3 bar menu

High School Hack and Slash Chapter 60 Part 3

「There it is!」

Seiichi’s dagger, which is thrown while uttering a cool line, is bounced off a rock on the right side.

Given that the magic knife is bounced off without piercing it, it’s definitely a monster.

The monster, which has been mimicking a rock, raises its head and opens its mouth wide.

The frog, which is about five meters long and has a tail, has the name of『Colorless Swallow Dragon (Chameleon Gulper)』.

「Ah!」

Due to its unexpected swift movement, Hoodzuki-senpai’s Momotaro-kun, one of the Armed Golems standing around the circle, ends up getting swallowed whole by it.

Fortunately, I heard that Armed Golems send no corporeal feedback damage to the person themselves.

However, it appears that they share senses such as pain, so if it receives catastrophic damage, the person themselves will end up fainting.

In such cases, the only option is to cut off the link with the Armed Golem, and the detached golem will be reduced to oblivions.

Not only does it seem that psychological damage will remain on the person themselves, it appears that it can’t be summoned again until it recovers.

Hoodzuki-senpai, becoming teary-eyed, is cutely enduring it as she goes uu~.

「Guge, ggee!!」

Before everyone could launch a counterattack, the『Colorless Swallow Dragon (Chameleon Gulper)』, arching back with a start, begins to convulse as spines protrude from its bulging belly and throat.

As I put myself on guard thinking that it’s a long-range attack, it simply falls over as is and convulses.

「Ah… yeah, if you swallow Momotaro-kun, of all things, I suppose it’d turn out like that.」

As Goliath-kun and Aterui-kun forcefully open the mouth of the『Colorless Swallow Dragon (Chameleon Gulper)』 wide, Momotarou-kun, who has been swallowed, safely makes a break-out.

The whole body of Momotaro-kun, which is of short and stout type and boasts robust arms, is covered with countless spikes that stand on end, like a porcupine fish.

It seems familiar, or rather, I believe it’s the defensive form of the monster called『Yama-Oroshi』 that appeared in『Goten no Zakurosan』.

I guess he must have skewered it from the inside of its stomach.

「Uwah~… That looks crazy hurt. I mean, if you swallow something like that, of course you’d get done in.」

「The so-called attack is the best defense, huh.」

I pat Hoodzuki-senpai, who remains teary eyed, perhaps finding the slippery feeling she can sense through the synchronization disgusting.

◇ ◇ ◇

「It’s in sight now. So that’s the gate to the 11th stratum, huh.」

「Rather than a gate, a tree?」

In the open space beyond the rocky area and through the virgin forest, a gigantic tree stood tall.

The diameter of the trunk was more than 20 meters, and the layers of branches and leaves were covering up the sky.

The group approached it cautiously, but it showed no reaction whatsoever.

「I thought this guy was the boss for sure, though….」

「For it to not move after making us expect it to, that’s on the contrary spooky.」

「Yes. But I suppose it’s without a doubt the gatekeeper. All I can see is that it’s called『Legendary Mimicry Tree (Legend Ent)』, though. Touma-kun?」

「Most likely.」

Everyone looked at the data that Touma wrote and showed.

Name, 『Legendary Mimicry Tree (Legend Ent)』

Race, Mimicry Tree (Ent)

Attribute, Wood

Rank, 100

Abilities, 『Mimic』, 『Sloth』, 『Hyper Regeneration』

Existence Level, ☆☆☆

「Uwah. A triple digit level, it’s the first time… that’s not it, other than raid boss, it’s the first time we’ve encountered one, right?」

「Ent. Come to think of it, there were certainly such monsters before, right? I think its mimicry ability would be terrifying in this terrain, but if it appears as a boss, there’s no point in it, right?」

「It smells so like a joke that on the contrary makes it fishy.」

「Looking at its level, it should be powerful, though….」

The group looked up at the『Legendary Mimicry Tree (Legend Ent)』 that simply stood there and showed no reaction whatsoever.

「Speaking of the crucial realm gate, you see. Could it be…?」

「This huge Ent is enclosing it, I suppose.」

The miasma leaking out of the realm gate, which was connected to the deeper stratums, created the gatekeepers.

The one absorbing this overflowing miasma as nourishment and enclosing the realm gate itself to efficiently incorporate it into itself was the gatekeeper『Legendary Mimicry Tree (Legend Ent)』.

