CH 125.1

Chapter 125.1 : Goma’s Fortress-Capture Battle 3

「BURUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Raising a warcry, the Gogma charged towards me.

「UOOOOOO!?」

「DA*N IT, THAT’S DANGEROUS!」

The Gogma swung its cane and cutlass towards Ueda and Yamada who were about to attack. Its rage-filled eyes were locked on me as if I was the enemy of its parent.

「Wha-What the heck!」

Even though it had only let out a nonsense roar before, it knew right away that I was the commander as soon as I issued an order to my party and most of all… I was left alone on top of Raptor Rem.

Though I had no idea just how much the Gogma understood human language, it was by no means an idiot since it knew right away that the guy who rode on a vehicle (namely: ME) while giving command to the others was the leader.

In short, I made a huge blunder by making myself stand out from the others.

「RAPTOR, RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!」

I left all regret and reflection for later and chose to escape from this situation first. I clasped tightly on the rein, desperately hugging on Raptor Rem’s body as she made a rapid turn.

「M-MOMOKAWA-KUN!」

「OI, GIVE THE NEXT ORDER!」

「TAKE CARE OF THOSE GOVUS WHILE THE BOSS IS CHASING AFTER ME!」

I had no intention of becoming bait to lure this guy, but I had no other choice since it had already locked on to me.

Naturally, I also had no idea whether everybody could understood the sudden change of our tactic. Raptor Rem had already gotten away from the main gate, leaving everyone behind. I ordered her to run around the fortress surrounding the tower since I couldn’t get out of this place. Right now, I felt like a jockey riding atop race horse running on the track.

「DAGOAAA! UGO, NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

The Gogma was still chasing after me from behind while raising a furious roar. Even though it had a pro sumo wrestler-like body, it was fast enough to the point that Raptor Rem who specialized in speed couldn’t outpace it. It might’ve some sort of martial arts that enhance its speed, like 『Fast Drive』.

The Gogma, whose speed betraying its huge body, then fired its magic towards my back. I saw the red jewel on its cane flickering with bright red color as a fireball as big as volleyball formed in front of it.

「INCOMING! 3, 2, 1――NOW!」

「KYOAAAA!」

I looked at the Gogma’s cane as if clinging to my life to convey the firing timing to Raptor Rem. Since Rem was a smart girl, all I needed to do was tell her the timing and she would use the physical ability of the raptor to dodge Gogma’s fireball.

I, who left the matter of dodging entirely to Raptor Rem and only conveying the timing to her, saw Gogma’s fireball left behind a crimson trail, and then exploded close to our position.

「――DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」

It seemed we were about to be blown off by the shockwave of the explosion just now. But I yelled to the top of my lungs, and barely avoided the fate of being blown off by the shockwave of the explosion.

We, who were passing through the black smoke were covered in soot in various parts of our bodies, could at least still move.

Yup, it was confirmed that we could barely dodge that Gogma’s fireball. It was a single firing spell packed with reasonable firepower. It had neither tracking ability nor rapid-firing. In short, it was a slightly more powerful fireball.

「But of course, I’m going to be screwed if that guy can fire that magic so many times.」

Because I might fail to dodge the next fireball. Even if I managed to dodge the direct hit, I might fall from Raptor Rem’s back, which would spell my doom.

That’s why I mustn’t let this kind of one-sided onslaught go on. I had to fight that guy one way or another to prevent him from firing that dangerous fireball.

「『Rotten Bog』！」

First, toss the biggest 『Rotten Bog』 I could conjure with my back facing towards it. The Gogma who was in hot pursuit right behind me shouldn’t be able to react to the acid bog that suddenly blocked its way but――

「NUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

That Gogma just charged straight into the acid bog as its legs kicked up a white smoke. Even though the acid bog was working, its damage was negligible. It would definitely kill me unless I could make it give up. Naturally, the current me was lacking in terms of power to hold it down. I did have the countermeasure strategy for this kind of situation that I had prepared for a fight against Basilisk a long time ago.

「EEI, 『Spiderweb Twine』!」

Next, I fired the toughest 『Spiderweb Twine』 I could make. I expected for that Gogma to be like a fish captured in a fishing net with this but…

「OGAAA!」

My prided net was tragically sliced by its cutlass.

