Published at 9th of May 2021 02:45:28 PM

313 The Cave of Hostages

I place the spider on my head and charge into the forest. Every now and again, it taps my head with its leg to tell me the direction.

I search around with [Presence Perception] as I run, but dont find any human presences. I guess im not mistaken in assuming that those cavalry have done a full retreat. They might have realised fighting me would be reckless, so gave up on interfering with the village.

But they probably havent given up on that glittering beast. If I were to leave them alone, then, from what the Lithovars said, they might provoke the forest children and cause a disaster.

If I hurry, I might be able to find both their headquarters, and Lithovar children they took hostage. I could be able to rescue the children while also putting a stop to their plan.

Ill find the survivors and force them all out of the forest No, for the sake of the future, it might be important to turn some of them into prisoners of war. The way this is going, theres a chance some other group will attack the village in order to hunt the glittering beast or myself. I need to do something to stop that.

!

As I run, I suddenly notice human presences. Theres three of them. Theyre on horses, it seems, but they dont appear to be doing anything, just loitering in the forest. They should have no choice but to flee to outside the forest or meet up with other units, so What are they doing here?

I suppose theres no use thinking about it. After bending low to warn the spider, I run straight towards them. Perhaps frightened by my footsteps, they move further away.

As I chase them, I feel somethings wrong. The presences dont run away in a direction totally opposite of me, but rather move in an arc, eventually running in a direction perpendicular to how they started. And the way they move is as though the three of them had arranged it beforehand.

Were they sent out on patrol but got scared of being far from the headquarters so loitered nearby? If thats the case, then I can assume the place theyre going towards is their headquarters, but I get the feeling it is planned somehow. In the first place, is there any reason for them to be on standby at the moment?

If theyre leading me somewhere, do they mean to lure me into a trap, or destroy the Lithovar village while Im not there? But from their perspective, they shouldnt have any more reason to target the village. They should know that all theyd achieve by attacking now is earning my anger.

If they only see the Lithovars as sources of information about this glittering beast, they shouldnt have any reason to attack any longer. I also think think Ive already removed most of their key figures, and Aros standing guard.

If they want to lure me into a trap, then Ill play along. Until I break through head-on, that is.

I get close to the presences. I kick off the ground and spread my wings to lengthen my jump, then land next to the presences. The surroundings shake with my landing.

Guwaah!

One of the enemy cavalrymen is thrown from his horse.

Cheh! It really is too fast!

I knew it was too much! As if we could lure in that monster!

The remaining two cavalrymen start fleeing in different directions. The horse that the cavalryman fell off also gallops away.

No! Nooooo!

The man thats left behind crawls along the ground, desperate to get away from me. I ignore him and lower my chin to the ground.

Guuoo

I moan, and after a moments stillness, the spider taps my forehead. I gently shake my head, and as though giving up, it gets down and runs back the way we came.

A little while ago, the spider stopped guiding. It probably doesnt know any more about whats ahead. Ive also found some cavalry, so their headquarters shouldnt be too far from here.

I feel bad for it, but if its going to become a fight, an araenie wont be powerful enough. It would only be a burden. That thin man was probably commander-class.

Aro chased after him and was pushed to use up all her HP and MP, and had wounds all over her body, but To be honest, Im glad she got away with just that much. If she were to receive a full hit from one of their commanders, it wouldnt be strange for her to lose instantly; theres that much of a status gap.

After making sure the spider has left, I continue in the direction they were trying to lead me. [Presence Perception] reacts at once. Its rare for it to react so strongly. If I remember right, when I first met Adofu, I felt a presence this strong too. He had a [Decoy] skill to lure in his enemies. If its a similar skill this time, then They really are trying to lure me somewhere.

Running in the direction that [Presence Perception] tells me, I come across a large hill with a cave in its side. Two bow-wielding soldiers are stationed at the entrance. As they notice me, they shout something into the cave and prepare arrows.

