524 – The Cost of Retreat (side: atlach-nacha)

I had thought I had pulled Aro back a moment too soon.
But, I was naive.
At the last moment, Aruane’s claws grew in length.

Aro’s abdomen was split open, and she was thrown to the ground.

“Th-thank you… Atlach-nacha…”

Aro feebly offers me her thanks.
I don’t like speaking, so I give a slight nod in a reply.
Whenever I say anything, right-head master seems stupidly happy, so I usually try to make a habit of not speaking, but this is no time to be worrying about that.

Through [Autoregeneration], Aro’s abdomen rapidly knits closed.

But, considering how much damage she must have taken, there’s no way she can return to the front lines… Or rather, her choice to fight that monster head-on in the first place was a mistake.

Those extendible claws… They’re probably made of blood.
To be more precise, they’re the result of some skill hardening and sharpening blood using magic.

“Aruane you see, she really doesn’t like monster blood.
It’s super bitter.
It’s suffocating, painful, and choking… It really is bad.
But, it’s for Saint-sama, so it can’t be helped.”

Aruane runs towards us.
Her eyes are those of a predator appraising its meal.
Behind her is the undead Alexio.

Her expressions and tone are mismatched, making a particularly difficult opponent to read.
She really is creepy.
Her voice sounds like that of a child trying to softly coax her parent, and there are hints of compassion and pity in her eyes.
But, her mouth alone gives the impression of a predator toying with its food, which I suspect is closer to her true feelings.

The other possibility is that she isn’t thinking about anything.
Aah, that’s probably it.
Living just through instincts isn’t at all rare for monsters, but it seems there are some humans who live like that too.

The blockhead still hasn’t recovered from the damage, and Aro’s in no condition to return to the battle.
The opponent is a monstrosity with one foot in A rank, as well as an approximately B+ rank undead.

What can I do?

I’ve already erased one of the miniature [Doppel Cocoons] I stuck to master.
That should let him know that we’re in a danger.
But, of course, in this thick fog, he probably can’t get here very fast.

What’s the best course of action I can take here…? There are two enemies, and of our three, two of us are heavily injured.
Is there any possible outcome other than us all dying? I have some confidence that I can be craftier than the pure-hearted Aro, or the blockhead who doesn’t seem like he would have a single growth ring if you cut him in two.
Is there any way I can see out of this…?

“…”

I point a finger at Aro as she tries to panickedly rise to her feet.

“Eh…?”

“Aro, take treant and get away from here.
I’ll buy some time.”

She hurriedly shakes her head.

“Th-that’s no good! You’ll…!”

“I’m the fastest of us.
My injuries are also light.
You two will just get in the way.
Get that big tree to shrink down and take it with you.”

『A-atlach-dono…?』

The treant’s body trembles.

“But…!”

“Hurry! Once you two get away, I can also escape!”

I curl my finger as I urge her to go.
She stares at my finger and nods in confusion.

I had thought the treant would say something in protest, but instead it obediently activates [Tree Spiritisation].
My harrying might have been effective.
That’s good.
If they took too long, we could have all been killed.
Aro enlarges one of her arms and carries the spirit-form treant on her back as she runs.

The treant stares back at me helplessly.
He really is effeminate.

“Spider-san is kind, oh so kind.
But, it’s no good, you see.
Splitting up into two groups won’t do you any good.”

Alexio, who had been running alongside Aruane, splits off the chase Aro.

“You see? You see? This just happens.
Sorry.”

Aruane pauses in front of me and stares at my face.
It looks like she’s waiting for a response.

“Even though you told a lie so they would go.”

“…”

“It’s strange, so strange.
Aruane you see, she can see through lies.”

…This girl really is creepy.

It’s true that I made Aro think I had stuck a thread on her in order to get her to focus on running away.

Aro once saw me stick a thread on another fast monster, and then use it to move quickly.
So, by suggesting that I had stuck a thread on her, I hoped she would jump to that conclusion.

Of course, I have no such convenient technique.
If I could do something like that, I would have already stuck threads in all sorts of places as back ups.
If I explained it in detail, she would have seen through me.

“Sorry, this is the end for all of you.”

I almost break into a smile in response to Aruane’s words.
Of course, I predicted that the undead would be sent after the two injured in this situation.

“No… It’s just going to be me.”

The undead Alexio has already closed the distance to Aro.
But, just as he’s about to swing his sword, he suddenly stiffens, then swings wildly, driving his sword into the ground and topples over.
He quickly gets to his feet, but Aro has already gained more distance.

“Ah…”

Aruane’s mouth opens in surprise.

“She can only stop him from moving… Well, it’s better than nothing.”

Aro’s skill [Undead Maker] allows her to use nearby dead bodies as weapons.
Alexio’s corpse is already under Aruane’s control, so it seems the most she can do is momentarily freeze him in place at point blank range… To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would be effective at all.

But, now they should be able to get away.
Besides… Aruane’s skill might have a limited range.
It’s a plan built on optimism, but with no other options, this was all I could think of.

“…Aruane’s going to have to chase and hunt.”

She flexes both her arms.
Her claws that were about the length of fingers suddenly grow five times as long, turning into a set of ten red blades.

“Too bad, you can’t.”

I raise both arms to the sky and use [Doppel Cocoon].
I’m not going to hold anything back.
I’ll use up all my mana in one go.
Dozens of threads shoot from my fingers and form into body doubles.
I’m creating four in total.

“Because you’re going to stop Aruane…?”

She tilts her head to the side in doubt.
It feels like she’s asking me if I really think I can stop her.

I said it in a way that would invite confusion, but the reason isn’t because I can stop her.
Aro has a skill called [Fog of the Dead].
In this already foggy island, it should be extremely hard for her to find Aro once she has some distance.
If anything, I’d like to see her try.

My four [Doppel Cocoons] jump at Aruane at the same time.
She kicks off the ground and runs in a circle around me.
Just by doing that, she’s escaped from my body doubles.

She kicks off the ground again, leaping at me from an angle where I have no body doubles to protect me.
I can’t bring them back in time.
I swing my arm, releasing five [Severing Threads] at point-blank range.

Aruane’s dress tears, and blood splatters.
But, I didn’t manage to cut very deep.
I had hoped it would tear her to shreds, but this was the expected outcome.
She’s terrifyingly tough.
To do any real damage against her, I’d need a heavier attack.
No, I knew that.
I just attacked out of principle.
That is all.

As Aruane approaches right in front of me, it feels as though time slows down.

Then, can I… I try to dive to the side, but my body reacts slower than my thoughts.
Aah, it looks like it’s already too late.

Strangely enough, I don’t feel any fear.

All I feel is a vague sense of satisfaction.
Aro and treant have gotten away… So all I can do is hope that right-head master can safely defeat this black-hearted woman.
As I think that, I notice something strange.
It seems I’m thinking of that blockhead as a proper companion.

I do feel a little proud of what I’ve achieved here, but more than that, I feel sorry for leaving everything to Aro and treant.
This will probably weigh a lot on them.

――Aah, left-head master might have felt like this too.

A sharp claw stabs into the base of my neck.