore down. Then, Muska's speed suddenly increased.
"!?"
With a loud screech, Yato barely managed to block it. It was too fast. As she stepped back with all her strength, she released all her swords from the weapon ring.
"'War God Clone'!!"
Five armored warriors appeared. Each one was as strong as Yato.
Muska laughed. Then, he began to fight against the armored warriors.
"Interesting!! Interesting!!"
"You, bug───!!"
At that moment, Merry appeared in front of Yato.
"Thunderbolt Sword, 'Thunder Blade'!!"
"Huh? ───Ggggggggh!?"
Zzt zzt zzt!! Muska was wrapped in purple lightning.
It was working.
Miles made a quick decision and took action.
If it was an insect-type monster, its weakness should be the same.
"One more lightning attack!!"
"Y-yes!!"
Miles ran toward the paralyzed Muska.
He took out 3 bottles of oil from his item box and threw them at Muska.
The bottles broke, soaking Muska in oil.
Then, the lightning released by Merry wrapped around Muska, and his body suddenly burst into flames.
"Gwoooooo!?"
"Now's our chance, let's run!!"
"Aren't we going to defeat him!?"
"No!! Just run away!! Hurry up!!"
Miles shouted at Merry.
There was no time to check if everyone was okay. Running away while he was burning was the best option.
Yato clicked her tongue and followed after Miles.
Merry also started running, glancing back once before looking forward and running again.
In the empty room, Muska's body burned.
"Guuhh───!!"
Muska swung his scythe. The wind pressure extinguished the flames.
Though his body was burning, his tough shell had no scratches at all.
"Interesting, interesting!! This is the power of 'heat'... 'flame'. I understand now."
Muska began to walk again as if nothing had happened.
* * *
Elk and Soara's group.
Well, to be exact... just Elk and Soara.
"I'm in trouble..."
"Yeah..."
The two of them had lost track of Bob and the others and were now lost.
Soara said this with a hint of guilt.
"I'm sorry. It's because I'm slow."
"It's fine. More importantly, what should we do now? We need to meet up with Mister Bob."
"Yeah. I don't think we're too far apart... I hope."
Soara nodded.
Her light blue short hair and big, round eyes looked a bit sleepy. Her combat outfit was like oversized pajamas, with a baggy shirt, long sleeves, and a scarf wrapped around her neck.
Elk was a little curious about her fighting style.
"There are probably monsters around, so let's be careful as we move."
"Okay. Please."
"...No, you should fight too."
"...I can't."
"Huh?"
"Because you'll definitely laugh... and it feels gross."
"Excuse me?"
Elk tilted his head, confused. Then, Soara looked down.
"My skill. It's a rare skill... almost no one has it."
"Is that so? What kind of skill is it?"
"...I don't want to use it much. So, please."
"You don't want to use it? But you want to be an adventurer, right?"
"...No, I don't really want to. I was forced into the academy."
"...I see."
So, she didn't have the motivation because she was forced.
Elk said to Soara,
"Got it. If you don't want to fight, that's fine. I'll protect you."
"Elk... is that okay?"
"Yeah. If you don't want to use it, you don't have to, and if you don't want to fight, you don't have to."
"...Okay."
"Well, don't push yourself. I don't know what your skill is, but..."
"......"
Soara nodded. And for some reason, she clings to Elk's arm.
"W-what's up?"
"Elk, you're a nice person... thank you."
"O-oh."
"Hehe."
Soara hugs tightly.
Surprisingly, the feeling of her big chest presses against Elk's arm.
"Hey, don't get too close."
"Am I bothering you?"
"Well, I mean, sort of."
"Hehe. I like nice people───...huh?"
"Soara?"
"Sniff sniff... something smells good."
"Smells good? ...Oh, you're right."
Something smells like it's burning.
It's coming from deeper in the hallway.
"Maybe some adventurers are resting... should we check it out?"
"Yeah. I'm hungry."
The two of them move deeper into the hallway.
What are they cooking? Maybe they'll get some leftovers.
Thinking that, they arrive at the end and see...
"...strong ones."
"......"
It was a bug.
To be exact, it was a burnt Musca.
The nice smell they noticed was coming from the Musca.
"This? ...No way, I definitely don't want to eat a bug."
"A beetle? But it's orange."
"Do you think bugs are edible?"
"Some can be eaten. I've eaten grasshoppers before."
"Strong ones───...strong ones!!"
"It's talking. Well, it's an enemy, right?"
"Strong ones───...!?"
When Elk pointed his hand, the Musca's body stopped moving completely.
Then, Elk said with no interest at all.
"Insect type, huh. There are all kinds."
"!?!?"
Crack crack crack, the Musca's body crumpled and shattered.
It had only been born a few hours ago. But its life was about to end.
Its body couldn't move. It couldn't do anything. This was unbelievable for the Musca.
"Today, I──"
"Take this."
Crash!! Muska shattered.
Then, a large magic stone that could be held with both hands rolled down.
It was an overwhelming 'compression.'
Soara didn't really understand Muska's strength since Elk defeated him so easily. She picked up the fallen magic stone and held it up to look at it.
"Wow... it's huge!"
"This is the biggest one ever!"
"Elk, let's put it in your item box."
"Yeah. Here we go."
With a swoosh, the magic stone was sucked into the item box.
"It's beautiful and big. Let's display it at the dorm entrance."
"Is it okay to put it in the dorm, Elk?"
"Yeah. My dorm is a bit special."
"Oh, I see."
"More importantly, I'm kind of hungry... do we have any food?"
"I brought snacks. Want some cookies?"
"Yes, yes!"
The two of them had completely forgotten about Muska and were only thinking about the cookies.
* * *
"...Did he die? Is he dead?"
Muska's death reached Balthazar as well.
It was so fast.
Balthazar was a little surprised by the unexpected turn of events, but he didn't care much.
He was relaxing deep in the dungeon.
"Well, whatever. Hehe, I can't do big ones, but... I'll bring out a bunch of small ones!"
From Balthazar's mouth, a small grasshopper jumped out.
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