kscans

Chapter 42 - Episode 42

"Phew. That was exhausting."

"Good work, Rena. Let’s take a little break."

We had once again succeeded in annihilating a massive horde of monsters with zero damage taken.

The only enemies left were the mid-boss, now commonly known as the Fake Hayate, and the dungeon boss, Undine.

"What should we do for the next mid-boss fight? Same strategy as last time?"

I asked Rena, who was sitting on the ground organizing her items. So far, our clearing of the Spring Dungeon had been going smoothly.

Clearing dungeons with Rena really is fun.

"Would it be okay if I just watched the mid-boss fight?"

"Huh? I mean, sure, but… Are you hurt somewhere? Does anything ache?"

I was certain I had protected her perfectly. I, a ninja trained via correspondence course, couldn’t possibly have missed an attack aimed at Rena. I think.

Did I miss one? I started to get a little worried.

"I’m fine. I’m not hurt anywhere. I just thought I’d like to watch you fight, Hayate. We’re so close, but I never get to see you fighting all cool and stuff!"

Oh, so that’s what this is about. Understood.

"Got it. In that case, watch from a little ways back. By the way, which do you prefer? Should I end it in an instant, or do you want to watch a longer fight?"

"It’s amazing that you have options for how to beat a powerful enemy that even special forces from overseas and professional martial artists would lose to. Let’s see. I’d love it if you were completely overwhelming. But at a speed I can still follow with my eyes, please."

"As you wish, my princess."

I shall grant that wish for you.

I entered the mid-boss room. A humanoid figure armed with four swords stood there.

This would be my third time fighting this thing.

The first time, my manipulators were an older model, and I struggled a bit until I got used to pushing their performance to the limit. The second time, I teamed up with Rena and took it down in seconds. This time, I was equipped with the manipulators that had been a rare drop from the Fake Hayate I defeated on my first run. In terms of equipment performance, I was not at a disadvantage.

Now then, what kind of technique would look coolest to defeat it with?

My princess had commanded me to ‘be overwhelming.’ Overwhelming, huh… Like I’m toying with it? Like a teacher giving a lesson.

…Yeah, that sounds good.

It sounds powerful. Let’s go with that.

I readied my weapons and faced the Fake Hayate.

This thing seemed to be mimicking my movements from about a year ago. I, who have grown since then, will now teach you what you currently lack.

I stomped down hard and charged at the Fake Hayate.

Closing the distance, I unleashed a thrust with the sword held by my manipulator.

Faced with the linear stabbing attack, the Fake Hayate tried to deal with it by shifting its body to the side.

"Ah. You see, with that kind of defense, you can’t connect to your next attack, you know?"

By using rotation, a fundamental of modern ninjutsu, you can even turn an enemy’s attack into your own power.

"Here, like this."

I deliberately let the Fake Hayate parry my sword, then used the recoil to spin myself around and slam my attack into it.

My own rotational force, combined with the Fake Hayate’s power, allowed my attack to easily pierce through its defense.

Though sent flying, the Fake Hayate righted itself in mid-air and landed gracefully.

"Getting blown away means you’re wasting the power the enemy gave you."

That’s far too wasteful. Though, to be fair, a year ago I hadn’t fully mastered the manipulators yet, so that was probably my limit.

"Also, you’re trying too hard to keep your center of gravity at the center of your body. Sure, you can rotate more cleanly that way. But your attacks won’t have any power. Do you know what eccentric rotation is? It makes controlling the spin harder, but it increases your attack power."

I leaped up to the dungeon ceiling.

Kicking off the ceiling, I accelerated and slashed at the Fake Hayate while spinning.

For this rotation, I first brought my swords close to my body to increase the spin rate, then just before attacking, I extended them far from my body to boost the attack’s power. Furthermore, instead of spreading all four swords out evenly, I offset them, causing the rotation to become eccentric and maximizing my attack power.

"Like this. Hah!!"

Judging that it couldn’t evade in time, the Fake Hayate tried to block my vertical spinning slash by layering all four of its swords.

But I sliced right through that defense, and the Fake Hayate along with it.

The sound of its core shattering echoed through the room.

"Standing still won’t let you block my attacks."

How was that? Was I cool? Did I manage to project an overwhelming presence?

Feeling a little anxious, I turned around.

Right at that moment, Rena threw her arms around me.

"Hayate, that was amazing!! You were like a teacher, like a master! It was so incredibly cool!"

Rena was practically buzzing with excitement. It seemed my approach had not been a mistake.

"I’m glad you enjoyed it, Rena. Well then, shall we head to the boss fight?"

"Okay! I’ll fight the boss with you, too."

"Yeah, looking forward to it."

Discussing what kind of strategy we would use for the boss fight, we pressed onward.