chapter4 · 086-ep86

Episode 86: Battle Armor Release

As I pushed deeper, the signature visible through Interference Eye+ drew nearer.

No — I'm the one doing the approaching.

"Yeah, it's huge..."

I couldn't even see it yet, and its Magic was on a completely different level from the monsters around here.

The one that chased me around for three hours had been dense with Magic too, but this might be even above that.

I'm seriously just looking.

I haven't decided to fight it or anything.

If it looks impossible, I'll just go home.

Actually, it probably will look impossible, so I'm going home.

"So then why did I come here, right?"

I'm wondering that myself.

Well, I've come this far. One look at it won't hurt.

I checked the route back with Interference Eye+, then kept heading deeper.

After walking a while, the passage ahead suddenly opened up into a large space.

"Here, huh."

The signature was right there.

I peered in from the wall.

"...Huge."

There it was.

It looked a lot like the big brute that had chased me for three hours.

Except this one was another size up.

It was plenty huge sitting down, and standing, its head looked like it would reach near the ceiling.

Its arms were probably thicker than my whole torso.

Through Interference Eye+, even the Magic circulating through its body was clearly abnormal.

"Yeah."

Time to go home.

I'd seen it.

Objective complete.

Just as I started slowly backing away, the giant's face turned toward me.

"........"

Our eyes met.

"Hey, I haven't done anything yet, okay?"

Needless to say, that got through to no one, and it stood up.

"You don't need to stand."

Just stay sitting.

I'm going home.

That was the plan, but the Magic I could see through Interference Eye+ moved all at once.

"...!"

I dove sideways.

An instant later, a massive fist smashed into where I'd been standing, splitting the floor wide open.

"Fast!?"

Wait, wait.

You can't have that much speed in that body.

The fist buried in the floor was yanked free, and an arm came flying in from the side.

Too late to dodge.

I used Enchant Swap to shift to Endurance and put both arms out front.

"Guh!"

Heavy.

I'd blocked it, but my whole body got carried backward; I slid across the floor and just barely kept my feet.

"Ow ow ow..."

I had Hardiness, too.

I'd shifted to Endurance as well.

And this is what I get?

Taking a clean hit would be seriously bad.

I looked up to find it already winding up for the next attack.

"So you're not letting me leave, huh."

Well, I'd been kind of up for a fight too, honestly.

I immediately used Enchant Swap to shift to Agility.

For now, dodge and observe.

Watching it more carefully than before, I saw Magic flowing into its shoulder before the arm even started to swing.

Here it comes.

This time I moved before it swung down, slipping to the side before the fist reached the floor.

"Good."

I slid inside its guard, swapped to Strength, and drove a fist into its stomach.

"Hard!?"

Like punching a rock.

It wasn't like it did nothing — its body rocked back a little.

Really just a little.

"Seriously?"

I'm level thirty now.

And this is with Battle Armor Form?

While I was thinking, an arm came back around, so I pulled back and dodged.

I put some distance between us, and it came right after me.

After dodging the same kind of attack a few times, I could get outside the fist without moving as much as I had at first.

Universal Adaptation.

It wasn't that the thing had slowed down; my body was gradually cutting out wasted movement.

"This is handy."

Since dodging didn't open up distance anymore, it was easier to go straight into a counterattack.

I slipped outside an arm coming in from the side, stepped inside its reach, and swapped to Strength.

This time, the side of its stomach.

I sank a fist in and pulled back right away.

One more looked doable, but the other arm was already coming back, so I stopped being greedy.

"Guess it's not that easy."

It lifted a leg high.

What?

The instant I probed its focus with Enemy Observation, I could tell the attack was aimed less at me and more at the ground under my feet.

"Wait—"

An instant later, it stomped straight through the floor.

Magic and impact spread out along the ground like a wave.

Too late to jump.

"Then — Remote Hold!"

I focused on the flow of impact visible through Interference Eye+.

The oncoming shock stopped just short of me.

"Whoa—!?"

It stopped!

I mean, I knew it would.

