A brief silence fell.
No one voiced any objection to the Dark Mage from the Mage Tower.
They merely waited for him to continue, fear evident in their eyes.
“However, judging from the ominous flow of mana, rather than magic meant to protect the world…… it seems to have become closer to a curse that operates by sacrificing living creatures.”
“…….”
“Perhaps the magic the Archmage supposedly created to protect the world became corrupted over the course of a thousand years.”
The moment Rian finished speaking, deep sighs escaped the Imperial Knights.
“You are saying the guardian magic devised by the great Archmage is instead leading the Empire toward destruction? T-That cannot possibly be……!”
“Answer me, Ailantian! How dare you spread such preposterous rumors……! H-Huh? Let go of—!”
THUD!
When the Imperial Knights tried to rush Rian, I grabbed them by the collars and tossed them aside.
So, to put it simply…….
‘That Crimson Corruption phenomenon from the original game, which spread throughout the continent and eventually destroyed the entire world.’
It had not actually been caused by the Ailantians, who had occupied the role of villains.
It was because of the magic formation the Empire’s Archmage had cast a thousand years ago?
“Ha…….”
A guardian spell that repeatedly reset the world in pursuit of the best possible outcome.
Then, at some point, it broke down and began staining the land red, endlessly repeating nothing but destruction and resets.
It was like a cancer cell…….
The original game had been strange from the beginning.
No matter how hard I struggled or how many things I tried, every ending was always a ruined, miserable apocalypse.
‘So the True Ending never appeared because we kept beating up the wrong people without solving the actual cause of the disaster?’
At last, I could see a clue that might lead to solving this world’s problem at its root.
……But how?
‘How am I supposed to dispel guardian magic that has been corrupting for a thousand years and now covers the entire world?’
I was holding my chin and thinking deeply when—
“Aah……! If what that man said is true, then this world is finished! It is over!”
“Has God truly abandoned the people of our Empire……?!”
The new information apparently overloaded their minds, because the Imperials collectively began to fall apart.
[James’s Mental State deteriorates.]
[……’s Mental State deteriorates.]
……
[Warning! - Entering combat while a hero’s Mental State has deteriorated will drastically reduce their combat efficiency.]
Even Charles, who had been quietly listening from inside the Storage Pouch, joined in.
『What is the meaning of this, Setantaaaaaaa?!』
SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
He began thrashing around.
『That vile curse of Crimson Corruption that spread across the entire land and destroyed the world in my previous life……!』
『……was not the work of those Ailant bastards?! Th-That cannot be!』
『Then in my previous life, my companions and I……! What in the world were we fighting them fo—』
“What do you mean, what were you fighting for? You were all just wasting your time.”
SQUEEEEAK! SKREE!
Charles looked ready to burst out of the pouch, so I shoved him back inside.
Fortunately, Rian and Aileen did not seem nearly as shaken, perhaps because they had already experienced the absolute worst when the Underground City was destroyed.
The small world they had built for themselves had already been ruined.
Perhaps that was why the idea of the whole world ending one more time did not affect them as strongly.
‘……Anyway. I should focus on planning for the boss first. We have spent far too long standing in front of the Boss Room.’
The final boss of each chapter was randomly selected from a fixed pool.
And judging from the minor monsters we had fought earlier, there was a high chance the boss behind this door would be a spider-type monster.
‘Its speed makes it difficult enough to land attacks, but the real problem is its absurd regeneration. Even if you cut off one of its legs, it grows back almost immediately.’
On top of that, it continually spread webs all over the map, which were incredibly irritating.
Stepping on the webs reduced mobility, and if you were unfortunate enough to become completely entangled, death was practically guaranteed.
‘So, is it difficult?’
No.
It was the easiest boss of them all.
Because there was an extremely reliable way to counter it.
‘Spiders are ectothermic. Once an ectothermic creature’s body temperature rises, it cannot move for a while.’
In other words, once its body temperature rose, it stopped moving.
Even the boss’s self-regeneration ceased completely during that period.
That meant you could finally deal effective damage.
The commonly used low-stat strategy went like this.
Position a large number of Expendable Pawn heroes at the front and let the spider boss rampage against them.
By the time the Expendable Pawn heroes have nearly been torn apart, the spider boss’s body temperature will have risen enough that it enters a self-induced groggy state.
Then send in the main heroes and focus all attacks on the fallen spider. Done!
Using that method, you could clear the fight easily by sacrificing a few N Grade filler heroes.
There were drawbacks, of course.
The closer the main heroes’ disposition was to good, the more likely they were to ignore the command to wait and rush out to rescue endangered N Grade party members…….
Or their Mental State would deteriorate while they were forced to stand by and watch.
「S-S-Save meeee—!」
「……!」
[The Hero believes they must rescue the party member.]
[Cancel the wait command? Y/N]
▶ [NO]
[……is suffering from Bleeding.]
[The target’s left leg has been severed.]
[That hero’s mobility permanently decreases.]
.
.
.
[……returns to the Goddess’s embrace.]
[The Hero is deeply distressed.]
If I held a memorial service the next day, fed them something delicious, and let them get a good night’s sleep, they usually got over it well enough.
‘It really is inhumane, though. That was only possible because it was a game.’
I knew that perfectly well.
Doing something like that in reality would make someone a complete psychopath.
