Chapter 62: [Arc 2] Chapter 19: Why Did It Have To Be…

"Turn Undead!" - Garami

The ground was filled in a mystic, silver-colored light from the magic circle. And then... nothing. No wonder. There's no target after all.

"That's Nether Magic? I thought stuff like Turn Undead was Priest spells." - Marc

"Nether Magic involves any spell related to necromancy... also how to defeat it." - Garami

"Ooh!"

It's our second day on Sea Tree Island, breakfast time. It's like tasting heaven. Marc's cooking, that is. None of our group knows how to cook, so we're relying on him. HAVE to visit his restaurant after this.

Yesterday night, after being scolded enough to get burns and got my part of the dinner, I released a ton of G-rank Skeleton Rats with extra costs for stealth- and mapping abilities. Total cost: [1Since it's rank G, * 10 * 0,5Size Mini, * 3Extra costs.], it needed 15 Materials for each Rat.

I also made use of the newly acquired blueprints from the owl Mira managed to hunt down yesterday. Rank-F Skeleton Owls with extra juice so they could get the same extra skills as the Rats. [5Rank F costs * 10 * 1Size tiny * 3], for a total of 150 Materials.

I used 750 Materials for 5 Owls from my stock of 1.456 Materials and used the remaining on 45 Rats. 

Another lucky break is that some of the animals that Marc 'tamed' turned out to be willing to help transport the rats for another helping of the food.

The animals are F-ranked ring-tailed lemurs, the same one can find on Madagascar back on Earth, I think. And there are some evolved E-ranks among them, a type of monster named Spiral-tail Lemurs. These guys are so fast that they're above humans in SPD alone. Then again, they're some of the weakest creatures on this island, so all they can do is run for their lives.

Since the Rats hide even the lemurs that are carrying them, the Spiral-tail Lemurs could run through the island with peace of mind, leaving it all to the Rats' [Auto-Mapping] function. The ring-tails? They're dead asleep during the night. Only the Spiral-tails can operate after the sun's set.

To summarize, we completed the whole map of the island all in one night! [Auto-Mapping] reached LV.24 as a bonus~. And my necromancy-related levels have also gone up~.

[Necromantic Rite]'s reached Lv.20, thanks to both the creation of undeads and absorption of Materials. [Create Undead]'s at Lv.29 now, and [Control Undead]? A whooping Lv.37! A 12-level difference from before! I gotta do undead-mapping some more. It's just too tasty to resist! Maybe I should do Plain Island next? All the undeads returned safely back before the morning sun came, so I didn't lose any Materials...

Also, Spectermancer reached Lv.24 thanks to all this, so I earned the [Nether Magic] skill over the night. I demonstrated it just now due to Marc's attention being caught by the skill's strange name. 

"Then, let's go over the plan. Garami. the map." - Alf

I showed the map generated by [Auto-Mapping] so that everyone could see it. The island looked normal... but three spots stand out on it.

First, there's a path of broken trees, not far from the camp. Obviously, that's the scar of Mira trying to earn the Destroyer title. We can ignore that.

The second and third abnormalities are large openings in the jungle. If the stripe of destruction had been vertical instead of horizontal, then these three cuts in the forest would have drawn a skull on the map.

"These... are obviously suspicious." - Noire

"Yup. The scouts couldn't get too close to these openings, so there's bound to be something there." - Garami

"Hmm... then it is safe to say we will start the investigation from these two points, to say the least. Even if we don't find anything, it's some of the best places to start looking for the cat. Anyone in disagreement?" - Alf

None of us raised our hands. 

"Alright, then we're poking the skull's eye holes... how are we going do it?" - Mira

"True. We need to have someone guard Marc while the others look for that Maneko named Milo..." - Noire

"...So, who's going? Just so you know, I can't walk through the forest without bulldozing a path." - Mira

"People's gonna notice that. This time, we want to sneak up on them, not make ourselves known." - Garami

"I'm confident that it's impossible for me!" - Mira

"Don't be confident in that... Then Garami, can we leave the search to you then? The closest thing related to a jungle that I've been in is the small woods where I grew up. You're probably the only one who can move stealthily through the flora." - Alf

"Heck, can anyone move as silently as her? I know I'm not able to do that, even if I had the same skills. And Garami's the only one with the map." - Mira

My "childhood" was a crash course in survival-stealth after all. Saying I have the experience in staying hidden's not a mistake...

This is gonna end with me having to do all the hard lifting again, right? I'm the leader here, so why am I the only one exposed to this sweatshop treatment!?

---

Alright, should be getting close now...

