Chapter 43. Remote Secret Taming
─［Doomba, Doodoomba!］
─［Siiba! Sidoomba!］
I zoomed in on Group 2’s screen.
I could see a humanoid monster with one missing arm slowly approaching the monsters from Group 2, who were dancing.
The monster’s skull was half-covered with a mass of black substance.
Around the one-armed monster lay numerous scattered corpses of other monsters.
All of the corpses had holes pierced through their abdomens.
【Pururu】─Ugh. Disgusting.
【Yumi】─It’s rude to call someone disgusting.
【Pururu】─That’s not a person, though. It’s a monster.
【Yumi】─Oh. You’re right.
【Mysticism】─🤭
【Pururu】─But is that a male monster?
【Yumi】─It’s hard to tell. Overall, it has a neutral appearance, and its voice is husky, so I’m not sure.
【Rizenova】─It could be genderless.
To me, it looked like a female monster.
It didn’t have any feminine traits, but that was just the feeling I got.
Well, gender didn’t matter anyway… for now.
“Hedgehog, summon the spirits.”
I decided to start by commanding Group 2.
I couldn’t let them act on their own and end up wiped out.
─［Doomba! By the name of the spiky summoner, I call thee! Spirits of the abyss, come to me across the barrier of death! Rise by my side and protect me! Doodoomba!］
─［Sii! Sidoomba!］
【Yumi】─Did you always have to chant a spell to summon?
【Pururu】─Nah, he just thought it was too plain without a chant, so he made that up last night. He can summon without chanting.
Hedgehog began dancing more intensely as he summoned undead spirits.
There were five of them.
“Alright. Now order the spirits to attack the monster in front.”
─［Doomba! Understood!］
At Hedgehog’s command, the undead spirits charged toward the one-armed monster.
They weren’t sent to win.
The spirits were merely bait.
I gave Hedgehog the next instruction.
“And while the spirits are fighting, you guys run away.”
─［Doomba!?］
Hedgehog flinched and looked at the screen, clearly taken aback.
“What are you doing? If you don’t want to die, run.”
─［Abandon my precious spirits and run away? No! I can’t do that!］
【Pururu】─Listen up. Didn’t HQ say to follow orders no matter what? You’re asking for a slap.
【Yumi】─He might hesitate. To the hedgehog, the spirits are like precious friends.
【Mysticism】─😠
Hedgehog shook his head vigorously, refusing to obey my order.
I had anticipated this much.
I wasn’t The Dominant One but The Assisted One.
I couldn’t force all my orders on the monsters.
“Hedgehog… no, listen, Dochi. Those spirits, even if they die, will just return to their original world. But if you die, you’ll just disappear.”
─［Doomba?］
The spirits can come back even after death.
But if you die, we’ll never meet again.
If you fight that monster, you’re guaranteed to die. I don’t want to lose you forever.
After adding that, Hedgehog finally understood and followed my command.
─［I see… So that’s the deeper meaning behind the order… I’ll reluctantly abandon the spirits and run away! From now on, I’ll follow all orders without question! Even if they seem strange, there must be a reason!］
─［Sii!］
【Pururu】─Jeez, should’ve just listened from the start. It’s not like you’re a rebellious teenager.
【Yumi】─I’m sure he’ll listen well from now on.
Group 2 retreated the way they had come.
Even as they were retreating, Iris continued to keep the one-armed monster in view.
The one-armed monster had already wiped out the undead spirits but wasn’t pursuing Group 2.
Instead, it was crouching on the ground, feeling around.
It was likely searching for corpses.
It seemed to have a habit of eating the guts of monsters it killed.
Unfortunately, the monsters it had just killed were spirits, and spirits leave no trace when they die, returning to their original world.
Maybe it didn’t know that.
Despite seeing the spirits disappear right in front of it, the way it kept searching for their bodies suggested it wasn’t particularly intelligent.
***
Time passed, and it was time to eat.
All exploration teams returned to the hideout.
As we ate, I reviewed the scenes Group 2 had encountered through Iris.
【Pururu】─Whoa, we can watch it again.
【Yumi】─Looks like there’s a recording function or something.
【Mysticism】─😮
The real danger level was SS-class.
The nerfed danger level was A-class for that one-armed monster.
Earlier, I hadn’t been able to properly assess it in the chaos, but reviewing the video, I noticed a red mark on its back.
“With that spot, it might be possible to tame it secretly.”
【Pururu】─So you’re planning on doing a remote secret taming, huh?
【Yumi】─What’s that?
【Pururu】─Not telling. Think for yourself.
I had no intention of facing the one-armed monster head-on.
There was a high probability that the immobilizing threads from the Dog Spider wouldn’t work on it, and the rest of the monsters in my group were of lower danger levels, making them no match.
The Black Magma Slime was of the same level, but…
I wanted to avoid a balanced fight that wasn’t overwhelmingly in our favor.
There was no point in taking unnecessary risks.
I could lose the slime, my strongest asset, in one wrong move.
Even if they’re the same rank, the slime could be weaker, or it could be a matter of bad compatibility.
I couldn’t afford to lose the slime due to one poor judgment.
That’s why.
I planned to secretly attach my severed arm to its back and attempt to tame it.
Just because it was dangerous didn’t mean I could avoid it forever.
For smoother exploration, I needed to start taming higher-level monsters.
