— Pichan
The sensation of water droplets on my cheek awakened my consciousness.
Darkness so profound that nothing was visible spread all around. I calmed my momentarily confused mind and used Night Vision again, realizing I was at the bottom of a deep hole.
“…”
I see… I fought the Kuaal and fell into this hole.
When making this place a battlefield, I had anticipated dropping the enemy into the hole, but was the tree more massive than I thought? The eroded and vanished root section was quite deep. Looking straight up, I could see a faint light dozens of meters above.
How much time has passed since then? It could be hours, or it could be minutes.
“…!”
Standing up in the water pooling at my feet, I felt some pain, but it seemed I hadn’t broken any bones or strained any tendons. The fact that I only suffered minor bruises from falling such a depth was probably thanks to the water that had accumulated at the bottom and using the Kuaal as a cushion when I fell.
Even though the surface is a withered land known as the “Barren Forest,” I didn’t expect there to be water underground.
Conversely, if you don’t dig this deep, there’s no water, so it’s the same as not having water either way.
I loosened my body as if stretching my muscles, checking my physical condition.
I can see, I can hear. I have bruises, but no fractures. My stamina and Mana Capacity are significantly reduced, and my muscles are so strained that I had difficulty moving until I got used to the pain.
I had planned to survive after assuming I would fight here, but I think the fact that I got away with this level of fatigue and damage was thanks to the growth of my Magic-related Skills.
I had been training for some time, but I felt that I had accumulated a certain amount of Skill experience from being able to use Shadow Walk, a Level 4 Dark Magic, and the berserk Body Enhancement I used in the Orc General battle.
However, the current sense of fatigue and Mana depletion are probably due to using the berserk Body Enhancement.
I wanted to be able to use this technique as a last resort if possible, but it’s not practical if it has this much backlash after only a few seconds of use.
More importantly… where did the Kuaal go?
I don’t think it died from a fall of this level. I don’t know what the situation is, but I don’t even have enough Mana to circulate through my whole body, so I gulped down the Mana Recovery Potion I took out of my pouch.
…Maybe the Kuaal has already escaped?
If so, Viro and Samantha are in danger. Before that, I have to go back because I was fighting Grave.
Calming my hasty mood, I used Detection with the little Mana I had recovered, and in the dark depths, I met the gaze of bright red eyes staring intently at me.
“…”
“…Kuaal.”
I forcibly circulated Mana through my still-weak body to use Body Enhancement, pulled out the ball-shaped Pendulum from Shadow Storage, and the Black Dagger from my waist, pointing them at the Kuaal.
In my current state, where I can’t move properly, it’s difficult to even evade the Kuaal’s attacks.
In the first place, there’s nearly a threefold difference in combat power, so if we fought normally, I would be overwhelmingly disadvantaged, but now that I’ve come this far, I have no intention of backing down.
I’ll kill you here.
“Grrr…”
“…”
When I released a sharp Killing Intent, the Kuaal responded by releasing Intimidation.
I stared at the Kuaal, who was releasing Intimidation that would kill the faint-hearted, without moving, and after tens of seconds, I realized that the Kuaal wasn’t not moving, but “couldn’t” move.
From the Kuaal’s back to its abdomen, which was lying in the knee-deep puddle, a massive fragment of a half-fossilized large tree was deeply impaled like a stake.
The Kuaal didn’t use Intimidation when it was fighting me. If that’s the case, then the Kuaal is probably in a pretty bad situation.
Its powerful claws and fangs can’t reach from that position. Its two tentacles extending from its ears could reach, but I estimate that those thin tentacles don’t have enough power to crush or pull it out.
“…”
I approached slowly in silence, stopped at a point where the tentacles couldn’t reach, and then swung down the ball-shaped Pendulum without hesitation.
“Guaooo!”
Splash!
The Pendulum’s ball-shaped weight crossed just above the Kuaal’s head, strongly striking the puddle below and splashing water.
“…That’s the end.”
I muttered briefly, wound up the Pendulum’s string, turned my back to the Kuaal, and sat down on a nearby rock that wasn’t submerged in water.
There’s no particular meaning to that action.
The Kuaal is still dangerous even if it can’t move, and it has high resistance to physical attacks, so I judged that it would take time to “kill” it.
Also, no matter how much stamina the Kuaal has, it will inevitably die someday in a situation where its abdomen is pierced.
My goal is not to “kill” but to “win.” Conversely, if “killing” leads to “victory,” I will use any means.
However, I don’t have a hobby of torturing and killing defenseless people, and there’s no point in spending time on such a wasteful thing.
Just die here, withering away.
“…”
I, sitting down, and the Kuaal, lying on the ground, glared at each other in silence.
I won’t let my guard down until you die. Perhaps sensing that from my gaze, the Kuaal’s eyes seemed to waver slightly.
I need to recover my stamina to escape from here. Feeling that my Mana had recovered to some extent with the Potion, I restored my stamina with Cure and repaired my bruises and wounds with Cure.
The Kuaal is staring intently at me as I do so. I can’t fathom what this guy is thinking, but after all, a Mystic Beast’s thoughts can’t be understood by humans.
I was able to recover to some extent with Cure, but I learned from the Orc battle that my stamina won’t recover beyond a certain point because the fatigue isn’t gone.
I thought that I needed a proper meal, not just pills, to speed up Mana recovery, so I took out the lamb meat that was still in Shadow Storage in large quantities and bit into it as if tearing it apart.
