part1 · 031-ep31

Episode 31: Reading Each Other

The monster closed in. Ren readied his spear.

Different from last time. He could see its movements.

But seeing them alone wouldn't win him the fight.

"...Here it comes!"

The monster leapt. Ren slid his body sideways. Claws grazed his clothes.

"Kh...!"

He'd dodged it clean. Last time, this was where he would have been sent flying.

Ren whirled around at once. The monster landed and turned without a moment's delay.

"Still fast...!"

It charged again. Ren readied his spear.

Don't take it head-on. Just a little to the side.

And—

"There!"

He thrust the spear out. It caught the monster's shoulder.

Shallow. But a real wound.

"...I hit it!"

Last time, he hadn't even managed a proper attack. Now was different.

But the monster didn't flinch. It didn't so much as guard its wounded shoulder — it came at Ren again.

"It's still coming...!"

　　　　　◇

Ren thought as he fled. Head-on, he couldn't win. In strength, the monster still had the edge. In speed, he hadn't fully caught up, either.

In that case—

"Read its movements."

The monster sank low. Ren readied his spear.

Last time's fight. And these past days of training. The experience of all those battles with monsters.

Somewhere in all that, he had noticed something.

This monster—

pulled its right foreleg back, just slightly, right before it attacked.

"...There!"

The monster leapt. Ren stepped back just one step. Claws cut through empty air.

That instant.

Ren stepped in.

"Hah!"

He drove the spear in. This time, it went deep.

"Graargh!"

The monster thrashed its huge body. Ren wrenched the spear free and put distance between them.

His heart was pounding hard.

"...It's working."

Blood was flowing from the monster's shoulder.

But—

it still didn't fall. If anything, its fury was showing.

"...Not good."

The monster gave a low growl. Sank its body even lower.

Ren tightened his grip on the spear.

Faster than before.

The moment he felt it—

the monster vanished.

"...!"

For an instant, it was gone from his sight.

The next instant.

Claws came at him from the side.

"Gah!"

Ren took it on his arm. His body was flung away. He tumbled across the ground.

"...!"

His arm hurt. But it wasn't broken.

Ren was up at once. And he noticed.

Deep inside his body—

a little heat.

"...Again."

《Survival Adaptation》.

Ren tightened his grip on the spear. His vision sharpened, bit by bit. His breathing settled.

And—

he could see the monster's movements, just a little more.

"...It's not over yet."

Ren readied himself.

This was where the real fight began.