‘If it’s not a monster with dulled senses, the odds of success are low… but with the weakening effect around my arm, it’s worth a shot. If I’m lucky, it could be nerfed and have its senses dulled at the same time.’
After organizing my thoughts, I was about to switch Iris’s screen back to the present.
［Um, um.］
A Centaurides approached, chewing on some meat, her face suddenly in front of me.
【Pururu】─Gah, you scared me! Use a signal when you come in!
【Yumi】─Do you need to signal when you speak too?
The Centaurides swallowed her meat and stared at Iris as she spoke.
［That’s an explorer from my mother’s generation. Did another exploration team encounter it?］
“Yeah, Group 2 ran into it earlier… wait, an explorer?”
［Yes. I’ve never seen her as an explorer, but I ran into her once after she became a monster. My brother said she was the one who chose The Solitary One trait.］
【Yumi】─What?
【Mysticism】─😮
【Pururu】─So, she wasn’t a monster but a human?
【Rizenova】─But now, she’s a monster, no?
Hearing that the one-armed monster had once been an explorer, I looked back at Iris’s screen.
The Solitary One mentioned in Centaurides’ mother’s journal.
It seemed that she was now the one-armed monster.
‘…Can explorers be tamed too?’
And apparently, even explorers who turned into monsters were treated as dungeon monsters.
Because she, too, had a red mark engraved on her.
【Pururu】─Does that mean monsters around her will also be nerfed?
【Rizenova】─She’s no longer an explorer, so that’s unlikely, right?
【Yumi】─Think a little, Pururu.
【Pururu】─Haha, sorry.
【Pururu】─But Geon, are you really going to tame that one-armed monster? Isn’t it kind of disturbing, considering she used to be human?
“Not really.”
【Pururu】─Huh?
“Well, she’s a monster now, not a human. So it doesn’t matter.”
【Pururu】─Fair enough.
I had no plans to change my approach.
Whether she had been an explorer or human, she was just a monster now.
After finishing my meal, I summoned Hedgehog and the Dog Spider, who were part of Group 2, and briefly explained the plan.
Hedgehog nodded after hearing the explanation, then took a position in the center of the hideout, shaking his hips as he started dancing.
［Doomba! Doodoomba!］
Then, one by one, the undead spirits of the abyss were summoned.
［Doomba! Doodoomba!］
［Siba! Sidoomba!］
Hedgehog kept dancing.
Dog Spider joined in, dancing beside him as if cheering him on.
The more Hedgehog shook his hips, the more undead spirits appeared.
Soon, the number of spirits reached twenty.
［Doomba! I’ll stop summoning here for now!］
【Pururu】─Our hedgehog is totally OP.
【Yumi】─Incredible!
【Pururu】─Isn’t he the strongest in S-class at this point?
It was certainly an overpowered ability.
An S-class summoning twenty other S-class spirits.
Of course, if the summoner dies, it’s over.
One of the summoned spirits received Hedgehog’s order and picked up my severed arm.
“Then let’s head out, Group 2. Time for remote secret taming.”
［Doomba!］
［Sii!］
【Yumi】─So, what exactly is remote secret taming…?
【Pururu】─Figure it out yourself. You’re supposed to be a doctor, but you’re not very bright. Haha.
It was time for remote secret taming.
***
─［Doomba! There it is! The one from earlier!］
─［Sii!］
Group 2 had encountered the one-armed monster again.
“Do not approach it. Send only the spirits.”
I issued the command through Iris.
At the same time, I focused on my severed left arm.
Not the one attached to me, but the severed one carried by the spirit.
‘It can’t fall, so let’s move slowly.’
In the ceiling of the cave.
My left arm, wrapped in the Dog Spider’s thread, silently moved among the stalactites.
Below, twenty spirits charged toward the one-armed monster.
And just as the spirits lunged at the one-armed monster,
Swoosh.
The one-armed monster gracefully shifted left, leaving an afterimage as it dodged the attack.
It was a movement that created the illusion of multiple forms splitting off.
【Pururu】─What was that?
【Yumi】─It doesn’t seem particularly fast, but it’s dodging every attack? Amazing.
【Rizenova】─It’s not wasting a single movement. Avoiding everything with the bare minimum effort… This monster must be no ordinary foe.
─“Filth… without waste… die…”
The one-armed monster’s movements stopped.
In the stillness, her presence weighed down heavily.
Then.
The one-armed monster lightly spun in place.
Puff. Puff. Puh-puh-puff-!
In an instant, I saw her fingers extend in every direction.
It was a speed that seemed to distort time itself.
The five spirits surrounding her were left with large holes in their bodies, their forms becoming blurry before vanishing.
【Yumi】─???
【Pururu】─What the…?
【Mysticism】─😱
【Rizenova】─She took out five of them in one strike…
As five spirits disappeared, the remaining spirits screamed and attacked the one-armed monster.
Amidst the chaos.
My severed left arm had reached the ceiling above the one-armed monster.
When another five spirits were vanquished, I loosened my grip.
The arm dangling from the ceiling began to fall.
In that brief moment, yet another five spirits were gone.
【Pururu】─She’s just wiping them out like bugs.
【Yumi】─They don’t stand a chance…
Finally.
When the one-armed monster finished off the last five spirits,
Swooosh-
The thread unraveled from the severed arm.
The fine, living-like strands shot toward the one-armed monster’s back.
And then,
Smack!
The thread snapped tight, securing the severed arm firmly to the one-armed monster’s back.