Chapter

arc2 · 030-ch30

Episode 30: Rabbit Demon Iron Skin 2

　When Rabbit Demon Iron Skin swung its massive arms like thick tree trunks, a fierce wind whipped up. When it bared its fangs and opened its mouth, an angry voice that chilled the heart echoed throughout.

　How many times had Suzuka dodged attacks that seemed like they'd kill him with just a graze?

　It's exhausting...

　Drenched in sweat all over, he continued to dodge and attack without losing focus, repeating the cycle over and over.

　He attacked every part of the Rabbit Demon's body, but there was no apparent weak point. Its belly, neck, arms, feet, thighs, armpits, back of the head, even its pointed ears. He attacked every possible location, and every attack was deflected.

　Occasionally he managed to land a hit that made the Rabbit Demon groan, but that location wasn't necessarily a weakness. Because when he finally found what seemed like a glimmer of hope and attacked the same spot relentlessly, it didn't even groan—the attack was simply deflected with a clanging sound, and that was it.

　The Rabbit Demon leaped energetically and charged at Suzuka. He dodged by rolling, but couldn't connect it to a follow-up attack. Fatigue was causing Suzuka to lose precision in both his dodging and attacking movements.

　This is bad. I'm being worn down. How many times had he thought that now? His spirit was growing exhausted from the feeling that he could only deal 1 damage forever.

　Since his status had increased, he hadn't felt fatigue at all lately. Besides, he went dungeon exploring every weekend. Added to his youth as a middle school student, his daily exercise habits had significantly increased his stamina.

　Besides, a single battle rarely lasts tens of minutes. With Suzuka's high attack power, he could turn most monsters to smoke or incapacitate them with a single hit. This soul-crushing battle was a first for him.

　His blurred vision. The sweat dripping down stung his eyelashes and was irritating. His clothes, having absorbed enough sweat to wring out, clung to his skin and felt unbearable.

　His legs and lower back were trembling near their limits, screaming that if he stopped once, he probably wouldn't be able to move for a while. Even his mana—despite having been able to use so recklessly for body reinforcement and magic iron pipes until now—seemed to be running dry, making it harder to control properly.

　He'll lose if this continues. He should pull back, come up with a countermeasure, and challenge again. This isn't a retreat. He's only pulling back because they're at a stalemate. It would be stupid to keep persisting when there's no way to break through.

　Suzuka didn't think of that at all. He was only thinking about winning. After his fatigue reached the point where his thinking ability was worn down, all he could think about was killing the monster in front of him.

　He should definitely be able to defeat it. Even if it's 1 damage, damage is damage. If enough dust accumulates, it should reach the Rabbit Demon's life.

　With that single-minded resolve, he continued attacking ceaselessly. He had almost no stamina left. If his stumbling feet got tangled, it would be game over immediately. Even so, Suzuka's attacks didn't stop.

　Dodge the Rabbit Demon's attack, and hammer a blow in the opening.

　Just that repetition. It was a monotonous repetition, but gradually Suzuka's movements began to change.

　Suzuka had been dodging with room to spare since each attack was powerful, but with each dodge, the distance shrank. The swinging arm passed just a few centimeters in front of Suzuka's cheek, and when dodging its charges, the Rabbit Demon's fur and Suzuka's tracksuit touched—it was that close. Dodging at the absolute limit not only reduced the amount of movement needed but also made it easier to connect attacks. Before he knew it, Suzuka was swinging his attacks at a distance where he was practically clinging to the Rabbit Demon.

　And then, strange things started happening. The Rabbit Demon's body appeared to be faintly glowing.

　It was a different kind of light from leaking mana. At first he thought his eyes, blurred by fatigue, were showing him hallucinations, but that didn't seem to be the case.

　The light wasn't uniform—there were also places where it was thin in 1 or 2 spots. He tried attacking where the light was thick, but nothing changed—his attack was deflected. Next, he tried attacking where the light was thin.

"GWWUURRGGHH!!"

　The Rabbit Demon leaked a groan and swung its arm in disgust to push Suzuka away. When he looked at the Rabbit Demon again, the thin places had light as thick as the others, and instead, the light in a different place had grown thin.

　The answer derived from that. His exhausted brain couldn't understand the principle or logic, but where the light was thin, attacks went through. He understood that one point alone.

　And that alone was sufficient.

　The magic iron pipe began glowing faintly again. Even though there wasn't enough mana left to leak out, he could at least maintain minimum body reinforcement. If that was the case, he could move fully.

　Until now he had been dodging the Rabbit Demon's attacks before attacking, but he now thrust his magic iron pipe toward the thin light faster than the Rabbit Demon could move.

"GAH!?"

　Clearly in pain, the Rabbit Demon flailed its hand to push Suzuka away and create distance. While narrowly dodging that attack, he swung his magic iron pipe again toward the thin light that had moved.

　Perhaps due to dehydration from the pouring sweat, his throat was parched, and even shouting to psych himself up felt troublesome. Even so, his body moved smoothly. Faster than the Rabbit Demon could attack, Suzuka's attacks landed.

　At first, he could only land one attack before the Rabbit Demon swung. But gradually it increased to 2 hits, 3 hits, and his attack count grew like a blazing fire. Conversely, the Rabbit Demon's movements became increasingly sluggish, and blood began dripping from its hard fur.

"GWWOOOOOAAAAAAHH!!"

　Pressed by Suzuka's attacks, the Rabbit Demon couldn't take it anymore and leaped backward as if fleeing.

　Until now, the Rabbit Demon had charged arrogantly without caring about any attacks it received. But it pulled back. At that point, the outcome was decided.

"The oness who loshesh in shpirit in battle are the onesh who dieeeeeeeee!!!"

　Matching the Rabbit Demon's jump backward, Suzuka stepped forward. The Rabbit Demon had jumped to create distance from Suzuka, yet the distance between Rabbit Demon and Suzuka didn't change at all.

　It tried swinging its arm to push him away, but Suzuka's attacks were overwhelmingly faster than the Rabbit Demon's attack while its posture wasn't even set. He swung upward at its lowered chin using the recoil from landing. With that attack, like an uppercut, the chin was shattered and the Rabbit Demon's face was jerked upward.

　The Rabbit Demon, frozen in a posture of looking up at the sky on two legs, slowly toppled backward, and the moment it hit the ground, it transformed into smoke.