CH 65

Data.59 – Old Bowman, Scorpion from Hell

While she came off as being a tomboy, Petta could be surprisingly girly…

Actually, disliking bugs had nothing to do with being a girl.

After all, I hated them too…!

However, scorpions weren’t as bad as others.

These scorpion-type monsters, called Hell Stingers. They were indeed scary, but it was quite different from the repulsion felt by bugs.

I was simply the fear you feel from being in front of a powerful enemy.

At the same time, there was something cool about the black and red armor that covered their bodies.

Besides, these were stylized monsters, and didn’t really feel like real-life creatures.

That was the thing with bugs. They looked cool if you took the basic design and made them more fantastical… Like mechas.

However, Petta seemed like she hated bugs no matter how unrealistic they were. You sometimes met people like that.

Hatake was wielding a flag, which was his weapon.

It was a long pole with some cloth attached to it, so it would have a lot of reach, like a staff.

But he also seemed to be shrinking back, and I doubted that he would be much use in a fight…

As always, I would have to get through this with Garbow’s help.

Kishaaaaa!

The Hell Stinger let out a strange hiss, and at the same time, the tip of its tail opened up, revealing what looked like a syringe.

A purple bullet of energy appeared and started to swell up. And then it was fired in my direction.

So it had ranged attacks…!

“Gar! Gar!”

Garbow moved to cover me.

It activated Energy Shield, which created a small shield of energy, and blocked the bullet.

“Garbow! Holy Splash!”

This was a desert dungeon, and so I had thought that water attacks would be effective on the monsters here, but I was wrong.

The Hell Stinger absorbed the water.

Just like a dry desert…

“In that case, let’s try 8 missiles!”

It was a special attack from ‘Missile Pod,’ which I had rarely used.

It would send 8 missiles right into the enemy.

Since it was based on a modern weapon, its power was undeniable.

And so even something as hard as the Hell Stinger took damage.

“Drill Arrow!”

Kiriririri…shu! Kyuuuuin!

The Hell Stinger’s armor was like rock.

Maybe this skill would be effective.

The rotating arrowhead hit the scorpion’s head.

And just as I had suspected, it drilled through the armor and pierced into its body.

However, it would still not disappear.

It was no wonder you had to kill 5 of them to get the reward.

This thing was so tough that it might as well have been a boss…!

“Uhhh…I think I’m getting used to it…”

Petta stood up on shaking legs and then brought the trumpet up to her lips.

“Break Melody…!”

And then she played the trumpet whose sound you could not see.

However, upon being bathed with her music, the Hell Stinger writhed on the ground and then burst into light before disappearing.

So this was the power of sound…!

“This skill can ignore any defenses and deal damage. However, as its attack ability is quite low, I’m better off using normal attacks on enemies with low defense. Phew…! Now that disgusting thing is finally out of my sight…!”

“Well, that’s about the only useful sound attack skill that Petta has!”

Hatake had been quivering with fear a second ago, but he seemed fine now.

It was impressive how quickly he could change.

“Tsk! You have a big mouth for someone who didn’t do anything… Anyway, thanks, old man. I’m sorry you had to see us like that.”

“Not at all. I hate bugs too, so I understand how you feel.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I knew there was something special about you during the turf war, and it seems like I wasn’t wrong.”

“Right? I told you that I had a good eye for finding people!”

“I’m not giving you credit for that! Come on, let’s do ‘it!’”

“Hmph… Right, ‘it!’”

It… What was ‘it’?

But they started to move before I could ask.

Hatake struck the ground with the end of his flag as he advanced.

Click-click…puu-puu…click-click…puuu-puu…

Were they trying to make music?

“Ah, I better explain this to you, or you’ll think we’re crazy. Don’t worry. We’re doing this as a way of finding traps.”

According to Petta’s explanation…

The floor traps were activated by any kind of shock applied to the area. And so hitting the floor could cause them to activate before you reached them.

As for the Hell Stingers in the walls, just like earlier, they came out when a player passed by.

However, by blasting the walls with sounds, they would come out earlier, and so you could avoid being ambushed.

So, though it may have looked strange, their actions had proper meaning.

Thanks to them, we were able to avoid several traps in the ground.

However, we weren’t attacked by any Hell Stingers after that…

But we needed to kill 5 in order to get the reward.

“They become more common the deeper you go. There are 5 floors in this dungeon, though the last one is the boss room, so I guess there are only 4 that you can explore.”

“In other words, the 4th floor will be the best place to encounter Hell Stingers.”

“Yes. So we can look for Hell Stingers after we reach the 5th floor and are ready to take on the boss. If anything, that would be ideal. Because it’s not like they will stop appearing after we kill 5 of them. So it will be a waste if we kill 5 in the beginning.”

It was certainly different when you had someone with you who had already beaten it once.

Basically, it was best to be able to reach the 4th floor without fighting too much.

“Ah! Look, old man! It’s the stairs that lead to the next floor!”

At the end of the passage was a huge staircase.

Petta had also explained that the location of the stairs changed randomly every time you entered.

While there weren’t many floors in this dungeon, each was quite vast.

And so if you were unlucky, you might be wandering inside for a long time.

“Now that we can see the stairs, we should just dash through instead of wasting time!”

Hatake started to run forward.

It was such a typically conceited move.

And to no one’s surprise, he was ambushed by a Hell Stinger that broke through the walls.

“HEELP MEE!”

Somehow, I had known this would happen. And I answered with an attack.

“Sky Tear!”

This charge attack had great piercing ability.

It easily pierced through the Hell Stinger, dealing damage and causing it to stagger back.

In the meantime, Hatake ran back towards us.

“Petta. Use that skill…”

“Hehe… I wonder how long it will take me this time…for my fingers to stop shaking so that I can blow this trumpet…”

Uh. So she needed to mentally prepare each time…

“Don’t worry old man, I’m here! And I am burning with hatred for that scorpion! Now is the time for you to witness my true power!”

Hatake raised his flag.

His class was Flag Magician, and they were good with buffs.

If he cast an attack buff on me, it would make it a lot easier to face the Hell Stinger with its hard shell.

However, would Mister Hatake really be able to fulfill his role here…?!