Card Chapter 13: Centipede (Patreon)

Riding on his Pidgeot, Russell quickly reached the summit.

The mountain’s structure was peculiar: instead of an open, level peak, the top was the mouth of a cavern.

Had this been an uncleared cave, the pitch‑black surroundings would indeed have been extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, the Association had already installed numerous lights inside. It wasn’t exactly bright, but at least you wouldn’t be groping around like a blind man.

After thinking it over for a moment at the entrance, Russell decided to go in and take a look.

The Card Crafter Association had assured everyone that no monsters above Black‑Iron grade would appear in this secret realm, so nothing disastrous should happen.

Summoning Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the two of them entered the cave side by side.

…

In the monitoring room, the captain of the Card Crafters munched on crackers as he watched the feed.

“These kids nowadays are gutsy. They’re willing to dive right in? If I remember correctly, there’s a Centipede in that cave, isn’t there?”

He truly admired Russell’s nerve—at his own age, he certainly wouldn’t have dared to explore it.

Getting no reply, the captain turned in puzzlement toward Old Wang, who was staring blankly at the screen.

“Old Wang? … Old Wang?”

Still no response. Somewhat worried, the captain asked, “Are you feeling all right? Need to go rest a bit? You seem off today.”

Old Wang acted as though he hadn’t heard him, continuing to stare.

A long moment later he came to, as if waking from a dream.

“Ah? No, no. Just thinking about my mother.”

The captain shook his head and said no more. “Let’s stay ready. If that student can’t handle it, we’ll have to mount a rescue.”

Old Wang slipped back into the same dazed look. The captain thought about comforting him but swallowed the words. They were all here for cushy retirement posts—what was there to say?

…

Tap, tap, tap—

Russell and Yoriichi’s footsteps echoed through the hollow corridors.

“Strange—why haven’t we run into any monsters?” Russell wondered aloud. They’d been inside awhile, yet the two hadn’t met a single creature—not even a shed hair.

Just then Russell caught a faint, rancid smell. He turned to Yoriichi.

“Yoriichi, do you smell something?”

Yoriichi nodded—he smelled it too.

Seeing this, Russell’s face tightened. “Be careful. Something strong could be in here.”

When an area is devoid of lesser fiends, it usually means a dominant predator is suppressing everything else.

The two slowed their pace and pressed on quietly.

After quite some time they entered a wide, open chamber.

Russell stared, stunned, and muttered, “So that’s the Thousand‑Legger…”

Before them lay a centipede nearly a hundred meters long, its huge body gleaming jet‑black—

—but it had already been severed mid‑body and was nothing but a corpse.

Before they could marvel, a rustling under the carcass drew their eyes.

“What’s that…?” Russell focused—a centipede eight or nine meters long.

“Can you handle it, Yoriichi?” he asked. “If not, we leave right now.”

Russell was no hot‑head; if you can’t win, you run.

Yoriichi answered by silently drawing his katana.

Russell understood at once. “All right, it’s yours.”

After a moment’s thought he also summoned Pidgeot.

Stroking the bird’s head, he said, “You go lend Yoriichi a wing.”

Even though Pidgeot was only a green‑rank card, birds naturally counter centipedes—it could still help.

Pidgeot nuzzled Russell’s hand, then swept toward the giant centipede.

The creature beneath the corpse instantly locked onto the incoming bird.

“Hiss!” It raised the front half of its body, emitting a shrill screech, and shot up from the ground toward Pidgeot.

Pidgeot veered deftly aside, dodging the strike.

The centipede plunged, and Yoriichi was already waiting below.

Flames burst upward from the floor, surging toward the beast.

But this was no ordinary foe. Somewhere in mid‑air it twisted and spun, bringing its hard dorsal plates to bear against the blade.

“Chiii!”

The slash wasn’t fully blocked, but the creature avoided the fate of its predecessor—being cleft in two.

It slammed to the ground, bared its vicious mandibles, and spewed a cloud of purple poison.

If Yoriichi were alone, this might have been trouble.

Luckily Pidgeot was there. Yoriichi grabbed one of the bird’s legs and was lifted aloft, easily evading the toxic mist.

“Sun Breathing, Form Six—Burning Bones, Summer Sun!”

A crimson blade wreathed in flame descended. Spinning fire instantly engulfed the centipede below.

The creature shrieked under the searing blaze.

Pidgeot set Yoriichi down beside Russell, and the pair—plus one bird—watched silently as the giant centipede writhed in agony.

At length it fell still.

“Pidgeot, give it one more probe,” Russell said, ever‑cautious; he had no desire to let victory slip away.

Sure enough, as Pidgeot drew near, the “dead” centipede suddenly lunged—yet its strength failed and it crashed back down.

After that, no matter how many bloody holes Pidgeot poked, it never moved again.

Only then did Russell approach, relaxing, and began condensing the materials.

Black‑Iron‑grade Centipede (Purple).

He couldn’t help feeling grateful—if Jiang Nanxi hadn’t urged him to craft a mount card, he’d never have thought of making Pidgeot.

Without Pidgeot, Yoriichi could still have slain the thing, but certainly not so effortlessly.

…

“Whoa, that kid’s got skills,” the captain said in the monitoring room, watching Russell finish off the Centipede. “Old Wang, you really should see thi—”

Just then heavy, ragged breathing sounded behind him.

“Hhh… hhh…”

The captain tried to turn and look, but it was too late—a crimson talon pierced straight through his chest.

A moment later his vision spun wildly.

“Ol… Old Wang? Is that… my body…?”

With the thud of something heavy hitting the floor, a blood‑red figure savagely shoved open the monitoring‑room door.

Sniffing the air, it suddenly bolted in a certain direction.

No one knew of the upheaval inside the monitoring room—only the spreading pool of blood bore silent witness to the massacre that had taken place there.