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Volume 1 Chapter 19-2: Sakura

The stairs were only 15 meters….10 meters.

Alright! With this much of a lead there was no way it could catch up.

Really today was too hard…I want to go back home and sleep. Even if we couldn’t do any ‘nightly activities’ I wanted to simply rest wrapped up in their warmth!

7 meters….6….5….

『……….!!!』

「……wh……..whyyy?….」

cough

The stairway right before my eyes had transformed into a green wall. And my right side had been pierced by one of the thorns sticking out from the Draco Mantis’s elbows.

Why…I don’t understand. I was definitely faster…It hadn’t moved at all…but….

I stumbled back unsteadily as the thorn unstuck itself from my side and blood began flowing out. Ahh…this much bleeding…not good…my consciousness was growing faint. I didn’t even notice dropping my weapons as I desperately tried to hold the hole in my side before collapsing.

The Floor Boss hasn’t noticed me…It doesn’t even look like it understands what happened?

Thinking that far a light novel I had once read floated through my mind.

A dragon had been cursed to protect a treasure trove. Even if it left the area, as soon as an adventurer attempted to steal the treasure, the dragon would be forcefully transported in front of it.

Is that what it was? If you try to climb the stairs without defeating the Boss it gets moved in front of you?

Shit! I messed up. If I hadn’t let my guard down then maybe I could’ve gotten away with lighter wounds…

My vision was blurring but I saw the leg that was hiding me slowly move. If the Boss turned then I would absolutely die. But…my body…

『…..!』

Ahh…I can hear Sakura-chan crying out to me. Sorry…if I hadn’t let you be kidnapped then…

『…ma! ……sama! …..you can’t!』

Hm? I could actually hear a voice…Hotaru-san? No it wasn’t her voice.

『Sou-sama! Get up! You can’t give up! Sakura was finally, finally, able to talk to you, but if you die then it’s meaningless!』
「….Sakura-chan? Why….」

I murmured…but then I realized she was lying underneath my body.

「…did you rank up after bathing in my blood?」

Uwaa…I was about to die, but I felt my tension rising a bit. I couldn’t die now…I was finally able to talk to Sakura-chan!

My body was weak, but I put all my strength in and finally managed to rise.

I breathed heavily as the Boss glanced around. It seemed like it couldn’t spot me.

『Sou-sama! Sakura’s power seems to be able to fool the enemy’s eyes for a bit so take all the medicine in your pouch and use it!』

Oh! That’s right, all of our medicines were with me. I moved my shaking hands to my pouch and felt around for the medicine before taking out 5 green balls around half the size of a golf ball and throwing them all into my mouth and chewing them.

As I chewed a thick liquid emerged from the pills and flowed down my throat. The medicine was a potion-like thing wrapped up in hardened medical herbs. I could be used like an ointment or swallowed.

「Oh….」

Certainly I could feel a change around the wound on my side. It would be impossible for a complete recovery, but the bleeding stopped and I felt some of my stamina recover. The blood I had lost wouldn’t return so I knew that harsh movements would be very difficult. If it was like this, then I wish we’d prepared even better medicine.

For now I needed a bit more time to recover enough for movement so I decided to appraise Sakura.

『Sakura Rank: C Refinement Lvl: 50 Essence Lvl: 1
Skill: Empathy Communication Sense Presence Invisibility (Hide Form) Agility Enhancement
Aim Enhancement Magic Enhancement』

Certainly her rank had increased. 『Communication』 and 『Invisibility』. If I remember, Sakura was strangely excited when we fought the Hide Bear….

So this was a skill that weakened our presence?

…if I used this well I might be able to retreat safely.

『No Sou-sama! At my rank the effect isn’t too strong. If you fully enter its sight then it’ll find you immediately.』

As expected things wouldn’t go so easily…

Even so, at this point I could only hope to escape somehow.

「Sakura…keep invisibility on. I’ll try to withdraw while avoiding the Boss’s line of sight.」
『Got it Sou-sama. Sakura will do her best to protect you so please survive. If we hold out then Hotaru-nee will surely come.』

Despite what Sakura-chan said I doubted that Hotaru-san and Sistina would get here soon. Even if they went as fast as possible they probably had only just delivered Tor and the girl to safety.

Alright…I’ve regained some strength…and the Boss seems to have noticed me.

「Let’s go」
『Un!』

I began moving while avoiding the Boss’s sight. That said, it was too scary to turn and run because of how close I was, so I decided to move backwards.

As the right hand scythe swung down I sidestepped to the outside. Once it lost sight of me in that instant I hurriedly backed away and took my distance. Once it spotted me again it attacked, but I dodged in the direction where it would lose sight of me again. Then using that opening I retreated again.

Thanks to the effects of Sakura’s invisibility, once I left the Boss’s sight it lagged a moment before managing to catch sight of me once again. It couldn’t attack over and over in quick succession so it seemed to be getting frustrated.

『Sou-sama! Right is next!』
「Haaahaaaa…okay」
『Duck and back!』
「Ugh…ou」
『Sou-sama! Dodge somehow!』
「Oi!」

The irritated Boss hung over me like a dark cloud as it threw attacks at me. I barely dodged with Sakura’s help, but that was the best I could do…I was gradually unable to dodge into its blind spots.

Worse, I was lacking blood and these rough movements were making my body heavy and my mind dizzy…if I let down my guard I would pass out. However, I was finally over halfway out of the Boss’s area.

If it continued like this I’d be in trouble…I had to use it.

While I still had enough strength I had to do it. I dodged the attacks and placed my bastard sword back in its sheath before taking out the fire magic stone with my right hand.

It was a waste, but I couldn’t get my life back once I lost it. With a magic stone this large there should be plenty of power. I probably wouldn’t get away without injuries, but it was better than the sure death that awaited me like this.

Umm, if I remember correctly I just had to pass magic power into ti and….

………………………………………….

WAIT…I forgot I can’t emit magic power outside! NOO, I can’t use it!! Goddammit!!

『Sou-sama…do your best….』

Sakura-chan cheered me on in vain.

In the end I had to put away the magic stone and pull out my sword again. I could barely move my legs so dodging more attacks was doubtful.

It was a situation where I had to use my sword and Sakura to ward off blows and survive.

『Sou-sama!』
「Shi—!」

My mind had gone hazy for a moment and my reaction was slow so I ended up blocking the attack head on.

Gakiiin!!

I was sent flying several meters by the blow I couldn’t ward off. I rolled and tumbled as the wound on my side screamed in pain, but I knew that if I hadn’t guarded I would be split in half.

It’d be quicker to identify the places on my body that didn’t hurt at this point…but I stood up to guard myself again.

「Ah….」

I felt something off about my balance and realized something…

「My bastard sword broke….」

Adding the damage it had already taken from the previous hard fights, this head on attack was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It had been broken in half.

…in the end I hadn’t even been able to give it a name.

『Sou-sama! No good! You have to focus!』
「Eh…」

The moment my eyes had been focused on the broken sword Sakura screamed and I looked up.

「Ah…I’m fu**ed」

I saw the huge blade of the Draco Mantis filling my vision.