Moon Shadow Sword
“Rooooaaarrr!!”
Nuker charged forward, swinging his battle axe. Though it was a crude swing utterly lacking in technique, the sheer power and speed from his overwhelming physical abilities created enough wind pressure to unleash devastating destructive force all on its own.
“You dodge like a rat!”
After that initial axe throw, he'd realized his mistake and stopped targeting the women, pulling back to create distance instead. Thanks to that, I could focus purely on evasion, slipping past his attacks.
Whoosh!Whoosh!
Drawing a fresh battle axe from his belt to replace the one he'd thrown, Nuker swung both arms wildly, slashing through the air—but not a single blow reached me. No matter how fast or powerful, as long as his movements stayed this predictable, dodging was effortless as long as he didn't vanish from my sight.
The position of his feet, the twitch of muscles signaling his next action, the direction of his gaze. All of it telegraphed his attacks plain as day. It'd be harder to let myself get hit. With Posture Control aiding me to boot, my evasions flowed as naturally as water.
Brina was tougher.
Brina's accelerating strikes had slipped from my vision in an instant, pure physical prowess with no room for technique to intervene. Compared to her, who layered skill on top of that, Nuker was actually easier to handle.
“Groooaaarrr!! How long are you gonna keep dodging?!”
Whoosh!!Boom!!
“Whoa!”
The strike aimed at me pulverized an innocent stone wall in the passage instead. That ferocious blow, even if I'd blocked it head-on, would've inflicted lethal damage. No room for carelessness.
Most attacks won't even faze him.
While dodging, I'd slipped in sword slashes to force bleeding, but his hide was so tough that my glancing cuts barely scratched the surface.
I need a decisive blow.
From that moment, I ceased my minor jabs entirely, focusing solely on evasion and observing his patterns. The more excited he got, the stronger his swings—but also sloppier, bigger, more predictable. With time, his movements became familiar.
Got it.
Against a foe with superior physical stats, the most potent way to win through skill is a counter that turns their strength against them. For the first time, I went on the offensive, timing it to his attack.
Nothing beats a pull against one-note brute force.
Yielding to overwhelming power is one thing, but drawing it in—though trickier—lets you control the force more precisely. Using our height difference, I pulled his downward axe swing before it reached peak power.
Nggh, ridiculously strong.
Even having read his flow perfectly, even intercepting before full power, the force transmitted through my sword still outmatched mine. I steadied my buckling body with Posture Control, gripped tighter, and continued the pull.
“Hup!”
“What?!”
His own attack veering off-course threw Nuker into panic. In that split-second gap, I closed in, riding his battle axe—now sheathed against my blade like a scabbard—upward, opposite his downward arc, and severed his right wrist.
Slash!
His wrist came clean off. Circling behind him, I followed up with a slash to his thigh.
“Gaaargh!!”
A beat late, he whipped around, and I hurled a throwing dagger at his remaining right eye.
“Guh!”
Instinctively raising his arm to block, his right wrist—dominant hand—was already gone. The dagger plunged straight into his eye.
“Grraaaaaahhh!!”
And in that instant—vision blocked, pain destabilizing him—that was my opening.
Hoo.
A fleeting breath, summoning the sensation from when I'd snapped those shackles. My senses expanded; Nuker's movements sharpened into crystal clarity.
Snarling through the pain, he swung his remaining battle axe with full force. His fastest strike yet.
But right now, my attack was faster.
Moon Shadow Form 5.
From the blind spot of his darkened vision, my sword traced a half-moon, slicing his throat.
Lower Crescent.
“Guhk...! Ack! Grrgl...”
Blood bubbled as half his neck parted. Clutching at it in disbelief, he stared at me before collapsing.
Stab.Stab.
Only after piercing his heart and skull to confirm the kill did I slump to the floor myself.
“I win.”
It'd been ages since I'd needed my parents' secret sword arts to claim victory. I'd held back on Brina out of doubt it'd land clean, but it worked perfectly here.
Physical stats up, and the strain of Moon Shadow Sword feels lighter.
The secret arts my 4th-grade hunter parents wielded—Moon Shadow Sword and Sun Blade—came from the Tower. Tailored for superhumans who could climb it, they overburdened my inferior body, sapping their full power and taxing me heavily. I'd avoided real combat use unless life hung in the balance.
But now? Smoother, stronger.
“You... killed Nuker? All by yourself?”
Leaning against the passage wall for a breather, the outside fell quiet. The three women emerged, staring at his corpse in disbelief.
“He's really dead?”
As the bobbed-hair woman asked, the system messages popped up first.
Tracker Nuker's death confirmed. Commencing settlement.
Additional Objective: Rescue Hostages (3/3)
Bonus Objective: Eliminate Tracker Nuker
Bonus objective achievement automatically completes core objective.
Additional Objective Reward: +1 Vitality per rescued hostage
◈ Skill: Zebra's Virility (D)
◈ Item: Tracker's Seal (D)
The bearer gains the virility of a zebra. Ejaculation volume and sperm production rate increase dramatically.
All physical stats +4 when facing stronger enemies.
+5 Vitality when protecting the weak in battle. Fatigue reduced.
Your Swordsmanship skill has increased by one grade.
While the three women read their own system messages, I pored over the longest string of notifications I'd seen yet.
The perfect clear rewards for Nuker's Maze were far more lavish than Brina's dungeon. Base and special rewards combined for +20 physical stats total. Rescuing all three hostages netted +3 Vitality. And for the bonus objective, a choice: stats, skill, or item.
+5 Vitality's solid and safe. Tracker's Seal must hold Nuker's tracking magic.
Regrettably, only one from the bonus list. All tempting, but from the start, only one caught my eye.