Floor 21: The Colony Planet (3)

Damn it all!

There was no room to back away. I hastily raised my right foot and kicked the striking tail aside.

A successful defense. But far too hasty a one.

Blocking it carelessly with my right foot had thrown my balance slightly off. Before my right leg, still reeling from the kick, could find the ground again, the Administrator's sword was already flying at me.

Off balance, I had only one choice. I drove everything I had into my left foot, the one still planted on the ground, and rolled sideways.

The Administrator's sword sliced through the spot where I'd just stood. The malicious, razor-sharp hiss of it cutting the air sent a shiver down my spine.

After a full tumble across the floor, I sprang quickly back to my feet. Every nerve strained for the next blow — but the Administrator didn't attack.

"You blocked that? You've got good instincts, don't you?"

The Administrator stood leisurely in place, eyes gleaming with a smile. Between those long, split lips, a thin, forked reptilian tongue slid out and ran across its mouth.

"Still, it's rough going, isn't it? See? I told you a few body-reinforcement spells wouldn't change anything."

The creature started up its one-sided chatter again. That easy, unhurried manner was chipping away at my focus.

Did I really look that easy to it?

"So just die nicely, and—"

"Shut up already!"

Re-tensing my slackened muscles, I charged at the Administrator.

It parried my horizontally swung axe with ease. Clang — I bore down on the rebounding axe with brute strength.

A brief contest of strength. The Administrator frowned as if something foul had gotten into its mouth.

"I'm talking here, you insufferable little—"

Then it shoved its sword forward with real force. The earlier struggle had apparently been child's play — my axe was sent hurtling backward.

If I tried to hold my ground, I'd be swept away beyond control. I took a single step back and released the tension in my arm, using a snap of the wrist to swing the retreating axe back around in front of me.

In that stretched-taut moment, my sixth sense flared a sharp warning.

"Chi-keet!"

The instant I wrenched the axe aside, the Administrator thrust its dark-scaled sword at me. Clang! I twisted the axe blade and barely, just barely, caught the thrust.

"Ghh!"

But the force behind the thrust didn't simply vanish. Momentum carried my upper body naturally backward.

At the same moment, the Administrator twisted its wrist. The deflected sword changed course like a serpent, slashing in on a diagonal.

Too late to dodge. Bringing the axe around to block it looked impossible, too.

And then —

Right at that split second, my mind churning inside the white-hot concentration of combat, my instincts arrived at an answer.

The Gauntlets I'd bought for 70,000 achievement points weren't a waste.

A gut feeling told me: take its sword with the Mana-Channeling Gauntlets.

Can I actually block it with these…?

But reason tugged at my instincts' ankle. The Administrator's sword looked anything but ordinary.

I wasn't about to get my hand sliced clean off, was I?

Damn it. Worrying won't change a thing.

Pointless fretting. It was my instinct's call — and besides, one way or another, only one option remained to me.

Even with armor, giving up a hand beat offering up my torso. I smothered the faint lingering dread, stretched out my left hand, and prayed the gauntlet would hold against that blade.

At the same instant, lightning wreathed my right hand as I brought the axe down.

I flung my left hand wide to claim the diagonal path of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the incoming sword. And the sword struck the gauntlet.

KRA-KOOM!

The Administrator's sword raked sharply across the gauntlet — then wedged into the gaps between its scales and locked fast.

It held!

A numb ache pulsed through my left hand, but I roared inwardly and clamped down even harder on the creature's blade.

The Administrator, clearly never imagining the gauntlet could stop its sword, wore a flustered expression as it yanked violently at its trapped weapon.

In a one-handed tug-of-war, my left arm trembled uncontrollably. I was being overpowered — but it didn't matter. My axe was already descending toward the creature's crown.

Its eyes went wide as burning lanterns at the utterly immobile sword. Deciding there was no time to dodge, the Administrator jerked its head aside desperately to escape the axe's arc.

CRACK! The axe came down on its shoulder.

A dull, crushing impact — like driving a blade into solid rock — shot through my fingertips. The scales on its shoulder shattered and burst apart, stinging fragments skittering across my cheek.

Damn it! I was aiming for its head.

I hastily swallowed the swell of regret. What was done was done. I had a fight to focus on.

Still, all things considered, this wasn't bad at all. I'd torn the creature's shoulder open deep, and azure blood came gushing up through the split.

The blood arcing through the air rained down across my face, my neck, my shoulders. It was cold where it touched my cheek, and a fishy reek rose into my nose.

The Administrator's face contorted. Seeing that rotten expression wrenched a smile right out of me. It wouldn't be using that left shoulder again anytime soon.

Then the Administrator's eyes flicked to the gauntlet — and its face flooded with alarm.

"…What is that? You — what are these gauntlets? How do you even have these?!"

"None of your business, you bastard."

I bore down on the axe with both hands. Crunch — it crushed the creature's shoulder and sank in deeper.

