Chapter 208
"Second one!! Nell! I'll drive it toward you!!" "Got it!!"
Rainy days are divided into two types—days of joy and days of sorrow.
Statistically speaking, the former accounts for over ninety percent.
In terms of percentages, it's safe to say that ninety-nine percent are days of joy.
"This is the end for you!!"
Amidst the rain, we were already on our fifth mimic armor hunt in this ruined city of Madalda.
"There it is!!" "Over a sixty percent drop rate. That's insane."
We had just obtained our third piece of ancient weaponry.
The rain effect truly seemed to favor Nell with its generous drop rates.
"Aren't you happy?" "Yeah, I am, I really am..."
The more we hunted, the more loot we got, which was great—but for some reason, every time the rain grew heavier, an uneasy feeling crept into my chest.
A calamity that shouldn’t hit us, something we’d call sheer misfortune if it did, kept flickering ominously in the back of my mind.
"Liberta-sama, you’ve been watching the sky for a while now. Is something there?" "It’s just regular rain clouds, right?"
Ingrid and Esmeralda, who had just picked up a helmet and rejoined us, found it strange that I—who had been enjoying myself earlier—was now eyeing the sky with caution.
"Just a bad feeling." "Like a premonition?" "If that’s the case, I should be making plans to get the hell out of Madalda right now." "Worst case, we could abandon the carriage, regroup with Amina and the others, and teleport to escape. That wouldn’t be a problem."
The Rainy Devil—if we had to face that thing, our chances of winning were zero.
It was a super-large boss, a Class 8 monster.
Since coming to this world, I’d pulled off countless giant-slaying feats, but without any means of flight, fighting it would mean certain annihilation.
Even escaping normally would be a gamble.
"Liberta, you shouldn’t ignore bad feelings. Dad always said they’re messages from the gods." "A message from the gods, huh?"
Nell insisted this wasn’t just unease—it meant something.
Back in Japan, such instincts were somewhat believed in, but in this world, gods were so concretely recognized that denying their existence outright would be considered abnormal.
Which meant I couldn’t just brush off this foreboding.
"...We’ll proceed with caution. But the moment anything seems off, we retreat. Especially if monster encounter rates spike."
Still, retreating all the way back to the dungeon base just because of a gut feeling seemed too cowardly, so we pressed on with the exploration.
A key trait of world monsters was that weaker monsters would hide in their presence.
To a world monster that sowed disaster, the local mob monsters were nothing more than prey.
Even a swamp dragon would be mere food to the Rainy Devil.
"If we stop running into monsters, it’s a sign the Rainy Devil is nearby. If we can’t make it back to base, we take shelter in the nearest building." "What about Amina and the others?" "World monsters never enter dungeons where the boss has been defeated. Plus, the Rainy Devil’s sheer size makes the Moti Dungeon way too cramped for it."
As long as we watched for the telltale signs of a world monster’s appearance, we could evacuate in time.
"Ingrid, keep an eye on the sky. Otherwise, we’ll move slowly and carefully." "Understood."
We slowed our pace further, scanning for mimic armor while Ingrid monitored the skies.
The unease in my chest didn’t fade—if anything, it grew. Yet we kept fighting, one mimic armor after another.
"They’re gone." "...Yes. And the rain feels a little different now."
We couldn’t find any more mimic armors.
By the time we reached Madalda’s center, where the ruined buildings opened up the sightlines, we sensed something off.
Just as we hit our tenth piece of ancient weaponry—a nice round number—the atmosphere turned eerie.
"Liberta-sama! The eastern sky!" "!! Everyone, drop everything and run! Only keep what’s essential!"
Ingrid spotted the source of the disturbance. When I looked up, I saw faint red dots glowing within the black clouds.
No time for curses—I dumped the ancient weaponry strapped to my back.
The others followed my lead instantly, sprinting toward base at full speed. Even Nell, who prized loot above all, tossed her haul aside and bolted.
"What is that?!" "The Rainy Devil’s feelers! It uses them to snatch up anything on the ground—monsters, people, whatever it can grab! And those feelers are covered in needles coated with paralyzing venom! No countermeasures, and you’re immobilized and eaten alive!"
The base was to the north. At this pace, we might just make it.
As we sprinted away from the black clouds, Nell pointed at the white, rope-like appendages stretching from the sky, dotted with red light.
