The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-74

Karen’s body was like an overheating engine.

Flares ceaselessly flickered out from her body as she melted her surroundings.

Chhrsr!

Flare!

Even though the sulfur spiders could spit sulfur at her, they couldn’t get close. Because if they ever chose to get into spitting distance, the strange movements she made with her sword cut down anything and everything that approached her.

Chhrsrs!

Kieeee!

No, ‘cut down’ was not an accurate word to describe what happened.

You wouldn’t say that you cut something down if you melted them before your blade even reached them.

Kieee…

Flare…

It was Atarak’s first time seeing such a powerful fire capable of burning everything down.

For the first time in Atarak’s life, she felt fear.

Kieee…

- Stop her! You only need to stop her!

It wasn’t as if Jamad and Seol were killing the spiders at a slow pace either. It was just that compared to Karen, they were quite slow.

Kiee…

A number of the spiders around Jamad and Seol left to fight Karen. The spiders were being recalled to buy time and keep the queen alive.

And because of that, Karen wasn’t able to reach Atarak despite unsheathing her sword.

“You annoying shits!”

Flare!

Karen took a low stance.

Nobody here knew what Karen’s stance led to. And since Atarak had no idea how to prepare or defend it, she simply sent as many spiders as possible to make it difficult for her to move.

Kieeee!

The spiders were successful in carrying out Atarak’s intent. Because of their interference, Karen wasn’t able to smoothly activate her skill.

Even so…

FLAAAAAAARE!

[Karen used Fire Flower.]

[Karen absorbs all heat within a certain radius.]

[The range of all fire attacks is increased by 100%.]

[Karen takes 50% reduced damage from all sources while she spins.]

[Karen deals 360% of her damage with each spin.]

[Karen’s stance is unstable.]

[The number of spins is reduced.]

[Karen spins 17 times.]

Skitter…

She took a step with her foot, preparing to use it as her axis…

Skitter…

And started to spin.

FWOOOOOOOOSH!

FLAAAAAAAAARE!

Seol couldn’t get rid of his shock after seeing Karen’s powers.

‘Oh my god…’

She was overwhelmingly strong.

Karen looked like a high-level Adventurer showing up in a low-level area and slaughtering everything in her path.

Splatter!

Kieeeee!

Kieee!

Kiee…

Even though it seemed like the sheer number of spiders would have crushed her, the tornado of fire she created simply scorched all of them.

Fire Flower.

From afar, the vortex she created really did look like a flower. For the first time, Seol witnessed why Karen was called the Red Lotus Knight.

‘As expected… she was going easy on us when she was an undead.’

It was clear that Karen was holding herself back in case Karuna or his party members accidentally died.

“Hahaha! It’s been so long since I felt like this.”

Though Karen’s red lotus was reliable to see as an ally, to Atarak, it seemed like the manifestation of a death march.

And then it happened.

Jamad noticed something and quickly warned Karen.

“Karen! It’s coming!”

Kieee…

- Be covered in sulfur, witch!

[Atarak used Unique Skill: Sulfur Discharge.]

[The projectile is influenced by Passive: Detect Movements.]

[Sulfur Discharge leaves a growing residue.]

[Sulfur Discharge needs to be recharged before it can be used again.]

Atarak wasn’t simply watching Karen kill her children.

She was also plotting to aim for Karen’s opening.

Inhale…

Fwoooooosh!

Atarak, who had been hanging on her spiderweb attached to the ceiling, spat out a giant mass of sulfur.

“Dooooooooodge!”

It wasn’t only Karen who was in Atarak’s attack range. Seol and Jamad were also about to be hit by it. The three of them quickly ran away from the mass of sulfur flying toward them.

Ruuuuumble!

BOOOOM!

The sulfur exploded, causing intense heat to fill the area. It was so hot that the ground that Seol’s party was stepping on started melting.

Fsssss…

However, luckily, no one was directly damaged by the sulfur.

“Phew… Oi, troll!”

“I’m fine!”

“And Master?”

“I’m fine too.”

“Hahaha! You heard that too, didn’t you? What are you going to do now, you fat spider? Your attack missed!”

The sulfur had just melted the majority of the spiderlings, and now there was no one left to protect Atarak.

Kieee…

- How pitiful, you ignorant child. Do you really think you will be able to kill me?

“Why? Do you think I won’t?”

