CH 277

Episode 277 – Life or Death Struggle

With the pain gone because of the numbness, I grasped my sword with both hands and charged towards the bear-shaped mummy. Though the overflowing feeling from the Strength Potion was gone, its effect was probably still active, so I’d be fine. For me, who was always careful about my actions, acting upon an uncertainty wasn’t very characteristic of me, but… I continued to dash towards the bear-shaped mummy without changing my mind.

Now then, when will the bear-shaped mummy start moving?

I kept my eyes peeled as the distance shortened. When I was 7 meters away, it finally showed signs of movement. It stretched out its claws and began to swing at me, just like it had with the first attack.

“―That won’t work on me twice.” (Lewin)

Feeling a bit let down by its overly simplified attack, I kept my head cool and swung around to the left side, dipping underneath into the space below its outstretched right arm. In that time, I slashed at its exposed flank and then created some distance once more.

Without pausing, I tried to go back in once more, but… the bear-shaped mummy’s behavior was strange. It was holding onto the part where I had lightly slashed it earlier, its mouth opened wide.

My sense of hearing had also been affected by the paralysis so I could hardly hear anything, but I could see with my eyes that it was letting out a roar. When I glanced down at the tip of my sword, I saw that the entire surface of the sword was covered in the bear-shaped mummy’s ‘blood’. Apparently, what I had thought was just a light slash had ended up being a deep wound.

Most likely, the bear’s charging momentum has added onto the force of my slash, inflicting more damage than expected, but… with how numb I was, I couldn’t feel any response in my hands, which actually dampened the fun I felt from fighting by a lot.

After calmly analyzing the situation, I felt even more disappointed, but I had no intention of letting the bear-shaped mummy regain its bearings.

Even supposing that it had been an unintended attack, if I could inflict a deep enough wound to damage an undead-type monster, I had to take advantage of the golden opportunity.

I moved my momentarily paused feet, closing the distance between myself and the bear-shaped mummy, which had fallen onto its knees with its mouth open. I thought of trying to take its head if it continued to disregard me, but its dark red eyes were glaring in my direction. It returned to its feet and attempted to body slam me.

Both of its arms were spread out before it fell into the body slam, making it appear as large as a wall, but I had moved first, and I was quicker. As payback for the first blow it had dealt to me, I boldly leapt forward off the ground and poured all of my strength in―unleashing a deadly overhead slash.

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I saw my sword rip into its shoulders above its outstretched arms and cut deeply all the way down its torso area. I obviously didn’t feel any response in my hands, but I knew it had been a perfect blow.

I tried to deal a finishing blow to the bear-shaped mummy, which should have been weakened by now, by bringing my sword down, but… both of its arms were still raised, and our gazes met.

In that moment, it had shifted towards defense, and in bringing its arms together, it blocked the sword coming down upon it.

Despite the fatal blow that I inflicted, which stretched from its shoulder to its waist, the bear-shaped mummy’s strength hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

I tried my hardest to instantly reduce the force behind my sword to avoid a brutal head-on collision of forces, just like with the first exchange, but… I was still sent flying backwards.

It still had so much power despite taking a deep slash to its abdomen and having a fatal wound stretching from its shoulder to its waist.

The corners of my mouth unintentionally curled up into a smile when I realized that I could still fight against the bear-shaped mummy. An undead’s vitality was truly something.

I rolled an extra time to shake off the spell that the Mask Queen had fired at me, and I then turned my gaze back over to the bear-shaped mummy.

Both of us were covered in so many wounds that it wouldn’t be strange for either of us to be dead.

Hahaha, I wonder if the bear mummy also sees me as an undead.

After such an absurd thought had crossed my mind, I synchronized my breathing, and a barrage of attacks commenced. From this point on, it was truly a head-on melee until one of us ran out of strength.

The bear-shaped mummy was giving into its emotions and simply flailing about, true to its nature as a monster without reason.

The pressure caused goosebumps to rise on my body, but since my physical abilities were better in all aspects, the only chance I had of winning was if it tried to attack me senselessly.

The claws on its left hand were outstretched as it came swiping towards me. I bent backward to evade it and then pushed off the ground with my left hand to immediately bounce back to an upright position. I struck a counter attack as I came back up, but… it didn’t cut to the bone, perhaps because I had only swung with my one hand. It was as if it hadn’t taken any damage at all.

I tried to slip past the unflinching bear-shaped mummy’s outstretched left paw, but I still felt an unpleasant, hot sensation spread across my back.

…Its movements didn’t seem to be affected at all, but it was fortunate that I hadn’t taken a deep blow just now.

I let out a short breath and immediately closed the distance once more.

I ducked underneath the bear-shaped mummy’s reach and pulled out the Angry Wolf Dagger, which I would be taking out for the first time this Dungeon attempt, and slashed at it.

I couldn’t swing as hard as I wanted to at such a point-blank range, but this was the optimal distance to maintain between me and the bear-shaped mummy.

As I stayed there under its nose, it continued to recklessly try and butcher me with its arms, mouth, and feet, but I continued to avoid any fatal wounds while repeatedly attacking its chest area.

Neither of our movements halted for even a second, and I continued to swing my dagger while breathing heavily.

Every time it swiped its arm down or delivered a kick, my body continued to accumulate injuries. Blood flowed down my head and bled into my eyes, staining my vision with crimson―but I was almost there.

Just a bit more, and my dagger would reach its heart.

I continued to gouge at its chest while aiming at a single point, and I could finally see the breastbone protecting the heart.

Mustering forth the greatest concentration I had, I dived underneath the bear-shaped mummy’s swinging right arm and drove the Angry Wolf Dagger deep into the gap beneath its breastbone.

With this strike, the bear-shaped mummy finally stopped moving. But I remembered how the bear-shaped mummy continued to move despite me inflicting numerous fatal blows on it, and immediately withdrew my dagger and moved away.

When I pulled out the dagger, black blood spilled out of its heart like a fountain. The bear-shaped mummy held its left paw over its chest, but the blood didn’t stop flowing out.

I let out a breath, thinking that the match was probably set with this, but the bear-shaped mummy raised its head and glowered at me, and then it slowly began to walk in my direction.

This wasn’t the kind of pressure a being that was in a near-death state should give off. I involuntarily retreated as if I was about to run away, but… my mind was strongly telling me that I had to finish it off here.

The bear-shaped mummy was emitting a heavy, bloodthirsty aura, but its reactions were surprisingly dull compared to just a few minutes ago.

I carved a slash at both of its legs, bringing it to its knees, and then I wrapped around to its side as its head hung down.

“You were a formidable foe that I had to be prepared to fight to the death against… Thank you.” (Lewin)

Despite the fact that it was a monster and an enemy and that we had both been trying to kill each other in a nail-biting melee… I sent it off with a sincere eulogy for standing up against me until the end. I aimed at its neck and swung my sword down.