Labyrinth Renovation – 016 | Sousaku – 創作

Episode 16: A Giant Gecko!

The crack was over 5 meters wide (in some places it was as much as 10 meters wide), and it was a pretty scary hole, but there was a part of it that was unnaturally bulging out.
It blended in so well with the rock face that you could easily miss it, but if you looked closely, you could see that it had limbs and seemed to be clinging to the wall.

"Eh, where? There's nothing there. You're not going to say anything scary, are you?"
"No, there is. There's some sort of figure sticking to the wall."

After explaining it thoroughly, Fiona finally found it.
On top of being in a camouflaged color, it was also dark. Most adventurers who come to this level would probably never find it.

"……It looks pretty big, doesn't it? I wonder."
"It's like a wall-crawling gecko.……"

It was quite large. Although smaller than a dragon, it was still the size of a car.
If it were me or Fiona, we would have been swallowed whole with ease.
Its claws were small, like those of a lizard, or so it seemed, but its fangs were quite large and sharp.
There's no way we can win.

"Oh, so that's the monster of this level…… probably. I guess there's only one."

Fiona and I used a powerful flashlight to thoroughly examine the rift.
We haven't found the door that leads to the stairs yet, and we don't have a full picture of the levels, but it looks like there's no one else here except for that one.
The ceiling and walls seemed to be okay.
If it had been stuck to the top, it would have been difficult to get at.
But since it's in the rift, there's probably a way around.

"W-What should we do? We can't attack it from where we are……"
"I guess so. It will be troublesome if it moves. So, there's no choice but to do it before that."

Geckos move very fast.
Although it is quite large, when it gets the urge, it will close the distance in an instant and swallow us whole.
Still, I'm sure that guy is the type that sneaks up from below and swallows people whole who are walking along the cliff. It's a gecko, after all.
It could also jump from wall to wall…… Let's just assume that it doesn't. It would be bad if that happened, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Let's be prepared to escape at any time.

……That aside, it's still a wonderful gecko.
It would be a shame to kill it. The least I could do was to take a photo of it, but this was also for the sake of survival.
Dungeons are truly evil.

◇◆◆◆◇

"We're moving forward with Operation Fwiiiiish."
"Fwiish? What's that?"
"I've thought about it a lot, but for now, it's the quickest way."

Geckos stick to walls using van der waals force generated by the fine hairs on their fingertips. It's a mystery whether that gecko is attached using the same principle, but in any case, it's certainly attached using some kind of force.
If it's not attached by the power of magic, it will fall into the infinite darkness if you spray oil on it and it can't stick anymore.
After all, it's got a huge body.
Once the falling acceleration has started, it's all over.

Fiona and I decided to go back to the Hardware Store to get some things ready.
The wall with the giant gecko stuck to it is on the other side.
If you were attacking the dungeon using the proper procedure, you would be walking along in the dark on that side, distracted by the cliff, and then you would be sneakily attacked and killed…… something along those lines.
Conversely, it is completely visible from our side.

"I guess oil is the answer. Wax might also do. Well, I suppose wax is also a kind of oil, per se."
"Can you really defeat it with that? Can't you use the one you used to kill the Hydra Grass? "
"A weed burner? I don't really want to try direct methods……"

If it comes down to a straight fight, I'll lose. The other party has the advantage of knowing the area, and if they are intelligent, they may even be able to destroy the illumination. If we confront it in the dark, there is even zero chance of escaping.

Now, the plan is to pour the oil on the wall and let it slide down, but the problem is how to spread the oil on the wall, which is a certain distance away.
Should I add oil to a high-pressure cleaner? It probably won't fly very far and will break easily.
I think the same is true for other spray systems. It looks difficult to make something with the viscosity of oil fly 10 meters away.
I'd be willing to give it a try, but I'm worried about what would happen if I failed.
Just like with the dragon, we need to settle things before it gets into a state of battle readiness.

"Uhmm? Carried by drone? Shall we go up to the gecko and pour it from above? "

Each of these is difficult to choose.
The strategy of pouring oil from above is not bad, but it's no good because we'll be in danger all at once if the oil is avoided.
The trick is to attack indirectly from a safe zone.

"Why don't we just throw the whole thing? "
"The whole can? That's a little too wild, don't you think……? But we have to get it there somehow…… Well, I'll go back and think about it."