As Kageichi and Torako were dealing with the Gyokuryu Society’s underlings, Kiraboshi, who was launching an offensive against the Mother Sphere Splinter, wiped away sweat while taking a breath.
“Damn, I can’t finish it off…!”
She had completely read through all of the enemy’s Sphere attacks.
The Attack Spheres were troublesome, but if she fixed her movements, guiding them was easy.
Rather, she felt it was more difficult when her comrades were around, or when she dodged in a half-hearted position, because the trajectories of multiple Spheres would waver and scatter as they attacked.
The Guard Spheres were the same; if she feinted, she could easily shake them off.
Monsters didn’t learn.
If she acted calmly, it wasn’t difficult to take no damage, and she was hitting its weak points. And yet—
Even though I’m hitting it, the enemy’s Magical Power isn’t decreasing…!
Or rather, it’s recovering—Auto-Regeneration.
Goto-san from the Labyrinth Agency and the Sensei could finish it off, but Kiraboshi, whose style was to hit while evading the enemy’s attacks, couldn’t push through.
But if she rushed her attacks, she’d be food for the Spheres.
Kiraboshi’s durability wasn’t high enough to abandon defense and specialize in attack.
(There’s also the option of enduring until Sensei comes back, but…)
That’s no fun—Kiraboshi glared at the floating Boss, thinking that she would at least keep whittling away at its Auto-Regeneration, and the moment she charged again…
A white, tentacle-like thing sprouted from the bottom of the star-shaped outer shell.
“What’s that!?”
“Whoa!” She canceled her attack and jumped to the side.
The tentacle passed through where she had been, and Kiraboshi observed again with a chill.
…Did its attack pattern change?
The Mother Sphere Splinter’s attack methods were only the Attack Spheres for bombing and the Guard Spheres for defense. There was nothing else in the Labyrinth Agency’s briefing.
If that’s the case, it’s possible that some special condition was met—and as she glared, the appeared tentacle wriggled around.
Eventually, it grabbed something that had fallen to the ground.
It was the corpse of the man that Kageichi had flung and scattered like fireworks.
The tentacle crawled around, licking the motionless body that had completely lost its Magical Power, and then, it slurped it up to itself… absorbing it?
“Ew, that’s gross… wait, could it be trying to absorb Magical Power?”
…Did I fight a long battle while in a state of Magical Power depletion?
Goto-san and the Sensei didn’t fight long battles, and since the original monster, the “Mother Sphere” itself, exploded when its Magical Power was below 50%, they probably didn’t see this attack method.
Hold on?
If that Boss is acting to absorb Magical Power…
Kiraboshi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and took out a recovery Potion from her Inventory.
She rolled it on the ground with a clatter and took a slight distance.
The Boss, noticing the Potion’s presence, began to move gently.
The Boss, which until now had only been able to stay in place or run away, began to move towards her for the first time… slowly, but surely.
—I can lure it.
If that’s the case…
Kiraboshi picked up the Potion and rolled it to the left corner of the room.
The Boss still sent Attack Spheres after her, but perhaps due to the decrease in Magical Power, there were many dummies.
Kiraboshi concentrated on evasion.
She patiently endured until the Boss Monster moved to the designated position… and eventually, the Boss moved to the left end of the small room, far from the center—around where Kageichi had been fighting another individual earlier.
Just as it began to slowly extend its tentacles towards the Potion that had fallen on the floor,
“—Now!”
She suddenly kicked off the ground and approached the Boss.
The Splinter reacted and hurriedly gathered the Guard Spheres, but it was too late.
Biting her lip, she slipped past the side of the Guard Spheres and charged.
As she was, she powerfully stomped on the ground,
Beep
The remains of the landmine that Kageichi had set up to defeat the Mother Sphere during the previous battle exploded.
“—Ghk!”
It blew away the tentacles along with her own foot, dealing damage while she soared up with the blast.
Unless my Magical Power is completely depleted, damage is just pain—!
Teary-eyed, she endured with sheer willpower, Kiraboshi raised her fist high into the sky, and with gravity assisting, she swung her fist down in a full swing.
The Mother Sphere Splinter, receiving a painful blow to its head,
Beeeep!!!
Emitted a warning sound and trembled greatly—cracks ran all over its body.
Not small cracks like those on an eggshell.
With a blow that seemed to split the star in a straight line from the top of its head to its crotch, the Mother Sphere Splinter trembled greatly, and its outer shell touched the ground.
I knocked it down.
Purple smoke spewed out, and Kiraboshi, confirming the damage, immediately put a recovery Potion in her mouth and gulped it down as she approached.
I won’t let it escape.
I’ll beat it down.
Don’t give the one you bullied a chance to retaliate—drive it to suicide in one go!
While firmly healing her foot wound, Kiraboshi raised a shout and unleashed a barrage of blows.
Staggering, she evaded the Spheres that appeared to guard, and thoroughly beat it down while circling around the Boss.
Punch, punch, just keep punching.
She didn’t have high power in a single blow, nor did she have any special moves or unique Skills, so all she could do was carefully carve out normal attacks.
But that’s what attacks are all about.
Harassing every day without fail and the tenacious obsession like a curse that drives the opponent into a corner is also one of Kiraboshi’s fighting styles.
“Haa… take this!”
The moment she unleashed a storm of blows countless times, Kiraboshi suddenly felt a response in her hand.
The Splinter violently spewed out purple smoke—and its figure disappeared like an illusion.
She heard the sound of a Magic Stone rolling, but without letting her guard down, she strengthened the “Detection” she had spread around her.
…There might be a Hunter aiming for the hyena right after I defeated the prey.
She checked the small room, and, okay, no problem.
But—
“…Sensei deliberately left the landmine, didn’t he?”
Thinking, “He’s really thorough,” Kiraboshi finally took a breath.
After that—she spent a little time reflecting.
That Boss just now. If there hadn’t been a landmine, what other options were there?
Was my attack too focused on safety and being indecisive?
Was I taking too much of a safety margin? Was there anything I could use in my Inventory…?
There was no afterglow of victory in Kiraboshi, who was deep in thought.
The current Boss was a mid-tier B-rank.
A B-rank, generally called a Hunter, would defeat even the current Boss on their first try.
Moreover, Sensei, Goto-san from the Labyrinth Agency, and Torako were creatures far surpassing them.
Reflecting that she was lacking in training…
She renewed her spirit to do better next time, and when she went out into the passage,
She ran into Sensei—and Torako, who was standing next to him.
“Ah, Kiraboshi-san. Good work. It seems you managed to win somehow.”
“Sensei is with another woman…”
“Hmm?”
“N-Nothing. Yes, I won. But there are still Splinters, right? So the next…”
“About that,”
Kageichi shook his head regretfully, sighed, and said,
“The Mother Sphere subjugation battle has been suddenly canceled.”
“—Eh?”
“It seems there was an idiot waving an American-made rifle in front of the Labyrinth Agency staff, so for safety, you know.”
…Huh?
Eh, what’s that!?