Until now I'd had to touch something to stop it, but with this I could stop it from a distance.

The catch was that Remote Hold only went as far as stopping it.

I couldn't send it back like with Recoil, or redirect it somewhere else with Deflection.

"...What do I do with this?"

Holding it forever wouldn't get me anywhere, but letting it go meant it would come right back at me.

"For now, just dodge!"

I hurriedly leapt aside, got out of the shock's path, and released Remote Hold.

The shock started moving again, shot past me, and shattered a huge chunk of the wall.

"That was close..."

I really don't want to take one of those clean, either.

It was already closing the distance.

I dodged a downward swing, and the other fist came in from the side.

I couldn't dodge this one in time.

"Recoil!"

The instant I touched the fist, I stopped the force and sent it back the way it came.

The huge arm was knocked aside, and the thing itself staggered back a step.

"Ohh."

With this, I don't have to match its strength.

The stronger the opponent, the bigger the return.

"This might be pretty good."

A low growl rolled out.

Even through Enemy Observation, its hostility toward me was clearly stronger than before.

"Aw, did that make you mad?"

Well, fair enough.

I have been punching it and all.

The next instant, its mouth opened wide.

The Magic visible through Interference Eye+ rushed into its throat.

"Here comes something again."

An instant later, along with a roar that made my ears ache, the air itself came rushing at me.

"Stagnation!"

I thrust both hands forward and stopped the force that hit them.

"Heavy—!?"

Way heavier than the one that had run along the ground.

Could I send it straight back with Recoil?

No, wait.

This much force was better kept in Stockpile for later.

Then again, sending it back now would still deal damage.

Deflecting it back from another direction was an option too.

"...Which one's the right call?"

More abilities is great, but telling them apart is a little hard.

Before, Recoil was the only option, so I never even had to hesitate.

"Nah. Let's stockpile it."

Sending it back right now would just get shrugged off by this thing.

So having options later was better.

I fed the force I was holding straight into Stockpile.

Energy poured into my body all at once.

"Ohh... that went in deep."

As expected.

Its attacks are strong for a reason.

The roar ended, and at the same moment it came running.

"Doesn't even give me a break!"

I shifted to Agility and ran sideways.

I thought it would slam into the wall with all that momentum, but it forced itself to a stop right before and turned back toward me.

"You can stop that fast?"

Big as it is, it still turns on a dime.

Another fist came in.

I'd seen the move enough times that this time I slipped outside of it without putting much distance between us.

From there I swapped to Strength and punched it in the stomach.

Its body rocked, clearly more than the first time.

"Starting to feel that?"

It wasn't going straight into the next attack like at the start, either.

Maybe I was imagining it, but its movements had gotten a little slower.

In that case.

"Time to use that."

The stockpile from before.

I pointed my right hand.

Up until now, when I used Dispersion, it was usually wide, to wipe out a bunch of gathered monsters at once.

This time it was just one.

"No need to spread it out."

I gathered the stockpiled energy into my hand.

Then thinner.

As thin as I could make it, and drawn out forward to match.

I'd learned over the past few days of use that Dispersion didn't have a fixed shape.

"Turns out this thing can change shape however I want."

Who am I even talking to?

Whatever.

I shaped the force gathered in front of my hand into a thin, sharp spear.

It started running at me again.

"Dispersion!"

Energy shot forward from my right hand.

It tried to dodge, but its size worked against it.

The narrowed Dispersion pierced its stomach and shoved the giant's whole body back.

"GWOOOOOOH!"

"Ohh!"

For the first time, there was a clearly pained sound.

It staggered back several steps and dropped to one knee.

"That hit!"

That one really hurt it.

It didn't get up right away; it stayed holding its stomach and glaring at me.

"........"

Nothing like at the start.

Its shoulders were heaving, and it wasn't rushing right back in like before.

I was pretty wrecked myself.

But that was only natural, after nearly a week in a dungeon and then spending the tail end of it trading punches with this thing.

"Can I do this?"

I still hadn't beaten it.

