The cave had descended into utter pandemonium.
The innocent Mine Centipedes, which had merely tried to drive the intruders from their home, were being brutally stripped of their human rights—no, their centipede rights—by Northerners who had completely lost their minds.
Their fragile venomous fangs could not pierce the Northerners’ hides, while their thin exoskeletons were torn apart in the Northerners’ hands and sent tumbling across the ground.
Even their flesh was hacked into chunks and stuffed into bags so the men could infuse it in liquor later.
―SK-SKREEEEE!!
A Mine Centipede twisted its body and retreated.
Or rather, it tried to retreat.
But at that moment—
―WHIRL… THUNK!
“Nice one, boss!!”
A pickaxe thrown by a Northerner struck it squarely in the middle of its body.
SKREEEE! The Mine Centipede did not make it far before crashing to the ground.
Rubia, who was watching the scene unfold before her, rubbed her brow and muttered.
“Something… Something feels backward here…….”
Were Mine Centipedes not supposed to be dangerous monsters?
Or were they actually insignificant monsters?
While Rubia’s common sense was being rewritten in real time—
“Still, something about this is definitely strange.”
Luciel, who had remained beside Rubia, stroked his chin as he spoke.
Mine Centipedes were monsters that naturally traveled in colonies, so there was nothing particularly strange about several of them appearing at once.
However, the passages running through the cave had clearly been completely abandoned after the colony relocated.
There were no signs that the passages had been actively used or frequently traveled.
Had such signs existed, Luciel would certainly have noticed them first.
‘……Then why did they return now, of all times?’
No matter how stupid Mine Centipedes were, they were still creatures equipped with basic instincts.
They might have underestimated the humans at first, but once the Northerners—an indisputably superior species—appeared, the Mine Centipedes should have tucked their tails and fled long ago.
Yet look at them now.
Even as their kin were being turned into infused liquor, they continued fighting to the bitter end.
‘Almost as though this is their last refuge.’
There were generally two possible explanations in a situation like this.
First, the colony had grown weak enough that it had been forced to return to an abandoned nest.
Second, a more powerful natural predator had driven it from its new habitat.
‘……More importantly, there’s no queen.’
Mine Centipedes were monsters that formed colonies around a queen.
Despite being creatures that prioritized their leader above all else, not even the slightest sign of an individual resembling the queen could be seen.
“What’s strange about it? It looks like we can just leave them to it.”
Rubia spoke while watching the Northerners happily use a centipede as a jump rope.
Luciel clicked his tongue.
“The small fry aren’t the problem. The real problem is the queen.”
“The queen?”
“Yes. Even those bastards will be in danger if the queen appears. That monster is not something even the First Battalion of the Royal Knights could easily kill.”
She was the leader of an entire colony.
For that reason, whenever the royal capital launched a subjugation against Mine Centipedes, the level of danger was adjusted according to whether a queen was present.
Without a queen, the colony was generally classified as B- to C-rank.
But when a queen was present, its danger rating immediately leaped to A-rank or higher.
Some queens grew well beyond five meters long. As Luciel had said, subjugating one required at least the First Battalion of the Royal Knights.
“That is why determining whether a queen is present is the most important part of subjugating Mine Centipedes……”
It happened at that very moment.
RUMBLE—
A violent tremor, incomparably stronger than the previous ones, reverberated through the cave.
Realizing that something was wrong, Luciel quickly shouted.
“Everyone, lower your heads!!”
The moment he finished speaking—
CRAAAAASH!!
One side of the cave wall collapsed, sending a dense cloud of dust billowing into the air.
A tremendous, guttural roar came from within it.
[SKREEEEEE!!]
The cry was incomparably louder than those of the other Mine Centipedes.
It rang throughout the entire cave, leaving everyone’s ears numb.
Then, through the roar came another voice.
“SHUT UP, BASTARD!!”
It was a thunderous and strangely familiar voice.
Rubia tilted her head.
“……?”
What was that?
She had definitely heard that voice somewhere before.
Then, within the dense cloud of dust—
FWOOSH!
A massive black silhouette burst into view.
―FLAP…!
It was a huge black-haired man wearing a black fur coat and holding a pickaxe in one hand.
