Volume 6 Chapter 41 As Usual
"Come onnnn!"
I let out a fierce shout from my gut and swung to smash the incoming wave of ice. In front of me stood Rouza, pointing his monk staff at me. But beside him, there was a large, sharp ice block, almost as tall as a person.
"Gram!"
'Got it!'
I left the fine adjustments to my partner, Gram, and I aimed roughly to throw my black spear. Almost at the same time, Rouza shot out his ice attack.
When our attacks collided, my black spear continued straight, shattering the ice block. But the target (Rouza) was not in my line of sight.
'Diagonal behind you!'
I felt a chilling cold on my neck just as Gram's warning reached me. I quickly turned around, and there was Rouza, just as Gram had pointed out, behind me at an angle──holding his monk staff in the air.
To be precise, he wasn't floating. There was an ice platform extending from the ground right under his feet. He had taken advantage of the ice shards from the shattered block to sneak up on me.
Before I could fully understand, Rouza jumped off the platform and launched a surprise attack from above. I quickly reached for my waist and pulled out my big hatchet to counter. The monk staff and my hatchet clashed. But instead of sparks, ice shards flew everywhere.
"If it were an ordinary weapon, I would have cut through it, but that is a splendid piece."
Even though my surprise attack was blocked, Rouza was still interested in my big hatchet. The surface of the azure monk staff in his hand was covered in ice, forming a translucent blade. If he had tried to block with his arm instead, he would have been sliced open for sure.
"Uraaaahhh!"
I swung my big hatchet, but Rouza gracefully soared into the air. It felt like he was flowing smoothly with my strength, not fighting against it. But I didn't care; I dashed forward. My target was right when Rouza would land.
"Enchant: Freeze!"
──Clank!
The sideways strike from my big hatchet was blocked by an ice pillar that shot up from the ground before it could reach Rouza. It was perfectly positioned just before my full power could hit.
"That's pretty weak, Black Blade."
Rouza pulled back his monk staff and took a stance to stab. I had no time to dodge after my attack. And I didn't plan to dodge either.
"Yeah, I figured! Magic Blade, come to me!!"
The big hatchet was a decoy. The real attack was the black spear I called back to my hand. But Rouza stepped back and avoided the strike. The black spear cut through the air uselessly.
"I never thought you'd use Summon (Call) like that! You're getting better and better!"
"You look like you're having fun! What kind of reflexes do you have? That should have hit!"
I reflexively complained to Rouza, who seemed oddly excited.
Since becoming a mercenary, I've fought countless battles against humans. If I include non-humans, I take pride in having a lot of experience. There has never been an easy fight, and most of my opponents have been stronger than me. Looking back, I'm honestly impressed that I've survived this long.
But even with all that experience, Rouza has been the toughest opponent I've faced so far.
Reed is the type who quickly takes control of the fight with her snake belly sword's reach and speed. On the other hand, Rouza uses his flexible ice techniques to throw me off my game.
It's been a few minutes since the duel started, and I still can't seem to get the upper hand. It's fine to use various tactics to create opportunities, but every time I do, Rouza reacts with an unusual speed.
Even with my current downward strike, Rouza had already started moving the moment I called for my black spear.
In a foreign language, I think this is called 'pushing against a hanging curtain.' Even when I try to push my way in with strength, it feels like he escapes just before I can fully unleash my power.
'That saying seems to have originated from Sanmoto.'
"Thanks for the unnecessary info!"
As usual, it's really frustrating that the only advantage I have over my opponent is my strength. Because of that, it's a struggle just to land my attacks. I realize that using brute force actually requires a lot of thinking.
'So, what are you going to do, partner?'
The throwing spear technique can't be used repeatedly because of how the black spear is thrown. It's definitely a very effective attack against big opponents, and since I can call it back, I have almost unlimited ammo. However, against someone with a certain level of skill or speed, it's hard to hit. Or maybe I could use it for a surprise attack, like pretending I don't have it. But that also failed. It probably won't work a second time.
"What else can we do? We just have to charge in like always!"
So in the end, I have no choice but to get in close and smash them with the black spear.
To be honest, it's a pretty reckless strategy, but I don't think it's that bad.
"Hahaha! That's the spirit!"
Rouza shouted as if he had been waiting for this moment, creating multiple ice projectiles and shooting them at me. From my experience in battle, each one is strong enough, but not strong enough to break my black spear. However, there are a lot of them, and it's tough to defend against all of them.
I paused for a moment and raised my black spear high.
"Enchantment - Weight Increase!"
Before the ice projectiles could reach me, I slammed the ground in front of me with all my strength, causing the earth to crack and dirt to fly up. The shock was enough to stop and nullify the momentum of the incoming ice.
"Ugh, some got in my mouth!"
As I crunched on the gritty sand in my mouth, I charged at Rouza.
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