[Level up.]
The battle had now entered the realm of pure slaughter.
I continued killing monsters and acquiring experience points.
I leveled up in small increments.
Every time my level rose, my MP recovered.
This allowed me to maintain fusion with Pigi-maru.
And continue the fight.
Even I have to admit this is an incredibly reckless tactic.
But here, I have no choice but to push through with this recklessness.
Otherwise, I will not survive.
"Keep charging diagonally through them, Slei! —[Berserk]!"
Heavy rain hammered down from the sky.
Blood geysers sprayed upward.
The two mixed together and poured down like a shower.
[Skill level up.]
Hooves broke through the mud, constantly ringing out with the violent sound of striking the ground.
"[Pa—"
The approaching monster's speed was too fast.
A five-character skill would not make it in time.
Instantly, I switched.
"—[Dark]!"
ZzzzzaaaaaAAAH!
The large monster that lost its vision slipped and fell.
The tumbling monster rolled while scattering mud.
I immediately hit it with [Paralyze].
Then finished it with the [Berserk] combo, spraying it with blood.
At that moment, a giant monster leaped over my head.
Its jumping power was astonishing for such a massive body.
"Slei, slow down just a little… Pigi-maru!"
"Pigiiiii!"
I fired tentacles toward the sky.
"[Sleep]."
The sleeping monster in midair fell defenselessly.
The huge monster crashed into the ground behind me.
Mud and water sprayed up like a fountain.
I turned my head, looked back, and granted it [Berserk].
I finished it with the standard paralysis & berserk combo.
That said, [Poison] still had its uses.
In the medium to long-range area around us, a vast number of monsters were writhing.
A great chorus of agony.
Right now they were in a poisoned state.
[Berserk] still could not target multiple enemies at once.
[Poison] could hinder movement while dealing continuous damage to multiple targets.
It was still doing excellent work.
"Gi… eee…"
I advanced while glancing sideways at the monsters' groans.
Even after the fierce fighting, I was not unharmed.
Pigi-maru's fatigue in particular seemed severe.
Because we were connected, his exhaustion came through more clearly.
Even so, he was still doing his best.
Slei was also injured.
One or two of his eight legs no longer seemed usable.
His turning precision had also dropped.
I had wounds on my thighs and arms as well.
But there was no bleeding.
Actually, a while ago I had received a fairly deep cut.
There was pain.
But almost no bleeding.
When I looked, a scab had already started forming.
I had formed a hypothesis for the reason.
The HP correction value in my status.
Looking at the display, that number had decreased.
The HP correction effect was suppressing bleeding…
Suddenly, I recalled the time my fingertips had been hit by the Soul Eater's beam.
At that time, I had immediately tied my fingertips with cloth.
But when I thought back, the bleeding had not been enough to worry about.
The pain had also not been something I had to focus on.
…So that was it.
The role of the HP correction value.
It eased pain and reduced bleeding.
I had not been injured much until now.
So I had only thought of HP correction as
"making life force stronger."
"..."
However.
When the correction value reaches zero, it is a little frightening.
Normal bleeding.
Normal pain.
They might all come rushing in at once.
It is also possible that this is the effect of [Defense], but—
"Well, this isn't the time to be calmly thinking about that…"
I urged Slei forward slowly.
Little by little—I increased the speed.
I thrust both arms out toward the left and right diagonals ahead.
"Even the monsters in the Demon Zone seem to value their lives after all."
Some of them had finally started to understand.
"That the opponent is bad."
The tendency seemed stronger among small to medium-sized monsters.
I had confirmed a similar tendency with the monsters in the Ruins of Disposal.
When they judged the odds were against them, they prioritized their lives and fled.
"Gu… Gigiii…"
The golden-eyed swarm backed away.
"Hmph."
While steadying my breathing, I twisted my lips into a smile.
"If you direct killing intent at someone… you should also imagine the pattern where you become the one being killed…"
Even if they were rotten golden-eyed monsters.
They still had value as prey.
I wanted to trample them, but,
"It's finally coming."
Probably to observe my actions.
One group had been following at a suitable distance the whole time.
From the presence, quite a large number were gathered.
The troublesome ones were types like this.
Cautious and cruel.
Aiming for the fisherman's profit.
The cunning to wait until the prey was completely exhausted and then feast.
"…Haa."
I let my arms hang loosely.
I gradually reduced the movement of my shoulders from breathing.
I steadied my breath.
"Haa… haa, haa…"
One monster that had judged my level of fatigue.
Finally seeing its long-awaited chance, it mowed down trees and revealed itself.
"NyoiiiinbiiieeeEEEEEgyororooo~n!"
In that instant, I put strength into my previously slack arms.
I raised my arm and thrust it toward the left rear diagonal.
You fool.
If I looked like I was "too exhausted to move"—
Then it was your loss.
"[Paralyze]."
I immediately followed with [Berserk].
"Nyoii—!? I— buhyoe—!?"
Blood spray leading to death.
[Level up.]
[LV 1997 → LV 2000]
Full MP recovery.
And reaching LV 2000.
I exhaled roughly while looking at the monster that had died.
