Ossan Boukensha – 119

Rock Lizard II

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The rock lizard slithered across the ground and attacked.

“Oomph.”

I slashed to the side, but it twisted its body away, and I missed the head. Though, my blade did chip off some of the scales. And like that, our positions were reversed.

It was impressive how freely it could move over such rocky terrain. You could say that it had the advantage. This was its home, after all.

I stood with my feet apart and rested my sword on my shoulder. If it could move better than me, then I should not move at all. And so I stood my ground and prepared to meet it.

Swinging from the side was good for keeping my distance, but the hard scales became a problem. The best thing to do would be to slam down from above. And so I slowly gripped the hilt with both hands.

The rock lizard was repeatedly extending its head to keep me in check, but I was not going to entertain it. The only real danger to be wary of was the rock shards, and that attack was telegraphed quite well. I would have plenty of time to escape.

Eventually, the lizard lost patience, and swung around its body so that its tail whipped out. It was impossible for me to dodge it in this position. But I never meant to.

“Hyaah!”

I tightened my grip around the hilt. And while swinging down, I rotated at the waist, twisting my torso and accelerating the tip of my sword. If I charged Mine Breaker any more than this, the power of each blow would weaken. And so it was only my strengthened body and honed sword skills that gave it speed.

As the tail came swinging, my sword descended. Sparks flew as scales and metal clashed. There was a ‘crack’ sound like I had never heard before, and the scales shattered. But the tail finished its swing as if it didn’t care.

But I was not going to back down. Using that force, I pushed the blade deeper in, and then in the next instant, was thrown into the air.

I rolled across the rough ground. The sounds of my armor hitting the rocks echoed around me. When I finally stopped, I felt pain all over my body. In spite of the Protection spell, I had taken a lot of damage.

“Diiiii!!”

It let out the strange cry as it stumbled. I had not been the only one to take damage. I had felt it. That I dealt a heavy wound.

“Mei-lei-mote-sei Heal!”

I quickly got up, healed, and stood in front of the rock lizard again.

Then I widened my stance and rested my sword on my shoulder. It had felt pain from my attack now, and the rock lizard began to retreat slowly.

“Me-zroi-tar-mez-rei. Protection!”

If it was going to give me time, then I would use it wisely.

I was no longer just an easy dinner for it. And there was no reason that I absolutely had to kill the rock lizard. If it wanted to leave, that was fine. And if it approached again, then it would get another taste of my blade.

And so I waited there, perfectly still. Then the rock lizard raised its body, and its neck began to puff out again. It was going to spit rocks. Fine!

I ran towards it. After the third step, the ground shook under my prosthetic leg.

“Tsk.”

While losing my balance, I leaned against the other leg and managed to stay on my feet. And then I heard the rumbling in its throat.

“Hyaahh!”

I jumped. As I had lost my balance, my back was arched and facing the ground as I moved. In my tilted vision, I saw the rock shards shoot from the rock lizard’s mouth.

Like a snake, the head and body were connected, with no neck. And so now that I was close, I was out of range.

As my nose pointed up, the shards cut through the air and passed me by. I let go of my sword with one hand, and while relying on centrifugal force, swung the sword behind me.

It was an unstable attack unleashed based on my sense of distance. But the rock lizard was so big that you didn’t need to aim much to hit it. And so the blade fell on the rock lizard, and shattered a few scales.

While using the sword as a support, I half-rotated and then landed on my feet. After finishing its shard attack, the rock lizard’s head lowered slowly, and our eyes met. And then I pulled my sword back.

And in that stance, I fell towards the rock lizard once again. I was targeting the part on its head where several scales had already been cracked.

“Hyah!”

With the help of my skill, the trajectory was corrected, and the blade moved towards the cracks as if being sucked towards it. And with the weight of my fall behind it, the blade sunk deep into the rock lizard’s body.

In the next instant, the rock lizard leapt up, and I was blown into the air. And I fell to the ground, along with the sword which had been pulled out.

“Oomph.”

I picked up the sword and got to my feet. Thankfully, I took little damage from the fall. As for the rock lizard, it had clearly been weakened.

I was sure that my blade had reached its organs. Even if it ran away now, it would surely not live too long. It would be a mercy to end it right here and now.

And so I walked towards it as it writhed in pain. While its eyes were filled with hostility, they did not have the same strength as before. Still, it opened its mouth and hissed.

“Oommph.”

I raised Mine Breaker into the air and slammed down on its nose. The head was protected by a skull that was even stronger than its body. And so while I only cracked some scales, the entire head went crashing down to the ground.

Then I raised my sword again. Towards the head, the eyes that had not lost the light yet, I pierced down. The rock lizard shuddered, but I kept pushing the blade deeper in.

When the blade was deep into the eye socket, the rock lizard lost its strength and stopped moving completely.

“Phew.”

I sat down and leaned my back against it. I had pushed Mine Breaker too far, but after inspecting it, saw that the blade was not chipped.

I would likely have to be considerably more reckless with it, in order for that to happen. It would take my magic energy before the blade began to yield. Such swords were made to be durable, but mithril was not the same as steel. Just because it was a magic sword, it didn’t mean that I didn’t have to be careful.

I leaned against the scales and got to my feet. I checked the tail. They were all new, and there were none from the fight yesterday. So it was not the same one from the goblin next. Why had it gone there in the first place? I did have an idea.

While there were various living creatures in the caves, it was generally quiet. Aside from the sounds of running water. And so during times when the wind was weak, they might be able to hear the voices of the goblins.

Though, why did the goblins make so much noise? I didn’t know.

In any case, with the goblins gone, there would be no food. So they should not appear anymore. This was the northern forest, so people didn’t enter it anyway. If we blocked the entrance so that nothing could get in, there would be no danger.

So now, I just have to find the exit, and then I could tell Mezerir that the task was complete.

With this plan in mind, I picked up the belongings I had laid on the ground. While I didn’t know if I would encounter the other rock lizards, I could not lower my guard.

And so I steeled myself and continued on my way on the rocky terrain.

Next Chapter

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Bonus chapter courtesy of Photo. Thank you so much!!