Chapter 64: The Centipede’s Poison

Suddenly, another unbelievable thing happened: the robots actually vanished!

Just like the mobs in an anime game dungeon, the battered machines broke apart into pitch-black 2D squares that formed a dark grid, then grew finer, smaller, and finally disappeared.

“What?! Are these things programs?? Don’t tell me there’s more?!”

But before I could calm down, a grating, spine-chilling clatter came from behind and above my head. I looked up nervously and saw a mechanical centipede crawling across the ceiling above us.

Suddenly, square panels on the centipede’s back flipped upright.

“Holy crap?! Missile silos?!”

Before I could react, missile heads popped out of each opening. Without warning, they fired at us.

“Waah!” I yelled, my red eyes wide like I’d seen a ghost. “What the hell is this?! Why are there RPGs?!”

But I was so scared I shut my eyes and thought, ‘It’s over, totally GG. Why does a magical world have missiles?!’

A muffled explosion sounded all around me. It turned out Anna had cast a barrier. A gleaming golden magic circle of geometric patterns spun beneath her feet, supporting the massive shield.

“Wow… so strong…”

“Hehe, I told you I’d protect you.” Anna smiled and patted my head.

“Mmm… tha-thanks.” I said sheepishly.

I’d thought she was carrying me like a pet, but… she was actually keeping me safe. I lowered my gaze, speechless, and had to admit: Anna was amazing. As heck!

“Of course, hehe~” Anna said, poking my chubby cheek.

“Mmph.” Annoying… but you’re strong, so poke away if you want…

Looking at the sea of fire in the middle of the room, I figured those three archaeologists were done for. But the next second, I was shocked. That fatty actually carried the other two out of the flames all by himself.

Even more surprising, the magic tome floated behind the fatty, constantly spewing air blades from its pages, slicing every missile apart, and even the explosions were blocked by countless wind blades.

“Oh my god, this fatty is amazing!” I stared in shock. This wasn’t a background character; he was really hiding his power!

As he ran, he yelled: “Oh my god, where did this giant bug come from? And it’s immune to wind? This is gonna kill me, kill me! And you two, why won’t you get up? Are you really trying to make me lose weight? Aiya, oh my god, why is it still shooting? I’m dying! God! You two, get up now!”

Honestly… he looked pretty cool, but after that whole rant… his pillar-of-strength image was completely ruined. This guy was a total goofball!

Just then, a lava blade dozens of meters long slammed into the mechanical centipede on the ceiling with a deafening boom.

It exploded instantly. No question.

Then the fatty brought the two skinny guys back to our side, and they all started “afk-ing,” letting the Princess “solo.”

It wasn’t that we didn’t want to help. It was that the Princess’s speed, magic, and skills were so overwhelming that a single misstep would get us caught in the crossfire.

Just as I thought that, a stream of lava grazed past Anna’s barrier. Zihoo.

This Berserker was too fast. My normal eyes couldn’t track her at all. All I saw were streams of lava blasting at the centipede while it dodged just as quickly.

At that moment, the fatty ran up to us, panting, his lips purple as if poisoned. Sun Yanwei pointed at Luo Shi and Langbo, who were lying in Anna’s barrier, and said: “Marquis! I… I can’t do it either. This centipede is poisonous! These two are probably poisoned.”

But before he could catch his breath, Anna waved her hand like she was shooing a beggar. A surge of cyan-green light washed over the three of them, and they were healed.

Luo Shi and Langbo, whose faces had been black and purple, immediately looked better. The fatty’s lips also returned to normal from deep purple.

“What the heck, just like that?” I said, stunned.

“Mm, of course. It was just a little poison.” Anna said smugly, then called to the Princess: “Princess! This centipede is poisonous! Be careful!”

Just as the three archaeologists finished getting healed and stood up to fight, the round robots appeared again in the four corners of the room.

“Hey, Anna, what’s coming out over there?” I pointed around shakily, clinging to Anna’s arm and trembling.

“It’s fine. Leave it to me. That was just a mistake.” Langbo, the aloof, quiet one, finally said a sentence with more than ten words!

