Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 4

The tank’s giant muzzle points right at the fallen Sael.

It emits a flash of light.

If the robots were firing light bullets, this thing is firing light cannonballs.

The robots’ bullets weren’t too shabby in terms of speed and power, but this is way worse.

Even if the tank caught Sael by surprise, the fact that it was able to hit her and cause that much damage is concerning.

And now that she can’t move, what happens if it hits her with another cannon shot?

Luckily, we don’t have to find out.

By the time the tank’s round hits the floor, Sael is gone, carried to safety by the Demon Lord.

She must have run over, picked her up, and carried her away faster than the missile could move.

The Demon Lord even took care to restrain her movement so Sael wouldn’t be hurt. Otherwise, if she snatched her up while moving faster than a bullet, the aftershock alone might have rattled Sael to pieces.

How did she even prevent that from happening?

I guess it’s another case of physical mastery going beyond even what stats can manage.

Unlike me, who got strong by fighting tons of battles over a short period of time, the Demon Lord has honed her strength over a very long period. That means she has that much more abilities and experience.

Strength that isn’t reflected by stats and skills.

That’s just one more way the Demon Lord outstrips me.

Hmph. Hmm. Hahhh.

Well, I guess the fact that she’s stronger than me isn’t exactly news.

What’s most important here is that the Demon Lord saved Sael.

In that moment, she had several options.

For instance, she could have used Sael as a decoy and attacked the tank. With its sights fully on Sael, it was totally open to attack from anyone else.

If she’d given up on Sael, she could have easily gotten in a major attack on the tank.

But she didn’t abandon Sael.

She chose to rescue her, even though it meant she risked getting hit by the light missile herself in the process.

That says a lot about the Demon Lord.

It also says a lot about the person who did decide to abandon Sael and focus on attacking the tank: me.

A single Black Spear closes in on the tank, produced by my Black Magic spell.

Right as the Demon Lord moved to rescue Sael, I focused on destroying the tank.

Using Sael as a decoy.

That’s the difference between the Demon Lord and me.

She thinks of other people, while I worry only about keeping myself out of danger, even when it meant giving up on Sael.

But in this case, it meant we were able to do both, so maybe it worked out.

The Black Spear pierces the tank’s side, which is utterly undefended after firing a shot.

Wait, no.

It disappeared as soon as it hit the tank’s armor.

My Black Spear is gone so fast, it’s like it was never there in the first place.

It only looked for a split second like the spear had pierced the tank because it disappeared so completely and naturally that I assumed it must’ve gone right through.

Is that the same mysterious barrier Potimas used?

As I’m about to launch another spear so I can find out, the tank turret turns toward me with a loud whir.

I retreat right away, and a light cannon round slams into the ground where I was standing mere moments ago.

Yikes, that was close.

It’s so hard to read this tank’s movements that I almost ate a direct hit to the face.

Uh-oh. I can’t see what the tank’s going to do next.

My Future Sight skill doesn’t seem to work on it.

Since I’m used to being able to predict my enemy’s next move with this skill, it takes me that much longer to react when I can’t rely on it.

The only foe I’ve ever had this problem with was Potimas.

Which means this tank is definitely using the same kind of barrier as Potimas did.

Crap. This is gonna be an even bigger pain than I thought.

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Having to deal with a bunch of robots at once already seemed annoying, but now there’s this giant weapon on top of all that?

See, I told you ancient ruins were never good news!

Is this my divine punishment for stupidly wishing I could get a chance in the spotlight?

If so, whatever god is responsible has a nasty sense of humor.

Oh wait. I happen to know an evil god who matches that exact description.

Damn you, D! Is this your doing?!

As I pointlessly shout at that evil god in my mind, I shot another Black Spear at the tank.

As soon as it reaches its target and makes contact with the armor’s surface, it disappears, just as I feared.

I can activate my magic perfectly fine. The barrier must not cover this whole space.

Potimas’s mysterious barrier was crazy effective, rendering most skills and stats totally useless within a certain range.

Maybe the tank is using a similar kind of barrier, but it works only in very close proximity to the tank.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to use magic at all.

Still, since it’s totally nullifying my Black Spears without a problem, it’s probably safe to assume that most of my long-distance attack methods are useless here.

With its ease of use and high power, Black Spear is one of the most useful of my beloved Dark-type spells.

The only spells I have that are stronger than this are Abyss Magic and stuff like that.

