When she saw Gagaran swinging her weapon and stepping forward to stand as the vanguard, Entoma had already decided which opponent she would deprive of their combat ability first.
Her right hand brandished a whip. If it were a long whip, the speed of the whip’s end would be relatively slow. This was to be expected even if it was used by Entoma who possessed superhuman strength. However this was only logical if what was brandished was an ordinary whip.
The being that was waved around was the most powerful insect the entomomancer Entoma could summon—
Originally it was supposed to be a whip with the rough shape of an arc, but it turned out to shoot out at an unimaginable angle. This whip was like an extension of Entoma’s hand, and bent in an S shape, before it launched at Gagaran with the speed of lightning.
It was a living creature at the same time as it was a weapon, and struck in an unnatural way for a weapon. Even greatly experienced adventurers had never heard of this, let alone experienced facing it before. When seeing it for the first time, not knowing what to do was the natural reaction.
But the fact they could dodge it proved they were indeed adamantite adventurers.
The insect whip was about to hit the side of Gagaran’s body, however she stumbled to avoid the attack.
“Be careful!”
— Accompanying Tia’s loud yell, Gagaran was blown upwards. This was Tia’s ninjutsu skill — ‘Bursting Flame Column’. The seemingly self-imploding explosion and flames encircled the two, and the thousand whips insect, which had done a one-eighty degree change in direction from behind Gagaran, only managed to strike the spot where her head had been.
If it hadn’t been for this almost suicidal move, there was no doubt that Gagaran’s head would have been pierced by the thousand whips insect. It was a great dodge. However, Entoma’s attack wasn’t finished. As if it was being pulled by strings, the thousand whips insect attacked from angles that were hard to defend against, changing constantly as it took cheap shots at Gagaran.
At the same time, Entoma threw a talisman at Tia — a thunderbird talisman.
In mid-air, the talisman turned into a small bird that emitted bluish-white electricity, and sprang towards Tia.
If there were two opponents, let one of them be taken care of by the insects. This was where the strengths of entomomancers lay.
There was an explosion of lightning, and the blue-white radiance spread in all directions. What emerged were Tia, who was enduring her pain, and Gagaran, who was having a hard time fending off the thousand whips insect.
“Dammit! This insect is really annoying!”
Gagaran’s head was pushed against her war pick, and her body was wrapped up by the ten meter long insect in a way that rendered her unable to move.
Tia took a step forward and stabbed with her magic dagger. The strike collided with Entoma’s insect shield and let out a fierce metallic sound.
“Flurry of thunderbird talismans~”
Entoma held a number of talismans in her left hand and tossed them outwards. The talismans turned into many thunderbirds which were smaller than the previous one. They rushed towards Tia, who proceeded to conceal herself. Unable to find their target, the small birds flew in the direction behind Tia.
Tia suddenly appeared behind Entoma from a shadow out of her line of sight. This was an ability which utilised shadows to traverse short distances. However Entoma had already noticed this because some insects’ antennae could sense the surrounding airflow. This was a powerful sensing ability which Entoma possessed.
She tossed the remaining few steel bullet insects at Tia who emerged from the shadow.
“Ku…!”
A pained groan came from the shadow and the smell of fresh blood wafted in the air. Facing Tia, who was bloodied but still held the will to fight, Entoma initiated her follow-up attack.
“Scattering explosion talisman!”
Even more powerful explosions than before appeared in front of Tia, lighting up the dark night. Against Tia who had been blown away and fallen on the floor, Entoma once again threw a sharp cutting talisman and a rushing wind talisman. Tia was covered in blood and didn’t even have the time to get up before she was sliced again, blown away and thrown on the ground.
“Tia! You insect bitch!”
The condemning voice came from Gagaran, who was wound tightly into a ball by the whip insect.
Their original plan was that while Gagaran used her brute strength to restrain the whip insect, Tia would seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Entoma’s main body.
Entoma ridiculed this under her mask.
Such foolish beings. As a battle maid of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, triumphing over humans of this level was only to be expected. The best option for them should have been ignoring the fact she was eating human flesh and running away with all their strength. It was only because they had made the incorrect choice, that this scenario had unfolded.
“…Although the order is different to what I had envisaged, so be it, nothing more could be done. Well then, which one should I eat first? Developed muscles must taste extremely delicious ne~”
Entoma once again summoned an insect, but not the type that had ferocious combat capability. The long syringe needle on its body contained sedatives.
Entoma held the insect and briskly walked over to Tia.
It looked like she could bring home some local specialties as souvenirs. There were many in the Great Tomb of Nazarick who relished in capturing humans for food.
They would certainly like this present very much.
“Eh? What?”
Entoma’s superior intuition warned her of an elongated cold object flying in her direction from above her head and she rapidly sprung a distance away. At the same time, a lengthy weapon pierced the spot Entoma had just occupied.
It was like a crystal lance used by knights, but that was not an ordinary item. Not the slightest crack could be seen on the crystal lance which had managed to crush rocks.
“Is that… magic?”
The spirit system magic caster Entoma felt something from this lance.
“You’re correct. This is the 4th tier spell ‘Crystal Lance’!”
The one replying to Entoma’s question was the person who slowly descended to the rocks shattered by the lance. It was a young girl with a boyish voice, whose physique was small and who wore a mask and a robe.
Yet another enemy, Entoma couldn’t help muttering. Another intruder had appeared in the middle of capturing delicious prey. It was truly cruel that she still had to endure the temptations of delicious food.
“Shall we end it here?”
“…Who are you? I can forgive you if you immediately leave this place. Children are very soft, and I like that, but they never have enough meat on them. I’ll play with you next time, after I eat these two.”
“So that’s what you are; a man-eating monster right? Even wearing a maid outfit, what kind of joke are you trying to pull? Who’d want some bloody smelling monster like you around them?”
“wHAT arE yOu SAYInG?! bItCH!”
Without pausing to think, Entoma let out her real voice, then immediately clamped down on her own throat.
The insult was enough to make her lose her composure and she could never forgive this young girl’s words. It was not because of primal predator urges, but because she was in an extremely bad mood right now, that she wanted to tear apart the woman before her into pieces.
What did this woman say?! To me, a battle maid, which is a high-level existence within the Great Tomb of Nazarick!?
Anger spilled out from the bottom of her heart.
“I’LL kiLL yOu!”
She could not help but to shout with her real voice, but restrained herself from puffing up in the back.