Vikir pushed Sinclair back.
" ...How much of the mist did you drink?"
Sinclair was too disoriented to answer even the most basic of questions.
'Anyway, your body temperature has recovered reasonably well. If I leave her alone, she'll wake up.'
Vikir laid Sinclair on the ground, turned off the lights, and walked out of the den.
As he stepped out of the sawdust den, he saw two giant grasping hands piercing the darkness of the ceiling.
Hands covered in blue scales. They must belong to the owner of this mating room.
-Ding!
[The owner of the farm would like to check the condition of the collected items]
[target: human 1 (♂)]
[target: human 2 (♀)]
.
.
Simultaneously with an unpleasant beeping sound.
Koo-koo-koo-koo...
The shadow cast by a blue hand looms over Vikir.
The other hand was merely hovering over the sawdust, presumably searching for Sinclair, who was probably hiding somewhere beneath the layer of sawdust.
'I can't let that happen.'
Vikir drew his sword.
A crimson aura dripped from the surface of the magic sword Beelzebub's hilt, sticky and dripping.
…Flash!
A sharp stab flew out like an arrow and struck the blue hand.
Thud-!
The aura on the blue scales produced countless sparks, as if iron and steel had collided.
However, as expected, the blue hand only flinched slightly and didn't seem to have suffered any fatal wounds.
Koo-koo-koo-koo.
Now, even the hands that were looking for Sinclair have joined in capturing Vikir.
The two hands were quickly surrounding Vikir and pulling him to one side.
At this point, Vikir pulled out all the candy in his pockets.
-LV: 1 (%)
-Title: "Gutter Rat Hunter", "Hell's Dog", "Daylily Lumberjack", "Majin Executioner", "Black Sea King Slayer" (NEW)
-Stats
↳Strength: 300
↳Agility: 284 (+16) = 300
↳Stamina: 300
↳Physical Resistance: 1
↳Magic resistance: 1
↳Reflexes: 1
Having eaten all of the Agility candies he had been saving up for, he now has all three stats at 300.
…Boom!
Vikir moves much faster than before.
There was a moment of confusion between the two hands that had anticipated Vikir's speed.
And Vikir was taking advantage of the gap.
"Now, it's your turn."
[hack-hack-]
Vikir stretched out his left hand, and the madam cub that had been waiting on his wrist spewed out a web from its mouth.
It shot out quickly and clung to the back of the approaching blue grasp.
Flick!
Vikir pulled on the web and soared into the air.
The giant, hovering hand was getting closer and closer.
Then Decarabia clinging to his chest spoke with concern.
[Human. Are you sure you'll be okay? The scales of a Ryumajin are thick and hard. It's most likely too much for you with your current strength... Didn't you fail to slash it before?]
"It's fine. I'm not after the hand."
Vikir pulled on the web and climbed up.
He stepped on the back of its hand as it panicked and tried to pull back.
Tuck.
Landing on the blue scales, Vikir tapped them lightly with his hand.
As a result of slightly injecting mana, the blue scales covering the back of the Ryumajin's hand were not only much lighter and harder than ordinary metal, but also had good elasticity.
'Clearly, any attack, whether sword or magic, won't be able to make a scratch on it.'
Not even with a Graduator's level of skill. Head-to-head combat is a losing proposition.
Vikir made his decision in a split second.
…Flash!
The blow erupted once more.
The crimson aura coursed through the blue scales, traveling down the back of the hand, up the forearm, and into the darkness beyond.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo...
Then, a loud vibration began.
The two grasping hands disappeared through the ceiling at breakneck speed.
By now, Vikir's web had been severed.
Decarabia said urgently.
[Oh, no! We lost them! The web is broken! This is bad news! How are we going to escape this cage?]
"Wait and see."
[What do you mean wait for? You'll die and that's it, but I might have to spend the rest of my life in Amdusias's tower! Ugh! And it's a Ryumajin's laboratory!]
Decarabia bustles about in all sorts of fussiness.
But Vikir remains nonchalant.
Despite losing his grip on the Ryumajin and having his webs cut, he doesn't show the slightest sign of agitation.
Vikir's eyes are fixed on the ceiling. Where the Ryumajin's grip appeared and disappeared.
[...? Human. It's too late. Staring at the arm won't change anything...]