Using [Presence Perception] The other presences are a bit hard to read because of the big one inside the cave, but together with the two outside, there are elevenno, twelve people in total. Among them, five presences feel particularly weak. Thats precisely the number of Lithovar children that have yet to return. It seems likely that theyre being held inside.

The entrance is narrow, so I dont think Id fit both in terms of height and width. Theyve hidden themselves in a strange place. If they didnt have the hostages, Id like to tear it down from outside.

Should I shoot [Wind Slashes] towards the entrance? No, it seems the cave goes in deeper than it looks. I dont want to hit the walls and have it all come crumbling down.

My remaining MP is

[Irushia]

Species: Ouroboros

Condition: Normal

Lv: 91/125

HP: 2402/2402

MP: 1612/2410

Great Ive recovered a fair bit. As expected of [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6]. With this much, I can maintain [Humanisation Technique] for nearly an hour.

With [Humanisation Technique], I can easily slip into the cave But while humanised, my status will plummet. Gods Voice, show it to me again.

Normal skill [Humanisation Technique].

A human form can be taken.

Half of the users HP is lost upon activation, and the users [Attack] and [Defence] values are halved for the duration. Furthermore, the users MP will continuously decrease.

Attack and defence are halved Well, if my speed is untouched, then its fine I guess. Plus, even halved, my attack value is 470. If I remember right, one their commanders, Hannibal, had an attack value of about 300 with his weapon factored in. Even if theres someone a step above him in there, I should be able to deal with them without problem.

To start with, I fire off a [Wind Slash] towards the two in front of the cave. The moment they see my wings start to move, they crouch down and run into the cave. The blade of wind cuts through empty space and gouges a scar into the ground as it disappears.

Cheh Were they that wary of me? Well, I suppose thats only natural.

I could wait for my MP to fully recover, but No, I should hurry. It wouldnt be strange for them to proceed with the capturing of the glittering beastseparately. I also dont know how badly hurt the children are. They might need [High Rest] as soon as possible. I cant afford to take my time here.

Peh!

I open my mouth and spit out the Lithovar clothes Ive been walking around with. I borrowed them in case [Humanisation Technique] would be necessary.

Are you using humanisation?

My partner sends her thoughts to me. Aah, sorry, but Im going to ask you to withdraw.

Ill leave you to it, but dont make too many careless mistakes, ?

She cuts off her thoughts and looks behind. What is it? Is something there? Thinking that, I look that back too, and see a lizard, about half the size of a human, noisily running away. Its body is patterned with irregular browns and greens.

[Forest Lecherta: E rank monster

A large lizard that crawls through the forest.

It hides its presence and exudes a characteristic rotten smell in order to [Play Dead].

However, there are many monsters that like to eat decaying meat, so it is not very effective.

It has a cowardly nature, and rarely chooses to fight monsters equal or stronger than itself.

In fights over territory, individuals compete to show their best [Play Dead].

It reminds me of the black lizard somehow.

Just a monster.

It doesnt look very strong, nor does it have any dangerous skills, so theres no need to be cautious of it.

AN: Its been a while since the last status. There arent a lot of opportunities to put it in the story Yay for breaking through 1000 magic!

[Irushia]

Species: Ouroboros

Condition: Normal

Lv: 91/125

HP: 2402/2402

MP: 1612/2410

Attack: 941

Defence: 548

Magic: 1039

Speed: 670

Rank: A

Sacred Skills:

[Human Realm: Lv-]

Characteristic Skills:

[Dragon Scales: Lv7] [Voice of God: Lv5] [Grisha Language: Lv3] [Flight: Lv7] [Dragon Scale Powder: Lv7] [Dark Attribute: Lv-] [Evil Dragon: Lv-] [Automatic HP Recovery: Lv8] [Presence Perception: Lv5] [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6] [Double Headed: Lv-] [Split Spirit: Lv-] [Mutual Understanding: Lv3]

Resistance Skills:

