105. The Queen of Scarabisk.
“….”
Kwooo-
Han was currently projecting outside.
Due to the protection of the power of the current World Tree, the outside world beyond the boundary, shielded by the barrier, was difficult to discern due to the fierce winter winds.
Amidst this.
Han confirmed that a large, majestic entity was slowly approaching their domain through the white snowfall.
Surprisingly, it was a colossal life form.
Due to the harsh winter snow, even as an observer, it was hard for Han to fully grasp the creature’s size.
Most of the creature was obscured by snowfall.
But one thing was clear.
It was unbelievably massive.
[Wooooo-]
The sound of a howling creature reached their ears.
Even amidst the fierce gusts of wind, the distinct cry was clear enough to be recognized.
“That…”
Han, who had been watching the creature with a stern expression, spoke up.
“…is that a monster?”
[Correct.]
“I’d rather call it a small mountain.”
Its physique was considerable.
At least several dozen meters tall, and perhaps even more.
Above the creature’s head, a brief symbol was visible.
[Red Alert: Scaramisk Bug Queen.]
[Queen Class.]
[Classification-Fortress-type Dungeon.]
Yes.
This creature was the mother figure of the Scaramisk Walker encountered by the elves before.
The Walker at the time had originated from this creature.
[Wooo-]
Just by looking at its rough outline, one could tell.
A dull, dark red exoskeleton that hinted at the passage of many long years.
Scratched and worn in places, with a tough carapace that seemed like it had endured for a long time.
It was evident that this was no organism that had only lived a year or two.
This was a very ancient arthropod.
[Kirrr!]
[Kieeek!]
Scattered across the massive queen’s carapace were smaller-sized beetles scurrying around.
They were constantly moving about, bringing back prey they had hunted, most of which were being carried into the queen’s mouth.
Of course, small was only in comparison to the queen, who was their mother.
Each of these creatures was easily several meters in size.
The Scaramisk Bug encountered last time was one of these creatures.
[Currently, this entity is advancing towards the direction of the World Tree. Please prepare for the situation promptly.]
They were well aware of that.
The creature’s direction of advance had been clear from the start.
The only issue was that facing a creature as vast as this small island was no easy task.
In fact, its classification was proving just that.
The system defined the Scaramisk Queen not as a mere monster, but as a ‘dungeon.’
That meant something simple.
They had to consider the creature as a dungeon in itself.
[Kieeek!]
From a crack in its worn carapace, a Scaramisk emerged with a fierce roar, beginning to scout the surroundings.
***
Swiftly.
Han raised her hand and pointed in a direction.
“God…?”
Her puzzled expression at Han’s inexplicable action lasted only briefly.
It seemed as if she had realized something, Irina asked in response.
“Does that mean… there’s something over there?”
A nod.
She nodded in agreement.
Then, she successively pointed at the monster of the mantis beetle, and the Scarabesque Bug.
“Irina, soon new ones will appear.”
“….”
Did Irina understand Han’s intentions?
Actually, she wasn’t quite sure.
There wasn’t really a true connection between them in terms of conversation.
However, it was clear that Irina’s expression stiffened a bit after his actions.
That was enough.
***
“How much time is left until they arrive?”
[At the current pace, a day should suffice.]
Han closed her eyes with a faint sigh at those words.
“…It’s moving faster than I thought. Weren’t they still far away?”
[This is also thanks to the delay caused by the Queen Scarabesque focusing on feeding. Currently, the Queen and her offspring are actively exploring the surroundings.]
Exploring.
Perhaps one of them coincidentally made it this far.
Unlike the Queen, whose feet were bound to the ground due to her massive build and weight, the Walkers could fly through the sky, making their movement speed several times faster.
“Oh. It went up.”
At that moment, Han’s eyes, which had been fixed on the status window, caught something.
Right at that hour mark, the points she had finally accumulated reached 3,000pt.
[Would you like to purchase?]
“Of course.”
Thud!
Simultaneously with her response, a structure appeared on top of the castle walls.
It was a Ballista.
“…Now there are only three.”
Over the past three days, she had maximized her points in her own way.
As a result, she could summon two more Ballistas onto the castle walls.
Adding them to the one originally installed, it totaled three.
However, this left her with no more points.
Now was the time to exercise patience once again.
– All weapons and arrows must be moved to the castle walls!
“Hurry up, everyone!”
On the surface, the elves were fully engaged in preparing for battle.
Without exception, they were bustling around, carrying loads in a manner that was far from quiet.
“….”
For a while, Han watched them before turning his gaze back to the ballista.
