One monster had brought down all the heroes in the shelter, including an S-Class hero.
Despair was all that remained.
No one would be able to save us.
We’re going to die.
Save me.
Those waves of emotion drifted through the people.
That was how it was, until something red smashed through the shelter wall and burst in.
No.
Right after it burst in, it actually felt even more hopeless.
And for good reason.
What had invaded was none other than a lizard-like monster.
“An, another monster...”
“The heroes are all down too... I-it’s over now!!”
People shoved one another aside, trying to get as far from the monsters as possible, even if it meant only buying themselves a little time.
Everyone inside the shelter already knew it was pointless.
There was no hope.
In this sealed shelter, no one was going to survive.
That was what everyone thought.
“...I’ll kill you.”
Until the newly arrived monster said that to the fish monster.
Boom!Thud!Crash!
“...What the hell is happening...?”
Someone muttered it.
But there wasn’t a single person who didn’t feel the same way.
Every time the green monster swung a fist, shockwaves split the ground and shattered concrete and steel alike.
The shelter wall was no exception; every time the fist struck, it crumbled like roof tiles.
This was a demon-level monster.
Honestly, it was strong enough to make one think the heroes really couldn’t win against it... the monster known as the Sea King was that powerful.
But.
The fight was still balanced.
Though his frame was much smaller, he used superb agility and technique to slip past and block those devastating attacks.
At supersonic speed, the two monsters collided once more.
Even if he was losing in raw power, it was still enough to land solid damage.
Boom!
The lizard monster kicked off the ground and closed the distance again with a cross counter.
In movements so fast they were almost a blur, the Sea King threw a punch.
A fierce shockwave burst from that fist and swept over the lizard monster.
He didn’t dodge.
It looked as though he used technique to take the shockwave in, then sent it back to strike the Sea King’s face.
The huge body staggered, and the lizard monster immediately rushed in with a flurry of rapid blows.
The sound of each fist targeting a vital point sliced through the air, enough to hint at their power.
And yet.
That wasn’t enough.
Letting out an enraged scream, the Sea King shattered the lizard’s barrage and charged.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!!
The lizard monster was sent flying with a sonic boom and slammed into the shelter wall.
That one hit alone dealt a massive amount of damage.
His leg was broken.
His abdomen caved in.
Rebar had pierced his side.
He was crushed.
But.
He opened his eyes.
And stood up.
He grabbed his broken leg and set it in place.
He tensed the caved-in stomach and swelled it back out.
He pulled the rebar from his side.
He regenerated his crushed body.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t feel pain.
The involuntary grimace from the pain showed not only on the Sea King’s face, but on the faces of the people watching too.
And yet he didn’t scream once.
Didn’t hesitate even a little.
He got back up.
And charged again.
By then, it had already happened more than five times.
“You damn lizard bastard, you’re so damn stubbornnnnn~!!!”
His fist came for the head.
He slipped around it with [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist], as if wrapping around the punch, and counterattacked.
The fist slammed into the Sea King’s face again.
Blood sprayed from him.
But the damage was shallow.
Immediately, the Sea King’s merciless attack smashed into his abdomen.
The force was so great it nearly sent his body flying again, but he planted his feet hard into the ground and held on.
Bright red blood spilled from his mouth.
Then the Sea King spat acid.
He blocked it with one arm, but the flesh melted away until bone showed through.
At that moment, the Sea King lunged.
As if he’d let that happen.
He struck the Sea King’s cheek hard with the exposed bone and knocked him off balance.
The next kick came in, but he dodged and slipped inside.
Then he drove his heel straight down into the abdomen.
Staring at the Sea King as he crashed to the floor with the ground breaking beneath him, he unleashed a relentless series of sharp attacks.
Apparently, the Sea King wasn’t one to take things lying down either.
One of his legs was seized in a hand and snapped with a sickening crack.
But he immediately wrapped his broken leg with his tail.
Using it as a brace, he forced himself to move.
He sprang up and drove a knee into the neck.
At the same time, he used Body Transformation to extend his arm and swung.
At last, it landed.
His claws tore straight across the Sea King’s face.
“Kraaaahhhhh!!!”
The Sea King screamed and clutched his face.
It hadn’t cut as deeply as he’d hoped.
At that split second, the Sea King had twisted his head and managed to avoid part of it.
Still, the damage had gone through.
He immediately lowered his body and rushed in.
But....
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!!
“Kgh....”
Crash!
He was sent flying by a surprise spinning kick and slammed hard into the wall, where he went limp.
It was a bad timing to try and deflect it with [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist].
Even with hardening for guard, his arm was broken again.
He got up.
No.
Before he could even properly rise, a kick came flying in and crushed his jaw.
Before he could manage any decent response.
The Sea King fixed his bloodshot gaze on him and struck.
Get up.
As the Sea King’s missile-like fist pulverized his face, he kicked the Sea King into the air with his regenerated legs.
Then he threw his whole body forward, rolling to add rotational force.
Like a bat hitting a baseball, he sent the Sea King flying with his tail into the opposite wall.
A deafening crash and a tremor followed from over there.
Blood streaming down obscured his vision.
But he forced his body up again.
His breathing was ragged.
He planted his trembling legs into the floor and stared at the Sea King approaching through the dust cloud.
The disadvantage was still on this side.
The torn face had recovered somewhat, and almost all the damage he’d dealt had healed too.
Still, the fact that it hadn’t fully recovered meant the regeneration definitely had limits.
