NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 3 Part 2
The moment Hanzo drew her Muramasamaru, a green object with buzzing wings appeared from in front of her. Seeing the figure, Reito exclaimed in surprise.
“A praying mantis?!”
“Gigigigig!”
“Insectoids! Be careful!”
Three gigantic praying mantises appeared. Their bodies were as long as full-grown adults. The scythes on each arm were as sharp as if they had been forged by a swordsmith, and they swung down at Reito.
“Gigigig!”
“Whoa!”
Reito blocked the mantis’ scythes with his Extermination Blade and Reflection Sword, but the unexpectedly monstrous force caused Reito to fall to his knees. However, he immediately activated “Limit Boost” to increase his physical abilities.
“’Limit Boost’!”
“Gigigig!”
He shook off the scythes with all his might, and then swung his blade at the mantis’ head.
However, the mantis dodged backwards and landed on the ground. Reito stepped forward and swung his greatsword down.
“Oww!”
“Giiiiii”
The mantis blocked the blade approaching from the front with the sickles of both hands. Unable to withstand the impact, Reito’s Extermination Blade was about to be deflected. But Reito activated his “Heavy Strike Sword” and thrust the Reflection Sword in his other hand.
“’Gale Strike’!!”
“Guggiiii!?”
Reito delivered a powerful thrust to the mantis’ head. The moment he pulled the blade out, its head rolled off.
After that, Reito immediately turned his attention to the other mantises, and Shizune had already finished off one of them.
“’Samidare Thrust’!!”
“Gyaaah!?”
Shizune unleashed a flurry of powerful thrusts, and the mantis’ upper body was instantly torn to shreds.
After watching this scene, Reito turned his attention to the last one. Gonzo could be seen pushing the mantis against the wall with one hand and punching it with his fist.
“’Fist Strike’!!”
“–!”
“Huh?”
Without time to scream, Gonzo’s right hand equipped with his Battle Fist smashed the mantis’ torso, and the mantis’ body was mercilessly sunk into the wall.
Dain covered his mouth at the sight, and the women looked away. Meanwhile, Gonzo, who had launched his attack, frowned as blood splattered on him.
“Hmm… did I go too far?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I wasn’t hit.”
Drops of blood dripped from his Battle Fist. Gonzo turned his gaze to the mantis he had defeated, and suddenly noticed mantis’ sickles lying at his feet.
Picking it up, showing no cracks and a beautiful blade pattern, Gonzo nodded in admiration.
“This is amazing… It looks sturdy and sharp.”
“The sickles of the mantis-like insect species are also used as weapons. They are sharper than average weapons and durable, so they are popular among adventurers.”
“So, will we make money if we collect them?! Okay, let’s collect them all!”
“It was Reito and the others who defeated them though…”
After hearing Shizune’s story, Dain tried to take only the sickles from the mantis’ corpse. Meanwhile, Reito remained vigilant, watching the surroundings.
“Are there no other presences besides these guys?”
“I haven’t sensed anything yet, but still, the insectoids are a formidable opponent. Even after being hit by my Muramasamaru blade, the sickle’s blade didn’t even crack, that it do.”
“I’m glad you guys were with me. If I had been alone, I’m sure I would have had a hard time.”
In the end, everyone was able to emerge unscathed, but if the mantises had surrounded and attacked them, they probably wouldn’t have been safe. In terms of danger, they were comparable to level 3 and 4, and their flying speed was so fast that if you let your guard down, you could lose your life. Especially for a mage like Dain, they were formidable opponents.
“Thanks to Hanzo we were able to deal with them in advance, but if they had appeared suddenly, it would have been chaotic for sure… we were saved.”
“It’s certainly reassuring to have an assassin in the adventurer’s party.”
“Wow, it’s embarrassing to be praised like that, that I am.”
Hanzo scratched her head in embarrassment after being praised by Reito and Shizune when suddenly, Dain screamed behind her.
“W-Whaaaaaaaa!”
“Dain?!”
“What’s wrong?!”
Dain was approaching the mantis corpse that Gonzo had embedded in the wall. Everyone turned their gazes towards him, and wrinkles like a human face appeared on the brick wall in front of Dain, and soon the area around its eyes began to glow red.
Shizune grabbed her Four Seasons and ran off.
“Duck!”
“Ahhh!”
Following Shizune’s command, Dain ducked, holding her head with both hands. She thrust her long sword forcefully at the wall.
A metallic sound echoed through the hallway, and Shizune frowned as her right hand went numb. The human face, with one eye socket destroyed, slowly opened its mouth and prepared to let out a roar.
“GROOOOOOOOOO!!”
“Is that… a rock doll?”
“Whoaaa?”
Part of the brick began to move, transforming into a humanoid monster over four meters long. Shizune warned them as she prepared her Four Seasons.
“That’s a brick doll, a Block Golem! It seems to have been lying in wait, disguised as a mimic on the wall of the Great Labyrinth!”
“W-What?… my senses didn’t pick up anything, that I do!”
