Volume 6 Chapter 74 Clash on a Razor’s Edge
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Purely—what did you just say?”
Did monster words even mean anything? Hard to tell—Klock had never fought anything this bizarre before. This thing wasn’t just another dungeon mob.
But ignoring it and swinging blindly wasn’t an option. None of their attacks were landing clean, and that left the party stuck in a losing stalemate.
”Now then… why don’t we talk a little?”
The words were polite. Gentlemanly, even. For a second, nobody knew who had spoken. The voice shifted again—this time a smooth, middle-aged man with a strangely kind tone.
Under the red moon and the burning sky, everyone frowned.
”Won’t you… help me?”
”…The hell?”
Klock’s voice cracked out, raw disbelief and all.
”Sorry for being so sudden. Truth is, a certain mage mashed my body together with… well, lots of others. Could you pull them off me?”
Pulled off. Un-mashed. What.
Everyone blinked, processing the nonsense. Was this thing serious? Asking for help after trying to eat them? The tone was so earnest it almost broke their brains.
”You’re joking, right? You trashed the whole damn town and now you want us to help you?”
”My apologies. I couldn’t control myself.”
Klock ignored the parts that fried his brain and focused on the obvious. Raising an eyebrow, he shot the monster a look that said, You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Kuzuha glared too. The Hostess glanced over but Klock gave a small shake of his head—I’ve got an idea.
There was no way this thing could live alongside people. Normally you’d just chop its head off, call it a day. But since no one had managed that yet, talking bought them time.
As his leg healed thanks to Kuzuha’s magic, Klock made a show of humoring the monster.
”So, what—how exactly would we ‘help’ you?”
”They’re clinging inside me. If you just step into my mouth and cut them out with that knife, problem solved.”
The beast yawned wide. A giant hound’s jaw unhinged, drool spilling thick onto the ground.
Everyone pinched their noses at once. Klock’s face twisted like he’d bitten a lemon.
So the “help” plan was to crawl willingly into that maw? Hilarious. Hilariously stupid.
”…And this mage of yours—who was it?”
”Hard to say. Perhaps a curse user… no, a woman known as a Dark Mage. Details unclear, though from her appearance I deduce she was a Dark Elf.”
”Dark Elf…?”
Klock had been stalling, tossing random questions. The monster tossed back terms that made even less sense.
”Yes. A wicked sorceress. Normally the Forestkin dwell on the Hollow Side with the fae. But she was different—she touched the Abyss, was changed by it. Perhaps her new form was the end result of wandering in despair for centuries.”
On and on the thing rambled, like a creepy bedtime story no one asked for.
”Now then. Come closer. Free them all.”
The beast urged, lips curled in a grin.
”…I actually have to go in your mouth?”
”I know it’s unpleasant, but there’s no other way. Please.”
Unpleasant didn’t begin to cover it. The monster had been smiling the entire time, dripping saliva like a dog watching its dinner.
Klock stepped forward, every muscle tensed, ready to dodge.
”—EeeaaAAAAAHHH!!!”
”Knew it.”
The jaws snapped shut as the monster lunged. No surprise there. Klock had seen it coming a mile away—of course this was the trick.
The thing couldn’t even hide its malice. It talked like a gentleman, but its face was twisted the whole time, eyes gleaming with cruelty. Like a kid who couldn’t stop smirking after pulling a prank.
”Eh?”
Klock vaulted onto a rooftop, Kuzuha dodging the same way. The monster’s ambush faceplanted into the dirt.
Its centipede body coiled, a wolf’s head popping up spitting earth and rubble. Then it just tilted its head, baffled.
”You seriously think anyone’s falling for that?” Klock spat. “What kinda idiot trick do you take us for?”
Kuzuha’s voice cut sharper. “Also? Your stink is unbearable, but I can tell it’s all you. Those faces plastered on you? They’re yours. ‘Cutting them off’ is nonsense. You don’t separate cocktails with a knife.”
Fox Princess knew cocktails, apparently. Classy, though the beast ears didn’t exactly scream “martini girl.” More like “beer festival,” honestly.
The monster’s laugh shifted into a shrill woman’s cackle. All the faces on its body joined in at once.
It was grotesque. Nightmarishly so. Like a child who’d discovered lying was fun, trapped in a body it couldn’t control.
”You’re disgusting, nya. Copying voices like that’s just the worst.”
”And gross. That last one sounded way too much like my father.”
”Ehehe… ahhh—AAAAAAAARGHHH!”
It screamed again, world-shaking shrieks that made even chaos feel unstable. Then it whirled back toward Klock.
”Wind Art—Gale Shockwave, nya!!”
