What had happened?
My mind could not keep up with reality in the face of a situation so far beyond comprehension.
Where had the monster I had been facing just moments ago gone?
Why was I lying here like this?
What had happened, and how had it happened?
I didn't know. I couldn't understand. It made no sense.
I didn't want to know, and I didn't want to understand.
Something definitely flashed, and then...
And now, this.
It felt as if the process had simply vanished.
As if all the steps had been erased, leaving only the result behind.
But that was impossible. There was no way the world could produce an outcome without a process.
Which meant...
An attack too fast to see?
An attack I couldn't even follow with my eyes?
At last, my understanding caught up to reality.
The reality I had been deferring came crashing down on me.
"Guh...?!"
A numbing pain surged through me, sharp enough to make my brain throb.
The fleeting instant that had seemed to stretch on forever was over. Reality tore through my body without the slightest mercy.
The pain in my arm was searing. It wasn't broken, but the damage was piling up to a point I couldn't ignore.
In a single blow.
Unbelievable speed. Unbelievable force.
My thoughts went numb for a moment, paralyzed by such shocking stats.
"...Haa."
And then, my mind started working again.
Calm down.
I steadied myself as I wavered. There was no point in needlessly inflating the enemy in my head.
Right now, this wasn't the time to tremble in fear. I needed to analyze the opponent and find a way through.
And if there was no way through...
Then I'll carve one.
I wouldn't cling to a path that didn't exist.
If there wasn't one, I'd force my way through the blockage and create a path myself.
As I always had.
As I always would.
Even now, I squeezed out everything I had to defeat the enemy before me.
For now, the attack itself isn't the problem.
I had been stunned by the absurd speed and power, but after looking more carefully, the injuries were not as severe as I'd feared.
The pain in my back felt as if I'd smashed through a cliff, and my arm felt as if it had taken a direct hit.
They were injuries I couldn't ignore, but nothing was broken and I hadn't lost consciousness. I must have unconsciously retreated while defending myself, reducing the impact.
That meant my body had reacted to that insane attack on instinct.
And if my unconscious mind could react, then surely I could react consciously too. That was what I chose to believe.
Even compared to Otaru, this is on another level.
The transformed Otaru had certainly been a nightmare opponent. It was a boost that felt like he'd jumped an entire level—an undeniably abnormal phenomenon—but...
This monster had surpassed even that with ease. A speed that transcended the swift, paired with monstrous power.
He attacked with perfect force, backed by absolute stats. Every movement of that beastly warrior's body would become a weapon meant to kill me.
This was only a taste. There was no way I'd get through the next exchange this cleanly. It wouldn't be strange if the next attack retired me outright.
"Hah..."
Thump— thump—
I calmed the pounding in my chest as it grew faster and faster. My pulse slowed in response, but in proportion to that, the force of the heartbeat only grew stronger.
My competitive spirit and fighting instincts swelled. But even that was like pissing on thin ice to keep it from melting. There was no way I could keep up with that upheaval at this rate.
Then I'd just have to find another way.
I had already passed through more than my share of hells.
I had faced absurdly strong enemies countless times.
My adventure had never been so dull that I'd be broken by something like this.
So...!
"At this level...!"
"—You're coming again, are you."
With renewed fighting spirit, I surged forward.
The cliff face shattered and stones flew everywhere, but to the rabbit and the lion, they were less of an obstacle than pebbles.
Smashing through the rocks in our way, kicking off the ground.
Once again, we charged at each other.
"Kuh...!"
It was still an attack close to god-speed, too fast for the eye to follow.
With only the flash of an afterimage to guide me, I barely reacted in time and immediately transitioned into a counterattack.
But...
"Too light."
Too light.
The rabbit's teeth were far too weak before the lion in front of me.
The rabbit's attack could not even damage a single strand of fur, let alone the hide.
As if paying the price for a strike that had failed to land, the monster raised that massive arm again.
Siiing—
"Oh...?"
Whoosh!!
The monster's blow came with tremendous wind pressure.
But this time, it was the monster who lost sight of his opponent.
A small bell-like chime rang out, and then the rabbit's form vanished entirely.
So the rabbit had a hidden blade of his own, just as he had in that earlier strike and in the battle against Silence.
If he didn't, it wouldn't be any fun.
This was a struggle he had finally found. He had no intention of letting it end so easily.
Now then, what kind of attack are you going to use?
With that thought, he widened his senses to search for the enemy. Contrary to expectation, he had no intention of allowing an easy opening.
And more than that, he had a gut feeling that he absolutely could not give the opponent time.
Siiing—
Siiing—
Siiing—
"This is...?"
But soon, a troubled look appeared on the monster's face.
The sound of bells echoed around them. And almost simultaneously, small explosions rang out.
High-speed movement using repeated bursts of force.
Like a destroyer in motion, the rabbit turned himself into a shell of light and pressed the monster back, the cracking sounds booming like thunder.
It was, in every sense, a pseudo-rank up. With a crude sublimation achieved without the support of an old comrade, he challenged the monster.
The strain was enormous and the limits were obvious, but in this moment, the rabbit had once again risen to the same level as the lion.
But...
Thud!!
"Hm..."
"Tch...!"
Even when he unleashed a kick carried by that momentum, the monster's expression did not budge.
Even after taking a blow far beyond the previous one, the monster still stood proudly, displaying his imposing form.
Too thick!
That hide, those muscles.
Everything that made up the lion refused to be pierced, as if it were a fortress wall.
Iron wall. Impregnable. Every possible description flashed through his mind.
It was durability so absurd he had to wonder if they were even the same species. He hadn't expected to feel this way again!
"Ghk?!"
As if refusing to allow even a moment's distraction, the lion's merciless attack pressed the rabbit hard.
An attack too fast to see. Trusting only his instincts, he leaned his body back, and something flashed past his face by a hair's breadth.
It was a claw. Five claws with a sharpness that could not be compared even to the finest blade in the world.
Claws that seemed as though they could carve through space itself swept past his white hair and tried to take the rabbit's life.
"Got time to think about other things?"
"I've got plenty of time!!"
But the rabbit did not stand still either.
The rabbit had no claws, but he did have a blade.
He reached to his waist and drew one of his long-unused treasured weapons.
It was not the divine dagger prepared by the benevolent goddess of the hearth...
It was a spirit sword forged by lightning.
A masterpiece remade by the one-eyed goddess and her companion.
Its name was—
"[Astrafe]!"
Flash—!
Thunder rose into the sky from a mountain range far from Orario.
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