The first thing Arata did after returning to the prison was grab a spear, as he reluctantly prepared to retrace his steps after grabbing the gasoline and bringing a sword as his sidearm. However, his plan was still vastly different. Do I really have faith this time? I hope this works.
He went in the only other direction besides the nest, where there would be wolf-sized bugs to practice against. Also, there would be no point in fighting the boss again until he could learn how to kill it while outside the blast radius.
There had to have been something else. Once that thing exploded, there was the possibility it didn't die or that he didn't actually survive long enough for the boss to count as killed. That's not even considering the possibility that the boss could end up dying by self-destruction counted for the condition of "beating" the boss in the first place.
Arata needed to survive the self-destruction of the creature in the first place to find out any of those answers. To do that, he needed a way to get more range. He then had a sudden idea, something so incredibly simple he felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier. Just throw the javelins, how hard could it be?
I think I saw someone do this when I watched the Olympics once, one arm out, spear in my dominant hand, and then I get a running start. Just need to aim, this thing is surprisingly light. Moving down the hallway, he spots one of the bugs; since they're that big, they should be fairly easy to hit.
Arata gets a jogging start, throws his spear as it flies through the air at the bug, and he misses. Even if it hit, the way it flew outwards would have made not a single dent in the creature since there was no power behind his throw.
I don't have my spear since I tried throwing it. Why did I throw it? Use it as a big pointy stick next time, dumbass. The bug then let out a screech, causing more bugs to arrive, and now Arata had gone back immediately to the sword.
Well, she's not going to like knowing I was doing stupid shit again. That was a terrible idea. How would I even pull that attack off against the boss? I wouldn't have enough time to properly aim or get a running start. Arata let out a deep sigh at the thought.
I guess aiming wouldn't be too much of an issue. You'd have to be blind to miss the target, but how do I do enough damage? That question was for later Arata to figure out. Except there was unfortunately only one way forward, he could no longer put off work until later. The only way out was through.
Arata thinks while he sets his sword on fire, cleaving towards a bug, the human eyes of the bug surprisingly begin to cry; he has gotten more used to their movements by now and knows how to abuse the fear that the creatures tend to show. The bugs fear fire. They're intelligent enough to try to avoid it, but not smart enough, so that their weakness is exploitable in a new manner.
The flaming blade plunges into the monster as the body begins to swell up yet again, and the other bugs retreat as Arata himself takes the opportunity to back off. The creature tries to inch its way towards Arata and away from the others. When he watches the bug explode, the stone beneath it cracks apart as he gets an idea. He goes to grab his spear again.
The first thing he needed was a bug that would not explode immediately while the rest of the group was already making their way back out, as the bugs all seemed a bit more apprehensive to charge at Arata, who still had a flaming sword.
The bugs all however, attempt to rush Arata at once to scare Arata, but unlike the first time this scenario played out, Arata isn't scared as he charges back at the creatures. Skewering one through the brain with his javelin, seeing this, the rest of the bugs decide to run away. Arata moves into a cell, placing the corpse on a table to examine the body. He cuts it open.
These organs, they're strange. The heart is a long, tube-like structure. It's connected to the veins of the creature, but the brain is remarkably human-looking, same with the rest of its nervous system, especially the eyes. That's not important, though; there are sacs all over the body at points where the swelling happens. Pretty obvious what those do, but this one near the creature's mouth…
Arata cuts it open as he recognizes it, the fluid that had made up the nest of the bugs. It hardened upon contact with the air. Arata quickly dumps out his gasoline, putting the liquid inside.
It seemed like a strange decision even to Arata, but that gasoline wouldn't be as valuable for his upcoming plan. It really feels like a waste having to pour out the gasoline, but this bottle is too good for what I need, completely airtight.
He decided to make his move. His hands still shook, the thought of failure sucked, but so did staying in this prison. Arata begins to make his way back to the nest, and the disgusting smell engulfs Arata as he moves carefully to not alert the larvae.
Sneaking around, he manages to grab one, piercing its brain to instantly kill it as well, then he pours out the fluid. The bug is fused to the spear via its own chitin spit. The weapon is too heavy to use traditionally, but it doesn't need to be.
The corpse on the front is enough to scare a pathway up the stairs. The small creatures let out shrieks as Arata climbs, but something is off at the top of the stairwell. There's rustling? Is the thing going to wake up?
Circling his way up, he notices something is wrong when halfway up, he jumps, dropping his weapon as he feels his eardrums get ruptured. Arata almost fell down the stairs as a guttural roar sounded through the facility. Quickly recollecting himself, Arata rushes forward.
The spiral staircase clearly isn't safe to stay near; it was shaking. Arata only thought of getting out of the way. Rushing his way up. Now's the chance! I need to kill the boss!
He looks around the tower, which overlooks the lower floor and upper floors of the prison. The nest looks to have just vanished. No bugs, no boss, and the nest that used to make up the floor is gone. Did the nest already crumble? I don't see a thing.
The floor stops here, nothing… not even the boss. It's gone quiet now, did I lose hearing from that sound-
*Crash*
The empty bottle shattered against the floor loudly and abruptly.