Chapter 158
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Race: Marionette Worm Lv55
Job: Puppeteer Lv5
Skill: 【Gluttony】
【Vampiric Fangs】
【Strong Acid】
【Parthenogenesis】
【Parasitism】
【Puppetization】
【Vitality Enhancement】
【Defense Enhancement】
【Intelligence Enhancement】
【Blunt Resistance】
【Earth Resistance】
【Water Resistance】
【Fire Resistance】
【Wind Resistance】
【Sand Resistance】
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This was the result of Appraising the thing that burst out of the piece Jigoro shattered. The Race was Marionette Worm, something I was naturally seeing for the first time, but judging from its Skill composition, I could guess that it was an evolved Sand Worm. It had become considerably smaller, but I decided that things like that happened.
Its level had risen dramatically, and several of its Skills had evolved, so its pure combat power probably far surpassed that of a Sand Worm. Since it belonged to the Sand Worm family, it was defense-oriented, but that was precisely why it was likely to be absurdly tenacious.
However, the Skills that had been added, 【Parasitism】 and 【Puppetization】, were what really deserved attention. It was definitely parasitizing the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord, right? If so, we should assume it was controlling the creature with 【Puppetization】. I see. So this thing was the root cause of everything.
Because this Marionette Worm had been controlling it, the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord must have started heading north, something it had never been observed doing before. And although it was not naturally aggressive, it had become terrifyingly violent.
That also explained why, despite being a powerful monster above Level 80, it had handled Jigoro and the others behind it so carelessly. I had heard that this game recreated the food chain in the wild, so it had felt strange that a monster capable of surviving such a harsh environment could only fight so poorly. It also explained why the Bigdaleio reconnaissance unit had suffered no deaths. And the double scream we heard earlier might not have been an illusion, either.
"Target that bug!"
His Majesty Salmaan issued the order. He must have Appraised it and reached the same conclusion I had. Still, the anger he could not hide from his expression or tone of voice was unmistakable.
I did not know whether the soldiers had Appraised it, too, but they were loyal to their king's command. The mages stopped targeting its legs as they had before and aimed for the Marionette Worm instead, while those protecting them focused solely on defense and avoided counterattacking as much as possible.
'Gigi...!'
The strategy seemed to be working. The Marionette Worm was forced to use one of the large pincers to protect itself, and as a result, it could no longer fully defend against His Majesty Salmaan's attacks. Still, possessing someone else's body and treating it like a tool was utterly despicable. I did not know if I had the right to say that, but it made me all the more eager to kill it.
However, not knowing what would happen after we defeated it was a problem. Even if it had been controlled, we had hurt it this badly, so it would not be strange if it were angry. Defeating the Marionette Worm would probably break 【Puppetization】, but there was also a chance that the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord would come to its senses and attack us in earnest. If it turned out to be absurdly powerful, we would have to hold it back as originally planned, with dying and returning taken for granted.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you! Take that! Take that! Take that!"
Ah, Jigoro was seriously pissed off. He seemed to have completely forgotten about the prince's quest. He was beating the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord's tail to a pulp. That guy wasn't even looking at the Marionette Worm anymore.
The effect of 【Armor-Shattering Fist】 was no longer active on Jigoro's fists. However, the effects of his other enhancement Skills remained. His punches and kicks were denting and cracking the tail's exoskeleton. Your firepower is as ridiculous as ever.
Perhaps he had completely lost his temper, because he had no coordination whatsoever with Eiji and Toji. The two of them were standing helplessly a short distance away. So I approached them first.
"Izamu, what do we do?"
"Should we stop him?"
After seeing Jigoro's grand rampage, the two of them were unsure what they should do. I understood how they felt, but our role had not changed. We only had to do what was necessary to win this battle.
"Even I couldn't stop that thing. For now, let's leave targeting the Marionette Worm to the Bigdaleio army. We'll continue drawing one of its tails toward us, just as before."
"Okay. I like simple plans."
"That's what you call sticking to our original intent."
Once their course of action was decided, the two of them moved quickly. They dealt with the tail without getting in Jigoro's way. Just as before, Eiji deflected the tail while Jigoro and Toji attacked it. This was possible because His Majesty Salmaan and the Bigdaleio army were targeting the Marionette Worm, keeping our threat level unchanged from before.
"Woooooooah!"
"P-Prince Jahal!?"
Because we were targeting the exposed main body, the Marionette Worm and the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord had curled up like turtles, unable to attack with anything but their tails. Prince Jahal charged straight at them. While we were still staring in shock, he climbed up along one of its legs and ran straight toward the Marionette Worm. Was he planning to settle the battle in one blow!? He was rushing things far too much!
'Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!'