Then he vanished too! And the circle of robots started exploding one after another. Boom! xN

[Langbo is a magic swordsman. The sword in his hand was obtained from the Black Feather Ruins. It’s a magic blade with “Sharp Edge” properties that can cut through anything. A complete divine artifact!]

After the round, Langbo returned to the barrier. He didn’t say anything, just sheathed his sword and remained alert.

This kind of guy who shows off and then turns his back to us… I don’t know why, but when I used to watch anime, I thought it was cool. Now it just pissed me off.

But out of habit, I acted cute and said: “Wow! Big brother, you’re so strong!”

Aah! What am I saying!?

Huh? Wait, why are you blushing!?

I stared at this aloof man like I’d seen a ghost.

Another personality in me sneered: ‘You pervert!’

“Hey, Little Wolf! Why didn’t you leave any for me?” The fatty, holding the magic tome, went to pat him, but Langbo sidestepped.

Langbo said coldly: “Don’t touch me. Princess, I’ll help you now.” With that, he charged over, also becoming a blur.

Luo Shi and Sun Yanwei charged in too. Then the “BOSS fight” over there got even more chaotic. The visual effects were total chaos: ice spears, black-purple sword energy, air blades, fire pillars, and lightning all mixed together.

I watched… completely dumbfounded.

But even with such ferocious firepower, the centipede was still writhing lively on the ceiling, firing lasers and missiles continuously.

Because of all the effects and the centipede’s speed, I couldn’t tell if it had one of those self-destruct panels on its body. Streams of lava light and countless lightning bolts struck around the centipede.

The fatty over there shouted: “Hey, Wolf! This centipede is poisonous! Can you handle it?”

Langbo didn’t answer. He’d probably already thought of a plan.

Watching the brawl, I didn’t know what to say. Everything was happening too fast. I had no time to prepare.

Why did this ruin just throw a boss at us without me even touching anything? I was puzzled, but then magic circles suddenly appeared on the surrounding walls.

“Ten-thousand lightning array?!” Anna’s expression changed. She quickly let go of me, dropped to one knee, put one hand on the floor, and aimed the other at the Princess, rapidly casting defensive magic.

Two dark-gold magic circles appeared at once. One stacked beneath Anna’s barrier, and the other appeared near the Princess.

Then countless black branches grew out of the dark-gold circles, shielding us, while the walls unleashed ten thousand bolts of lightning.

In an instant, the blinding light made it impossible to open my eyes.

The lightning bolts all struck the black branches and were quickly absorbed by them.

“Whoa!” I hugged Anna in fear.

If this were the old me, I’d never get this close to a girl. But I had no choice. I was really weak!

This wasn’t a game. Getting hit by a lightning skill didn’t just cost HP. It meant losing an arm or a leg!

But what was going on? Why was it leveling up? Once I realized the room’s attacks were escalating, I instinctively thought of those timed boss fights in games. If you don’t kill the boss in time, it enrages, and then it’s a party wipe…

I immediately shouted to the Princess: “Princess! Do you have a scanner?!”

“No!” the Princess shouted back. “You guys back off a bit. This thing seems to–”

Before she could finish, the centipede made a metallic valve sound.

Suddenly, the whole room filled with glowing green gas. It was released from pores on the sides of the centipede’s body.

Waves of fluorescent gas instantly flooded the room!

This familiar plot, familiar scene, all these déjà vu vibes! I felt something terrible was coming.

Then I realized the lightning was gone. The sounds of fighting stopped. Anna’s barrier shattered. The black branches and the magic circles vanished along with it.

“What? Is this an enrage? Or phase two?!”

Before I could figure out what was happening, I heard people collapsing all around me.

“Ah?!” I startled and accidentally inhaled a big gulp of green gas. “Damn, I breathed it in!”

The Princess and Langbo both fell. The fatty and the old man fell too. Only Anna remained standing, barely holding on, kneeling on one knee.

Everyone seemed to be poisoned! This sudden turn caught me completely off guard. What the hell was this?!

And why was I unaffected?!

As my mind went blank, the centipede raised its upper body, hung upside down from the ceiling, and opened its huge maw of metal fangs, aiming straight at the Princess who lay paralyzed on the ground.

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