CH 175.2

Chapter 175.2: The First Ambush Plan

The first attack was followed by consecutive slashes. Strike, mowing down, uppercut, and thrust. With the combination of spear and axe, she made full use of the halberd’s function as a weapon. But the way she brandished the 『Black Iron’s Knight Halberd』, boasting its oversized axe blade and extremely heavyweight, was more of a show of overwhelming violence than splendour.

That brutal attack that had already transformed into a black storm was rushing toward the heavy warrior.

「This is why, I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF DOING THIS――『HARD COUNTER』!」

Sugino, who barely protected himself from the brutal onslaught, invoked his defensive martial arts, 『Hard Counter』against his opponent’s attacks.

The extremely tenacious mace suddenly flicked off the halberd’s brutal strike.

「Uhm.」

Something that never happened before happened, Meiko’s balance crumbled. The halberd’s length and mass made it an atrocious weapon, thus, a momentary gap would be created when parried.

「YAAAAAAAAAA!」

Sugino hollered and used this chance to close in on Meiko. And instead of attacking with his mace, he punched with his right hand that held nothing.

Sugino, who was originally a judo practitioner, was stronger in grappling than wielding the weapon. He aimed at the nape of Meiko’s sailor uniform.

Though he had never used his technique on women, the other party was a superwoman whose strength and speed were far above him. He couldn’t afford to underestimate the other party.

However, his hand that was heading toward Meiko’s nape without any hint of hesitation ended up catching the empty air.

「DAAA!」

Meiko drew back her upper body and managed to avoid Sugino’s lethal technique. She barely escaped, or not, seeing how her out-of-standard pair of twin mountains were also outside Sugino’s reach. She had clearly anticipated his move.

Sugino had never seen anyone escape from his technique with such a bizarre feat before. But, thanks to the superhuman physical abilities granted by vocation, it wasn’t an impossibility. As a result, even an experienced judo practitioner would be caught off guard.

Meiko’s next strike arrived faster than Sugino’s.

She stomped her left foot and sprang in the air, showing her skirt and panties ― a shot that would definitely kill Kotarou had he seen it, and sent forth a kick as she spun in midair.

At that moment, her long, thick pair of legs showed incredible walking capabilities as a berserker which convinced Sugino that his opponent wasn’t a brawny gorilla.

「GOBHU!?」

Meiko’s kick that felt like a giant hammer struck Sugino’s cracked abdominal muscle. It was a clean hit, and yet, the guy withstood the attack.

Any normal human who received that blow would have their stomach and innards ruptured. But a heavy warrior had two initial skills, 『Iron Skin』, and 『Metal Body』, and added with the fact that Sugino had learned 『Ironwall Skin』 and 『Iron and Steel Body』, he managed to survive the onslaught.

Though he managed to avoid fatal damage, his defense couldn’t fully absorb the impact of Meiko’s kick. The residual impact sent his body ― which boasted its sheer height and weight ― floating a little in the air.

Fortunately, Meiko couldn’t use that chance to finish him off. The reason, the kick she had unleashed from an unreasonable position had also prevented her from using her halberd.

As a result, Meiko corrected her stance after landing on the ground again, as did Sugino, who was forced to retreat after the previous kick. And the distance between them widened once more, creating the same situation as at the start of their battle.

「The kick isn’t strong enough, eh. As tough as expected.」

「How scary, for a woman to have such terrifying strength.」

「Souma-kun is stronger you know.」

「Hahahaha, he’s still special even after coming to this world, eh.」

The fu*king gay decided to escape together. No matter what method, even if they had to build a mountain of corpses.

It was an extremely tough goal and yet, he became even more annoyed upon hearing that there was still someone stronger than Meiko.

「I’m no match for you, Futaba-san.」

「Feel like giving up?」

「I’m no match for you, but I don’t feel like losing either.」

While saying so, Sugino retreated even further to open the distance between the two of them.

「Want to escape?」

「My best plan, for now, is to buy the time by escaping from you.」

「It’s futile.」

「Aren’t you worried about Momokawa-kun?」

Meiko replied to that question with silence.

It would be a lie if she said that she wasn’t worrying about Kotaro, but she wasn’t in hurry. The reason being Kotaro wasn’t by himself. Though not as powerful as her, Rem-Dark Knight was his second most reliable bodyguard. A dozen or two fireballs wouldn’t be enough to crush Rem-Dark Knight.

Moreover, there were still Alfa and Arachne standing by in front of the boss room. Skeletons or high zombies might be a tad too weak for Ooyama, but they could become meat shields for Kotaro.

With such a lineup, beating Kotaro wasn’t a simple matter.

Thus, she had to make sure that the most dangerous of the two disgusting gays, Sugino the 『Heavy Warrior』, must be kept in check.

「Fufufu, it seems you’ve misunderstood something.」

「Misunderstood what?」

「When he went all out, Dai-chan is way stronger than me you know?」

Sugino was smiling as usual when he said so, but something about his smile made him look like a wild beast now. Meiko knew instinctively that he wasn’t bluffing.

「Dai-chan will beat Momokawa-kun for sure. And then, it’ll be 2 vs 1. Your defeat was decided the moment I teamed up with Dai-chan.」

「Kuh!」

Meiko was looking at the wall of fire behind her, wondering whether she should cross it even at the risk of burning herself.

「Oops, I’ll gladly welcome if you’re showing your back of course. I won’t hesitate to beat you to death with this club.」

Sugino was no match for Meiko, but he would deliver a death blow without hesitation once he saw a chance. Thus, they’re pretty much equal.

She couldn’t afford to show her back in front of Sugino who readied his mace.

「Ko-Kotaro-kun…」

Meiko frowned for a moment but then instantly took a snap decision.

She raised her face, revealing an enraged, man-eating fiend-like face befitting a berserker.

「Aah, that face, I know it. Futaba-san, you’re maiden-in-love, isn’t it?」

Turning anger into strength, Sugino understood such feeling.

「It’s truly unfortunate. Was it not for this situation, I would be cheering for you.」

「It’s unfortunate indeed―― Now, DIE!!」

「HAHAHA, I REFUSE!」

Berserker’s fierce attack and heavy warrior’s defense ― It was time for their battle to the death.