The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25

“…Huh? Ice magic?”
“What are you talking about, Setanta?”

Rian and Ailin looked at me with puzzled expressions.

“Setanta, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden…?”
“It has to be ice magic. And make it bitingly cold!”

Yeah, something had been bugging me since earlier.
A gimmick that strips away the standard strategy against a boss that has one.
That’s just weird, isn’t it?

Clack, clack, clack!

The blue spider began to advance toward me, its legs rising and falling.
With every step it took closer, the cold grew thicker, chilling my lungs.

‘Some monsters become most active at specific temperatures.’

What if this monster, having evolved into an ice type, prefers a temperature somewhere between a refrigerator and room temperature?
And what if it still retains the traits of a cold-blooded creature?

[Rian sacrifices an offering and casts a spell!]
[Centered on the target, Frost Storm activated!]

Tssssh-.
Frost began to rapidly spread across the body of the giant spider at the center of the spell.
Ice, frost, and icicles crept over its eight legs and bulky body, one after another.

“Setanta, I used a cold-type spell on that spider just as you said…!”

Rian cried out in disbelief, blood trickling from his nose.

“It really slowed down…! Setanta, what on earth is this…?”

The blue giant spider’s movements had become noticeably sluggish compared to before.

…Thud!
It staggered so badly that its eight legs couldn’t hold its balance, and it collapsed.

[TIP – A boss in Groggy state can take critical damage!]

‘So this was the right answer after all.’

Shing-
I drew the longsword from my waist and gripped it.
Now it was time to settle this.

“Ah! Now I understand, Setanta! I’m ashamed to say I overlooked the most basic thing…!”

Rian’s sparkling eyes turned toward me.

“Cold-blooded creatures stop moving when their bodies heat up, but when they get cold, they can’t move either…!”

Yeah, that’s right.
Cold-blooded creatures stop when they’re hot, and they stop when they’re cold too.

‘Besides, the brown spider from the original game was the type that heated up easily, so the guide was written with that in mind.’

In theory, that one could also be knocked into Groggy state with frost magic.
The problem was that early on, finding a mage who could cast that level of magic was hard, and every time the spider thrashed, its body temperature spiked and cancelled everything out…
It was just a method nobody used because it was inefficient.

…Clang!

Maybe because the spider’s shell had frozen solid and hardened.
The iron wood sword Ailin charged in and swung with all her might bounced right back off.

“Hm, it seems my attacks aren’t getting through.”
“Let me give it a try.”

I strode forward into the center of the howling cold.
Through the frost, I could see the spider’s head, so blue it gleamed cobalt.
Where Ailin had just brought down her iron wood sword with full force, there wasn’t so much as a scratch.

‘Ailin isn’t a Hero with low strength, either. Does that mean her attacks didn’t land at all?’

…Did it freeze so solid that it got even harder?
Then, among the Heroes at this level, apart from me, Setanta, there’s practically no one who can deal real damage.

Oh, of course, there’s one trash-tier Hero who’s all brute strength, but he’s passed out from that Achilles tendon issue in his ankle, so let’s leave him out of it.

Anyway.
Now this is something only I can do.

Shing—.
I gripped the Hero’s Longsword and stared at the edge of the blade.
The edge was chipped in a dozen tiny places; it looked like it might snap any moment.

『Setanta, you’ve actually gone and knocked the boss senseless!』
『But what now? Swing that longsword as it is, and the blade will shatter in a single blow!』

Screeech, screeeech!
Before I knew it, Charles had poked his head out of his pocket with a pop and started talking to me.

『The longsword you stole from me is also about to break!』
『Ha! Yes, now you’ll be trampled to death by a spider with no weapon at all!』
『For betraying your comrades and destroying the Empire, the sins of your previous life……! Atone for them with your death!』
『Die! Die! Just die! And the original sin your Ailander kind committed……!』

“That was all a misunderstanding, according to the settings update.”