Kieee…

- If you’re that confident, then climb up here where I am.

Even though it was impossible to read Atarak’s expression since it was a spider, it was obvious that she was mocking them.

Because, as expected, Seol’s party also had no way of attacking it.

‘She knows what advantages she holds.’

Atarak still clung to the spiderweb-covered ceiling.

If they wanted to attack her, they had to climb up the spiderwebs along the walls to the ceiling.

And jumping into spiderwebs to hunt a spider was something only an insane person would do.

‘At this rate, we won’t be able to do anything before Sulfur Discharge recharges. We have to stop that, no matter what…’

Sulfur Discharge was definitely a powerful skill, but more terrifying was that slowly, the ground that Seol’s party could step on was disappearing.

If they allowed Atarak to continue to shoot sulfur, the only fate left for them was to bravely accept their deaths.

‘Damn it, there’s not enough things that we can do.’

Since Seol didn’t have a summon capable of long-range attacks, he could do nothing about the one-sided attacks.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

As Seol was thinking about what to do, Jamad yelled, breaking his focus.

“Elf! What are you doing?!”

“Can’t you see? That bitch is making fun of us! Wait right there, I'll knock you down from your web!”

[Karen is caught in Atarak’s spiderweb.]

[Karen’s mobility is decreased by 80%.]

‘That reckless…!’

Seol had a foul look on his face. Karen fell for the taunt and was trying to climb up the spiderwebs.

And the result, as expected, was her ending up stuck in the spiderwebs, unable to progress too far.

Every single person in this room was shocked by the way she rashly acted.

“Huh?”

Though Seol was the most surprised, Atarak was the most happy.

Kieeeeeeek!

- You fool! That’s what you get for trying to play hero!

As Atarak lectured her, she also quickly skittered down her webs to reach her. In fact, she was even faster than Karen’s comrades.

“No! Karen! Get out of there!”

“It’s… too sticky… damn it… this….”

Kieee…

- It’s pointless. No one has ever escaped my webs after getting caught in it. Now, why don’t we end this annoying foreplay here.

Atarak’s front legs swung down to stab at Karen.

Fssssss!

But then, Karen gave a meaningful smile.

“Caught ya, you big spider!”

Kieee!

- What?

FWOOOOOOSH!

In an instant, Karen let out an intense heat.

And as she did, the spiderwebs around her ignited.

“Haaat!”

Karen ripped through the burning spiderwebs and brought down Atarak.

Burn!

Kieeeeeeeee!

- Wh-what did you just do?! Aaaaaaargh!

Atarak’s front legs were engulfed by Karen’s flames.

Karen predicted everything and called her victory.

“Now, fall off and die, you damned spider.”

However…

Rip.

Slice.

Atarak’s burning front legs fell to the floor. She had chosen to cut them off herself.

“What the…?”

Kieek!

- You looked down on me too much, witch. Now, taste my sulfur as you crawl on the ground.

Burning spiderwebs fell to the ground with Atarak’s legs as Atarak relied on the few spiderwebs she had left to stay on the ceiling.

But the surprising thing here wasn’t that she still had a few spiderwebs left or that she lost a couple of her legs.

The surprising thing was that she was still on the ceiling.

That and only that.

Inhale…

[Atarak used Unique Skill: Sulfur Discharge.]

[The projectile is influenced by Passive: Detect Movements.]

[Sulfur Discharge leaves a growing residue.]

[Sulfur Discharge needs to be recharged before it can be used again.]

“Dodge it!”

BOOOOM!

Fssss…

Once again, they were barely able to dodge the Sulfur Discharge.

Seol almost lost consciousness from the dizzying heat and smell but was fine after receiving help from Jamad.

“Krgh… Damn it…”

Kieee…

- How pleasant it is to see such despair. And now…

The party was in a dire situation.

Karen was separated from Seol and Jamad and they now had to start preparing an escape plan.

Seol was so busy thinking that he couldn’t hear Atarak’s whispers anymore.

Ooo…

But what he did hear… was a foreign sound that shouldn’t be heard in this cave.

Oooo…

Kieee!

- What? Don’t tell me…

CRAAAAACK!

A loud sound was heard from the direction of the underground lake. And after that, there were more sounds.

It was the sound of something breaking.

‘Did the tunnel we took cave in?’

But why would that happen?

Seol had to find the source of the sounds he had heard and the sounds he was still hearing.

