“What?”
Lucas frowned at Iberis’s declaration that he would enter the boss room alone. He looked at him with an expression that suggested he had heard something absurd.
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Queen Spider is an A-grade monster. I’m the only one here who can handle it.”
“But…”
“As you know, the Queen Spider’s thread and poison are far stronger than the Arachne’s. And that place inside has already been fully nested. Most people won’t even be able to move properly in there. So it’s better if I go alone.”
“I don’t know about others, but I’ll be fine.”
Lucas stubbornly insisted, as if he absolutely wouldn’t back down. No matter what, he couldn’t leave Iberis alone in the crack.
“I’m not disregarding you. It’s because you’re the only one I can trust.”
“I’m your pair, Major. I have a duty to be with you anytime, anywhere.”
“No, before being my exclusive guide, you’re a military doctor who needs to take care of the team members. It’s also your job to take the injured outside the crack.”
Momentarily silenced by the sharp point, Lucas closed his mouth.
“Luke Illum, what’s your position? You’re the guide team leader and the head of the medical room. Even if you only guide me… you have a responsibility to protect others safely.”
Lucas couldn’t refute Iberis’s following rebuke. Amidst the confrontation between the two, the team members all rolled their eyes, watching the situation carefully.
“Sigh.”
Seeing Lucas’s hardened face, Iberis let out a small sigh. Then he soothed him in a gentle tone.
“When the battle breaks out, the poisonous gas emitted by the Queen Spider will mix with the air and spread throughout the crack. Then the Arachne’s poison that has invaded the injured people’s bodies might react. Although we’ve frozen the affected areas to prevent the poison from spreading, that’s not foolproof… I think it’s better to go out to prevent any possible situations.”
“By that logic, Major, you’re also injured.”
Lucas’s gaze turned to Iberis’s shoulder. Although the wound was frozen, the skin affected by the villain’s poison had turned black.
“I’m fine. This isn’t Arachne’s poison, so it won’t react to the Queen Spider’s poisonous gas.”
Iberis shrugged as if it was nothing. Then he gave Lucas an order in a firm voice. He didn’t like to overwhelm others with authority, but now it was unavoidable.
“It’s an order, Captain Illum. Evacuate the injured outside the crack right now.”
“…Understood.”
Lucas, who seemed to want to object, eventually responded with a face suppressing his anger. Regardless of his emotions, rationally, he knew Iberis’s judgment was correct.
Lucas gritted his teeth, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness rising again. He bit down so hard that his jaw tightened, veins popping, and a grinding sound could be heard. He turned his body as if to hide his disturbed expression.
“…I’ll have the crack closure team on standby, so please contact us immediately when you’ve dealt with the boss.”
“Alright.”
Iberis watched Lucas’s back for a moment as he took care of the injured and led them out. Only after the team members had disappeared from view did he walk towards the boss room.
“Kiiii…”
As he entered, the Queen Spider made a warning sound. Sensing the intruder, the cocoons hanging from the ceiling also twitched.
“We don’t have time, so let’s end this quickly.”
The boss room was essentially one giant spider web. Iberis, who had encased his feet in ice to prevent spider webs from sticking, approached the Queen Spider. As he did so, he drew up his mana. At that moment, an explosive cold burst from his body.
“Kyaaa!”
As the battle began, the Queen Spider roared fiercely and charged at Iberis. When its massive body collided with the ice wall Iberis had created, a thunderous sound echoed through the cave.
“Hup!”
Iberis quickly surveyed his surroundings. While dodging the Queen Spider rushing at him, he stretched his hand towards the cocoons suspended in mid-air. Instantly, the cocoons on the ceiling were covered in pure white ice.
“Kyaaak!”
Seeing its offspring frozen before they could even be born, the Queen Spider screamed and wildly swung its legs. Simultaneously, it shot spider webs from its mouth to capture Iberis.
“Too slow.”
Crunch. Iberis drew the mana sword at his waist and cut the spider webs flying towards him. After repeating this a few times, sticky threads clung to the blade.
“Oh no…!”
Realizing his mistake, Iberis tried to drop the sword, but the Queen Spider was faster. The strong thread wrapped around the hand holding the mana sword and yanked it towards itself.
“Kyaak!”
“Ugh!”
Seeing the Queen Spider opening its mouth towards him, Iberis quickly released his mana. An ice wall that suddenly appeared in mid-air blocked the spider’s sharp fangs.
Crack!
Having succeeded in defense, Iberis took advantage of the moment the Queen Spider was breaking the ice wall to tear off the spider web tightly wound around his wrist with his other hand. Retreating to maximize the distance between them, he stomped the ground hard once with his foot.
“Kiek!”
As dozens of ice spikes shot up from the ground, the Queen Spider twisted its body and sprayed poison in irritation.
“Huff, hah.”
Having momentarily immobilized the Queen Spider, Iberis caught his ragged breath. Perhaps because he had used more power than usual, various parts of his body ached. The pain, like needles pricking his skin, was a signal that his body was reaching its limit.
Dragging this out would be disadvantageous.
Iberis bit his lip nervously. The compatibility between the Queen Spider and himself was worse than he had anticipated.
“Kiiek!”
“Ugh!”
As Iberis dodged the attack of the Queen Spider that had destroyed all the ice spikes and lunged at him, he let out a short groan at the sensation of his clothes and flesh burning together. Due to his body, exhausted from consecutive battles and ability use, not responding well, his timing was slightly off.
“Tch.”