The wolf-head snapped. Klock barely had time to flinch before a burst of wind knocked the monster’s bite off-course.
”—Celestial Water Song!”
Klock sprinted, Kuzuha tapping him mid-run to flood him with magic. He leapt, boots slamming onto one of the monster’s many faces before springing down onto the cracked street.
The face had a hard, shell-like feel. Not flesh. Probably not “real.” But still unsettling.
”Hey, that thing’s gunning for you,” Kuzuha said, running at his side. “Any idea why?”
”Beats me! Guess I’m just too handsome. Suffering from success over here!”
”Oh please. No fangs, no glossy fur—you’re hopeless.”
”Don’t measure me by beast standards!”
Black hair streaming, the fox princess kept pace. They couldn’t win a head-on clash, so the two ducked into the shadows of ruined buildings.
They needed a plan. Something that could hit the monster where it hurt.
Then—gleam of steel up ahead.
”Volley—fire!!”
Arrows rained overhead. Dozens of soldiers had assembled on the rooftops, bows drawn at the abomination.
The monster roared, charging. Screams followed; arrows barely scratched it.
”Fine,” Kuzuha snapped. “Even if you don’t remember, we’ll assume it’s after you.”
”And if it is?”
”Then you play bait. When it opens its mouth, we burn it down.”
Classic bait plan—the job nobody wanted. Monsters might be tough outside, but inside? Soft targets. Trouble was, failing meant instant digestion.
”I’ll regroup with the Oni Cats,” Kuzuha added. “They can launch a firestorm. I’ll stall it with something. You keep dodging.”
Klock actually nodded. That might work. The black cloth could definitely slow the thing, even push its charge off-course. Enough for him to slip away.
They ducked into an empty house, crouching in the corner as the monster’s dragging bulk scraped by outside. Disgusting. Every instinct screamed to gag, but they held still.
When the sound faded, they burst out, sprinting straight into the Hostess’s path.
”Hostess—”
He almost yelled the plan aloud—then froze. The monster wasn’t brainless. It understood human speech.
”Listen. I’ll draw it. When it opens its mouth—”
He whispered fast, but the killing intent hit before he could finish. The monster had already adapted, faster than before. Learning.
”Strike—!”
The Hostess darted past Klock, straight into its path.
Too reckless, Klock thought. We had a plan—
But it was too late.
”Right-swipe Cat Paw—!!”
A tan cat soared, twisting midair. As the wolf’s jaws snapped open—smack. A perfect cat punch landed square.
The sound was awful. Like slapping bare cheek at full force. Painful enough to make you wince just hearing it.
If a girl ever slapped you like that on a date, you’d go home crying.
The monster’s head blasted sideways, smashing into a half-collapsed building.
”…No way. That strong?”
Blood sprayed from the impact. After all their failed strikes, one cat slap had rocked the beast.
The cat punch had been way too strong.
Seriously—getting scratched by a friend’s house cat wouldn’t shock you half as much as watching that monster eat pavement from one slap.
Klock’s gaze flicked between the wrecked beast and the Hostess.
”Nya. Didn’t wanna hit him, but he wouldn’t quit, so I had no choice.”
The tan-striped cat boss casually dusted off her paws.
He’d always known her specialty was martial arts, but not like this. If she’d gone full power against him back when they sparred, she could’ve ended him in one blow.
”Uh… about that whole plan we had—just forget it.”
”Nya? What plan?”
She tilted her head like she hadn’t just yeeted a kaiju into a building. Klock shot a helpless look at Kuzuha, who only shrugged and gave him an exasperated told you so face.
If she could do that, she should’ve done it from the start—obvious thought written all over her expression.
But before the party could process their “new win condition,” something else stole their attention.
”…There’s something floating up there.”
”Huh? Now what. At this point nothing surprises me.”
The end-times sky split open further.
Two eyes. One, the crimson moon itself glaring like a pupil. Another, larger, peering from a gap in the clouds. Not human eyes—too vast, too alien.
”…What the hell. Is that thing part of him too?”
It was horrifying, but nobody even flinched. After what they’d seen, even cosmic eyeballs barely cracked the top three today.
”Feels like surveillance,” Kuzuha murmured. “Someone noticed this thing and is… watching.”
Her words lit a tiny spark—maybe outside help? Maybe not.
”—Incoming!” the Hostess barked.
The monster clawed out of rubble, sand and stone clinging to its fur. Klock almost laughed, ready to gloat—until he saw the wolf-face twisted in rage. Too late.
”――――――――ッッ!!!”
The roar shattered the air. Every bone in his body vibrated. Vision spun, almost blacked out—but he bit down, clung to consciousness. Volcano dragon déjà vu. He’d survived that roar; he’d survive this.