"By the way, even if you cut them, they regenerate in under a minute! And there are thousands more where those came from—attacking them is pointless!" "Then what if I fire magic into the sky?! If I expend all my mana, could I shoot it down?!" "The Rainy Devil’s whole gimmick is being immune to ranged attacks! Arrows, thrown weapons, even ballista bolts—it blocks them all with its feelers! Magic might seem like the answer, but it’s got 80% resistance to all elements!" "Are you serious?!" "The only things it can do are attack with feelers and paralyzing venom, but that’s already a nightmare! It can float indefinitely, and those tentacles regenerate endlessly! Plus, its vitality is insane—it heals by eating monsters and people!"
The Rainy Devil was a monster specialized in HP, recovery, and resistances.
Imagine a build entirely focused on tanking—that’s what we were dealing with.
It had the safety of hovering in the air, the camouflage of rain, and a surefire way to finish off prey.
"So how do we beat it?!" "Physical attacks are its only weakness! You have to knock it out of the sky, then wail on it while it’s grounded! That’s the only way!"
Because of this, methods to defeat it were extremely limited. Among players, it was infamous as a time-wasting monster that appeared on rainy days.
Nothing pissed off gamers more than something that wasted their time.
"Our strongest attack is Nell’s all-in Gold Smash. Even with Amina’s buffs and stacking defense-down debuffs, we still couldn’t whittle its HP down enough." "What about your instant-death attacks, Liberta-sama?" "The level and stat gap is too huge. The success rate would be abysmal. And its body’s too massive—heart stabs wouldn’t reach, and it doesn’t even have a neck for decapitation!"
If we had a maxed-out physical attacker at Class 9, maybe we’d stand a chance.
"So what you’re saying is...?" "Right now, our only shot at winning is praying to the gods for a miracle!"
At our current level, victory was impossible.
If we fought, we’d be devoured without escape—total party kill.
"But if we leave it alone, nearby towns and villages will be in danger!" "Don’t worry! Once the Rainy Devil finishes feeding, it ascends to a high altitude and stays there. The next appearance depends on wind direction—only a 25% chance. Once it’s up, it won’t descend for half a month."
The only way to deal with the Rainy Devil was to run. Even now, I could see familiar monsters being dragged into the clouds—but I forced myself to ignore it.
Even if those were people, we had no way to save them.
"But if it only appears once every two weeks, shouldn’t there be more sightings?!"
The one silver lining was that this was a remote area. The nearest village was far enough that the Devil wouldn’t bother moving just to attack it.
Here, it could replenish its energy easily.
"The Rainy Devil rides the continental wind currents, moving clockwise across the continents. It seeks out the most nutritious prey—meaning it targets strong monsters over weak humans. And this area’s packed with monsters, so there’s plenty for it to feed on!" "...Liberta-sama, forgive the sudden question." "Yeah?" "If that’s the case, why are we running instead of hiding in a building?"
By that logic, it’d prioritize monsters over us, meaning we’d be safe.
"Its detection range is huge! And we’re definitely the strongest things in this area right now!" "Wait, so we’re the most delicious meal here?"
We were only safe outside its detection range. If we entered it, we’d be prime targets.
The color drained from Nell’s face as she realized this.
"Exactly. If it gets any closer, we’re the main course."
Even in the game, the Rainy Devil prioritized high-stat units.
At first, players thought it targeted high-level units, but deeper analysis revealed it chased those with the highest total stats.
"With how many feelers it has, grabbing us would be child’s play! The only way to escape its detection is to duck into a dungeon—once inside, it can’t track us anymore!"
In short, we were currently a very tasty snack for the Rainy Devil.
"So we run for our lives. But Liberta-sama, there’s a horde of monsters ahead. Probably fleeing from the Devil." "No time for detours! We plow straight through! Esmeralda! Don’t hold back! Full annihilation combat! Let’s go!!" "Understood!"
We could’ve used the transfer pendulum to escape, but Amina and Claudia didn’t know the situation.
If they stepped outside unaware, they’d be in danger.
We had communication items, but they didn’t work across dungeon boundaries.
I’d been ringing the bell in my pocket nonstop, but no response.
That meant Amina and the others were still inside the dungeon.
We couldn’t just save ourselves and leave them.
With Esmeralda clearing the path, we sprinted at full speed, desperate to make it back to base.