AS Chapter 204~Orgun’s Viscera 5~ Asahina Kyousuke POV

Happy Monday!

Here’s the chapter, enjoy.

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「Hahaha….」

As Akira and the monster were glaring at each other after he had been sent flying, when we heard the faintly reverberating laughter coming from far away, Zeal-san and I looked at each other.

Somehow, it seems as though the monster was surprised as well and its movements stopped.

Even though it was a monster, it behaved quite like a human.

「I wonder if something happened.」

I shook my head at Zeal-san who was worried that something had happened.

That was probably him just laughing out of joy.

When I told him that, Zeal-san looked like he didn’t understand.

I thought that as well, and I did not know exactly what kind of emotions Akira felt as he laughed.

However, Akira was a battle junkie, so he was probably happy that he could fight a strong-looking monster.

「It doesn’t seem as though we can defeat them all.」

For now, Akira was probably alright, so we turned towards the monster here.

They were smaller than the monster in the depths of the forest with Akira, but even so, they were much bigger than us.

Hearing Zeal-san’s calm voice, I nodded.

Akira will defeat the monster over there, and we needed to take care of these two.

If prioritizing survival, I would like Akira’s help, but even so, we needed to hold out until then.

「I will go first. Start with the one on the left. Please back me up.」

Telling me this without looking away from the monster, I answered Zeal-san as I readied my weapon.

The light reflected off the pure white blade of “White Dragon”, which I brought with me from the castle, and it shone.

I usually used a different katana, but this time, I had wanted to use this one for some reason.

It was probably because of my『Intuition』skill.

I had understood from just now that one aspect of『Intuition』was more outstanding than the『Perception』and the『Threat Detection』that Akira had, but it could not pinpoint the exact locations of monsters.

It could not detect prescences, and concealment-type skills were most likely ineffective against『Intuition』 .

「Haaaaa!!」

Dodging the claws formed by the monster’s thin arms, Zeal-san cut off the tentacles coming out from the monster’s mouth with his sword.

I repelled the claws headed towards Zeal-san with my katana. 

Zeal-san kicked off the ground, jumping higher than the monster, to decapitate it with his sword.

He probably intended to defeat the monster before it could do anything.

Using the momentum of his descent, his sword swung downwards towards the base of its neck.

「Zeal-san!!!!」

I had a bad premonition and raised my voice to stop him, but Zeal-san, who was confident in his victory, continued to swing down.

A clear sound rang out, and Zeal-san’s sword broke.

It was not at the base of the sword, but right in the middle, and it could be seen that it had broken at the place where he swung at.  

Zeal-san’s sword was an excellent sword that Kurou had forged, and I knew that he carefully maintained it.

Akira and the others all had their equipment inspected by Kurou after they arrived at the base, so there were no problems with the sword.

In other words, the monster’s neck was so hard that the sword broke.

We didn’t know how sturdy their bodies were, but unless this katana was unbreakable, I could not cut at it carelessly.

I see, that’s why they were able to always move around in this forest that was full of strong monsters.

While thinking such things, I carried the defenseless Zeal-san who lost his weapon and retreated to a place that the two monsters’ attacks would not reach.

「…」

Perhaps he was shocked that the sword that he treasured was broken, as he dazedly gripped the broken pieces.

I did not know what to say to Zeal-san.

Since I did not know what kind of emotional attachments Zeal-san had towards the sword that he was using.

I especially wanted to avoid saying the wrong thing and Zeal-san leading a suicidal attack with the broken sword.

Rather than saying that I wasn’t good with words, perhaps it’s because I say what I think, or it’s because I’m expressionless, but it seems that I offend people easily.

A long time ago, even I did not know I had such a bad habit, but I knew that the people who talk to me become displeased, so until I met Akira, I tried to keep communication with others at a minimum.

If Akira, who became close with me, did not point out that habit, I would not concern myself with others, and I might not have left the castle and Continent with Tsukasa and the others.

