Thanks to Urla's flash of insight, they somehow managed to figure out the path to the Queen Centipede's location.
With that, the job suddenly became a whole lot easier.
Rest took the lead, with Urla and Isis following behind, as they pressed deeper into the centipede's nest.
"It's beyond here..."
Before long, they arrived at the place where the Queen Centipede resided.
Just a little further in, an enormous centipede several times the size of the others sat enthroned in its lair.
"So then... we're about to fight that thing, but the plan is the same as what I already laid out, right?"
"Yeah, I'll leave it to Rest."
"Mm, no problem."
After Isis, Urla also gave her agreement.
Rest nodded and set in motion the strategy he had been devising on the way here.
"If we let it rampage around down here in the tunnels, we might end up buried alive... Sorry, but I have no intention of fighting it head-on."
He didn't know just how strong the Queen Centipede was, but he doubted it was as powerful as the magic beast Sabnock or an Elder Worm. For someone of Rest's caliber, taking it down should be no problem at all.
What was truly terrifying here was the possibility that the Queen Centipede's thrashing could cause the entire nest to collapse.
What this battle required was not mere victory, but a flawless, absolute victory.
To defeat it without ever engaging in a proper fight—to suppress all resistance and secure the win.
"Well then... I'm going to need a little time to charge up. In the meantime, protect me."
"Yeah, understood."
"Mm, I'll protect you."
"Alright then... [Water Ball]"
Rest used magic to conjure a ball of water.
"[Amplify], [Compress], [Water Ball], [Amplify], [Compress], [Water Ball], [Amplify], [Compress], [Water Ball], [Amplify], [Compress]..."
He conjured balls of water, amplified them, and compressed them. He simply repeated the same process over and over.
What Rest was attempting was the same thing he had once done when subjugating the Elder Wyrm.
The difference was that back then he had used [Fire Ball], but this time he was using [Water Ball].
"I've already mapped out the structure and dimensions of the room you're in through [Water Manipulation]... I won't overdo it like last time."
A spell that literally draws out and manipulates water — [Water Manipulation].
By combining this spell with [Presence Detection], he had already investigated the room where the Queen Centipede resided.
The enormous chamber held the Queen Centipede and dozens of her children. There was no entrance to this dead-end room other than the one here.
"Alright, here I go... [Water God]!"
He hurled the water ball, compressed to its absolute limit, into the room where the Queen Centipede was.
The enemy still hadn't noticed Rest and the others' presence. To settle this before they were detected, he cast another spell.
"[Earth Wall]!"
He layered thick walls of earth one after another, sealing the hole.
From beyond the sealed hole, a faint splashing sound could be heard.
"Whoa... that's amazing!"
"She's thrashing."
Isis and Urla came from the opposite passage, scattering centipedes as they went. "Done yet?"
Beyond the earth wall, the compressed water had been released and was now a flood.
This time, unlike before, Rest wasn't pumped up on worm meat, so he was able to calmly adjust the water's power.
The volume of water was just enough to fill the room perfectly. He'd been careful not to let the pressure collapse the nest by adding too much.
Using presence detection to scan the interior, he could tell that a centipede was thrashing wildly in the water.
It was flailing in desperation, but the impact was absorbed by the water, and the nest didn't collapse.
"Now that I think about it... some centipedes can swim in water. Good thing this one wasn't one of those."
If the queen centipede could withstand water, he would have needed to think of another approach.
It seemed this one couldn't, because after a short while, it stopped moving — confirmed dead.
"The presence is gone too. Just to be safe, let's stay like this for a bit..."
There were still lesser centipedes remaining, and mopping up the stragglers would be necessary too.
He'd have someone else handle the collection of the queen centipede's carcass separately. Rest tidied up the centipedes at his leisure, then headed back to the surface.