Chapter 16: Monster vs. Monster

Chapter 16:
Monster vs. Monster

 

ONCE I GOT BACK to the seventh floor, I sped to Dory as fast as I could. She seemed to be resting, leaning up against her great tree. Her face brightened when she saw me, and her adorable smile warmed my heart.

“Sorry for taking so long.”

“I just knew you’d come back.”

“Of course! But more importantly, I think I have a plan.”

“Really?!”

“I can’t promise that it’ll work, but I can’t exactly let things keep going the way they have been, either.”

I had to do several things before I could get the ball rolling. I explained the procedure to Dory: I needed to Bestow a certain skill on the golden bee, so first I needed the bee around so I could figure out how much LP it would cost. Fortunately, my master predicted it wouldn’t be all that much. If I had enough LP right off the bat, I could proceed to having Dory help me find other monsters in the forest. Once I found those, I’d lead them to the bee and set off a chain reaction.

“First, we need to wait until the golden bee comes back.”

“That sounds kind of dangerous, Noir…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay safe. Plus, if this plan works, you’re going to reward me.”

“That’s right, I will. Treasure and stairs.”

“Yup. Ah, by the way, are you hungry? Wanna try some of this?” I pulled out some golden slime and gave her some. She was just a projection, but I was curious to see if she could eat—and figured that if she could, she should.

“Ohhh, it’s so sweet and delicious.”

“Right? You can find this stuff on the first floor. Though this dungeon never ceases to amaze…”

We went over the plan, confirming the location of various monsters. Dory’s Forest Sensitivity skill let her surveil the entire floor, so she knew where to find any and everything I might want. This was a major component of the strategy.

We waited by the tree for a few hours. It was definitely after dark outside by now. I realized my family and friends might be worried. I probably should have let them know that I might not be back until morning…

“It’s coming.”

“Finally.”

If I strained, I could hear the buzzing of the bee’s wings. The two of us approached Dory’s real body and concealed ourselves. I needed to be in pretty close range to be able to Bestow a skill.

The bee was zeroed in on the tree, so it didn’t notice us, and I immediately got to work. First: the skill Target cost 30 LP, and it made it easier for an enemy to be targeted when it was in a group. Essentially, it was a negative status effect, the kind of thing you’d turn down unless you were the type of person trying to get stronger through facing waves of carnage.

Of course, I wasn’t planning on using it on myself. What I wanted to know was how much it’d cost to Bestow it on the bee—and it was only 200! Totally doable! Since it was within the acceptable range, I went ahead and Bestowed Target on the bee.

Before I moved on to my next task, I had an idea that I could only attribute to divine inspiration: what if I could make the skill’s effect even more reliable?

I called up Editor and looked into Target’s skill description.

 

Target: Allows hostile enemies to target the skill holder more easily. For example, making the skill holder easier to hit in a crowd.

 

That was about what I expected. I tried adding: “specifically, silver wolves will consider the skill holder their mortal enemy.” It only required 100 LP, so I did a little fist pump and completed the Edit.

“Dory, have the wolves moved from where they were earlier?”

“No, they’re right where I told you. They’re eating.”

“Then I’m off. You just wait here.”

“Please be careful.”

Dory was worried about me, so I flashed her my best smile and a thumbs up before I headed off to the wolves. They were about a thousand paces away, so less than half a mile. I had to run as fast as I could. Time was of the essence.

I came on them quickly. The pack of silver wolves was chowing down on a carcass in the middle of a trail. There were seven of them.

I was keenly aware of the fact that one screw up here would be the end of me, and I had prepared myself for the reality of the danger. At least I could deploy the Dungeon Elevator skill if things got really desperate. Still, the thought of all those teeth sinking into my flesh… I really didn’t want to imagine it.

Anxious as I was, I tossed a rock as hard as I could.

“Aroo?!”

I nailed one of them, thanks to my newly acquired Throwing skill. It yelped like a puppy, and the rest of the pack all turned to cast their baleful stares on me.

“I found an enemy for you! Follow me!” I turned on my heel and ran like my life depended on it.

“Grrrr! Woof!”

The silver wolves gave chase, barking at my back. Four-legged beasts really were a lot faster than humans. Also, I didn’t have any running-related skills, so they were bound to catch me in less than a hundred yards.

 

Name: Silver Wolf

Level: 158

Skills: Sharp Fangs; Reflexes (Grade C); Agility (Grade C); Leadership

 

This one had to be the pack’s leader. They worked really well as a team—maybe because of that Leadership skill—and surrounded me in no time. I had nowhere to run. The wolves snarled and bared their fangs.