After confirming the hole in his combat uniform, he quickly placed his hand on the wound. Iberis froze his skin to prevent the poison from spreading and threw the mana sword covered in spider webs at the Queen Spider while contemplating the most effective way to kill it.
The best way to get rid of spider webs was to set them on fire, but he only had the ability to freeze his opponents. In that case…
“I’ll have to freeze everything at once.”
Having made a quick decision, Iberis leaped up. He briefly worried whether his body could withstand using more of his ability, but this was the only way to win.
“Huff…”
Climbing onto the cocoons on the ceiling out of reach of the Queen Spider’s attacks, he steadied his breath and concentrated. Right after, a fierce wind swirled around Iberis and pure white snow began to fall in the boss room.
“Kiruk?”
The Queen Spider hesitated when the cold snowflakes touched its body. Then, feeling the cold penetrating its thick shell, it tried to shake off the snow in surprise. But it was already too late. The snowflakes clinging to the Queen Spider’s body grew in size and engulfed it.
The snow Iberis created soon became a massive whirlwind that swept through the cave. The spider webs spread everywhere, the cocoons filling the ceiling, and the boss Queen Spider were all swept up in the snow storm.
“…Is it over?”
Iberis landed on the floor after freezing the entire boss room in the blink of an eye. Only after confirming that there were no living beings other than himself did he withdraw his mana.
“Haa…”
A misty breath flowed out between his slightly parted lips. Iberis staggered greatly, feeling his head spin.
“I need to, contact them.”
Recalling Lucas’s parting words, Iberis muttered to himself as he raised his trembling hand. But he couldn’t feel the radio earphone that should have been on his ear. It seemed to have fallen off during the battle.
“What’s this, cough!”
Iberis, confused, looked around as if trying to find the earphone, then burst into a cough. His throat felt hot inside, and a fishy taste spread throughout his mouth.
“Urgh.”
Iberis retched a few times, covering his mouth with his hand. Blood seeped through his frost-covered gloves and dripped onto the floor.
Ptui. After coughing up blood, he caught his breath for a moment. Iberis gave up on finding the radio and staggered towards the exit. If he couldn’t call someone, he had to go out and report the situation himself. However, he didn’t get far before collapsing forward.
“Ouch…”
Iberis, having lost his balance and fallen, groaned at the pain in his knees. He tried to get up again but ended up lying on the floor. His legs had no strength left to stand.
I’m tired.
Feeling extreme fatigue, Iberis curled up as if to avoid the rising chills. As the cold spread throughout his body, he naturally thought of Lucas. And the warmth he provided.
“Ha.”
Iberis let out a hollow laugh and panted with an exhausted face. Suddenly, he thought how fickle humans were. Having felt cold all his life, how could he become so weak after just a few months of comfort?
“Lu…ke…”
Iberis called out to him, knowing his voice wouldn’t reach Lucas. As his consciousness faded, the focus disappeared from his eyes, which were cloudier than usual.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t felt this cold in the past few months. It was all thanks to Lucas. Because he had been with him constantly, both on missions and in daily life, there was no time to feel cold.
Iberis felt newly grateful to Lucas. As he was thinking this, he suddenly squinted one eye. The mana churning inside his body showed no signs of settling. No, it was getting worse.
Is it going berserk?
A look of bewilderment crossed Iberis’s eyes as he assessed his condition. He quickly took out an emergency sedative from the inner pocket of his combat uniform and hurriedly drank it. But this was only a temporary measure. If it was truly a mana rampage, this wouldn’t be enough to solve it.
“You fool.”
Iberis cursed himself, regretting his carelessness. Even if the conquest had been sudden, he should have been prepared for something like this to happen. This was the result of letting his guard down because he hadn’t experienced a mana rampage recently and life had become a bit easier thanks to Lucas.
It’s cold.
Iberis shivered, groaning at the pain that felt like his body was being torn apart. His vision blurred like a frosted window. The world spun at the cold he was experiencing after a long time.
“Ugh…”
Frosty breath flowed out between his white, chapped lips along with a pain-filled groan. Iberis gritted his teeth at the cold spreading from inside his body. The uncontrolled mana was rampaging throughout his body, attacking its owner. It was a typical symptom of a rampage.
“Haa, ugh.”
Pained sounds continuously leaked through his tightly clenched teeth. His body convulsed like an aspen tree, unable to withstand the rampaging mana inside. As his skin froze, the itchy and tingling sensation in his fingertips and toes gradually became numb. Hot then cold, his senses became jumbled. His entire body was truly freezing.
It’s too cold.
Iberis curled up into a ball as if wanting to escape from the cold that was tormenting him. His teeth chattered loudly. A ringing sound echoed in his muffled ears. He clenched his teeth, trying to put strength into his trembling body. He should be used to this by now, but somehow it was agonizing every time.
“Cough…!”
A dry cough burst from between his now blue lips. At that moment, a hot liquid welled up.
Was there still something hot left in my body? Iberis couldn’t help but chuckle at the bloody taste filling his mouth. It was strange that he could laugh even in this situation.
“Urp, cough.”
Red blood sprayed into the air with another cough. Iberis exhaled tiredly after spitting out a dark red blood clot. Was it because it had been months since the last rampage? Something felt a bit off. Different from usual…
Ah.
A sound that could have been either a sigh or an exclamation escaped between his blood-soaked lips. He had experienced this sensation a few times before. It was exactly like this when he had fallen into a coma, unable to withstand the mana rampage a few months ago.