About an hour later, when I had finished a certain amount of Cure and was able to move quite a bit, I started to take action.
I tried to climb, choosing a relatively stable wall while discerning the brittle rock surface, but as I went higher, the rock surface weathered and crumbled just by touching it.
The result was the same even if I wrapped the Pendulum around protruding rocks or weathered tree roots. In the worst case, I can only wait for it to be completely night and climb little by little with Shadow Walk, but that would take too long.
“…”
As I sat down on a rock to recover my stamina and Mana again, glaring at the Kuaal, the Kuaal’s condition was slightly different.
It’s still glaring at me. But the Intimidation that the Kuaal was emitting had disappeared at some point, and a strange hue dwelled in the Kuaal’s eyes as it looked at me.
Is this the original Mystic Beast’s eyes…? Until now, it seemed to have been losing itself in hatred and anger, but it seemed to have finally regained its composure in the face of death.
The Kuaal still has stamina left, but the blood flowing from its wound is steadily draining the Kuaal’s life.
Crackle
At that moment, a small spark of electricity suddenly scattered from the Kuaal’s tentacles.
Even if the bottom is filled with water, the electricity emitted by the Kuaal isn’t something that can be used for attack. I think it could catch small fish, but it’s not powerful enough to defeat me.
However, the “electricity” emitted from the Kuaal’s tentacles didn’t seem to be originally for attack.
—Human—
“…?”
For a moment, I thought I heard a voice. No, … not a “voice”?
—Woman—
Each time the electricity crackled, the signal conveyed “meaning” like words. …Is this your will?
“…Kuaal.”
When I responded to that, “signals” were sent from the Kuaal’s tentacles in rapid succession.
—I—
—Save—
“…Are you saying to ‘save’ ‘you’ from there?”
—Yes—
What are you thinking? You’re telling the enemy you were fighting until just now to save you…
—I—
—Enemy—
—You—
—Different—
—Enemy—
—Man—
“Your enemy isn’t me, but a human man?”
—I—
—Lure—
—Man—
—Kill—
“…You want me to save you from here in order to kill the man who lured you out?”
—Yes—
“That’s a convenient story. So what are you going to do to me?”
—You—
—Darkness—
—I—
—Save—
Are you saying that if I save you, you’ll help me get out of here? Certainly, with this guy’s physical abilities, there’s a possibility I could escape.
“…You want me to trust you?”
—Yes—
—I—
—Pride—
—Swear—
“…Alright.”
Looking straight into the Kuaal’s eyes, I thought that if this guy swears on its pride, I’ll bet on it.
I think it’s foolish to trust the words of a beast you just fought to the death, but conversely, perhaps because we fought so head-on, I felt more inclined to believe it than the words of someone who just looks sincere.
“…………”
Approaching in silence, and while still wary of each other, I climbed onto Kuaal’s back. I wrapped the thread around the fragment piercing its back several times, then hoisted the thread over my shoulder like a seoi-nage throw, and began pulling it out with all my Body Enhancement.
“Guaoooooooohhhh!!!”
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Kuaal’s death-throes-like roar and my spirited shout echoed in the depths of the earth.
As the fragment was gradually pulled out, both Kuaal and I trembled with strained muscles. When the fragment was completely removed, Kuaal stood up as if to shake me off.
“Gua…”
Kuaal’s tentacle wrapped around me, who had fallen on my backside, and pulled me out of the water.
–Thank–
“…No need for thanks. Put me down.”
There was no falsehood in the words sworn on its pride. At my words, Kuaal quietly set me down on the ground.
The wound on its back contracted and had already stopped bleeding. It probably wouldn’t heal immediately, but at this rate, it would be at a level where it would heal in a few days.
Still, I’m concerned about its HP decrease. I don’t care if it dies, but I’ll be in trouble if it doesn’t stay alive until we get to Grave.
“Eat.”
“…………”
When I offered all the remaining meat, Kuaal, who had been watching me eat, glared at me for a moment before devouring the 5kg of meat in a few bites.
“Go wherever you want. I’ll freeload as I please.”
“Guaoooooooohhhh!!!”
At my words, Kuaal roared and leaped out in one burst, flexing all the muscles in its body.
The moment it did, before I could even grab on, Kuaal’s tentacle entwined around me and placed me on its back. It ascended tens of meters like a zigzagging lightning bolt before the rock face could even crumble, and then burst out onto the surface.
“Let’s go. To where our ‘enemy’ is.”
“Guaoooooooohhhh!!!”
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 4] 1Up
[Mana Capacity: 152/270] 20Up [HP: 138/210] 10Up
[Strength: 9 (12)] [Durability: 9 (12)] [Agility: 14 (20)] 1Up [Dexterity: 8]
[Dagger Arts Lv.3] [Martial Arts Lv.4] [Throwing Lv.3] [Archery Lv.1]
[Defense Lv.3] [Thread Manipulation Lv.4]
[Light Magic Lv.3] [Dark Magic Lv.4] 1Up [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.4]
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.4] [Intimidation Lv.3]
[Stealth Lv.4] [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.4] [Poison Resistance Lv.3]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 916 (During Body Enhancement: 1123)] 304Up
That’s how things were settled with Kuaal.
I might catch up with my scout master soon…
Next time, the conclusion of the battle with Grave.