163 – Survival (4)
There was no need to fight. I didn’t get anything for winning, but I was pointing my foot at the slime when I realized I hadn’t even cut it yet.
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As expected, the slime had a regenerative ability that could be considered immune to physical attacks.
It didn’t split, but if you cut it in half or cut it horizontally, it would stick again and return to its original state, so dealing with the slime with a sword was like kicking it into water.
It wasn’t a matter of skill; it would return to its original state no matter how many times it was cut, so the only way to deal with it was to use fire.
I wondered what if, contrary to the image, it was resistant to fire, but as soon as the fire touched it, it began to shrink and shrunk in an instant.
‘You’re weak to fire, maybe you’re weak to ice too?’
Since I said it was assumed that it would be stolen, it may have a feature such as instantly freezing when it touches ice, but there is no way to test it right now.
As I looked at the map with my back to the shrunken slime, I saw Jessica and Euclid standing in one place and not moving for a while.
I suddenly looked up at the sky, and although it wasn’t already dark, I could see the glow of the sunset, indicating that there wasn’t much time left until sunset.
It was the right time to set up a base, so I looked at the map and headed to a suitable place near the two people.
‘This place is so empty…’ . However, it is difficult to make a fire in a place surrounded by bushes.’
After looking at the map and wandering around for a while, we arrived at an empty lot surrounded by bushes.
After cutting down enough bushes to create a space, I set up a tent in the center of the site and made a fire not far away.
The sky was already turning black because we had a bit of trouble finding a good place to hide.
‘It’s a little late, but now that we’ve established a base, there’s nothing left to do….’
I have memorized the places where food is distributed in advance, so now all I have to do is look for food occasionally for four days and watch Jessica and Euclid for the remaining time.
I broke a tree branch and threw it towards the blazing bonfire, then sat near the bonfire and watched the blazing flames.
As I prepared a meal while watching the bonfire burn like this, I felt like I was going camping of some kind, and for a moment my tension eased.
-This――!!!
As if to reprimand me, the magic tool that Marina handed me made Marina’s voice resonate for a moment, and then suddenly became quiet.
I don’t think I lost contact by mistake, but I had a hunch that something was unusual. When I opened the map, I was so shocked that I inadvertently dropped the beef jerky I was holding.
“W-what is this?!”
The light indicating the students’ location shown on the map disappeared and reappeared repeatedly, and soon disappeared completely from the map.
Out of urgency, I tried to contact Marina using the magic tool, but of course I couldn’t contact her, so I rushed out of the base and looked around.
‘We cannot wait for communications to be restored. ‘I have to move quickly, where should I go first?’
The enemy’s target is me, but the fact that they blocked communication and erased the students’ identification signals means that they are targeting the students, not me.
The most likely person at this time was Euclid, a friend of my fiancée Jessica and the prince of this country.
Which of the two is the enemy targeting?
Jessica? Euclid? Or are they aiming for both?
Even though I knew I had to move right away, I couldn’t easily let go of my feet, and in the end, I decided to go towards Jessica, who was alone.
I wasn’t particularly swayed by passion. Since Euclid had a skilled swordsman named Nana who had reached the level of a swordsman, it was calculated that it would take some time.
I moved forward, burning down the trees and bushes that blocked my path with a fire attack.
Perhaps because the tree was dry, the flames quickly spread to other trees and bushes, lighting up the sky red. This would have helped Marina know where I was.
After moving forward, burning down all the trees and bushes I could find, a weak ember that looked as if it would go out at any moment caught my eye.
“Jessica!!”
I cried out Jessica’s name out of nervousness, but of course there was no answer.
When we arrived at Jessica’s base, the tent was completely crushed as if it had been weighed down by something, and it was clear who the strange slime was.
I continued to run, following the traces left by the slime, which was my only clue, praying that Jessica wasn’t in there.
Not long after, I made eye contact with Jessica, who was half-swallowed by slime.
“Ian!!”
I immediately pulled out the snail and cut the slime with flames created by friction heat, and like before, the slime’s body shrunk in an instant and fell helplessly to the ground.
Freed from the slime, Jessica shouted at me as she peeled off the sticky slime left on his body.
“Well, I was getting ready to sleep when it suddenly attacked me… !! “Is that monster an enemy attack?!”
