[Keruk. My name is Idaltaru. You can call me Idy if you would like. Human, please tell me your name.]

Her face was full of excitement.

I could sense shyness and fluttering heart from her.

Since a while ago, her tail had been waggling left and right.

I absolutely did not want to know what that gesture meant, but unfortunately, the knowledge before the time of Babel was kindly explaining that her movement was a mating ritual by a female lizard right before mating.

This female lizard’s mind was full of thoughts about wanting to take me. I had no name that I wanted to give out to someone like that.

[Battle Focus]

In the slowed world, my thought processing was accelerated.

Thanks to that lunatic’s ridiculous words, my head was still in complete disarray.

‘However, to make sure her rambling does not become reality, I need to focus on this battle right now.

I need to fight and win if I want to avoid the horrible incident later.

First thing first, that lizard named Idaltaru is definitely different from ordinary lizards.

She is different starting with her specs.

Her muscular strength, speed, and the skill in her way of handling the trident…

However, the biggest difference is that her combat style is the exact opposite of the ordinary lizards.

Maybe it is a style she developed to fight her own kind which are aggressive and violent. Her style is very calm and stable.

She sees the opponent’s attack and dodges it. Also, she counters in that moment where there is a gap in the opponent’s defense.’

Her tail attacks were mostly used just for blocking me from getting closer or buying herself time until she could counter with her trident.

Her moves were not instinctive. They were all very well calculated.

Of course, her combat style definitely had a limit, but it was stable.

She even possessed the skill to turn her body into gaseous form and which allowed her opponent’s attack to just pa.s.s through. She was even more fearsome because of this.

Moreover, she was even able to respond to my sudden leap through s.p.a.ce using Blink, which was incredibly fast.

Her response speed was definitely an exception to the norm.

It could be that she possessed a skill that improved her reflex and cognitive process.

It could be that her gaseous form skill had auto evasion function built in.

It was a special attribute that was common in evasion skill in video games.

However, even that cheat-like gaseous form transformation skill had a weakness.

It could be maintained only for the brief moment of impact.

When Idaltaru dodged the Gladius that I threw at her using the gaseous form transformation, she was not able to dodge the next attack that followed. Instead, she got hit.

Just like my Blink, it seemed that continuous use was not possible.

I have found the answer.

I could get around her gaseous form transformation evasion by starting with an ordinary attack to force her to use it. Immediately after that, I could use the Talaria’s Wing and Blink charge attack combination to finish the duel.

I raised the backsword and looked for an opening on Idaltaru’s defense.

Having noticed that I took a combat stance again, Idaltaru was distraught.

[Human! Why do you refuse me!]

I wanted to quit this ridiculous battle of words right at this instant and just focus on the battle.

However, I could not just let this go without talking back.

“Is there any reason at all why I should not refuse you, you hideous lizard!”

On her face, Idaltaru had the look of a fragile woman who was hurt from a careless, harsh insult. It was really, really disgusting to look at.

‘Oh my… I think I’ll go insane.’

[Y… You didn’t have to say something so harsh! Keruk.]

[You shouldn’t judge someone purely based on appearance! Keruk.]

Judging from what she was saying, and how she was saying it, it seemed she was not among the prettiest in her own kind.

[If you are going to act this way, I’ll make you stay even if it is by force!]

“Don’t say such ridiculous things!”

‘Do you have multiple personalities? Just how many different characters’ personalities do you have to stuff in yourself to be satisfied?’

[Kiaaaaaooo!]

Idaltaru raised her head high toward the sky and screamed in her beastly roar.

When she faced her front again, her eyes were saturated in red.

She roared again and charged toward me.

‘When angry, even this one charges in just like ordinary lizardmen. If she loses her cool and charges in, I can only be thankful about that.’

Along with her charging speed, a deadly thrust using her entire body’s strength came at me.

It seemed she was not thinking that I could dodge it or block it. It was a thrust attack that looked like she was just throwing her body.

‘I don’t think I can simply deflect this.

The location of the spear’s tip is… If I tried to haphazardly parry this, the trident will pierce my body instead.’

[Battle Focus]

Because of a useless battle of words, my focus was diminished, so the Battle Focus was canceled earlier. I used the skill again.

‘d.a.m.n it. I activated it too late.’

I used the left arm that was holding the shield.

I moved it toward the spear.

‘That spear is definitely coming at me with enough force to pierce even an iron shield.

In that case, just you try to pierce through an arm too.’

Kagang!

As I thought, the trident pierced right through my shield, and it even went through my left arm.

Also, it penetrated further toward my left waist.

I ignored the pain.

As of now, I was able to do that.

My right arm was swung, and the Savage warrior’s backsword cleanly cut off Idaltaru’s left arm.

A lizard’s mouth, which had saw-like teeth, was coming right at me in front of my eyes.

Actually, I was going to make her use up her gaseous form transformation skill with this and finish the fight with the Talaria’s Wing and Blink. However, Idaltaru did not use the skill to the very end.

[Blink]

I used Blink to fall back and gained a big distance between myself and her.

