The first thing Arata did after returning to the prison was grab a spear, as he reluctantly prepared to retrace his steps after grabbing the gasoline and bringing a sword as his sidearm. However, his plan was still vastly different. Do I really have faith this time? If I don't there will be a next one anyways.
He went in the only other direction besides the nest, where there would be wolf-sized bugs to practice against. Also, there would be no point in fighting the boss again until he could learn how to kill it while outside the blast radius.
There had to have been something else. Once that thing exploded, there was the possibility it didn't die or that he didn't actually survive long enough for the boss to count as killed. That's not even considering the possibility that the boss could end up dying by self-destruction counted for the condition of "beating" the boss in the first place.
Arata needed to survive the self-destruction of the creature in the first place to find out any of those answers. To do that, he needed a way to get more range. After a peer reviewed (approved by Ravenna) study, Arata had convcieved an idea? Something so incredibly simple he felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier, it barely counted as thinking. Just throw the javelins, how hard could it be?
I think I saw someone do this when I watched the Olympics once, one arm out, spear in my dominant hand, and then I get a running start. Just need to aim, this thing is surprisingly light. Moving down the hallway, he spots one of the bugs; since they're that big, they should be fairly easy to hit.
Arata gets a jogging start, throws his spear as it flies through the air at the bug, and he misses. Worst part is, even if it did hit, there was no power behind it.
Shit… this is hard and based off Ravenna's input I'd assume she doesn't know much either.
I don't have my spear since I tried throwing it. Why did I throw it? Use it as a big pointy stick next time, dumbass. The bug then let out a screech, causing more bugs to arrive, and now Arata had gone back immediately to the sword.
Well, she's going to have a field day with that one. That was a terrible idea. How would I even pull that attack off against the boss? I wouldn't have enough time to properly aim or get a running start with the thing's speed. Arata let out a deep sigh at the thought.
I guess aiming wouldn't be too much of an issue. If I can hit a wall, I can hit that big. But how do I do enough damage? That question was for later Arata to figure out. Except there was unfortunately only one way forward, he could no longer put off work until later. The only way out was through.
Arata thinks while he sets his sword on fire, cleaving towards a bug, the human eyes of the bug surprisingly begin to cry; he has gotten more used to their movements by now and knows how to abuse the fear that the creatures tend to show. The bugs fear fire. They're intelligent enough to try to avoid it, yet they don't really understand the nature of fire. Their fear is based in instinct, not understanding
The flaming blade plunges into the monster as the body begins to swell up yet again, and the other bugs retreat as Arata himself takes the opportunity to back off. If you have enough distance fighting these bugs isn't a challenge, you have time to back off before they explode… wait!
The creature tries to inch its way towards Arata and away from the others. He goes to grab his spear again.
First thing he needed was a bug that would not explode immediately so no fire. The bugs who originally aimed to attack Arata seem a bit more apprehensive to charge at Arata, who still had a flaming sword.
Arata tosses his sword behind him as bait.
The bugs attempt to rush Arata at once to scare Arata, but unlike the first time this scenario played out, Arata isn't overwhelmed by their numbers. Skewering one through the brain with his javelin. Seeing this, the rest of the bugs decide to run away, prioritizing their own lives over killing Arata. Arata moves into a cell, placing the corpse on a table to examine the body. He cuts it open.
Let's see… i'll need to harvest these strange bug's bodily fluids if I want to stand a chance. There was the one that hardens and the explosive sacs.
These organs, they're strange. The heart is a long, tube-like structure. It's connected to the veins of the creature, but the brain is remarkably human-looking, same with the rest of its nervous system, especially the eyes. That's not important, though; there are sacs all over the body which smell like gasoline at points where the swelling happens. Pretty obvious what those do, but this one near the creature's mouth… no odor?
Arata cuts it open as he recognizes it, the fluid that had made up the nest of the bugs. He found what he was looking for. It hardened upon contact with the air. Arata quickly dumps out his bottle, putting the liquid inside.
It seemed like a strange decision even to Arata, but that gasoline wasn't what he thought it was. The bugs themselves could be used instead, their bodies were rich with mana and their sacs were highly flammable.
The hallways through these floor one cell blocks have a much more cramped interior… the boss will get stuck.
He decided to make his move. His hands still shook, the thought of failure sucked, but so did staying in this prison. Arata begins to make his way back to the nest, and the disgusting smell engulfs Arata as he moves carefully to not alert the larvae. These ones are small enough for the arts and crafts project.
Sneaking around, he manages to grab one, piercing its brain to instantly kill it. Arata left it's corpse stuck to the javelin, resting them together on the ground as he poured out the liquid from inside his bottle. The bug is fused to the spear via its own kind's chitin spit. The weapon is too heavy to use conventionally and lacks a sharp tip, but it doesn't need to be a conventional weapon to kill a creature that couldn't be slain by conventional weapons.
The corpse on the front is enough to scare a pathway up the stairs. To see a corpse of your own kind's children on a stick, wasn't a pleasant sight.
Huh? Why do I feel like the bad guy here? They would've killed me if I didn't.
The small creatures let out shrieks as Arata climbs, but something is off at the top of the stairwell.
There's rustling? Is the thing going to wake up? Last time I made my way up there was similar commotion, no way that's the case.
Circling his way up, he notices something is wrong when halfway up, he jumps, dropping his weapon as he feels his eardrums get ruptured. Agh! Oh shit shit SHIT! It was awake, I need to descend immediately-
Arata almost fell down the stairs as a guttural roar sounded through the facility. Quickly recollecting himself. I need flat ground, I'll descend once the area around me stops trembling… the second floor is closer.
Arata only thought of getting out of the way, the stairs shook as though they were only held together by divine intervention. The top! Finally.
Arata's feet finally grace the even ground of the second floor yet he notices something strange. There was no fleshy ground, just a stone ring around the center of a panopticon-like prison structure, standing in the center of a giant room on a tower designed to overlook the many hallways leading to various cell blocks.
He looks around the tower, the nest looks to have just vanished. No bugs, no boss and the nest in its entirety was gone. Where? I don't see a thing.
The floor stops here, nothing… not even the boss, I don't hear any roars. It's gone quiet now, did I lose hearing from that sound-
*Crash*
The empty bottle shattered against the floor loudly and abruptly out of Arata's shaking hand.