The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 37

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

Chapter 37

‘Hm?’

Just then.
An unexpected gift came my way.

‘So the drop item got bumped up a tier too, thanks to the High-Difficulty Dungeon check.’

Soon, purple smoke began to rise from the center of the fallen scorpion.
Shuuu-.
The undulating smoke finally solidified into the shape of a spear.

[You have acquired the Steel Scorpion Spear.]

I picked up the new item.
It was far heavier than my previous spear.
Its design was rather crude, but its structure was simple, and it looked like it would be extremely sturdy.

‘I wonder if it has a special function?’

No sooner had I thought that than—

[TIP – This item is coated with Nerve Poison.]
[Once the Nerve Poison is fully expended, it will revert to a regular spear with high durability.]

A description surfaced, stating that this spear possessed a special ability to paralyze its target.

‘…Nerve Poison, huh.’

So it carried Nerve Poison because it came from the Steel Scorpion.
It’ll be useful in more ways than I expected.

[Under normal use, approximately five Nerve Poison attacks are possible.]

‘I’ll save it for now.’

I fastened the newly acquired spear to my back with the belt attached to my storage bag.

Ding!

[Ailin’s Trust Level toward you has increased!]
[Rian’s Trust Level toward you has increased!]

Perhaps it was because I’d taken down a Labyrinth Powerful Foe in a single blow right before their eyes? The Party’s Trust Levels shot up nicely.

Before long, the rest of the group came over to me.

“…I didn’t think you’d take it down in one hit. Even after seeing it with my own eyes, I still can’t quite believe it.”
“S-Setanta, are you all right?”

Rian rushed over in a flurry and examined me from every angle, as if he were a manager checking on an idol from his agency.

“….”

Ailin stood a little apart from me, her hand resting on the Iron Wood Sword, watching our surroundings as if wary of some lingering danger.
Eventually, she opened her mouth, her eyes calm and composed.

“Now, where do you suppose the people this scorpion caught are right now? The folks from the Rom Federation, including the mansion’s master.”
“….”
“They were kind to us, so I want to save them. And above all, one of them is… half-blooded, but there’s a good chance she’s our countryman, isn’t there?”

Ailin’s violet eyes drifted past the dim, shadowy void.
As befits the last heir of the Ailand royal line, she seemed to feel a fierce protective instinct toward anyone of Ailand blood.

“With so few of our countrymen left, we have to rescue them with our own hands.”
“…Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and spoke up.

“I have a method for all of this.”
“…!”

Ailin’s and Rian’s puzzled gazes turned to me all at once.
Their eyes asked what it was.

“Setanta? Don’t tell me this is another revelation from the Great Mage…!”
“Yes, that’s right. You two wait here for a moment. First, I’ll retrieve the weapons.”

I sent the two of them off.
Then I decided to start by pulling back the spear I had driven into the dead scorpion.

…Kkeudeuk, kkeudeuk!
When I put strength into it and yanked the spear shaft free, blue blood spattered out with a wet splash and soaked my cheek.
Along with the slimy sensation trickling down my jaw came a strange, fishy stench that hit me all at once.

[Warning! – The item is excessively contaminated with demonic monster blood.]

‘Hm?’

Maybe because it was thoroughly soaked in the scorpion’s flesh and blood, the weapon was in a dreadful state.

[Warning! – The item’s durability is low.]

On top of that came a notice that it was about to break.

‘Did it rot so quickly because it stayed buried inside the monster after leaving my hands?’

【Basic Mana Manipulation】
-Instinctively wraps the surface of a cold weapon in a thin layer of mana before engaging in combat.
Penetrating power increases, and the weapon’s durability is maintained for longer.

Thanks to this skill, the weapon’s durability holds up relatively well for as long as I’m using it.
But if I fight without a mana coating, as I just did, the weapon wears down in no time.

‘I’ll use this spear one last time and then throw it away.’

I gripped the tainted, worn-out spear tight and took a step toward the scorpion’s tail.

A plump tail, each segment thick with flesh.
At its tip sat a glossy, teardrop-shaped Poison Needle with a hard steel shell.

“Setanta?”
“I’m going to separate this stinger from the tail now.”

I took hold of the old spear by its reversed grip.
Then I struck at the joint just beneath the Poison Needle.

……Crunch!
Kk, kkeuk, kwa-jik!

After stabbing at it over and over in quick succession like that.

Chii-ik.
At last, I managed to separate the stinger section at the tail on its own.

[You have obtained the Steel Scorpion Stinger.]
[Sturdy-Looking Spear has been destroyed.]

I set down the spear, its tip mashed flat and no longer usable.

Right, now then…

“Everyone, look over here. I’m about to show you something interesting.”

…Tok!
I carefully laid it down on the flattest stretch of stone floor I could find.
And the instant I did.

Pinggeureu-!

The round, plump steel stinger began to spin rapidly.

“The stinger… is moving on its own?”
“Setanta, it’s like a compass!”

