With the giant bug crashing into the tower, letting out a screech, Arata could barely hold on even while not directly attacked. The boss crashed into the tower, causing the building to crumble. The ground's losing stability, I got to hold onto the wall, no, do I descend? Will the fall kill me?
Luckily, the building was more durable than Arata thought it would be. While a section of it was destroyed, the bug still wasn't strong enough to destroy the concrete structure.
The civilization that built this is surprisingly competent. Arata quickly tried to look up at the destroyed tower, inspecting the damages.
However, above him was a mass of meat, teeth and whatever disgusting substance lubricated the boss's mouth. Before it could dash at him to eat, Arata pulled out the spear with the Larvae.
Well, I hope this is enough to scare this thing, conjure some fire, and I need to not miss this time. I really don't think I have enough distance right now, though. Arata waves the impaled creature around to convince the boss to back away.
Descend slowly… I can't blink. Arata found his footing on the stairs slowly moving down as the man-eating bug slowly processed the sight mentally.
The actions of Arata didn't come across too well with the creature, as he looked at the bug's trisected face, it was angry, tears fell from its ugly human eyes. What Arata had done would only spite the bug. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to murder its kid and put it on the end of a stick.
How do I get out of here? It's coming closer… I don't have the gasoline either, I can't generate a big enough fire, I'm going to die here. I just need to try and keep the bug on the stick alive the next round. Imagine that death is painful, it feels like a burning sensation dances across your body… then the next second it all goes cold.
Arata sighs. Why was he thinking that? He wasn't even close to dead yet. The bug's roar let off a lot of mana from its body, it was a form of augmentation, how it seemingly didn't adhere to the square-cube law, how it made such a loud noise and what allowed it to generate such speed. Even if augmentation retained more energy, you'd still release energy into the surrounding environment and for the enclosed space, that was enough for Arata.
Floating in the air, the vibrations of sound released off the creature were reformed into Arata's spare hand, a spark. That spark becomes a ball, gyrating as it takes in the surrounding air, charging it with thermal energy conversions. This is Demiurge's foundry? What I've been doing thus far feels like a disservice. Well, at least I have something now, even if a fireball is basic.
The bug looked onwards, showing a new emotion for the first time; it felt fear. The creature knew that the flaming orb would cause itself to detonate.
The sphere launched itself right at the creature, a blast of flames engulfing the bug's body.
Holy shit! Can I do that? Am I a prodigy? Now just to do that again. Arata suddenly had a small confidence boost. Sure, the creature was much stronger than him, faster and bigger. Yet it would crumple all the same if he could just get the perfect hit.
The bug catches flames, beginning to panic on the floor, unluckily for Arata, that meant patting out the flames and undoing his work. Wow… my dreams were just stepped on in an instant... I don't actually know how to do that again either. I'll take the distraction, though.
Arata descended fully down the spiral staircase, now back on solid ground, he for the first time was able to see the creature in full. The face was definitely a human's, but contorted to a point that it was hard to tell by now. The bugs can struggle… It's the same look of panic when he was stuck, slammed into that wall-
Good, looks like the bug isn't getting up immediately, I have enough time.
The legs all crawled, latching onto objects in a strange manner; each leg was uniquely expressive. As the creature put out the flames by rolling, some legs flailed everywhere in pain, others remained stoic, and a few contributed to the body's momentum in recovery.
Making the situation even scarier to think about was the full body of the boss; it didn't just have one body, but several, like branches latching onto the various edges of the building. Feet locked together to hold itself steady, joined with the adhesive that the bugs produced.
Arata's eyes then turn to the hallway. I still have the Larvae on the spear… just need to lure it but my new plan could work.
Now I run, let it see me then book it! Arata. The boss spotted Arata, having almost finished putting out the flames. Arata ran into the narrow hallway he came from, using the corpse of his fallen brethren as bait.
Luckily, the giant bug was emotional enough; the main head, upon recovery, chased Arata into the hallway. Now I just have to rely on my terrible throwing abilities.
Practical application was the hardest part of anything due to the threat of failure, as Arata couldn't help but feel a unique dread. Theory was easy, things would happen as what would be most probable, as of now though, Arata noticed even the tiny factors.
My palms sweat which loosens my grip, the ground is easy to slip on so that I could fall. What if I miss due to fatigue or having not enough mana surrounding me to convert properly?
Yet he still made his moves, breathing with new strength coursing through his feet, waiting to just get a little further until the cue. The creature came to a sudden stop; it was too big. It started to crush the building behind it, allowing it to push further, yet eventually it stopped.
The weight is slowing the creature now it's expended the energy. the bug down just enough to buy time for Arata. The creature screamed in order to generate new force. Now!
Turn around, steady your body, spear up over your shoulder, let the strength in your legs move up your body as you dash! Aim and release, and in that final moment, convert the mana into heat! A spark traced along the larva's body as it began to inflate. The javelin flew across the air, the swelling larva bursting at the seams with energy. The javelin lodged itself inside the ugly beast's throat.
Fire spread across the bug's human mouth, dancing further through the wet, warm tunnel. The big bug began to swell as Arata needed to run.
Arata dashed into a cell once he got far enough away. Arata ducked to the cover of the monotone gray cell, the same sad interior which he had first awoke in. The whole building began to shake, and with a loud pop, the flames engulfed the hallway outside. Sonic booms caused ringing in Arata's ears as he felt the heat across his back filling the hallway.
Closing his eyes as everything went dark once again. He thought it was over, yet when he opened his eyes, he didn't see the theater. He survived that encounter. Stepping out into the hallway, broken and battered, floating above him was a cocoon, fleshy tendrils reaching out in all directions over the rubble of what used to be the prison hallways.
That's it… what remains, why I failed last time.