“We can’t sense them while they’re completely integrated into the wall. It’s not your fault, so calm down! I can’t believe they exist in this Great Labyrinth…”
“GRRRRRRRR!”
Brick dolls moved their bodies slowly, so their movements were slower than normal rock dolls, but their bodies were no match for average rock dolls, and their toughness was on par with a battle doll. Even if they were hit by the blade of the Four Seasons, one of the Seven Great Magic Swords, that could cut through objects as hard as steel, the only damage would be to the area around its eyes.
Sensing the danger, Reito swung his Extermination Blade down from behind.
“’Gale Strike’!!”
“Goah!?”
The blade of the Adamantite sword struck the back of the brick doll, cracking the surface. However, Reito’s arm vibrated and went numb. The blow would have been powerful enough to cut an average rock doll in half, but it only cracked the surface, not destroyed it.
“Dain!!”
“I know!! ‘Shadow Bind’!!”
“Goah…?!”
Before the opponent could move in earnest, Dain used shadow magic to restrain the brick doll, paralyzing it. After confirming this, Gonzo clenched his fists and thrust them out.
“’Golden Stark Strike’!!”
“Goah…?!”
A powerful blow struck the brick doll’s chest, causing a small crack in the chest. Seeing this, Shizune and Hanzo brandished their swords and thrust their blades into the crack Gonzo had made.
“Thrust!”
“Unsheathe!”
“Gooo!”
The two of them attacked the crack one after the other, widening it with the force of the impact.
The brick doll screamed in shock.
The harder the material, the easier it was to shatter, and even a small crack could cause internal damage and eventually lead to destruction if it was subjected to a strong impact.
“Everyone stand back… Helmet Smasher!”
“Gogggh!”
Reito swung his Extermination Blade and struck the back of the brick doll. The powerful blow caused cracks to appear all over the brick doll’s body. Upon seeing this, Gonzo grabbed the brick doll’s body from behind and called out to Dain.
“Dain!! Release this guy’s restraints!!”
“I-Is that okay?”
“I don’t care!!”
“G-Goooo!?”
Dain released the shadow magic that restrained the brick doll from Gonzo’s words, and the brick doll tried to shake off Gonzo as he grabbed it. But Gonzo mustered all his strength and slammed the brick doll into the wall behind him.
“Nuuoooooo!!”
“Gogaaaaaahhhh?!”
Then Gonzo threw the brick doll like a German suplex in pro wrestling, slamming the brick doll to the ground and shattering the brick doll’s body into pieces.
“Whew… that was a tough opponent.”
“This guy is really tough. If Dain hadn’t been there, we might have had a tough time.”
“Yeah. That was pretty good.”
“Wh-What’s with that, all of a sudden… heh heh heh.”
“No, your laughter is a bit creepy… is that a shy laugh?”
Dain was embarrassed by Reito and Shizune’s praise, but in the meantime Gonzo found the core from the broken brick doll. The size of the core was no comparison to an average rock doll, and if a normal core is about the size of a softball, the brick doll’s was about one size larger.
“So this is the core of the brick doll. But it doesn’t seem to regenerate?”
“Brick dolls are the hardest of all rock dolls, but at the same time, they have low regenerative abilities. They also suffer from the same weakness to water, which is a characteristic of rock dolls.”
“Is that so? In that case, if we had Kotomin it would have been a piece of cake.”
“I don’t think we need Kotomin, but maybe Suramin or Hitomin…”
They could weaken the brick doll by having the slime spray water on it and flood it, but they couldn’t bring outside monsters here in the first place. Either way, defeating the brick doll wouldn’t be easy.
“Now that I think about it, Shizune, you said that there are places in the Great Labyrinth where water flows, but is there a place with flowing water on this floor?”
“Yes, there is. I’ve never been to the fifth floor, so I can’t confirm, but every other floor has a resting spot with flowing water.”
“So there’s a place on this floor where you can refill your water? That said, it seems like it would be difficult to find one…”
“That’s right. It’s best not to get your hopes up too much.”
Unlike the previous floors, the fourth floor was structured as a labyrinth, so it would be difficult to find the resting spot. Even though they still have plenty of water, they need to conserve it.
“Even so, there are so many things appearing that Shizune didn’t explain earlier.”
“That’s right… I’ve been here a few times, but this is the first time I’ve encountered a brick doll. I’ll have to be careful not to carelessly get too close to the walls from now on.”
“I was careless, too. I never thought that there would be monsters I couldn’t detect… I’m sorry, that I am.”
“It’s not Han-chan’s fault. I didn’t notice it either… and now I know there are monsters that can’t be detected until they get close, so that’s fine.”
“Reito, what should we do with this brick doll’s magic stone?”
“Since Gon-chan defeated it, you can keep it. If you don’t want it, you can sell it to the merchant outside the Great Labyrinth.””
“Can I have it? Is it okay with everyone else?”
“I don’t really care.”
“In the end, you were the one who defeated it, so feel free to take it.”
“I don’t want it either… it seems like it’ll regenerate if I drop it.”
“Okay then.”
Gonzo put the magic stone into his leather bag.
~