One blow was enough to cave his stomach in a little.
It hurt, but it was bearable.
Before long, five seconds had passed. Feeling his crushed abdomen rapidly regenerate, he glared at the bastard.
The bastard rushed in fast.
Not so fast that he couldn’t track it with his eyes.
He stepped back with one foot, then lowered his body in time with the moment the bastard was almost on him.
Just as he’d expected, the bastard’s right fist went for his upper body and sliced through empty air.
There was still another arm on the right, and the follow-up came immediately, but...
“...One is enough to deflect.”
He remembered the snake-patterned movement he had seen before.
He recalled that boxing style.
And applied it to his current body.
Like a snake, flexible, thin, and long.
[Snake Bite Fist]
His arm twisted like a snake, rising as if to coil around the bastard’s fist, then slammed hard into the solar plexus.
Boom!
“Ghk...!”
The bastard staggered back, groaning.
It was incredibly hard.
As expected, a straight palm thrust probably wouldn’t have done much damage.
He had anticipated that, so he deliberately threw a fist to strike the inside instead of the outside.
It was the same principle as how a heavy blunt weapon was more effective than a sharp blade against armor.
...The problem was.
“...This is more than I expected.”
Compared to how his own stomach had caved in from taking the bastard’s punch, the bastard looked perfectly fine even after getting hit.
In fact, the fist that had landed on him was starting to ache a little.
“Kraha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
The counterattack came immediately.
The bastard kicked off the ground and charged in fast, then leaned his upper body back.
He put his weight into it and brought down both of his first arms.
It was an attack he could definitely break through.
With such a wide motion, it should actually be easy to dodge—
Boom!
“Ghk...!?”
Was that a feint...!
While he was focused on the first pair of arms raised high, he barely managed to guard against the second pair striking up from below.
Crack.
“.........!”
No, that was a failed guard.
He had barely managed to block the second fists, even at the cost of a cracked bone, but he couldn’t stop the first fists coming down from above—
—But this one he could.
Imagining the smooth, natural flow of water.
Right before the bastard’s fist reached his head.
He placed his right hand against the left fist.
His left hand against the right fist.
And instead of deflecting it, he gently pushed it away.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
[Water Current Formation]
“...What?!”
The bastard’s face twisted in surprise as his decisive strike scattered in midair.
He smoothly drew his arms, which had been spread apart to let the attack flow past, back into position in a circular motion.
All four fists were neutralized for a split second, and the guard was blown wide open.
The bastard quickly tried to block with a leg, but...
“...Too late.”
He was already within range.
And his fist had long since been reloaded through soft, swift movement.
So.
[Instant Acceleration]
He accelerated his body rapidly.
[Hardened Body]
He hardened his fist.
[Body Transformation]
He concentrated his muscles into one place.
And then.
He struck.
Thwack!
“Ghk...!?”
One hit wasn’t enough.
He couldn’t allow any room for a counterattack.
He took full control and, using the speed of his rapidly accelerating body, began unleashing a barrage.
Thududududududududududududududud!!!
“Kgh! Ack, kuhk! Kk, kheughghghghghghghgh!!”
One fist after another.
He didn’t stop.
He kept increasing the speed.
And drove the momentum forward.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
Straight. Straight. Straight.
Another straight.
Two hard shots to the chest.
One to the shoulder.
Four to the stomach.
Three to the face.
And then.
He concentrated all his strength into the bastard’s staggering jaw and uppercut with everything he had.
“Grrrrgh, where do you think you’re—!”
Boom!
“Ghk!?”
...Not enough?
He spat blood as the shock of being struck by the bastard’s knee sent him reeling back and kicking off the ground to create distance.
The impact was even heavier than before. The bastard must have put everything into it too.
As expected, the destructive power was absurd.
That attack had probably ruptured one or two internal organs.
His hardened fists had shattered completely while striking the bastard.
The decisive uppercut, of course, had missed.
Still, he thought he had dealt as much damage as possible...
“...Khheh... That final uppercut would’ve been dangerous if it had landed...”
Even after landing a one-sided barrage, the visible damage didn’t look that severe.
His shoulder, stomach, and face had been battered and slightly caved in... but the bastard was still moving just fine.
He shook himself once, then charged again.
...Yeah.
Let’s do this.
He charged too, colliding head-on.
Kukwakakakakakakaka!!!
The intense shockwave created by the collision of the black mass and the red mass swept over the surroundings.
He didn’t stop.
In a straight contest of strength, he was definitely being pushed back.
As he was gradually forced back in their struggle, he immediately pulled away and threw the bastard’s balance off.