After getting the stuff that I had Marc order for me, I went for the "right eye" of the island. And it's really only me... those bastards... gotta look for another scout to add to the group. We've needed one since yesterday!

And it's just as I thought. Primates all around. From what those lemurs could tell us with their gestures and drawings in the sand, this island's mostly dominated by two types of factions: a primate-monster based, and a serpentine one.

Then there are various other species, like the owls or the Aquarects, but the dominating groups are these two.

The northeast part of the island is the main residence of the primate group... sans some delinquents that live on the southern parts of the island. The lemurs and the gorillas are examples of these. 

The primate group consists of mostly monkeys, and a few gorillas here too, but unlike those we encountered in the south, these guys are more civilized... according to monkey standards. They've fashioned simple weapons such as spears and rock axes, but nothing too impressive.

They're many though, so I wanna get this job done without being noticed. An easy job, considering these guys have invested almost no points to search-abilities. At least, they're better than the reptiles on the northwest part of the island. They've got to have something like "heat detection" or whatever skill. They're snakes after all.

Anyway, time to slip through some monkey defense... where's the "eye" again? Ah, over there, behind that massive wooden fence... just my luck.

To add insult to injury, the monkeys are patrolling the fence with some kinda dedication in their eyes. Is there something bad behind there? Or maybe... the catnapper's some kinda Monkey Tamer? 

Let's get a higher point of view. Hm-hmm. Climbing in trees ain't limited to monkeys alone~.

And, arrived. What's behind fence number 1... undeads!?

A party of undeads is guarding some cave-opening in the middle of the "right eye" on the map. 

The rest of the place is devoided for any plant life, resulting in a bare area with only dirt and rocks. And in the middle of this area is the cave. It jags out of the ground, like some shark coming up to the surface for a quick bite. 

...Those undeads... aren't they unharmed despite being in the sun? Is that cave somehow connected to that cursed island? The undeads there are also undisturbed by the sun... 

Either both this cave and that island's just got the same constitution that births undeads unaffected by sunlight, or that cave's somehow connected to the cursed island...

If it's the latter theory, then it would explain why the monkeys ain't just taking care of the undead party. If the undeads are guarding some secret entrance to the island, then they've got no reason to interfere with the monkeys. And the monkeys themselves won't be able to take care of the undeads, as reinforcement's probably gonna show up if they crush the current undead guards. It's easier to simply isolate the undeads. The monkeys won't get any casualties either.

The thought of a secret entrance to that undead paradise does sound tempting to me, but that's not why I'm here today. Let's go and look for the catnapper. Meaning that I have to enter the snake territory... damn it all...

---

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So... this is strange. Not one slippery snake for miles. And this is right in the middle of their territory even...

It wasn't completely vacant, as there were some snakes at the borders of the two areas of the monkeys and the snakes. But, the further I'm walking into their territory, the fewer snakes I see. 

It could be they're all hiding... but for even [Empyrean Eyes] to fail in detecting them is a possibility that's unlikely to happen. I know there are skills like [Magic Power Concealment], but for all the different snakes to have it would be stranger than them missing. 

I kept on lurking in the shadows of the trees, being careful of any traps or hidden assailants, until I finally found something. 

A card soldier. 

Bingo! Of course, the card soldier didn't walk around with the cat in its arms. Tch. 

I stalked the card soldier as it walked through the forest. Sometimes, it encountered other card soldiers, only for them to ignore each other.

Are they guarding the area? They give off the same feel as the monkeys by the fence... then, there's really something going on by the right eye then.

I ditched the card soldier and walked to the "eye". That's the most suspicious area, after the card soldiers themselves. 

I tried and tried, but they wouldn't be Identified! It's not that they're keeping their information hidden, or they reject the Identification itself. It's like there's no target to Identify at all.

The [Magic Sight]-effects of [Empyrean Eyes] are working just fine... that's it! These card soldiers, they must be some sort of magic spell!

Their whole bodies are giving of magic power, visible to the effect of [Magic Sight], but they cannot be Identified. The only thing that matches those descriptions are magic spells. I know, since I once tried to Identify a Light Ball, the Lv.1 spell of [Light Magic]. There were no results, just like now. 

Then, the caster should be close by. And from the immense magic radiation in the "eye", it gotta be... there... WHAT THE HECK!?

There's something in the crater-like "eye", alright, but I never expected something like this! A huge outdoor lab has been made there, with even more card soldiers busy preparing something at the desks. There is also a group of guys that look like thugs monitoring the card soldiers. 

