Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? [Novel] Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Next Time (3)

Pain brushed across my shoulder, but this barely qualified as an itch.

I ignored it with practiced ease and took my next step.

There was nothing obvious to use as a foothold, but that did not mean I was out of options.

My combat boot planted against the underside of a vine overhead, and I launched myself downward again.

Black currents gathered around my body as I caught up with Biryuho once more. Biryuho opened his jaws, aiming for me in turn.

SKRRAAPE.

Our bodies crossed yet again, each of us carving another wound into the other.

Biryuho’s skin had been ripped apart like the head of a burst drum. Deep claw marks scored my waist, nearly exposing the organs beneath.

「Poison: 14%」

Meanwhile, the poison gauge continued to rise. Not sharply, but steadily.

I adjusted my grip on my sword amid the floral fragrance pulsing from every direction. They said flowers were most fragrant just before they withered. Perhaps that was actually true.

Rustle—

But there was still no time to rest. As always, I ran to escape the platform decaying beneath me.

There was no need to worry about the wound at my waist. The bandages and my clothes would repair themselves soon, serving as a form of emergency treatment.

That would suffice.

[GRRROOOAAAR!]

Biryuho healed his wounds with a single roar and swiftly gave chase.

Crack.

The black fissures had swallowed most of his upper body. His murky red eyes seemed to be sinking steadily into madness.

Perhaps he was gaining power in exchange for his reason, because even more vines now erupted around us.

They were growing faster as well, to the point that I could no longer afford to dismiss them.

There was a limit to how hard I could wring Survival Instinct dry. My skull would split before I found a way through this.

BOOM.

After several more exchanges, I finally made my choice.

The thinner vines no longer offered any viable path, so I landed on a pillar so thick that even three grown men together could not have wrapped their arms around it.

[Caught… you…!]

RUSSSSH!

“…!”

The vines converging through the opening, however, were anything but gentle. Were they trying to turn me into some Pop-Up Pirate toy? If they came pouring in without leaving a single gap, I was going to have a problem.

I pressed my lips together, somersaulting through the air at every possible angle as I swung my sword. I felt like a spinning top, but it was the best I could do.

After cleaving through every branch that tried to engulf me, I plunged lower and lower until I finally reached the deepest part of the tangled vines.

The ground I had wanted so badly.

Even if tree roots blocked me in on every side.

SPLASH!

Perhaps it was another consequence of the earth being overturned, but the ground was nothing more than waterlogged mud.

It softened the impact of my landing somewhat. The thought of fighting here, however, filled me with nothing but dismay.

BOOM!

Biryuho landed after me.

SHRRRK.

By my rough estimate, the vines were gathering some fifty meters overhead. They crowded together as though determined to seal the pit completely, forming a solid ceiling.

Not even light could penetrate that seamless mass of tendrils.

The world went dark.

I could still distinguish a few faint shapes, but visibility was so poor that fighting with my eyes closed might have been easier than trying to understand my surroundings through sight.

[Tremble… in fear…!]

A faint presence circled close to me in the darkness. Somehow, Biryuho’s speech seemed to have grown slurred.

[D… die…!]

Let me see. He had definitely gobbled down an Archdemon. Add the black hole that had steadily expanded across him and his newly impaired speech…

Yes, it looked like demonic erosion no matter how I considered it.

That idle thought crossed my mind as the scent of flowers grew steadily stronger.

「Poison: 20%」

Should I be glad that, unlike him, I did not have an Insanity gauge rising as well? Or was there nothing to celebrate when my Poison gauge was still climbing?

After a moment’s deliberation, I reached a conclusion.

[GRRROAR!]

CLANG!

There was no point ranking different kinds of bullshit.

I knocked aside the descending claws and retreated. Whoosh! As expected, a follow-up strike tore through the place where I had just stood.

A counterattack? I decided to wait a little longer. My senses might have been sharp, but my night vision could never surpass that of a predator.

My eyes needed more time to adjust to the darkness. Either that, or I needed to become capable of locating Biryuho through sound and the few other clues available to me.

In any case, advancing methodically was better than moving rashly for now.

CLANG!

Still, he was getting a little—just a little—on my nerves.

Seriously, if he was a spirit beast powerful enough to devour an Archdemon, he ought to charge me honorably from the front. He should stop playing petty tricks with darkness, treacherous footholds, and poison.

「Poison: 32%」

[Kihihik!]

Ah! Between the Poison gauge and that laugh, he was seriously pissing me off!

I wondered whether Biryuho had always been this kind of character as I tightened my grip on the sword’s hilt.

Screeeech.

Even the sword that had endured the battle against the Archdemon was beginning to scream.

Perhaps failing to replace it because of my financial situation had been a mistake. It was not as though money mattered more than my life.

CLANG!

But what could I do when I had no money? The bridge repairs had cost far too much.

Nor could I swallow my pride and hold out my hand to the Archmage or any of the others.

