CH 276

Episode 276 – A Barrage of Powerful Blows

The bear-shaped mummy’s head was lowered as it was being summoned. At the tip of its long, log-like arms were sharp, vicious claws. If I got hit by even a single strike, I knew that it would be a fatal wound.

I swallowed my saliva and examined the motionless bear-shaped mummy. Similar to the dog-shaped mummy, I could find four places on its body where there were gaps in the bandages: on its right thigh, the left side of its lower back, its left shoulder, and its upper back, close to its neck.

It helped that there was a gap in its bandages near such a critical area like its neck, but the bear-shaped mummy was more than three times my height. If I fought normally, there would be absolutely no way I could reach that spot. I hoped to somehow deal enough damage to knock it to the ground so that I could finish it with a blow to the weak point near its neck.

As I was coming up with a rough strategy for defeating the bear-shaped mummy, it finally raised its head. It looked around, surveying the scene, then directed its gaze toward me, who was standing the closest to it. It let out a deafening, ear-splitting roar and immediately charged at me.

It was faster than I had predicted since it had started out in a perfect bipedal stance but later switched to a quadruped run as it came closer. Judging by the size of its body and the length of its arms, I deemed that it was better to meet it with my sword than try to evade it.

I held my sword in an overhead stance and stabilized my feet as if I was rooting them into the ground. Then, I gauged the timing so that the force of the bear-shaped mummy’s strike would be added on top of my own―and swung down, exploding all of my might in an instant towards its extended claws.

This will be the best strike.

That’s what I had felt and believed, but… the moment the bear-shaped mummy’s claws and my downward swinging sword met, an overwhelming force with even more power than I had just swung down with was transmitted throughout my body.

By the time I had realized that it wasn’t an ideal situation for me, it was already too late. In the next moment, my field of vision began to spin in circles as I was sent flying, and I felt my body being battered all over.

After being repeatedly pounded against the ground as I tumbled along the floor, unable to muster any power to resist, I finally stopped upon hitting a wall. My bones were broken in various places, and I couldn’t even tell which way was up or down. The only thought that echoed loudly in my head was that if I stayed down like this, I would die.

Enduring the agonizing pain, I forced my body into a standing position. When I looked up, I could already see the bear-shaped mummy approaching.

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There was a wall behind me. I couldn’t run to the left or right, either. And given the speed at which the bear-shaped mummy was barreling towards me, I didn’t have time to dodge.

Should I just use my sword to block it again?―No, no way.

“Use a powder explosion!”

The powder scattered, and the Bomb Grass set it alight. In the next instant, a blazing conflagration filled my vision.

I had quickly covered myself with a fire-resistant mantle made from Balloon Flowers and fireproof materials, so I was able to protect my vital areas, but the flames licked through the small gaps in the mantle, covering my body with burns.

My bones were broken in various places, and there were now burns across most of my body. My body was already in shambles from the backlash from the Strength Potion and the wounds I had received from fighting the Big Desert Mole.

…But this powder explosion wouldn’t be enough to defeat the bear-shaped mummy.

As I felt the hot wind from the explosion blowing past my face, I reached towards my holder and pulled out a Paralysis Potion that I’d made from Curare Leaves, downing it in one go.

This Paralysis Potion was filled with numbing components that were several times stronger than the Curare Leaves that I had applied to my body before the battle. I’d never thought that I would use this potion, which was basically a poison, on myself, but it was the only way left for me to be able to move my body, which had already reached its limits.

It was somewhat of a gamble… And sure enough, after taking the potion, my entire body immediately began to convulse and twitch, and I felt my body become rigid and unable to move. I couldn’t even breathe properly, and with the lack of oxygen being properly sent to my brain, I felt my consciousness begin to fade.

Instead of my vision blurring and dissolving into blackness, for some reason, memories of the past began to rush through my mind.

About that time when I had worked for the Healer’s Guild and had been treated like I was useless, being pushed around like a slave…

About that time when I had put in a quest commission at the Adventurer’s Guild and met the [Azure Alliance], and went on an adventure with them…

About the grandma from Elf’s Tears, who had ushered me in with such kindness when I had been all alone…

About that time when I had fought alongside [Iron Gear] against Angry Wolves, and when we defeated the Venom Troll together…

About Kirty, who had trained me with such tender care when I had been going through a hard time in my life…

About Tobias, who had been kind to me since we first met on some unknown street and was always looking out for me…

About Aruna and Rosalie, who had become my first companions after I arrived in Landaust and had always supported me…

And finally, about Ahmed, who I had reunited with in Landaust and made a promise with.

When I remembered all of the things that had happened with the people who had added color to my empty, inconsequential life, I felt strength returning to my body. I couldn’t die just yet.

My labored, gasping breathing began to calm, and my rigid body began to move through sheer willpower alone. It felt like that kaleidoscope of memories lasted for hours, but in reality, only a few seconds had actually passed.

My blurred vision returned to normal, and I could clearly see the bear-shaped mummy walking towards me through the billowing smoke. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the numbness, but I couldn’t use any of my five senses aside from my sight. However, the bear-shaped mummy wasn’t unharmed. The bandages surrounding its body were burnt and tattered.

I had decided on a plan to strike at the point near its neck, but it seemed that I would no longer need to go to such lengths.

Fighting against a powerful enemy… Perhaps even my sense of fear was numb, as I somehow started to feel like I was having fun.

I grinned and raised my sword over my head, pointing it towards the bear-shaped mummy, which was approaching step-by-step. It stopped and returned to a quadruped stance.

The first blow had ended in utter defeat, but if we were the ones to win in the end, everything would be fine.

And thus, the battle resumed once more.