“This… can’t be called a complete victory.”
Although it would have been ideal to capture Succulent alive, that was impossible for Climb. Even so, they should be able to get a lot of information if they capture the man that the Six Arms were protecting and helping to escape.
Climb stepped forward to capture him but felt something out of place with Cocco Doll’s expression. He was too calm.
What was the basis for that composure?
At that moment, he felt a hot sensation stab through his stomach.
As if his strings had been cut, strength left his body. For an instant, his vision turned pitch black and when he came to; he was lying on the floor. He could not understand what had happened. It felt like a hot, metal rod was lodged in his stomach. The pain spread and made him violently expel the air in his lungs. A foot entered his vision that could only see the floor.
“Unfortunately, it seems you can’t call this a victory at all.”
He desperately raised his face and saw Succulent who was almost completely unharmed.
“’Fox Sleep’. It’s an illusion that I can activate after receiving an injury. It hurt, you know. You probably thought that you killed me, right?”
He moved his fingers and slowly traced a straight line across his waist. It was probably the path of Climb’s sword.
“Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa.”
His breaths were short and rough. Climb could feel the blood sprouting from his stomach stain his chain shirt and clothes alike.
— He was going to die.
Climb desperately clung onto his fading consciousness that seemed like it would be torn away by the tremendous pain.
— Losing consciousness here meant certain death.
However, even if he stayed awake, it was only a matter of time. Succulent will probably come over to personally finish him off.
He fought well, considering that he was up against a man at the level of adamantium ranked adventurers. Since it ended up like this, he had no choice but to resign himself to his fate. The difference in strength was clear.
However— he could not give up.
How could he?
Climb gritted his teeth as if he was trying to shatter them.
He could not accept death. He could not allow himself to die without Renner’s orders.
“Ku, guh! Ugh, urk.”
With the sound of grinding teeth and a forceful shout that was more like a groan, he filled his heart with anger, the heart that was about to cave to the pain.
He could not die just yet. He could not die.
Climb desperately thought of Renner. Today as well, he wanted to return to her side—
“There isn’t much time so I’ll just finish you off. Die.”
Succulent pointed his sword at the boy who was groaning.
It was a fatal injury; his death was only a matter of time. However, he had a hunch that it would be better for him to kill him here.
“…Um, can’t we take him with us?”
“Cocco Doll-san, please give it a rest. There’s a good chance that this brat’s allies are through that door. And even if we do take him with us, he’s probably just going to die before we get to someplace safe. Please just give it up.”
“Then at the very least, let’s take his head. I’m going to send it to that bitch with some flowers.”
“Yes, yes. If it’s only that much… huh?!”
Succulent leapt back.
The boy had swung his sword.
For a boy who was almost dead, the cut was sharp and steady. As Succulent was about to give a look of disdain at the last-ditch resistance of his pitiful prey, his eyes grew wide.
The boy was rising to his feet by using the sword as a crutch.
That was impossible.
Succulent, who had killed in numbers that could not be counted in the hundreds, was certain that his attack from a moment ago was fatal. It was a wound that you could never get up from.
But the scene before his eyes too easily betrayed the knowledge that he had built up from experience.
“H-how is he standing up?”
He felt goose bumps. He was truly like an undead.
With a long string of saliva trailing down his mouth, the boy’s pale face could only be described as someone who had thrown away his humanity.
“I… can’t… die… yet. Not… before… re…pay… ner-sama… kind…ness.”
For an instant, his breath stopped in his throat when the boy’s eerie eyes turned to him. That was terror. He was scared of the boy who had done the impossible.
Seeing how the boy staggered on his feet, Succulent came back to his senses. What seized him then was shame. For a member of Six Arms to be afraid of someone who was so far beneath him, he couldn’t accept it.
“You half-dead bastard! Die!”
Succulent charged forward. He was certain that the boy would die if he stabbed him.
But he had been too arrogant.
Looking at them as a whole, there was no doubt that there was an overwhelming difference between Climb and Succulent. But Succulent who had two classes in Illusionist and Fencer and Climb who was only trained in the Warrior class, when comparing the two from a warrior’s perspective, there was not that big of a difference. Rather, Climb would be above him. The only reason that Climb was weaker than Succulent was because of the existence of magic. In a situation where he wasn’t strengthened by magic, Succulent was the weaker one.
With the sound of cutting through air, the sword shot up high and the high pitched noise of clashing metal rang out.
The reason that he was able to block the boy’s overhead strike was because his body was close to dying and his movements were dulled.
Cold sweat ran down Succulent’s face. He had been too focused on the fact that his opponent was almost dead. This preconceived notion was completely blown away.
As a Fencer, Succulent who was trained on how to evade the enemy’s attacks, had used his sword to defend himself. That was how far past the norm the boy’s attack had been.
— That wasn’t an attack that could be done by a half-dead human.
This thought brushed past Succulent’s anxious mind.
No, the speed of his sword was even faster than before he was injured.
“Bastard, what’s with you?!”
To become stronger in the middle of a battle. Thought it wasn’t impossible, Succulent had never seen something like that in reality.
Rather, it felt as if he had shed a layer of something.
“What the hell is going on?! Is it a magic item? A martial art?”
His panicked voice sounded desperate, so much so that it was hard to tell which side had the upper hand.
What happened to Climb was simple.
Thanks to Sebas’ training, the function in his brain that protected the body was thrown into disarray.
He had experienced death during Sebas’ training. His tenacity for life overlapped with the death he now faced and like back then, the limiters in his brain were released, granting him superhuman strength similar to the one that was sometimes displayed at the scene of a fire.
Although he had only seen a single blow during his training, without it, he would have died here without being able to do anything.
Succulent blocked a powerful blow and was suddenly blown back a great distance.
The impact from being dashed against the ground escaped through his back and shook his stomach. Although the orichalcum chain shirt blocked the impact, for an instant, the air in his lungs was expelled and he could not breathe.
What happened? Even though Succulent, the one who had received the impact, could not figure it out, it was obvious to Cocco Doll who had been watching from the sidelines.
He had kicked him with his leg. As soon as the overhead slash was blocked, the boy had immediately delivered a kick to Succulent.