Episode 33: Encounter, Battle
“Xiaolin, protect Margot! Hanako, the carriage!”
“Haiyo!” “Aye-yo!”
Xiaolin gracefully draws her two Seiryuto. They are ‘Continental’ swords with red decorative cords attached to the pommels.
Hanako wields an Ōganabō. Not one with iron plates attached to wood, but a solid iron Ōganabō. It easily weighs over 100kg.
“Shio and Roa, hold the front line as is!”
“Okay!” “Yeees!”
Shio has her usual iron Greatsword, Roa her glaive.
And me…?
“I’ll take on the other one.”
“Kishaaaaaa!!!”
Long staff in my right hand, short sword in my left.
With my usual equipment, I take my stance.
A mated pair, perhaps, these centipedes?
No, insects don’t have such a culture. There are just two of them. No reason needed.
More importantly…
“These guys are tough, aren’t they…”
“Shaaa!!!”
While grumbling… I dodge the lunging upper body and slash at the segment of its head!
…But I only manage to cut about a centimeter deep.
“Whoa, is this iron? So hard…”
The short sword is enhanced with Magical Power using ‘Penetration,’ but even so, the blade chipped a little. Fortunately, the core doesn’t seem to be extended… but I’ll have to sharpen it later.
“Shash!”
“Whoa.”
For a centipede, that’s an irregular move.
Swinging its upper body around, using centrifugal force to deliver a blow.
As expected, the larger the size, the more the brain increases. It’s smart.
I deflect it with my long staff, buying myself a little time, and in that instant, quickly pull back.
Retreating, I twist my body, releasing that power to strike its head with the long staff.
“Shaaa!!!”
“Hmm, it doesn’t flinch, huh.”
Insect types don’t have pain receptors, so they don’t mind being hit. Even if I hit their heads, they don’t flinch easily.
Even if I put my weight into a strong blow, they’d just charge in, trying to take me down with them.
That’s why I have to do this, pulling back… or, to put it nicely, using hit-and-away tactics.
Besides, if I crush its head, I can kill it, but the body will keep thrashing around for a while without dying.
Before killing it, I want to inflict some damage to the body, at least to the torso, so that it doesn’t thrash around after death.
“So, here we go!”
I strike the torso… or rather, the abdominal segments, distorting the chitinous Carapace.
Not breaking it, but distorting it.
I said that insect types don’t feel pain and don’t flinch! But if the physical body becomes dysfunctional, naturally, its movements will become sluggish. Remember the Ishimura spaceship…!
“Shash! Shash! Shaaa!!!”
The smart centipede seems to have realized that I’m fast, and it refrains from wide attacks, unleashing a series of compact bites. Good job.
Well, it’s just a monster’s attack with no feints or anything. There’s no way it’ll hit me.
Since I’m so relaxed, I glance sideways at Shio and Roa…
“Uryaaaa!!!” “Oraaaa!!!”
“Gishaaaa!!!”
Wow, they’re just swinging their weapons down on the Carapace, forcibly beating it to death…
They’re barbarians after all. Scary…
So, that one over there is already on its last legs. No pun intended.
Isn’t it already dead? No, it is dead.
They’re just hitting it without thinking, so it’s already dead, but its vitality is so strong that the corpse is twitching violently.
They’re still beating that corpse, though. They’re probably going to keep hitting it until it stops moving…
“Dru! Are you having trouble?! Want some help?!”
Huh?
What’s that? Taunting me?
“No, I’m about to finish it.”
I’ve finished my preparations… so I drive the short sword into the spot where I made the first cut, once more.
“Shaaa!!!”
Again, the blade sinks in about a centimeter.
Avoiding its charge, I do it again.
Another centimeter.
“Sha, aaa!!”
One more time… one, two, and three.
Surely, it understands that it’s about to die? I don’t know, but the thrashing Giant Centipede can’t move its body.
That’s because I distorted the Carapace beforehand.
Now, it seems like all it can do is charge.
And then… the head flies off. Chopped off.
“It’s over.”
“Ah! No, Dru! Insects move even when they’re dead!!!”
Shio says…
“It’s not moving, though.”
“…Huh?”
The dead Giant Centipede only makes creaking sounds, hardly moving, and lies still obediently…
“Um, what did you do?”
“Look at the segments.”
“These are… the shape is distorted! You were breaking the Giant Centipede’s body while fighting?!”
“That’s right.”
“Haa… you’re amazing, Dru…”
Shio is impressed.
“Let’s move on for now.”
“Eh? The insect’s Carapace can be sold, you know?”
“Insect types release pheromones when they die… If you’re not targeting them, it’s better to leave the area quickly.”
“Ah, I don’t really understand, but you mean more centipede friends might come? That, yeah, I get it. Then, let’s hurry on ahead.”
In this way, while dealing with encounters, we move further ahead.
It’s tough, but if we do it well, it’s a 500,000-yen job in four days.
I have to accept the difficulty, of course.