TtOW! - Chapter 42: The Servants of the Wise-Powerful Boss-Queen (Patreon)

The rat monster was panting for breath.  Every ounce of his body ached.  Blood dripped from a scratch across his face.

His opponent had some bites and scratches, but was overall no worse for wear.

The cat pounced at him once more.

He grit his teeth and willed his legs to move, barely diving out of the way.  He felt searing heat on his back as the cat’s claw grazed him.  His mana reserves were running low at this point, the Dash skill wasn’t available to him at the moment.  And his HP was dipping with every moment.

It seemed like he was going to die.

But he smiled to himself.  Perhaps he would die, but he did not fail.  The others had long since continued on their way.  The wise-mighty boss-queen would receive her warning.

He closed his eyes as he fell to the ground.

Yes he was content with this.  He had done his duty.

It was at that moment that his heart began to pound.  His stomach boiled.  His eyes shot open.

Was he?

Was he truly content with this?

He who the boss-queen had saved by her own hand?

He who had been raised by her personally, fed kills and boons before he had achieved anything at all?

Was this enough to repay her?  Was this the great and glorious deed she must have had in mind for him?

He grit his teeth.

No.

This was not enough.

He was not done.

He pushed off the ground with all his might, rising on his trembling legs.

He turned around, glaring at his foe even as the blood dripped into one of his eyes.  The cat was now taking its time, leisurely adjusting its stance.  He could tell from the look in its eyes.

It was no longer fighting to kill him.

It believed it had already won.

It was toying with him.

It would regret that.

The rat monster then broke his vow, committing the taboo no loyal dungeon monster ever would.  He went into the sacred records unprompted, without permission.

And he spent the sacred boons granted to him by the wise-mighty boss-queen.

A loyal dungeon monster would not have done so, would have waited for their master to guide their growth.  A disloyal dungeon monster would have been commanded not to in the first place.  Unspent boons would be returned to the dungeon upon a monster’s death, after all, allowing the next wave of monsters to grow that much stronger, so in general all such decisions were made by the master.

This rat apologized to the boss-queen in his heart.  But she had not commanded him otherwise.  And she had taken a personal hand in his survival and growth.  It was clear that she had plans for him.  So he could not allow himself to die here, away from her presence, without even a single victory.

She trusted in him, took a gamble on him.

And he would answer that trust.

He kept it simple, mostly boosting his speed, with a little bit into strength.  His mana reserves were nearly drained, so new skills wouldn’t help him.  But if he were able to dodge his foe’s blows without relying on Dash, then perhaps he could do something.

That cat strode forward, and swiped at him with its paw.

He took a step back, stumbling to the ground.  But the swipe missed.

The cat swiped with its other paw.

Again, he stepped back, this time keeping his feet under him.  The swipe missed again.

The cat narrowed its eyes.  It stepped back, adjusted its stance, and then pounced once more, soaring through the air.

But this time was different.

A boost in speed from the sacred boons did not merely strengthen the muscles.  His reactions sped up, his neurons fired faster, every aspect of his body sped up.

He did not only move faster.

He saw faster.

Thought faster.

Reacted faster.

So the cat seemed to move in slow motion.  The rat dove underneath it, rolling across the ground.

He picked himself up, shaking his head and turning around.

The cat was looking around, confused as to where its prey had gone.

The rat smiled.

Then he leapt forward and sank his teeth into the cat’s flank.

This cat cried and leapt forward.  The rat hung on, its fangs digging deeper with the cat’s motion.  Finally the cat smashed itself against one of the walls of the alleyway, and the rat was forced to let go and leap away.

The cat swiped at him, but he rolled back out of the way.

The cat pounced at him once more, but he stepped to the side, biting at the offending paw.  The cat yelped and leaped back but the rat followed, landing on the cat’s back.  The cat cried as he sank his fangs into it, rolling across the ground once more and tossing him off.  But this time, he angled himself in the air and landed on his feet.

The cat adjusted its stance, narrowing its eyes at him.  It still had the eyes of a predator viewing its prey, and gathered its strength for another assault.

But the rat could see.

Hidden in those narrowed eyes, behind the predatory gaze, was something else.

Hesitation.

Uncertainty.

Fear.

The rat smiled and chittered as he crouched down, digging into the dirt.

The cat was starting to learn.

And the rat would teach it.

The servants of the wise-powerful boss-queen were not helpless prey.

