Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 102: It's a Trap

Hitting a sloped surface beneath her before she started sliding down it at an incredibly fast rate, Koko had no idea what was going on as everything was pitch black and she couldn't see at all. Though as she could still tell which direction she was moving, it currently felt as if she were sliding in a spiral pattern, circling towards what she guessed was either another tunnel or some kind of sand worm before she finally reached it and was thankful that it was simply another tunnel. Though this proved to be troublesome as well seeing as she was free-falling now with nothing to slow down her momentum until she landed on yet another slope and began sliding in only one direction this time.

Continuing her slide across the smooth floor of the tunnel even despite the slope rising enough so that she could most likely stand on it now, Koko continued until the floor beneath her suddenly grew rough and she managed to slow to a stop. However, as she stood and attempted to fight off of the dizziness of being spun around so much, she quickly realized that things were different despite still not being able to see. After all, while the tunnels had been smooth up until this point, now the floor made a different sound whenever she stepped on it compared to the tunnels, almost like it was made of a different material. Not to mention the fact that it was completely level, which she hadn't seen yet in the nest at all up until this point. However, as she wondered where she was, various clicking noises began to surround her until a loud shrieking noise made her certain that she was surrounded by monsters.

With the shriek echoing throughout whichever space she was in, it was soon responded to by at least seven other shrieks before Koko breathed a sigh of relief as the monsters finally lifted what looked like silhouetted wings that revealed their bright red bodies that glowed bright enough to shine in the dark.

<Nightmare Beetle (Level 46)>

Looking around the room, Koko saw that there seemed to be at least ten monsters, though all of their levels were close to each other and there thankfully weren't any boss monsters despite each of the beetles still being two meters tall and at least twice that in length. But even if she was confident that she could kill them, she still wasn't too excited about being left in the dark again after they died. Though she didn't seem to have a choice but to defend herself as they all started moving towards her with their legs making clicking noises on what surprisingly was reveled to be a stone-brick floor beneath them.

Casting her surprise about the floor to the back of her mind for now, Koko didn't bother to wait for the beetles to surround her before she charged into the nearest one and attempted to punch it. Though seeing as she normally had to hold back, Koko was surprised when her blow didn't seem to effect the creature at all as its carapace absorbed the damage before she hit it again with more force. And while her first attack might not have gone through, her second shattered the top of the beetle's head before the monster disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and Koko back flipped away before another of the beetles could pounce on her. Though soon she was resorting to doing nothing but dodging as the beetles all noisily flapped their wings and began flying towards her at incredibly fast rates of speeds, following her and attempting to tackle her every time that she momentarily stopped.

"Eat this!" Koko yelled as her arms flared with a yellow light before the entire space was illuminated as two dragon heads shot forward until they hit two of the beetles in the air and killed them instantly. Though even if her new skill had proven useful, Koko still didn't have time to glory in her accomplishment as a sudden pain flared on her right forearm.

"Ow!" Koko yelled angrily before slamming her left fist down onto the insect which currently had her arm inside of its pincers. And while the bug did die instantly, it left her arm a bleeding mess from the deep cuts it had made.

<Giant Soldier Ant (Level 37)>

Suddenly realizing that the Nightmare Beetles weren't the only things that she was fighting, just the only ones that she could see, Koko clenched her teeth in determination before she had to dodge another beetle. Though this time she stayed close to it and used the light that it provided to kick and punch three more giant ants that had gotten close enough so that she could see them. However, the remaining beetles were persistent and she soon had to move again before she back flipped away to avoid a large group of ants. Though while she'd been expecting to land on the ground, Koko let out a slight shout of surprise as something hit her leg in the middle of her maneuver and she was suddenly lifted upside-down into the air as if suspended by a rope. And as one of the beetles attempted to attack her again but missed, Koko looked up to see a terrifying sight as her leg was surrounded by what looked like a white web and that there was a giant spider above her that was slowly reeling her towards it with its two fangs quivering in anticipation while dripping in either drool or venom.

"Let! Go!" Koko shouted angrily, preparing to use another Dragon Strike but failing as one of the beetles beneath her flew up and grabbed her left arm in its pincers with them being long enough to close down on her side as well, leaving a gash on the side of her stomach before she let out a yell of effort as she dragged the beetle upwards with brute strength alone until it was within range that she punched it with her other arm and killed it instantly. However, seeing as she was almost at the spider now, she quickly preformed her Dragon Strike and killed it before falling back down into the mass of insects below.

After dropping down, the insects backed away slightly as if they hadn't been expecting for her to be able to free herself. And in her brief respite, Koko looked at her arms and couldn't help but give a nervous grin as both of them were shaking from the cuts with her left arm feeling weak as the beetle had most likely cut through at least half of her muscles in it. Also, while she was thankful for her high HP seeing as she most likely would have died or at least lost a limb or two by this point if she didn't have it, she also knew that she couldn't afford to play around seeing as the monsters would eventually overwhelm her if she didn't take them seriously.

"Bring it on!" Koko provoked the monsters into acting while she got into a defensive stance and prepared to use Lion's Barrage. And seeing as all of the bugs were coming to her anyway and this skill increased her evasion, she could only describe what happened next as a slaughter as every bug that came within range was either killed instantly or sent flying by her attacks. And seeing as there were so many of them, she had to use her skill several times in succession before the number of bugs finally seemed to be dwindling. Or she at least thought that they were dwindling seeing as there were only two Nightmare beetles left in which to provide light for her.

After perhaps her seventh or eighth Lion's Barrage, the insects no longer came to her, seeming to prefer not being within range of her limbs before they realized that standing away from her wasn't going to work either as she started putting her all into her Dragon Strikes and expanded the area that they would effect as wide as she could. And as the massive dragon heads shot across the room and killed entire groups of bugs at the same time while also shattering the stone bricks that made up the floor, she soon had to stop her relentless assault as her vision began to blur from a lack of focus. But thankfully her struggle seemed to be enough as the few surviving insects began to crawl away from her while heading for the few tunnels leading out of the room. Though despite her pain and weariness, Koko still had one last thing to do before he could rest.

"Hey, just where do you think that you're going?" Koko asked with a mad laugh as she landed on the back of the last surviving Nightmare Beetle before shoving its head forward into the ground so that it was forced to stop its retreat. "You think that you can just get away with springing a trap on me, getting me this wounded and then leaving me in the dark? Oh, I don't think so. It's time for your punishment."