65. I'm Starting to Want to Cry
65. I'm Starting to Want to Cry
[Ur's Harp]
-A harp that can transform into any instrument
-Its tuning is always perfect.
The functions of Ur's Harp
Its 'tuning' was always 'perfect'.
What did this 'tuning' state mean exactly?
When I was just casually tapping away at a keypad, I hadn't known, but now I could understand.
─Slice!
"Kyaa...!"
The cutting sensation was no joke.
When I'd tried to do something with that toothless broken dagger, it kept snagging constantly, giving me the mistaken impression it might shatter at any moment—well, it actually did shatter, so it wasn't a mistaken impression but reality—
Ur's Harp, the 'dagger' that Ur had changed into for me, was in far better condition than I had imagined.
The blade stood smoothly sharpened.
The grip in my hand clung perfectly, as if it had always been that way.
The sensation of slicing through skin was so smooth and buttery, I almost felt addicted to it.
Guoooooooh!!!
"Hiccup—heck! That's not a mouth sound!"
I drew a horizontal slash across its belly hide and slipped out past the troll's flank.
Simultaneously, I swung the dagger upward, cutting through the muscles on the inside of its arm.
The offensive flowed like water.
The dagger parted its hide without any notable resistance.
The thick blood streaming out between cuts had already dyed the floor a deep red, making it slick and sodden.
Gu... uuuuuh...!
"Huuuh... you're getting a bit tired too, I take it?"
Frankly, by this point, it wouldn't be strange to die from excessive blood loss.
Tragically, though, the troll's regenerative ability seemed beyond imagination—its grip on life was tenacious to a fault.
Even just looking at the blood it had spilled, it had probably lost an amount equal to my own body weight.
Guuueoooogh...!
"Eup-cha, [Youth─Straight Punch]."
I sidestepped the charging troll once more and drove my fist straight into its jaw.
Crack—the satisfying sensation of something breaking.
Simultaneously—
─Crick!
"Guh...?!"
A strange sound rang out from my right wrist.
A pain similar to what I'd felt recently.
'This... don't tell me I'm also...?'
I slowly rotated my right wrist, and a sharp stinging pain spread.
When I thought about it, it wasn't strange at all. I'd just received treatment and come out, but it hadn't been completely healed yet.
It had only healed enough to attend classes, so engaging in combat more intense than that meant the injury was bound to flare up again.
"Huff... nothing I can do, I guess."
Still, it was manageable for now.
Bearable as long as I didn't push myself too far.
Maybe it was because the brain's endorphins were spreading so pleasantly, but the pain was something I could thoroughly ignore if I tried.
"Still, I should be... a little more careful."
I swung the dagger toward the troll that was still lunging at me.
"──[Counter]."
Guuiiik...!!
Keeeeng──A resonant frequency rang out from the dagger.
At the same time, the troll's body staggered back a step and fell into a rigidly paralyzed state.
And I wasn't such a fool that I'd miss this opening, but...
"...Ah, screw it!"
[Youth─Straight Punch]
My fist slammed right into the troll's solar plexus.
An electrifying shock reverberated back through my fist—
──Crunch!
──Craaack!
Guuueeeeeoooooogh!!!
"Ggh, AAAAAARGH!!!!"
The sensation of bones being utterly crushed.
Not completely shattered, but the terror that if this continued I might genuinely become a cripple.
It was laughable, really, throwing that punch right after telling myself I shouldn't, but I'd still gained a reward well worth the price.
Guugh! Gugh, gueeeegh...!
"...Yes!"
The troll was vomiting blood and writhing in agony.
Before I could even savor the sense of accomplishment that came from finally seeing the summit within view—
Gu... WAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!
"Ah, fuck."
The troll hurled its body at me once more.
This time I wasn't being careless like before, so I should've been fully capable of dodging——or so it should've been, but...
Gwooik!
"Guh...?!!"
The club grazed past the side of my head.
A raw, stinging pain bloomed at the tip of my ear.
I'd definitely dodged, and yet I hadn't been able to evade it perfectly.
"What... is this..."
A single step had changed.
A single breath had shifted.
The reason why I'd failed to dodge an attack that I clearly should have been able to avoid.
Gu... uuuuugh...!!!
"...Ah, fuck."
Hidden Boss Stage─Phase 2 initiated.
The troll threw off the armor it had been wearing and began pressuring me with movements that had grown a full notch faster.
Guweeeeeoooooooh!!!!
"Phase 2 is crossing the line!"
I'd barely adapted, but the troll's speed had quickened again.
At least its attack patterns were the same, so I could throw my body into dodging however possible, but the moment I tried to set up a stance to use a skill or anything, a club or fist was swooping in to kill me.
Kwoong! Kung! Kwugugugung!
"No! Fuck! If you've lost blood! You should at least get, you know, tired or something!"
Had its body gotten lighter as it bled out?
The troll began pressing me once more, driving me back relentlessly.
"Hi, hi! H-heuk! Hiiii!"
The patterns were the same.
Don't panic. I could dodge.
There were moments I'd lose track of it in my field of vision, but when that happened, I threw my body according to the patterns I remembered and barely avoided the attacks.
Crussssh!
"...Fuck..."
A massive club slammed into the spot where I'd been standing moments before.
What monstrous strength—even hitting the floor, it didn't bounce at all but just crushed right through the ground.
At this rate, that club should've shattered to balance out the cost-benefit, but whatever it was made of, it was tenaciously holding together.
─Kkagagagak, kkagak! Kkaaang!