The Grand Duke of the North, Walter Levior.
Rubia narrowed her eyes again and stared at him in disbelief.
“……??”
Why is His Grace coming out of there?
According to Lenin, had he not gone to the neighboring mountain because he had something to take care of?
A moment later—
“Do not tell me the thing he had to take care of was…….”
No.
Surely not.
Why would a sane man drag back a queen that even the First Battalion of the Royal Knights would struggle to defeat?
But before she could dismiss the idea, Walter shouted.
“Hey! Do not let that queen bastard get away!!”
“Good heavens, that thing’s the queen?”
“Your Grace, you worked hard driving her all the way here!!”
Rubia let out a hollow laugh and gave up trying to understand.
Right.
This was apparently just what the North was like.
Watching the excited Northerners surround the queen while the Grand Duke of the North went wild riding on top of her like a rodeo, Rubia muttered.
“I… I don’t even know anymore…….”
***
Let us turn the clock back for a moment, to when I had just entered the cave.
As I followed the passage running through it, I suddenly stopped.
“Hmmm.”
I looked around and narrowed my eyes.
As expected, the Mine Centipedes must have already emptied the nest and moved elsewhere by now.
Considering the timing, they had probably only just finished relocating.
‘Come to think of it, Mine Centipedes caused trouble more than once when we developed mines in the past…….’
Fortunately, the mine we had entered was already empty.
However, because Mine Centipedes had a fucking habit of connecting every passage they dug, it was quite common for them to appear in caves where mining operations were underway.
That meant we had to crush the queen if we wanted to eliminate the Mine Centipedes at their roots.
Unfortunately, the queen usually stayed deep underground, which made determining her exact location extremely difficult.
‘Once the mine development begins, I’ll have to solve this problem somehow.’
If they had only just finished relocating, their new nest could not be any farther away than one of the surrounding mountains.
They would not have managed to dig particularly deep yet, either.
Wait.
In that case, would it not be better to find the new nest now, cause some chaos, and crush the queen?
―STEP.
I stopped after reaching that conclusion.
Then I called out to Lenin, who had been walking ahead of me.
“Lenin.”
“Yes, Lord Walter.”
“I’ll visit the neighboring mountain for a moment.”
“Pardon? Do you have some business there?”
I picked up a pickaxe and grinned.
“Yes. I’m going to play a round of tag while I’m at it.”
“……Pardon?”
“Just think of it as a light stroll.”
Lenin stared at me as though wondering what sort of bullshit I was spouting.
But that only lasted a moment.
It was hardly the first time His Grace had behaved like this.
Lenin bowed her head.
“Understood. Have a safe trip.”
“All right.”
I casually waved a hand and turned around.
What followed was exactly what I had expected.
I slipped into a side passage leading toward another mountain and poked around here and there.
Sure enough—
“Found you, you cheeky bastards.”
The queen and what appeared to be her Soldier Centipede guards were all huddled together.
I immediately started an exhilarating game of tag, smashing the centipedes’ skulls with my pickaxe.
As a result, the queen and the other centipedes fled in terror all the way back to the old nest they had abandoned.
And now, back in the present—
[SKREEE…!]
Cornered with nowhere left to run, the queen shifted her massive body from side to side and hesitated.
The corpses of her subordinates lay scattered around her.
The Northerners had surrounded her with pickaxes, shovels, and other tools in their hands.
I immediately spoke.
“There’s no need for any of you to step forward. Just stand there and make sure she can’t escape.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
If the others interfered unnecessarily, there could be casualties.
It would be better for me to finish her off properly.
I muttered to myself and cracked my neck.
At the sight, Baldus, the young village chief, grinned.
“If Your Grace personally says so……”
“Then it is only right that we play along.”
―THOOM!
He suddenly slammed the head of his shovel against the ground.
The others naturally began striking the floor and walls with their pickaxes and shovels as well.
―THOOM! CLANG! CLAAANG! THUD!
“HOO!”
A thunderous shout followed, reminiscent of a warrior’s battle cry.
Before long, the cave had transformed into an arena of the North.
It was known as Reugenbaktura.