The Thornshell Scorpion Highlord, controlled by the Marionette Worm, thrashed even more violently than it had when Jigoro attacked. Unlike then, its main body—the Marionette Worm itself—was exposed. Of course it would hate that.
"Nuuuuooh!? You won't beat meeeee!"
However, Prince Jahal hooked the spearhead in his right hand into a gap in the exoskeleton and held on. Dropping to one knee, he thrust the fingers of his left hand into another gap in the exoskeleton and braced himself. He might be able to endure for a while, but he would reach his limit soon! Why was he doing something so reckless...?
"I'm going to become its friend! I absolutely will!"
...I see? Apparently, Prince Jahal liked the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord far more than I had imagined. He had charged into danger to save the one he wanted to befriend.
Fufufufu! Excellent! How thrilling! In that case, I had no choice but to support him with everything I had!
"It's untested, but I'll show you my 'secret art'!"
I decided to use the 'secret art' I had never tried before. A faint red circle indicating its area of effect appeared in my field of vision. It was larger than I had expected, but a larger area was convenient. I adjusted it so that the four rear legs of the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord were inside it... and activated it!
【Vengeful Spirit's Cursed Mire】!
When 【Vengeful Spirit's Cursed Mire】 activated, pitch-black liquid seeped out from directly beneath the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord. It spread in an instant, forming a swamp filled with sludge. The swamp bubbled violently, and purple and green poisonous gases spewed from the bubbles as they burst. Whoa... that was incredibly ominous. Even I was creeped out by it, despite being the one who created it...
'Gigi...!?'
Apparently, 【Vengeful Spirit's Cursed Mire】 was a bottomless swamp, because the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord's legs began sinking into it. It could not afford to sink completely and become unable to move, so the Marionette Worm apparently ordered it to thrash even more violently.
But the more one struggled in a bottomless swamp, the deeper one sank. The Thornshell Scorpion Highlord's body was gradually, but surely, sinking. It tried to escape using its front legs, but His Majesty Salmaan, the strongest warrior in the Bigdaleio army, stood in front of it. Whenever it tried to climb out, his power pushed it back.
"Aaaaaaaaah..."
As the surface of 【Vengeful Spirit's Cursed Mire】 boiled, countless dark brown hands took shape. Those hands wrapped around and restrained the body of the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord as it stood submerged in the mire.
Looking closely at the surface of the swamp, I could see things resembling human faces. They wore expressions of grief, anger, and sorrow. H-How terrifying!? I had just noticed that the mud also seemed to inflict status ailments. Several status ailment icons had appeared on the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord's icon.
It seemed that 【Vengeful Spirit's Cursed Mire】 slowed enemies down and gradually cornered them by inflicting status ailments. For anyone who really couldn't stomach horror, though, its nightmarish appearance might deal the greatest damage of all.
"Got you!"
Because its legs had sunk, it could no longer brace itself, weakening its tail. Jigoro took advantage of that and seized it in a bear hug.
"Here's your payback!"
'Giiiiiiiii!?'
Using his entire body, he twisted the tip of the tail clean off! Jigoro wore a grin so wicked that it could only be described as pure evil. He had successfully avenged being knocked away by the tail earlier. That guy was the type to hold a grudge.
"Right here!"
Amid the chaos we had created across the battlefield, Prince Jahal remained completely unperturbed. No, perhaps he had been the calmest of us all, holding his breath and waiting for the perfect moment to charge. He had not moved a muscle until Jigoro cut off the tail and the Marionette Worm's main body turned around to look behind it.
"Flashpiercing Thrust! Followed by—hngh!"
Prince Jahal's sharp thrust, bright as a flash of light, pierced straight through the Marionette Worm's body. Rather than pull out his spear, he swung it sideways like a baseball player. What do you think happened?
'Gigi...!?'
The answer was a Marionette Worm snagged like a fish on a spear! With a wet, filthy slurping sound, it was yanked out with tremendous force.
The Marionette Worm remained impaled on the spear shaft, looking just like a shrike's impaled prey. The fact that it was still writhing made the sight far too vivid for comfort.
More important than that, the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord stopped moving the instant the worm was pulled free. 【Puppetization】 must have worn off. It had worked!
"Father!"
"Indeed!"
Prince Jahal swung his spear and flung the still-living Marionette Worm away like a piece of garbage. Standing in its path was His Majesty Salmaan, our greatest combatant.
"Great Flame-Severing Sword!"
'Gik...'
The sword, wrapped in roaring flames, cleaved it in two. The cut surfaces burst into flame and burned the Marionette Worm to nothing. The culprit behind Bigdaleio's devastating losses had been slain without even being allowed to utter a death cry.