NOVEL NEXT Episode 7: A Boss You Need to Play Through Multiple Times
Episode 7: A Boss You Need to Play Through Multiple Times
“Hale-sama, I’m back!”
“That was fast!?”
Yes, I’ve returned to Ortya.
I’ve been thinking about countermeasures for the stampede since then.
The quickest way would be to set up [Mines] at the forest entrance.
But if I overdo it and increase the number of monsters coming to Ortya, that would be a problem, and I don’t want to reveal all my cards.
It also irks me to just help them out.
I’m the type to hold a grudge.
Honestly, it would be easiest to take Relina and leave the city, but she would never agree to that.
So, I have no choice but to put in some effort.
That means I have to consider the impact on Ortya.
I was going in circles until I had an idea.
Why not go there myself?
As long as Relina is safe, I don’t care if the damage over there is a bit severe.
After all, the fault lies with Miltia.
If I can find the one who caused the stampede along the way, even better.
“So, I’ve decided to cut through the forested area.”
“I see… I don’t get it.”
“I’ll be thinning out the monsters along the way, so I’d like you to give Seira more protection during that time.”
“Alright, I promise that.”
I’m also concerned about Seira.
When I saw the protagonist, I wondered if Miltia’s plan was just to cause the stampede and be done with it.
Knowing them, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had something else in mind apart from the stampede.
They might do something in Arania, but since there could still be some flags involving Seira, it’s better to be cautious.
“Well then, I’m off.”
“Take care.”
With that, my business here is done, and I’m heading towards Arania.
I might lose my bearings once I’m in the forest, but I’ll just head towards the area with the most monsters.
(Note: Ok, you guys know the drill, “*…*” is for MC’s dialogue)
—
“*What’s that? Something big is there.*”
On the second day in the forest, as I was thinning out monsters with [Bullet] and [Shotgun] and navigating by the density of monsters and the state of the forest, I picked up a reaction with [Magic Detection] that I hadn’t encountered before.
It’s a magical beast about the size of a large bus, with six heads and three pairs of large wings.
Just slapping things together doesn’t make it better.
There are also two smaller ones, about two sizes down, and armed humans nearby.
They must be guiding the monsters.
The problem is, I recognize this beast’s features.
“*Encountering the Mother Chimera right off the bat, huh…*”
In the early stages of the original story, after the protagonist and his team encounter a stampede and defeat a multi-headed chimera, this modified beast, the Mother Chimera, appears.
In other words, the chimera they barely defeated was just a support role.
Of course, it makes sense that an enemy a bunch of students could defeat wouldn’t be capable of causing a stampede.
The protagonist’s team, exhausted from consecutive battles, is almost wiped out by this beast, only to be saved just in time by the territorial army and adventurers.
In the first playthrough, it’s essentially a loss event, unlike Cain’s situation.
You can only win from the second playthrough onward, but even at the level where you can barely clear the first playthrough, you’d usually lose because your team isn’t fully assembled yet. Well, I lost too. It’s tough to counter the breaths from six heads, each with a different attribute.
“*[Rain Bullet]*”
I give up on capturing the involved parties and rain down a massive amount of [Bullets] from above the enemies’ heads.
The new type of [Bullet] shoots from a distance instead of from close to the body.
And [Rain Bullet] makes them fall like rain.
It’s harder to control the magic and consumes a lot of mana, but it’s perfect for thinning out the small fry.
“””Argh!”””
“”Eeeeee!””
“Screeeeeee!”
“*Noisy.*”
The armed ones and the chimeras were taken out, but the Mother Chimera was unaffected.
Still, several of its heads and wings were shredded, so it shouldn’t be able to fly anymore.
One of the reasons this beast is troublesome, aside from its breath attacks, is its ability to fly.
And another reason is…
“Screeeeeeeeee!!!”
“””Kyaaaaa!”””
Following the Mother Chimera’s cry, I hear multiple chimeras calling from afar.
This is the most troublesome aspect of this beast.
As its name suggests, it can command lower-ranked chimeras.
It’s probably due to the traits of the original creature it was modified from.
In the original story, fighting this thing while being attacked by other chimeras was extremely annoying.
Well, at least it saves me the trouble of searching for the chimeras.
“*[Earth Spear]*”
“Screeeee?!”
[Earth Spears] sprout from beneath the Mother Chimera’s belly, impaling it.
After that, I just have to grow more [Earth Spears] from the ones already embedded.
“*[Earth Spears]*”
“Screeeeeeeee!!!”
