Chapter 7: Field Boss

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Translator: Soafp

“Ah, we’ve come to the right place.”

What, do you know what the gathering is about?

“Ah, yes. Do you see some stone pillars around there?　That’s the area where the battle with the field boss starts.”

“Hoho”

If it’s a boss, it means there’s an enemy stronger than the one we just saw.

The stone pillars that Hisana was referring to were probably the ones that were lined with stone pillars as tall as guardrails.

A few players stopped in front of them and seemed to be waiting for something.

“What are those guys doing in front of the field boss?”

“Only one party can challenge the field boss at a time. I think they’re waiting their turn”.

It seems that there are some troublesome rules.

Well, if I can fight a strong enemy, I’m willing to wait my turn.

As I approached, it seemed that the other side had noticed me.

The first player I saw was a man with a bow.

He looked at me, then at Hisana, who was standing next to me, his mouth agape and rigid.

“What ……, S-S-Scarlet Sword Princess?!”

“What?!”

“No way, why is she here?!”

As soon as the man with the bow shouted out, the other five players started to look at us.

It seems that they were surprised to see Hisana, who has a reputation as a top player, here.

“Oi Hisana, what’s that exaggerated name they just called you?”

“…….I-I don’t know.”

“Oh, by the way, that Freed or whatever he called himself earlier, he called you something similar. What, are you at that age where people love that stuff?”

“No, I’m not!　I’m not calling myself that!　Well, at a previous event, when I won a top prize, I received such a title skill from the officials!”

“Title skill?”

“I’m talking about this, this!”

Hisana operated her menu and displayed one of the skills in the skills section to me.

…… I mean, what is a title skill? There is no such field in my skills section.

■《Scarlet Sword Princess》

A swordsman of the dawn with red hair and scarlet flames.

Those who are saved by her refer to her as the Scarlet Sword Princess.

The power of Magica Technica, a fire-attribute magic battle technique using a sword, is increased by 15%.

“This is to painfull to—–“

“It’s not like I’m saying it myself!　But it’s so strong, I can’t take it off. ……!”

“Oh, I get it, I get it. Besides, what’s a title skill?”

“You’ll be able to see it once you get the title. There aren’t many titles that work this well, though. ……”

In other words, I guess this title is included in the prize for winning the top prize.

Is there a possibility that I’ll get one of these titles?

Truthfully, I’d rather not. …… It would have been a little difficult for me to get this title in my mid-20s, not to mention ten years ago.

Well, I don’t even know if I’ll get a top prize in the event, so I don’t have to worry too much about it.

While I was thinking about this, we reached the place where the other players were waiting, just before the field boss.

There were six players waiting for us. The number of players waiting was six, which seemed to be a typical full-member party.

“O-ou, I didn’t expect the Scarlet Sword Princess to be here after all this time. ……”

“I’m chaperoning this guy today. Are you all waiting for your turn to be field boss?”

“No, I’m embarrassed to say that I had to withdraw once. Now I’m waiting for recovery.”

The man with the big sword on his back, who seemed to be the leader of the group, was shaking an empty potion bottle.

It seems that these guys are still beginners in the game.

Only some of their equipment is clad in beginner gear.

“Are you going to challenge them again after they recover?”

“No, it’s a recovery for retreat. I’m going to level up a bit more and come back. Are you collecting boss materials?”

“No, I’m just a Chaperone for this Quon-san.”

“…… Chaperone.”

In response to Hisana’s words, the leader and a few others, especially the four men, gave me a cautious look.

Based on his reaction earlier, Hisana seems to be quite well known and he probably suspects a relationship.

Not many people can be as quirky as that Freed guy.

As I was absentmindedly thinking about this, Hisana came up to me, tugging on my cuff and protesting.

“Hey, Sensei, don’t leave the explanation to me all the time.”

“Why not?　You’re a popular girl, why don’t you at least wave to them?””

“I don’t want to do that!”

“Ah, ……, uhm, I don’t mean to pry into your real life, but you seem to know each other, don’t you?”

“I won’t deny it. That’s about it.”

I cowered at the man’s words and nodded my head.

Thanks to his words, the intensity of their gazes softened somewhat.

Most probably, they suspected that I was deceiving them by using her.

It’s not hard to imagine the prejudice that a man would feel if he approached an idol.

However, my suspicions were still not cleared up when a wizard-like woman with a wand called out to Hisana.

