Only I know that this world will end – 036 | Sousaku – 創作

Man-eating Plant

“～～～! ! “

　The Man-eating Plant seemed to immediately notice Akira as he approached. The ivy, which had been stretched on the side walls of the building, began wriggling to catch its prey as soon as it determined that Akira had entered its attack range.

　He dodged, sometimes jumped, and sometimes slashed at the approaching ivy with his knife, and then, with both feet firmly planted, he approached the Man-eating Plant’s body at full speed.

“Haa! “

　With a determined voice, Akira held out a kitchen knife.

　――Crunch. The sensation of breaking something was transmitted along the hand with a hard response.

“～～～～～～～～～～～～! ! “

　Even though there was no scream, it was immediately apparent that the Man-eating Plant was writhing in pain.

　Akira pulled out the knife he had stabbed and immediately stabbed it back into its body again.

“～～～～! ! “

　The Man-eating Plant writhed in even more pain.

　Akira jumped backward to avoid the purple juice spurting vigorously from the wounded body. Then, Akira put all his strength into his legs in an attempt to strike again.

!――Uh! “

　A shock so strong that it knocked the air out of him, and severe pain ran down his back.

“Shit! “

　Immediately, he guessed that he had been attacked by the Man-eating Plant.

　With a click of his tongue, Akira quickly turned around and at the same time swung the knife as hard as he could.

　The blade caught the ivy, which resembled a tentacle that was about to give chase and cut it off of the Man-eating Plant while also breaking the blade.

(Damn!!　(As expected, the durability of the knife won’t be enough for a monster larger than a goblin.)

　In this life, he had not taken a weapon from a goblin. Akira regretted his lack of preparation, but he had already challenged the Man-eating Plant and the battle had already begun. Akira clicked his tongue at himself for not having prepared a secondary weapon in addition to his main weapon, and quickly switched his means of attack.

“…! “

　Stepping forward, he twisted his hips in a circular motion. With the centrifugal force in his clenched fist, Akira swung that fist out to the back with all his might.

　It felt like hitting a sandbag straight on. The Man-eating Plant’s body trembled as it felt the impact, though the sense of certainty that he had inflicted damage was faint.

“UUUUUOOOOOOOOO!! “

　Shouting, Akira clenched his fist even tighter and swung it at the Man-eating Plant’s body.

　In the meantime, the Man-eating Plant tried to strike Akira down by flailing its ivy, but having once been caught by surprise, Akira could read it.

“Haa! “

　Akira avoided it with a quick sideways jump while simultaneously swinging his fist out of the air.

　At that moment, the Man-eating Plant’s ivy encroached on the spot where Akira had been just moments before, and several tendrils of the ivy caught the empty space all at once and wound around it. Apparently, the Man-eating Plant tried to catch Akira.

“――――Uff.”

　The sight gave Akira a chilling sensation, reminding him of those who had been captured by Man-eating Plants in his previous life.

　Man-eating Plants were, obviously, carnivorous plants. Akira had seen many times in his previous life as captives were taken away into that body.

(……Getting caught is a bad idea. No matter how much I try, I can’t tear off this guy’s ivy with my bare hands right now. I gotta take this guy down without getting caught.)

　Biting his teeth, Akira kicked the ground and leaped forward again.

　So once again Akira swung his fist and struck the Man-eating Plant’s body.

　Land a blow, then run away. Deliver a strike, then evade again. A few dozen minutes had passed since the battle had begun―――― with repeated attacks that were sometimes counterattacked. Finally, Akira succeeded in defeating the Man-eating Plant.

　――――――――――――――――――

　Level has been raised.

　A point has been awarded.

　There are points earned that have not been spent.

　Please distribute the points earned.

　――――――――――――――――――

“Haa, haa, haa, haa………… I d-did it…… I leveled, up…………”

　Akira muttered, breathing heavily as his shoulders moved up and down due to the repeated hit-and-away actions.

　Right now, Akira’s level barely rose by one after killing dozens of goblins. Taking that into consideration, he was quite happy to raise his level after defeating just one Man-eating Plant.

　Even though it was an opponent that required repetitive actions, a more physically demanding one than dealing with a goblin.

“A-Anyway…… I’ll be leveling with these guys, I guess.”

　Akira wiped the sweat from his forehead as he said this. Before long, the skin on Akira’s knuckles had become slyly peeled, probably because he had been punching the Man-eating Plant for so long.

　Yet those were not the only wounds on his body.

　Akira’s body, struck repeatedly by Man-eating Plant’s ivy, was covered with thick weals, and in addition, his skin was torn in places, and blood was oozing down his body. The slightest flinch caused Akira’s face to clench in pain, a shallow gasp escaping from his mouth.

ToC