Without lighting so much as a flame, I continued down the passage relying on my senses alone.
Fortunately, the path stretched straight downward, so even in the darkness I neither tripped nor lost my way.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The deeper I went into the cave, the louder the sound grew.
Now I could be certain.
That was the sound of a monster smashing through the wall.
Rumble.
I heard another sound as well.
It was the sound of flowing water I had heard earlier.
After confirming the sound coming from beyond the wall, I resumed walking.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of the monster breaking through the wall grew steadily louder.
The louder the sound grew, the more I slowed my pace.
I quieted my footsteps and stilled my breathing.
I also borrowed Sopeu’s magic.
[It’ll dampen your presence somewhat. Don’t expect much.]
That was enough.
I had no intention of going close enough to get caught.
How far had I descended?
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Now the sound was loud enough to make the walls tremble.
Though I couldn’t see it, I could feel the creature at the edge of my senses.
The monster’s form, as perceived through my senses, resembled the scout I had seen before.
It was a bit more elongated, and all its tentacles were being used to break the wall instead of functioning as legs.
I stopped right there.
From here to where the monster was, the passage continued in a straight line.
Right now, the lack of light kept me hidden, but if I went any further, I would surely be discovered.
After carefully setting down my backpack, I took out a box.
[Are we doing it here?]
[Yes. It’s a bit far, but I think it’ll be fine if you help, Sopeu.]
I had explained the plan to Sopeu before entering the cave.
Perhaps having given up, Sopeu clicked her tongue once and conceded to my wishes.
The first step of the plan to capture the scout monster.
[Operation Whole Roast, commencing.]
[No matter how much I think about it, you really ought to stop naming things.]
As usual, I brushed off Sopeu’s grumbling and took a sack of flour out from the box.
[What a shame.]
[I gave you plenty of meat in exchange, so it should be fine.]
This flour was part of the provisions I had brought from Earth to distribute to the people here.
I had already been paid the transport fee, but if conditions on the ground changed, it was only natural to repurpose it.
The amount wasn’t enough to have a great effect on its own, but I had Sopeu, as well as other items I’d brought from Earth.
Rip.
I tore the flour sack open with my spear.
Rustle.
Flour spilled onto the ground.
[Please.]
At my request, Sopeu cast a spell.
The stagnant air began to stir.
Wind blew.
Whish.
The flour spilled across the ground began to spread downward, riding the wind.
Thanks to Sopeu’s magic, not a speck of flour drifted toward me.
[It’ll be difficult to keep it suspended for long.]
[You only need to hold it for a moment.]
I took out other items from the box.
Plastic explosives, grenades, and even a recoilless rifle—I took them all out.
[Two grenades, and the recoilless rifle has only one round left.]
[It’s astounding that we even have that much left.]
I wasn’t complaining.
Just a bit regretful.
First, I attached the plastic explosives to the wall.
The blasting cap and fuse had vanished somewhere along the way, so instead I shoved a grenade into the explosives.
I shouldered the backpack containing the box again, then slung the recoilless rifle over my shoulder.
Then I aimed the muzzle of the recoilless rifle forward and placed my finger on the trigger.
The target was the direction where the monster lay.
Though I couldn’t see it, I aimed the muzzle toward where my senses told me it was.
Whish.
Even then, the flour from the sack continued to ride the magical wind, flowing toward the end of the passage where the monster was.
It was enough to fill the cave where the monster lurked.
Normally it would have been impossible, but it was possible with Sopeu’s magic.
Thud. Thud. Crackle.
Along with the sounds of the wall being struck, I saw sparks flying.
The flour had dispersed enough in the air that it was already showing signs of spontaneous combustion.
Grrr.
The wall-striking stopped, and I could feel the monster’s tentacles writhing about.
It seemed the creature had noticed something was off.
‘But it’s too late now.’
I pulled the trigger.
Boom!
A backblast erupted behind me as the shell launched.
Shhh-ack!
The shell flew toward its target, trailing smoke.
Truthfully, the recoilless rifle was closer to a cannon than a gun.
What it launched was a high-explosive shell.
If such a shell detonated in an enclosed space filled with flour, the outcome was obvious.
Kwa-boom!
Flames shot upward with a blinding flash.
In the surging flames, the monster’s form became clearly visible.
Kuaaaah!
The black monster was engulfed in flames, thrashing its tentacles wildly.
The flames wrapped around the monster and continued spreading.
Rumble.
The cave shook, and the heat surged all the way to where I stood.
“Uwah!”
[Shield!]
While I ducked my head in surprise, Sopeu cast a defensive barrier.
The heat rolled over the barrier.
I stuffed the recoilless rifle into the box in my backpack, gripped my spear, and quickly retreated.
Shhh-ack!
A tentacle lashed toward where I had stood.
Thud!
Smashing through the shield Sopeu had erected, the tentacle embedded itself in the spot where I had been.
If I had remained there, I would have been impaled.
[Damn it, its tentacles are absurdly long!]
[It seems to have bundled all its tentacles together.]
[Don’t talk about it like it’s someone else’s problem!]
If I hadn’t sensed it beforehand through my extrasensory perception, I would have been hit.
And that would have been true even if I hadn’t expected the creature to survive.
Despite combining the high-explosive shell from Earth with a dust explosion, the monster was still intact.
No, not entirely intact. Its skin was torn, and several parts of its body were burning.
