Only I know that this world will end – 089 | Sousaku – 創作

Ajirity up

――――But, at that moment.

"Ajirity up."

The Werewolf's body suddenly accelerated at the words that he had definitely muttered.

――Kiiin!!

Akira's axe was stopped by the sharp claws of the werewolf.
It was such an unbelievable movement.
Akira was caught off guard when the attack he believed he had surely landed was blocked, and when he saw the werewolf's movement increase in speed, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

"What――――?"

What's with that movement?
Those words that were about to be spoken were interrupted by the words that the werewolf spoke next.

"Endless, assault."

The werewolf spat out these words and his body began to move almost simultaneously.
The sharp claws on both of its hands delivered a series of blows that knocked the Minotaur's battleaxe out of Akira's hand, but the werewolf did not stop moving, and swung its right leg as if tracing out a pre-determined movement.

"Gak."

Akira was blown away and rolled on the ground while hearing the sound of his ribs breaking.

"Gu, a, a…………!! "

Akira's breath stopped for a few moments as he felt the piercing pain.
But there was no time to writhe in pain.
The werewolf kicked the ground and quickly rushed towards Akira, and then swung his fist down to crush Akira's head.

"…………! "

Akira concentrated on avoiding the fist with all his might, completely forgetting the pain.
Despite feeling the sweat trickle down his back from the impact of the werewolf's body, Akira kicked the werewolf with all his strength and fought back.
The werewolf, having been kicked away, crashed into a multi-tenant building, collapsing its walls and burying him under the rubble.

"Haa, haa, haa! What the hell's going on!? "

Akira, seeing this, held his broken ribs while catching his breath in the time he had somehow managed to earn, and then swore loudly.

"Fuck!! "

Akira spat out the blood clot that had formed in his mouth and then used Analysis to check the status of the werewolf.

――――――――――――――――――
Werewolf Lv９３

Stamina：２３７
Strength：２１３
Endurance：２５７
Speed：４１２（＋１００）
Magical power：７０
Luck：５１

――――――――――――――――――
Individual information: Cannot be displayed due to insufficient level
――――――――――――――――――
Possessed skills: Cannot be displayed due to insufficient level
――――――――――――――――――

"What!? "

Akira's eyes widened at the sight of the number displayed there.

(That guy's speed……Isn't it weird!? How can that be?! ――――Oh, I get it. Those words from earlier…… 『Ajirity up』 was it? So is because of that!? )

――Agility increase.

In other words, by uttering those words that increase agility, the werewolf's status must have changed as of that moment.

(……No way. These guys are using skills too!? )

The realization of this fact made him feel as if he were going blind.
He desperately racked his brains trying to think of a way to deal with the situation.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a solution.

(What should I do, what should I do, what should I do!? I still have two more points. If I put all that into my magical power, I can still outdo them in regards to Speed!! I've got no other choice!! )

Akira muttered to himself, and without hesitation opened the status screen and poured all his points into magical power.

――――――――――――――――――
Ichijou Akira 25 years old Male Lv1 (55)

Stamina：８２
Strength：１８２
Endurance：１５１
Speed：１６６（＋３５０）
Magical power：４１【４３】（＋６Up）
Luck：５６

Points: 0
――――――――――――――――――

Apparently, even if you increase your magical power at a point while Dash was active, the Speed correction value would not increase any further and would remain at the original correction value based on the magical power value at the time of activation.
Akira clicked his tongue at this and immediately began to think.

(The remaining time for the 『Dash』 that is currently active is…… still over 20 seconds. As soon as the Dash ends, if I re-apply the skill, my Speed will be 566!! Until then, I have to defend against the werewolf's attacks, as we're almost at the same speed now!! )

As he was doing this, the werewolf slowly emerged from the rubble.
As expected, it didn't seem to have sustained any serious damage.
Akira gritted his teeth in anger, glanced at the position of the axe that had been blown away, confirmed that there was no time to pick it up, drew the iron sword from his back, and readied himself.

"Grrgrrgrr………… Oooooooo!! "

The werewolf growled menacingly and kicked the ground, closing in on Akira.
It tried to tear Akira apart by swinging its sharp claws from above, but Akira also struck his iron sword in response to its movements.

――Kiiiiiiiin

Akira and the werewolf stared at each other from close range again.
Akira then suddenly relaxed his body, causing the werewolf to lose his balance slightly as it pushed with all its strength.

"...!? "

The werewolf probably didn't expect Akira to relax his grip in the middle of the struggle.
It instantly planted its feet to regain its slightly collapsed stance, but this led to a definite opening.

"Raarh! "

Akira pushed his fist into the werewolf's stomach, causing its body to bend forward at the waist. He quickly reined in the werewolf's head and kicked the werewolf in the face from the side with his right knee.

"Gaah!"

The werewolf's voice leaked out.
However, judging from the response, it didn't seem to have caused much damage. However, it was a powerful enough attack to stop the werewolf in its tracks, even if only for a few moments.
Akira quickly circled behind the werewolf.
And as quickly as possible. Akira dropped the iron sword in his hand to the ground, grabbed the werewolf's arms with both hands and twisted them up as hard as he could, shouting at the top of his voice.

"――――Nao-san!! Now!! "

Nao must have also understood what Akira was trying to say.
With a startled expression, she reached for the gun hanging from her thigh with a trembling hand.