[Physical Resistance: Lv5] [Fall Resistance: Lv6] [Starvation Resistance: Lv5] [Poison Resistance Lv6] [Loneliness Resistance: Lv6] [Magic Resistance: Lv4] [Dark Attribute Resistance: Lv4] [Fire Attribute Resistance: Lv3] [Fear Resistance: Lv3] [Oxygen Deprivation Resistance: Lv4] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv6] [Illusion Resistance: Lv3] [Instant Death Resistance: Lv2] [Curse Resistance: Lv2] [Confusion Resistance: Lv2] [Strong Light Resistance: Lv1]

Normal Skills:

[Roll: Lv7] [Status Inspection: Lv7] [Scorching Breath: Lv5] [Whistle: Lv2] [Dragon Punch: Lv3] [Plague Breath: Lv6] [Poison Fang: Lv7] [Paralysing Poison Claw: Lv6] [Dragon Tail: Lv2] [Roar: Lv3] [Heavens Drop: Lv4] [Return to Ground: Lv2] [Humanisation Technique: Lv8] [Wind Slash: Lv7] [Neck Breaker: Lv4] [High Rest: Lv7] [Autoregeneration: Lv5] [Travelling Companion: Lv-] [Death: Lv4] [Soul AppendmentFake Life: Lv4] [Holy: Lv2]

Title Skills:

[Son of the Dragon King: Lv-] [Walking Egg: Lv-] [Klutz: Lv4] [Simple Fool: Lv1] [Infighter: Lv4] [Pest Killer: Lv8] [Liar: Lv3] [Evasion King: Lv2] [Path of Evil: Lv9] [Calamity: Lv9] [Chicken Runner: Lv3] [Chef: Lv4] [Mean King: Lv9] [Gutsy: Lv4] [Big EaterGiant Killer: Lv3] [Pottery Craftsman: Lv4] [Group Leader: Lv1] [Laplace Interference Authority: Lv2] [One Who Knows Eternity: Lv-] [Ant King: Lv-] [Brave Hero: Lv7]

I also plan on doing another round of answering your questions, so if you have anything to ask, please dont hesitate to write an impression. I plan to answer as much as I can without spoiling anything.

I place the spider on my head and charge into the forest. Every now and again, it taps my head with its leg to tell me the direction.

I search around with [Presence Perception] as I run, but dont find any human presences. I guess im not mistaken in assuming that those cavalry have done a full retreat. They might have realised fighting me would be reckless, so gave up on interfering with the village.

But they probably havent given up on that glittering beast. If I were to leave them alone, then, from what the Lithovars said, they might provoke the forest children and cause a disaster.

If I hurry, I might be able to find both their headquarters, and Lithovar children they took hostage. I could be able to rescue the children while also putting a stop to their plan.

Ill find the survivors and force them all out of the forest No, for the sake of the future, it might be important to turn some of them into prisoners of war. The way this is going, theres a chance some other group will attack the village in order to hunt the glittering beast or myself. I need to do something to stop that.

!

As I run, I suddenly notice human presences. Theres three of them. Theyre on horses, it seems, but they dont appear to be doing anything, just loitering in the forest. They should have no choice but to flee to outside the forest or meet up with other units, so What are they doing here?

I suppose theres no use thinking about it. After bending low to warn the spider, I run straight towards them. Perhaps frightened by my footsteps, they move further away.

As I chase them, I feel somethings wrong. The presences dont run away in a direction totally opposite of me, but rather move in an arc, eventually running in a direction perpendicular to how they started. And the way they move is as though the three of them had arranged it beforehand.

Were they sent out on patrol but got scared of being far from the headquarters so loitered nearby? If thats the case, then I can assume the place theyre going towards is their headquarters, but I get the feeling it is planned somehow. In the first place, is there any reason for them to be on standby at the moment?

If theyre leading me somewhere, do they mean to lure me into a trap, or destroy the Lithovar village while Im not there? But from their perspective, they shouldnt have any more reason to target the village. They should know that all theyd achieve by attacking now is earning my anger.

If they only see the Lithovars as sources of information about this glittering beast, they shouldnt have any reason to attack any longer. I also think think Ive already removed most of their key figures, and Aros standing guard.

