Eruya smiled cynically. The next round would be his.
“Hmm~ I was taught to keep a distance when unsure of an opponent’s strength, but I have to fight as a warrior… I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Hamsuke scuttled over on its two hind legs and closed in.
“Is it going to be close quarter combat? Shall I receive your attack?”
“Don’t look down on me, beast.”
The moment it came into range, Eruya launched his assault.
Hamsuke barely deflected the sword strike augmented with ‘Ability Boost’ using its claws. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say it attempted to deflect the strike, because the sword was still headed for its arm. However, the sword had lost its force after hitting the claws and failed to cut through the hardened fur and the flesh beneath.
Eruya did not retract his sword and immediately thrust it towards Hamsuke’s eyes. Some monsters had hardened eyelids which could deflect even swords imbued with ki or aura. But Hamsuke didn’t appear to possess anything like that.
That was why Hamsuke did not allow the attack to happen.
Hamsuke dodged by twirling its body around and swung its tail at the same time.
Eruya blocked the tail with his sword, but the shocking amount of force numbed his arms.
“Khh-urk!”
He spotted Hamsuke twirling around once again. It meant the same kind of force would be striking him again.
Eruya jumped back. He could not determine exactly how long the tail was, but planned to close the distance with ‘Shukuchi Kai’ the moment it passed by.
But the tail he expected to pass by stopped in midair.
“Urk.”
It was a feint. In the meantime, Hamsuke had regained its posture and retracted its tail as well. Eruya’s face twitched at the fact he missed an opportunity to attack.
He could see that the tail and the body moved almost independently from each other. It was not like the tail of a rat, but could move independently like the snake tail of a chimaera.
“You can use your tail freely, too!”
Eruya etched the details of the monster called Hamsuke into his mind and charged. Hamsuke, who was waiting for an opening, rushed forward to meet the attack.
Blade and claws clashed. Eruya was the first one to be wounded during the exchange of blows. Hamsuke, who could attack with two claws, held an advantage in its number of attacks against Eruya, who used only one sword. Close-quarters combat was turning disadvantageous. Despite having raised his physical abilities, Hamsuke was still winning. If that was the case—
He retreated immediately with ‘Shukuchi Kai’.
“Hmph, is what I say!”
Before Hamsuke could give chase, Eruya seized the opportunity, raised his sword in the air and swung downward.
“「Void Cutter 」!”
The slashing hit cut through the air and flew toward Hamsuke.
Hamsuke braced to protect its face and the strike bounced off its fur.
The strike did less damage the further away the target was. It would be difficult to inflict any meaningful damage like this. But—
“Seems like you can’t block it. This is the difference between a mere beast and a human.”
“This is certainly… troubling.”
Eruya used ‘Void Cutter’ repeatedly.
Hamsuke’s fur was hard and difficult to cut through. That’s why Eruya targeted its face and used the martial art repeatedly.
Hamsuke remained rooted to the spot but spoke through the little crack between the paws that were covering its face.
“Hold on a moment please—”
“Are you trying to beg for your life? As expected of a mere beast.”
“It’s not that — It’s so annoying. Inside this king’s mouth is — Ah, I give up!”
He couldn’t understand.
I guess it’s expected for a human to not understand what an animal is saying… It looks like it’s about to charge now.
“Ah— So loud and annoying! Let’s finish this!”
“Come.”
Hamsuke did not possess a method of ranged attack, so it would try to close the distance at all costs. This was what Eruya was aiming for.
It would be difficult to inflict critical damage with ‘Void Cutter’, so he needed a direct strike to deliver a killing blow. When Hamsuke showed its face like a beast and charged in, he would pin it down with a martial art stronger than ‘Void Cutter’ and keep targeting the face at close range and win.
As Eruya smiled cruelly, sure of his victory, Hamsuke’s tail moved and—
“Gyaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
The tail struck Eruya’s shoulder like a whip at unbelievable speed.
The shoulder armour buckled and the flesh became pulp. At the same time, the sound of bones cracking could be heard and pain coursed through his body at the speed of lightning. It was so painful, Eruya staggered back while drooling.
Behind Hamsuke, the snake-like tail squirmed. It was stretched out to an abnormal length.
“My tail was too strong as expected. This was why I tried to finish with just close quarter combat.”
Not good.
Eruya barely kept himself from screaming.
If he kept getting charged like this, he would lose.
“You! What are you idiots just standing around for! Use your magic! Heal me! I said heal me! Quickly, you stupid slaves! Do it now!”
One of the elves started casting her spell when Eruya yelled at them.
The pain at the shoulder faded away into nothing.
“More! Cast the enhancement spells!”
Physical ability enhancement, temporary magic boost to the sword, hardened skin, sensory ability enhancement… Even though numerous spells were cast to enhance Eruya, Hamsuke watched on silently.
With so much magic enhancing him, a smile returned to Eruya’s face.
Overwhelming power coursed through his body.
He had never lost after receiving so many enhancement spells. It didn’t matter what kind of enemy it was.
Compared to his normal self, he now swung his sword with extreme speed. He was confident of fighting evenly now.
“Since a monster and a human have different physical capabilities, I’ll fill the gap with this!”