Get up....
Wobble.
“Ugh....”
The strength in his left leg gave out.
No. More than that.
He couldn’t get proper strength into his whole body anymore.
...It was earlier than expected.
Boom-boom-boom!!!
“Ghhk...!”
When the Sea King, who had somehow closed in, landed a blow to the abdomen, his knees buckled.
“Oh? Ohhh? You’re finally tired, aren’t youuu~!!!!”
Crash!
“Guhk!”
Still, I’m not done yet...!
Crash!
“Kheuk!”
Bang!
He tried to raise an arm, but it was impossible.
His entire left arm was crushed.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha! Die! Die! Dieeeeee!!!”
Boom-crack!
His leg was smashed.
Boom-crash-boom!
His chest was torn open.
Bang!
His shoulder was ripped away.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!!!
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!!!
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!!
“Kh, heh....”
The symphony of one-sided violence rang out.
When his fading mind cleared, his body was already a rag doll, collapsed on the ground.
...This was it, then.
He’d reached it.
The limit.
“Really, why did you have to fight back~? Dying from one strike without resisting would’ve hurt less.”
The Sea King approached the collapsed body lying there.
His footsteps were relaxed.
He must think it’s finally over.
“Still, I’m merciful... I’ll send you off with one blowwwww!!!”
Whoooooosh!!
He wasn’t wrong.
A heavy punch loaded with weight and force came flying in.
Impossible to evade.
Impossible to block.
Because everything except his ragged right arm had already been crushed.
One eye... he couldn’t even see out of it anymore.
He opened the remaining eye wide.
The Sea King’s vicious, triumphant grin came into view.
Those eyes were saying he’d won.
And I....
He smiled.
The Sea King never would have dreamed it, but he had been preparing his strongest move from the very beginning.
In the middle of the fight, he realized his attacks would never be effective enough to inflict a fatal wound on him.
From that point on, he’d been waiting for the moment when the Sea King would be most careless.
Right now.
The instant he moved in to finish off a dying opponent.
Those eyes, visible through the gap, were full of the joy of victory won after a hard struggle.
Focus.
With [Shock Absorption], the reward he’d gained from eating the subterranean general, he condensed all the damage he’d taken into his right arm.
This was what had reached its limit.
He had absorbed as much damage as he possibly could.
All he could do was pray he wouldn’t die before reaching that limit.
And sure enough.
Thanks to the Sea King’s arrogance in trying to finish it with a final blow, he’d held on.
He gathered it all at the end.
Compressed it.
Compressed it again.
Until it felt like it might burst at any second.
And then.
Just before the Sea King’s fist arrived.
[Daily Quest: Eat one monster within 24 hours (1/1)]
[Reward: +10 Allocatable Points, full stat recovery]
[Failure: death.]
[Claim]
The technique I’m using now throws everything I have into a single blow.
My stats vanish, leaving only the bare minimum behind.
One strike.
For that one strike, I used the delayed reward I’d held onto after eating the deep-sea folk’s messenger earlier.
I added that power to the strongest technique I could currently perform.
I extend.
At last, we meet.
It bends like the movement of a flowing serpent.
It slips past the Sea King’s fist.
Slides aside.
Leaps over it.
And rushes toward his chest.
With everything I have.
[Flowing Snake Bite Killing Fist]
One single blow.
...Wasn’t enough.
“...Hah, g...uhhh...k....”
It wasn’t that it failed to land.
It was simply not powerful enough.
The Sea King was, for all practical purposes, already at death’s door.
One-third of his upper body had vanished, his chest had collapsed, his lower body was staggering with torn muscles, and his face had burst apart until bone showed through.
But he still wasn’t dead.
Thud!
“Ghk....”
...Even a proper groan wouldn’t come out anymore.
The Sea King’s weakened punch struck my face.
But.
“Ghaaaah!”
Smack!
“Gheeehhk!”
I threw my body forward too and punched him in the stomach.
He staggered, but rushed in again.
I did the same.
Then my legs gave out and I lost my balance, falling over.
Without hesitation, I crawled over and bit into his leg.
My teeth didn’t even sink in properly.
The Sea King spat acid.
Only a few drops, not enough to melt even a single scale of mine.
Without the slightest hesitation, I yanked his leg and knocked him over, then climbed on top of him.
His fist slammed into my jaw.
My fist slammed into his eye socket.
Neither blow did much.
We lost balance, and the positions reversed.
His two arms came down with all their weight on my chest, but they couldn’t even crack a single rib, let alone cave it in.
I whipped his face with my tail.
He struck my abdomen with his knee.
We both took each other’s fists and fell.
We rushed at each other again.
Fists smashed cheeks.
Claws raked chests.
Feet stomped stomachs.
Tails hooked legs and sent bodies sprawling.
Hit.
Strike.
Push.
And then, at last.
Crunch.
One side bit deeply into the other.
Immediately, the other bit down on the neck too, and the two bodies tangled together.
In the cold rain, the struggle grew more and more desperate.
They tore at arms and chewed at legs.
They ripped off tails and tore out intestines.
They scratched.
They clawed.
They ripped.
Blood flowed.
The teeth sank deeper and deeper.
Chunks of flesh sprayed everywhere.
The blood grew darker and darker.
Bone showed through.
Muscle was torn away....
...How long had it been like that?
One side finally dropped to one knee.
Only then did the crown fall, and the hunter’s teeth, broken to pieces, pierced the heart.
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