A Perfect Kill and Playing with a Carcass:

 

That goddess told me that I'm some Imposter, traitor of humanity or whatnot.... but was she really telling the truth? Was it a misunderstanding? If not, then why would she ever lie? There is no reason for her to lie, is there? Is there a possibility that because of my reincarnation, she mistook me such? But... she told that she has seen multiple reincarnated individuals in the past too, it wasn't a unique case, she was sure that I and Akane serve the Devils. It is surely because we possess this system that those Summoned Heroes have.

Well, although Akane is the granddaughter of a pretty infamous sinner group, even she can't be working for the Devils. I mean the sinner group that Akane has ties with is basically an organised resistance group that doesn't like the law that prevents the use of skills by ordinary people. They don't kill or anything like that but still cause annoying troubles to the government, like stealing from the nobles, corrupt nobles mind you. Some people call them - The Dark Guardians. That's all really but anyway, I don't think Akane is a serves devils.... no, it's just that... I don't want to think that Akane might be an enemy, that she might betray me. 

 

While traversing through the dungeon, my thoughts often strayed towards such unnecessary things. 

 

 

Currently, we are walking on a narrow tunnel in this dungeon. 

As we walked further, the colour of the stones, embedded on the wall, changed as we moved along the way. Sometimes they are all blue, sometimes an eerie red, sometimes it's just plain fluorescent white or sometimes a mix of all as if stars twinkling in the night's sky.

Do they change colour to give an idea of the location of this never-ending dungeon, or do they change colour because of the minerals of which they are consisted of, or are simply random? I don't know. 

But at least it tells me that we're not circling the same area.

It has been nearly 3 hours since we started walking, and up till now, we haven't encountered any more Arachnes. 

*Growl*

Akane's stomach growled from hunger, her face reddened a bit in... embarrassment?

Well, we haven't eaten anything after breakfast and it has been nearly 8 hours since then.

"Akane-san, you should eat your lunch."

"Yes, but you should eat too, let's find a nice corner and eat."

'Hmm, eating in a corner, huh.'

"Sure, let's find a suitable place where we can eat."

.

.

"Is it up to your taste, Itsuki-san?" Akane asked while munching on a sandwich.

"Yeah, it's great!" I replied, still chewing.

She smiled wryly and continued eating her share. 

We have decided to eat only one piece at a time and drink only a few gulps of water with it. 

If we don't escape this place in a few days, we will die of hunger and thirst even if the monsters don't kill us. And judging by the distance we travelled today, it doesn't seem like we'll be getting out of here soon.

"Remember to drink only one gulp and swirl it in your mouth plenty before swallowing it. I've read that doing this will keep your mouth from drying and thus, less sense of thirst will affect you, Okay," 

"Oh, okay, thanks for telling me, I'll do just that, Akane-san."

'She is quite knowledgeable about survival stuff, huh?'

After our little break, we set out to wander the dungeon once again. 

 

 

!!!

'An Arachne...' 

It's hanging upside down, ahead of the turn. It's Sleeping maybe...

As we were moving along the path, I saw an Arachne at a turn. We stepped back and hid behind the wall so that we don't disturb its 'nap'. 

We don't chat while traversing through this dungeon, nor do we make that much sound when we walk. Maybe that's why it didn't open its eyes up when we arrived. 

It is nearly 15 metres away from us.

In other words,

IN MY RANGE.

It is hanging upside down from the ceiling by a white rope or web string.

With this, their webbing ability, is confirmed.  

Its eyes are closed. 

Maybe it is sleeping.

But... 

 

 

 

I can't aim properly at it, because it's continuously rotating. 

If it was approaching us then aiming would've been a lot easier than in this case. 

I don't know if a headshot kills them, but I'm aware that cockroaches can survive for weeks even without their heads. If these Arachnes live even a minute after my skill connects, it will be fatal for us, as I can't shoot them with my skill twice.

If my skill accidentally connects to a part other than that smooth stone-like organ, let's just call it 'soul core' for now, then it will surely wake up and charge at us with its full force. 

We can't have that, they are too fast for us to outrun them, and their strength is unknown too. I need to aim directly at the soul core to survive.

 

 

'Hm..... This will require Akane-san's help...' 

 

 

I whispered in her ear to reduce the Arachne's angular velocity (rotation speed) as slowly as she could.

She raised her arms and concentrated.

My right hand was aiming at the dormant-rotating Arachne to invoke my skill at the perfect moment.

I kept my focus on the Arachne and noticed that gradually its angular velocity was decreasing. 

And after a minute or so, it finally settled.

 

'Time to exterminate it...'

*inhale*

"< D I S I N T E G R A T E >"

 

 

 

 

The aim was perfect. 

"That was a perfect kill," I muttered.

'heh, It didn't even flinch when it died......' 

 

 

 

"Akane-san, you know what you have to do, right?"

"Ehhh?? You want me to play with a dead body!!"

"Please, Akane-san, I know it sounds gross when you say it that way, but I need you to it." I pleaded.

"fufu~ I was just kidding!" 

Earlier Akane had to hold back in using her skill because it was me on which she was exerting her force on. This time though, she can use her skill without any restrictions.

.

.

Akane told me that there was something up with her skill. Up to a certain limit, she could exert the force- freely. But after that limit, it became a little rough on her. That is, she was "overexerted". She guessed that this limit is about half of the maximum force stated in her STATUS Screen. Also, the MP started to drain quite rapidly when she went past that limit. She is not sure, but she thinks that the rate of drainage of MP becomes proportional to the amount of force exerted when reached past that limit. Well, the gauge dropped down so quickly that I can understand why she can't say for sure.

We also learned quite a bit about these Arachne's. Their defences are strong, to the point of extreme. Well, Akane couldn't burst its head even though she gave her all. She tried to apply her skill in various ways to cause damage to the dead body but was barely able to break a bone or few. The soul core too was found beyond crushable with this much force at this level.

Without getting "overexerted" she can use only half of 9 kN force- 4.5kN, it is not that much of a raw force. Well, if we think about that, simple raw force isn't anything special. I heard that for humans a fatal car crash has 1,00,000N force behind it, and even then a lucky few might still survive it. And a bullet with a small force of 2,000 N could kill effectively if aimed at critical places. All in all, it's the method with which it's applied not just raw strength. But at the moment, we can't think of any more efficient way to kill those Arachne's using her skill then what we already have. 

 

The conclusions of our little test of Akane's skill are:

1. Raw force of 9 kN, isn't near enough to kill an Arachne. 
2. Their bodies are extremely tough. 
3. For the time being the only way to "kill" the monsters, which is efficient too, is my skill.

However, with her skill, she can give these monsters a decent "Pseudo Debuff" at the very least.

 

 

 

 

After it was completely disintegrated into nothingness, I gained 35 levels and Akane gained 53 levels. All the MP Akane used was back to full too, even her tiredness and headache was gone too. 

The level gained this time may seem low compared to what the first one gave, but I think that the exp this one gave was more than any individual Arachne gave till now. The exp is shared between us, even so, the level increment is nothing to scoff at, this also means that they are beyond the level we could handle. This is the lowest floor ever ventured, what else we would expect. 

When we finally heard the ting inside our head and checked our Status, we moved ahead. 

I am not sure if when I am far from my 'kill', it will give me exp or not, as I have played some games in the past that don't give you your exp when you leave the area around your kill. But I can't risk experimenting with it right now as I need every bit of exp I could get.

That's why we have to wait till they are completely disintegrated.