Those spells take time, even with my Height of Occultism skill, and I don’t even know if they would work.

It’s probably best to assume they wouldn’t and forget about magic for now.

Which means I have only one option: a physical beatdown.

Whether it’s Potimas’s magic barrier or whatever else, the best way to deal with these anti-magic-barrier jerks is to hit them with raw power.

As I dodge the third light shot, I produce my weapon from Spatial Storage: a white scythe with a very sinister aura.

I made this scythe when I decided I wanted some kind of weapon for close-quarters combat.

Believe it or not, it’s actually crafted from part of my own body.

I used the scythes that make up the front legs of my spider half as the base, then used my other legs and thread to whip up this little number.

It feels like an extension of my body, probably because that’s what it’s made out of. And since my stats are so high, it’s super-sturdy and cuts like a dream.

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The only problem is that it’s been letting off this weird aura for a while now.

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it definitely looks like the whole scythe is emitting some kind of black glowy effect.

By the way, the scythe’s Appraisal results look something like this:

Yeah. Is that weird or what?

Its attack obviously means how strong it is as a weapon.

That means this scythe alone is strong enough to cut right through the puppet spiders’ defenses.

And resistance measures how strong an attack would have to be to damage it.

That means it won’t break unless it’s hit with an attack higher than that number.

In other words, the only way to break this scythe is by hitting it with the max amount of damage.

In other words, it’s basically unbreakable.

However, that number will go down whenever it’s hit with an attack, so I have to be careful… Or at least, I would with an ordinary weapon.

But this scythe also has a special trait called automatic repair. It’s a useful trait that recovers its resistance over time, all on its own.

As long as it has this trait, I don’t have to worry about the resistance going down.

And that resistance is so high that nothing short of a max-damage attack would break it.

It’s the unbreakable scythe, dude.

I gotta admit, that’s kinda weird.

I know I used my own body to make it, but even I don’t have such crazy-high defense, y’know?

And that’s not the only thing that’s weird.

Since when does it have the Rot and Dark attributes?

It didn’t have anything like that when I first made it.

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These attributes must be what’s causing the creepy aura.

Yeah, this is weird, all right.

And it even has this weird automatic-growth trait now.

In fact, that must be what’s causing all the other strange stuff, huh?

When I first made it, its attack and resistance weren’t this high, and it didn’t have any of those weird traits.

But at some point, it gained this automatic-growth thing, and now the scythe’s stats and traits have been increasing at random.

They say that when you use materials from a strong monster to make something, it sometimes ends up having a piece of that monster’s power.

But it’s supposed to be only a piece, like the faint remnants of the monster.

A weapon shouldn’t randomly be growing on its own.

The only explanation I can think of is that maybe it’s the effect of Pride.

Pride is a cheat-like growth-enhancement skill, after all.

If this weapon somehow inherited that…well, it would explain a lot.

There’s something else that worries me, though.

It sure would be nice if this weapon was strong because I made it out of my own parts, but that seems almost too convenient, so I can’t help but suspect that someone else was involved.

Namely, a certain someone who gave me the cheat skill called Wisdom.

Yeah. D would do that.

Knowing that self-proclaimed “evil god,” I could just imagine D handing out an ultra-strong weapon just because it would be amusing.

That would certainly explain why it’s so incredibly high-powered.

Still, it’s not like I have any proof of that, and it hasn’t caused any trouble for me so far.

But come on, this evil aura totally makes it seem like a cursed weapon!

Hrm.

Is this scythe actually going to work on that tank?

It’s got the Rot attribute, but that’s the attribute that controls death, and a tank isn’t a living thing.

As I stand around contemplating this, the puppet spiders rush forward to attack the tank.

Aside from Sael, who’s injured, the other three are charging from all sides.

And the tank’s muzzle is still pointed at me.

Did they use me as a decoy?!

Well, I guess I can’t blame them. I did the same thing to Sael earlier.

As the puppet spiders rapidly close in, the tank extends four arms to fend them off.

They’re the same kind of gun arms I saw on the robots we wiped the floor with.

The guns start shooting light bullets.

Of the four, two fire at Ael, and the other two shoot at Riel and Fiel.

Though the tank couldn’t have possibly known this, it was smart to focus its fire on Ael, who’s basically the eldest sister of the puppet spiders.

Even Ael has no choice but to stop when two guns are shooting at her, fending off the shots with her blades.

