Chapter 51: Chapter 48: Oct, the Archmonster
The shadow—Oct—was an archmonster who served Alexia. He'd been born in the Gonzales Sea, in a place so deep under the surface that not even the rays of light could reach. The sea he'd been born in had been named after Sir Gonzales, a fine knight who'd thrown himself into the sea after he'd fought the first witch alongside Alfrea.
Oct was a puppet octopus—a species known to be as smart as a three-year-old child. Puppet octopuses' brains were larger than other octopuses, which gave them a disproportionately large head and made them comparatively slower and clumsier. The most notable thing about them, though, was the ingenious—yet dreadful—strategy they used to hunt. Puppet octopuses made up for their lack of fighting prowess by creeping up on their target silently and attaching themselves to their victims. They'd then use the secretion from their suction cups to turn them into obedient puppets they could control however they liked. They wouldn't immediately eat said puppet, though. They'd force it to hunt for them until it died of starvation. The puppet octopus would then devour the corpse before looking for its next puppet.
One day, many years ago, one such octopus was carried to the shore by the waves. Griselda, the witch at the time, had found it and turned it into a monster. That was how Oct had come to serve the witch.
While Oct was smart, he was no use in direct combat, and Griselda hadn't cared much for him. If he controlled another more powerful monster, he could be useful, but she'd failed to see the point. Why would she have gone through such a convoluted scheme when she could have simply ordered the more powerful monster to do her bidding?
Having Oct enslave key figures to deal a blow to the humans from the inside could have been helpful to some witches, but Griselda hadn't had a need for that. She'd already been so powerful that she hadn't needed to create dissension in order to attack. Lilia, the only person who had been able to challenge her, had gotten herself killed foolishly. Griselda knew that her dominion would be unchallenged for years to come. All she had to do was grow her army of monsters during that time, and she'd be untouchable.
Griselda had believed herself so superior that she hadn't feared the next saint in the slightest. In the end, her arrogance had caused her downfall. Her failure to plan had left her at Alexia's mercy, and she'd died just as foolishly as Lilia.
Back when Griselda had been alive, she hadn't given Oct a second thought. She'd simply turned him into a monster and left him to his own devices.
As for Oct, after he'd become a monster, he'd followed his new instincts and started attacking humans. Oct had originally been an octopus, which meant that he'd never seen a human before. He'd assumed that humans had to be strong since they were much bigger than he was, so he'd defaulted to his usual strategy. He'd crept up on a fisherman and used his secretions to turn him into a puppet before sending him to attack a nearby village. What he hadn't expected, though, was that the fisherman would be overpowered by the guards and caught in the blink of an eye. Oct, who was stuck to the fisherman, had been captured alongside him.
On that day, Oct had learned that not all humans were created equal. He'd made a mistake and picked a weak human. Had he tried to attack the village with a bear or a tiger, things might have turned out very differently, he thought. It was too late, though.
Oct had been brought to King Aiz And Ai Bilberry XIII, who'd ordered him to be thrown in the basement of the saint's castle. The king was gathering monsters that he'd hoped would kill Alexia after she came back victorious.
Oct had been haphazardly placed into a jar filled with seawater and left to rot...until he'd masterfully opened the lid of the jar while the guard was napping. He'd escaped and stolen the master key from the guard on his way out. He'd proceeded to enter another cell by making use of his flexible body, latch onto a powerful monster, turn it into his puppet, and use the key to open the door of the cell.
After that, he'd opened another cell and forced the monster he'd controlled to fight the monster from that cell. He'd waited until they'd both exhausted their strength, then devoured them. He'd instinctively known that killing other monsters and devouring them was the way to get stronger.
If, after rousing from his nap, the soldier had informed his superiors that the number of monsters had decreased, Oct's progress would have been nipped in the bud. There were obvious signs of fighting and fewer monsters in the cells. Oct hadn't taken that into account, and the guard had naturally noticed immediately. However, he'd decided not to report it. It would've meant admitting he'd been sleeping on the job. He would've been reprimanded, that much was certain, but what if he was also fired...or worse, executed? And so, the soldier submitted a false report, and no one else was any the wiser. The soldier's negligence and self-preservation instinct had saved Oct.
One day, Oct had a fateful encounter. Alexia, who'd just come back from defeating Griselda, had been locked up in the basement of the saint's castle, and the monsters who were being kept in the castle—including Oct—were let loose on her.