『What.』

At my words, the Charles rat went abruptly quiet.
Even if he hadn’t caught the word ‘update’ at the end, he seemed to have gotten the gist of it well enough.

“…Well, as you said, if I swing it like this, it’ll probably just snap the blade.”

Which means it has to be a blunt weapon, not an edged one.
Something that tough a shell is best smashed by a blunt weapon, after all.
Shwing—.
I slid the Hero’s Longsword back into its sheath.

So now…
Where do I get a suitable weapon?

Thankfully, the Groggy state from the frost seemed like it would last quite a while.
I turned my gaze and looked around.

‘The sword of the Imperial Knight that Ailin burned to death is completely wrecked.’

I also scanned the New Character from the Rom Federation who’d passed out in the corner with his head stuck in the wall.
Let’s see…
First, Hecate’s is a dagger, so that’s out.
Achilles, the Trash-Tier who’s hovering near death from his ankle injury, has a Gladius, which is relatively short, so that’s not what I’m after either.

‘Hm?’

Just then, a sword gleaming from within the bloody heap of flesh caught my eye.

‘Right. That’s the weapon of the Imperial Knight who died to the first hit after failing to dodge with WASD!’

Shing-!
I immediately yanked out the sword that had been stuck between the heaps of flesh.
It was a longsword with a thick pommel and a crossguard that formed a solid shape.
Its scabbard was firmly embedded in the crushed flesh, so I didn’t feel like digging it out with my own hands and left it be.

‘…Didn’t medieval knights, when facing heavily armored foes, grip the blade with their hands and use the pommel and crossguard like a club to smash through the armor?’

I immediately flipped the sword over and wrapped my left hand around the blade.

‘If I grip it carefully so the blade doesn’t cut my palm, it should be fine?’

After my left hand, I also set my right hand in place with my fingers spread and gripped carefully. Somehow, without getting cut by the edge, I could hold the longsword upside down.

The so-called Murder Stroke.
Grabbing the blade!

“Lord Setanta…?”
“Ah, this is a proper swordsmanship form.”
“…?”
“It really is.”

I suppose you only know the Magic Tower, so you wouldn’t.

Anyway, gripping the longsword upside down, I brought it down with all my strength onto the spider’s frozen, solid head.

Ccheong!

The solid, round pommel slammed mercilessly into the center of the spider’s head instead of the blade.
Kiiiing-!
The blade connected to the sword’s grip trembled violently and let out a cry.

‘Hm…’

My palm stung a little.
Did I get my grip wrong?
Whatever, one more time.

Ccheong!

After a few more strikes, cracks finally began to radiate across the spider’s head.

[Through this new way of using the weapon, your proficiency in Lesser Swordsmanship has risen dramatically!]

Huh?
And on top of that, my proficiency jumped by a lot.
One more time, like this!

…Clang!

[As proficiency rises, 【Lesser Swordsmanship】 advances one tier!]

【Lesser Swordsmanship】 ▶ 【Intermediate Swordsmanship】

‘Oh, the skill leveled up.’

All at once, the way my palm gripped the blade shifted, ever so slightly.
My skin wouldn’t be sliced by the edge, yet my fingers and palm balanced the force between them with uncanny precision.

‘Is it because the skill improved?’

Good. One more time, like this!
I swung the longsword around in reverse again and brought it down on the spider’s head.

…Clang-clang-clang!

[Level up.]
[The dungeon’s Boss has been slain!]

Crack, crack-crack-.
At last, the spider’s head shattered.

‘Phew, finally killed it.’

My level went up, too.
I’d finally taken down the Boss.

…Ding!

[Because the hidden condition has been met, the Labyrinth’s exit will not be generated!]

I don’t know what it is, but I met the hidden condition too, so a Hidden Item should drop…!
…Drop?
Huh?

[Because the hidden condition has been met, the Labyrinth’s exit will not be generated!]

Wait, what?

[The Great Mage’s Soul is highly pleased with your Guide!]

What is that supposed to mean?