“I don’t know….”
It is currently unclear whether all control of the demon beast has already been taken over by the enemy or whether it is just a coincidence.
One thing was certain: they had already come here, and it was unknown whether even Marina’s magic tool containing the transfer magic would be safe.
Even in the original work, magic that changes the coordinates of the transfer magic contained in the magic tool appeared several times.
“For now, stay behind me. “I’m going to go to Euclid from now on.”
I ran through the dark forest, relying on my senses, remembering the direction Euclid had been in.
However, Jessica could not keep up with my speed, probably because she had used up her stamina while fighting the slime earlier, so I had no choice but to carry her.
“Now, wait a minute…” !!”
Jessica was embarrassed and tried to get off, but now was not the time to listen to such trivial complaints.
Euclid and Nana might be being attacked by the enemy even at this very moment.
“I’m going to run fast. “If you open your mouth, bite your tongue!!”
“aaah!!”
*****
“Ha… !!”
I have lived for 29 years and suffered many defeats, but today was the first time I had a fight with no chance of victory.
I… The sword of a strange creature that could be called a person was as heavy as a large mountain, but as light as the wind, and it seeped into me like water.
To be honest, it was a miracle that I made it this far without my head falling off.
The instinct inside me is screaming with all its might, saying that if I turn away even a little, I have no life.
But even though I knew it was a battle I had no chance of winning, I had no choice but to run away.
Now behind me, someone more precious than my life is watching this fight, trembling.
I couldn’t leave here, even for the sake of that person who suffered from a vicious mother all her life.
“You’ve managed to survive this far with your limited skills. “This is surprising even considering that this puppet is mid-level.”
I didn’t know what nonsense they were talking about, but I was still thankful that it gave me a moment to rest.
In order to continue this precious time even a little longer, I desperately tried to talk to him.
“What is your purpose? “Why are you targeting that guy?”
“Huh? Did you know that too? But I’m sorry, but I’m a little wrong. The purpose of this time is for you… No, to be exact, it’s you.”
As he said that, it was natural for him to point his finger at Euclid, who was standing behind him.
When he was suddenly singled out, his face became even more shocked than before and his face turned pale, and he shouted at the guy.
“… Well, what do you mean? Now that the faction has been disbanded, its value to me is….”
Hearing His Majesty’s words tremble with fear, he continued speaking with a strange laugh, saying, ‘Kakat!’
“Are you pretending not to know? Or do you really not know? “You know very well what’s inside you.”
“…… !!”
Only a very few people, including myself, knew that it was inside His Majesty.
How did he know that? No, what on earth is he thinking of doing?
There wasn’t a single moment when my hands didn’t tremble after the sword-to-sword confrontation with that guy, but when I thought about the future after I was defeated, my hands trembled in a different way.
“Lord, I will kill you… !! “I will definitely kill you!!!”
“Kakakakat!! What a good roar!! Loyalty to the owner?! Or is it sympathy?! “Either way, it’s heartbreaking!!”
Without even thinking about what would happen next, I raised my fighting spirit to the maximum and rushed towards the guy, but he easily took the full blow from me.
Even if I attacked again with evil intentions, the result did not change. The guy didn’t even move a muscle and accepted my sword lightly, as if he was accepting the complaints of a child.
When he realized that even the strength he was most confident in was not effective against the bastard, his face contorted in despair.
He must have sensed that my fighting spirit was broken. Instead of attacking me, who had stopped moving, he turned his gaze away from me and looked at His Majesty.
The sword falls out of my hand by itself, just as it falls out of my hand.
My will to fight was completely broken, and I realized that my body and reason were no match for that bastard.
“Your Highness!!”
But that didn’t mean I could just hand over my power to that guy here.
My job was not to defeat him, but to protect him. I turned my back on him while holding him in my arms so that I could run away for as long as possible.
But he was blocking my path as if he had been there from the beginning.
“It’s no use.”
With those last words, he turned his back on me and slowly walked towards His Majesty.
I was holding on to the leg of my pants and trying to pass the time, but I couldn’t slow down his steps even a little.
A time when you despair and wonder if everything will end without you being able to do anything like this.
“Baldooooot!!!”
Red blades rushed towards him, accompanied by a familiar voice that was more reassuring than anything else.