Oct hadn't attacked Alexia, though. He'd felt in his flesh that she was the master he ought to serve. So instead, he'd sided with her and ordered the other monsters to help them escape.
By then, Oct was already much more powerful than your regular monster. He'd become the group's undisputed leader, and everyone else abided by his command. Alexia had successfully escaped, and from that day onward, Oct started serving as her closest advisor.
He'd survived the process of becoming an archmonster and soon became as intelligent as an adult human. He also learned how to wield magic and used it to replicate the environment he knew best—the depth of the sea—around his body. That way, he became able to survive on the surface.
Fast forward to the present. Oct was currently slithering soundlessly inside the academy in the hope of saving his master.
The biggest threat to his master was Ellize. If Oct was able to kill her or control her, he could free Alexia from her fears. Sadly, Oct knew that this was impossible. He didn't think he could even touch Ellize.
Even putting aside her saintly powers, Ellize was terrifying. If he were to try to latch onto her, he'd be sent flying by her strong magic defenses. And if, by some kind of miracle, he managed to get his suction cups on her, he'd be blown apart by her magic before his secretions could enter her bloodstream. He wasn't even sure his poison would work on her in the first place.
He might've had a shot if he'd been able to target her while she was asleep, but Layla, her guard, was always posted in front of her door. Besides, he'd heard from Dias that she always put up a powerful barrier around her room before heading to bed. Ellize was careful—she made sure not to leave herself open to attacks while she was defenseless. She hadn't let her outstanding abilities go to her head. She was, without a doubt, the hardest kind of person to face.
Oct had long since concluded that attacking her was meaningless. He had a different goal: diverting her attention away from the academy. He was convinced that Ellize had stayed in the academy because she thought Alexia was hiding there. He simply had to change her mind.
If the witch appeared somewhere else, Ellize would be forced to leave. Obviously, Oct couldn't move the real Alexia. He wanted nothing more than for Alexia to teleport far away, but his master was against this idea. There wasn't much he could do about it.
Oct's current plan was to find another witch—a fake witch—who could pretend to be Alexia and wreak havoc somewhere away from the academy. Alexia would be able to flee while Ellize was busy with the fake.
That was why Oct was currently lurking in the shadows and looking for the perfect student to take on the role. He hoped to find someone like Griselda—haughty and arrogant, and if possible, hated by her peers. A student with too many friends wouldn't do. If her friends started arguing that she'd never do something like that, his plan would fail. He wanted someone who'd make the other students say, "No wonder. I always thought that girl was shady."
After observing the students for a while, a crying girl ran past him. Oct knew who she was as soon as he saw her silver hair—Eterna. She knew Ellize, and she'd been taken hostage by Farah in the past according to Dias's report. She didn't fit his current criterion at all. Ellize herself had told everyone that Eterna wasn't the witch. However, she could be useful in another way—he could use her to lure Ellize out.
Oct resolved to look for a fake witch later and capture Eterna for the time being. He carefully approached her, hidden in the shadows.
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A day had gone by since I'd given Verner and the others new weapons.
I was waiting to see who would come to me after school before I devised a plan. I couldn't help but worry about what I'd do if no one came, but there wasn't much I could do about it now. The decision was in their hands. To be fair, I didn't think someone who didn't want to fight would survive a battle against the witch. If they were unwilling, I'd prefer it if they didn't come at all.
If some of them did join me, though, I'd send them to the basement and move forward with my initial plan.
It was all Alexia's fault! If she'd acted like a proper final boss, everything would be over already. The fact that she was such a scaredy-cat made her even more difficult to face than a strong fighter.
If Verner and the others stormed the basement, though, they'd most definitely have to fight. It'd be tough for them. If things progressed like they had in the game, there'd be a couple of archmonsters down there. One in particular would be waiting for them in front of the boss room.
The name of that archmonster was Oct, although the witch herself called him Shadow. He used dark magic to continuously block light, wrapping himself in pitch-black darkness. He was kinda gross, honestly, and looked like some sort of ominous crawling shadow. He was Alexia's closest adviser and she relied on him heavily.
Actually, I'd seen him once after coming into this world. Three years ago, a weird shadow had tried to lure Verner to the dark side, remember? That was Oct. He was able to control living creatures, and he was most likely hoping to turn Verner into one of his hosts. The boy was outstanding, after all.
