Volume 1
Chapter 9
I Encountered
a Rhinoceros Beetle
Translator : PolterGlast
【Runa's POV】
What is this man
thinking!? He's about to fight a centipede that's obviously bigger than that
tiger.
Any Japanese person
would have some degree of disgust towards a centipede. Especially one that's
much larger than the tiger from earlier.
And yet... how can he
smile like that!!
"Ah, right,
Kakyoin-san,"
The man turns to face
me.
"You don't want
to get blood on you, right? So, you'd better put out something that can protect
your whole body."
Huh?
"I warned
you."
The man turns back to
the front.
Something to protect
my whole body? You can't just say that all of a sudden...!
To avoid getting blood
on me... an umbrella? No, I don't know what kind of fight this will be from
here on out, so I should strengthen my defenses. Then... a shield! Yes, if I
put a bigger shield than me here, I'll be protected and the shield will take
all the dirt!
Thanks to my father's
hobby, I was often taken to blacksmiths' workshops, so I know how to make swords───weapons. In the same
way, and even thicker and wider.
I desperately solidify
my image. And then───
Thud!!
A large, thick iron
shield appeared in front of me. Due to its weight, it sank into the ground and
was placed in front of me.
At the same time, at
that moment───
Crack!!!!
I heard a sound like
something being crushed.
□□□
The centipede charged
headfirst───but it was slower than
the tiger.
I timed it and slammed
my fist into the centipede's head. The centipede's shell cracked and I drove my
fist in───when I pulled my fist
out, about a third of the centipede's body was destroyed and splattered. The
centipede's body fluid splattered all over my body.
...It was softer than
I thought. It was so big and didn't even try to run away, so I thought it would
be much stronger.
The rest of the
centipede's body fell to the ground as if it had lost its strength.
As for Kakyoin-san...
what's that? There's some kind of big shield propped up.
But, it seems like the
shield is taking all the splattered body fluid, so I guess she's okay.
Now then, to move on───
"Huh?"
I couldn't help but
kneel on the ground. Something's wrong... I can't feel any strength in my body.
For some reason, I have pain all over my body... and what's this? If I look
closely, my skin is melting. It's making a sizzling sound.
Could it be that...
the centipede's bodily fluids are poisonous?
"I see... So
that's why the animals don't come near this place. I'm in trouble."
"W-What... is it
over already?"
Kakyoin-san peeks out
from behind the shield.
It's over, but... what
am I going to do about this situation?
Vrrmm
"Hm?"
A sound like a flying
insect from above?
Suddenly, the area
around us was shrouded in shadow.
Thud!!
And then, something
landed in front of me.
"Hissss..."
"………Umm."
I can't help but smile
bitterly.
What appeared in front
of me was a golden rhinoceros beetle. Its entire body was covered in gold───a red-eyed beetle.
Maybe because it lives in this forest, this beetle is quite big too. It's even
taller than me just in height. Its body length must be two or three times mine.
It's exhaling steam vigorously from what looks like a mouth. Its body
temperature must be pretty high too.
This is bad... I still
can't move at all. If I stay like this, Kakyoin-san behind me might be in
danger.
"Ka───Cough, cough! Gag!
Cough, cough!!"
I try to tell
Kakyoin-san to "get away from here," but the blood coming from my
mouth is getting in the way and I can't speak properly.
"H-Hey! What are
you doing!! Don't just sit there, do something about it!!"
...Even if you tell me
so.
Just as I was turning
around.
The beetle spread its
wings and charged towards me.
"───Ugh"
The beetle's horn
pierced through my abdomen, and without losing momentum, it went further back───blowing away even the
shield Kakyoin-san had put up, and crashing into a group of thick trees.
Several trees snapped and began to fall.
Ignoring the falling
trees, the beetle pierced me and crashed into the trunk, and its horn began to
glow red, orange, and yellow───
Bang!!!!
Then, a tremendous
shockwave spread out from the center of the horn. My body, which was still
impaled on the horn, received the shockwave directly and turned into pieces of
flesh, scattering everywhere.
"Haah, haah"
Kakyoin-san had
already thrown herself out from behind the shield and seemed to have avoided a
direct hit.
"Haah...
...wha."
Kakyoin-san, who
looked surprised, fell to her knees.
The beetle turns
towards her.
Kakyoin-san lets out a
cute shriek, "Eek!"───but immediately, she looked determined.
"………I know───you're not dead yet,
are you? I saw you regenerate. Why are you just lying there in pieces?
Regenerate quickly... Hey!! I'm telling you to regenerate!! Can you hear
me!!"
Kakyoin-san is yelling
at me. She's so bossy. I will regenerate, but slowly.
Well, she's not
getting in the way of the fight, so it's fine.
The pieces of flesh
that were once me gathered together and gradually formed a shape.
In just a few seconds,
I had completely regenerated.
I crack my neck from
side to side. Yeah, the poison is gone too.
"Fsshhh..."
The beetle turns
towards me again───exhaling steam from
its mouth.
...Nice... That's the
spirit.
I instantly put force
into the ball of my thumb. I moved to the front of the beetle almost instantly
and threw a right straight.
Bam!!!!
My fist collided with
the beetle's shell, making a dull sound like when it hit steel. The air, which
I had swept away by thrusting out my fist, spread around me as a strong gust of
wind.