Ailin and Rian stared at it, eyes wide with wonder.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a sort of compass.”

I went on explaining to the party, who were still watching it with wide-eyed curiosity.

“The tip of a Steel Scorpion’s stinger always points toward its own nest. So it can find its way back without getting lost.”
“…!”
“Its base is round and smooth, so when you set it like this, it spins around like a compass and points in one direction. That’s how you can find the location of the nest.”
“Oooh…!”
“Ah, and this too was information the Great Mage revealed to me through revelation, of course. I’m sure you all guessed.”

This was also information I picked up while playing the game. Technically speaking, the old geezer did tell me this, so it’s not a lie, right?
I didn’t lie.

Round and round, pinggeureu-.
At last, the round stinger stopped, pointing in one direction of the Labyrinth.
It was a place where a dim, winding path stretched on.

“Looks like the nest is over there. The abducted people are probably there too.”

I picked up the stinger again.

“If we keep checking the direction with this stinger as we advance, we should find the Scorpion’s Nest in no time.”
“Good thinking, Setanta!”
“…Setanta, we’d better hurry, just in case. I have a feeling we need to push ourselves a bit and get there fast.”
“Of course. Come, follow me.”

With me leading the way, stinger in hand.
We set off at a brisk pace toward the dim path.

* * *

The winding path stretched on for quite a while.

‘It’s farther than I thought, isn’t it?’

Every time we reached a fork in the road, the Poison Needle pointed us toward the direction we should take.
Ping-gur-ru-.
What a diligent little guide the Poison Needle was.

‘If it had been smaller, I could have modified it into a Labyrinth compass.’

But if this Poison Needle took even a little more damage here, it would lose its function as a compass altogether.
Whether it had always been this way or not, the compass function that pointed toward the Nest would only work if it remained in its original form.
It was a bit of a shame.

Whirl, whirl…
Ping-gur-ru-!

‘…Is this another time it’s picked the darkest of the forks?’

Yet the Poison Needle seemed to be leading us deeper and deeper into darkness, and a hint of unease rose in my chest.
And somehow, it’s a bit…
The smell of blood seems to have grown stronger, doesn’t it?

‘Ah, we’re getting closer to the Nest where the people with severed limbs are kept… So this is only natural.’

“…”

Still, Hecate should be fine.
True to a hero optimized for survival, she’s probably lying unconscious inside the Nest right now, all her limbs intact.

‘Mm…’

Well… even if one or two of them were already gone, I could fit her with a prosthetic arm or leg and get her back on her feet.
A person can live without a limb or two. And live perfectly well, at that.

‘Like her, right over there.’

I turned my head and looked at Ailin.

“Setanta, do you have something to say?”
“…”

Ailin met my gaze with a puzzled look.
Clear, transparent eyes.
Exactly as they were before the Underground City had been attacked, those faintly lavender eyes were fixed on me.

‘No, come to think of it, she’s not exactly fine, is she?’

“No, it’s nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were both keeping up.”

I brushed it off with a vague excuse and turned my eyes forward again.
With the stench of blood growing thicker by the moment, a strange feeling suddenly reared its head.

‘Is this really all right to go on like this?’

[Ailin’s new trait, 【Intermittent Madness (-)】, is about to bloom!]

Her Madness Trait hasn’t attached yet, though.
Judging by her recent conduct…
Ailin is undeniably a Hero with a somewhat dangerous streak.

‘…If this were a game, I’d have kept this Hero out of the main Party and quietly weeded her out.’

But the place I’ve set foot in is no pixelated world inside a game.
Not a character. A real person.
A living, breathing human being is following right behind me, trusting me.
So I can’t act as if this were a game.

‘Besides… it’s been surprisingly fine, too.’

Whether it’s mere coincidence, I can’t say.
Ailin’s violent conduct has never once worked against me up to now.

…Her strange actions may have seemed a little risky at the time, yet in the end they always paid off for me in some measure.
Like getting something done without lifting a finger, she had been clearing away the threats on my behalf all this while.

‘Strange, really…’

I was walking along, my thoughts a little restless, when it happened.

“…!”

Ahead, at the mouth of the passage, a severed ankle came into view.
One glance was enough to tell whose it might be.

“Setanta, I think that’s Achilles’ ankle…?”
“Yes, it certainly looks that way.”

Achilles has a heavily muscled build.
And this ankle is no different.

‘So Patroclus and Achilles have both lost pieces of their bodies…’

Then what about Hecate?
Don’t tell me she’s lost a limb somewhere too.

“…We should hurry. As quickly as we can, without provoking the Labyrinth.”

I hurried on, nearly running.
That fragile, one-of-a-kind SSR, with its irreplaceable, broken-game-level danger sense, had to be rescued as intact as possible.

‘Please, let her be alive and well…!’

I had been moving swiftly for some time when—

“…Huh?”

I came upon a sight I hadn’t expected.

A torso with no arms and no legs at all.
Black hair rippling over it.

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