Cat and Dog 7
Huh?
Huh?
The handle and base vanished, leaving only a partial blade to fall onto the grass.
“Huh?”
Why did only the hand holding my knife freeze? And why did the handle vanish because of that? The handle vanished? Only the blade remained? And it fell?
“FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH”
The yellow-glowing Monokeros roared.
I see. It was you.
You, you— how dare you freeze just the knife first. How dare you make my knife disappear again! Make it vanish!
“Alright. I’ll kill you.”
I gripped 【Vanish】 tightly.
The damn yellow-glowing Monokeros thrust its pure white, frozen horn at me again.
You fool. This will be your end.
I’ll erase you from the tip of your horn to the tip of your tail with 【Vanish】.
The yellow-glowing normie Monokeros closed in. The surrounding air froze, and ice particles danced around. My breath turned white too. It’s cold. But so what? My soul is burning pitch black right now.
I transferred 【Vanish】 to the back of my fist. I’ll defeat it with 【Vanish Knuckle】.
Come on. Come. Soon, I’ll leave no trace of you.
“Na!”
Suddenly, Dagaa pulled himself free and flew out.
“What!”
“!?”
Then, the yellow-glowing Monokeros slammed on the brakes and stopped.
“You, what are you doing—”
“Na!”
Dagaa smacked me across the cheek.
Hey, huh? That actually hurts. Um, it hurts.
“Na!”
Its almond-shaped red eyes sharpened as it glared at me.
“You…”
“Na! Na! Nana! Naa nana!”
Yeah. I have no idea what it’s saying, but I somehow get the gist.
Calm down. Get a grip. Calm down. Calm yourself.
If you erase it, the super rare drop will be gone, and you’ll just get a fine. I feel like that’s what it’s saying.
He’s right! It’s nothing but a loss! Also, ouch. It hurts more than I expected.
“Th… Thanks. Dagaa.”
Brought back to my senses, I released 【Vanish】.
I was dangerously close to falling into darkness.
To think Dagaa would stop me… I was really saved.
“Na!”
Dagaa spun around and changed back into a knife. Then it settled into my hand.
“You want me to use you? But, even with you…”
No, rather, precisely because it’s you, if things go wrong… like that other knife.
“Fire Strike!”
Ms. Pachira unleashed countless small fireballs.
Just as I wondered why, I saw the green-glowing Monokeros was covered in vines.
Does it have a Relic too!? Then, my body was forcefully moved against my will.
“Wh-!?”
“Na!!”
I was pulled with tremendous force by my right arm, which was holding the Dagaa Knife.
Hey, this is pretty rough and forceful, it’s hard to keep my balance.
And without hesitation, I plunged into the Fire Strike. What the…!?
“What the!?”
“!”
“?”
“Woof woof. Woof woof woof woof. Awooooooooooooooohhh!”
I heard Juicy-san’s howling. Anyway.
Without even time to think What is it thinking?, I rolled with the momentum of the dive.
I executed a perfect breakfall and stood up. My body hurts a bit, but I’m glad this is grassland.
Huh? I jumped into a swarm of fireballs, but I’m not burned?
“Dagaa. What in the… A red blade…!?”
The Dagaa Knife had turned bright red. It’s hot. I can feel the heat.
This is… a Heat Knife!
Don’t tell me it absorbed the Fire Strike fireballs!?
“Na!”
“Y-You mean, use this?”
“Na!”
“…Alright. Let’s do this together.”
“Na?”
With this, I’m definitely not afraid of the ice. We can do this.
“Dagaa. Let’s go.”
“Na!”
I’ll get serious. I used [The Silent One].
Remaining duration: 3 minutes.
Dagaa Heat Knife. Time remaining until Enchantment cancels: 60 seconds.
So it really is a Heat Knife. And it’s an Enchant?
More importantly, only 60 seconds left? Just then, Ms. Pachira ran up to me.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“Ms. Pachira. Let’s end this with the next move.”
“Hm? You. Something seems different about you…”
(Blue eyes. Those are the eyes from the Dungeon incident…)
Ah, so I was using [The Silent One] back then too.
“Please hit both of them with Fire Strike again.”
