711 – The Twin-headed Beast (side: Adofu)

『Stand.
Surely you haven’t died from that attack.
I called forth a suitable beast to act as your opponent.
Don’t die from just the opening.』

Ares’ [Telepathy] resounds.

Adofu and Dylan get to their feet with great effort, using their swords as support.

“…We’re in it now.
It goes without saying, but this is a high rank monster that is clearly beyond our capabilities.
We can’t match it at all in either speed or strength.
It’ll be over the moment we’re caught.”

In this world, for the sake of getting a rough estimate of an opponent’s stats and level, many make use of certain methods to first ascertain one of their parameters.
The stats easy to confirm are【Speed】that can be measured to some extent when the opponent moves, and【Defence】which can be decided after seeing how deep an arrow penetrates.
As there’s a large variation depending on the skills and how much strength was put behind the attack, it is more difficult to get a credible indication of【Attack】or【Magic】stats.

The orthrus can be inferred to be a monster of at least upper B rank, seeing as Adofu’s [Shockwave] didn’t draw blood from it.
Monsters of that rank cannot be handled by ordinary adventurers or by the armies of small countries, and are treated as calamities.
The single orthus is enough of a threat that the entirety of Harenae ought to come together to work out a plan to subjugate it.

“Adofu bro, is there some trick to fighting an enemy that’s this much of a monster?”

“There’s something from Harenae’s military tactics.
If there’s no hope of winning at all, then you should use your skills to escape somehow.
There’s no shame in running from an undefeatable enemy.
Bringing back information is an important duty as well.
Speaking in terms of the country, fighters with experience are valuable assets, and it’s troubling if they end up dying because of misplaced pride.
Though, that’s only if there will be a second chance to strike back.”

“I see, got it.
We can only die trying, then.”

After sizing up Adofu and Dylan with both its heads, the orthrus leaps towards Dylan.

It’s standard to take down weaker enemies first.
However, in order to liven up the battle a little more for Ares, the orthus is acting to prolong the conclusion.

“Uguh!”

Dylan readies his sword and glares at the orthrus as it leaps at him.
He doesn’t have any means to deal with being targeted directly.

“[Clay]!”

Adofu makes a large pillar of earth sprout up in front of Dylan, who uses it as cover.
The orthrus’ claw crashes through the pillar, but Dylan narrowly manages to duck below.

“T-thanks, Adofu bro!”

“[Clay]! [Clay]!”

Adofu continuously uses magic to create pillars of earth.

『I see, you’re making cover.
Trite, but amusing.』

Ares nods with interest.

“Adofu bro, if you make so many of those pillars, there’s no way you’ll have enough mana…”

“Stop thinking about what comes after! You might die in the next moment!”

“Y-yes…!”

The orthrus proceeds towards Dylan while mowing down the pillars.

“Hiih, it’s coming here again…!”

“Right there! [Clay]!”

At Adofu’s shout, the ground shines under the orthrus’ feet.

The second purpose of the pillars was to restrict the movement of the orthrus.
From Adofu’s experience as a warrior, he could tell that the orthrus was playing around with them.
If it had been fighting seriously, they’d both have died immediately.

Adofu predicted that the orthrus would deliberately run through the pillars as it chased Dylan.
He casted [Clay] multiple times to make the ground harder to see from the dust clouds thrown up, and then prepared a magic circle in its path that would skewer the orthus if stepped on.

Even so, he was only able to pull off the surprise attack because the orthrus was a moment too late in noticing the [Clay] being cast.
However, even after out-predicting the orthus, it’s up to luck whether or not it’ll mean anything with the difference in stats.
It’s a big gamble, but ordinary attacks won’t do any damage at all.

The gigantic needle extending from the ground pierces the abdomen of the orthrus.

“Guu!”

“It hit…!”

Dylan yells in joy.

However, the orthrus lands as if nothing happened.
Similar to when it received the [Shockwave], there’s no blood from the wound at all.

“N-no way… It can shrug off even that!?”

『It’s pointless.
There’s no meaning in swordsmen choosing magic as their favoured attack.』

Ares judges coolly.

The orthrus starts approaching the nearby Dylan.

“Dylan!”

Adofu dashes over towards them.

“Looking down on us… I’ll show you my trump card, you dog bastard!”

Dylan takes a deep breath.

“[Poison Fog]!”

Dylan blows purple smoke from his mouth.

It’s his skill, [Poison Fog].
True to its name, it’s a skill that mixes mana into the user’s breath to be blown out as a poisonous mist.

“Guu…”

The orthrus’ heads flinches in aversion to the poison fog.

“Then [Sneak Attack]!”

Dylan charges through the cloud of poison and leaps upward while swinging his sword.

It’s the skill [Sneak Attack].
Strengthening the user’s limbs with magic, it hastens the user to their maximum speed to drive an attack in, no matter what their starting stance.
The MP cost is harsh for its effectiveness, but true to its name, [Sneak Attack] is a useful skill for a burst of speed in moments like these where his back is to the wall.

He uses [Poison Fog] to obscure the opponent’s vision, and follows up with [Sneak Attack] to take the opponent by surprise.
It’s Dylan’s specialty.
If it works, the poison can even seep into the wound.

However, the [Sneak Attack] that Dylan staked his life on does not connect.
As he charges right up to one of the orthrus’ heads, it mauls him without a shred of hesitation, sending him to the floor.

“Gaah!”

Dylan’s body is lacerated badly by its claws.
His back crashes into the ground, and a massive amount of blood flows from his abdomen.
His sword, sent flying by the attack, clangs to the floor.

It’s clearly a fatal wound.
No, considering the difference in stats, it’s a miracle that he didn’t die immediately.

『The small fry can put up a brave fight, it seems.
It didn’t amount to anything, but your efforts met the minimum requirement to be called a spectacle…』

“You did well, Dylan!”

Matching his timing to Dylan’s leap earlier, Adofu had also jumped towards the orthrus.
He slid into a blind spot of the orthrus’ twin heads at the same time as Dylan used his [Poison Fog] and [Sneak Attack] skills, and then jumped into the air using his own [Clay] pillar as a stepping stone.

“[Total Concentration]…!”

Adofu shuts his eyes.

『Do it, Orthrus.
The show ends here.』

“Do it… Adofu bro!”

Dylan yells with a trembling voice, his body on the verge of death.

“GuuOOO!”

The orthrus’ claw is a moment late for the midair Adofu.
With his eyes closed, Adofu tilts his body to dodge the attack.

“[Armour Pierce]!”

Adofu draws his sword back, and then plunges it forward.
Aiming to take down Adofu right now while he’s midair and defenceless, the orthrus opens its jaws wide and snaps forward at him.

Adofu’s sword clashes against the orthrus’ fang.

『Oh?… Splendid.』

Adofu crashes to the floor in a jumbled heap.

“Guhah!”

Everything from Adofu’s left shoulder down has been bitten off by the orthrus, together with his sword.
His right arm has lost its functionality from the battle with the red ants.
With this, he’s lost the use of both arms.

“GuuOOOOO!”

The orthrus swings its left head wildly as blood spews from its mouth.

“Heh, heh heh… As expected, that hurt it.
The insides of its mouth aren’t so sturdy.”

Adofu grins while lying in a puddle of his own blood.

It wasn’t that the orthrus had bitten off Adofu’s left arm.
He had deliberately sacrificed his left arm in order to hammer in the skill [Armour Pierce] into its defenceless throat where it would be most effective.