The Tsuchigumo is a spider-shaped monster, just as its name suggests.

　Of course, the resemblance is only in shape, and its size, speed, strength, and everything else is different from that of the spider seen in the fields and mountains.

　The head has eight red spots reminiscent of eyes, flickering in an eerie manner. It has a mouth big enough to swallow a child, and its teeth are that of a man-eating beast.

　The red hair covers its head like a lion's mane, and several protrusions sticking out of its forehead like horns. The body was striped in black and yellow, and its shape reminded me more of a tiger than a spider.

　The body of the beast with a demon face. Its body must have been over two meters long.

　Its eight legs, which extended from its long body, were hard and knotted like metal armor, and it had claws that shimmered in black at the tips. If scratched by them, a human body would be torn apart like a piece of paper.

　If it was a spider demon, it would undoubtedly have venom, and it might spit out some clay threads to block our movements.

　While facing such a spider, I murmured to myself.


"I guess I'm as good as the Lord of the Flies, huh?


　To be honest, I've never fought a spider in person, so my assessment of him as "on the same level as the Lord of the Flies" is just a theory. But I don't think I've missed the mark by that much.　

　Five years ago - no, a few months ago, before I learned to wear a heart suit, I would have been a despairing opponent.

　Then it's hard to say whether the current me would win easily. Looking at the fact that Goz had gobbled up when Gilmore had mentioned the name of the earth spider in the great hall, it is almost certain that it has a dangerous ability even for a mind-armor user.

　They can't communicate with jin (magic power), or they can put a curse on their opponent to take them on the road when they die, or they have a second form like our mind-suit. We should have thought of it as an opponent that would do such things.

　The most important thing about the Tsuchigumo, however, is that it has been irritably scolding us from earlier.　Scold (shh)! The spider was clawing at the ground violently with its claws, emitting a cry of "I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on," as it clawed at the ground.

　As I looked closer, I could see that there were many layers of translucent ropes surrounding the body of the spider, and sparks were flying from time to time as if they were competing with each other. They seemed to be using some kind of power technique to restrain the spider's movement.

　It is clear from the movements of the other side that the bondage is extremely unpleasant for the spider. Naturally, once the bondage was broken, he was bound to unleash all of his pent-up anger on the person in front of him, me.

　This can't even be compared to the dragon tuskers who are its original opponent. It's a good thing that you've got a good idea of what you're doing.


''Well, is it an affordable opponent to hit someone who claims to have defeated a dragon species?


　I shrugged lightly.

　As a matter of fact, I felt slightly shrugged off. It's true that the earth spider is a powerful demon, but since they knew I was coming a month ago, I thought they had a more bottom-feeding opponent in mind.

　As expected, I wouldn't be able to prepare a dragon, but for example, I could prepare a demon girl about the same age as a sparrow and say, "I'll consider this girl's neck class as proof of my strength! I had prepared myself for something like that to be said. I thought that Gilmore, who had been beaten up by me to death with his two adopted children and whose family name was smeared with dirt, could do that much.

　However, when I opened the lid, I found that the only thing ready for me was a monster. This makes me look more vicious than Gilmore.

　Thinking about this, I folded my arms and waited for the time to start.

　When I glanced around, I saw that the swordsmen from the Kensei and the rest of the swordsmen had already taken their seats around me and the Tsuchigumo.

　The place where the test rituals are held is the circular waiting room. I felt like a slave gladiator in the arena, facing a demon under the gaze of many people.

　By the way, there are no walls, fences, or magical barriers in this training room. It's a good thing that the people watching will be in danger depending on the actions of me and the spider, but - well, there's no way there's anyone here who would have a problem with that.


'Well then, let the test rituals begin now!　Unleash the earth spider!


　A heavy Gilmore's voice rang out.

　At that moment, the ropes that bound the demon disappeared and a vicious light shone on the eight red eyes.


'Shout!　Shout!　Shout!


　The earth spider kicked the ground, emitting a scream that was neither a shout nor a curse.

　Its upper (jaw) and lower (jaw) jaws snapped open to reveal a mouth full of teeth. I described it earlier as being big enough to swallow a child whole, but let me correct that. It looks like even an adult could swallow it whole.

　In contrast, I'm standing there with my arms crossed without drawing my sword from my waist, let alone my heart gear. I'm using my eight legs to expose myself defenselessly to the approaching spider.

　The next moment.

　A hard sound of clunking resounded through the tailing area. The sound as if a giant guillotine blade had fallen off was the sound of the spider's upper and lower jaws vigorously meshing together.

