I Became a Prisoner in the Game After Defeating the Final Boss Chapter 44
“Everyone, get ready.”
As soon as I spoke, Conlan, Albino, and Alicia drew their respective weapons.
-Shik! Shik shik!
-Sheeeek……!
A familiar yet unfamiliar presence felt from within the darkness of the sea of trees.
Normally, we wouldn't have encountered demonic beasts at the boundary between territories, but it seemed the large-scale demonic beast subjugation operation happening in Winter Castle had affected the demonic beasts' ecosystem.
‘Originally, I didn't plan on fighting the outskirts-region demonic beasts here…….’
Nevertheless, now that we had encountered them, I had no intention of avoiding them.
The reason I intended to bypass the outskirts-region demonic beasts and go deeper into the Demonic Realm was to obtain relatively more valuable demonic beast materials for the same effort, not because I was afraid of them.
“Dammit! Let's do this!”
“Hmph.”
As soon as Conlan let out a bestial roar, demonic beasts in a form similar to giant spiders revealed themselves from the darkness.
【Lv.2】
【Neskula】
One, two, three, four…….
‘There are seven visible, so it's probably right to assume there are at least twice that many.’
The Neskula, fitting their spider-like appearance, were demonic beasts with an insidious hunting method.
Therefore, it was common sense to assume there were at least twice as many as the visible number.
“They're moving!”
With Conlan's shout, the pack of Neskula began to circle around us.
If that was all, one might think they were just looking for an opportunity, but the Neskula were demonic beasts that preferred practical actions over such meaningless behavior.
As if to prove that, the Neskula began to spew white thread while circling us.
“What is this? Cobwebs?”
“Dammit! Don't get hit by the webs, big guy! If you get tied up, it's over!”
Albino, who seemed to know a bit about the Neskula, swung his sword, trying to strike down the flying webs.
However, the Neskula's webs, far from being cut by the sword, instead clung to the sword, instantly binding Albino's weapon.
“Dammit!”
It wasn't just Albino; Conlan and Alicia also had their weapons caught in an instant.
No matter how sharply they cut or how heavily they struck, the Neskula's webs piled up layer by layer, gradually ensnaring the 4th Special Task Force members' weapons.
“……Let go!”
This was their hunting method.
To roam around and ensnare the prey, and finally, when the prey was neutralized, to complete the hunt without any losses to the pack.
It was a cunning befitting demonic beasts that had survived from humans for over hundreds of years.
“Uoooh!”
Conlan yelled and tried to somehow rip off the webs clinging to his axe, but the more he did, the more the webs stuck.
“Hey! Isn't there any way?!”
Conlan shouted, looking at me.
“Of course there is.”
“What? Then why aren't you doing it?!”
“I was just about to.”
The giant spider-type demonic beast Neskula was clearly a very annoying demonic beast, as expected of one that had taken root in the outskirts of the Demonic Realm.
However, if there was one misfortune for them, it was that I now had an item that was practically a natural enemy to the Neskula.
An item with the fire attribute.
Fwoosh…….
The Fang of Blazing Fire, drawn from the scabbard at my waist, revealed its presence.
“That's…….”
Albino's eyes trembled slightly upon seeing the Fang of Blazing Fire.
Albino, being quite knowledgeable about magic, must have recognized what it held, at least a little.
The Neskula's web was clearly an incredibly annoying ability, but it was a different story in front of the blazing fire.
The magic I obtained after making a deal with the Demon of Blazing Fire was to handle the blazing fire dwelling in the medium, the Fang of Blazing Fire, and the blazing fire that touched the medium.
I couldn't create the blazing fire myself.
But it didn't matter at all.
Because the Fang of Blazing Fire I was holding now was an item that always held a blazing fire.
Just like now.
Fwoosh──!
As soon as the Fang of Blazing Fire was swung, the blazing fire that soared up along the fang's blade instantly burned away the surrounding Neskula webs.
There was no need for plausible swordsmanship.
Just swinging and swinging the Fang of Blazing Fire in my hand.
Just by doing that, all the surrounding webs burned up, the trap the Neskula had created vanished, and the flames flowed back along the webs to the Neskula.