If they want to lure me into a trap, then Ill play along. Until I break through head-on, that is.

I get close to the presences. I kick off the ground and spread my wings to lengthen my jump, then land next to the presences. The surroundings shake with my landing.

Guwaah!

One of the enemy cavalrymen is thrown from his horse.

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Cheh! It really is too fast!

I knew it was too much! As if we could lure in that monster!

The remaining two cavalrymen start fleeing in different directions. The horse that the cavalryman fell off also gallops away.

No! Nooooo!

The man thats left behind crawls along the ground, desperate to get away from me. I ignore him and lower my chin to the ground.

Guuoo

I moan, and after a moments stillness, the spider taps my forehead. I gently shake my head, and as though giving up, it gets down and runs back the way we came.

A little while ago, the spider stopped guiding. It probably doesnt know any more about whats ahead. Ive also found some cavalry, so their headquarters shouldnt be too far from here.

I feel bad for it, but if its going to become a fight, an araenie wont be powerful enough. It would only be a burden. That thin man was probably commander-class.

Aro chased after him and was pushed to use up all her HP and MP, and had wounds all over her body, but To be honest, Im glad she got away with just that much. If she were to receive a full hit from one of their commanders, it wouldnt be strange for her to lose instantly; theres that much of a status gap.

After making sure the spider has left, I continue in the direction they were trying to lead me. [Presence Perception] reacts at once. Its rare for it to react so strongly. If I remember right, when I first met Adofu, I felt a presence this strong too. He had a [Decoy] skill to lure in his enemies. If its a similar skill this time, then They really are trying to lure me somewhere.

Running in the direction that [Presence Perception] tells me, I come across a large hill with a cave in its side. Two bow-wielding soldiers are stationed at the entrance. As they notice me, they shout something into the cave and prepare arrows.

Using [Presence Perception] The other presences are a bit hard to read because of the big one inside the cave, but together with the two outside, there are elevenno, twelve people in total. Among them, five presences feel particularly weak. Thats precisely the number of Lithovar children that have yet to return. It seems likely that theyre being held inside.

The entrance is narrow, so I dont think Id fit both in terms of height and width. Theyve hidden themselves in a strange place. If they didnt have the hostages, Id like to tear it down from outside.

Should I shoot [Wind Slashes] towards the entrance? No, it seems the cave goes in deeper than it looks. I dont want to hit the walls and have it all come crumbling down.

My remaining MP is

[Irushia]

Species: Ouroboros

Condition: Normal

Lv: 91/125

HP: 2402/2402

MP: 1612/2410

Great Ive recovered a fair bit. As expected of [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6]. With this much, I can maintain [Humanisation Technique] for nearly an hour.

With [Humanisation Technique], I can easily slip into the cave But while humanised, my status will plummet. Gods Voice, show it to me again.

Normal skill [Humanisation Technique].

A human form can be taken.

Half of the users HP is lost upon activation, and the users [Attack] and [Defence] values are halved for the duration. Furthermore, the users MP will continuously decrease.

Attack and defence are halved Well, if my speed is untouched, then its fine I guess. Plus, even halved, my attack value is 470. If I remember right, one their commanders, Hannibal, had an attack value of about 300 with his weapon factored in. Even if theres someone a step above him in there, I should be able to deal with them without problem.

To start with, I fire off a [Wind Slash] towards the two in front of the cave. The moment they see my wings start to move, they crouch down and run into the cave. The blade of wind cuts through empty space and gouges a scar into the ground as it disappears.

Cheh Were they that wary of me? Well, I suppose thats only natural.

I could wait for my MP to fully recover, but No, I should hurry. It wouldnt be strange for them to proceed with the capturing of the glittering beastseparately. I also dont know how badly hurt the children are. They might need [High Rest] as soon as possible. I cant afford to take my time here.

Peh!

I open my mouth and spit out the Lithovar clothes Ive been walking around with. I borrowed them in case [Humanisation Technique] would be necessary.

