chapter 13

Against the Cyclops, which was swinging its arms around over and over, I had no choice but to keep dodging.

Stopping the fists with my sword would be fine, but I had no confidence in blocking punches powerful enough to scrape through the ground.

It was easy to get that the weak point of the Cyclops was its eye…

If I could get a hit on that eye, it wouldn’t be hard to deal some serious damage.

But I was in a really bad spot.

I only had three healing potions left, and there were only six bullets loaded into my revolver.

Annoyed by my continuous dodging, the Cyclops yelled and swatted at me with its right arm, but I leaped to avoid it and fired three bullets back.

Though those three bullets were blocked by the Cyclops’ left arm, I leapt up in front of it and slashed its eye with my sword…

The Cyclops caught me and breathed on me. The force of the gust of wind from that breath was enough to cause me to lose my composure.

It locked onto me, then swung its huge fist.

The wind caused me to be delayed in getting my sword out, and the fist hit me, knocking me straight into the ground.

I hit the ground, and my body bounced and crashed hard into the wall. Indented into the wall, I tried moving my body out, but it wobbled under the excess power.

Blood gushed out of my mouth. I used my gauntlets to wipe it off from around my mouth. Then, I drank a potion to heal from the damage.

“One of its attacks is this powerful…?!”

Compared to when I was against Seira Grundt, the pain was so horrible that my body shook in fear.

This thing’s attacks were one-shot kills… compared to that, my attacks were ineffective.

Could I really win…? A wave of despair and dread came over me.

In front of the enemy, my legs trembled, and I couldn’t stop sweat from pouring down my cheeks.

There was no way he was going to wait for me. The Cyclops swung his arms down and tried to crush me, but I dodged him with another leap… or at least I should have.

Suddenly, my right arm, which should have slammed the ground, reached out in front of me, and the giant’s right hand grabbed me.

“Ugh…! Let… go!”

Somehow, I managed to pull my right arm out from that, but as I rejoiced in that, the Cyclops put its strength into its right hand and squeezed me.

My whole body made cracking noises, and I screamed under the sheer pain. I didn’t know if the Cyclops got tired of grabbing me, but it aimed at the wall and threw me into it.

With a slam, I crashed into the wall, hitting the ground.

The blood… the pain… it hurts, it’s painful… These thoughts filled my head as the sensation of pain came from all over my body.

For some reason, I could still move my arms, so while faintly breathing, I drank the second potion.

Then, I slowly tried to get up, but the Cyclops was already approaching. It slammed its right fist into me.

There was no way I could avoid it, and so I took a blow from it. Furthermore, not letting me escape, the Cyclops roared and struck me with both fists.

I wasn’t able to run from the consecutive attacks’ extreme speed. I was hit again and again. And again, and again, and again.

Craters were forming in the ground beneath me, and I couldn’t breathe anymore.

It hurts, it’s painful, I’m struggling…

Someone… help me!

Nobody would come to help, but I cried out for it. Of course, nobody came.

The countdown to my death loomed. There wasn’t any time to drink a potion the way I was now.

Unable to scream, I continued to get attacked…

Come to think of it, after I got a bit stronger, I might have been getting too eager. After defeating the high-leveled Seira Grundt, I was in such high spirits.

…I see. So this is my punishment for getting carried away with the flow.

If that’s the case, just kill me already…

I don’t like how much this pain hurts!

I’m almost dead anyway. A second life was pointless after all.

…in any case, nobody was thinking of me anyway. It’s better… this way…

My vision slowly blacked out.

Ah, finally… I’m dying… I’m at ease.

But a speck of light appeared in the darkness. That light was in a human form.

“Aruto-san!”

A voice came from the humanoid light. The voice sounded familiar…

No, I couldn’t forget about that voice!

The humanoid light disappeared and became Meryl. Meryl spoke to me.

“Please wait, Aruto-san! I’ll definitely… help you out!”

Meryl!

That’s right! I made a promise to Ines!

I would protect Meryl!

How could I forget?!

Then Meryl disappeared, and I heard a man’s voice.

Finally, you’ve gained the will to rebel.

“Who…?”

Though I was surprised by the sudden voice, it continued talking.

Don’t rely on me to tell you what to do. What you need to do is decide what you want for yourself.

What do I want to do now…?

“I’ve decided! I’ll knock that one-eyed thing down and escape this room! And… I’ll meet up with Meryl! To live in this world together!”

The voice laughed at my decision.

…I see. You’re an interesting man. Thus, I bestow upon you this power.

Power…?

After hearing those words, my body glowed, and strength flowed through me.

Show me. You who have demonstrated great resolve and will to rebel, show me your power… Skill Copy!

I was bathed in light, and the next thing I knew, my vision was back to normal.

The Cyclops’ fist was right in front of me, but some kind of power flowed into me. It overflowed, and becoming an impact, blew the Cyclops away.

…the power was overflowing! I could still fight!

I took out my last potion and drank it. Then, I slammed it into the ground forcefully.

The potion made a cracking noise, and I stared at the Cyclops while trying to get up and grinned.

“My counterattack starts here!”