However, the monster hadn’t weakened in the slightest.
Still, it was fine for now.
Because this attack wasn’t the end.
The tentacle, which had kept extending, retracted.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Then, footsteps approached.
The monster was using its tentacles as legs to approach.
I had to retreat, but instead, I raised my spear and pointed it at where I stood.
I channeled energy into my spear and waited for the scout to approach.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sounds rapidly grew closer.
Kuaaaah!
The monster’s shriek grew louder.
It had noticed me as well.
I could sense tentacles sprouting from the monster’s front.
But I didn’t move.
‘Just a little more.’
Thud.
Finally, the creature reached the spot where I had stood.
There was no need to tell Sopeu separately.
Sopeu cast her spell at the exact right moment.
[Lightning!]
With a short incantation different from before, lightning leaped from the staff.
The tentacle that had tried to lunge at me transformed into a shield and blocked the front of the monster.
It seemed the impact of the earlier explosion had been considerable.
But the lightning’s destination—my true target—lay elsewhere.
The lightning struck the wall I had pointed at with pinpoint accuracy.
Crackle.
Sparks flew,
Kwa-bang!
The plastic explosives attached to the wall, along with the grenade, detonated.
Kraa-boom!
This time, the monster’s body was flung sideways.
The monster was embedded in the opposite wall.
Its tentacles scattered into strands and strewn about in every direction.
Rumble-rumble.
Stone dust began falling from overhead.
[Hurry. We’ll be buried together.]
Crack. Crunch.
Before Sopeu even finished speaking, the sound of the ceiling and walls cracking filled the passage.
The people at the base had collapsed the passage, and the monster had been smashing the walls for over a day. And now, these explosions on top of that.
It was an underground passage that had endured for ages, but it couldn’t withstand such continuous impacts.
The collapse had begun.
Kraaa!
The collapse began from within.
The ceiling caved in and the walls burst.
Rocks poured down over the monster’s head as well.
And toward where I stood.
I turned and began running like mad.
“I hope it gets buried like this!”
[I told you, that won’t happen.]
It was what Sopeu had told me since we were planning the operation.
As expected, nothing came easy.
“I guess I’ll have to use the last resort after all.”
[If even that doesn’t work, there really is no answer.]
Still, even Sopeu had acknowledged the final method.
The final operation following Operation Whole Roast and Operation Live Burial.
It was Operation Electric Eel.
I could feel the monster chasing me from behind.
The monster was smashing through the falling rocks as it continued its pursuit.
Its appearance, bursting through the collapsing passage in pursuit despite wounds all over its body, was frightening even to me.
But now wasn’t the time to be scared. I had to dodge the rocks raining down immediately.
As I ran with all my might, the collapse gradually subsided.
I had escaped the collapse zone.
Unfortunately, the scout monster was still in pursuit.
The distance hadn’t increased either.
Still, it was fine. Because I had reached my destination.
Rush-rush-rush.
The place where I stopped was where I had heard the sound of water from behind the wall.
Now water was pouring from cracks that had formed in the wall.
“Just as expected.”
The forward base we had been at used groundwater for drinking water. Not just drinking water. Laundry, daily living water—everything used that groundwater.
Still, the groundwater had never been lacking.
That groundwater was created by water from the western mountain range seeping underground. Water filtered for a long time beneath the earth until it became safe to drink.
[Seeing as there are no rivers or creeks on the surface, the amount of water flowing underground must be enormous.]
When I descended underground earlier, I had used my senses to locate the source of the water sound.
As expected, an enormous amount of water was flowing behind this wall.
It was a massive waterway rivaling a river.
I thrust my spear into the crack.
“Sopeu! Please!”
[Open! Widen! Dig!]
As Sopeu chanted, the thin crack gradually widened.
Crack-whoosh!
Water burst from the crack.
I felt like I would be swept away too.
I took out another spear from my backpack and drove it firmly into the ceiling.
After hanging from that spear, I continued channeling energy into Sopeu’s spear.
Kwaaaaa!
The crack had now become a massive hole.
Now it wasn’t merely bursting forth, but a massive jet of water exploding out and flooding into the tunnel.
Splash. Kuaaaah. Splash.
The monster’s shriek mixed with the sound of water.
It seemed startled by the sudden deluge, but it didn’t stop.
I wasn’t done yet either.
While hanging from the spear embedded in the ceiling, I prepared the final attack.
I thrust Sopeu’s spear into the pouring water and braced for the impact.
[You seem to use your staff even more roughly after dying. And to think you’d waste black stone again. It is a sturdy staff, but if you keep abusing it like this, it will break.]
Sopeu grumbled as she prepared her spell.
The black stone submerged in the water began to glow brilliantly.
Purple light spread out in every direction.
As the light illuminated the area, the monster could be seen in the water, driving its tentacles into the walls as it approached.
The monster had approached close enough that a tentacle could reach me if extended.
Sopeu began her incantation.
[!#!#!@#]
A high-tier magic that could not be translated was cast.
The brilliantly glowing black stone grew murky, and in its place, countless magic circles rose above the water.
And from the countless magic circles, lightning fell.
Toward the surging water, enormous bolts of lightning poured down.
The enormous lightning rode the torrent of water and surged toward the monster.
Kwa-zizizik!
The surging water and the monster were simultaneously engulfed in lightning.