The Invaders of the Large Tomb

He could see that the tail and the body moved almost independently from each other. It was not like the tail of a rat, but could move independently like the snake tail of a chimaera.

“You can use your tail freely, too!”

Eruya etched the details of the monster called Hamsuke into his mind and charged. Hamsuke, who was waiting for an opening, rushed forward to meet the attack.

Blade and claws clashed. Eruya was the first one to be wounded during the exchange of blows.

Hamsuke, who could attack with two claws, held an advantage in its number of attacks against Eruya, who used only one sword. Close-quarters combat was turning disadvantageous. Despite having raised his physical abilities, Hamsuke was still winning. If that was the case—

He retreated immediately with ‘Shukuchi Kai’.

“Hmph, is what I say!”

Before Hamsuke could give chase, Eruya seized the opportunity, raised his sword in the air and swung downward.

“「Void Cutter 」!”

The slashing hit cut through the air and flew toward Hamsuke.

Hamsuke braced to protect its face and the strike bounced off its fur.

The strike did less damage the further away the target was. It would be difficult to inflict any meaningful damage like this. But—

“Seems like you can’t block it. This is the difference between a mere beast and a human.”

“This is certainly… troubling.”

Eruya used ‘Void Cutter’ repeatedly.

Hamsuke’s fur was hard and difficult to cut through. That’s why Eruya targeted its face and used the martial art repeatedly.

Hamsuke remained rooted to the spot but spoke through the little crack between the paws that were covering its face.

“Hold on a moment please—”

“Are you trying to beg for your life? As expected of a mere beast.”

“It’s not that — It’s so annoying. Inside this king’s mouth is — Ah, I give up!”

He couldn’t understand.

I guess it’s expected for a human to not understand what an animal is saying… It looks like it’sabout to charge now.

“Ah— So loud and annoying! Let’s finish this!”

“Come.”

Hamsuke did not possess a method of ranged attack, so it would try to close the distance at all costs.

This was what Eruya was aiming for.

It would be difficult to inflict critical damage with ‘Void Cutter’, so he needed a direct strike to deliver a killing blow. When Hamsuke showed its face like a beast and charged in, he would pin it down with a martial art stronger than ‘Void Cutter’ and keep targeting the face at close range and win.

As Eruya smiled cruelly, sure of his victory, Hamsuke’s tail moved and—

“Gyaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”

The tail struck Eruya’s shoulder like a whip at unbelievable speed.

The shoulder armour buckled and the flesh became pulp. At the same time, the sound of bones cracking could be heard and pain coursed through his body at the speed of lightning. It was so painful, Eruya staggered back while drooling.

Behind Hamsuke, the snake-like tail squirmed. It was stretched out to an abnormal length.

“My tail was too strong as expected. This was why I tried to finish with just close quarter combat.”

Not good.

Eruya barely kept himself from screaming.

If he kept getting charged like this, he would lose.

“You! What are you idiots just standing around for! Use your magic! Heal me! I said heal me!

Quickly, you stupid slaves! Do it now!”

One of the elves started casting her spell when Eruya yelled at them.

The pain at the shoulder faded away into nothing.

“More! Cast the enhancement spells!”

Physical ability enhancement, temporary magic boost to the sword, hardened skin, sensory ability enhancement… Even though numerous spells were cast to enhance Eruya, Hamsuke watched on silently.

With so much magic enhancing him, a smile returned to Eruya’s face.

Overwhelming power coursed through his body.

He had never lost after receiving so many enhancement spells. It didn’t matter what kind of enemy it was.

Compared to his normal self, he now swung his sword with extreme speed. He was confident of fighting evenly now.

“Since a monster and a human have different physical capabilities, I’ll fill the gap with this!”

“I was planning on fighting all of you from the start, so it doesn’t make much difference to me. This king was thinking that it will finally be a good fight!”

“Bullcrap!”

Eruya charged. He would crush it with the overwhelming power flowing through his body. He wouldn’t let that beast talk big anymore. While using ‘Shukuchi Kai’, he launched ‘Void Cutter’ to keep it occupied.

“Take this!”

He swung his sword with a shout. If the fur was hard, he would only need to strike harder to cut through.

“Take this king’s 「Slashing Strike」!”

Something sharp struck his arm from above his raised sword.

Something flew into the air and struck the ground, with a liquid sound like a wet sack, accompanied by the clanging of metal.

Eruya didn’t understand.