[Kuuuaaaaak!]

‘Does it hurt? It hurts for me as well.’

I cut off Idaltaru’s left arm along the shoulder. Similarly, my left arm was pierced by the trident and had holes.

It was obvious this situation was an advantage to myself.

If the opponent was in pain like me, then I was at an advantage no matter what.

On top of that, Idaltaru’s spear was still stuck on my arm.

I even took her weapon, so my attack, which was attempted with the intention of giving up an arm for it, could be considered as a definite success.

[Krurururu. You are too mean.]

Idaltaru held her left shoulder with her hand. Blood was gushing out of her left shoulder. She mumbled as she looked at her arm on the floor.

‘Mean, who is mean?

You are the one with wacko brain who is taking things too far.’

[You just tried to kill me. If I was just a little bit slower, your sword would have been headed to my neck instead of my arm.]

She was right, so I didn’t say anything back to deny it.

[In that case, instead of seeing you as a mate, I’ll consider you as a foe that I should kill!]

Along with her shouting, the muscle on her entire body swelled up. Her body size grew almost twice her original size.

‘Is this the start of the phase two?’

[Kiaaaaaoooo!]

Kw.a.n.g!!

Idaltaro stepped hard with her feet, and the entire floor cracked with spider-web like cracks.

‘… This is too strong?’

Kw.a.n.g!!

I barely managed to dodge Idaltaru’s feet falling on me. I rolled and rolled to move away.

‘Oh my…

Does that make common sense?

This marble stone room is on the brink of completely collapsing.

Idaltaru lost her cool and she is going berserk. She is charging at me without any thoughts.’

She lost an arm and her trident. She was attacking out of instinct without any calculated thoughts, so it was not hard to dodge her.

However, every time I dodged her, the wall and the floor were destroyed.

It had not been ten minutes yet, but in that short duration, the boss room was turned to shambles. I wondered if the ceiling was going to collapse at any minute.

‘In a video game, a boss monster’s physical abilities suddenly getting boosted from going berserk is pretty common.’

So, when Idaltaru started to go mad and run amok, I didn’t think much of it other than that she really looked like a boss monster from a video game.

However…

Kw.a.n.g!

[Kuwaaaaaooooo!]

“Ugh… Ugh…”

I barely managed to dodge her punch.

My legs were starting to shiver, so my body ended up leaning on a wall nearby.

‘Hey, this is too much!

I merely had been running around to dodge her attacks, but I am getting exhausted and it is hard to even catch my breath.

Just how long is that going to last?

At this rate, I’ll be exhausted first.’

My speed was diminished quite a bit already, so I used Blink to dodge several times.

I only had two more chances for using Blink.

I had to make these two chances count somehow.

A fist was coming right at my face. I lowered my head quickly and dodged it.

Kw.a.n.g!!!

Along with a sound of a cannon-like explosion, going past where my head was just now, Idaltaru’s fist was planted on the wall.

As soon as I dodged her fist, I drew Gladius and aimed for her heart.

It was close, but Idaltaru’s tail was swung at that moment.

I used the Talaria’s Wing to counter it, but her tail threw my entire body up into the air.

‘f.u.c.k, I’ll really die like this.’

“Idy!”

While I was flying in the air, my will to survive spoke out without going through my brain’s filter.

‘Idy?’

Thanks to the Talaria’s Wing’s flight effect, I didn’t plummet to the floor. Instead, I was able to land safely.

Actually, I was able to land safely because Idaltaru stopped her attacks and just stared at me with a vacant look on her face.

‘Why is she like that?’

[Keruk. What is it, human? Did you finally change your mind or something?]

‘Idy…’

That was right. A while ago, she told me I could call her Idy.

It seemed I called her name unconsciously because I wanted to live.

I got to recognize the strong will to survive in me that tried to live through this no matter what.

“… You… You are truly strong!”

‘So what now…

d.a.m.n it.

I have to think of the next line quickly.’

“Regardless of how you look outside, your inside is truly magnificent!”

‘You dumba.s.s, what you just said to her ultimately means you are trying to say she is ugly outside!’

[… So what is it that you want to say, human!]

‘d.a.m.n it… I don’t have a watch, but I feel like I can actually hear the sound of a watch ticking. It is making me anxious about time.

Battle Focus!

Actually, I already have used it.

So why is the time pa.s.sing so fast!

I had to think about what to say next.

I don’t know when that lunatic lizard was going to lose her cool and charge at me again.

I really don’t have time anymore.’

“Give me time! Please give me time!”

‘That’s not a bad line.

It is the perfect line to use if it is difficult to refuse the confession at the spot. It is the best one to just wing it and escape the scene.

It’s a line I have heard twice from girls I confessed to when I was in college.’

[Time? What for?]

“Because of your sudden declaration of interest in me as your mate, my mind is in too much of disarray. I need time to reflect on myself!”

‘If I ever go back to the reality, I think I should go and personally thank the girls from college who rejected me. They told me such useful lines.’

[How long… do you need?]

