has become < smokescreen="">. Thanks for Mammon who has thought of this!
“Fuu…”
Steadying my breath and readying my stance, I glare at the dark wolf. My opponent moves first.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”
Along with its high-pitched cry, I see dozens of black hands formed from the darkness lunging out of its feet. They stretch out all at once, approaching me.
--- I can see them.
I can clearly see the path that they are taking. It should be either “Detect Enemy”, “Enhanced Senses”, or “Observation”. This must also be one of the benefits of “Profession Enhancement”. The skills that come from my occupations are becoming more potent. If I’m not wrong, I should have a total of 17 occupation related skills.
“Ninjutsu”, “Throwing”, “Enhanced Senses”, “Odorless”, “Silent Operation”, “Concealment”, “Night Vision”, “Critical Aim”, “Attention Cutoff”, “Appraisal Interruption”, “Detect Enemy”, “Telephoto”, “Dexterity Reinforcement”, “Reinforcement”, “Observation”, “Listening Ears”, and “Shadow Manipulation”.
I can feel that they have all been strengthened to unprecedented levels. My five senses are sharper than ever before, and none of my movements are creating any sounds of friction. However-
“Tsu!”
I feel a sharp pain. Just by dodging my enemy’s attacks, my body is screaming in pain. It must have been because of my reckless charge a moment ago.
HP: 20/180
My HP has dropped once again. It hasn’t been this low since my fight with the high orc. Wait, that happened just yesterday. d.a.m.n it. Why am I so near death yesterday and today? Although it isn’t displayed in the status screen, isn’t my luck very low?
I don’t have the time to keep complaining. If my leg refuses to move, I can use something else to move it.
“Shadow Manipulation!”
By s.h.i.+fting my own shadow, I wrap it around my injured leg, moving it by force. It’s like using my body as a puppet. This should be able to cover for my sluggish leg. Yet the pain remains, and the wound isn’t properly patched. Rather, it would most likely become worse. Thanks to the strengthening, however, my movements are superior even when compared to my movements before I got injured. This should do.
“Aka, I’ll be using you a bit violently, but please forgive me.”
“Furu Furu.”
Roger! The mimicking Aka shakes as if to reply thus. With Aka on my right hand and the real orc’s knife on my left, I rush forth.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
6 meters away from the dark wolf. Not yet. I have to be closer. The short distance of 6 meters feels very far away.
“UOOOOOOON!”
The black hands transform into giant claws and jaws. I deflect off the claws and block the jaws with the things from the Item Box. But nullifying all of the attacks is not possible. I choose to block only the fatal ones. It isn’t something difficult with “Detect Danger”. It’s just a bit painful and scary. My HP falls. Perhaps, once. If it lands a solid attack on me even once, I’m likely to perish. I have to finish this battle before that and rescue Momo. The distance is covered. The dark wolf stands motionless, staring at me like a king would a challenger. ‘To dare to look down on me’ – such thoughts pa.s.s through my mind, but the next moment, I let it pa.s.s. If my enemy is putting its guard down, there is no downside for me. I take “that” out from the Item Box. I have 3 MP left. I can only activate a single Ninjutsu once. The plan that I will execute from now is, in many ways, a wager. Excluding this, I don’t see any way to defeat this monster.
“Eat this!”
Unplugging the safety plug, I hold the hose in place and fire at the wolf.
“!”
The dark wolf’s eye opens wide and instantly whites out. I have used a fire extinguisher. Even if I can’t use < smokescreen="">, I can create a similar effect within a limited range. The white smoke hides both myself and the dark wolf. I know already that this kind of trick is worthless in front of the dark wolf which has a superior sense of smell. But that is exactly why I’m doing this. From this point onwards. I take “that” out from the Item Box and activate a Ninjutsu. Although my sight is compromised, I can sense the location of the wolf because of my skills. I draw myself near it instantly, releasing a slash which cuts through the white smoke.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Unfortunately, moments before the blade lands, darkness envelops the dark wolf. The darkness s.h.i.+fts into thin, sharp thorns, protecting the body of the wolf like a hedgehog. The moment they penetrate “that”, the wolf’s face distorts.
“!?”
Of course. After all, the thing that it had pierced through was a doll --- a mannequin. Just now, I had manipulated the mannequin to attack with a weapon, using the technique of “Shadow Manipulation”. I knew it would be baited, because the clothing and the weapon on the mannequin are full of my odor. With its eyes incapable of observing, it would have to rely on its nose. It’s precisely because of how sensitive it is to smell that this trick worked. Including both the lesser wolves and the shadow wolves, they all possess absolute trust in their sense of smell. There is no mistake in this as I had come to this conclusion after observing their behaviors. So I took advantage of this fact. Using that brief moment of opening, the blade that comes out from the ground pierces the dark wolf.
“Gaaaaaaaaa…?”
“< ground="" arts="">”
This Ninjutsu allows the user to swim inside the ground. Because of its short distance and linear trajectory, the skill is difficult to use, but in this situation, it displayed its greatest might. A surprise attack from the foot where the dark wolf would be the least alert. To be honest, this wager was not to my favor. If its darkness operated beneath the ground, it would have been a checkmate for me. Also, I was not certain whether or not the darkness could suck me in. In fact, that question was the biggest source of uncertainty. I was ready to lose an arm in the worst case. This strategy was full of holes, being overly reliant on speculation and luck. Even so,
“If I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t have been able to reach you.”