「For the time being, let me try cutting it down.」

「Sa, Saki-chan.」

The muscle-brain vanguard member flashes her swiftly drawn Water Tiger King Katana.

The blade easily bit into the trunk and the trunk was severed as it was.

「… This, I’ve seen something like this before. Isn’t it the same『Regeneration』 as that of trolls?」

The moment she pulled out the blade, it had already regenerated to how it used to be that you couldn’t even see the cut.

「That’s not fair!」

「I mean, such a huge body combined with such regenerative power. Doesn’t it seem impossible to defeat it in a normal way?」

「Rather than an enemy, it’s more like nothing but an obstacle, right….」

「I guess this is where I come in, huh.」

Drawing the『Goblin Sword of Bloodshed』 from his waist belt, Seiichi took a stance with the tip pointed forward.

「The amazing Maken has appeared.」

「The unfair Maken has come.」

「Certainly, it looks like an evil weapon that a villain or dark hero would use, right?」

「… Yeah, the way I’ve got no allies is totally like a villain, right? Well, for the time being, 『Sip』.」

Seiichi’s back appeared sooty, but the Maken in his hand was getting clad in a reddish-black aura as it got awakened.

Its anti-special effect ability to make regeneration ability go against the target had been proven in the fight against trolls.

However, that was only because it inflicted damage to the vital points.

Sprouting out like a flood, sprouts proliferated from the cut of the trunk that had been haphazardly slashed.

As if getting run over by a car, Seiichi, who was striking a deciding pose, was sent flying by the tip of the branch that sprouted sideways.

「Seiichi, that’s so lame….」

Mai, who flew over to right above him with a swoosh, delivered the finishing blow.

「Err, you see. Touma-kun….」

「What can I do for you?」

「The materials of this monster, I’d like to get a lot of them… The wood is of the highest quality, so I think we can make a lot of amazing items out of it.」

The crisp-faced Touma nodded at the pleading pose of the fidgety, upturned-eyed Mikan.

「Do leave it to me.」

When Touma placed his hand on the trunk at the base of the tree, the huge tree shook along with a small earthquake.

「Err….」

「I was resisted, it seems. I guess it won’t go in unless you beat it to a pulp for once, huh.」

Instead, he pulled out the Gaki Lord Rod (Over-Greed Gear), but the tree was so huge that it overlooked him like a literal wall.

Even Saki, who had been slashing at it as she swung her katana like a tempest, puffed out her cheeks and threw in the towel.

「As expected, to not die even when it gets cut is not fair.」

「If it’s just size, it surpasses even『Moby Dick』, right? It’s fortunate that it doesn’t attack us, though.」

「At worst, there’s the option of looking for another gate, but…. By the tenth stratum, the number of the scattered gates should have decreased, and it would be a shame to pass up this one. This lump of rare wood…」

「But at any rate, when it comes to these kinds of bosses, in the face of Touma-kun’s cheat power they’ll all ultimately… What, huh?」

Touma, who would normally have begun his destructive work without reading the air, was scratching his cheeks as if in bewilderment.

「… I suppose that’s not the case, or so I thought, I suppose. I wonder if by any chance the root of Touma-kun’s so-called『Raijin』 class is the wood attribute of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Wu Xing) categories.」

「So thunder is of the wood attribute? Somehow, it’s quite different from what I had in mind.」

「As expected, so you’d think, I suppose? We’re not too familiar with the Yin Yang and the Five Elements (Wu Xing), after all.」

The one that was more popular in Japan was probably the Western concept of four elements (Elementals) that tended to appear in things like video games.

The Eastern concept of Yin Yang and the Five Elements (Wu Xing) was considered minor.

「The relationship between the attributes of the Yin Yang and the Five Elements (Wu Xing) is complicated and hard to understand, such as『generating』 and『overcoming』, but Touma-kun’s electric shock might on the contrary end up making it more energetic .」

「The『Inter-promoting』 state, right. Touma-kun has quite a bad compatibility with it, I suppose. Well, it’s Touma-kun we’re talking about, so I think he’d defeat it even he has to do it forcefully, though….」

If they were comrades who would be fighting alongside him in the dungeon from here on as party members.

「I think this is the monster we have to take down ourselves.」