“……What does this look like to you, Erica?”

“Well, it looks like a rock shaped like a centipede… maybe?”

Iris and Erica cautiously approached the centipede-shaped rock step by step. The section crushed underneath the pillar was completely shattered, and the condition of other parts was far from normal as well.

Lize was already examining the edge of the rock. Suddenly, the spot she was looking at collapsed without her touching it, startling her and making her flinch.

“Or it could be a monster in the shape of a rock. Do you really think such a bizarrely shaped rock could form naturally?”

“Impossible. Even if you chiseled a stone, it would be very challenging to carve the surface this intricately. If there was a sculptor capable of carving a giant like this from rock, they would have no time to be here being summoned by nobles.”

“I think the same.”

Iris took off her helmet, her silvery hair pouring down her back.

“Then, it’s safe to say what this rock signifies is determined.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yeah. That theory. The corpse of a monster shaped like a rock. No, to be precise, we should say a part of the corpse. It has traces of being crushed under the pillar before it was cut off.”

“If this remaining part alone is so enormous, it means it was originally much larger.”

“Yeah. At least a dozen times bigger. I suspect it might be as tall as the castle we reside in.”

“Could this have been the cause of the tremors?”

Her silver eyes scanned the pillar crushed by the centipede-shaped rock.

The bottom part was shattered and leaning forward. The cross-section was still very sharp, and with fragments of stone visible in various spots, it seemed that it had broken recently.

It looked like continuous impacts had led to its destruction, yet there were no signs of being struck by weapons.

“I can’t be sure, but I’d say it’s likely. For some reason, it seems this thing repeatedly rammed into the pillar. As a result, the pillar got destroyed, and the tremors we felt were definitely caused by the centipede ramming into it.”

“The marks left on the wall must be from that too. Everything is starting to fit together.”

Erica recalled the wide chasm they had passed about ten minutes earlier. The rock floor had been completely upheaved, and the walls had cracks in places or were even collapsed.

Back then, she had wondered why there were such signs of destruction underground, but if it was the scenery created by the centipede crashing into the walls and pillars, everything would make sense.

“I saw it clearly. It’s all explainable that the causes of the anomalies we felt were due to this centipede.”

Iris brushed her fingers over the surface of the rock. Though the gauntlets she wore prevented her from feeling anything, the sound of metal clanging and the hardness of the surface confirmed it was definitely a chunk of stone.

If it had been even a little less intricate, or if it didn’t look like a centipede at first glance, Iris would have certainly just considered it a rock.

“Where could the rest have gone? Did it die?”

The centipede’s body had been severed at the point pressed under the large rock pillar. Iris lightly leaped over the pillar, with Erica following closely behind.

On the opposite side of the pillar lay a gruesomely torn section of the centipede. It looked as if something had forcibly torn apart its segments.

“It seems it didn’t die. Look at this. The segments are unnaturally severed. It must have been squished under the rock pillar and then ripped apart. Either it cut off its own body to escape or it got severed due to the immense shock. The front part probably fled alive and intact.”

“That’s not very good news.”

“Whether our attacks will be effective is the real question. If it were just an ordinary rock, we could break it with a bit more force, but if it’s a monster, it’s surely going to be several times tougher than a normal rock.”

Erica gazed blankly at the cross-section of the torn centipede-shaped rock. She briefly wondered who could have done this.

It was just a brief thought. It was obvious who had committed such an act.

“Well, I have a pretty good idea of who did this.”

“Yeah, this is—”

“Our brash newbie causing havoc. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Lize effortlessly jumped over the pillar and landed on the other side where Erica and Iris were.

“……That’s right.”

Iris lightly nodded in agreement. That was what she intended to say. If it wasn’t for that audacious newbie, who else could be behind such a mess here?

After all, this dungeon wasn’t a place you could casually stroll into.

“I thought being asked to wait down below meant he’d behave, but it looks like he’s already made quite the scene without even knowing what others are thinking.”

“If you’re going to complain, save it for after we join up with the newbie, sis. I won’t stop you. Iris, we should hurry as well.”

“Understood. Let’s move as quickly as possible.”

With her helmet back on, her silver eyes and hair were concealed. Lize had already begun walking ahead, with Iris and Erica following closely behind.

Distant thumping sounds began echoing once again.

—Crash!

A sharp stalactite fell onto the head of the rampaging rock centipede, which was smashing its head into the wall.

The stalactite that directly struck the centipede’s head shattered into pieces, and the culprit that had smashed the stone also contorted its exoskeleton with all its might, expressing its pain through its entire body.

That was the gimmick of the 3rd Phase. Making it bang its head against the wall was the same as in the 1st Phase, but this time it had to aim for the spots where the stalactites were located.

That way, it would drop onto the rock centipede’s head just like earlier. After doing that 20 times, it would be clear.

As a reference, just now was the 19th time. Just one more time, and the 3rd Phase would end, allowing it to finally be called a real boss battle, the 4th Phase.

The rock centipede, which had been glowing by itself for a while, huffed as it got back on its feet. It began munching at the ground with its lower jaw and burrowing into the rocks to disappear.

Having gnawed off the limb that was pinned under the pillar, it disappeared faster than during the 2nd Phase. Several legs that had barely been hanging on dropped off, unable to withstand the shock.

Even after falling off its body, they continued to wriggle for some time.

‘The Knight Commanders should be arriving soon.’

I briefly thought about where the three I left above might be right now. I couldn’t be sure since such things never happened in the game, but I guessed they must have reached somewhere underground.

Of course, it was only a rough guess. I wasn’t a computer, and considering this dungeon was much larger than in the game, accurate calculations were impossible.

After about a minute of sitting and waiting, the rock centipede burst out. Its face bore a large crack that was instantly noticeable.

Having crashed its head into the wall 20 times, slammed into the pillar 20 times, and then slammed into the wall 19 times again, plus having taken 19 hits from falling stalactites, it was no wonder its head was shattered.

I waited calmly without making a move. I dodged rocks being flung at me by rolling, and I avoided any wild attacks by sprinting away aimlessly.

The creature seemed to be getting riled up as it prepared its charge pattern, clacking its lower jaw. Seeing that made me feel exhilarated. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to this filthy thing.

I had no intentions of clearing the 4th Phase anyway. I could leave it to the three Knight Commanders; they would take care of it for me.

‘It’s a bit regrettable to miss out on the clearing experience.’

But experience could always be earned back. The experience gained from defeating a gimmick boss in the early stages could easily be compensated for by roaming around for just a few days.

Besides, the Knight Commanders were definitely not the type to die to a rock centipede.

I positioned myself in front of the last spot where the stalactites rose. The rock centipede approached, gradually increasing its speed. I stood still against the wall, doing exactly what I had done so far.

—Rumble!

And just like every other time, the rock centipede crashed its head into the wall, then lit up, and a stalactite fell on top of it.

With a crash! the stalactite struck the centipede’s head, cleaving it in half. Fragments of shattered head scattered everywhere.

The rock centipede, with half its head blown away, thrashed around much more than before. I had already retreated behind the wall, just in case debris hit me.

‘Finally done.’

In that state, I stretched out. It had been an exhausting boss battle in many ways. I really didn’t want to do it again.

The creature couldn’t even think of burrowing back into the rocks and was struggling to disappear through the nearest crack. The gap that had been barely wide enough for me to fit in had widened by at least three times.

Following that would lead to the runes where the 4th Phase began, but there was no need to follow it right now. I just had to wait for Iris, Lize, and Erica and then we could go together.

I started waiting in a position where the path was most visible, mulling over how to explain my actions to them.