“Koopa!”

Coo!

FWOOOOOOSH!

A fierce gust of air rushed in, filling the cavern with fresh air. Something was flying toward here at an incredible speed.

Seol quickly realized that it was Koopa.

‘Was there smoke coming out of the tunnel?’

Koopa despised fires.

Seol wasn’t sure how that massive bird was able to detect heat and put out fires, but since the cavern was filled with intense heat, it wasn’t too strange either.

Jamad, who was next to Seol, quickly grabbed him.

“We have to get out of here! It’s not just the spider now, it’s the bird too… we can’t handle both of them!”

“We don’t have to go. I don’t think he’s here for us.”

“What?”

And then, Koopa finally reached the cavern.

Even if they tried to escape now, they wouldn’t have been able to escape Koopa’s eyes.

“Koopa!”

Seol quickly realized that something was off with Koopa. He could tell with just the look in Koopa’s eyes.

It was rage.

Koopa’s eyes were filled with rage that had been built up over a long time.

CHIIIIIIIIIRP!

With a strange cry, Koopa dived toward Atarak.

“Oh… my god. Why?”

Jamad watched the two fight with a surprised face.

[Atarak used Spiderweb Bomb.]

[The projectile is influenced by Passive: Detect Movements.]

Fwooosh! Fwoosh!

Seol thought Koopa would obviously dodge the Spiderweb Bomb that Atarak spat at it.

However, Koopa took a direct hit.

Fwip…

Thud!

[Koopa is caught in Atarak’s spiderweb.]

[Koopa’s mobility is decreased by 80%.]

‘Why? Is Koopa so mad that it can’t think?’

Koopa was descending.

Luckily, before Koopa fell into the lake of sulfur, He ripped through the spiderwebs with his wings and spread them again.

[Koopa used Unique Skill: Nutrient Frenzy.]

[Koopa uses the powers it gained from Devour Corpse to increase its stats, defense, and resistance immensely for a short amount of time.]

Kieeee!

- You! You again! What did I do for you to harass me this much?!

CHIIIIIRP!

Koopa spun in the air and dove toward Atarak’s head once more.

Judging by what Atarak nervously just said, it was clear that she had been tormented by Koopa for a long time.

Crush!

Kieeeeeee!

Koopa had one of Atarak’s eyes in its beak.

- Aaaaaaargh!

Atarak swung precariously on her web.

Kieee!

Kieee!

Koopa flapped its wings and Atarak skittered around.

However, even though Koopa was big, it couldn’t compare to how big Atarak was.

Bam!

Atarak finally landed a successful blow on Koopa with her leg which resulted in Koopa being thrown to a wall near Karen.

Crush!

Kieee…

- You annoying bastards… I will… I will burn all of you down!

Inhale…

[Atarak used Unique Skill: Sulfur Discharge.]

[The projectile is influenced by Passive: Detect Movements.]

[Sulfur Discharge leaves a growing residue.]

[Sulfur Discharge needs to be recharged before it can be used again.]

BOOOOOOOOM!

Sulfur Discharge landed where they originally stood.

Kieee!

- Ahh… Sweet, sweet victory.

Atarak believed that no one was able to dodge her Sulfur Discharge.

Flap…

Flap…

However, Koopa flew up, narrowly dodging her attack, and flew toward her again.

Kieeeeeeee!

- D-Don’t come! Don’t come any closer!

He was flying toward her again, now with Karen on his back.

Jump!

Karen suddenly leaped off of Koopa’s back.

Since her posture looked quite unstable, Atarak believed it to be an opportunity. She eagerly opened her mouth, waiting for Karen to come in.

Kieeeee!

- Come inside my mouth, child! I shall feast on your flesh!

Slip!

Karen slipped into Atarak’s mouth, almost too easily.

“Karen!”

And then…

[Karen used Red Lotus Slash.]

SLIIIICE.

With a clear sound, Atarak’s body was perfectly split in half.

Karen appeared from inside Atarak’s body, completely unharmed, and was putting her sword away.

“You’re the one that’s going to burn to death.”

Atarak’s corpse was covered in flames as she fell from her comfortable webs.

Seol, after confirming that Karen was safe, checked his messages.

[You have defeated Atarak: Anachindria’s Last Descendant.]

[You have earned the achievement ‘Why Are You in My Home?’.]

[You have earned the title ‘Uninvited Guest’.]