“But that won’t—”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s ineffective. We’ll use Fire Strike as a decoy.”
“Hoh? Hmm hmm. So that’s the plan. Very well. But don’t kill them, alright?”
“Yes.”
The yellow-glowing Monokeros had returned to the green-glowing Monokeros’s side.
It’s glaring at me.
“Then I shall go all out!”
Ms. Pachira attached that short metal wand to the back of her staff.
An attachment part!? The short wand had a blue gem embedded in it.
Small fireballs appeared around Ms. Pachira.
Their number… was countless. Truly a swarm.
The yellow-glowing Monokeros emitted Cold Air that froze its surroundings.
The green-glowing Monokeros next to it covered itself in vines and thorns, which then froze solid.
“Hell Fire Strike!!”
Ms. Pachira swung her staff with all her might.
The swarm of small fireballs charged towards the two Monokeros all at once.
The scene truly looked like concentrated fire (Hellfire). Alright. Good.
The two are doing their best to defend against the fierce attack, but I wonder if they’ll be okay.
Well, even if they get injured, we have Elixirs. As long as they don’t die, it’s fine.
I readied the Heat Knife and ran towards the two, taking a slightly wide path.
“FWOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH”
“FROROROROOOOOOOHHH”
The attack is so intense they haven’t noticed my approach at all.
“Now!”
Suddenly, the fireballs stopped. I see. This is it.
By the time the yellow-glowing Monokeros was surprised by my presence right in front of it, it was already too late.
(…Damn it! My daughter—!)
Just as it stepped forward protectively, I heard its inner voice. Daughter?
“It’s your daughter?!”
I yelled without thinking and seared off the yellow-glowing Monokeros’s frozen horn.
Without freezing at all, I cut off the horn with a unique melting sensation.
“GUOOOOOOHHHHhttsu”
(Guooooooohhhhttsu)
Having lost its horn, the yellow-glowing Monokeros collapsed.
Its inner voice was surprisingly deep.
“FROROROROOOOHH!?”
(Papa!?)
“It’s her Papa?!”
I yelled again and seared off the green-glowing Monokeros’s horn.
Cutting while melting it.
“FAAAAAAAAHHHHhttsu”
(Kyaaaaaaaahhh!)
The green-glowing Monokeros collapsed. Its inner scream was surprisingly cute.
Then, 60 seconds passed, and the Dagaa Heat Knife’s Enchantment was cancelled.
At that moment, the blade drooped limply, soft like clay.
“Na…?”
“Good work. You did great.”
“Na…!”
It changed back from the knife, but it looked exhausted.
“Well done, Woff. Now, what happened to this little one?”
She looked curiously at the exhausted Dagaa in my arms.
“Earlier, I charged into the Fire Strike, remember?”
“I was bewildered. What was that? I was surprised when the fireballs suddenly vanished.”
“Dagaa absorbed those fireballs with its knife form, got heated bright red, and became a Heat Knife.”
“What, a Heat Knife? So that’s how you could cut the frozen horns. And that’s why it ended up like this, I take it.”
“Yes. It seems to have run out of energy.”
It’s probably like a cooldown period.
Ms. Pachira gave a wry smile and lightly patted Dagaa’s head.
“Na…?”
“You did well too.”
“Na…!”
Good for you. But even if you’re exhausted, let’s stop staring at Ms. Pachira’s tail.
“Well then, let’s call that one over, take the horns, and go look for the next herd.”
“Two horns left, right?”
“Aye. But let’s take a short break before that. I’m terribly tired.”
“Yeah, I’m tired too.”
I’m hungry too. Hm? Ms. Pachira is looking at something.
“Woof woof. Woof woof. Woof woof. Woof woof! Awooooooooooooooohhh!!”
“…Full of energy, isn’t she.”
“…She sure is.”
Juicy-san. She’s still, still chasing them. She keeps chasing them.
Dogs really are amazing. Though the Monokeros herd is dropping like flies, creating a hellish scene.
Ms. Pachira watched Juicy-san with exasperated, narrowed cat-like eyes.
Ah, she looks exactly like a cat on a fence watching the family dog run around back home.
Cat and Dog, indeed.