Defense specialized, and beyond the mist.

Then, as if passing through utter darkness, a sensation of floating, followed by a hard impact against solid ground.

……all right, I’m fine? That was a shock…

Attempting to move after confirming safety, but the space appears remarkably narrow—her monstrous form too large to maneuver properly.

Only Maple would get stuck on a wall in a place like this.

…There’s no choice but to解除 it. Ugh, such a waste.

Maple dissolves her monstrous form, her abdomen splitting open with a wet sound as she collapses onto the ground, then pushes herself up with a grunt.

The cave feels damp, formed of wet stone. Black mist clings to the floor and walls in patches—places where it had dragged her in moments before.

Right, exploration first!

Moving through gaps between rocks, she reaches a dead end quickly.

What? Already finished…!?

As she turned to retreat, tentacles burst from the mist once more, seizing Maple and dragging her into the veil. Then she is cast once again into a crevice, slightly different in shape from the last.

“Uuu… what are you trying to do?”

Maple, unharmed but once more cast aside, pauses. She settles her breath. Sudden grasping by tentacles does not happen often. Panic is natural. But first, she must assess what is possible now.

“Don’t panic. Right. Good.”

Maple examines the misty veils. She finds that tentacles extend from each one. That means her course becomes clear.

There are multiple paths. Some easier, some harder. Perhaps only one leads forward, the correct route.

“Hmm… this is Kanade’s strength. But here, who could I bring along…?”

Maple did not wish to recommend Kanade this unknown, writhing tendril. She must confirm whether better companions awaited beyond this path.

With resolve, she seized the next tendril—only to find herself off course. A swarm of tendrils seized her, applying pressure and sweeping blows that would surely have caused harm under normal circumstances.

"Not effective with such soft, squishy tendrils! — Full Armament Deployment!"

As if answering numbers with numbers, weapons sprouted from Maple, scattering bullets in chaotic bursts. The projectiles ricocheted wildly through the confined space, striking the tendrils.

"Wait—less effective than expected... Are they absorbing damage with their slickness?"

The projectiles slid off the tendrils, yet damage still registered—less effectively than usual. Then, as if overwhelmed, the tendrils snapped apart after enduring Maple’s full course of attacks—first the Poison Dragon, then the Malevolent Feaster.

“Tendrils aren’t sharp, so piercing attacks won’t work. Still, we can push forward!”

Maple advanced through the cavern with steady force. She passed through paths that seemed unlikely, but to her, every passage was merely a corridor. Attacks too fierce to dodge, strikes too powerful to withstand, bindings meant to restrain—all would break if they failed to harm her.

“Huff… we’ve come far. The atmosphere’s changed a little….”

The path had grown littered with signs of death—fossilized bone fragments, dried blood clinging to stone, remnants of what had once lived and perished.

“I was captured too. Will they eat me?”

This route served as a preparation ground, weakening prey before the true feeding began.

Indeed, Maple had expended considerable ammunition just to break free from persistent restraints.

“But turning back would be wasteful… we should save our strength.”

No one who restrained Maple would be friendly. Combat was inevitable. She paused, thinking, searching for a solution.

“Hmm… I’ll wait until the next capture! I won’t take damage, after all!”

She needed the tentacles to emerge. For now, she set aside her plans and pressed forward deeper into the heart of the path.

Yet after that, the route was precisely correct—only a few tentacles emerged, enough to manage without difficulty.

After being seized by an especially large tentacle and drawn into the mist, Maple fell with a splash onto a water-filled floor.

"Ah... this feels like the end?"

Black, murky water pooled at Maple’s feet, ringed by stone walls. The depth of the water was indistinguishable—where it suddenly dropped off, no one could say.

A tentacle rose from the surface with a louder splash than when Maple had fallen, as if to warn against stepping too boldly.

Thick, massive, it seemed to suggest a true body at its base. Maple flinched, stepping back instinctively.

"Ah—right, I remember now...!"

As she retreated from the tentacle, Maple activated her inventory.

The item she withdrew was, of course, one crafted by Iz. This one allowed her to hold her breath longer underwater.

"Good—ready! I'm set anytime!"

Maple turned to assume battle stance. Her vision filled with a massive tentacle. It would not wait patiently for her preparations.

She was immediately wrapped tightly by powerful force, lifted high into the air.

The black water spread wide, deepening into the distance, drawing her in.

"!"

At once, [Bad Appetite] activated. A health bar appeared in the water, its decline slow.

Yet this created a gap in the tentacle’s grip. Maple slipped through, dropping downward.

"Ah—close one... wow, so many!"

Before Maple’s eyes, the tentacles thrash again. She meets the next lunge with the great shield, holding firm. This time, no damage. The tentacle dissolves into a black mist and vanishes.

“A fake!? That’s right, of course!”

Maple accepts it. No creature bears so many tentacles. Yet she has no time to accept. From behind, a tendril slithers across the ground and strikes her, lifting her high.

“Whoa!? Huh—good! No damage!”

Maple flies backward, landing with a smirk. She turns midair, preparing to counter. But in mid-fall, a veil of black mist spreads through the air. She charges straight into it.

She closes her eyes instinctively. No pain. She lands face-first, hard, on the ground.

“Good—counterattack! [Poison Dragon]!”

Maple rises quickly, thrusting her hand forward—yet the short blade is not there.

"Huh?"

Maple stares, dazed, checking her body. The black armor. The great shield. Neither is present.

Back to the state of a novice, unadorned, as in the earliest days.

As Maple stumbles, her gear falls from the black mist, arriving slightly delayed.

"Aah! That's mine!"

Many skills become unusable once equipment is removed. Maple scrambles to retrieve it. This time, the tentacle grips her, lifting her up. It sinks into the water.

"Uuuu! So many of them—this is cheating!"

Maple is pulled under. A person with sufficient [STR] might break free. But Maple cannot.

Looking up while struggling, she sees the path is not so easily escaped. Like before, tentacles extend from the black mist, waiting.

“……ngh! nn… nnn!”

As Maple nears the seabed, her eyes finally fix on the main body.

No companion mark beside the HP bar. It is an octopus, at least thirty meters long. Its yellow eyes glow with a sickly light.

If this continues, she will exceed the time limit underwater, take damage, and die. Yet returning to the surface is beyond her now.

So Maple makes a gamble.

“[Full Armament Deployment][Attack Initiated]!”

She deploys weapons underwater, then detonates them—burning the tentacles, breaking the bonds.

The thrust from the explosion carries Maple further down, toward the bottom.

The bottom holds no tentacles. She moves freely. As Maple is thrust toward the main body, the octopus shifts into feeding motion.

As if waiting for this, Maple deploys her weapons again. She detonates them—flying into the creature’s mouth.

She plunges into the stomach, forcing open a mouth not yet fully wide, like a human cannonball.

There is no water there. She succeeds in breaking free from the aquatic condition.

“Phew… it’s good I’ve been eaten before… now I really understand why Sally says preparation is important…”

At last, Maple deploys her weapons again. Such hazardous devices should never be carried inside the body.

Responding to Maple’s voice, a torrent of bullets ricochets through the stomach. At the same moment, an immense wave of red damage effects bursts forth.

“Good… even if the bullets slide here… if they’re bouncing around, it should be fine… b—!?!”

Maple fires her shot, aiming true. A black mist rises in her stomach. A massive tendril strikes her—hurls her backward.

Opposite to how it entered. A violent push, as if expelling her. She is flung into the water.

Thus begins the struggle. Maple, the prey meant to enter the stomach. The octopus, the predator forbidden from swallowing its toxin.