I search for the environmental factors that will let me beat this thing.
In the middle of the forest.
There are quite a lot of trees.
The soil is soft.
...There’s just a little bit of an opening.
It’s still a struggle, though.
“All right, here I go! Kahahahahaha!”
His fist comes charging in.
...Fast.
If I were moving at my old speed, I wouldn’t be able to respond.
In other words.
“Hup...!”
I can respond now.
I duck.
What he was aiming for, just like that crocodile mole before, was my head.
His fist grazes over the top of my head with a gust of wind.
He’s strong in both power and speed.
My speed is a little better, but... attack power? Maybe a difference of seven to ten times?
His stamina is probably around the same level, too.
“Hmph!”
The fist above my head comes crashing down fast, trying to crush me.
Instead, I lunge at the fist.
I rush in, climb up his arm before it hits the ground, use it as a springboard, and jump.
“........!”
...My legs hurt like hell.
My muscles are only just starting to regenerate, so just running is already pushing it.
It feels like they could snap any second.
But rather than screaming from the pain, it’s better to land even one hit on this guy.
His head—
...Almost went for it.
I jump again off his shoulder and avoid his jaw.
I land on the tree behind him and climb upward.
Since he’s a crocodile, getting bitten anywhere would probably tear me in half on the spot.
Even so, I can tell his hide is tough.
Combined with his stamina, a normal attack probably won’t do much.
Just like with the crocodile mole, I’ll have to aim for a vital point if I want to win.
So where is that vital point?
“Kra-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
The tree I climbed collapses with a loud crack!
I hide among the leaves and use [Stealth] and [Quiet Steps].
While he’s charging blindly toward the already-collapsed tree, I move behind him.
Got—
“There you are!”
-Damn it.
I immediately leap back two steps and dodge his tail swing.
“...Tch, you slippery little rat! You’re just like a damn rodent, aren’t youuuu!!!”
And you’re a rhinoceros, I suppose.
He closes the distance at once, and his flurry of attacks rains down.
...But I can see it.
Dragging this out is obviously bad for me.
The muscles that have only just regenerated won’t hold.
My insides... damn it. The small intestine, I think.
Of all things, the longest part started regenerating first.
It’ll take at least two minutes to finish.
And I can’t last two minutes.
My legs are wobbling.
So the best chance is to settle this now.
I use [Super Instinct] as well.
...Come on.
“Dieeeeeeeee!!!”
First strike.
Left hand.
Simple.
I turn my head left and evade.
Second strike.
Right hand.
He’s aiming for my leg.
I move my left leg behind my right and step my right leg forward to dodge.
Third strike.
Almost both hands.
Fast.
He’s aiming for... my stomach.
I shift my weight backward and arch my upper body back as fast as I can.
His fists pass in front of my eyes.
Fourth strike.
The fists come crashing down.
I dodge with a back handspring.
Fifth strike.
Sixth strike.
Seventh strike.
Eight, nine, ten, eleven....
...Thirty-seventh strike.
A gap.
Found it.
I contract my barely regenerated muscles as much as possible.
I bend my damaged joints as far as they’ll go.
I thrust my open right hand forward as far as I can.
I place my left hand, claws sharpened, in front of my chest.
Right leg in front, left leg behind.
As bent as possible.
I lift my tail just enough off the ground.
At last, the thirty-eighth strike comes flying in.
Luckily, it’s a weighted attack.
His right hand.
I instantly release the muscles that had been compressed to their limit.
...The muscles in my left leg burst.
But it doesn’t matter.
I got enough propulsion.
My body, bent like a spring to its limit, releases and leaps upward.
What I’m aiming to pierce is his eye.
I dodged the angle of his jaw.
Like this.
Gather the claws.
Like a single spear launched forward.
Pierce—
“Phew— that was close. I almost got hit.”
I thought I’d won.
I was going to pierce his eye and tear straight through from there.
That was before a long tentacle shot out from behind his head and punched through my stomach.
“Kh...heuk....”
...Damn it.
The small intestine that had just been regenerating was torn apart completely.
...No. Maybe that’s actually lucky?
The pain is so severe I can’t think straight.
“As I underestimated you, you also underestimated me. Tsk tsk.”
“Ghk...!”
Not yet.
Not yet.
If I cut this tentacle—
“Oh, no you don’t.”
“...........!”
KWA-AAAAANG!!!
...Damn it.
Still impaled on the tentacle, I’m slammed down hard once.
That one blow shatters the bones that had just regenerated.
“Keh...heuh....”
Blood bursts out of my mouth.
Pain circulates through my whole body and scatters my focus.
My consciousness is going dull.
...No.
This can’t happen.
I have to get out.
“...Still, I’ll admit I’m surprised. A mere low-rank like you made me, a high-rank, go all out.”
KWA-AANG!!
“Keheuk...!”
Like a whip, the tentacle lashes my back.
...One hit is enough to probably smash my spine.
“Kuhuhu... This tentacle is my secret weapon. Its attack power is low, but its flexibility, speed, and piercing power are enough to take the heads off most heroes in an instant... It can be used like a whip, too.”
Swoosh!