It’s still kinda impressive that she isn’t taking a scratch, though.

While Ael is keeping those two arms occupied, Riel and Fiel work their way closer to the tank while blocking and dodging its shots.

Clearly one arm each isn’t enough to stop them.

Next thing you know, their swords swing at the tank’s armor.

There’s an unpleasant metallic CLANG as the swords clash against the armor, sending sparks flying.

But that’s it.

The swords cut through those robots easily, but they aren’t working on the tank’s outer defenses at all.

Forget slicing any part of the tank to ribbons. At most, they can leave only a tiny scratch.

Having thrown their full weight into the charge, Riel and Fiel are forced to pause for a second as their attacks are blocked.

The tank wastes no time in taking advantage of that opening.

With a loud grating noise, it rotates like a giant top, sending Riel and Fiel flying.

Luckily, they react quickly enough to push off the hull, adjusting themselves in midair and landing safely on their feet.

However, the tank isn’t done.

It keeps spinning as it charges toward Ael, who’s stopped in place.

Plus, its arms start firing off light bullets in all directions as it spins!

What an aggressive tank!

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The indiscriminate barrage forces Riel and Fiel to fall back.

Ael retreats, too, but the tank stubbornly pursues her, so she can’t put much distance between them.

Geez, that tank is a total stalker.

A stalker that sends bullets flying everywhere and rotates at high speed while it chases you?

Worst stalker ever!

Okay, this is no time for jokes.

While the three puppet spiders are keeping the tank occupied, the Demon Lord brings the injured Sael to a safe place.

Namely, the hallway we came through earlier, where Mera and Vampy are holed up.

But she’ll be back on the front lines soon. Knowing the Demon Lord, she could topple that tank no problem.

As long as the puppet spiders buy some time for her, I’m sure the Demon Lord will destroy the tank without me having to lift a finger.

But we already know the tank’s main gun can bust through the puppet spiders’ defenses.

If something goes wrong, it’s possible one of them might die.

…I guess I’ll save them so the Demon Lord will owe me one.

As far as I can tell, I should be fine as long as I keep an eye on that main gun.

Scythe in hand, I break into a run.

Up the wall I go.

For a spider like me, wall running is a piece of cake.

In no time flat, I’ve climbed all the way up to the ceiling.

I run upside down along the ceiling until I’m directly above the tank.

Then I release my grip and free-fall.

As I’m getting ready to swing my scythe at it from above, the tank’s turret whips toward me.

Whoa, so you’ve got anti-air capabilities, too, huh?

A light shot comes flying toward me, and I immediately fend it off with my scythe.

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The scythe slides right through the shell with a sound that can be described only as shiiiiing, splitting it perfectly in two.

Whoa! I gotta admit, I’m as surprised as you are.

I didn’t think that was gonna work, to be honest.

Not only that, but the two pieces of the shell suddenly lose their momentum and scatter into nothing.

The main gun that fired the cannonball is totally defenseless now, so I slice at it with my scythe.

The scythe cuts through the gun like butter, and it even keeps going, piercing into the body of the tank.

And since the tank is still spinning, it basically slices itself up on the scythe, turning into bits of scrap.

All that’s left are lumps of metal that look like a toy that someone tossed into a blender.

On top of that, the chopped-up bits of tank silently fade into dust.

It’s exactly like when I hit something with a Rot Attack.

Whaaaat? I thought the Rot attribute was all about death.

Why would it work on a nonliving thing?

And wait, what happened to the barrier that surrounded the tank’s armor?!

Why was I able to cut through it like that?!

Seriously, what is going on here…?

Well, uh, okay. I took care of the tank before the Demon Lord came back, and I got to have the spotlight for a bit, so I guess all’s well that ends well.

Yeah. Let’s not think too deeply about what just happened.

“Well, that was something…”

The Demon Lord looks at the pile of dust that was once the tank, her expression tense.

Even the puppet spiders look creeped out.

Come on—I just saved your asses. Do you really have to make that kind of face?

Wait a minute. The puppets’ expressions don’t change on their own. Does that mean they deliberately moved the thread around just to make these faces?

No waaay.

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Behind the Demon Lord, Vampy peeks in from the hallway.

Glancing around, she confirms there’s no immediate danger and steps inside.

Mera follows behind her, carrying Sael on his back.

Sael is still missing all three of her left arms, plus a decent chunk of her abdomen.