***

Two laborers walked down the street, carrying planks of wood on their shoulders.  One of them paused for a second.

“Oi, Fearghas, check that out!”

Fearghas sighed.

“Get to work, Drusus.  That’s just the old stray…”

But Fearghas froze.

The old stray was running out of the alley, dripping blood from a bunch of minor wounds.

And in the alleyway was a rat, standing on its hind legs.  It thrust its head up into the sky and squeaked with all its might.

Fearghas swore.

“Just great, we got monster rats again.  I thought those bloody Exploratores said they got the last of them.”

Drusus tilted his head.

“Maybe a new one got in?”

Fearghas sighed.

“That would mean the monster wards are failing if no one caught it on the way in.  Or the quartermaster is skimping on inspections, again.”

“I mean, how else are we going to get some real ale in here?”

Fearghas sighed again.

“Well, whatever.  Let’s get a move on and then hope those bloody monster hunters do their bloody jobs.”

***

Meanwhile NSLICE-00P was floating in the sky above a nearby forest.  She looked down through the canopy as she flew until she saw it.

A large bear, covered in spikes and a turtle’s shell.

“Target located.  Deploying termination measures.”

A massive magic circle formed as NSLICE-00P activated her Aurora Barrage spell.  She then thrusted as much mana as she could into it.  The magic circle began to glow and hum as she Supercharged it to the limit.

“Engaging target.”

Then she lifted her hand, and fired the Equalizer with as much power as she could spare.

The Ursanus winced as a rainbow beam struck it and stripped a part of its HP.  It looked up into the sky and roared…and then paused as it saw the huge magic circle shimmering through the canopy.

Patterns of light shifted through the sky as countless beams fired from the magic circle, all targeting a single point slightly in front of it.  The beams all struck each other, forming a growing sphere of light at the collision point.

Then a single, massive beam lit up the forest, setting the nearby trees ablaze.  A loud humming could be heard for miles around as flashing lights reflected off the clouds above.  Birds and critters scattered through the bushes as they fled the area.

NSLICE-00P looked down at the smoldering hole in the canopy.

A smoking Ursanus lay motionless on the ground, surrounded by a circle of scorched dirt.  And it had a massive hole in the center of its body, right where the Equalizer had struck.

[You have slain Ursanus Alpha (Level 36)!]

[Gained 22 Personal XP and 13 Dungeon XP!]

“Priority target terminated, area secure.”

***

With that, NSLICE-00P slowly made her way back.  She had prioritized taking down the Ursanus, and so had not upgraded her subordinates on the way there.  As such, she attempted to do so now.

Unfortunately, it seemed there was a strange lack of targets in the immediate vicinity.

“Status Update: No targets located, expanding search area.”

Lilussees yawned and turned over on a hammock inside her room, glancing at the live feed.

“Um, yeah.  Like, I wouldn’t stick around either if I saw attacks like that getting thrown around.”

The spiderlings also nodded as they maintained the webs in Lilussees’s room.

“Update: Signatures located on approach.  Signatures identified as friendlies.”

Lilussees tilted her head.

“That has to be, like, the snacks, or something?  Like, I wonder why they’re out of town.”

“Statement: This unit has no data on potential causes.  Moving to investigate.”

NSLICE-00P began running forward, and soon came in range of the friendlies.  Two of her monster rats were running towards her with all their might, breathing heavily as they pushed forward.  They were drained of mana, and even their HP started to tick down as they squeezed out another Dash.  NSLICE-00P used her repulsors to boost forward, arriving in front of them.

“Query: Urgency detected among friendlies.  Requesting situation update.”

The rats eyes went wide as they saw her arrive in front of them.  They collapsed to the ground, panting for breath.  But even as NSLICE-00P moved to cast a heal spell, they spoke to her in raspy voices.

“The man-thing is planning-plotting to betray you, boss-queen!  They are going to ambush-assault you on the way back!”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye turned red as she healed the exhausted rats.

“Gratitude: This unit thanks the friendlies for the intelligence report.  Hostile intent has been confirmed.  Activating termination protocols.”

Author’s Note:

One free termination, coming right up!

Maybe two.  That cat better watch itself at night.

Anyways!

Can NSLICE-00P handle the ambush?  Will the rat monster prove victorious in the end?  Can the cat avoid being terminated?  Tune in next time, to find out!