The beast arched its back, coiling for a spin. Klock dove from the rooftop just in time. The house he’d stood on evaporated in debris. Pure mass made into a weapon—every move fatal.
And it wasn’t done.
”What—”
The follow-up hit came fast. Too fast.
Gone was the sloppy, mocking style. Now the monster fought seriously. Precise. Brutal.
Its centipede bulk came crashing down, almost crushing him. He bolted, rolling aside as dust blasted skyward.
It’s going all out now.
His stomach dropped. Close combat? Impossible. Range? No good either. Against this thing, Klock had nothing.
Unless Elna was still—
”Elna?”
Where was she? The white-haired lightning princess cat had been hammering it earlier, but now… nothing. No lightning, no taunts, no theatrics. Too quiet.
He froze. Memory rewound.
She’d vanished right after that thunderbolt slammed it into the dirt. Before the “crying child” trick.
”…Wait. Don’t tell me—”
”Headlady—?!” Mina’s voice cracked across the battlefield. The red cat—usually unflappable—was shouting in panic.
Klock skidded to a stop, looking up.
The Hostess’s striped body wasn’t soaring. She was spinning. Launched skyward, flung like a doll. The monster’s rotation had hurled her higher than humanly possible.
”—!!”
In the distance, Kuzuha’s scream cut through the chaos. The others had scattered after the last violent crash. Her black cloth lashed out, straining to catch the falling Hostess, but the woman’s body remained limp and unresponsive—completely drained of consciousness, defenseless.
”…No way. Hostess, wait—”
It hit him. The monster wasn’t after him. Not this time. Its fury was aimed at the one who’d hurt it.
They should’ve known. They did know it was cunning. But they’d assumed it would keep targeting him. Idiots.
”Elna. Hostess. Damn it—you’re not allowed to go down while my back’s turned.”
Klock sprinted, throat burning. There was no running anymore. The town was sealed under that black water. No way out. Only fight left.
”This is bad. Real bad. If they’re out, who the hell’s left to finish it?”
Elna, probably wrecked the same way—blindsided, thrown out. He refused to imagine her eaten, but still. Their top two fighters: gone.
Mina’s fire legs were deadly, sure. Kuzuha was versatile, sharp. But neither could crack its armor. The only attack that landed so far? That one cat slap.
Which meant… they were screwed.
”AAAAAAA!!”
The monster shrieked like it had forgotten words, then charged again. Its wolf face grinned, elated—like dinner was served.
”…Great. Guess I’m next.”
Klock’s mind whispered “checkmate.” He’d heard it before—Rocetta, with Cianie’s blade. Too many times.
He laughed bitterly. Suzette would love this story, though. She’d listen, nodding like it was no big deal.
”You bastard. You think you’re eating me? My survival instinct’s nastier than your drool. Don’t choke.”
He flipped the monster off, palming a tiny magic stone in his other hand. Fire and earth—newly bought, barely tested. Not much use, but enough to blow something’s guts apart.
”Come on. I’ll ruin your day.”
If it understood words, then so would the taunts. The beast paused, watching him. Not lunging yet. Proof it was thinking.
”C’mon, big guy! All bark, no bite?!”
That did it. The jaws gaped, monster lunging like a freight train.
Klock gritted his teeth. Perfect. Magic power surged into the stone, primed to explode.
”One more step and I—”
”Senpō—Suiton, O-Furo no Ori!!”
A golden blur dropped in front of him, hair rippling in waves. A girl stood, fingers locked in a seal.
The ground erupted. A torrent of water blasted upward, hammering into the monster’s open maw.
Abyss or bath—either way, the catgirl wasn’t having it.
Her ultimate move hit like a flood, straight down the beast’s throat.
Notes:
• Elna – Female. A young apprentice mage. Her appearance is that of a child with white hair reaching her shoulders. She wears a black hooded mantle with strange patterns. Her relationship is as an apprentice to Hermine, the Great Mage. Her power involves advanced magic, including spatial teleportation. Her combat style is magical, and she is described as childish and easily provoked.
• Mina – The red-haired cat girl is a hostess who leans in closely, her blushing cheeks indicating her interest, but she plays hard to get.
• Rocetta – The royal capital of the Kingdom of Crotopone, where the knight barracks are located.
• Cianie – A noble girl with a fluffy white and light blue dress, indicating her high status. She has a hesitant and flustered personality but is kind and courteous. Her relationship with Klock begins as an accidental encounter and develops into a romantic interest. She has a fiancé but expresses feelings for Klock, complicating their relationship.
• Suzette – The older maid from Viscount Fennec. The head maid at the Viscount Fennec’s villa. She is confident, clear-spoken, and professional.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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