She can’t seem to move her left leg, either.

Since the puppet spiders control their doll-like bodies with thread, they can’t move their limbs if the thread attached to them is broken.

It’s sort of like the motor nerves in humans. The thread Sael used to control her left leg must have snapped, so now she can’t walk.

Otherwise Vampy probably wouldn’t let Mera carry another girl like that.

I guess even she can put aside her jealousy in an emergency situation.

“Hmm. This place is worse than I thought. Since Sael’s been injured and all, maybe Sophia and Merazophis should head back to the surface.”

Not one person objects to the Demon Lord’s statement.

Ah, not that any of us is a person to begin with.

Putting jokes aside, if there are any more weapons like that tank in here, Vampy and Mera would only hold us back.

Neither of them are weak by this world’s standards, but it still took both of them to fight one or two robots.

They wouldn’t stand a chance against a large group of robots, never mind another tank.

Even the puppet spiders were having trouble against that tank.

The ruins continue past this room, through the door the tank emerged from.

Since there’s more to see, that means we have to keep investigating.

It would be best if Mera and Vampy went back to safety along with Sael.

But just as we all decide that, the earth shakes as if in protest to our decision.

This is one big quake.

The Demon Lord and I stay standing as if nothing happened, but the vampiric duo winds up falling to their hands and knees. Even the puppet spiders are wobbling as they try to stay balanced.

Then an alarm starts blaring.

The previous alarm had been going off this whole time, but with the addition of this new one, the noise is truly eardrum shattering.

If that wasn’t ominous enough, red lights start flashing all over the place.

“Yikes. This can’t be good, huh?”

Yeah, no kidding.

My danger senses are flying off the charts.

“Forget what I said before. Let’s all get out of here!”

With that, the Demon Lord scoops up Vampy and Mera under each arm and makes a break for the hallway.

The puppet spiders take off after her, still a little shaky on their feet.

I bring up the rear.

We dash through the hall, through the hole in the elevator, and back into the long hallway.

The moment we get that far, there’s a particularly large tremor and a loud boom.

The sound clearly came from behind us, so I look over my shoulder.

A wall of flame is rushing toward us at an alarming speed.

Uh-oh. This is bad.

Making a snap judgment, I charge right into the puppet spiders in front of me, wrapping my arms around them.

The impact lowers their HP a little, but there’s no time to worry about that right now.

I race down the long hallway at full speed.

Faster than the flames closing in on us!

Speeding along the hallway, I burst through the busted door and start climbing the holes I made back to the surface.

In front of me, the Demon Lord is escaping even faster than I am, so maybe she’s using her full speed, too.

Our bodies bump against the sides of the cramped tunnels, but that doesn’t matter.

I sure wish I’d made these things bigger, though!

I keep climbing the tunnels I’d dug before until I reach the ants’ nest, then keep speeding toward the surface.

All I’m thinking about is moving forward, trying not to focus on the heat licking at my back.

As I hear the ants’ nest collapsing behind us, I finally see the light of the surface!

Aaaalmoooost theeeeere!

I jump out of the hole so fast, I can almost hear a popping sound effect.

Then I keep sailing up in the air.

Whew, we made it!

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Before I can breathe a sigh of relief, the ground explodes.

A giant flame pillar shoots upward, barely missing my nose by an inch.

That was close!

If I’d been a second slower, we would’ve gotten roasted by that fire.

But my relief lasts for only a second.

Uh-oh.

In my arms, the puppet spiders are staring down in horror just like I am.

They’re so surprised that they’ve forgotten to change their expressions.

And I can’t say I blame them.

There’s an even bigger flame pillar coming up below us, so huge it makes the previous one look like a joke.

The word “pillar” doesn’t even seem like enough anymore. It’s more like a solar flare.

It’s like we’re watching the end of the world.

The scene is so unbelievable that I almost don’t even notice the heat pushing toward us.

Then I see something flying upward in the middle of the inferno, seemingly slowly but it must actually be flying into the sky at an astounding speed.

Once it’s ascended, the flames settle down.

But that’s not the end of it.

If anything, I get the feeling that our battle has just begun.

Something emerges from the remains of the flame.

I can describe it only as a gigantic UFO.

An enormous round flying machine, so huge that you would have to measure its length in miles.

That’s what’s calmly flying into the sky.

Close by, the Demon Lord mutters what we’re all thinking.

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“Unbelievable.”