Kkudeudeudeuk-.

In that instant, the stone walls and stone floor that made up the Boss Room began to swell and bulge outward.
Like the insides of some enormous organ.

[The Great Mage’s Soul
,
wishes to welcome you as its eternal assistant!]

‘Eternal assistant…?’

Wait, hold on?
This… isn’t the Red Bean Tea Ending, is it……?

“Aaaaah……! Aaaaaaaargh-!”

[Imperial Knight James’s mental state is deteriorating!]

James’s frenzied, deer-like shrieks graze past my ears.
The walls and floor of the Labyrinth, from ceiling to ground, are writhing and squelching all around us, like a terrible nightmare.

[The Great Mage’s Soul covets you!]
[The Great Mage’s Soul wishes to welcome you as its eternal apprentice……]

You have to be kidding me……!

‘I killed the boss, so why won’t the Labyrinth let us out?!’

If the original game was following its script, an exit should have appeared the moment the boss fell.
Then we could’ve summoned a priest to seal the Labyrinth, and only then would the Red Erosion be delayed.
……That was supposed to be how it played out: clear the Labyrinth and close out Chapter 1 in one stroke.

‘But there’s no exit. Are they serious right now?’

Ding!

[Checklist has been updated.]

[Hidden Route Progress: 8.9%]
-(new!) 『Destroy the Great Mage’s First Soul Fragment』

“……!”

Just then, a fresh checklist flickered into view right before my eyes.

‘Destroy the soul fragments?’

Wait, could this be it?
All at once, like a current running through me, everything began to make sense.

‘The guardian magic the Great Mage supposedly built by splitting his own soul a thousand years ago… that’s what caused the Red Erosion, right?’

Then, if I destroy every one of the Great Mage’s soul fragments in this run?

The Red Erosion creeping across this world would finally vanish, too.
……Couldn’t that finally lead to the true happy ending?

“S-Setanta! The flow of mana in this Labyrinth is strange! It’s as if it means to swallow us whole right here!”
“Aaah! Aaaaaaargh! Aaaah!”

[Imperial Knight James’s mind has reached its limit!]

“Imperial knight! Shut that mouth of yours right now, or I’ll make sure it never opens again!”
“A-Ailin……! This is no time for that! Setanta, what do we do now……!”
“Aaaaah! Aaaaaaaargh-!”

James’s frenzied, deer-like wailing tears straight through my eardrums.
The crimson walls twist like living entrails, drawing closer to me by the second.
Now we really are running out of time.

‘……If I destroy the Great Mage’s soul fragments, I can escape this Labyrinth.’

But how?
How am I supposed to destroy the soul of that senile Great Mage? Does a soul even have a physical form?

Ding!

[Become one!]

Just then.
Red system messages began to pop up in front of my eyes, one after another.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Become one!]
[Become one!]
[Become one with the Great Soul…….]

‘It was quiet for a while, and now this crazy blood-red system window is back…!’

But through the countless red messages blocking my view,
something shimmering, a red shape of some kind, flickered into sight.

‘What is that?’

Beside the corpse of the giant spider, its head smashed open, something was lying sprawled on the ground.

Something like a tangled mass of red hair…….
Twitching without any sign of life, something.

“Everyone, has that red thing wriggling over there been there all along?”
“W-what are you talking about, Sir? There’s only the spider’s corpse. Setanta, we… what do we do now……!”

‘Could it be that only I can see it? That red thing is the Great Mage’s Soul Fragment?’

So the moment the boss died…
it burst out?
The Soul Fragment of the Great Mage that had been holding up this Labyrinth?

Ding!

Right then, a blue system window popped up beside the red one.

[TIP – Only a being that does not belong to this world can fundamentally destroy the Great Mage’s Soul.]

‘Only someone who doesn’t belong to this world can… remove that thing?’

Someone not born in this world?

An outsider?
A foreign species? A foreign laborer?

……Then, that would be me, huh?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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