“........!!!!!!”
You crazy bastard.
A whip? That’s a cutter, isn’t it?
My right arm is severed in an instant.
“Oops, I didn’t mean to cut it off... Well, whatever.”
“...! Khk, let go...!”
I try to resist with my remaining left arm.
But I can’t do anything.
My legs were already broken by the earlier impact.
No evasion.
A single arm can’t make up for such an overwhelming difference in power.
No defense.
No resistance.
Still, I still have one arm left....
“Then this side, too!”
“...!! Kyaah?!“
Not just the arm he grabbed roughly, but my shoulder blade too.
It’s torn apart like paper.
“Kuh... pathetic.”
Again.
My left leg.
“Khuk...!”
My right leg.
“Kk...!”
“Kukuk... I’ll at least praise your mentality for not screaming even in that state.”
...I can’t let it end like this. Not like this.
There has to be hope. There has to be.
“Oh? You’re still trying to resist... but it’s over. There’s no hope. Now then, you said you ate my younger brother, didn’t you? I’ll do the same to you!”
He opens his mouth wide.
...No.
No...!
No!!
“Bon appétit—”
...Or rather.
You. You were reading it after all.
“?! Wha—”
Crunch.
With my right hand, I pierce the roof of his mouth.
“Keh... kueeheeeek?!”
“...Ah.”
Honestly.
You’re way too stupid.
“What... how did you...! I clearly cut off your limbs—”
“You did. Yeah. But.”
There’s no rule saying they can’t grow back just because they were cut off, is there?
I’d already regenerated everything.
Besides, I can start regenerating as long as I don’t take any additional damage for five seconds.
And more importantly, unlucky for you.
[Daily Quest: Eat one monster within 24 hours (1/1)]
[Reward: 10 additional distributable points, full stat recovery]
[Failure: Death.]
“I drank the blood of the dragon-level monster that got splattered on my mouth earlier. I also ate the meat that had fallen around us.”
“W-what does that have to do with anything...!”
...What? He can’t read this?
You’re reading this thought right now too, aren’t you?
“...Hmm. Or maybe you can’t read me completely when I’m in this state? You only get fragments?”
“........!!!”
His expression says I hit the mark.
The moment I thought, You’re not scary at all, his face twisted, and I knew for sure.
Your real ability is reading thoughts.
But only the surface. You can’t read the deeper thoughts.
I deliberately spent the fight dodging and throwing only weak attacks, while thinking anxious thoughts on purpose, just to confirm that.
So even if you can predict my immediate movements, you can’t read the one that comes right after.
Still, I figured there had to be something else.
Considering that monster with similar physical specs who could see 1.5 seconds into the future was only low-rank.
So I forced through an attack that was predictable, but impossible to ignore.
“Th-then you screaming just now...!”
That was a lie.
I’d already had my entire lower body blown off before. Compared to that, losing a few limbs is nothing.
Of course it hurts. I’m not saying it doesn’t.
But not enough to scream.
“You... you bastard! How dare you mock meeeee!!!!”
Oh?
So you can survive with your palate pierced.
But your wording is wrong.
I wasn’t mocking you.
I was exploring you.
It was my first time fighting a high-rank, so I was a little tense.
“Kraaaaaaah!!!”
Well.
It’s true my stamina is much lower.
And it’s true there’s a huge gap in attack power.
But.
That doesn’t mean I have to lose to you.
More than anything....
[Distributable Points: 1000]
I’m already not in a position to lose so easily.
I’ve already earned the recognition of a dragon-level monster.
[Name: A “truly” ordinary lizard monster]
[Disaster Level: Low (Promotion condition: Successful hunt of a high-rank monster)]
[HP: 190/190]
[ST: 110/110]
[AP: 80/80]
[SP: 420/420]
[MP: 0/0]
[Distributable Points: 1000]
[Skills (9/10): [Super Instinct Lv. 5], [Quiet Steps Lv. 3], [Sharp Claws Lv. 5], [Strong Teeth Lv. 4], [Tail Severing Lv. 2], [Hardened Body Lv. 2], [Super Regeneration Lv. 4], [Stealth Lv. 2], [?? (The difference in rank is too great)]]
[HP: 190->400]
[ST: 110->550]
[AP: 80->350]
[SP: 420->500]
[MP: 0]
Now then.
Shall we test how strong five times the attack power is?
No matter how high-rank you are.
You’re still slow enough to make me yawn.
Swoosh!!
“Guh... KRAAAAAAAAH!!!”
Even that hide that looked so tough is easy enough to tear.
“U, uaaaaaaa!!!!”
“So this is all a high-rank amounts to.”
I grab his fist lightly and crush it with a squeeze.
“Ugaaaaaaaaak!!! Kuuuaaaaaaaa!!!”
Yeah.
Weak.
“Kheuh-eheheh... Don’t be ridiculous! I’m the crocodile landowner! I’m a high-rank monster! I’ve killed many heroes....”
“Yeah. Shut up.”
“...What?”
“Didn’t you hear me? Shut up.”
I hate the sound of food barking the most.
Loud.
Annoying.
And I’m hungry.
Die.
Slaaash.
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