arc03 · 065-ep59

Episode 59: Statue Knight

I said Floor 12 was as good as cleared already—"it wouldn't even be an exaggeration," I said. That was a lie.

A MASSIVE exaggeration, in fact.

It's taking a perfectly ordinary amount of time, thank you very much.

I'm skipping fights wherever I can, but the problem is I don't know the correct route—so I keep smacking into dead ends and doubling back, and then a treasure chest catches my eye and reels me in, and I end up fighting monsters anyway. Part of me knows I should just walk right past the chests, but their pull is more than I can resist. It should be fine, though—no instant-death traps, and I've got a solid idea of what monsters spawn, so no big deal. From what I can tell, the monster house traps spawn monsters that appear solo on the floor below in groups. This time it was three rock golems, all cramped up and getting in each other's way—had to laugh. Well, they're long since beneath me, so I can afford to laugh.

Incidentally, a chest coughed up something like a silver coin the size of a 500-yen piece. This floor's got a faint whiff of civilization to it, somehow. No residents, though.

But even that civilization has, how do I put it, one seriously strong knockoff vibe.

Every so often, a small room with a door will hold a mysterious wooden crate, a pot, something like a straw bed—but every last one of them is fused to the ground. And they can't be broken. I gave one a light poke, and it felt like some kind of barrier bounced me off. Hmm.

Well, no point dwelling on it. For now, onward.

I kept exploring, checking in with Sakurai-san along the way.

I tried asking her for map info, but describing it all verbally was rough for both of us—so I just got the broad strokes of the route out of her, and the rest came down to exploring on raw ability.

◇

Explored on and on, and at last—the Statue Knight.

Apparently a strong mob that prowls this floor. Word is there's probably only ever one in the entire layer at a time. Its strength is off the charts for a Floor 12 monster, and adventurers at this floor's proper level are advised to avoid fighting it.

It looks like a humanoid stone statue with a knightly air about it. Stands around two meters, so—human-sized, basically.

Hm? Hang on.

This thing's noticed me.

It's tracking me with its eyes from a good ten meters away. Seriously?

Isn't this the first time perception interference and presence concealment have ever failed?

They worked on the Goblin King, of all things… Well, I guess a goblin's still just a goblin at the end of the day.

And besides, any monster that isn't a boss should come at me no questions asked—yet this thing is planted there, waiting, solid as a mountain. Chivalry, is it?

Point is, this one's a serious enemy.

Though parties that have broken through Floor 15 can apparently beat it, so it must sit properly within C-rank range.

A perfect chance to test my own strength. Time to give this fight everything I've got.

◇

I closed the distance, circled to its flank as a greeting, and fired off a right straight—it rang out with a high metallic clang and bounced off a shield. You're supposed to be STONE!

Statue looks, metal feel. Hard. But its defense wasn't the only thing that was off.

I ran it ragged with speed and swung around behind for a follow-up—but the Statue Knight had caught on, and with its sword still at the ready—its upper body rotated toward an impossible direction.

CLUNK!

"Gh!?"

Its hip joint came completely undone, and its torso alone spun 180 degrees to face dead backward. At me—already committed to my attack motion—a dead-level horizontal slash came flying.

I fired 『Shukuchi』 on reflex and leaped back diagonally. A few strands of my bangs drifted down.

"That was CLOSE… What the hell…? How is that range of motion even possible!?"

The joint parts floated outward, then clicked and clacked their way back into place.

Movement that ignores joints in ways no ordinary humanoid could manage. It moves like a ball-jointed doll being forced into a new pose—the trajectory of its next attack is completely unreadable.

Dammit, what kind of "statue" are you! The name's false advertising! Quit out-moving an action figure…!

But hey—when it comes to speed, I'm overwhelmingly on top.

I put 【Movement Arts】 to full use and raced around the Statue Knight at high speed.

Its gaze couldn't track me—a tiny lag opened up.

Now—!

I circled behind it and touched its back quicker than it could turn around.

"【Plunder】!!"

The skill fired—I went for its sword.

Dammit, no good after all.

Figures—there's probably a level gap. Flat-out failure.

Its level must be far higher than the rest of the mobs on this floor.

The Statue Knight didn't miss the split-second opening left by 【Plunder】's misfire.

With a grind, its neck joint twisted around to face dead behind—it glared at me with that blank stone face—then it popped its shoulder out of place and whipped the sword at me like a lash.

"Ngh…!"

I twisted my body away by a hair, but the keen edge still carved a shallow line across my left flank.

Red blood trickled out, and a sharp stinging pain ran through me. That was close.

It cuts pretty well for a hunk of rock, doesn't it.

"…Agh, that hurts. Yeah, this thing's no pushover!"

Hand pressed to my flank, I instantly put space between us.

With 【Plunder】 not working, smashing it head-on is the only way.

Luckily, my eyes have gotten used to its action-figure-esque 'joint-popping moves' too. The instant a joint pops, the joint section is wide open for the barest heartbeat.

"If it's a speed contest, I've got no intention of losing!"

I kicked off the ground hard and charged in, accelerating harder than before.

The Statue Knight popped its right elbow loose yet again for another off-angle slash—but I read it.

Into the gap of that dislocated elbow joint, I jammed a dropped magic stone—pinpoint accurate!

CLANG!!

"Wide open!"

The joint wouldn't seat anymore, and with its movement frozen, I dove straight into the Statue Knight's guard.

A right fist—a full-power blow loaded with a massive dose of mana—hammered into its defenseless chest.

WHAMMM!!

The shockwave blasted out; the Statue Knight slammed into the wall, and cracks raced across its whole body in one go. 『Shukuchi』 to close the distance, a rush of follow-ups! Then break away!

After a few seconds of silence, it came clattering down just like that and transformed into motes of light.

"Phew… I won…"

Shoulders heaving for breath, I checked the wound on my left flank.

The cut's shallow, but it's been ages since I last felt my life on the line—cold sweat ran down my back.

"This, right here—this feeling. If I'm getting stronger, it's gotta be like this."

『Experience points gained』

『Kobayakawa Takeru's level has risen to 30』

Oh, leveled up.

The fatigue is gone, and my HP and injuries are fully healed.

An open slot came with it, too—guess I'll head back to the safe zone between floors for a bit.

Gotta be careful—steal a skill with 【Plunder】 right now, and it'll fill up the skill slot.

I was celebrating when 【Plunder】 got its enhancement and all, but losing the ability to keep a skill slot open and bank my SP is a real downside. Eh—short on SP? Then I just grab a good skill through 【Plunder】 and problem solved. Besides, I've got candidates in mind, more or less. Let's settle it properly in the safe zone.

This moment gets me giddy every single time.

It has its agonizing stretches too, but honestly, puzzling out what to do inside all these constraints might just suit me.