　If the spider had remained standing, its head would have been eaten, not to mention its heart.

　Of course, I didn't intend to feed on the demon, so I jumped backwards just before to avoid it.

　In response, the earth spider immediately launched a chase. It seems to be using its eight eyes to accurately grasp my movements.

　The next thing it attacked after my chin were my two front legs. They wielded their sharp claws like scythes, trying to slice me to pieces.

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I'm sure it is. This was just a precaution so that the Tsuchigumo would not read my movements. From the way it has just reacted, this demon has pretty good dynamic vision. You should not be caught off guard, even if you do a single evasion.

　In addition, if you stay in the same place, you'll get caught in the ground dug up by the claws, so don't forget to cross your back steps from time to time.

　The guillotine-like claws passed over and over again, right in front of my eyes and nose. Each time it did so, a strange odor blew in that made my nose bend.

　I didn't know if it was the body odor of a demon or if the body fluids of the prey the demon had eaten so far had seeped into its epidermis, but no matter what, it wasn't a pleasant thing to smell.

　It seems that the unpleasantness of the spider, whose attacks are dodged at every turn, is also quite significant, even if its meaning is different from my unpleasantness. Suddenly, the spider sinks into the ground as if it were crawling.

　Immediately afterwards, the giant body jumped up and down.

　It seems that it has the intention of using its own body to crush me. If I jumped in the air, it would naturally expose my defenseless abdomen to me, but the monster may have read my intentions, and at the same time as it jumped, it shot a white thread from the hole in its buttocks.

　The thread spreads out in the air like a fisherman's casting net and covers me. I'm sure you can cut it off if you have a sword, but my black sword is still in my waistband.


It's not a good idea.　A summons!　Summons!


　The earth spider in the air contorts its face as if to laugh at our fecklessness. It seems to have a certain amount of intelligence.

　I smiled back at such a spider with a grin on my part. At the same time, he also lifted the ban on using his jujin, which he hadn't used until now. With both feet wrapped in Jing Jing Jing, the spider leaps to the edge of the attack area.

　I'm sure the spider must have seen my appearance suddenly disappear. I suddenly lost sight of the enemy that I had been able to capture so far. The eight eyes are moving hurriedly, looking for me, but they can't easily notice me.

　It's not surprisingly, the figure is full of gaps, so if I hurled a powerful move from a distance - a powerful move - from here, I'd win in a flash.

　I thought that, but I didn't try to draw my sword from my waist.

　I'm sure you'll be able to hear the murmur of the battalion members from outside of the fighting arena when they see me not moving. Why not attack at the opportune moment, why not bring out the mind gear in the first place?

　The answer to that is simple: because they don't intend to go out of their way to show our hand in the public eye. I have no intention of showing you my heart attire, or even my rudimentary power techniques, for that matter.

　Even Goz and Klimt, who fought in Ishqa, were no exception to this. The only thing those guys know about me is what I was a month ago, not what I am now. There was no need to go out of their way to tell them how much they had grown in the past month. Not to mention the rest of the bannermen - the ones who only knew me five years ago.

　Well, I'm sure they have a rough idea of the information from the hostage's mouth, but if that information was respected, they would have treated me a little better. The fact that I'm being forced to fight against the Tsuchigumo spiders is proof of the disdain that the swordsmen have for me.

　There's no reason to enlighten their minds.


''Now, how many of you can recognize a soul-eating dragon without looking at its mind armor or its power techniques?


　The basis of Itto-ryu is zankei (slashing and powering). This is the most basic way of seeing through an opponent's ability.

　It's the only way to get the best out of your opponent.

　However, people only see what they want to see. The same thing can be said for "seeing" in place of "watching".

　Arrogance, contempt, and mockery. If you look through such emotions, you will not be able to see what you can see.

　Of course, there may be those who can shake off those emotions and see exactly how good I am.

　But that means accepting the reality that I, the weakling who failed to pass the test five years ago, have come back with more power than the third-ranked Goz Sima of the first flag.

　In other words, most banners must admit that they are weaker than Gozensora. How many of the blue-ringed batsmen would be able to withstand this humiliating recognition?

　The murmur that was currently enveloping the executioner's room definitely included such confusion.


''At best, you'll be troubled.''


　With a shudder in my throat, I beckon to the spider who finally notices me.

　A blatant provocation.

　The intelligent demon read the meaning correctly and let out an angry roar.