But it no longer felt like the hopeless wall it had at first sight.

It was whittling down properly.

I opened the display.

【Battle Armor Release】

Sixty seconds max.

Every fixed Ability Grant goes up by another twenty-five percent.

When it ends, Battle Armor Form is forcibly canceled, and I can't use it again for six hours.

"........"

If I used this now and it still wasn't enough, that'd be a mess.

Still, the opponent was pretty worn down.

"If this doesn't finish it, I'll just run."

It wasn't like I ever had to beat this thing in the first place.

I'd worn it down this much. If sixty seconds still wasn't enough, then I'd go home.

The thing, still on one knee, slowly stood.

"........"

Yeah, it was nothing like the start.

Its movements had slowed, and I could tell it was favoring the stomach that had taken the Dispersion.

I was tired, but it was in bad shape too.

In that case.

I opened Enchant Swap.

Once I used Battle Armor Release, I couldn't change the current setup for those sixty seconds.

So I had to decide first.

Up to now, I'd been swapping to match whatever attack was coming.

If the plan was to finish it in the next sixty seconds—

"Guess I don't need defense anymore."

I'd seen the same attacks over and over.

Universal Adaptation had come a long way, and its movements were blunter than at the start.

If it still wasn't enough, I'd run.

【Ability Grants fixed in place will be changed】

【Strength enchant】

【Strength enchant: Enchant Echo】

【Strength enchant: Enchant Echo】

Three enchants, all Strength.

"Okay."

The enchants running through me switched over, and the feel of the power changed.

Even this was plenty strong.

But another twenty-five percent was coming on top.

I opened the display again.

【Use Battle Armor Release?】

"Use it."

【Battle Armor Release activated】

The next instant, the power filling my body jumped another notch.

"Whoa..."

I wasn't faster.

My Endurance hadn't gone up either.

Everything riding on me right now was Strength.

Even just closing my fist felt completely different from a moment ago.

"Isn't this kind of insane?"

With a roar, it kicked off the floor.

Here it came — right arm raised.

Another move I'd seen a hundred times.

Tracking the flow of force with Interference Eye+, I slipped to the side, and the fist passed right by me.

I went straight into its guard.

"Hah!"

I drove my fist into its stomach.

"GWOH!"

The giant's body lurched back.

"Seriously?"

That was just a normal punch.

Before Release, I could hit it over and over and it barely budged. One punch had sent it that far back.

"This is amazing."

Sixty seconds, though.

No time to stand around being impressed.

It came at me again.

Its speed itself hadn't changed.

I dodged that attack I'd lost count of by pulling back or turning sideways.

At the start I'd have needed to put real distance between us; now I barely had to move from where I stood.

Universal Adaptation, you're a lifesaver.

Then I put another fist into the opening at its stomach.

This time its body lurched sideways.

"Ohh..."

I can do this.

It was clearly landing.

Maybe it was getting desperate, because it roared and started swinging wildly.

But its movements were even rougher than before.

Me, on the other hand — the longer we fought, the more my body got used to it.

I landed another, and the giant rocked hard.

"You're still not down?"

Stubborn thing.

But the composure from the start was gone.

It looked like it was standing through sheer effort, guarding the stomach that had taken the Dispersion.

"Then I'll just keep going till you drop."

I'm level thirty now.

Three Strength enchants stacked on that, plus Battle Armor Enhancement.

And now Battle Armor Release on top.

I ran the multipliers in my head.

"...A little over 4.5 times."

Five percent per level, starting from level one.

Convert that into levels, and—

"...Wait, hold on."

I'm level thirty.

Even if it's only Strength, that's way too much of a jump.

In front of me, the thing roared.

It stomped down as if putting every bit of strength it had left into it, and raised its huge fist.

"Then—"

I'd use everything too.

The same downward swing I'd seen so many times.

Universal Adaptation had taught my body the move.

I slipped off the path of the falling fist and drove straight inside.

"Here I go. This fist right now is worth Level 72!"

I stepped in with my whole body and drove a full-force fist into the giant's stomach.