HPDBC Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Leaving behind the room where four villains had their lives cut short in an instant, I stepped out into the hallway.
...I guess I was pretty slow.
Villains covering nearly the entire corridor were there to greet me.
“Wow, are you all welcoming me? I didn’t know I was this popular. As expected, you all have an eye for beauty.”
“Don’t let your guard down! She’s that Arachne! Form ranks!”
Hah, seriously.
These people have no sense of humor.
I tried to have some conversation before fighting.
...Well, whatever. I don’t have much time to spare either.
I’ll have to get serious like they want.
“Alright. It’s nice to see everyone diligently doing their job, but just one thing.”
“...What is it? Surrender is useless. You won’t be able to leave here unscathed.”
Ugh, as expected.
It’d be hard to keep my limbs intact if I get captured.
If I had stupidly kept infiltrating, the probability of me becoming a robo-Arte shooting energy beams from my hands would have exponentially increased.
Even if I used up all my clothes until I was wearing my birthday suit, I couldn’t take them all out.
In that case, I need to instill fear.
Fighting is all about spirit. If no one wants to fight me anymore, that’s good enough.
If 500 lose their will to fight, I only need to kill 100.
“I’m a bit busy, so playing with all of you would be hard. If those who want a good time could gather, that’d be great.”
“...Nonsense! Everyone, prepare for battle! Capture that wench! No, you can kill her too! Whoever kills her will get a bounty!”
Hmm, as expected, they won’t be scared by this level of threat.
Alright, fine.
If they won’t be scared by this, I’ll show them directly.
“...You might regret it later. This is your last warning. If you want to live, jump to the side right now.”
“Attack!”
Countless mana-infused long-range attacks flew at the order, ignoring my words.
“Sigh, okay.”
Fine.
You won’t listen to what I say, will you?
Using some of my stockings, I weaved threads to create a shield.
But as they say, fighting is a game of numbers. The shield that took attacks from dozens collapsed precariously as if it would tear any moment.
Seems they aren’t complete idiots.
This is a narrower chokepoint than I thought.
Even if hundreds of villains come at once, the number I can face at a time is limited.
Did they order long-range attacks, being wary of that?
Then I have no choice but to move too, right?
I unwound the threads from the half-gloves I had deliberately left unused and stabbed them into the arm of a muscular man.
“Guh, gaaah...?!”
“Thread...?! E-Endure it! I’ll use you as a shield! Endure it no matter what!”
Hmm, bingo.
As expected, he was a physical reinforcement type ability user. He looked the part.
I’d have had to find someone else if he weren’t, but this is perfect.
Circulating mana, I manipulated the threads. Then, leaning back, I pulled the threads as if trying to drag him.
The guys who thought I would subdue and use him as a shield started using their heads.
A huge villain planted his feet firmly into the ground so he wouldn’t get pulled towards me, and several villains pressed down on his shoulders next to him...?
No, why are villains cooperating? I really don’t get it.
The net of threads above my head was on the verge of breaking.
What an extremely dangerous situation.
...But those guys were mistaken about something.
That was never my intention.
“How did you kill Ovis...!”
“Ah, this?”
The feeling of a comrade who was perfectly alive until a moment ago being called ‘this’ while limply hanging.
Those who haven’t experienced it wouldn’t know. She didn’t want to know either.
“Ovis’s wool could instantly absorb most attacks...”
Ovis, who had sheep’s wool, lacked attack power but could boast tremendous defense in certain situations.
Impacts couldn’t pierce her wool and would lose strength after cutting a few strands, so they were unable to harm her.
She prided herself in not being able to get heavily injured unless burned by fire or fried by electricity.
Yet that she now hung like a doll.
“Ah, that’s why it’s so hard to cut. Physical nullification or something?”
“How did you do it...!”
“Aah, it was nothing much. If it doesn’t work once, you just do it many times, right? You startled me, suddenly hugging me out of nowhere. If one or two don’t do the job, repeat it hundreds of times until it does.”
A chill ran down her spine at the appearance of that woman saying those words.
‘She sliced the same spot that many times in such a short time...?’
“Thanks to that, my clothes are all used up too. Aah, dammit. It’s a relief there’s at least sheep wool. I almost became a pervert.”
Spira, who didn’t hear Arte muttering afterward, now looked at her controlled comrade.
Kris, a pig beastman. He also had some physical resistance, and his weight-utilizing attacks were enough to turn a person into pulp.
...Such a guy was trembling from a tiny thread.
“I guess your strategy is good? A person with physical resistance hugs and attacks me one-sidedly. It’s quite ingenious if I do say so myself.”
“A-Are you mocking me...?”
“It was good that you tried to ambush in case it failed too.”
Reeking of blood all over yet smiling brightly, she controlled Kris. No, rather than control, she might be toying with him.
...Because she was moving him around and observing with a curious look while poison from Spira spread through his body.
She attempted the second ambush as soon as Kris failed.
She used him as a shield and quickly escaped.
“Stop, stop...! The poison is spreading! What do you want?! Information?! Or money?! Tell me what you want! I’ll give you anything!”
“Ah, will you really give me anything?”
“Yes! I’ll give you anything! Hurry! Tell me what you want!”
“Your life.”
“...Guhek?!”
It was the end of Kris, who had feared the tiny thread by his ear.
He had proudly said his thick layer of fat would make even a thread like that harmless.
The tiny thread suddenly dug into his ear, and soon Kris collapsed with blood flowing from his eyes and nose.
Did she scramble his brain with that thread?
Her face automatically paled at the horrific imagination.
“Things like your money or information are meaningless to me. What I want is your death, after all.”
In an instant.
Truly, in an instant, the two executives who had ambushed her died.
They were people with quite a lot of combat experience too.
“Now, you’re the only one left...What should I do.”
Her mind went blank.
What do I do?
What do I have to do to survive?
...The contemplation didn’t take long.
Because she felt she wouldn’t survive no matter what she did.
So, she decided to do as her instincts told her.
“Please spare me!”
Like a snake, she decided to lower her head to the ground.
Author’s Notes
Writing the scene of killing a pig made me crave meat...
It’s pork belly today.