Are you using humanisation?

My partner sends her thoughts to me. Aah, sorry, but Im going to ask you to withdraw.

Ill leave you to it, but dont make too many careless mistakes, ?

She cuts off her thoughts and looks behind. What is it? Is something there? Thinking that, I look that back too, and see a lizard, about half the size of a human, noisily running away. Its body is patterned with irregular browns and greens.

[Forest Lecherta: E rank monster

A large lizard that crawls through the forest.

It hides its presence and exudes a characteristic rotten smell in order to [Play Dead].

However, there are many monsters that like to eat decaying meat, so it is not very effective.

It has a cowardly nature, and rarely chooses to fight monsters equal or stronger than itself.

In fights over territory, individuals compete to show their best [Play Dead].

It reminds me of the black lizard somehow.

Just a monster.

It doesnt look very strong, nor does it have any dangerous skills, so theres no need to be cautious of it.

AN: Its been a while since the last status. There arent a lot of opportunities to put it in the story Yay for breaking through 1000 magic!

[Irushia]

Species: Ouroboros

Condition: Normal

Lv: 91/125

HP: 2402/2402

MP: 1612/2410

Attack: 941

Defence: 548

Magic: 1039

Speed: 670

Rank: A

Sacred Skills:

[Human Realm: Lv-]

Characteristic Skills:

[Dragon Scales: Lv7] [Voice of God: Lv5] [Grisha Language: Lv3] [Flight: Lv7] [Dragon Scale Powder: Lv7] [Dark Attribute: Lv-] [Evil Dragon: Lv-] [Automatic HP Recovery: Lv8] [Presence Perception: Lv5] [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6] [Double Headed: Lv-] [Split Spirit: Lv-] [Mutual Understanding: Lv3]

Resistance Skills:

[Physical Resistance: Lv5] [Fall Resistance: Lv6] [Starvation Resistance: Lv5] [Poison Resistance Lv6] [Loneliness Resistance: Lv6] [Magic Resistance: Lv4] [Dark Attribute Resistance: Lv4] [Fire Attribute Resistance: Lv3] [Fear Resistance: Lv3] [Oxygen Deprivation Resistance: Lv4] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv6] [Illusion Resistance: Lv3] [Instant Death Resistance: Lv2] [Curse Resistance: Lv2] [Confusion Resistance: Lv2] [Strong Light Resistance: Lv1]

Normal Skills:

[Roll: Lv7] [Status Inspection: Lv7] [Scorching Breath: Lv5] [Whistle: Lv2] [Dragon Punch: Lv3] [Plague Breath: Lv6] [Poison Fang: Lv7] [Paralysing Poison Claw: Lv6] [Dragon Tail: Lv2] [Roar: Lv3] [Heavens Drop: Lv4] [Return to Ground: Lv2] [Humanisation Technique: Lv8] [Wind Slash: Lv7] [Neck Breaker: Lv4] [High Rest: Lv7] [Autoregeneration: Lv5] [Travelling Companion: Lv-] [Death: Lv4] [Soul AppendmentFake Life: Lv4] [Holy: Lv2]

Title Skills:

[Son of the Dragon King: Lv-] [Walking Egg: Lv-] [Klutz: Lv4] [Simple Fool: Lv1] [Infighter: Lv4] [Pest Killer: Lv8] [Liar: Lv3] [Evasion King: Lv2] [Path of Evil: Lv9] [Calamity: Lv9] [Chicken Runner: Lv3] [Chef: Lv4] [Mean King: Lv9] [Gutsy: Lv4] [Big EaterGiant Killer: Lv3] [Pottery Craftsman: Lv4] [Group Leader: Lv1] [Laplace Interference Authority: Lv2] [One Who Knows Eternity: Lv-] [Ant King: Lv-] [Brave Hero: Lv7]

I also plan on doing another round of answering your questions, so if you have anything to ask, please dont hesitate to write an impression. I plan to answer as much as I can without spoiling anything.