For two minutes, I desperately held out while seriously considering the gamble of Iron Arm.
“Haa…! Haa…!”
My armor and cloak had long since become covered in dirt from rolling on the ground countless times, and my body, overworked throughout the night, trembled finely as it protested the limits of its endurance.
Perhaps due to my nerves and senses being sharpened to the extreme, although I had only held out for a time so short that even a cup of instant noodles wouldn’t have finished cooking, it felt as if nearly tens of minutes had passed.
“I’m at my limit! I have no more magic I can use!”
Amy cried out in a voice tinged with lament.
Not only Flame Arrow and Ice Spike, but even ‘Invisible Hammer’ and ‘Light Orb’ which had been somewhat effective in hindering the undead giant’s movements had all been exhausted, she said.
“Damn it…! Just fall back for now!”
It meant she was essentially no different from a normal person now. In other words, from now on, Gerda and I would have to face this monster with our strength alone.
The remaining person, Friede, had chased after the Abyss Priest and plunged deep into the forest while I was desperately struggling against the undead giant.
“Gerda, don’t you have any good ideas!?”
“How could I have any! I can’t even stand before that thing to begin with!”
Gerda, who had been hiding her body in the forest, shook her head, telling me not to say such nonsense.
“I suppose you’re right…!”
The fact that I could barely dodge meant Gerda wouldn’t even dare to attempt dodging.
Even if she squeezed out her courage to face the undead giant head-on, one punch from it would instantly turn her into an undead.
So, it meant I essentially had to face this thing alone…
‘…Easier said than done.’
Even fighting with Amy’s help, every moment had been precarious to the extreme, so how long could I hold out on my own?
“Grooooooar!”
Monstrous strength where a single blow meant death, combined with the infinite stamina unique to undead. A running speed that completely cut off any possibility of escape.
Because there had been no opportunity to land a proper strike, the only wounds I had inflicted so far were three or four shallow cuts.
The enemy was far too strong. At least, much stronger than I was now.
“Haa….”
I glared at the undead giant roaring monstrously with eyes heavy with fatigue and let out a deep sigh.
It was a bleak situation.
To the point where I wanted to turn and flee.
…However.
“Alright, let’s… see this through to the end.”
Instead of giving up completely and turning to flee into the forest, I firmly gripped my sword hilt and once again put strength into my spasming muscles.
“There’s no other choice now anyway.”
Even if I ran away, I would soon be caught and crushed. From the start, there had been no path other than combat.
“Let’s see. Whether you’ll die… or I will.”
So now, I really had no choice but to gamble.
<Iron Arm>
Hoping that this body’s instincts and senses wouldn’t betray me, I spread the infinitely cold something pooled in my heart throughout my entire body.
A terrible chill spread through my blood vessels, granting strength beyond the limit to all my muscles.
It wasn’t strength that reached the transcendent level like with the ghost spider, but…
* * *
Whoosh!
It was enough strength to half-slice through the undead giant’s wrist as if crushing it.
“Groooooar!”
Drenched in black blood that poured out along with the monstrous roar, I smiled faintly with exhilaration that soaked my brain.
The activation of Iron Arm with lowered output.
The gamble I had staked on a one-in-five chance had splendidly succeeded.
‘…Though it’s hard to call it a perfect success.’
As I retreated to avoid the undead giant swinging down its other arm with a roar, I glanced down at my two arms gripping the longsword.
With a face drenched in cold sweat
“Heu… hua…!”
Extreme exhaustion. My breath was choked and my arm muscles trembled with fatigue as if I had just finished a marathon.
It was because the control of strength had wavered slightly at the moment I swung my sword towards its hand, resulting in a bit more strength being put in than I had intended.
‘Still, at this level.’
I can still fight.
I can swing at least three more times.
Such certainty rose up like instinct.
The memories engraved in my body, my five senses sharpened like blades, and the combat experience I had gained so far were teaching me.
What I could do. Where my limits were.
‘Three more times from now on.’
If I could lower the output even further, maybe five times.
That was the number of effective hits I could land on it… and my only chance.
If I could cut off its neck within that, it would probably be my victory. If I failed, only death awaited.
A gamble with my life at stake.
The first bet had resulted in a narrow victory, but the game wasn’t over yet.
“Grooooooar!”
Because both it and I were still alive.
“Heu, haaaa….”
I caught my ragged breath and pointed my sword towards the undead giant. I erased the option of holding out from my mind.
Iron Arm was a characteristic ill-suited for prolonged battles.
Unless one had infinite stamina, how could it be possible to hold out until the paladins arrived while using a characteristic that caused intense stamina consumption?
So I had to roll the dice again. Dice with both my life and its life at stake.
“Grooooooar!”
“…Whining like a child just because you lost one wrist. What a waste of that huge body.”
Therefore, instead of retreating out of the undead giant’s range, I charged straight towards it.
There was no hesitation.
Although it was still an absurdly powerful monster even after losing one wrist… at least, my odds had improved compared to before.
I can cut it.
Then I can kill it.
So, there’s nothing to fear.
A monologue closer to hope or wish than certainty.
Endlessly repeating this to suppress the anxiety in my heart, I unleashed all the strength I possessed towards the undead giant without reserve.
* * *
“Grooooooar!”
“Haaaap!”
The fight had become even more intense and dangerous than before, as I had given up on holding out by hitting and retreating.
I abandoned my previous combat policy of fleeing out of range whenever its attacks came, and instead took one step forward, diving between the gaps in its attacks to look for opportunities to counterattack.
And I realized.
That something had changed.
“Grooooooar…!”
‘…Has it slowed down?’
