509 – Before Contact

“Besides, I have a way to let you know what’s happening, even at a distance.”

A way to let us know what’s happening even at a distance…? Did she have something like that?

As I try and think what it could be, the atlach-nacha walks up to me and holds out a hand. Wondering what’s in it, I stretch out my neck.

Purple threads gather together in her palm, knitting into three little spiders that look like stuffed toys… Oh my, how cute.

Wait no, this skill must be…

【Normal Skill [Doppel Cocoon]】
【Creates a body double out of thread.】
【The body double’s size and stats are proportional to the amount of MP invested.】
【In addition, the body double requires a continuous consumption of MP to maintain.】

It’s the skill she got upon evolving. So that’s what it does. It’s the first time I’ve seen her use it. It sounds strong and practical.

『…So, what about them?』

The atlach-nacha sneers. I-is she making fun of me…? She points a finger, and the three stuffed toy spiders launch themselves at me and stick to my side.

All twenty four legs of the knitted spiders begin to wriggle. Th-this tickles!

『S-so jealous!』

Treant-san seems to be mumbling something, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.

“At that size, they won’t take much mana. If they’re coming, I’ll make one disappear. If the situation’s changed and I need you to come, I’ll erase two.”

『I-I see…』

S-she really does sound wise when she talks… Or rather, isn’t she just smart?

『So, what’s the third for?』

“…I didn’t think about it. It’s unneeded.”

『Three of them crawling on me is way too ticklish, so take one off!?』

The atlach-nacha ignores me and begins to walk in the direction of Lilixira. S-she can hear me perfectly fine…! Is she not going to take off the third?!

『H-hey, atlach-nacha!』

I call out insistently with [Telepathy], and she inclines her mask slightly towards me. I intend to ask her to remove the third stuffed spider, but end up saying something else.

『…If anything happens, come back right away! Absolutely don’t push yourself too hard! If you don’t come back alive, we won’t have any information!』

She nods slightly, then proceeds forwards.

“Dragon-god-sama, should I take it off?”

Aro calls out as she circles around in front of me. I shake my head.

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『…No, she didn’t say it, but there’s a situation when all three will disappear. That is, if she dies. She left the third with that in mind.』

Aro opens her eyes wide and stares ahead. The atlach-nacha has already disappeared into the fog.

“…They’ll probably choose to attack us straight away. Even if they notice her reconnaissance, I don’t think they’ll have the leeway to attack her.”

Volk calls out to me. I understand what he’s saying.

But Lilixira isn’t someone I can predict. She’s not a human, nor a monster. She’s too callous for either label. I can’t say for certain that she won’t try and crush the atlach-nacha first, in order to unsettle me.

For a while after that, we hold ready.

I can tell they’re there from the ticklish feeling, but every few seconds, I glance down at the body doubles on my chest. I’m begging you… Please, don’t die, atlach-nacha…! I don’t want to lose anyone again.

Eventually, I sense a familiar presence at the edge of my full-power [Presence Perception].

『This is… Another of Beelzebub’s kin?』

Why now…?

“…It’s probably here to check on us before they attack, to see if we’ve moved. If so, the Saint’s not far behind.”

Volk says, and I nod. I see, that makes sense.

Aro thins her eyes and moves close to my face.

“…With dragon-god-sama’s magic, could we somehow trick that fly?”

Trick the fly…? I-I see, if I feed it false information, it’ll mislead Lilixira.

…No, is there any point in doing that? If I get them to think we aren’t here and cause them to change course, it’ll defeat the purpose of us waiting here. It’ll bad if I can’t predict where she is.

“Can you do it in a way that makes them not change their route?”

『I-I see…!』

If I can get them to think we’re further back than we are, Lilixira’s group should pass right through here defenceless. That’ll also make it unlikely for Beelzebub to get off a good [Storm of the Fly King]. Its high firepower and huge range comes from using it after [Inhaala], after all.

『Everyone, go back and hide inside the waterfall cavern for a bit!』

I call out, and they all run back inside the cavern. Treant-san’s normal size is too big to hide, so I get it to switch to its penguin-like form with [Tree Spiritisation].

I then use [Dragon Mirror] to take on my [Baby Dragon] form, and [Mirage] to hide myself and project an [Oneiros]-like shadow into the distance behind us. The scale is so big that it might look a bit unnatural, but Beelzebub’s kin don’t have a high magic stat. It shouldn’t notice anything off.

Before long, Beelzebub’s kin appears. After flying around for a bit in apparent confusion, it seems to spot the distant shadow and heads towards it.

…Did it work? The only problem is how Lilixira will react to the information. I really don’t want to get into a psychological battle with her.

Now that I think about it, the enemies I’ve fought so far – the Hero, Tolman, the slime – have all been simplistic in their aims and thought processes, and so it might have been easy for me to predict them. But Lilixira is different.

I can’t understand how she thinks at all. Immediately after I flew out of the royal capital to lead the ruin away, she sent Beelzebub to kill me. At the time I was more shocked than angry, and then once I processed it, I felt nothing but terror upon understand that there could be a human so coldhearted and ruthless. To be honest, imagining what she might be planning still fills me with dread now.

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