“But, Hisana-san. Just because you know each other doesn’t mean you should take too much care of him. It’s true that if you’re at Hisana’s level, this area should be a piece of cake.”

“Hahaha ……, so let’s take a look, shall we?”

“Eh?”

“…… Sensei, you’re planning to challenge the boss when you get here no matter what, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. It’s boring to see only small fish. Can we just go to the end of that pillar?”

“Yes. All right, everyone, please go ahead.”

I walked past Hisana, who bailed, and started walking towards the boss’s territory.

I had been feeling inadequate up to this point because of all the small fry demons.

However, as a boss, I expect some tough enemies to appear.

I stepped into the boss’s field, hoping to have some fun this time.

Instantly…

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH—-!”

The howl of a wolf echoed through the air.

Then, five stepwolves appeared as if oozing out of the meadow.

What’s more, the ones that appeared behind them were…

■Greater Stepwolf

Type：Animal, Demon

Level: 8

Status: Active

Attribute: None

Battle Position: Ground level

This huge wolf is over a meter tall alone, and if it stood up on its hind legs, it would be three meters tall.

Its figure alone could be quite a threat.

Smiling at the appearance of an enemy that seemed to have a bit of backbone, I immediately ran out.

First of all, I have to get rid of the small fry around me.

“Hisana, you heard what I was saying earlier about fighting the beast.”

“Y-Yes?”

Before the other party could make a move, I made my way to the wolf on the far right.

The wolf stopped moving for a moment as if it was bewildered, but still tried to jump out of the way to intercept my attack.

But–

“Quadrupedal animals are fast at moving forward, but not so good at moving backward. It’s a structural problem. In other words, if you close the distance between you and your opponent, it’s harder for them to do the same.”

A moment of hesitation is all that is needed.

The flash that I released as if to scoop it up sliced up the wolf’s lower jaw, and the returning blade cut off its head.

I was already familiar with the movements of a mere wolf. It only takes one breath to kill a wolf like this.

But even with that one breath, the other wolves had already begun to move.

Apparently, when those big wolves are around, they move faster than usual.

Well, it wouldn’t be much fun if it wasn’t.

“Second, animal attacks are usually linear, with a few exceptions. They attack with claws, fangs and body blows. The claws don’t have such a large area of attack, so take it as a kind of spear attack.”

I ducked to the side as the wolf lunged at me, and used my gauntlet to parry the claws of the other wolf that kept coming at me.

Perhaps because I wasn’t in a good enough stance to completely block the attack, I lost some HP.

However, this is within the acceptable range.

“If I draw a straight line between where the enemy was at first and where I am now, and move away from that line, it will be easy to deal with –[the Sword of Deprivation].”

Since there were few opportunities to reduce HP, I decided to use my skill.

At the moment of the declaration, the sword in my hands took on an aura like a black mist.

As I watched out of the corner of my eye, I swung my blade at the wolf that was jumping at me to bite me.

At the perfect moment, my sword flash swung down into the wolf’s head, just as I had planned, and sliced its head in half.

This was the first time I had ever seen two wolves – and the HP that had been reduced earlier had been fully recovered.

Then, using the momentum of the blade I swung, I shifted my body to the side and kicked, gaining centrifugal energy from the rotation, sending the wolf flying in an attempt to push it down.

“And when dealing with multiple enemies at the same time. At first it’s easy to move to keep them all in sight, but it’s hard to keep that up when you’re trying to take them down efficiently.”

While keeping the big wolf in check with my gaze, I continued my close combat with the remaining three.

If I move away even a little bit, those big wolves will attack me.

However, when these guys are around, he seems to be in a state where he is afraid to attack for fear of involving his subordinates.

I continued to speak as I swung my sword down and severed the tendon in its hind leg while dodging the wolf that attacked me from behind.

” Therefore, the next easiest way to read them is to rely on your hearing – their breathing, their footsteps, the sound of cutting air.”

I left the fallen wolf alone for the moment, ducking a blow that was about to bite my leg from behind with a swing of my foot and then swinging my heel down on its head.

If I don’t at least muffle its growl, it’s bound to notice me easily.

“Well, from my point of view, it’s easier to read the signs and the killing intent. If you can read it, you’re third-rate; if you can use it to evade attacks, you’re second-rate; if you can deal with killing intent, you’re first-rate.”

I put down the wolf that had stopped moving after being kicked in the head and went back to dealing with the wolf that I had just kicked away.

