Volume 22 - CH 26

Deep in the Daedalus's labyrinth. We arrived at the hall of our destination marked on the map, and saw that guy coming from the passage behind us.

He was a large man, slithering along on two legs. He was probably three times as tall as a man. His body was covered with well-developed muscles. His upper body was bare, but he was wearing an iron belt and a skirt-like apron. In his right hand, he was holding a ridiculously large and heavy battle axe.

And――his head was not human, but a cow.

「Aahhh, it really is a combination of a cow and a man. ...... This is amazing. ......」

The warrior Damien is looking at the minotaur carefree, but tsk, you all get out of here.

「Hurry up! He's got to be at the right level for me. You'll be killed by him in seconds.」

As I said this, I swung my sword down to cut the ropes of the five criminals and slaves being sacrificed first.

Then, with a shock, my body flew through the air.

「What the hell!?」

「「Alec!」」

Bastard, you ran here from that distance in an instant?

No, if that was the case, I would have noticed it right away from the sound of his footsteps.

I'm afraid that with just one leap, one foot, he've closed the distance to almost thirty meters.

I'm not an adventurer who can be beaten by that kind of thing.

I'll be able to use my 【Levitation】 to adjust my posture, land neatly on the stone wall, and then plunge into the minotaur as if to return the favor.

The minotaur seemed to be able to see my movements and nimbly maneuvered his battle axe to block my slashing sword.

Ding! The scream of metal striking metal echoed through the hall.

「BUMO!」

The bull man snorted and put all his strength into his right arm. His muscles expanded all at once, increasing the strength of his muscles.

「Khhh!」

I was about to compare forces, but I quickly changed my decision and moved back.

Then the minotaur's battle axe came after me.

It was not just one blow, but two or three, swung in quick succession, as if he was handling a knife. It was a skillful movement, mixed with feints, that did not match its appearance.

This guy is a trained swordsman, isn't he?

「Alec! Use your magic! You can't fight him head on!」

Camilla, who is still in the hall, said, but that's not going to happen.

If I rely on magic so easily, my fighting ability will never grow. I decided to go for the hard mode, and ignored her advice.

I have a lot of trials ahead of me, and there are enemies I need to defeat.

Emperor Gilan is that powerful.

「OI, Camilla, it's now or never! We'd better get out of here while Alec keeps that monster at bay. No matter how you look at it, we're no match for that monster. We're slowing Alec down.」

Damien said in a serious voice.

「I can't believe that this Thousand-Hands Camilla has no choice but to run away with her fingers crossed. Don't die, Alec. When we're out of sight, you'd better run for your life.」

「Yeah.」

She's a very nice woman to be so concerned about the members of a party she's only been a part of once. I'm sure I'll be able to take good care of her later.

「BUMOoOOOO ――!」

The minotaur bellowed in anger, as if he didn't like the fact that the five sacrifices also ran away with Camilla and the others. And then he turned his body to chase after Camilla and the others.

「Oops, I'm the one you're dealing with. If you want to eat them, you'll have to defeat me first.」

I stood my ground.

「BUMO!」

As if to say, "Don't be silly," he tries to crush me with his battle axe.

There's nothing to be taken seriously here. This is an opponent you can't beat by force. If that's the case, let's go for a sword fight.

I ducked the axe by the slimmest of margins, and thrust my sword into the empty stomach.

At this moment, there's no way he can avoid it.

I completely took it――!

「What!?」

But the tip of my sword is still stuck in the muscle of his stomach.

I put all my strength into it, but the sword flexed and seemed to break, so I gave up and moved away.

「BUMO!」

His battle axe grazed the tip of my nose and cut through the air. The wind pressure alone shook my body. If I had been even slightly late in my decision, I would have been crushed.

What kind of muscle defense is that ―― without armor?

Now then, what to do: ......

There are a few moves I can make.

There are skill that I'm copying from Lancelot, such as the 【Zanetsuken】.

If I use my trump card, the 【Dimensional Slash】, I can easily cut through muscles that are harder than steel.

But that's a last resort.

In order to gain combat experience, I'll try my best with this steel sword for a while longer.

I gripped the sword tightly once more.

His muscles can't be cut by force. If that's the case, then I'll have to use my speed to get the job done.

「【Waterfowl sword, Falcon!】」

――Let me explain. The falcon's speed can reach a maximum of 390 kilometers per hour.

It's one of the fastest sword techniques that I've learned from Welbard-sensei.

「BUMO? ............ Hssss!」

The minotaur, who had taken a stance and was momentarily puzzled, checked his stomach and then snickered.

In his opinion, it was just a little graze on the stomach, and he laughed because he thought my big move was no big deal.

......, but I think I can get there.

If I can slash withouth putting sword againts his body, then I can afford his thick muscles.

「BUMO!」

I took my stance and tried to attack again, but this time the minotaur took the initiative.

He dashed to close the gap between us, but he didn't swing his axe until the very last second.

Well, that was quite a thoughtful move.

He figured that if he saw the direction I was going to avoid and then attacked, I wouldn't be able to avoid him.

But that's naive of you.

I also have 【Instantaneous Movement】.

「MO!?」

I took his back, and while I was still floating, I used the 【Waterfowl Sword Falcon】. Of course, he remains silent.

「BURURU!」

Surprised by the attack from behind, the minotaur immediately turned around and swung his battle axe down at me.

The battle axe hit the stone floor of the dungeon, and the stone pavement shattered violently.

Of course - I'm not there anymore.

I'm behind him again with 【Instantaneous Movement】.

But there's not much point in prolonging the fight by underestimating him. There's no way that a high-level guy from the Gilan Empire would let me get behind him so many times.

Let's decide to practice this one time. However, the number of times I slash is not just once.

「【Waterfowl Sword Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-Falcon!」

The sword is brought out at high speed over and over again with a single point of concentration. The wind pressure becomes a kamai-tachi and flies precisely against the minotaur's body. (TLN: Kamaitachi = cut caused by whirlwind)

He turned around, only the lower half of his body . Then he raises his battle axe and ...... falls straight back down.

It's my victory.

I think I'll call it the 【Wind Blade】.

「Y-You bastard......even though you're just food.......for you agains me....」

The minotaur, still lying on the ground, spoke, but you can speak human language?

「You've eaten so many people, it's your destiny.」

I swung my sword to make it easier for him.

「I'm going to make a prophecy for you, strong hero. You are just like me, and in the end your body will be...」

The minotaur was mumbling something about losing, but I didn't let him finish, and quickly put him away.

『Level increased by 12!』

『Level raised to 342!』

『Attack strength increased by 12,000!』

『Defense increased by 10,000!』

『Speed increased by 9,000!』

『Maximum HP increased a lot!』

『Maximum TP increased a lot!』

『Earned 10,000 skill points.』

Now, on to the next.