Black Iron Magician

Chapter 234 Dead or Alive

Poplar’s magic creates a wall of flames, and Oda pushes the giant shark back to a place away from the center. The battle at the cape was neatly divided into three, just as Haruna and the others had planned.

Seeing from the camp where Clarius is, Haruna’s group and Hund are fighting near the large rock, which was the starting point, Oda’s group and Tanga are fighting on the west beach, and Rindou’s group and Urbul are fighting while moving on the east cape and the sea.

「――We’ve been separated, huh. So, you are my opponents?」

「That’s right. Once again, let’s do our best…!」

Haruna’s Doggan Staff is still can’t move. Even though Haruna’s feet are sinking in the ground and she’s putting all of her strength, Hund remains unmovable. However, it’s Haruna’s belief that if she loses by strength, she will do it with techniques, and if she loses by techniques, she will do it with her spirit. There’s no way it’s going to end like this.

「…… They are being on guard, huh. And it seems that they are not going to come. Then, I will――」

The moment he said so, Hund realized the problem with his own body.

(… My arm can’t move?)

Perhaps through the right arm that’s holding the Doggan Staff, the right half of his body can’t move at all. He can put strength in his right arm in that position. However, the more strength he put, the more it refused to listen to him as if his body is locked in place. Even with Hund’s power, the result is the same. Not only that, he also can’t let it go.

This is the aiki that Haruna has converted into a new technique. Instead of using the force that came to blow the opponent away, it’s a technique that seals the opponent on the spot. Originally, this technique was used by directly touching the opponent, but Haruna, who has improved her Skills and techniques, can do this even going through her Doggan Staff. And at this moment, Hund’s attention turned away from everyone except Haruna.

――――Flash!

「Ugh…!?」

Chinatsu didn’t miss that opportunity. She created the Glint Ball, which she chanted previously, in front of Hund’s eyes and made it glow brightly. Chinatsu’s flash-bang-like magic succeeded in stealing Hund’s view. Then, Chinatsu jumped forward.

(My eyesight will be useless for a while, huh….)

However, even though he can’t see, he can still find the location with the presence. Hund feels that Chinatsu is approaching. To intercept her, he raises his free left arm.

「Hund-san! Which do you prefer, seafood or mountain food!?」

「If I had to say, I prefer the sea, of course! However, it’s not right to separate nature’s blessings into likes and dislikes! A well-balanced diet creates a healthy body, and――」

However, a question from Therese suddenly came to his ears, and his attention was diverted to her.

(Hm? What am I doing? Why did my mouth…)

Losing its target, Hund’s left arm cut through the empty air. Chinatsu kicked the air and went around behind Hund. At that moment, she pulled out her wooden sword. The Flame Magic Sword Pluto revealed its true figure, roared with hot flames, and was swung at Hund’s nape.

(――――!? The flesh is so thick!)

Chinatsu’s sword was certainly being swung down and tore Hund’s neck…. However, it was only until halfway, enough for the blade to be hidden by the flesh.

「Being able to inflict this much damage even with such an immature ability, what a terrifying sharpness. And this feeling of burning flesh, is that some kind of magic sword? Black-haired girl, where did you get that sword?」

「Well, who knows?」

Chinatsu answered Hund’s question while acting calm, but her heart is beating so fast. Chinatsu is now on Hund’s huge shoulder. Sensing the danger from Hund’s voice, she tries to leave quickly, but her sword doesn’t come out. The muscles in his neck swelled to squeeze Pluto and wouldn’t let it go.

Before the battle began, Chinatsu thought that they had a good chance to win this battle. After all, they have four powerful people equivalent to level 6 against one level 7 enemy. She was sure that even if it’s going to be a hard fight, it wouldn’t be more than that. However, the reality is different. The triple traps and the perfect surprise attack didn’t work against him. This is a painful miscalculation. The premise is overturned from the beginning, and Chinatsu is racking her brain for a way to overcome this situation.

The reason this happened was because they don’t know a certain condition. And that’s the total value of the related Skills needed to level up. Deris and Nell taught Haruna and Chinatsu only the information up to level 7, which is their next goal, so they don’t know how many the total level of related Skills needed to reach level 8. Well, they have roughly estimated it, but Hund’s power may have been more than that.

By the way, the total level of related Skills required to level up that Haruna and Chinatsu have been taught so far is as follows:

Level 1, the total level of related Skills: 0

Level 2, the total level of related Skills: 10

Level 3, the total level of related Skills: 30

Level 4, the total level of related Skills: 100

Level 5, the total level of related Skills: 200

Level 6, the total level of related Skills: 400

Level 7, the total level of related Skills: 700

As you can see, the higher the level, the wider the gap between the next level. You can see that level 1 people can somewhat win against level 2 monsters, but level 3 people that can win against level 4 monsters are almost none, and even less and less if it’s higher than that. So, how many the total level of related Skills needed to reach level 8?

――The answer is, 1200. That’s three times as many as level 6, and about 1,7 times as many as level 7. There’s a clear difference in ability between Hund, who has reached level 7 after many years and now is still diligently doing training, and Haruna and the others, who are still in the middle of level 6.

(This is bad. I mean, Haruna will be happy…!)

Yes, the most problematic thing is that Haruna won’t just stay still in front of a stronger enemy than she expected. The stronger the enemy, the more she will get fired up, and Haruna is a girl that will use any means to defeat the opponent if there’s a huge difference in their ability. Especially in this battle where dead or alive is not a matter except for surrender. She may take action that’s unpredictable even for Chinatsu.

「Don’t think too hard. It’s inevitable that you are surprised. After all, my abilit――」

「Hah!」

「!?」

It seems that he was in the middle of an explanation, but Haruna took action regardless. A mysterious impact came from below the ground, and Hund was blown up. The Doggan Staff that was being held by him was released, and with this impact, Chinatsu’s Pluto was also successfully pulled out of Hund’s body. When the opponent was talking, Haruna easily changed the nature of her aiki, sent the impact upward, and made the opponent float in the sky.

「Nuh…!」

「Chinatsu-chan! He’s not an opponent you can capture alive!」

Haruna shouted while repositioning her Doggan Staff toward the sky. Haruna is saying that she will try her best to attack the floating Hund with the intention to kill. Haruna’s eyes are completely that of a hunter.

「I know, let’s go with Plan B! Wee! Therese-san!」

「Okay…. I’ve just finished chanting…!」

「Me too desuwa!」

Chinatsu also acknowledged this. As if they’ve waited for those words, the two unleashed the blue magic power and the earth-colored magic power.

「Vadarizates…!

「Sculpture, desuwa!」