…I’m doing some really brutal things, aren’t I? I’ll try not to use this on people as much as possible. Now, I just need to deal with the chimeras coming this way.
—
“What the hell are you!?”
“*It’s me, Karna-san. It’s Mine!*”
“Huh? Then show me your face!”
“*I can’t right now.*”
“Then you’re an impostor. I’m gonna kick your ass!”
After taking down a few chimeras, Karna showed up with them for some reason. She must have been fighting them…
And when she chased the fleeing chimeras, she found me in [Magic Armor] mode. Yeah, I look super suspicious. And I can’t deactivate the [Magic Armor] right now because I’d definitely throw up.
“Take that!”
“*Whoa, that was close!*”
“Don’t dodge, you bastard!”
“*I have to dodge! Stop being unreasonable!*”
This person hits without any questions…
I guess I have no choice.
“*Okay, I’ll show you my face!*”
“Tch! You should have done that from the start.”
I briefly deactivate the [Magic Armor] around my head and then reactivate it.
“Too quick! Why were your eyes closed?”
“*Because I can’t handle gore.*”
“How can you kill so many monsters and be squeamish about gore!? That’s ridiculous!”
“*I’ve been wanting to ask the same thing myself.*”
I’ve always thought it was weird. Clearly, something’s off.
I have a hypothesis.
Maybe I was initially unable to handle both gore and killing, but then I was given some sort of killing tolerance (hypothetical) as an afterthought, resulting in my current state.
In this world, the need to kill could arise whether the target is a human or a monster. And considering my position as Mine-kun in the original story, I’d undoubtedly face such situations.
But having lived in modern Japan, I wouldn’t be able to make the decision to kill on the spur of the moment.
Maybe the entity that reincarnated me didn’t want me to die easily or find it uninteresting. Whether that entity is a ‘god’ or something else, I don’t know.
So, I think they gave me killing tolerance and put me in Mine-kun’s body.
They probably didn’t consider gore, or maybe there was a limit to how many after-the-fact adjustments could be made.
Of course, this is all just my guess, but I don’t think it’s far off.
I have no idea why it had to be Mine-kun, why it had to be me, or what they want me to do.
—
“So, what were you doing here?”
“*I was looking for whoever caused the stampede, and when I found these guys, I took them down.*”
“…You’re pretty strong, huh?”
“*I’m an honorary baron, after all.*”
“Yeah, you can’t earn merits if you’re weak.”
“*Exactly.*”
Well, with that festival-loving king, he might have given me a title just for the [Fireworks]. Anyway, more importantly…
“*There should be a base for these guys somewhere. Shall we attack it?*”
“Oh, that sounds good!”
—
“*It’s over there.*”
“There are more people than I expected.”
There are several huts surrounded by barricades, with about a dozen armed people and two magical beasts different from the chimeras.
They’re probably guard beasts. This must be the base, but it looks pretty busy.
“Hey, aren’t they back yet?”
“No one has returned, including the Mother’s unit.”
“Damn it, what are they doing!?”
“…Could they have been defeated?”
“That’s impossible! That’s the trump card left by Cardinal Holmz!”
Who the hell is this Holmz?
(Note: V2C10 is the first time the name appear, in case you find it familiar)
Well, I guess we can capture these guys and hand them over to Nord-san.
“I’ll handle the humans.”
“*Ah, wait—*”
Before I could finish, Karna charged in.
She sure is free-spirited… She knocked out three people in no time. She’s really strong.
—Karna Hertia.
With top-notch mana efficiency in [Body Enhancement], she’s a physically specialized brawn-for-brains heroine.
In the original story, she beat up monsters with her bare hands and even stopped Cain’s sword bare-handed, showing off her physical monster prowess.
But seeing a girl rampaging with her bare hands in real life leaves quite an impression.
She seems as strong as, if not stronger than, Alt-kun and Iris. No wonder Cain doesn’t stand a chance against her.
Alright, I need to take care of the beasts too.
—
After quickly dealing with the small fry, I checked the inside of the hut and found someone who seemed to be the leader, so I kidnapped him.
In the original story, the ones in action were ‘Miltia’s Apostles,’ but I wonder about this guy.
He’s wearing something like a priest’s robe and has a lot of mana, so maybe he’s a bishop?
Anyway, having him and the leader of the outside guys should be enough as souvenirs.
“*I’ve secured someone who looks like the mastermind, so let’s meet up with Nord-san.*”
“Yeah, I’ve been rampaging for a while, so I’m pretty tired.”
…I wonder how long she’s been in the forest?