Volume 5 Chapter 6 Sacrifice
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The rare boss that appeared from the light was a silver knight.
Even though it’s a golem, isn’t it a bit too cool? I had even prepared a name──Mr. Dumpy──but it’s totally different from my image. If I had to call it, I’d say Sir Dumpy.
Well, none of that really matters now. This will free me from the dungeon marathon. I’m glad I made it in time before Ms. Nina’s mana ran out──sometimes action is easier than worry.
I raise the Indra Gun and run forward. According to info, the rare boss is pretty fast, so I want to hit it before it moves──finish this quickly.
Wait a second, in a game, attacking too early isn’t always good. Until the cutscene ends and the boss’s hit detection activates, most attacks are ineffective. It’s common to use a big move too soon on a first-time boss and do 0 damage.
Usually in domestic games, you don’t deal damage during cutscenes. The Indra Gun only has 3 rounds, so I can’t waste shots. It’s safest to attack the moment it starts moving.
The knight golem wears a large kite shield on its left arm. To avoid the shield blocking me, I’ll sneak around behind it now.
As the cutscene’s light fully disappears and the knight golem turns to face me, I unleash 3 quick shots in rapid succession. I aim slightly fan-shaped to avoid an outright dodge, so whichever way it tries to evade, it can’t dodge all of them.
Its movements are much faster than I expected. One crossbow bolt is blocked by its shield, another is deflected by its saber. But the last one hits perfectly on the armored torso. This has to be over.
A clear, harmonious sound echoes──like a tuning fork. I hear 3 distinct metallic clashes. Still, the knight golem keeps charging without stopping.
No way… that definitely hit. Why isn’t it working?
My mind goes blank for a moment at the unexpected. Thanks to reflexes, I managed to deflect a sharp saber strike with my knife on my left hand. All that training with Uno suddenly paid off. But the mithril knife’s tip has been cleanly sliced off.
With a mithril sword, you can slice through iron blades like this one-sidedly. In this world, just having a weapon made of a higher-grade magic metal already puts you at an unfairly advantageous position. That’s why I went out of my way to prepare a mithril battle-axe. Mithril weapons should be more than enough for Intermediate Dungeons, and even Advanced Dungeons. That was the plan, anyway.
It cut through the mithril so easily, could the enemy’s weapon be made of an even higher-grade magic metal? That’s impossible, isn’t it? This is a Novice, at most an Intermediate Dungeon. But this is the reality unfolding before my eyes.
Still, why aren’t my attacks getting through? The Indra Gun was definitely effective against Mr. Hampy. Was the defense strength not the same as that rare boss’s?
I’ve got an idea… Yeah, that time the support magic was active. I had summoned the Pii-Pii’s then. If I had support magic cast on me now, everything might have gone smoothly. Damn it, was I too careless? I could have noticed if I had fought Mr. Hampy once without support magic.
Regretting it now won’t change anything. I’ll reflect on it later, but for now, I’ve got to somehow take this guy down.
The knight golem’s attacks aren’t always fast. Its deceptive moves can throw you off, but the truly high-speed motion is just for an instant. Somehow, I’ve managed to keep up with that movement.
His sword arm is almost a match for mine; he’s slightly better, I’d say. It’s too early to give up.
Even without support magic, if I attack with my mithril battle-axe enhanced by my crafting skill, I think I can deal damage. But the shield is in the way, making it look like it won’t be that easy to attack.
If I let his saber hit me, it’ll chop through the axe along with it. I have to dodge all of his swift strikes. Plus, there’s a big difference in the reach between our weapons. Isn’t it a losing game trying to close in on him with an axe in this situation?
Just as I nearly lost my balance slipping a bit, the saber comes rushing at me cruelly. I block it instantly with the Indra Gun, but *clink*, the mithril frame snaps clean in 2. Maybe recycling mithril was a bad idea after all.
Throwing away the useless Indra Gun, I jump back. The moment I retreat, the enemy presses in without giving me a break, no breath to breathe.
The only Indra Gun is destroyed, but I still have other weapons. I’ve got spare axes in my magic bag, but trying to quickly grab them… it’s not working well.
Apparently, in this boss room, I can’t use the magic bag. So I can’t use the items either. I should have checked that beforehand. I thought I prepared carefully by gathering info, but I keep making basic mistakes──nothing but holes all over.
Ms. Nina said it──lately I’ve gotten a bit too strong and cocky. I didn’t even realize I was getting full of myself.
”Retreat, retreat!”
The rare boss would be great to keep, but now’s not the time for regrets. I need to regroup, and running away takes courage too.
Ms. Nina is watching anxiously from just near the exit. She could leave first, but that wouldn’t end the fight. I have to get through this knight golem with my strength and reach the exit.
Ms. Nina watching gives me confidence, but I want her to retreat early, calmly. If she gets targeted… if she’s attacked, I won’t be able to protect her.
I try to dash towards the exit, pretending to attack with my shorter axe, but she’s read my move perfectly and blocks my escape route.
What the heck? Does she understand I switched to running away? She’s too smart for a golem. Or maybe… Ms. Nina’s a golem too, so I’ve been underestimating her all along.
All right, take aim with the Spiral Gun. My head’s swimming, but I nearly forgot──this is my ace in the hole. They say attack magic is no good against this boss monster, but recognition obstruction isn’t an attack… got to try it to see. Come on, work for me.
I’m pouring all my remaining stamina into dodging the Golem Knight’s attacks, while I concentrate my mana into the tip of my right index finger.
Suddenly, the knight golem changes its move, raising its saber overhead and striking a bizarre pose. Could it be using magic? I hadn’t heard that. I’m hit full-force by a wave of mana emanating from its entire body.
Wait, what? The flow of mana feels off. I’m struggling to control the mana, but it’s slipping through my fingers like water.
Not only can I not use the Spiral Gun, but now I can’t even use the Searching skill. Could I have been dispelled?
I knew about dispel magic──it’s a special kind of magic that disrupts mana flow. Damn it, with my body that nullifies attack magic, using this kind of magic is just plain cheating.
Looks like trying to use the Spiral Gun triggered a reaction. Messing around like that got my Searchingskill sealed too. Guess I’ll have to rely on my senses now.
I’m barely keeping up with the saber’s speed with my own eyes──it’s my only hope. But my body’s starting to fall behind. Am I almost out of stamina?
I’m dodging the slashes in a frenzy, but even I can tell I’m not moving as I should. I haven’t even been touched by the blade, yet my armor was cut clean through. Is this the work of that Vacuum Slash guy?
I’m cornered, my muscles are screaming. I’m gasping for oxygen, but it’s not enough. Every breath I take opens up a gap, and finally, the tip of the saber slashes through my side.
A pool of blood is forming at my feet, but strangely, there’s no pain. The blade must be incredibly sharp; I might just die without any suffering.
Somewhere, I hear Ms. Nina’s voice. In the corner of my vision, I see her running towards me.
Suddenly, my consciousness snaps back into focus. Idiot, we need to retreat! I can come back from death if I’m lucky, but once the Puppet Princess is destroyed, that’s the end, isn’t it?
I try to shout, but no sound comes out. I can feel a strong mana pulse from Ms. Nina being released. No good, she should know that magic doesn’t work on this thing. Besides, if I use magic now, the last of Ms. Nina’s mana will be completely drained.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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