I hurried over.
The two were safe, each one gripping a different sword.
"Are you okay?!"
"Shaldina's fine."
"I'm fine too."
Phew. Glad they're safe. But a collapse — that wasn't exactly the kind of deadly peril I'd imagined.
Still, Danger Discernment isn't danger prediction. It only discerns whether a crisis exists or not.
"..."
Anna Kreuzen looked relieved too.
The very moment Mineha and the others rushed over to rejoin us, something burst out from the collapsed pile of junk.
"Watch out!"
"Eek!"
In the blink of an eye, Bidd scooped up Mineha and leaped backward.
What was that. What just happened.
"Whoa... huh?"
What burst out was a massive gray tentacle, writhing and squirming.
It crumbled the junk pile even further as we scrambled to get clear.
"What the heck is that?!"
"Is it a monster?!"
"A monster?"
Monsters in the Junkyard… no, wait. There had been one.
The horror of the mimic's puppet box might have been officially written off, but I still hadn't forgotten it.
"Ho ho, now that's something I recognize. That's a Gold Eater, that is."
Leave it to the witch. A Gold Eater?
More importantly, so the reading from deep in the junk pile had been this thing.
"Heard tell of 'em before. A dungeon monster that lurks inside treasure hoards."
"So that's what it is, huh."
Inside treasure hoards?
What was that, some kind of mimic relative?
"That's right. Gets careless folk who wander too close to the treasure mountain, then snatches up the women with its tentacles."
"S-something like that really exists?"
Hmm? Women only?
"Mm-hmm. Sure does. 'There are no monsters in the treasure hall' — a trap that makes a mockery of that old common sense, that's what it is."
A chill ran down my spine. The treasure hall was supposed to be safe.
In other words, a safe zone. Yet a tentacled monster lurked within.
Had it settled in naturally? Or had someone deliberately planted it there to guard the treasure?
Even so — snatching up women exclusively with tentacles?
Mineha spoke with an exasperated air.
"And then what? What does it do with them once it's got them?"
"Well, that's all I know about it."
"You've seen one before, yeah?"
"Mhm, mhm. Just seen one, that's all."
"What about... men? What happens to 'em?"
"Hmm, hmm. From what I've heard, it kills them."
"..."
"..."
Hoss and I both fell silent without meaning to. The gap between us was way too wide.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Witch. How strong is that thing?"
"Well, well. Let me see. If it's grown that much, I'd say mid-tier Gold rank, give or take."
"That much?"
"The Treasure Chamber is always in the deep levels of a dungeon, after all. Legend has it there've been sightings of Treasure-rank Gold Eaters in the vaults at the very bottom."
Treasure-rank, or anything remotely like that — and then the junk heap burst open.
The garbage collapsed, and from within, countless tentacles and an eerie single red eye were exposed.
It wasn't just me. Everyone except the Witch drew their weapons and braced themselves.
I equipped [Banish] and the Knife of a Different Sea.
If the opponent has tentacles, then so do I. Oh wait, no.
I sheathed the Knife of a Different Sea back into my belt.
In its place, I grabbed Wood Flash. A spear with a wooden shaft.
Normally it splits in the middle and gets stored in a holder at the back of my waist.
A wooden weapon like Wood Flash would work in this space. Plus, something long is best for tentacles.
The Gold Eater extended its tentacles.
I deflected them with Wood Flash. Hard. Almost like stone.
"Guh—way too damn hard!"
Hoss, who had tried cutting through with his halberd, was knocked back too.
"That hardness. It's just like Relic [Sturdy]!"
"The one Lupinus has?"
Then one of the tentacles started crackling with electricity. A Relic [Thunder].
On even higher alert, I saw Shardina had been caught by a tentacle.
"Kyaaaah!? Wh-what are you doing!?"
"Shardina!?"
"Aaah—what are you doiiiiing!?"
"Bid!?"
Bid was also ensnared by the tentacles.
"Anna, watch out! Kyah!"
Anna Kreuzen tried to help, but Mineha's attack was deflected.
"Oh my, oh my — is that a Relic [Reflect]?"
"Reflect!?"
A troublesome opponent. Especially with Reflect — even Banish might get bounced right back.
"Forget that — we have to help the two of them!"
"R-Right, that's it..."
The two of them... Shaldina had her mouth stuffed shut by another tentacle.
"Mmmnnnngh!?!"
And the tentacle holding her was trying to strip off her maid outfit.
You've got to be kidding me.
Meanwhile, a single tentacle was coiled around Bidd's body like a snake.
Her arms and legs were completely bound too.
"H-Help... me...!"
She looked at us with tears in her eyes, pleading.
"You dirty... filthy tentacle!!"
Mineha's furious attack exploded against the lightning tentacle.
Other tentacles were squirming to grab Mineha, but I deployed Star to fend them off.
Hoss was protecting Anna Kreutzen.
And for some reason, the tentacles didn't try to attack the witch. They were blatantly avoiding her.