-Kkweeeek!
-Kkyok! Kkyok!
While their brethren became victims to the back-flowing blazing fire, a few clever ones cut the webs, but confusion was already spreading among the Neskula.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Move. It's an opportunity.”
The one who moved fastest to that was Alicia.
“Die.”
Alicia, tinged with a strange killing intent unlike her usual self, unleashed her magic in the midst of the Neskula.
Flash!
The magic of a Punishment Order Inquisitor.
The Neskula, possessing eight eyes, writhed in pain from the Inquisitor's magic that instantly stole their vision.
-Kkyok! Kkweeeek!
-Kkyurik!
Taking that as a signal of sorts, the real fight began.
“Ugh…… How can you use magic like that without a word?”
“Just pull yourself together and move.”
“I get it.”
Conlan ran toward the Neskula with Albino, his eyes half-open.
I also watched the situation.
‘It's probably better not to use Weapon Summon if possible.’
A gun was a loud weapon in many ways.
The destructive power of a gun was one thing, but especially the unique roar of a gunshot was so huge it could be heard from a great distance, and it was so peculiar that it wasn't difficult to guess that it was a gunshot.
If the natives of this world heard a gunshot, they would just think of it as the roar of thunder, but what if a modern person heard a gunshot?
They would inevitably notice my presence at once.
No matter how much this was the outskirts of the Demonic Realm, looking at the absolute distance, it wasn't that far from Winter Castle.
This was especially true in a situation like now, where countless subjugation teams were roaming outside Winter Castle.
It meant there was a need to prepare for 'what if'.
‘There's no need to advertise the fact that I'm here.’
Of course, even if I couldn't use Weapon Summon, there was no need to worry much.
Because through the subjugation of the Mage of Blazing Fire a while ago, I had gained another weapon.
Fwoosh!
As I began to earnestly join the fight, the flames bursting from the Fang of Blazing Fire surged and roamed among the Neskula.
That wasn't all.
Shwaaaak──!
[The 'Orb of Water' protects the wearer.]
[The 'Orb of Water' deploys the 'Rotating Shield of Water'.]
The shield of water lightly blocked the venom spat by the Neskula.
In addition to that, my movements became much lighter, and I swung the Fang of Blazing Fire.
[‘Haima’s Curse’ is active.]
[The 'Haima's Curse' effect is enhanced by the 'Orb of Water'.]
[The wearer's blood runs rampant due to 'Haima's Curse'.]
[Physical abilities are enhanced by 40% due to the 'Haima's Curse' effect.]
[Resistance to the 'Bleeding' status effect is greatly reduced due to the 'Haima's Curse' effect.]
A truly overwhelming enhancement of physical abilities.
The heat generated by the Fang of Blazing Fire reawakened the power of the Orb of Water, which had been suppressed by the northern climate, and that Orb of Water not only protected and healed me, but also further amplified the power held by Haima's Pendant.
Of course, due to that, the resistance to the bleeding status effect also became lower, but that wasn't very significant to me, who had the Orb of Water.
Orb of Water.
Haima's Pendant.
Fang of Blazing Fire.
Those three appropriately harmonized, amplifying each other's effects.
One of the most important things in World of Justice Online was creating synergy effects between equipment like this.
It meant that people weren't asking for equipment setting advice on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, even offering extra money, for no reason.
-Kkweeeek!
-Kkyok, Kkweeeii……!
At the blazing fire spreading in all directions and the attacks of the 4th Special Task Force members, the Neskula let out bizarre screams and began to scatter and flee in all directions.
As expected of beings accustomed to fighting humans, they instinctively knew that it was better to flee when the tide of battle turned unfavorable.
‘And if they see an opportunity, they'll charge again.’
Of course, we had no intention of just letting them go either.
“You bastards! Where are you going!”
Conlan, soaked in the blood of demonic beasts, let out a bestial roar and chased after the Neskula.
-Kkweeeek!
Conlan's axe danced, slaughtering several Neskula.
“Hmph! As if spider bastards like you!”
“……Die.”