While Decarabia is showing a puzzled expression.
…Click!
The ceiling soon responded.
…tinkle! …tinkle! …tinkle!
Raindrops falling, little by little.
It was like the drizzle that had been falling before to take away the body heat.
..., except this time, it was different.
sswaaaaaa-
It was suddenly pouring like crazy.
[What, what? Why is the water suddenly like this?]
Dekarabia looked at him in disbelief.
But Vikir nodded, as if he'd seen it all coming.
"That was not an attack on the Ryumajin."
[...Then?]
"It was an attack on the precipitation device above."
Vikir could clearly see the grip coming in and out.
A sight that was revealed whenever the darkness lifted.
It was an odd-looking device, apparently serving as an intake for rain from above.
"I don't know if it is a device that extinguishes fires inside the mating room or if it is simply a device that makes it rain to lower body temperature. but...."
Vikir looked around as the rain fell like mad.
"It's the only way we can get out of here, that's for sure."
The sawdust swells as it absorbs the water.
But there was far more water pouring down than the sawdust could absorb.
kuleuleuleuleug... cheolsseog-
Naturally, the room gradually began to fill with water.
The chat wheel, water bucket, rice bowl, etc. were also gradually floating on the water.
"Now that our grip is gone, it's time to get Sinclair out."
Vikir launched himself toward the sawdust hole he had dug in the high ground.
At that moment.
…thud!
Vikir felt a terrifying impact that crushed his entire body.
From above, pressing down with a weight that seemed to crush his entire body, was a blue hand, It was the fist of the Ryumajin who was thought to have disappeared!
It was a fist, not a grasp, and it was clear that it no longer had any affection for the collected items.
'Well, I've wounded you, albeit stingingly, so you won't see it.'
Vikir gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his feet.
kkugugugugug...
The Ryumajin's fist slid upward, inch by inch.
But.
BANG!
A second hand appeared and grabbed his wrist, just above his fist.
This time, even Vikir doesn't last long.
Ujijijijiji!
A loud cracking and breaking sound erupted from Vikir's knees.
Fortunately, the floor was made up of water and sawdust, so he was able to avoid becoming a blood clot.
[human. What would you have done if it weren't for me?]
Decarabia, who is blocking the fist, boasts in an arrogant tone.
"...."
But Vikir had no time to respond.
Every muscle fiber and blood vessel in his lower body is popping and breaking, then joining and rejoining under the basilisk's power, over and over again.
And since it was Decarabia, which consumed a lot of mana, he wasn't sure how long he could maintain this inverted pentagram shield.
'... Maybe I should have invested the rest of my stats into strength instead of agility?'
But then he wouldn't have had this chance in the first place. He wouldn't have been able to dodge the double grasp in the first place.
So Vikir gritted his teeth and pushed up against Decarabia's shield with all his might.
The Ryumajin, in turn, was pressing down on Vikir with both hands, intent on killing him.
'I have no choice.'
Vikir decided to use his last resort.
A picaresque mask. Using it, he transforms into a dog and runs back to the den to retrieve Sinclair from the Ryumajin.
He uses the water to escape from the cage.
To do so, he must first dodge the Ryumajin's fists, which threaten to crush his entire body.
He also has to save Sinclair, who might be drowning in the burrow....
Vikir was just about to slip the mask over his face.
"...?"
A voice that shouldn't have been heard at this moment.
Sinclair poked her head out of the sawdust den in front of her, her eyes wide.
Not archery, but swordsmanship.
A red-hot aura that seems to be on fire.
A plague doctor's mask covering his face.
A spider on his shoulder. A shield shaped like an inverted star.
The unique black energy of the River Styx rising from the body.
Sinclair's body began to tremble again. This was not a phenomenon caused by body temperature.
"...Ah, no, no, brother, no?"
"...."
Sinclair desperately denies reality, but Vikir doesn't answer.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo!
Pouring rain, flooding waters, and the Ryumajin's fists crushing his body.
Vikir has a choice to make.
To tell the truth or not to tell the truth.
And in the face of such crossroads, Vikir has always pursued only a single-minded answer.
"...Yes."
Vikir's dry voice echoes in the damp air.
A word that made Sinclair's pupils tremble mercilessly finally came out of Vikir's mouth.
"I am Night Hound."