All I could do was cast my net, it couldn’t even entwine itself on my target. Even if, for example, my net successfully wound around the Gogma, I got this feeling that it could tear off my net with brute force.

「HOW ABOUT THIS!」

I gripped my red knife in my right hand, iron knife in my left, and five other knives with my black hair bind.

It was the turn of my knife skill which rarely got its shining moment. If I went all out, it wouldn’t just end with dual wield, I could increase the number of my wield with my Blackhair feeler. Though this fighting style took a toll on my mind, seeing that Raptor Rem was focusing on getting away from the Gogma’s hot pursuit, it was literally a mano o mano situation.

「GABURA, BUGAHAHAHA!」

But that Gogma ignored the incoming knives and kept charging towards me without even trying to dodge or protect itself. Despite my knives hitting its chest, shoulder, abdomen or head again and again―― It felt like I was attacking a rolling, giant boulder.

「DAM*IT, JUST HOW HARD IS THIS FU*KING GUY’S SKIN! ARE YOU TRYING TO BECOME A 『HEAVY WARRIOR』!?」

With its tire-like black skin, this guy’s defense was clearly far more superior than human’s. But since it received the full brunt of my projectile knives without even leaving a scratch on its skin, it might have 『Steel Body』 or 『Iron Skin』 like Yamada, or worse, both of those.

「TAKE THIS, 『REVERSE DANCE BUTTERFLY』!」

Even if it was seemingly uninjured at glance, there’s no way that it wouldn’t feel any pain from all those scratches. Oops, please work.

「BUHAHAHAHA-!」

「Tch, it isn’t even enough to stop that guy!」

As expected, that Gogma broke through the throngs of butterflies made of light without even stopping for a second. As I had thought, a combo of ointment A and 『Reverse Dance Butterfly』 wouldn’t work unless I gave a noticeable wound.

But still, I hoped it was at least stop for a second before charging through the crowd of butterflies of light. Its overbearing attitude was worrying but well, that might be just how much it had confidence in its toughness.

Anyhow, we’re back into a state of equilibrium.

This case reminded me again and again as if it was punching on my guts that I was weak against this kind of power type!

It was vexing but there was no denying that this Gogma fella was truly powerful. It literally maxed its power, speed, defense, and heck, it could even use magic. It was definitely a cut above the rest of the boss monster I faced so far. In short, it was an extremely balanced boss monster.

Nevertheless, I had no intention to die in this place either. I mean, I still had an unused trump card left…

「Let’s focus on wounding it first.」

In the first place, I never had any intention to escape from battle. To be honest, it would be for the best if the Gogma was injured by one of Ueda’s or Yamada’s attack, but I guess I was asking for too much with our current situation. Mei-chan might be able to stop Gogma’s charge with her brute force but, the same couldn’t be said for my current party, the Gogma would send them flying with its rush.

That’s why the first thing I had to do was break its steel-like skin on my own but… neither red knife nor my prided 『Rotten Bog』 worked on it.

If only I had a more powerful offensive ski-

「THAT’S IT, I STILL HAVE THAT!」

I rummaged into my pocket and took out a certain butterfly knife. After unfolding the knife with great difficulty, I looked at its beautiful blade despiteit being a cheap article.

Yes, this was Higuchi’s beloved butterfly knife. Though I took it from his corpse as my booty, I ended up never using it since it always brought back unpleasant memories.

「This little guy’s sharpness should be enough!」

Strangely… I was convinced that this knife could do it.

I changed to grip the butterfly knife in my left hand. I only had one chance because that fella was going to raise his vigilance once he realized that I had a weapon that could penetrate his defense. If the feeler that gripped on this knife cut off, I would lost this weapon forever.

That’s why I carefully took my aim. I had to wait until the best moment and cut open the biggest possible wound.

「――WOAAAAAAAAH!?」

Another fireball incoming. Despite the furious acrobatic movement, I somehow retained my grip on the saddle.

As I thought, there’s no way I could survive another one of this attack, now was the time to end this!