Chapter 266

266 – Repulsion

I run towards the meeting hall and crash through the hole the abyss made . The ceiling collapses and the rubble rains mercilessly on my head .

Inside, more than ten abysses are clustered together . They’re jostling above an iron fixture in the floor .

Probably, that’s the entrance to the basement . Since they’re clustering around it, I can assume they saw someone go in that way . To describe it simply, it’s a scene of hell .

Crawling around, they’re sticking their teeth into the ground . The floor is being shaved away and holes are starting to form .

I suddenly recall how the abysses came out of the ground earlier . These guys should be able to dig a hole, more or less . At this rate, won’t they be getting into the basement?

There’s not much time . Rather than just my head, I pull my foreleg into the meeting hall too . Inevitably, my partner’s head comes along . The entirety of the meeting hall shakes greatly .

“GaaaaaaaaAH!”

Seeing the abysses crowded into the meeting hall, she screams . Even I want to scream, but I haven’t got the time for that . As I think that, three abysses charge towards my head .

“VeeEeEheeEeeh!”

Their huge mouths open . A thick mucus stretches out in their mouths, giving off a particularly foul stench .

“GuuoOOOOOOOhh!”

Impossible! Impossible, impossible! This is too much!

“Guuoh!”

Raising my forelegs high, I thrust my entire body into the meeting hall . Using both my left and right forelegs, I slice up abysses . Rather than aiming to deal a deathblow, I prioritise stopping them from moving .

The lead abyss splits off from the rest as it leaps towards my head . My heart dies as I crunch it with my fangs .

A lukewarm sensation spreads through my mouth . Its legs are still moving . Feelings of revulsion well up from the back of my throat .

“Veh, Veheh! Vehveh!”

I cough violently, sending fragments of abyss flying from my mouth . Don’t think about it . Don’t think about anything unnecessary right now . The sensation doesn’t matter at all…

“Guuo…oo… . ”

I-I feel nause-… I feel nauseous .

Glancing to the side, I see my partner taking them down via headbuts… I should have done it that way too . Huh, they split up, but where’d they go…?

“Gaaah!”

My partner headbutts me . Even though it’s so sudden, she puts a lot of force into it . My vision flickers .

“Guooh!”

Teh, I thought my jaw was breaking! I bend back, banging my head against the ceiling . A dull sound rings out .

A moment later, an abyss falls to the floor from near my head . It must have jumped onto me . I guess she headbutted me to knock it off . I’m saved, but it feels like that’s the first heavy damage I’ve taken since I fought the hero . I get her feelings though .

Exposing my abdomen to the abyss, I put my body weight into my foreleg to forcefully stomp down on it . I don’t like it, of course, but if I let it live halfheartedly, I’d like that even less . I need to be certain it’s dead .

“Veah!”

The floor dents, and the abyss’ body is crushed as it lets out a short scream .

【144 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 144 experience points have been acquired . 】

My arm is dirtied by its body fluids . It feels a bit tingly . Right, their body fluids are meant to have a numbing poison… I don’t want to think about it any more . I want to take a bath .

“Veeeh!”

“Veeeeh!”

“VeaAaAaEeE!”

The other abysses charge at me . I can’t do this anymore! I pull my body back and start demolishing the meeting hall for real . The walls and pillars collapse, raising clouds of dust .

“Veeeeh!”

One of the abysses tries to dash through the hole I stepped back through, but I see it get pinned by a piece of falling debris . In the blink of an eye, the whole space is filled with rubble and nothing is visible .

【684 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 684 experience points have been acquired . 】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 68 to 69 . 】

…Great, it doesn’t look like the floor’s given way . It might’ve been better if I went to demolish the place when I first saw them gathered . That way I wouldn’t have had to suffer so much .

But, from the amount of experience I gained, only four of them died there… In other words, they’re still coming .

Just as I prepare myself, a number of abysses come crawling out of the wreckage . Because of the injuries they sustained from the debris, hunting them is easy .

One down,

“Veeeh!”

One down,

“VeeeEeh!”

Another one down,

“VeeeEeeh!”

I make sure to slaughter each of them with [Wind Slash] . In no time at all, seven new abyss corpses are produced . My level went up to 70 after I defeated the third one .

I chop up the last one with a [Wind Slash] .

【186 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 186 experience points have been acquired . 】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 70 to 71 . 】

Even though they’re good levelling, it’s wasted . There’s no way I want to seek them out . I’ve done enough abyss killing for a lifetime . My upper body is coated in their body fluids and it’s really painful .

【Title Skill [Pest Killer] has risen from level 5 to 6】

【Title Skill [Brave Hero] has risen from level 4 to 5】

…I wonder if it’s okay to take that level up as all of them being defeated . I still won’t let my guard down, but… I’ll clear away enough of the wreckage for them to get out .

I use my foreleg to clear the rubble away, exposing the door to the basement… Great, I’ve confirmed the floor is fine . I’m glad, I’m glad . I’m seriously glad . It would be great if I could say goodbye to fighting abysses with this .

The door opens and Hibi’s face pokes out . It looks like there’s stairs below .

Seeing me, she hurriedly puts on her mask . That’s not really necessary… Well, I suppose formality is important .

After muttering her usual incantation, she asks me a question .

『Dragon-god-sama, the abysses are…?』

I’ve killed close to twenty of them . There’s no more left… Is what I think, but I can’t be certain . They’re good at hiding their presences, after all .

Following her, the military uniform man who was carried in earlier comes up, supported by a Lithovar man . His arms and legs are wrapped up in bandages of thin cloth .

“Derek-san, it seems the abysses have fled for now . ”

“…”

Hearing that, the military uniform man breathes a sigh of relief and sits on the stairs . When he was brought here he was in a state of distress, but it looks he’s calmed down now .

It looks like his name’s Derek . Since he was denouncing them as a barbarian tribe, it must’ve been hard to hold a conversation with him, but it looks like they got his name at least .

He glares at me as though sizing me up, then gets to his feet . Warding off the arm of the man who was supporting him he starts walking in the direction of the forest .

“Hey, are you going already? With those wounds, you’ll just attract another abyss . ”

Derek continues to leave, ignoring the calls . But a moment later, he staggers and starts to pitch over . Shifting her mask to expose her face, Hibi rushes to Derek’s side .

“How would you feel about taking a half day’s rest before leaving? You lost your weapon, right? Without it, you won’t be able to get out of this forest . ”

“…”

“If you’re looking for your companions, we can help you with that . With the abysses this active, we won’t be able to do a very extensive search, though…”

“…They’re safe . ”

Derek mutters a couple words as though he just remembered something . He’s finally speaking .

“I see . That’s wonderful to hear…”

“They left me in front and ran away at the start . They didn’t try properly fighting… Since I’m a newcomer, even if I’m not there, it won’t affect their formation…”

He says with a trembling voice as he crouches with his face downturned . O-oh, that was heavier than I was expecting… His shoulders shudder . Is he crying?

Hibi gently pats his back to comfort him .

W-well, I’ll leave him for the Lithovars to deal with . I guess I’ll go on patrol .