Albino and Alicia, not to be outdone, also swung their respective weapons, stabbing the fleeing Neskula in the back.
-Kkweeeek!
-Kkyet, Kkyit!
However, that chase did not last long.
The fleeing Neskula disappeared into the darkness beyond the sea of trees.
“Stop.”
Conlan, having finally come to his senses, wiped the blood from his face and spoke.
“Ptui! We're not chasing them anymore?”
“This is their front yard. If we follow needlessly, the chances of falling into a trap are high. And it's meaningless to catch more.”
“What does that mean?”
“Our purpose for coming here isn't demonic beast subjugation. It's demonic beast hunting.”
“Ah.”
Just as he said, we had already gotten everything we wanted to get here.
Should I say there was no need to increase the effort by catching more?
“Then let's clean up.”
As I shifted my gaze toward the remaining Neskula, Conlan, Albino, and Alicia finally drew the daggers at their waists to retrieve the Neskula's materials.
“Whew…… Their condition is no joke. The ones burnt like this don't have much commercial value, do they?”
“It doesn't matter. Even if we just take what we can, we won't be able to take it all.”
“True.”
The value of the Neskula hides, singed by the blazing fire, dropped significantly, but since the Neskula itself was a demonic beast whose value lay more in its internal organs or other parts rather than its hide, it didn't matter much.
Hunters who had reached a high level would hunt in a way that preserved the demonic beast's materials as much as possible, but for us right now, that was a luxury.
Albino spoke.
“Was that the magic of blazing fire you used just now?”
“Yes.”
“You faced the Mage of Blazing Fire and returned with the magic of blazing fire in hand……. That's absurd. Is something like that possible? No, were you able to handle the magic of blazing fire from the very beginning?”
“Think what you want.”
“You monster.”
Albino shook his head back and forth as if fed up.
“Ah, come to think of it.”
Conlan, who was trimming the Neskula carcass, spoke as if he had remembered something.
“Vell, why didn't you use the magic you normally use? With your magic, you could have killed all the fleeing ones.”
“There was no need to.”
The reason I didn't summon the gun was mostly for another reason, but there was no need to explain even that.
“You, don't tell me…….”
However, Albino next to me seemed to have a completely different idea, making an unreadable expression as he looked at me.
“What.”
“……No, it's nothing. They said you caught the Mage of Blazing Fire, but it seems you didn't come out unscathed either.”
I had a clear idea of what Albino was thinking, but I had no intention of correcting that misunderstanding.
All magic must pay a fitting price.
Naturally, the Weapon Summon I usually used must have looked like magic that paid an enormous price, and he must have thought the reason I wasn't using Weapon Summon now was also because I couldn't handle the price.
It was more comfortable for me to let him misunderstand like that than to make up a clumsy excuse for not using Weapon Summon.
“Are you okay?”
AlicIA, who had been listening to the story, approached me and said that.
“I'm fine.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I knew that Alicia's attitude toward me had changed a while ago.
And, that it had been since after the subjugation of the Mage of Blazing Fire.
‘It might not be bad to hear what happened later.’
Unfounded favor should be guarded against, but if there was a reason for the favor, it wasn't bad for me either.
Especially in a world like this, where you didn't know who would stab you in the back.
“Ugh…… Demonic beast carcasses are always nauseating to look at.”
“Shut up and finish up, big guy.”
Just as the trimming of the Neskula carcasses was almost finished.
-Kkurururu…….
A bizarre sound echoing from somewhere.
However, this bizarre sound was clearly different from that of the Neskula.
Albino spoke.
“It seems to have come, smelling the blood. That's not the cry of a Neskula.”
“Not a Neskula?”
Conlan's question couldn't continue.
Because a massive vibration that shook the ground came for us right after.
Thud!
Thooom─!
“That's…….”
“Dammit! Get ready!”
There was no need to peer into the darkness.
That huge body sufficiently announced its presence with its overwhelming size alone.
【Lv.5】
【Wandering Karsuyu】
A named individual.
If that was all, I wouldn't have shown much of a reaction, but the horn on the bastard's head instantly snatched my attention.
‘Mutant.’
It had revealed its presence.