The giant’s arms and legs swinging fiercely towards me. They had become just a little, but noticeably slower than before.
Since it was undoubtedly an undead, it couldn’t have become dull from fatigue.
Then, had something happened to the Abyss Priest who summoned it?
Although Friede’s skills were said to be excellent for a copper token adventurer… she shouldn’t be capable of taking down an Abyss Priest alone in such a short time.
So I thought that perhaps Hugh had lost the capacity to focus on managing the undead he summoned because he was concentrating on fighting Friede.
Honestly, even that alone felt like the heavens were helping me.
Thanks to the undead giant’s movements becoming duller, it had become somewhat easier to dodge its attacks compared to before.
To the extent that I could somehow dodge even without Amy’s help.
‘No, it’s not just that. It’s not just that it’s slowed down…’
Moreover, it wasn’t just the undead giant that had changed.
Even more than the giant’s movements becoming duller, my own movements and reaction speed had become more agile than before.
‘I can see… the movements?’
I could see them.
Even if I couldn’t see, I could sense them with my perception.
The signs of the giant’s attacks coming. The gaps I could dive into. The weaknesses in each of its movements and even the most certain timing for counterattacks.
I could grasp all of these things so clearly.
Things I hadn’t known, couldn’t see when I had been preoccupied with retreating.
Movements becoming increasingly sharper in inverse proportion to my fatiguing body.
A sensation as if all my sensory organs were expanding outside my body.
I realized.
Brunhilde’s body was speaking to me. Teaching me. Imploring me.
That this was the right choice.
That the path to survival wasn’t laid out behind the back one turns to retreat, but unfolds before the eyes of those who throw their bodies forward.
I ran forward.
The exhilaration of realization led my tired body.
* * *
“Haaap!”
Leaping up while rotating as if doing a somersault, I landed by thrusting my sword into the knee of the undead giant as it tried to kick me.
An acrobatic movement. The blood that spurted out with a splash wet my cheek, and the sensation of tearing through muscle enveloped my fingertips.
“Grooooar!”
The undead giant let out a cry that could have been a scream or a roar.
Not yet.
I immediately kicked off its thigh to leap diagonally, swinging my sword as if grazing its exposed side as I passed by.
Crunch!
The second Iron Arm. Black blood and rotten intestines burst out from between the split side that had been cut by the longsword.
“Haak…! Haak…! Not, enough yet!”
I grabbed those innards as if trying to pull them out and flew towards the giant tree that had been behind the undead giant.
As the dried tree trunk came close before my eyes, I extended my legs to kick off the tree and shot my body towards the ground.
Tap!
A body shooting towards the ground like a ball thrown downwards.
The undead giant’s convulsively swung arm passed over my deeply lowered head.
As the cloak I had been wearing was torn away by the air pressure, the blade I had been holding high above my head scraped along the giant’s arm.
A perfect evasion and counterattack. Movements that flowed seamlessly into the next attack. All these actions unfolded so naturally.
Crash!
The moment the undead giant’s arm, now exposed to the bone from my sword cut, smashed and pulverized the giant tree, I had already slid to a landing and was diving between its legs.
Crunch…!
The earth spewing out clods of dirt like rain, scraped by my boots. Using my toes as an axis, I twisted my waist to convert the forward sliding momentum into rotational force.
Speed and body weight, even the elasticity of muscles. A blade imbued with all that power drew a dark arc as it aimed for the undead giant’s ankle.
The very spot where I had previously slashed, where the skin had been slightly cut away.
“Kuh…! As expected, it’s tough…”
The moment the longsword’s blade dug into its ankle, an intense resistance traveled up my arm. The hand gripping the sword hilt felt as if it had been burned.
However, at this level…
I could cut it.
“Huaaaaap!”
With a rough battle cry, I squeezed out all the strength in my body, forcibly suppressing the resistance of the giant muscles and tendons trying to withstand the blade.
Creak!
Along with the scream of the blade that had started to crack from the accumulated impacts, the giant’s ankle was deeply cut by about one joint’s depth.
Since it was a slash without activating Iron Arm, it didn’t reach the giant’s bone, but… this was enough.
“Grooooark!”
Along with blood gushing out like waves, the undead giant staggered greatly and collapsed, burying its knees in the earth.
Like a child who had been kicked in the stomach and fallen forward.
The sight of it crouching on all fours with its arms and legs on the ground resembled a drunkard who had regressed from bipedal to quadrupedal locomotion.
Yes. Since I had cut through the tendons themselves, it could no longer run on two legs.
“Now’s the time! Hilde!”
Amy, who had been watching from afar, shouted at the top of her lungs. In a voice full of shock and hope, as if she couldn’t believe this situation.
I thought the same.
Now is the time.
There’s no other chance but now.
If now, when it has lost balance due to the sudden tendon rupture and fallen forward unable to control its body…
My sword should be able to reach its neck.
“Stay down like that!”
Enduring the chest pain that felt like my lungs would turn inside out, I used the giant’s forearm as a springboard to leap over, launching my body towards its neck.
While activating Iron Arm once more, gathering my nearly depleted stamina.
“Gru, groooooor!”
Sensing the danger, the undead giant hurriedly tried to raise its body by pushing against the ground with its arms.
However, my body, propelled by the power of Iron Arm, was outpacing the speed at which it was raising its upper body. My sword would reach its neck before it could fully stand up again.
“Grooooooar…!”
The undead giant turning to look at me with its hideous maw wide open.
“Too late!”
I activated the final Iron Arm, burning up even the last reserves of my stamina.
While gazing at the all too familiar figure of the female knight reflected in those red-glowing eyes.
The longsword blade, swung diagonally, split the giant’s neck bone in half.