But more important is the guards watching over the process! A pair of two gigantic snakes... okay, maybe not "gigantic" is the right word here. Not after seeing the boss-snake of the Water-Knot Dungeon. Maybe around the 5th-floor boss?

One of them is pitch black. Even its eyes look like they're made of tar. For some reason, it looks damn sleepy.

The other one has more characteristics. It's got orange scales, a color you wouldn't expect from a jungle serpent. It also got a pair of bull horns on top of its head. And even stranger is its eyes. They're on fire. No joke! My eyes started to hurt when I looked at those fireballs, so I needed to grab some sunglasses from the Storage.

So, these guys must be the famous "monster-rulers of the snakes" as the lemurs tried to explain to us. I only understood half of what they said, but it was enough for me wishing to skip investigate the snake area. And damn I was right! But don't their eyes look a little dead...?

"Boss! Boss!" - Thug A

One of the thugs suddenly split up from the group and ran to a pavilion made in the middle of the crater... wait, how did I not notice that!? The snakes and the card-army must have been too much of a shock.

The thug ran up to a fancy-clothed guy... goat-headed guy. A type of Demon? And he's having a tea party in the middle of nowhere? A gentlegoat? That sounds strange, so I'll keep it as "gentleman".

He's dressed like a gentleman from Victorian England, with a dress, top hat, and even a monocle. He's also equipped with several belts, each holding several deck cases...

That's the guy! The controller of the card soldiers! There's no doubt! Not with that outfit! Speaking of which, doesn't it also resembles a card dealer? 

I can't hear what they're saying from over here... time for the telephone thread. It's a special trick-move I developed while afflicted with Waning. A thin thread, too thin to see, but still capable of catching and sending the sound back to me. Please notice the thread...

"-and how long will it take then?" - Gentleman (?)

"N-not too long! Half an hour or so. It's no big of a mistake." - Thug

"Good. Thank you for the warning. I'll focus my attention more on the trumps at the crater then." - Gentleman (?)

Oh? So he is the user of those card soldiers. And from the sound of it, it seems he's not using them at auto either... wait, there's around a good 50+ card soldiers in the crater alone, and who-knows-how-many outside of it? And he's ordering them each? No, it could also be group commands... Wait, he's using more than one deck? That's cheating!

"Now, hurry up! That sludge needs to be ready by tonight!" - Gentleman (?)

...Sludge? Why am I getting this bad feeling...

"Sir! It will be ready for the teletransportation to Velantas city's water reservoirs!" - Thug A

"Great work. With the sudden appearance of berserk monsters and sudden deaths, we will finally be able to escape this damn region!" - Gentleman (??)

...Monsters and sudden deaths... this is that Disaster-sludge again, right? Please tell me I'm wrong...

The thug went back to his group after that. The gentleman turned to something in the other chair...

"And you, our living lucky charm, will make it all possible for us." - Gentleman (???)

Living... Milo's located. I repeat, Milo's located!

"Once I get to regroup, I will find that blasted drunken fire-woman and show her what will happen when she crosses path with Berphor Avido!" - (Not a) Gentleman

I KNEW IT!! Just my f*ckings, freaking luck!!

Damn... Let's go back. I can shout out my feelings back on the beach... wait, maybe things aren't as bad as they look? Those snakes, presumably bodyguards, may not be as impressive as they look. Then, all that's needed is to stop that goat-head from ordering the card soldiers, and we're golden!

Or... straight-out bronze, heck, even pebbles are more worth than us! What's with this power-creep!? I'm gonna cry...

Description:

The Lesser Boiluna is a massive, nocturne serpent that lives in rivers in deep jungles. They prey on animals that come to the river to drink, but they will instantly change their target if they see any humanoids. 

Its evolved form, the Boiluna, is said to be the personification of the river it lives in, but the Lesser variant has yet to reach the point of being called that. The Lessers also lack the ability to change their shape like their evolved brethren. 

Appearance:

A Lesser Boiluna takes the appearance of a massive, black snake. Everything from their scales to their eyes, even their fangs and blood is pitch-black like tar.

Abilities:

A Lesser Boiluna is capable of swimming at high speed, even in small rivers. It can snap any unfortunate victims by the riverbed in a flash and its body contains a deadly poison that can affect even dragons. It does not have many opportunities to demonstrate this poison, as most of its victims get swallowed whole.

While a river snake, the Lesser Boiluna can still fight to a high degree, but, as one could expect, not as well if it was in the water. The snake is also completely nocturnal, making it extremely drowsy during the day.

Garami's comment: And when I finally have withstood even Waning to gain Poison resistance-type skills...

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