Rabbits… what's their secret? I NEED to know, I must. This world is a mystery but none more than those damn rabbits. Their behavior was strange so he had Ravenna replay that part of the video; she looked almost dead inside.
"Arata… It's been 20 minutes of you staring at nothing, trying to make sense of it. Why don't you just go back to the prison to find these invisible bunnies again? You're not gonna get anything more out of it." She appears exhausted from replaying the same thing over and over again. But Arata chooses to ignore her. She was right, though; there was nothing to make sense of. He decides to watch that creature again just to confirm his suspicion. Looking at the bug almost makes things worse; it's way too big, and none of his weapons would work. He could try fire magic, but Arata felt doubtful that the lock-and-key design would get him so far. However, he knew the solution: blow it up. However, he still decided to confirm.
Staring at her in thought, Arata asks, "Ravenna, if the boss dies, I get the save point right, if I die right after there's no problem?"
"Yes. I already know you plan on blowing it up; that seems to be your go-to against these bugs. Are you sure, though? What if they don't have the same anatomy? Wouldn't you just piss it off and die?" Ravenna asks, unimpressed with his plan.
"Well, that would be true… but are you some kind of mastermind genius with a surefire plan to beat it?" Arata asks dramatically.
Ravenna opens her mouth to speak, but then stops herself. She begins to think in silence as she doesn't want to be wrong. Finally, in defeat, she sighs, "No."
"Then stop talking~" Arata responds, clearly trying to piss her off back for how she's been to him in the past.
Ravenna coldly responds, "Get out now."
Back into the grimy dark stone cell. Still as stuffy and musky as the previous few deaths. The cell wasn't really missed. Arata went through the same process, grabbing weapons and the gasoline, but this time, he headed straight to the nest.
His feet waded through the bloodied water. There are only a few bugs near the area that Arata decided to kill using the javelin he found. Exploring the area, he notices a spiral staircase that was flooded with larvae. I need to chase them up the stairs and exterminate the nest. I dunno how flammable the mucus is though.
They all seemed to congregate in that area, which drew Arata's interest. He decided to pour out a bit of his gasoline onto the spearhead; the smell of it clears a path for him as he ascends upwards. Arata pokes and prods his spear around every corner as he moves; the bugs scurry. When he is met with shock, the creature is asleep but out of its mouth come bugs crawling in and out of it. He scouts the room, which extends out into the hallway where the guard's rooms were.
The ground… it pulses, what is it made of? Looks pretty gross. A bug larva walks up to a pillar as the muscles interwoven with the nest contract in response, opening up a hole in the tissue to embrace the bug.
Nope… I am not going to try stepping on that! Arata pulls his foot back quickly before it touches the slimy, pulsating floor.
Arata covers one of his swords in gasoline and then pulls out a knife, also covering it. The plan was suicidal; he'd distract the bugs, then use the remaining gasoline on the main body of the giant bug. Foolproof, if this fails… what am I kidding? This plan sucks.
Luckily, the boss only needed to die, and there would be a save according to Ravenna. Throwing the knife, he watches as it pierces a bit of exposed flesh. Firstly, distract the beast.
The boss wakes up, letting out a blood-curdling scream as it moves to inspect the knife. The nest slowly begins to move, reforming itself into the body of the creature; it was Arata's chance. The floor that was originally made out of flesh begins to pull apart. Holes opened up towards the lower floors.
I'm on a timer now! The floor is giving out. Arata ran, dashing towards the boss as his sword lit up with a glowing flicker. Arata feels in the moment, his ears are screaming, his heart pumping, but the end of this nightmare is sight.
His footing begins to shake in the whole interior trembles with the bug's slow awakening. The bug dashes in a frenzy towards its target, a small knife. The thing was tunnel-visioned and didn't manage to see Arata. Arata closed in on its side, the area of flesh being less covered up, behind the endless line of human legs was a soft spot of the bug. Arata scatters gasoline across his blade, letting sparks cross the blade, thin threads of flesh snap beneath his feet as he stumbles his way closer yet he manages to wedge his sword where he wants it.
As flames dance across the creature's body, it began to scream, flailing everywhere, while Arata is really close to the creature. Arata was vulnerable, as the burning creature, in a fit of rage, slams its many legs into Arata. A sudden flick to the side of the main body sends Arata ragdolling across the room. Arata's body flipping and tossing up in the air before returning harshly to the ground.
Oh shit… my stomach burns so badly… internal bleeding? My legs feel numb. Arata hears his ribs crunch as he is slammed into a stone wall. As he falls, he feels the damage. The remaining gasoline in the bottle spilled out, pouring down onto him from the wall when he hit it. He coughs up a little blood and can't move his legs; his lower spine got hit too hard for him to move.
Shit- but I guess as long as the bug dies I'll be fine... Are you kidding me?! Arata's body barely has any time to recover; he's in far too much pain to think.
The bug flipped over onto its side, smothering the flames before charging at Arata. Using it's legs it readjusts back into place as it stands over Arata, the vaguely humanoid face unhinging it's jaw. This time however it swallows Arata whole.
Its mouth engulfed Arata; he trembles in horror as the sharp teeth ready to rip him to pieces close in.
The creature's throat is sickening, never thought mana would have such a foul odor… it got so much stronger-
Arata's eyes widen as he aims towards forming a new fire. The surrounding environment was charged with so much more energy, yet the teeth close in, razor sharp bone cutting into Arata's leg.
Too late you shitty bug! The bug's breath fueled the growing flames, the burning mass flaring up in size using the mana rich body of the bug to generate more flames.
Arata watches the flames crawl from his position into a sac of the bug's explosive fluid. I guess we'll both die… but he'll die first.
The flames begin to spread, Arata's eardrums ruptured as the bug lets out the worst scream it's made. The creature feared the impending death far more than Arata. Arata wouldn't die, not unless the bug fell first. Yet the flame was also killing him as his form was being burned beyond recognition; his body broke apart, but his soul refused to break as well.
Arata's lower half was already turned to ash but he kept making more fire. It's dead right? I can rest now… right?
His body had been pushed beyond what he should be able to do. The lights in his eyes flicker out as the last thing Arata sees in this life is the flames flickering outwards in an explosion before his vision fades, returning him to the theater.