The witch was fine for now. Mineha was holding her own in offense and defense.
Let's go help Shaldina and Bidd.
That said, the fact that they were just captured and already trying to strip off their clothes was way out of line.
But other than that, they weren't really trying to do anything else.
No predation or anything like that.
What exactly did this Gold Eater want?
Anyway, I needed to crush that troublesome [Reflect] tentacle.
I headed straight for the [Reflect] tentacle.
The [Reflect] tentacle was the thickest, with a marble-like hue.
Perfect. Time to debut the new Relic.
I activated [Blue Sage]. My mind settled rapidly into calm.
With composure, I entered the tentacle's striking range.
It reacted with a twitch, writhing before swinging at me.
The attack was ruthless, devoid of mercy. It was out for blood.
Now. I used Slow-Mo. It felt like a switch flipped in my head.
The world... space-time—slowed... down...
The tentacle moved... slowly... slowly... so... sluggishly—towards me, sweeping.
It looked utterly comical, but the power was real.
If it hit me like this, it would be a fatal wound.
I could have dodged, but instead, I braced myself, bringing both arms together.
Suddenly, the Slow-Mo cut out.
The gauntlet was struck with incredible speed and force.
Yet, the tremendous impact I expected never came; the tentacle stopped dead.
It stayed pressed against the gauntlet, motionless, as if time had frozen.
"...?"
Puzzled, I heard a strange, sharp sound emanate from the tentacle.
In that instant, the [Reflection] tentacle developed deep, sharp cracks and shattered in the blink of an eye.
The sensation wasn't so much a living tentacle breaking apart as a mineral cracking and crumbling to pieces.
"Huh? Somethin' ain't right there."
"...?"
I'd expected a scream or something, but the Gold Eater showed no reaction whatsoever.
Not only that. Every tentacle went limp and dropped, motionless.
Shaldina and Vidd were freed.
Whoa.
"! ...!"
Anna Kreuzen rushed over to Shaldina in a panic.
Shaldina was unconscious and half-naked. Her rabbit-print panties were on full display.
Why rabbits? Vidd was alright.
He was limp in Mineha's care, but at least he was alive. He was twitching a little, though.
Anyway, both of them were safe... that was good. Still, what the hell just happened?
The witch had suddenly closed the distance to the Gold Eater's face.
"Watch out! Witch!"
"Hmm, hmm. Just as I thought. This thing is already dead."
"Wha? It's dead?"
"Look, look — see the crack in the pupil? The damage from the [Reflection] tentacle propagated all the way to the main body, and that's what took it out. But still, the pupil sure is soft."
Looking closer, cracks ran in long, winding lines from the shattered [Reflection] tentacle.
It had reached all the way to the Gold Eater's face and carved a deep gash into its pupil.
"...Phew. That was brutal."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm okay, more or less. But Wof — what exactly did you do?"
"This gauntlet has a new ability. It's called [Reflection]."
"That's insane. But why did it shatter on their end?"
"Hm hm. Young Wof. Would you care to explain what you did?"
Every eye turned to me.
I gave a small cough.
"I threw a [Reflection] at their [Reflection]. Before that, the Gold Eater attacked first. I reflected the attack with the gauntlet. I think the Gold Eater then reflected that reflected attack back. The gauntlet reflected it again, and the Gold Eater couldn't handle the next [Reflection]."
"So that's what caused all that."
"Right."
I think the attack kept doubling with each reflection.
And the Gold Eater couldn't withstand that amplified [Reflection].
"Power was just too much for it, I'd say."
"...Yeah, it was."
"I don't totally get it, but I can tell Wof's gauntlet is something else."
"Heh heh. Heh heh. I'm the one who upgraded it, you know."
The witch struck a smug pose and gave her three small tails a little wag. She went on:
"But still, there's no way the gauntlet — especially the magic gem — should be that durable."
Then the Azure Saint's Gauntlet's glowing blue magic gem sparkled brightly and proudly.
As if to go "Yeah, that's right" in response to the witch's words... I'm not going to call that out.
"Guhh... Lord Wof's is really hard, desu..."
"...!"
Suddenly, Shardina moaned that.
Anna Kreuzen-san pressed both hands to her cheeks, her face flushing bright red.
"..."
"......"
"..."
"......"
Everyone just fell silent. What was this painfully awkward silence?
Then Shardina piled on further.
"Uuuuhh, Lord Wof... that hard thing... no good, desu!"
"...!!"
"Shardinaaa, wake uuuup!!"
I screamed.
Oh, right, and the swords Bido-san and Hoss-san were holding.
Those weren't the swords we were looking for.
The Junkyard had started rumbling, so in a panic, they'd apparently grabbed whatever weapons were nearby.
Even so, both of their swords were glowing green.
They work fine as weapons, so they'll sell.
In the end, I used the Wheel of Fortune on the yellow-glowing sword, but there was no reaction.
When the junk pile collapsed, it must've gotten caught in the rubble and either snapped or took damage.
Shame.