Another squeeze like that, and…

But the thought never finished.

Suddenly the creature began receding from my view. My body, heedless of my will, was helplessly flying through the air.

Pain erupted from my abdomen.

Damn it.

Its tail. It had whipped me square in the gut.

Hot liquid surged up my throat and spilled out in a rush. A fishy taste spread across my tongue. Blood.

…Damn it, how hard did it hit me?

Even as the thought crossed my mind, I hit the ground rolling. An impact slammed into the side of my head.

Dazed from landing skull-first, I could still feel the pain from my gut with perfect clarity.

"Where the hell did you even come from, you — son — of — a — bitch!"

Too wracked by the pain in my side to notice it myself, I was already hearing a faint ringing in my ears. Between the ringing, the Administrator's furious roar reached me in broken pieces.

But I could feel the sheer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠size of that fury with terrible clarity.

In a single heartbeat, the Administrator's presence changed entirely.

And at the same instant, a radiance settled over my body. The pain drained away fast, and my addled mind sharpened into focus.

A healing spell. Dobby's support.

I rose quickly to my feet and re-gripped my axe.

The Administrator, in the meantime, had retrieved its sword, which it had dropped when I went flying. It looked composed now — a stark contrast to its furious bellow moments ago.

Sword in hand, it glared at me.

"Mmhm, yes. Not answering me, are we? Well, however you got ahold of it, we can simply recover it later."

Though it spoke calmly, the Administrator's voice had sunk low. Its moods swung wildly, like something out of a textbook case of bipolar disorder.

But I could tell it was genuinely, deeply furious. Coarse, powerful waves of mana churned and seethed around it.

Damn it. This isn't some video game — a phase two, really?

Can I even win this?

In the instant I wondered whether I should just run, the memory of my successful strike came back to me.

Fine. No other way around it — I'll have to trade flesh for bone, same as before.

After all, I had insurance.

Grabbing its sword with the gauntlet — the creature had already learned that trick the hard way.

What remained in my hand was my trump card… the Shadow Monarch skill.

Even with the shroud peeled away, I could still move shadows. Attacking with shadow spears, though, was on hold. Even if the creature hadn't seen it just now, I'd used them against the mixed-race soldiers — it might know about them already.

The shadow arms, and Ronsyark's Dagger.

Those, I had to save for the decisive clash — the most critical moment against this thing.

"Die already!"

The Administrator let loose a thunderous roar and moved first. It came barreling straight down the middle, clearly intending to end this fight in one fell swoop.

So I charged to meet it. I held the axe long and deliberately made my movements big and obvious.

To hide my shadows, I discharged lightning across my entire body.

With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Flash Step carrying us both, we closed the distance in less than a second.

Hidden behind my back, a shadow arm drew the dagger and moved — to the right, toward its left nape.

"Kuhk!"

In that heartbeat, I caught the flicker of panic in the creature's eyes.

It had underestimated me, and this was my ace in the hole — there was no escape route left for it.

Block the dagger with its sword, and the axe would crash in from the left. Block the axe, and the dagger would go for its nape.

A perfectly timed assault. And with its left shoulder already mangled from earlier, reacting wouldn't come easy.

"Sh-sst!"

The Administrator's breath hissed into my ear like a snake's cry. I tracked the sword's trajectory — the creature's choice was to block the axe. At the same moment, it leaned its upper body back.

Blocking the axe while pulling its torso away to dodge the dagger, was it?

It's over.

A laugh nearly escaped me. Thank god the Administrator didn't know a shadow arm could stretch.

Sword met axe. As the rebounding axe swung up over my head on a snap of my wrist, the elongated shadow arm plunged into the Administrator's nape.

"Gahk!"

A strangled, startled gasp. I could see the creature's balance collapsing — and then, right then, the Administrator smiled, wide and slow.

At the same moment, its tail curved up from behind its back, aiming for my nape.

The axe was still behind my head — too late to block the tail. Triumph gleamed in the Administrator's pupils.

But in that split second, I met its eyes and smiled right back.

Ronsyark's Dagger carries absolute defense against physical attacks.

Trusting in the auto-defense and my shadows, I'd thrown myself into a reckless charge.

The shadow arm buried in its nape moved at an impossible speed, whipping around to intercept the creature's tail.

And riding the momentum, I brought the axe I'd hauled overhead down with everything I had.

"No — gahk!"

Unlike before, the Administrator couldn't twist away.

CRUNCH! The double-bladed axe carved brutally through its skull and bit deep.

Azure blood welled up thick between crushed scales and shattered bone. I bore down with both arms, ground it in deeper — then wrenched the axe free.

Through the torn gap, the pressure that had built inside burst upward, and its blood fountained toward the sky.

Ash-gray heaven beyond the smoke belching from the factory — and beneath it, blue blood came falling like rain.

For a long moment, I just stared up at it, dazed.

Then, a beat behind, the blood that had geysered into the gray sky came drifting down over me, soft and steady.