CH 169.3

Chapter 169.3: Red Raptor

Seriously, what should I do now?

And it was gliding.

Yes, it was fu*king gliding on the surface of an acid bog using the wreckage of a skeleton instead of a surfing board.

Well, 『Rotten Bog』’s depth was shallow, to begin with. It wasn’t exaggerated to say that its depth was akin to a puddle. That’s why a corpse that fell into the puddle was enough to bury the bog.

A longer preparation was needed to create a deeper bog. To create a bog-like the one I used to defeat basilisk, I made a magic circle and offered a sacrifice.

Naturally, the one I used this time wasn’t that, it was the one I invoked with several drops of my blood on a cursed crest. The water was shallow as usual. In addition, the strong acid that filled the bog was thicker than water and far more slippery. In short, gliding on its surface was really easy.

「What the hell is this fella――『Poison』！」

I kept firing my curse toward the red raptor that came close with a completely unexpected method, surfing a board of skeletons. It came close in a straight line. If that was all it did, hitting it would be easier.

「SHAAAAAAAAA!」

At that moment, the red raptor jumped. It was a splendid jump, a great jump.

「OH CRA――」

Dammit, I missed it. The 『Poison』 that I fired on its trajectory missed a big time when the red raptor jumped up.

And just like that, it leapt straight toward me who stood on the other side of the bog.

That was fast, the next 『Poison』 wouldn’t make it in time, it wasn’t a skill that could be fired rapidly. If that’s the case, black hair bi– dammit, it won’t make it in time, the raptor’s claws had already arrived right in front of me!

「GUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

But Rem the 3rd came from the side, tackling the red raptor as she raised loud warcries.

「Rem!」

「GUGU, GUGAGAGA!」

Anyhow, she might have come to my side immediately upon seeing the dangerous situation. She rammed her bare hand, as strong as she could toward the red raptor.

Thanks to her quick reaction, I narrowly escaped death.

「SHA, KISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

The red raptor seemed to be pissed off since it got disturbed just when it was one step away from bringing down its prey, me. Even when it fell on the acid bog, it stood up and immediately roared in rage as if the acid in the bog couldn’t hurt it.

Rem the 3rd was also readying herself to challenge the red raptor again, and rushing toward the latter.

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The red raptor bit into Rem as if it wanted to tear her apart. Its fangs bit deep into Rem the 3rd’s shoulder, creating a crunching sound as it pierced through Rem’s armour, and then turned around as if trying to fling Rem away from this place.

「GUGAA!」

In the end, it swung its saw-like tail toward Rem the 3rd who helplessly got thrown to the ground. That one, martial art-like strike, beheaded Rem the 3rd’s head with a single red flash.

At that moment, I felt Rem the 3rd’s connection with me get cut off. She died.

「『Poison』」

I fired the curse toward the red raptor that just killed Rem. But maybe because it didn’t let its guard down toward my curse even when it was enraged, it dodged quickly right before I fired my curse. Dammit, how could this fella dodge the spell at such a close distance!

「GISHAAAAAAAAA!」

The red raptor then bared its fangs toward me. It could still dodge 『Poison』 even when I fired it from an arm’s distance.

Thus, I decided to change my tactic.

This time, I was gonna use Sakurai-kun’s tactic, the poison smoke bullet made by Hinagiku-san’s 『Poison』.

Since it was literally impossible for me to hit the red raptor with its super evasion abilities, even from point-blank rage- I threw the ball at its feet.

Poison smoke bullet was encased in a type of container that could break easily upon impact, which would trigger the poisonous-looking, purplish smoke to spread at once.

「GIII, SHAAAAAAAA!?」

The red raptor cried as if being wary of what I was going to do next, but the smoke had already entered within its range. Even if it was clever enough to dodge an attack that would come from a straight line, it wouldn’t be able to dodge the poisonous smoke that enveloped it. This fella wouldn’t be able to dodge the spreading poisonous smoke it ran into.

But this measure alone was far from enough to finish it off. Its fangs or claws might kill me first before the 『Poison』.