However, what I do remains the same. The wolf’s attack was still in a straight line, but I moved sideways to avoid it and slashed its neck, followed by a flash that dropped the head of the wolf that was growling at my feet, and finally, with my left hand, I pulled out a small sword and unleashed it.

“Keep your sub-weapon. The small sword can also be used in this way.”

I thrust the tip of the sword into the heart of the rolling wolf, throwing it at the eyes of the large wolf that was trying to come towards me.

The big wolf reflexively closed its eyes and tilted its face, so the small sword did not penetrate, but that was enough time.

Attacking the eyes is effective, but any creature will instinctively and reflexively respond to it.

In other words, you can make them react reflexively.

At this moment, if I could buy a moment of time, that would be enough to kill the one that was lying there.

“Well, that leaves the boss.”

“Uuuu……!”

“S-Sensei, when he roars, that means–!”

The giant wolf sucked in a breath and raised its chin to howl.

That moment – the carcass of the wolf lying at my feet was blown away by my step.

“—–[Sharp blade].”

Way of walking—-disastrous earthquake

As I walked, I turned my weight and the weight of my sword into propulsion as I moved forward.

With that momentum, I kept my haze stance and went straight for the wolf.

I finished my breath, and a huge roar was released to the surroundings – just before that.

“Do you really think you can offer me your throat?”

Way of Decapitation – Tsuyoshi style- piercing fang.

A thrust of divine speed that gathered all of my forward momentum into the tip of my blade.

The blow did not miss my target, but pierced the wolf’s throat and vocal cords.

“Tsu…..Atsu!”

“Oops.”

It was quite hard, but I was able to penetrate the throat.

But I couldn’t go any further, so I quickly pulled out my sword and retreated.

A moment later, a clawed blow reaped the place where I was, as if to blow away my body.

“Hard fur and skin. How hard can it be to cut?”

My status is still low, but it seems to be a difficult opponent to deal damage to.

I was thinking of piercing its throat with my piercing fangs and then tearing it apart, but it was impossible to pierce it with this sword like that.

So it would be difficult to inflict enough damage to kill it with a single blow…

“——AAAAHHHHH!”

“Well, I don’t care.”

The wolf jumped at me.

Because of its large size, I had to evade it more than I did, but what I had to do was the same.

I hold my sword horizontally while evading to the right side, and press my left hand against its peak.

Way of Decapitation—–Gentle, muscle rupture.

As I duck sideways, the tip of my blade uses the energy of the wolf’s own plunge to slice through its body, following its fur and muscles.

The wolf landed on the ground gushing red blood, but this did not cloud its will to fight.

I can cut it with this, but it will eventually become wary and stop jumping on me.

“After all, let’s attack from here.”

As soon as the wolf saw that I was lowering my blade, it charged again, as if it would not be subjected to the same thing this time.

The wolf leapt high, as if to crush me from above, and was about to swing its claws down at my head.

Well, if it’s going to attack me with a big move, I’m going to take advantage of it.

“The weak point of quadrupeds is their legs. If you break one of them, it will make the fight easier.”

I stepped forward to avoid the claw strike and slammed my fist into the back knee of the falling wolf.

Striking technique —– Inverse strike.

Normally, it would be a blow that would break a joint in the opposite direction, but with an opponent of this size, that would be difficult.

But even so, it would be easy enough to break a knee bone.

The wolf’s hind legs were crushed, and it lost most of its mobility.

Even so, I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the wolf that was trying so hard to look at me with murderous intent.

“Whether it’s because your friends were killed or because you’re the leader of the pack, I don’t hate you.”

The wolf, dragging its feet, turned its fangs toward me.

It’s time to end this battle.

I ducked down to avoid the fangs that were about to bite me in the head, and stomped hard on the ground with my left foot.

Striking technique–pillar pressure.

It is a kick that has such a high strike point that it forces the legs to open 180 degrees.

The kick is a straight line from the ground to the toes, like a pillar, so that the energy from the ground is transmitted to the kicking foot without any surplus.

The wolf turned its head back to the ground with that blow, and I returned to my stance and thrust the sword in my left hand at the wound on the wolf’s neck.

“—-It’s over.”

Way of Decapitation—- Gentle, Pierce.

The sword, struck at the hilt by my right hand, dives under the wolf’s chin and into its body in a straight line, breaking the wolf’s brain in a straight line.

The wolf’s huge body convulsed and then collapsed in a heap.