Chapter 397 Close Combat
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Hiroyas’s POV)
”Feel honored to fight me, a mere human…”
”It’s my first time fighting a reptilian bastard. You’re probably stronger than those lizard around here, right?”
Goliath’s expression in front of me turns to anger.
Then, his right arm begins to transform like his already winged left arm.
”I’ll kill you. Brutally, horrifically──I’ll kill you!”
Goliath kicks the ground and lunges at me.
(He’s coming straight at me. He must have absolute confidence in his strength.)
Without waiting, I charge at him as well.
”──!”
For a moment, Goliath looks surprised, but as expected of someone claiming to be the ‘Demon King’s aide.’
It seems he can see my movements.
(But… his reaction is slow.)
I sidestep to the right just before Goliath.
I dodge the descending claws of his left hand and strike with my drawn katana, ‘Yamikirimaru,’ into his left side.
”Guh──!”
I feel the resistance of cutting through flesh.
Goliath bends forward, enduring the pain.
(But without a moment’s pause──!)
I sheathe my katana and kick off the ground to pivot.
I immediately turn back to Goliath and unleash another slash from my drawn katana at his back.
But──
──Clang!
(The blade… was deflected!?)
I kick off Goliath’s back and create some distance.
Peeking from the torn robe, Goliath’s back shows…
(Scales…?)
Is it that hard?
”I will never forgive you…my belly…!”
Goliath in front of me is getting bigger and bigger.
”I’ll crush you with my true form!”
Soon, a black dragon appeared, filling about half the hall.
(I’ll have to aim accurately…)
If the blade can’t penetrate the scales, then…
After a moment of hesitation, I ran around him.
”Hey there!”
I deliberately slowed down, and Goliath’s giant claws came at me.
(Fast…but dodgeable)
The claws gouge into the ground.
This is the place I was just at.
His ‘wing’ enters my attack range, which I evaded.
(Now, slice through in an instant!)
Jumping up, I draw my katana and unleash a series of 3 strikes.
(I’ll shred those wings to bits!)
The wing’s membrane felt thicker than it looked, but it was still manageable.
I sheathe my katana as I land.
Another claw lunges at me; it seems to follow my movements, but it can’t keep up.
”Me too!”
I leap at the wings again, this time unleashing 4 strikes.
”Hey! I thought I was facing a lizard, but it’s just a battered bat!”
Goliath, impatient with his inability to capture me, raises his long neck and opens his mouth wide.
”Hiroya! The breath attack is coming!”
Violet’s shout reached my ears.
(I figured as much.)
A small flame escapes the open mouth, and moments later, fire is expelled toward me.
It’s a wider breath attack than I expected.
I immediately dash along the wall.
However, as he turns his neck to follow me, the flame breath closes in.
(The expulsion time is… long!)
If I keep going along the wall…the people at the entrance will be on fire.
”Kuu…!”
After running about half a lap, I kick the wall and turn towards Goliath.
As usual, the breath was chasing me from behind, but I jumped into his arms before he could catch me.
(Precisely…shoot!)
I slash my sword from below and his abdomen is slashed upwards.
My aim is──
(Gap in the scales!)
With the power of my father’s eyes, I stroke that part precisely, as if I were shaving off a thin layer of skin.
Yamikirimaru’s blade slices off a single scale.
And there appears Goliath’s ‘skin’.
I thrust with all my might into the slightly reddish skin.
And push it up at an angle.
”!?”
”Yeeeaaah!”
I felt the blade dig into the body at an angle, so I cut open the abdomen from the inside.
Even though it’s just the belly, it’s only a small part of the gigantic body.
I don’t think I did much damage, but blood spurted out pretty spectacularly.
(Now, keep the distance the same…)
I sheathe my katana and once again aim for a part of the scales on the belly.
* * *
(Laura’s POV)
”A one-on-one with a dragon… Is Hiroya okay?”
”I can’t see anything… damn it!”
”That’s right! Hiroya is not you, Silke!”
At Silke’s unacceptable words, Annabelle and Nele immediately interject.
”That Goliath doesn’t choose his means of fighting.”
”Indeed. Everyone, pay careful attention.”
With Ms. Violet and Ms. Lilith’s words, we steady ourselves.
(We can’t drag Mr. Hiroya down)
Even if we can’t see Mr. Hiroya’s movements, we must watch the battle.
”Ah, that Goliath, his wings are getting torn up!”
Nina points, surprised.
”Hiroya! A breath attack is coming!”
Ms. Violet shouts towards the unseen Mr. Hiroya, while Ms. Lilith warns everyone to “Take cover.”
The moment we lower our heads behind the rock, heat surges from the hall.
”Is he going to be okay?”
Mona whispers worriedly while staying low.
But, everyone must understand.
(The ‘masculine aura’ filling this hall. The seductive power of ‘Mr. Hiroya’ teasing our minds and lower bellies──)
That person is still fighting.
While overpowering a huge enemy.
* * *
(Goliath’s POV)
(I guess I underestimated him…)
’There’s no way I, who has become a dragon, can lose to a human being like that.’
That’s what I believed.
(But what is this guy…? How has he driven me to this point?)
I’m completely at the mercy of his speed, like the hero Elberhardt…
My scales are peeled away with the precision of Shinji…
I’m slashed by strength reminiscent of Megumi…
I’m cornered by the deadly accuracy of Milia…
Every single strike overlaps with the memories of the hero party that once destroyed me.
(Horror…?)
No. Impossible.
He’s just one person.
How could I, a demon dragon, possibly feel fear because of a single human?
(Think about…this guy’s ‘weakness’)
My claws cut the air in vain, and my breath burns the walls of the hall.
While I was doing that, my body was being cut up bit by bit.
While I was thinking about this, the women at the entrance to the hall came into view.
(These guys. These women──)
I’ll shower them with breath.
Maybe this man ‘protects’ women.
How will he protect them… Let’s see.
And when a gap appeared there──
(I’ll ‘win’!)
”Huhuhuhuhuhuhuh!”
Unable to hold back my laughter, I opened my mouth towards the women.
* * *
(Hiroya’s POV)
”That bastard! The women!”
Even while fighting me, Goliath turned his head.
Toward the ‘entrance of the hall.’
”It’s a breath attack! Everyone run!”
I desperately called out to Lilith and the others.
With my──’Hiroya’s speed,’ I couldn’t save all the women.
(But if I stand in front of it… and cut through the flames… huh!)
Without Lilith, how much can Yamikirimaru do?
(There’s no time to think…!)
In my rapidly moving view, Goliath opened its mouth wide.
As I watched his movements, which felt like slow motion, I sprinted desperately.
”Physical Boost!!”
And while the rest of the world was moving slowly… I concentrated magical power with my whole body, just as Lilith had taught me before.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.