“…”
This was the only thing I could do. Touching meant being swallowed. Bullets would’ve been useless. Its darkness enveloped a huge area, and its attacks could handle situations from close, medium, and long distance away. Truly, there should be a limit to being absurd. Even so, I have won this bet. The darkness is merely stuck to the ground, and its entrance is only one way. From the other side, while physical objects seem to be reflected, anything that is wrapped by a “shadow” could pa.s.s through. Although they have different nature, their affinity to each other must be high. (TN: Most likely the affinity between shadows and darkness)
“This is the end…!”
I put strength into the knife which has been imbedded onto the wolf’s stomach. I can feel that this attack has worked. This should end it. Rather, if this doesn’t end it, I would meet my end.
“Guru…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
The dark wolf also entangles its darkness around me in a desperate struggle. The power behind the darkness is so great that my body screams in agony. Furthermore, I can feel my body sinking into the darkness.
“Gu…”
There is so much pain running through my body that I can’t move properly. My eyes start to fail me, and I can sense my consciousness fading away. No, I can’t fail at this point. For what did I fight for?
“Mo…mo…”
Right. I have to save Momo. Aka, who is disguised as a knife, shakes violently. It is as if it is trying to cheer me on. If I die here, Aka and Ichinose-san will have the same fate as me. Momo will be taken away. I’m here, carrying the burden of everyone’s lives.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Roaring, I slash down my knife with every bit of power remaining in my body. There is shock within the dark wolf’s eyes. ‘Where does this strength originate from?’ I believe it is trying to convey such thoughts. The darkness tries to latch onto me with even greater vigor, but before that, a fraction of a millisecond before that.
“THIS IS THE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!”
A single blow, containing every inch of my power, cuts through the dark wolf. At that moment, the dark wolf loses its shape and sinks into the darkness, releasing me from the darkness.
“Ha…. Ha….”
With a clank, the knife falls out of my grip. Aka cancels its mimicry and sways near my feet in worry.
“Furu Furu”
“Ha… I’m okay, Aka.”
With a strained smile on my face, I check my status.
HP: 3/180
s.h.i.+t. I’m really close to death. I should be fine because the HP recovers automatically after a period of time, but it was really too close. If I don’t have “Shadow Manipulation”, I doubt I could move a finger.
“With this…”
In front of me, I see Momo who is still unconscious. Desperately moving my feet, I approach Momo.
“Momo…”
Even with all the pain, I imagine myself mofumofu-ing Momo. It really feels comfortable to pat Momo… She’s so soft and comfortable, I can sleep soundly even in the cold. Ah, what am I thinking at such an occasion…
“Huh…?”
I sense that something isn’t right. I’ve defeated the dark wolf… but where is the announcement about gaining experience? Where is its magic stone? Why hasn’t the darkness below Momo disappeared?
“…”
Sweat rolls down my cheek. A chill runs across my spine and my brain issues a warning. No way. No way. No way.
The next second, the darkness below Momo spreads, and a completely uninjured dark wolf emerges.
“You’ve… got to be… joking…”
There aren’t any traces of injury from my attacks.
“-----”
Ah, I see. I’ve finally noticed. The very essence of this monster. My first impression of it wasn’t wrong.
This guy is darkness itself.
Most likely, its true self is within the darkness. Until now, I have been fighting one of its copies. In a sense, it’s just like my cloning art. What an interesting twist of fate. The tactic that the dark wolf has used is similar to the one that I have initially used on the dark.
“d.a.m.n… it…”
Even after risking everything, I wasn’t able to reach the wolf.
“Momo… everyone… I’m sorry…”
I try to step forward, but my consciousness fades away.
A silent world. At the center of it, the dark wolf Schwarz was staring at the person who fell in front of it.
“Superb.”
It praised with a sincere heart. Even though it hadn’t been at its optimal state after just evolving, it should have been an easy fight. Yet, the result was a close victory. This was undoubtedly an irregularity caused by this human. It was a plan which required luck and left everything for heaven to decide. But still, it was able to deal a solid blow.
“It was a superb battle.”
If it did not possess a core “nucleus” it would’ve been the one to be defeated. It had the new “trait” to thank for. A person who defeated twice, even after it had evolved. It had no choice but to praise him.
“Let me put an end to this battle.”
It stepped forward. It would deliver the final blow. This was the duty of the victor. At the very least, it would make everything end swiftly, without any pain.
“Mu?”
In front of the wolf, a single slime stood. With its small and weak body, it was shaking furiously. Once, Schwarz had thought that the slime was being controlled, much like its past self, but it now rejected such notion. The slime had its own will. It was standing in front of Schwarz, a being of absolute strength, by its own will.
“Why do you disturb me so?”
“Furu Furu”.
The slime did not respond. It was trying to delay Schwarz as much as it could. A small gunshot was heard, but the darkness automatically prevented the bullet. When it turned round to look, there was a human girl. Despite trembling terribly, she was staring at it with conviction. If they had wanted to escape, they would have had the chance to do so. Still, they did not, because of this male. Standing their grounds, they were trying to go down struggling.
“Indeed… a good group.”
A group of people who supported each other without craving for absolute power. So such thing could exist after all.
“Fine.”
The stigma of defeat has already been cleansed. If so, let’s settle everything the next time they met. They would form their own flock, increase their strength, and battle each other at their best.
“And when that time comes…”
It gazed at the collapsed dog. It felt the presence of its partner within the dog. Honestly, it wanted to take her away right then and there, but she showed no sign of awakening. Time and strength were needed. There was no need to rush. Leaving her with this human would produce better results. It would come when that occasion arrived.
“Let us meet again next time.”
Schwarz laughed and looked up at the sky. The darkness of the night was far away, and the red sky was spreading.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!”
With a loud howl, it left.