I wanted to return the favor to Akira, and further, I wanted to help him as his friend.

However, Akira was strong and there was also Amelia-san and Yoru, so he probably didn’t need any help from me.

At the very least, I should return the debt of gratitude to Zeal-san who provided us with the chance to leave the castle.

From my waist, I pulled out the katana that I wasn’t using together with its scabbard, and forcibly made Zeal-san hold onto it.

So that there won’t be a misunderstanding cropping up in such a place, I did my best to choose my words carefully.

「You probably don’t have the『Curved Sword』skill, so using it would be difficult, but it’s better than nothing. Wait here.」

I could not let Zeal-san die in such a place, and I too will not die here.

I, will save this person.

Though, if I gave away this katana, I too wouldn’t be able to use the『Twin Sword Style』skill.

I could only think of some other way, huh.

I hid Zeal-san within the shadow of the tree, and rushed out toward the monster.

I did not swing down with all my strength, as I intended on cutting at it lightly so it should not break.

Fortunately, the weapon known as the katana did not hack at things, but was a weapon that specialized in killing.

Previously, the sturdy turtle-like monster also had a weakness, which was the interior of its body.

Monsters were living creatures, so no matter how hard their skin was, they should have places where they were soft.

Perhaps they thought that I would not come back, as the two monsters extended their tentacles and claws in a disorganized manner.

It was not the place where we had encountered the monsters just now, so it wasn’t that they were chasing after us; they were heading towards the place where the other monster was fighting Akira.

Perhaps they thought that I was a decoy when they saw that it was just me, as they attacked me while staying vigilant.

They were smarter than other monsters, but it seems that they were not as intelligent as humans or Yoru.

If it were me, I would’ve judged that I would be at a disadvantage if I fought without confirming where the other person was and I would’ve joined the one who was fighting Akira who was the strongest in our group.

My strength could not be gauged from the previous battle, and no matter what the situation was over there, Zeal-san might be lurking nearby, so I would not want to fight.

For them to choose this course of action meant that, perhaps they judged that if it was the two of them, they would be able to defeat me, or perhaps they were confident in their defense that broke Zeal-san’s sword.

And I didn’t want to consider it, but perhaps they had a skill that allowed them to see statuses like Akira, and upon seeing mine, they concluded that they would win against me.

There was nothing more difficult than your skills having been seen by your enemy.

「…let’s go.」

Focusing my mind and taking a deep breath, I muttered this to myself.

When I participated in matches at the kendo club, this was something that I always did during the interval when the previous match ended and before my own match began.

During team competitions, I would be clapped hard on the back, but I had my own routine where I took a deep breath and mutter「let’s go」.

Speaking of, I just remembered that I had not done this when I had been fighting every day since I came to this world, not even once.

By merely doing this, my heart calmed.

The matches and these exchanges of life and death had nothing in common, but to me, they were all the same.

「Fuu!!」

Firstly, the feet, the areas in the lower leg, and the knees were hard, and the blade did not do any damage.

However, I was able to make a cut at the area behind the knee.

Perhaps I was fortunate enough to be able to cut the muscle as well, as the monster screamed as if it was in pain, and fell down onto the ground on its knees as if its legs could not support its own body weight.

Its head was at just the right height where I did not have to jump up to reach, so I gently cut at the places other than its neck as if caressing them. 

「Un. I’ve got the general idea.」

It was over in an instant.

It seems the other monster did not catch what had happened, and it was surprised that its companion suddenly fell and had shallow cuts all over its body.

I took another look at the places where it was injured, and as expected, the vital parts of its body were hard.

That being the case, its joints and eyes were not.

Though, they were just not as sturdy as the other parts of the body, so it seems that if I don’t put my strength into it, then it would be difficult to cut it down.

If this broke, let’s have them turn it into two daggers like Akira’s.

I fixed my grip on the katana.

This time, I will kill it.

「With this, it seems that I’ll be able to defeat the two of them by myself.」

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