"───!"
No way... Only a
crack!? My fist, which had hit the beetle's right eye slightly to the side with
great force, had only been able to make a small crack in the beetle's shell.
My fist, which had
shattered the body of the rock rhinoceros, which boasted durability, and the
body of the tiger, which had the greatest killing power in this forest, with a
single blow───had only been able to
inflict a small wound on this beetle.
This is bad...
"Whoosh..."
The beetle swung its
large horn at me, who was very close. Just that sent me flying and I was
slammed into a tree, causing a large amount of blood to burst from my body,
unable to withstand the impact.
Oh... this might be
bad. Although its speed is inferior to that of other animals, everything else
is first-class. Especially its defense───it's on a completely different level. I can't win as I am now.
This is bad. Really
bad.
───This is so
interesting.
The corners of my
mouth naturally turned up.
If it's difficult to
win as I am now, then I just have to become stronger. I can just keep
regenerating over and over again until I surpass my current self.
I could probably win
if I kept hitting the beetle with speed, but───that would be boring.
It's interesting because I'm fighting on the turf of an overwhelmingly strong
opponent and───winning.
I won't give up this
excitement───this pleasure.
I charge towards the
beetle again. This time I hit the part just above the horn with my fist. Again,
only a crack appears.
"Whoosh!!"
"Whoa!?"
I was thrust high into
the air by its horn.
The beetle immediately
spread its wings and approached me instantly, even though there was quite a
distance between us, and my abdomen was pierced by the beetle's horn. Dust was
swirling where the beetle had taken off.
Even though it had
pierced my abdomen, the beetle did not stop ascending, and after flying to a
certain height, it suddenly turned and plunged towards the ground with its
horn. To crush me, with my abdomen still pierced.
A loud boom and a
strong gust of wind swept through the area. The beetle's head was completely
buried in the ground.
The beetle quickly
pulled its head out. My blood was smeared all over it.
But I started
regenerating again. My wounds healed right in front of the beetle's eyes.
"Yo"
Ignoring me, who
raised my left hand, the beetle swung its horn horizontally at me again. As
expected, my body collided with a tree───unable to withstand the impact, a lot of blood splattered from my body.
The beetle's eyes
seemed to gleam for a moment.
The beetle's attack
didn't end there, it swirled around me twice, and wrapped me up. My body, which
was already broken, was torn apart by it.
But I regenerated
again immediately.
The beetle charged───piercing my abdomen.
The beetle then
ascended to a certain height, shook its horn, and threw me to the ground.
It then turned
vertically in mid-air and fell towards me───a so-called press. My body was completely crushed, and my blood spread
out all over the place.
I regenerated
immediately.
The beetle began to
tremble, and light emitted from its horn.
Just like before, it
changed from red to orange to yellow───and then a violent shockwave swept through the area centered on that
spot. I was also caught up in it without exception, and my limbs split from my
body───what had been my body
scattered everywhere.
But I regenerated
again immediately.
"………Hah"
The corners of my
mouth naturally turned up again.
As for the beetle───it seems that after
the previous attack, it becomes stiff for a while. Then I have to
counterattack.
This time, I slammed
my fist into the area near the beetle's left eye with great force.
Crack!!!!
This time, the result
was different.
The beetle's shell was
shattered, only around the left eye, and green blood began to flow.
"───!!!!"
The beetle looked
surprised───I think.
"Fshhhh!!!!"
It exhaled steam
vigorously, and then its horn glowed again.
But it was somehow
different from before. The color was like white with various colors scattered
about, and... the light was gathering rather than emitting?
The shimmering lights
gathered on the horn as much as they could, and when they reached a brightness
that could not be looked at directly,
Boom!!!!
A beam of light
(attack) several times stronger than any previous attack was fired, wiping out
everything several hundred meters ahead, including me. Only dust remained.
My body, which had
turned into dust───nevertheless, my body
began to regenerate.
I faced the beetle
again in a normal state.
"......"
The beetle looked at
me and retreated a few meters.
The overwhelmingly
strong creature (the beetle) retreated from the weak human (me).
This pleasure, this
mockery───this delight is
unbearable.
"Hahaha..."
I disappeared from in
front of the beetle in an instant───that's how it would have looked to the beetle. I simply jumped onto the
beetle's body.
Above the beetle.
The beetle didn't
notice, and there was nothing to obstruct me.
I pulled my right arm
hard.
I abandoned myself to
free fall and my body fell.
I slammed my fist down
into the center of the beetle's back.
Bam!!!!
The beetle's shell was
completely shattered, and a large amount of blood spurted out of its body.
Without a cry, as it
was an insect, I took the beetle's
mighty life along with its last breath.
"Phew... It was
strong"
It was the strongest
foe I had ever faced. Why a bug is stronger than a tiger? Well, whatever.
More importantly,
Kakyoin-san is───ah, there she was.
She's got a dazed look on her face. Why is she making that kind of face? I
should ask her.
"Kakyoin-sa───"
As I opened my mouth,
Vrrmm Vrrmm Thud!!
Thud!!
Two insects landed
near me again.
"......I knew it,
this couldn't be the end."
Both of them probably
feel as strong as, or even stronger than, the beetle.
I'm tired, but... more
than that.
The corners of my
mouth, which had naturally turned up, won't go down.
Well then, let's do
this.
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