"Guh... ngh...!"
Attacks I could dodge, I dodged.
Attacks I couldn't dodge, I deflected as much as possible.
And if I saw even a sliver of an opening, I landed just one hit and disengaged.
Fundamentals.
Nothing but the fundamentals.
Even the motion of taking time to ready a skill was a luxury I couldn't afford right now.
Gu... weooooogh!!!
"Guh.....!!"
The troll gripped its club with both hands with all its might, gathering its strength.
An AoE attack.
I had to dodge.
But dodge where?
Guweoooooooh!!!
"[Triple Step]."
Behind that troll's back.
If it could charge up and use a skill, then conversely, I could also use a skill.
By the time the club slammed into the ground and unleashed a fan-shaped shockwave, I had already slipped behind the troll's back.
"[Youth─... No, just a normal attack for now!"
Swhiick!
Guoo, ooooogh...!!
Let's conserve my right hand.
Just as I was satisfied with a single slash of the dagger, playing it safe to preserve a possible finishing blow—
Uuh... gueeeeegh!!!
"Kgh...!"
The troll twisted its waist and swung its club right then and there.
Since I'd closed the distance to land a hit, there wasn't enough space to dodge.
'A blessing in misfortune.'
If I'd used Punch, I probably would've been hit and killed during the post-attack delay.
I aimed my dagger at the club once more and yelled out.
"[Counter]."
Guooogh.....!!
Kkaaaaaang!!!
The club that struck the dagger was deflected, and the troll fell into paralysis once more.
At the same time, I could feel the dagger's condition growing slightly looser.
'Nooooo...!'
Please, let's just tone it down a little.
If I'm going to win, then let me win; if I'm going to lose, then let me lose.
Why did it keep teetering so narrowly, making my heart burst like this?
"You never said it wouldn't break, but isn't the durability way, way too weak?!"
["No matter how good an instrument is, if you swing it around like that it's going to break!"]
"Gguh, ah, AAAAAARGH!!!"
Don't block my view, you fucking bitch!
I hurriedly dismissed the window, but the troll had already shaken off its paralysis.
'Ah-eu, eu, euaaaa....!'
What a god-awful bitch.
What a moronic bitch.
For real, later, just let me see you again.
When that time comes, I'm seriously going to clap the ancient applause of the ages on your ass—
['Ur's Harp' executes the will of the Goddess 'Ur']
['Bless of God's Music' activated]
['The mythology of the Goddess of Music─Ur' resounds through the mortal realm]
──What the hell was this now?!
"Suddenly music's coming out?"
The sound of a musical performance resonated from the dagger.
Unfamiliar yet somehow familiar.
A string instrument rang out, and the identity of the sound that oddly settled my heart was—
[Poem for One Who Loves Music]
-A poem imbued with the mythology of 'Ur'
-May you never forget that music is always by your side
-I'm cheering for you! Chrono will definitely win!
-Luck increase (Large)
-Stress reduction (Large)
"...This is a BGM track, isn't it!"
The background music that always plays when you're playing the game.
The BGM that plays during moments when you're with Ur.
I was a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of this unexpected BGM and the buff effect that followed.
"What in the..."
Before I could even fully grasp what was happening,
the dagger rang out in resonance once more and began playing a new BGM.
[Poem for the Warrior Before a Bloody Battle]
-A poem imbued with the mythology of 'Ares'
-Smash everything that stands before you
-Are you going to let yourself be broken here, you bastard who seeks to lay claim to my child?!
-Max HP and HP recovery rate increase (Large)
-Max physical attack power increase (Large)
[Poem for the Soldier Praying for Victory]
-A poem imbued with the mythology of 'Athena'
-If strength is lacking, use technique. Broaden your perspective, and do not break
-Just a little more. Please hold on.
-Max MP and MP recovery rate increase (Large)
-Max magical attack power increase (Large)
[Poem for the Thief Pleading for Survival]
-A poem imbued with the mythology of 'Hermes'
-It's okay to run. It's okay to dodge. But you must never give up.
-Ehehe, really, it's not like I did anything particularly wrong...ah, ah, ah! Cancel this! I haven't finished talking yet—
-Agility increase (Large)
-Evasion rate increase (Large)
"...Hyaa."
Buff after buff, a consecutive chain of buffs.
My combat power had more than doubled in an instant.
The troll also seemed to have sensed the shift, glaring at me with fiercely blazing eyes.
"Really... they say there's no law that says you have to die."
I pointed my dagger forward and spoke.
[Poem the Mother of Gods Gives for Her Child]
-A poem imbued with the mythology of 'Hera'
-Advance. One more step forward, toward the front
-All of us are watching over you.
-All stats buff (Large)
"And so things have turned out like this again."
Power boiling throughout my entire body.
A body so filled with divinity that it tingled.
I'd been enduring and fighting somehow even without buffs, and now these super-sized buffs were pouring down like rain?
"What am I going to do?"
I wasn't confident.
"They keep pestering me to win, you know."
I wasn't confident that I'd lose.
I immediately dashed toward the troll.
Unlike before, my stats, slathered in buffs, let me handle the troll without difficulty.
And the conclusion of that life-or-death bloody battle was...
Guoooooooooooooh!!!!
"......Cough!"
The troll, its entire form dyed crimson red, and me, collapsed on the ground, vomiting blood.
"......Pffuh..."
Fuck.
Seriously.
"Phase 3 is fucking crossing the line...!"
I was slowly starting to want to cry.