In the bottomless darkness of the underground world, a monster lay dormant.
It was enormous, dozens of meters long, and resembled a flower in full bloom. Yet the petals formed by its tentacles were tightly closed, wrapping around its body.
A closer look revealed that the monster's body was roughly divided into two distinctly different parts.
The first was the mass of tentacles that formed its petals.
They were a fresh, succulent flesh color, their texture appearing as smooth and delicate as a newborn baby's skin.
Faint purple patterns ran across them, giving off a dim yet strangely alluring glow.
The second was the flower bud, the base from which the tentacles grew.
This part was a deep, inky black that gave off a heavy, oppressive feeling.
At the points where the flower bud connected to the tentacles were peculiar tissues that looked like a mixture of leather and seashell.
Unlike the softness of the tentacles, these tissues appeared extremely hard.
The monster had taken root in the earth, becoming tightly connected to it.
Almost as though it were alive, it greedily drew in the seemingly endless magical power from deep within the earth through sheer instinct.
Everything was eerily quiet. Only the ghostly tentacles occasionally flickered with a faint yet unsettling light.
Then, amid that seemingly eternal silence, a strange disturbance suddenly broke out.
The earth began to churn violently, and the surroundings transformed at an astonishing speed.
Solid rock dissolved into pools of wet, runny mud, merging together until they formed a vast, open chamber.
Immediately afterward, a round monster slowly rose from beneath the ground at the center of the newly created space.
It had no limbs, head, or other recognizable body parts. Its entire body resembled a conical lump of mud about 160 centimeters tall.
Mud occasionally trickled down its smooth surface, making it look both bizarre and revolting.
At the same time, Naohara and his two companions emerged from the ground right beside it.
"Finally found it. This thing sure knows how to hide."
Naohara grumbled.
Tracking down the monster had taken quite a bit of effort.
They had first turned the entire surface of the city upside down, only to come up empty-handed. After that, they expanded the search underground.
Even then, it had taken them quite some time to finally locate their target.
"Good thing we found it. Otherwise, were you planning to start carpet-bombing the whole area with magic, original?"
There was no real basis for the assumption, but if the thought had occurred to him, then the original had almost certainly thought of it as well.
As Naohara spoke, he dispelled the Summoning Magic.
[Swamp Elemental]
It was a summoned composite elemental spirit possessing both water and earth elements.
The three of them had only been able to move freely underground thanks to its abilities.
Of course, the Primal Earth Elemental would have been the ideal choice, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't summon one.
Although he could switch classes, his level was simply too low to meet the summoning requirements, so he had to settle for the next best thing.
"Hey, that's slander."
Naohara casually shot back before fixing his gaze on the monster in front of him.
[Life Essence]
"Tch, it really doesn't have any HP."
This was the first time in the New World that he had encountered something whose health points couldn't be read.
After all, even Enhela and the Chaos Beasts, creations of the Kuyō, had health points.
"It seems to be dormant."
The Platinum Dragon Lord approached the monster and cautiously touched it before coming to that conclusion.
"Could it be because of the power of Catastrophe?"
Naohara tried dispersing the surrounding power of Catastrophe. The monster soon began to stir, but the moment he released the power of Catastrophe again, it immediately fell still.
Judging from its reaction, the monster seemed to be actively rejecting it.
Yes, rejecting it.
It wasn't afraid. It seemed more like pure disgust.
To put it another way, it was like someone walking along only to realize they'd stepped in a pile of shit.
Naohara's mouth twitched at the thought.
If the power of Catastrophe was shit, then what did that make him? A cesspool?
Though if this thing really was connected to the Kuyō, that comparison might not actually be so far off.
"Let me see what you really are."
The pitch-black power of Catastrophe condensed into a small flame that floated silently above his palm.
Naohara stared at the flame. With a thought, he sent it slowly drifting toward the monster.
The instant the two touched, something unexpected happened.
As if the creature were obsessed with cleanliness, the tentacle ignited by the flame immediately detached itself, while all the remaining tentacles rapidly withdrew, disappearing into the flower bud one after another.
In the blink of an eye, nothing remained before them but a battered, shell-like husk.
"Pfft, you really got rejected hard~"
A few seconds later, laughter suddenly rang out.
He knew he probably shouldn't be laughing right now, but he simply couldn't help himself.
And just like that, the grand prize fell into their hands with ease.
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