…Seriously, it fell for it so easily.
"Where exactly were you observing me from… So?"
The last group that had been quietly watching for a chance to attack.
I turned my head toward them.
"Did sacrificing one of your own give you any useful information?"
I exhaled deeply.
"'Feast on it'?"
Idiots.
"The ones getting eaten will be you…"
▽
The deadly battle with the last group quickly turned into reality without much waiting.
I unleashed status abnormality skills in rapid succession.
In the midst of it, I found a small opening and switched the status display.
It was to check the additional ability of the recent [Berserk].
I quickly scanned the display out of the corner of my eye.
[Berserk / LV 2 / MP Cost 10 / Target Designation]
What had been added was not [Multiple Target Designation].
It had simply become [Target Designation] with the multiple removed…?
—Ah, I see.
It meant I could now designate the target to be affected?
But using it in this chaotic melee would be difficult.
Right now I could not spare the focus for target designation.
For now, I used [Berserk] to finish off paralyzed monsters even a second faster.
"—[Berserk]!"
The breathing I had steadied earlier…
The intervals at which it became disordered were getting shorter.
Occasionally, strength would leave my body.
Level-ups and status corrections did not completely remove fatigue.
"..."
This is a good feeling.
At times like this, my senses and thinking become sharper.
And—the scenery from right after I came to this world vividly resurfaced.
Then, the corpses of the disposers in that ruin flashed back.
…That's right.
"If I stop here, I'll never be able to take revenge on that shitty Goddess no matter how much time passes."
I forcefully turned Slei around.
His hooves slid across the mud.
Right where I had been a moment ago, rain of attack energy from a humanoid species poured down.
It was like that Soul Eater laser.
Sizzle!
The laser that pierced the ground evaporated the moisture.
While sliding sideways,
"—Pigi-maru."
"Pi… Giii…!?"
I redeployed the tentacles over a wide area.
Paralyze,
Berserk,
Dark,
Sleep,
Poison,
All granted.
I mobilized every skill except Freeze and plunged into a full-scale battle to take lives.
Kill,
kill,
kill,
kill.
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
▽
The monsters attacking were also desperate.
"—Enough, kill this human already—"
Desperate struggle.
The monsters wore expressions that suited that phrase.
"…—!"
It happened when I faced three monsters at once in close range.
I could not dodge in time.
Doga!
An attack came from a blind spot on my side.
It struck Slei directly in the flank.
Slei let out a thin scream.
"Slei—"
But the black horse immediately roused his fighting spirit.
A high-pitched neigh.
"Hiiiiin! Burururu— Grrrrrrraaa!"
Along with white horse breath, the black horse's roar.
It was no longer that of an ordinary horse.
And with the six legs that could still move properly, he successfully landed.
Slei corrected his posture in a single motion.
"Bururururu… Guuuu… Grrrrraaa!"
The air vibrated.
It was strong enough that even the rain seemed to shake.
A reverse intimidation.
I could tell several monsters hesitated for a few moments.
I did not miss that gap.
"[Paralyze]."
Right after paralyzing several nearby ones—
"BumooooooOOOOOooo, o, o, orooo! O niku, o nigu!"
A giant elephant with multiple raised horns on its body burst out.
It was agile, unlike the image of a normal elephant.
But at this distance, it was just barely within my—
"Pigi-maru."
"Bi—… Gi… i!?"
The tentacles would not move.
I still had MP stored.
But Pigi-maru had reached,
"His limit."
No,
"Pigi-maru."
I gently touched the thin protrusion on my shoulder.
"You did well."
He had truly worked so hard until now.
It was enough.
More than enough. He had lent me his power.
I released the connection with Pigi-maru.
"Pi… i… Nyu… i… i~…!"
"It's okay, don't push yourself… Rest now. Leave the rest to me."
"Bururururu!"
Slei brimmed with fighting spirit.
It was as if he was saying, "Leave it to me from here, Pigi-maru!"
"..."
You have already exceeded your limit too.
I gently patted the side of Slei's neck.
"If you truly feel you have reached your limit, don't hide it and show me… From there, I will finish it alone. After we separate—protect Seras and the others, your mother. I'm counting on you."
You still have people you need to protect.
It might have been a slightly unfair way to say it.
"…Bururu."
"…Yeah."
After a moment of hesitation, Slei seemed to nod in agreement.
▽
The life-or-death battle continued.
In reality, I think it was a much shorter time than it felt.
But to me, it felt like an incredibly long time.
I removed the mask,
"…Buh!"
and spat out the pool of blood in my mouth.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the torn sleeve of my robe.
——————Three left.
"Bagiiieeeegaruueengaribarueraaaeeaa—!"
One monster approached with terrifying speed.
Probably a humanoid species.
Why "probably"?
Because I could not see its appearance.
"…I see."
The bastard.
It was using the corpses of other monsters as shields.
Status abnormality skills could not be granted unless I had the target in my field of vision.
It had seen through that property.
But the end was in sight.
Just a little more.
"Slei."
I called out to Slei, who was bleeding from his wounds.
"Burururu."
"This is the final phase."