Chapter 169.3 - Red Raptor
Seriously, what should I do now?
And it was gliding.
Yes, it was fu*king gliding on the surface of an acid bog using the wreckage of a skeleton instead of a surfing board.
Well, Rotten Bog's depth was shallow, to begin with. It wasn't exaggerated to say that its depth was akin to a puddle. That's why a corpse that fell into the puddle was enough to bury the bog.
A longer preparation was needed to create a deeper bog. To create a bog-like the one I used to defeat basilisk, I made a magic circle and offered a sacrifice.
Naturally, the one I used this time wasn't that, it was the one I invoked with several drops of my blood on a cursed crest. The water was shallow as usual. In addition, the strong acid that filled the bog was thicker than water and far more slippery. In short, gliding on its surface was really easy.
What the hell is this fellaPoison
I kept firing my curse toward the red raptor that came close with a completely unexpected method, surfing a board of skeletons. It came close in a straight line. If that was all it did, hitting it would be easier.
SHAAAAAAAAA!
At that moment, the red raptor jumped. It was a splendid jump, a great jump.
OH CRA
Dammit, I missed it. The Poison that I fired on its trajectory missed a big time when the red raptor jumped up.
And just like that, it leapt straight toward me who stood on the other side of the bog.
That was fast, the next Poison wouldn't make it in time, it wasn't a skill that could be fired rapidly. If that's the case, black hair bi dammit, it won't make it in time, the raptor's claws had already arrived right in front of me!
GUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
But Rem the 3rd came from the side, tackling the red raptor as she raised loud warcries.
Rem!
GUGU, GUGAGAGA!
Anyhow, she might have come to my side immediately upon seeing the dangerous situation. She rammed her bare hand, as strong as she could toward the red raptor.
Thanks to her quick reaction, I narrowly escaped death.
SHA, KISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
The red raptor seemed to be pissed off since it got disturbed just when it was one step away from bringing down its prey, me. Even when it fell on the acid bog, it stood up and immediately roared in rage as if the acid in the bog couldn't hurt it.
Rem the 3rd was also readying herself to challenge the red raptor again, and rushing toward the latter.
The red raptor bit into Rem as if it wanted to tear her apart. Its fangs bit deep into Rem the 3rd's shoulder, creating a crunching sound as it pierced through Rem's armour, and then turned around as if trying to fling Rem away from this place.
The red raptor reacted swiftly upon seeing the change in the battlefield. It was just one step away from killing me but chose to retreat while raising loud cries.
After the purple smoke cleared away, I caught a glimpse of a red-figure crossing over the bog by using its comrades' corpses.
I-It got away huh
As expected, the wild monster pulled away at the sight of Mei-chan's brave figure. In the blink of an eye, the battle on the sandy beach had ended, and peace returned to this sandy beach at night.
And yet, I still held the two knives in my hands, unable to calm myself after such an ambush battle.
K-Kotaro-kun! The-The-There a wound on Yo-Your fa-fa-face!?
+++
Eh ah, it's okay, it's just a scratch.
Come to think of it, there was a graze on my cheek. Mei-chan looked like she was about to cry as she approached me as if she was experiencing more pain than me. On the other hand, I calmed down.
Bu-Bu-But, i-it's my fault if such a scar remains on your face!
It's okay, something like a scar could be healed in no time with my ointment, that's why calm down.
While soothing Mei-chan who was shaken even more than me, I smeared ointment A, which had already become something akin to a household ointment, on my cheek. Uuh, it stung, it'd been a long time since I felt this
Sorry, Kotaro-kun, if only I was a little faster.
N-No, don't worry about it. I mean, you had to deal with only those crabs, but you still dealt with raptors too.
She accomplished her duty as a vanguard with a perfect score. I mean, she splendidly kicked the ass of three giant crabs and turned the table against the raptors that surrounded her.
The one who let his guard down is me.
If the aim of that jagged tail-blade was a bit lower, I don't think it wouldve ended with something as simple as this scratch on my cheek, I might have even lost my head. The reason that fella missed that attack was because of the poisonous smoke affecting its vision.
I really was lucky that the melee only ended up with a scratch on my cheek. Yes, I was literally inches away from death just now. It wasn't a boss battle or battle against a classmate; I realized yet again that even a small fry could kill me if I underestimated them. I had lowered my vigilance as soon as I realized that we were up against the raptor.
I thought that I had control over the situation, but I wouldn't have been put in such a dangerous situation if I didn't underestimate the enemy, and the result of this battle might change. Rem the 3rd wouldn't have me=et her end, I wouldn't have received this ugly wound on my cheek, and that red raptor wouldn't have been able to get away.
For example, because I was overly relying on the convenient Poison, I neglected the fact that I could switch the role of Rem the 3rd with Rem-Dark Knight once I realized that I couldn't hit the red raptor with poison. I mean, as long as I could use Rem the 3rd and skeletons squad even better, Rem-Dark Knight should be able to stop taking care of those raptors.
I mean, no matter how clever Rem had become, she always fought as the vanguard, thus lacking the ability to see the entire battlefield. The most she could do right now was cooperate with my plan based on the information that she knows in short, I shouldn't participate in offense and just focus on seeing the overall situation in the battle and adjusting the plan accordingly.
Let's leave this place for now. We should choose another camping place to take a rest.
Uhm understood.
After collecting the minimum amount of materials and core, we took no time to leave the sandy beach that already reeking of blood after that battle.