Thus, I had to hold it in its place. Naturally, the one I was going to use this time was the reliable 『Blackhair Bind』!

「STAY IN YOUR POSITION, BLACKHAIR BIIIIII――NO!?」

「SHAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

A red blade, that fella’s tail blade rushed toward me from inside the smoke that was hiding its figure.

A moment later, I felt a red liquid dripping down from my cheek which was followed by sharp pain―― but, I knew that this wasn’t a fatal wound. The enemy was right in front of me!

「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

I used all my willpower to bind its limbs and used my last resort, Higuchi’s butterfly knife, and the red knife. If it was at this distance, even I would be able to――

「Kotaro-kun!」

「GURURU, GAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Mei-chan, our guardian deity, came from behind while unleashing her terrifying might. At the same time, Rem-the dark knight also made her move, keeping the other raptors in check.

「SHAA, KUAA, KIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

The red raptor reacted swiftly upon seeing the change in the battlefield. It was just one step away from killing me but chose to retreat while raising loud cries.

After the purple smoke cleared away, I caught a glimpse of a red-figure crossing over the bog by using its comrades’ corpses.

「I-It got away huh…」

As expected, the wild monster pulled away at the sight of Mei-chan’s brave figure. In the blink of an eye, the battle on the sandy beach had ended, and peace returned to this sandy beach at night.

And yet, I still held the two knives in my hands, unable to calm myself after such an ambush battle.

「K-Kotaro-kun! The-The-There a wound on Yo-Your fa-fa-face!?」

+++

「Eh… ah, it’s okay, it’s just a scratch.」

Come to think of it, there was a graze on my cheek. Mei-chan looked like she was about to cry as she approached me as if she was experiencing more pain than me. On the other hand, I calmed down.

「Bu-Bu-But, i-it’s my fault… if such a scar remains on your face!」

「It’s okay, something like a scar could be healed in no time with my ointment, that’s why calm down.」

While soothing Mei-chan who was shaken even more than me,  I smeared ointment A, which had already become something akin to a household ointment, on my cheek. Uuh, it stung, it’d been a long time since I felt this…

「Sorry, Kotaro-kun, if only I was a little faster.」

「N-No, don’t worry about it. I mean, you had to deal with only those crabs, but you still dealt with raptors too.」

She accomplished her duty as a vanguard with a perfect score. I mean, she splendidly kicked the ass of three giant crabs and turned the table against the raptors that surrounded her.

「The one who let his guard down is me.」

If the aim of that jagged tail-blade was a bit lower, I don’t think it would’ve ended with something as simple as this scratch on my cheek, I might have even lost my head. The reason that fella missed that attack was because of the poisonous smoke affecting its vision.

I really was lucky that the melee only ended up with a scratch on my cheek. Yes, I was literally inches away from death just now. It wasn’t a boss battle or battle against a classmate; I realized yet again that even a small fry could kill me… if I underestimated them. I had lowered my vigilance as soon as I realized that we were up against the raptor.

I thought that I had control over the situation, but I wouldn’t have been put in such a dangerous situation if I didn’t underestimate the enemy, and the result of this battle might change. Rem the 3rd wouldn’t have me=et her end, I wouldn’t have received this ugly wound on my cheek, and that red raptor wouldn’t have been able to get away.

For example, because I was overly relying on the convenient 『Poison』, I neglected the fact that I could switch the role of Rem the 3rd with Rem-Dark Knight once I realized that I couldn’t hit the red raptor with poison. I mean, as long as I could use Rem the 3rd and skeletons squad even better, Rem-Dark Knight should be able to stop taking care of those raptors.

I mean, no matter how clever Rem had become, she always fought as the vanguard, thus lacking the ability to see the entire battlefield. The most she could do right now was cooperate with my plan based on the information that she knows… in short, I shouldn’t participate in offense and just focus on seeing the overall situation in the battle and adjusting the plan accordingly.

「Let’s leave this place for now. We should choose another camping place to take a rest.」

「Uhm understood.」

After collecting the minimum amount of materials and core, we took no time to leave the sandy beach that already reeking of blood after that battle.