Before he'd become an archmonster, Oct had originally been an octopus. That was actually why he always shrouded himself in darkness—he was trying to replicate his life at the bottom of the sea. In fact, his "shadow" was also full of water.
You may be wondering how an octopus managed to become an archmonster, but the critters were apparently very smart. They were ingenious enough to figure out how to twist the lid of a jar to escape, for instance. Apparently, octopuses had nine brains—so as to control each of their eight legs independently—as well as three hearts! Every single leg also came with over two hundred suction cups—more than one thousand six hundred suction cups in total—and each of them could not only feel, but also smell and taste its surroundings.
Oh, and there was another bit of info I remembered hearing—though it was kinda dubious—that claimed octopuses would have ruled the Earth instead of humans if they just lived a little longer. Anyway, my point was that octopuses were not only tasty but also ingenious, smart, tough, and...did I mention tasty?
Amazing, right? I wanna have takoyaki.
Now that I'm done singing his praise, I can also add that this monster—and the rest of the archmonsters in the basement—are small fries compared to me.
I could kill them all in a matter of seconds. Honestly, I was kinda tempted to do so, if only to cook the octopus and eat it.
Verner and his friends, on the other hand, would struggle against them. In the game, the witch only showed up after you were done taking out her minions. There was no telling what would happen in this world, though. The witch wasn't as relaxed and certain of her victory—she wouldn't be complacent.
If the witch immediately joined her minions to attack Verner and his party, they'd definitely have a hard time. I'd given them new weapons to make up for that, but... I guess I'll also buff them before sending them to the basement. It can't hurt.
The time for our appointment finally rolled around, and I heard a knock on the door.
"Please come in," I said.
Verner, random dude (real name: John), Fiora, Marie, Aina, Four-Eyed Pervert, and...erm...the dude from last time came in. What was his name again? It had to do with dogs and...eating? Crunchy Doggybag? No... That doesn't sound right... Crunchybite Dogman? I don't know. I'm not sure anymore. Whatever. I'm more concerned about the fact that Eterna isn't here.
I wasn't expecting her to come, to be honest. She had no reason to risk her life at my request. She'd followed Verner to the academy out of worry, but Eterna had never dreamed of becoming a knight.
I completely understood her choice. If anything, I was surprised that the seven others had all come. I should be happy about that.
I was about to thank them for joining me here when Verner said, "Excuse me, Lady Ellize, but have you seen Eterna?"
I hadn't. And now that he mentioned it, I had a feeling I hadn't even seen her in class today. I had so many things to think about that I admittedly hadn't paid much attention to anyone else. I hadn't even taken the time to enjoy my daily dose of eye candy, so I wasn't entirely sure.
Was she sick? If so, I'd immediately head to her room and cure her.
"I asked Eterna's roommate, but she told me she hadn't returned to the dorm yesterday night," Verner said.
And that girl hadn't worried about it?!
Now, to be fair, it wasn't all that strange. Students often trained or studied until late in the night and only went back to their rooms in the middle of the night. Her roommate must've simply thought Eterna was busy and had gone to bed without waiting up for her. When she woke up and Eterna wasn't there, she must've assumed that she'd woken up early and left already. She'd probably only noticed that something was strange when she saw that Eterna wasn't in class.
"Do you know where she might be?" I asked.
"I've looked through all the places she usually visits, but I couldn't find her..." Verner said, dispirited.
Eterna was pretty much family to Verner. He must've been incredibly worried about her.
"Do you think she might be hiding because she's feeling guilty for refusing to help the saint?" Layla asked.
"I don't think she would do that..."
Layla's theory made sense. Eterna could've immediately decided she wouldn't heed my request. Maybe she felt so bad about it that she decided to hide to avoid facing us. It wasn't impossible, was it? Or...did she want to show me that she'd never take orders from me? Maybe she'd thought something along the lines of, Don't try to involve me! This isn't my problem! You can deal with the dangerous stuff all on your own! I'll hide so that you guys can't force me!
If so, that was fine. I'd just have to apologize for being a terrible human being with no delicacy.
If Eterna was in trouble, though...the situation might prove difficult to handle.
All right. I don't have a choice, so change of plans. I need to make sure Eterna's safe before we can discuss anything else.
"Let's look for her," I said. "If nothing happened, it would be for the best, but I'd rather not take any chances."
I didn't think anything serious had happened to her, but you know what they say—better safe than sorry, right?
The search for Eterna starts...now!
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