"Haa, haa, haa, haa, haa…………!! "

A few short gasps escaped from Nao's mouth, and the sound of her teeth chattering could be heard.
She repeatedly dropped the gun on the ground, as if she was trying to pick it up but couldn't muster the strength.
While doing so, Nao managed to grab the gun and, with a frozen expression of fear, turned her eyes to the werewolf.

The pupil of her eye twitched violently.
Akira could clearly feel the various fears that continued to well up inside her.

With a desperate expression on his face, Akira continued to put all his strength into holding off the werewolf.
However, werewolves were not just easy prey.

"Guu, gaa, aa…………"

In an attempt to somehow break free of Akira's restraints, it struggled and shouted out.
This was probably because there was a difference in strength values to begin with. Akira let out a loud tongue-clicking sound as the restraints were forcefully undone while he was still in a locked-joint position.

"Nao-san!! "

With those words, Nao probably realized that there was no time left.
Her blood pressure dropped, and her lips, which had turned blue after passing through white, clenched, and she managed to open her mouth.

"……S-sho-sho…… Shock A-a-arrow."

Those words, uttered while stifling her fear, were terribly quiet and shaky.
However, it seemed that they still managed to activate the magic.
When the trembling muzzle lit up, the light quickly changed into the shape of an arrow.
The created arrow of light then flew to the place where Nao was aiming.

――Thud!

The arrow hit the werewolf's face, causing a definite impact.
Such an attack could hardly be called damaging. However, that attack was worth more than any other attack.

(――――!! All right, if I kill this guy, the scenario will be over!! )

Akira let out a sigh of relief in his heart and kicked the werewolf away to create some distance.

"Thank you very much, Nao-san!! "

Akira confronted the werewolf.
The werewolf also took a moment to regain his composure after being kicked away, and then quickly got back up by taking a defensive posture and absorbing the impact.
It was then that the werewolf's gaze drifted behind Akira.

――A grin showed.

The werewolf sneered at the person it saw there.
Perhaps the attack made them aware of Nao's existence, who had been hiding behind Akira until now.
The smile on its face, twisted into a hideous grin, told the whole story: it was far easier to kill the girl sitting there than the man in front of it.

"Grrrrrrrrrraaaaah!! "

It howled, and then the werewolf ran off.

(――――This is bad!! )

Akira immediately understood the werewolf's intentions.
Akira tried to stop it somehow, and he kicked the werewolf straight on, but the werewolf must have guessed Akira's aim from the many times they had traded blows.
Just as it dodged to avoid the trajectory of the kick, it kicked Akira in the stomach with all its strength in return.

"U-Ahg! "

Akira's breath stopped for a moment.
He almost stopped moving, but Akira swallowed the taste of the iron that was rising in his mouth and gritted his teeth to endure the pain, then reached out to the werewolf desperately, not wanting to let it get to Nao.

"I won't, let, you!! "

However, he couldn't reach it.
The werewolf slipped through his hands and swung its fist at Akira's face as if it were a parting gift.
Akira's vision darkened for a moment, but he desperately held on to his consciousness and raised his voice.

"I won't let you goooooooooooo!! "

Akira focused his strength on his legs and started to run, trying to catch up with the running werewolf.

――At that moment. Snap. Akira immediately realized that the Dash's effect time had ended as his own body slowed down rapidly.

(『Dash』, 『Dash』, 『Dash』!! Faster, faster! I'll protect you, Nao-san!! I'm not gonna let you die!! I made a promise. I said I would protect you. Run, run, run!! RUUUUUUUUUN!! )

Akira, kicking the ground with all his might as he urged his accelerating body on, ran towards Nao, shaking off the overlapping error messages that spread out before his eyes and the screen that informed him of the time remaining before the Dash was activated.
The third Dash. The effect of pouring all of the remaining points into magical power was such that it even surpassed a werewolf, whose Speed had increased by using a skill.
And so, Akira threw himself in front of Nao to protect her, at almost the same time as the werewolf kicked at Nao.

"――――！ "
"Na――――Guh! "

The impact sent Akira and Nao bouncing and rolling across the ground, slamming into the wall of an apartment building.
Akira stood up immediately.
However, Nao didn't seem to be moving. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that she had cut her forehead when she tumbled on the ground, and bright red blood was beginning to soak the pavement.

"Nao-san! "

Akira called out to Nao while enduring the pain that was attacking his own body.
It seemed that he was unable to completely block the werewolf's attack.
Akira, who immediately realized from Nao's appearance that something was wrong, called out to her again.

"Nao-san!! "

Nao's eyelids twitched at the loud voice.
Seeing that, Akira breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes opened slightly.

(Good. She's alive…… )

However, the shock that Nao received was probably greater than he expected.
Perhaps due to her low Stamina to begin with, Nao's eyes were still unfocused and trembling slightly when she regained consciousness.
Meanwhile, blood continued to flow down from her forehead.

"Guh, cough, cough! "

At the same time as Nao coughed violently, a clot of blood was spat out.
It seemed that she had injured her internal organs.
Akira bit his lip hard and stood up quickly.
Judging from the state of Nao, it was certain that she would die if she received any more attacks.
If she died, this battle would be repeated.
Akira couldn't bear to cause her any more pain.

(Quickly, quickly!! I have to end this fight as soon as possible!! )

Akira looked out over the battlefield and confirmed the position of the battleaxe that had been blown away.

(I have to get to that axe somehow! )

With that axe, he'll be able to land a solid blow on the werewolf!
Despite this, Akira realized that he must first turn the werewolf's hate back towards himself, and so he rushed towards the werewolf.
And so the fierce battle between Akira and the werewolf began again.