He sent a fist straight at the upper body that had leaned forward a little.
Of course, it was blocked by one hand, and two fists came flying in at once.
He let the slightly more forward one flow away with [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist], and with the other, he grabbed the forearm hard using [Snake Bite Fist].
Holding onto the forearm, he spun and drove in.
He struck the bastard’s solar plexus with his elbow, but it only made the bastard reel slightly before a headbutt came flying in.
With a deafening Boom, they broke apart, then glared at each other and charged again.
Four fists came flying in at once.
Dodge left.
Flow to the right.
Then rush straight through the center.
He slipped past three fists and stepped on the remaining one to leap upward.
Before the bastard could respond properly, he contracted the muscles in his legs as much as he could, then extended them and kicked the bastard in the cheek.
Blood sprayed.
But he was immediately grabbed by the tail and slammed into the ground.
The ground shattered.
He also coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But he immediately lunged at the bastard’s legs, grabbed them, and dragged him into the earth.
By coincidence, this was a battlefield both of them knew well.
Two fish swimming through water collided underground.
He clamped down hard on one of the bastard’s arms and drove his sharp teeth in.
Several blows immediately rained down on his back.
With his two free legs, he deflected the two fists.
One was still missing.
He lifted his tail and let the remaining arm slide away like a snake coiling around it.
Even then, his teeth sank deeper.
The bastard started shaking his body to tear the arm free.
Then, crying out in pain, he launched a headbutt.
He couldn’t block it in time and took the collision head-on.
Several teeth broke.
But a few sank in even deeper, like nails driven in with a hammer.
As soon as he heard the sound of flesh tearing, he changed his movement.
Like a crocodile crushing its prey, he twisted with all his strength.
He planted a foot against the bastard’s chest.
Then he stomped and leaped upward with all his strength, and at last—
Rrrrip!
He tore off one of the bastard’s arms.
But.
Damn it.
The bastard was calm.
The moment he felt the arm being torn away, he abandoned it and twisted his body half a turn, bringing his legs around toward him.
The instant he realized his mistake—
Thwackaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!
A dizzyingly heavy, vicious impact spread from his battered stomach through his entire body.
Before he could recover from the shock, another blow hit his side.
He tried to defend somehow, but his eyes wouldn’t open properly.
The barrage came down immediately.
Kwakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakak!!!
Dangerous.
His mind was going blank.
His bones were breaking, his muscles tearing.
His arms were crumpling, his legs were bursting apart.
Then a kick came flying toward his head, and only then did he grit his teeth and force his eyes open.
He brought up the bones of his already shattered arm and let the attack slide away.
He couldn’t deflect it completely.
Some of the impact still got through, and for a moment all the strength drained from his body.
In that gap, the bastard put weight into his leg...
...He bit down on his tongue and forced his mind back awake.
Was this... the surface?
The sound of people screaming rang in his ears.
Had that one blow sent them all the way into the residential district?
[HP: 410/2000]
[ST: 2410/2410]
[AP: 120/1000]
[SP: 3000/3000]
“...Tch.”
He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth.
Up until now, he had fought and slaughtered low-rank monsters like the bear brute, and through that, he had learned exactly where he stood.
He was the upper end of low-rank.
No, maybe even the bottom of high-rank.
Yeah.
“So you’re still breathing. That nickname wasn’t given for nothing, after all.”
That was why he could tell what level the bastard was.
“Kheh-heh. Ever since our king died, I needed proof of my strength to become a new king myself... You, right now, are more than enough to serve as that proof, as a named sacrifice.”
The bastard was.
“Come on, monster hunter! Kill you, and I’ll be recognized as the king of the underground! Struggle as much as you can, resist! And then fall beneath my fists!”
At minimum, an upper-middle-level high-rank.
“...I have no intention of losing.”
“Oh? Your mouth is still working. But... you look close to your limit.”
...Limit?
At this level?
All that had happened was that his limbs and organs had been smashed and he’d lost a bit of stamina.
“...Ha.”
Don’t make me laugh.
If this were my limit, I’d have died long ago.
He regenerated his broken organs and bones.
His torn-off leg returned, and his crushed jaw regained its original shape.
Get up.
“The will of the Earth says you must be exterminated... but I never expected you to be this much of a piece of trash.”
“You’re not even worth killing.”
Compared to that despair back then.
He was still far from it.
Get up.
He forced his trembling body upright and stared the bastard down.
His armor was broken in several places, one arm had been torn off, and.
His legs were shaking.
Yeah.
There was no way he’d give up over something like this.
“...Come at me.”
Today, I’ll definitely rip your throat out.
And chew that head up nicely.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register