In the traditional language of the North, the word meant “noble combat.” It was one of their most ancient customs.
During Reugenbaktura, no third party was permitted to interfere, no matter who they were.
It was a sacred duel in which only those standing within the arena were allowed to fight.
It was both the pride of Northern warriors and the respect they showed their opponents.
Walter grinned and slowly clenched his fist.
All right.
It has been a while, so let’s loosen up a little.
“Let’s have the bosses go one-on-one under Yaksha rules.”
―THOOM… BOOM!
I kicked off the ground and charged toward the queen.
Unable to contain the rush of dopamine from participating in Reugenbaktura after so long, my eyes rolled wildly as I burst into mad laughter.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
My charge carried the force of a massive bull.
The Mine Centipede Queen flinched and tried to break through the Northerners surrounding her to escape.
But at that moment—
“Hey! You fucking bastard!!”
How dare this bastard violate the rules of a sacred duel?
I tightened my fist and struck the queen’s side with all my strength.
―CRAAAAASH!!
The explosion echoed throughout the entire cave.
The enormous queen, nearly five meters long, was sent flying and smashed into the ground.
THOOM! THOOM!
The Northerners grew even more excited, pounding the cave like mad and raising their voices.
““TUARE BAKTOR!!””
In the Northern tongue, it meant:
Brave warriors!
Now thoroughly enraged, the Mine Centipede Queen opened her mouth wide and charged at me.
[SKREEEEEE!!]
I thrust out my right arm and blocked her venomous fangs.
HISSSSS—
A nauseating stench of burning flesh rose alongside a searing heat.
But that was as far as the attack went.
The queen’s venomous fangs only tore through the surface of my skin.
They could not penetrate the thick muscle beneath it.
I gripped the pickaxe in my left hand and mercilessly brought it down on the bastard’s head.
“SHUT YOUR TRAP!!”
CRUNCH!
The pickaxe struck directly into the centipede’s left eye.
The creature writhed in agony, twisting its body violently from side to side.
[SK-SKREE-SKREEEEEE!!]
Men of the North.
Every one of them standing here, myself included, was a wild warrior who had completed his coming-of-age ceremony by killing a snowy mountain bear with his bare hands.
And the Grand Duke of the North, who had inherited that blood more strongly than anyone and was born with the Heart of Winter, did not let the opportunity pass.
I repeatedly drove my fists into the queen’s body.
CRACK—
With every strike, fractures spread across her exoskeleton.
At last—
―CRACK…… CLANG!
The queen’s armor, which could even stop blades, shattered and scattered across the ground.
I seized her body and legs in a crushing grip and began tearing them off one by one.
How much time passed after that?
―GRAB! RRRIP! CRUNCH… CRASH! SNAP! RRRIP!
Amid the continuous sounds of rupturing flesh—
[SKREEEEEE…….]
The queen’s body had been torn apart in several places.
All but three of her many legs lay scattered across the floor.
THOOM.
The Mine Centipede Queen’s massive body collapsed.
Beneath it, her bodily fluids and red blood had mixed into a thick pool.
―STEP, STEP.
I slowly walked toward the queen’s head.
The outcome had been decided.
Now it was time to pronounce the end.
I opened my mouth.
“Lenin.”
As though she had been waiting, Lenin removed the sword at her waist and presented it to me with both hands.
GRAB.
I took the sword and slowly aimed its tip at the queen’s trap.
At the same time, a bluish energy began swirling along the blade.
Reugenbaktura was a sacred battle between warriors.
As such, tradition demanded that its conclusion also be carried out with proper respect by ending the opponent’s life in a single blow.
I spoke in a low voice.
“Farewell.”
CRUNCH.
The bluish Aura precisely severed the queen’s life.
SCREEE—
The queen released a final death cry and trembled violently.
Then, at last, her head dropped weakly to the ground.
―RAISE…!
The moment I raised the sword high—
The Northerners who had witnessed the battle filled the cave with a thunderous roar.
It was the cry that marked the end of Reugenbaktura.
―GLIMMER….
More importantly, something shone brilliantly between the sections of the queen’s body.
It was an orb resembling a pearl.
An inner core said to be found only in a small number of Mine Centipede Queens.