Earth Dungeon 42.1

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Chapter 42.1. Mothman Queen

Shizuku pulled the trigger of her assault rifle, aiming to shoot down the airborne Mothman Queen. She fired 2 semi-automatic shots. A total of six bullets flew toward Mothman Queen, shattering its body effortlessly.

However, without confirming the weakened fall of the Mothman Queen, Shizuku swiftly moved away from the scene and dashed through the grassy field. A little later, the supposedly defeated Mothman Queen fluttered its wings and flew out, turning its body towards the running Shizuku. As if expressing anger through its stance, it infused its body with aura and unleashed a skill.

"Chiii!"

A sound akin to scratching glass echoed as the grassy area between Shizuku and Mothman Queen suddenly transformed into fine fragments, scattering around.

[Hard Skin]

[Fiery Aura]

Shizuku hardened her skin and circulated fighting spirit within her body, diminishing the power of the enemy's martial arts to counteract the attack. Unable to evade it completely, she focused her strength on her limbs, intercepting the incoming invisible force.

As she activated her martial arts, vibrations surged through her body again, causing her vision to blur. Despite her legs trembling and the ground shaking beneath her, she gritted her teeth, enduring it, and utilized the martial arts once more before resuming her sprint.

[Gathering Qi Technique]

She evoked an aura within her body, healing her damaged internal state. While mitigating the impact, she aimed the muzzle of her assault rifle at Mothman Queen, pulled the trigger, and shot it down again, causing it to crash.

However, from a few hundred meters away, it fluttered its wings and flew out from the grassy field.

[What's with this thing? Why does it keep coming back even after defeating it?]

The defensive member's expression turned to astonishment, which is understandable for someone seeing it for the first time. Even I would be bewildered and surprised without prior information.

"It's the Mothman Queen. It's a monster that has wiped out entire squads multiple times. Numerous exceptional soldiers have died because of that creature. We considered it an abnormal situation, and there were even individuals with high-level skills."

[So once it appears, it remains a boss until it's defeated?]

"Exactly. Once the boss is born, it doesn't change until it's defeated. And unless you know how to deal with the Mothman Queen, your bullets will run out, your mana will get depleted, and even high-level skill users will die. That's the knowledge I have."

Shizuku is firing again at Mothman Queen, flying at speeds reaching several hundred kilometers per hour over the grassy field. Mothman Queen tries to evade by rolling, but Shizuku, who can seemingly predict the future based on its speed and trajectory, accurately shoots a bullet, causing it to crash.

[What's the countermeasure? Is the main body hiding somewhere?]

If it were an assault rifle, Shizuku could shoot it down at that speed, which eases the tension. It would have been troublesome if it had evaded.

"No, it's different. Normally, people would think of finding and defeating the main body. But that's the main body. It's the real one. When it appears next time, it will likely behave as predicted, so watch carefully."

She must have killed four of them now. Then they must be replenished.

Once again, Mothman Queen emerges from a clump of grass, flapping its wings. It flies towards the grassy area as if alerting us.

Mothman Queen flying over the grassy area...

[Did it drop something just now?]

Keenly observing, Sakimori noticed Mothman Queen drop something into the grass. It was a gray object.

"It's an egg. It's probably laid all over the room. That's Mothman Queen's unique skill, [Next Generation Inheritance]. If its physical body dies, it transfers its soul into an egg and hatches. Then an identical Mothman Queen is born. The process takes just 3 seconds. Unless we destroy the egg, Mothman Queen will resurrect indefinitely. It's the greatest and worst feature of the Mothman Queen."

Approaching to defeat it, Mothman Queen wraps itself in a magical wind that visualizes its movement and rotates while approaching. Shizuku, who is kneeling, fires again, aiming for Mothman Queen, while the gunshots resound.

As an individual enemy, it's not an opponent for military rifles. However, without knowing its ability to resurrect endlessly, one would exhaust themselves in a futile battle.

As soon as it is defeated, Mothman Queen revives itself in the distance. Flapping its wings, it hovers and launches invisible attacks aimed at Shizuku.

"Chiiiii."

[Accelerator]

With the sound of glass scratching, the grassy area between Shizuku and Mothman Queen shatters in a straight line, turning into fine fragments and scattering.

However, Shizuku had predicted the attack and used [Accelerator] to narrowly evade it, diving into the thicket and waiting it out.

"And then there is the [Vibration Wave], a defensive-penetrating technique, capable of defeating superior enemies. Due to its nature, it's extremely difficult to evade its supersonic attack, which shakes the entire body with vibrations and inflicts damage. Ordinary armor cannot defend against this attack."

Mothman Queem is a difficult enemy. The grassy area completely hides the eggs it has laid, and if Shizuku burns them, she could get engulfed in fire, in a room 5 hundred meters wide. It would be impossible to destroy the eggs without carpet-bombing them. We would have to use a wide range of high-level magic to defeat it.

That's under normal circumstances. But with Shizuku here, there shouldn't be a problem.

"Therefore, we need to fight together Sakimori-san."

[I see, I understand now. Okay, I'll do my best to cooperate.]

Without any explanation, Shizuku smiles at her partner, who understands without needing further explanation. He is reliable and quick-witted.

"So, this cooperative effort is like a couple exterminating moths. I don't like it."

[We're not even lovers yet.]

Shizuku's words cause Sakimori to shrug, and they swap bodies.

[Burn!]

He held out his hand and set fire to the surrounding grass with flames.

Mothman Queen believed in its superiority. There was only one enemy. It would be impossible for her to confront its skill in this terrain. Without giving up, it kept firing bullets, repeating this charade until it ran out of ammunition.

Once it ran out of bullets, it would suck up his bodily fluids with its proboscis, twitching it like a tentacle.

I didn't expect the bullets to hit it accurately, but it wasn't a problem. It spread its wings and attempted to approach the girl, but it sensed something amiss.

It felt a momentary weakening of the enemy's aura. Along with that, fires appeared around the girl, burning the grass. Soon after, she created water, extinguishing the fires. With this action, smoke filled the area more than fire.

The smoke obstructed its vision, and it wondered if the girl intended to hide and lurk. However, if that's the case, it's not a problem, so it decides to hover and unleash its wind magic.