Of course, there was another way to kill the boss quickly without sacrificing anyone.
And that was…….
‘Blast the area with powerful fire magic and raise the ambient temperature.’
If you heated the spider thoroughly with fire, its body temperature would rise all at once, eliminating the need for any Expendable Pawns.
The problem was that early in the game, you normally could not recruit a Mage powerful enough to pull that off…….
‘But thanks to getting unbelievably lucky with my early summons, I happen to have an SSR all-purpose caster.’
I glanced at Rian.
……He had said earlier that he could cast about one spell now, right?
Come to think of it, the fire magic he used in the original game had been purple.
For some reason, I had the feeling that kind of fire would not be hot at al—
……CRACK!
‘Hm?’
CRRRRACK—
At that moment, cracks began spreading across the enormous stone door of the Boss Room.
* * *
‘……The boss battle started automatically?’
The stone door split apart in a radial pattern as the entire area began to shake.
[Boss Appears!]
Eight thick legs pushed their way through the shattered stone door.
Its pair of pedipalps moved busily in every direction.
A boss I had only ever seen inside a game was now alive and moving right before my eyes.
……Wait a moment.
‘Why is the spider blue?’
There was one unexpected difference.
The giant spider’s color was different from the one I remembered.
‘Was it not originally brown?’
Why did it have a blue tint?
It almost looked as though its entire body were wrapped in freezing energy…….
Sure enough.
A blast of dusty wind swept past us, carrying a chilling cold.
An ominous feeling immediately came over me.
The strategy I knew might not work perfectly this time.
“H-Hngh, hnnngh……!”
[James’s Mental State deteriorates rapidly!]
The cries of James, the Imperial Knight, filled the dungeon.
His eyes rolled back as he screamed so piercingly that it sounded almost like the shriek of a monster.
“H-Hey! Everyone, let us go back the way we came!”
“Y-Yes! James! Stop screaming and come with us!”
The other two Imperial Knights hurriedly grabbed James and tried to retreat down the path we had come from.
But then the sound of pulleys lowering echoed from every direction.
BOOM!
A massive wall dropped in front of the fleeing knights.
Every direction was now blocked by solid walls.
There was no escape.
“N-No……! This cannot be happening…….”
“Everyone, quiet down and look this way!”
BANG!
I stomped hard on the ground, drawing everyone’s attention toward me.
“Kiik…….”
At the same time, the enormous blue spider began approaching me, its legs clicking against the stone floor.
With every step it took, the cold seemed to seep deeper into my lungs.
I knew instinctively.
‘This thing is much stronger than it was during my previous Hell Mode run.’
And then there was this cold.
I had a feeling that neither half-hearted fire magic nor making it run around would be enough to raise its body temperature.
‘……I should test it first.’
“KIEEEEEEEEK—!”
The giant blue spider raised its thick legs high into the air.
I immediately twisted my body as though I were about to dodge left—
……SWISH!
Then suddenly twisted my waist in the opposite direction and stepped right.
BOOOOM!
A moment later, the tip of the spider’s massive leg slammed into the left side of the floor, exactly where I had feinted toward.
“Krk?”
The solid stone floor was smashed apart as easily as crushed tofu by a single attack.
Apparently, it had not merely gained an aura of cold.
Its attack power had increased drastically as well.
……If that hit me cleanly, I might actually die in one blow.
Well, I supposed that did not matter if I simply did not get hit.
“Kiik……! KIEEEEEK!”
I dodged the giant spider’s repeated slamming attacks, demonstrating the method to everyone else.
“Now! Everyone saw that, right? Just before it attacks, pretend you are moving in one direction!”
SWISH!
“And then dodge the opposite way!”
BOOOOM!
“That is all it takes to avoid its attacks!”
Dodging endlessly was getting boring, so I occasionally swung my spear and sliced into the spider’s legs.
SSSSST—
As expected, its absurd regeneration caused every wound to close almost the moment I made it.
Its regenerative ability really was ridiculous.
‘Just as I thought, I have to raise its body temperature and force it into a groggy state before I can deal meaningful damage.’
But since this one was a frost spider, I might have to make it rampage for much longer.
This had become quite troublesome.
I continued dodging the spider’s attacks again and again.
“Kiik, kiiiiiik…….”
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK!
Perhaps irritated that every attack had missed, the blue spider suddenly turned away from me and switched targets.
“W-W-Wait……! It is coming toward me…… toward me?!”
One of the Imperial Knights who had been supporting James stumbled backward with terror on his face.
Deciding to catch my breath for a moment, I remained where I was, cracked my neck, and shouted toward the Imperial Knight.
“You watched what I was doing earlier, right? Now dodge its attack the same way I did!”
“H-How? How am I supposed to—”
“When it raises its leg, step like this!”
“…….”
“Then when it brings its leg down, move the opposite way!”
Click, click.
……Click, click, click!
“Left foot, right foot, then left again! Keep alternating while twisting your waist!”
Just press the WASD keys with the correct timing!
No, not like that!
Left foot, right foot!
Just move with the proper timing…….
“H-Hnnngh, HAAAAAAAGH!”
……CRUNCH!
Scarlet blood sprayed through the air before my eyes.
[……returns to the Goddess’s embrace.]
“No……”
Why could he not do it?