The most powerful weapon available to Han and the elves at present was the ballista.
Though he had pushed the limits as much as possible, the fact that they had to face that massive creature and its offspring with just this level of preparation was quite bewildering.
But this wasn’t the modern era.
The preparations here were the best they had at the moment.
“System.”
[Please state your request.]
“Can we really win this fight?”
Even Han was uncertain about the situation.
The image of that massive creature kept flashing before his eyes.
What if the elves saw the creature?
They might lose their composure out of fear.
However, the answer ultimately came from the system.
[I cannot provide any answer to that.]
“…I suppose so.”
Was it in that bitterness of Han’s that he felt something?
The system, unusually, added a few more words.
[I apologize.]
“What?”
For a moment, Han’s eyes widened at the sudden remark.
Soon after, he let out a chuckle.
“I know. I have an idea of what you’re thinking.”
There was a significant difference between being able to answer and choosing not to, and being unable to do so.
Han had spent a considerable amount of time with the system already.
He knew what it was thinking to some extent, even without it saying.
Perhaps, by speaking up to this extent, it was not that the system was feeling any particular emotion about not being able to interfere further in this situation.
[….]
For some reason, after a long silence, the system unexpectedly spoke up.
[The Queen of the Scarabisk Bug is a fortress-type life form.]
“What?”
It was a sudden statement.
Confused by the cryptic mention, Han inquired, “What does that mean?”
[It is more akin to a dungeon than a life form in terms of classification.]
“A dungeon?”
Since then, the system did not open its mouth again.
However, Han continued to ponder slowly without forgetting about the system’s mention for a while.
He must not have made such remarks without any reason.
***
The ways to conquer monsters are varied depending on individual situations and methods, but broadly, they are classified into three categories.
First, there are cases where one must enter without any information whatsoever.
This includes situations where hunters of the strategy faction, who mainly deal with new monsters not even registered on the internet, find themselves.
Secondly, there are situations where one has at least some information and has familiarized themselves with a certain behavioral pattern.
These individuals plan their strategies based on information that has already been confirmed to some extent, unlike in the former case.
Lastly, it referred to situations where individuals had absorbed various strategies and information from senior colleagues in the industry.
The strategies for conquering vary in detail.
From Noble mtl dot com
Some spend days, weeks, or even months observing the hunting patterns of their targets and recording the ecological patterns in nature to gradually devise their strategies, while others immediately plan their tactics upon confirming the main attack methods and proceed with stable party hunting.
These methods are mainly used by modern hunters.
Hence, it was also a method commonly used by strategy-focused hunters who faced challenges in conquering new monsters.
Of course, it was natural that the latter method, focusing solely on attacking patterns with as much information as possible in hand, was the most stable.
He opened a book.
It was one of the books he had borrowed from the library.
This untidy dictionary, with information on the species called [Scarabisk], fully contained details about the species.
Even though two days had passed, Han was still engrossed in reading the book.
Despite wanting to hurry and turn to the next page due to impatience, Han exerted his concentration even more.
He didn’t know what each page held.
It was a time to learn as much as possible rather than being perplexed.
[“─Thus, within the body of every Scarabisk lies a core known as the energy heart.
This is a type of mana stone, one of the most vital organs that moves them.”]
“Mana stone….”
He inadvertently murmured a phrase from the content.
Mana stone. Mana stone.
Han’s forehead furrowed.
“Could it be that the reason the Scarabisk Queen was classified not as a monster but as a dungeon was because of this mana stone?”
There were occasionally such beings.
Structured a bit differently from typical monsters.
Not all beings in the world were made of flesh and blood.
Life forms in the world were infinitely diverse, with equally unique and complex natures.
It was natural, but animals and insects were classified differently.
The former were composed of flesh and blood, while some of the latter were made up of tough chitinous exoskeletons, muscles, body fluids, and so on.
Of course, strictly speaking, this could also be described as a form of flesh and blood, but the important thing was the difference from animals.
Moreover, monsters were even more complex than this.
Among them were beings composed solely of immaterial spirits, as well as beings powered by mana as their driving force.
According to this book, the Scarabisk belonged to the latter category.
“The dungeon is conquered by shattering the magic stones. It’s a single energy conduit connecting two worlds.”
If even the Queen of Scarabisk relies on this.
At that thought, Han’s madly racing heart started to beat a little faster.
“…There must be a strategy to conquer it.”
Finally, Han realized what the system had intended.
“System. Was this what you were thinking?”
[……]
Once again, the system did not respond to Han’s question.