Idaltaru’s voice quickly became calm.

I was surprised to see this. Only a moment ago, she was a hulk lizard who was running amok while having lost her mind. Now, she was so calm when I only said I will think about it for a moment.

‘I wonder just how much does this lizard likes me?

Could it be that my face’s shape is considered ultra-gorgeous among the lizard’s standard?

Anyway, I did it.’

“Just a moment… I just need a moment.”

After saying that, I pulled out the long spear that was stuck on my arm.

‘G.o.d d.a.m.n it. It was excruciating having had to run around with this stuck on my arm.’

Blood gushed out like fountain every time I made a quick movement.

Thanks to that, my bleeding resistance went up by one. However, that was not making me feel better at this moment.

I used inventory, brought out the stamina potion and healing potion and drank them.

While I was drinking the potions, I fixated my eyes at Idaltaru.

That lizard was not attacking me right now because she was insane.

Also, she should not be trusting me for having made a promise to an insane lizard.

Having drank all of the potions, I haphazardly put away the empty bottles to the inventory. I grabbed hold of the backsword.

[Are you done now? Have you finished thinking about it?]

“Wait a minute. I need to perform a human ritual to focus my mind.”

I just made that up for now.

I aimed the backsword to the front and took a neutral stance.

It was a stance that was supposed to be done with both hands on the sword, so it was a little uncomfortable with the backsword which was meant to be used with just one hand.

Also, the sword had quite a curvature, so the stance was hard to maintain.

Huup.

I took a deep breath in and then focused.

This was a difficult technique. Even when I practiced it at the waiting room, my chance of failure was over 90%.

Moreover, if I failed, there was going to be an immediate counter.

From the neutral stance, I slowly raised my sword and took a raised sword stance.

Figuring out ways to use Blink in offensive measures had always been a big homework for me.

I have tried a body charge attack with Blink once, and it resulted in too severe of shock to my body.

In the end, only way to utilize Blink offensively was with Talaria’s Wing.

However, I did have one more way to use it offensively.

It was using a weapon.

‘Just making the weapon collide with the opponent with Blink is not going to be enough. If I am going to do that, I might as well use Talaria’s Wing. That would be better.

However, if I managed to combine Blink with a chest cut,  the speed of the sword swing and Blink’s movement power…

At the moment just before Blink arrives at the target location, literally just before that critical moment, just before the momentum from Blink’s movement disappears, if I could swing the sword while carrying all that momentum and cut the target…

I thought about the distance between me and Idaltaru and Blink’s timing as I struck down the sword.

After that…

[Blink]

Booooong…

Along with that wind sound, the backsword chopped off Idaltaru’s body.

However, Idaltaru did not incur any injury from my attack.

She transformed her body into black smoke and dodged my sword.

However, her face was filled with a perplexed look. As for my face, it was filled with a sense of relief.

This technique had one thing that was superior to the Talaria’s Wing and Blink combination.

It was the fact that I did not have to charge in with my body.

When I arrived at the destination of my Blink, as soon as the movement was completed, all momentum disappeared with it, which was a characteristic of the Blink skill.

After this, I was able to leisurely prepare for the next attack.

[Talaria’s Wing]

After waiting for a moment, Idaltaru’s body, which was turned to black smoke earlier, had turned back to normal.

[Blink]

Kw.a.n.g!!

As soon as her body returned to normal, I used Blink and charged in with the Talaria’s Wing.

However, just before the moment I used Blink, she grabbed on to my ankle with her tail. So I ended up rolling with her instead.

The shock from the Blink was absorbed by the Talaria’s Wing. However, while I was rolling with my ankle grabbed by Idaltaru’s tail, I ended up hitting my head on the floor a few times.

Like that…

I lost my consciousness.

“Kuuuuk.”

‘Is it this pattern again?’

I turned my head and looked at Idaltaru.

Her body was not showing any movement, even a small one.

Her body was in middle of a pool of blood.

‘Actually, since she had been running around like that with her arm cut off, she must have bleed a lot.’

I ended up in a beat up state again, but still, I survived somehow, and I felt relieved from that.

‘I think it has been a while since I gone on a swimming in the Stvx and returned.’

Um… My body was still not moving as I wanted.

‘For now, I think I should wait until my body can move as I want. I should drink another potion from the inventory.

Actually, I just need to ride the portal.

Since my body won’t move… I should use Blink and get to the portal.

I already have used all five allowances for Blink, so I should wait a bit.

I am not in a good condition, but it is not so critical that I would die from bleeding while I wait for the cooling time for the Blink to pa.s.s.

I should just sit tight, relax and wait…?

Wait a minute…

… My body is supposed to be recovered automatically after beating a boss room.

There was no clear message either.’

[Kurururururu]

I felt creeped out. My hair spiked up from the chill. I slowly turned my head and looked at Idaltaru again.

Idaltaru’s face was painted in blood. She raised her head up and was glaring at me.

[Human, you are so cruel.]

[You are too cruel. You really have gone too far… You are atrocious.]

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