It was absolutely terrifying. I didn’t stand a chance in hell of beating them, but I couldn’t use my Dungeon Elevator skill yet. This was all within the scope of my predictions. I swallowed my fear and moved to provoke the lead wolf.

“I’m not scared of you! Come at me!”

“Grrr!”

The wolves flew at me from all directions.

“Gotcha!”

Flash!

An intense flash of light burst from my fingertips. It was the skill I’d acquired a while ago: Blinding Light. As the name suggested, it was super useful for totally blinding enemies.

The silver wolves crashed to the ground without laying a claw on me. I kicked one of the wolves writhing on the ground to open up a path, then started running again.

The flash seemed to be more effective than I’d expected, because I put a lot of distance between us. Surely this whole endeavor would be a failure if they lost sight of me, right? Don’t worry about it. Wolves have a much stronger sense of smell than humans, so I was positive they’d come after me.

Soon, I could hear them barking. Pew! Pew! Pew! I fired off a volley of ten-inch Stone Bullets to trip them up. I was only aiming to slow them down, not hurt them. I had other plans, after all.

Finally the great tree was in sight.

Oh no!

The golden bee had already pierced the tree’s trunk and was sucking its magic.

“Your evil deeds end here, you damn dirty bee,” I shouted.

I started the attack by firing off a Stone Bullet. The bee evaded the projectile with ease. That High-Speed Flight skill wasn’t just for show. The bee flew right at me and I parried its stinger with my blade. I didn’t have time to keep crossing blades with this overgrown insect. Wolf claws came flying in from behind me.

“Ngh.”

I shoved the bee back with my blade and dashed to the side to avoid the wolves. I regained my balance and saw that all the wolves had gathered on one side of the clearing.

“Grrr…”

I kept my eyes on the leader. It was locked on me at first, but was quickly drawn to the bee monster buzzing around. The leader let out a low growl. It was clearly some sort of signal, because the other wolves leapt to attack the bee. The bee countered with an aggressive stance.

Meanwhile, I took advantage of the chaos to scurry away. The monsters were now set up to fight to the death. I hid behind a tree and watched the battle.

The golden bee might have been over Level 100, but it was still stuck in a match of seven against one. It didn’t stand a chance, right?

I had no idea how wrong I was.

Even with their C-Grade Agility, the wolves struggled against the bee’s aerial abilities. It easily got behind them and stabbed them with its stinger. Even the wolves’ C-Grade Reflexes couldn’t save them.

The bee’s venom was also viciously powerful. When they got hit, the wolves convulsed on the ground and foamed at the mouth before meeting a gruesome end. I would’ve been dead in an instant.

One after another, the silver wolves fell prey to the bee’s venom, until only the leader and one other wolf remained. To think one creature could outclass all those wolves! Mutant monsters were truly terrifying. That said, the bee was still a living being, and it looked exhausted. Its speed had dropped considerably, but it buzzed over to the subordinate wolf’s tail and attempted to sting. This time, things turned out differently.

“Huh?!”

The bee didn’t pull away. The stung wolf endured the pain and twined its tail around one of the bee’s legs, freezing it in place. The leader wolf galloped over and bit the bee with all its might. Once it tore the bee’s wings off, the wolf pinned the bee to the ground with its legs and took revenge for its fallen comrades.

The battle was over in an instant. It had looked like the wolves were going to lose, but they turned things around in the end. One of them even sacrificed its life for the other. If I were a wolf, I’d be moved to tears.

The leader licked the bodies of its fallen comrades. It didn’t seem worried about the venom. At last, when the leader turned its tail to me, I reached out my hand, combined Water Drop and Lightning Strike with Magical Fusion, and fired off an electrified saltwater ball.

Perhaps it was the combination of fatigue and general relief of a battle won, but the leader was slow to react. It turned just before my spell hit.

“Uuh?!”

The leader let out a yelp, then collapsed. I dashed over and stabbed my sword through the heroic wolf that had survived so many awful battles. The leader was dead by the time I extracted my blade. Rest well, brave wolf, you can join your comrades now.

“Man, that sure did a number on my nerves,” I muttered. “I wish I could’ve defeated it without all that trickery…”

“Noir!” Dory emerged from hiding and leapt into my arms. I scooped her up princess-style and we took our victory lap. Well…that was worth it.