I hurriedly checked the sword’s durability while blocking another attack. Judging from experience, it would not last much longer in this condition.

SLASH!

“…!”

[D… die…!]

Well, I was probably going to die of blood loss before the sword broke.

I became conscious of the countless cuts that must have been carved across my body.

None were as deep as the wound in my side, but there were far too many of them. I was fine for now, though I could not be sure that would remain true later. Considering my track record, perhaps I was still within the safe zone.

RUMBLE—

It seemed Biryuho was using the darkness to prepare another major attack.

Air began to move through a space where no wind should have existed, and an enormous power gathered along with it.

Only a fool could have missed that, sight or no sight.

“There you are!”

I had been condensing mana into my sword in preparation for this moment.

Screeech.

With a metallic wail, I released three slashes.

I had nothing else to divide my attention, so I focused my entire mind upon them. The resulting sword aura, honed to its absolute limit, was exceptionally narrow and precise.

SLASH!

“…!”

The sensation of cutting something filled my fingertips.

But it was not the usual heavy resistance. It was vague and weightless, as though I had sliced through cotton candy that might scatter at any moment.

[KRAHAHA!]

*It’s a trap!*

I tried to move the instant I realized it, but Biryuho’s eyes were already directly before me. They shone fiercely with the reflected gleam unique to a predator.

WHOOSH!

“…!”

Biryuho’s body passed straight through me.

An instant later, something cold and wet crashed against my entire body from behind.

SPLAAASH!

The cool, rushing roar of a wave filled the cavern.

Blub-blub.

Bubbles spilled from my mouth before I could even prepare to hold my breath.

Had I not reflexively driven my sword into the ground, the current battering my limbs would already have swept me away.

Separate from that, why the hell had this damned tiger suddenly started using water-element skills? Had eating the Sky Whale added Water typing? What was this, some kind of Mega Evolution?

THUNK!

And yet he had retained his ability to grow plants. My Poison gauge had already passed the halfway mark and was now rising sharply.

I had wondered this ever since he swallowed the demon whole, but did this bastard possess a conscience at all?

I sensed a wooden stalk that had nearly pierced my shoulder and barely swallowed another curse.

At the same time, I considered whether being swept away by the current would inflict less damage than staying here with Biryuho—or whether the opposite was true. A misjudgment would place me in immediate danger.

CRACK!

I did not have long to deliberate.

A rapidly growing branch grazed the other side of my neck. Vines had already wound around my ankle.

I would be better off throwing myself into the water.

I made the decision at once, pulled my sword free, and kicked off.

Crunch.

The current immediately swallowed me.

As though Biryuho had been waiting for that exact moment, a presence appeared on the other side. I forced my arm through the water and swung.

SLASH!

Apparently, I had cut through another clone. There was hardly any resistance.

Blub.

I kicked my legs as I sensed presences all around me.

Harassment was one thing and countermeasures another, but I was still human at the most fundamental level. If I did not breathe, I would die.

[D… die!]

But the moment my hand touched the ceiling, I realized that the entire chamber had filled with water. There was no pocket of air left anywhere.

*This is a little dangerous.*

A chill ran down my spine.

“HRAAAAH!”

KABOOOOOM!

The instant my instincts sounded a violent alarm, brilliant golden light erupted and an enormous impact shook heaven and earth.

The ceiling shattered, admitting light, while the water was displaced from the center in concentric waves.

By sheer luck, I appeared to have been near the edge. The rising water carried my body upward. I grabbed hold of a broken section as well, attempting to keep myself from falling again.

“Demon Knight!”

There was no particular need.

A pale-blue chain flew toward me and coiled around my hand.

Goose bumps rose across my skin as every sense sharpened, but that did not stop my mind from examining the situation.

I tightened my grip on the chain wrapped several times around my forearm.

CLATTER—!

The chain hauled me upward like a fish caught on a line.

“Hmph!”

Soon, I saw the Archmage in the middle of an incantation and Berserker wearing a sullen expression. I had no idea how they had found me, but their timing was excellent.

“Two sparring matches—no, three!”

One person was missing.

That meant the one who had smashed through the ceiling to intervene must indeed have been the Inquisitor.

I shook the chain loose from my forearm as the thought occurred to me.

“Protect him!”

At the same time, the Archmage formed a small protective barrier—one that enclosed only me.

FWOOSH!

Just as I began to question that detail, an enormous golden wave filled my vision.

It was a power capable of purifying all corruption in the world and annihilating evil.

*Damn it.*

Even though the barrier of concentrated mana was clearly blocking the brunt of the divine power, my knees buckled of their own accord.

Blood surged from my mouth.

“Are you all right?”

I doubted my condition looked ambiguous enough to require asking.

I made the pointless retort in my head in an effort to lighten the situation, if only slightly. Some of the blood vessels in my eyes must have burst as well, because my vision had taken on a faint red tint.

“You have a great many wounds.”

“You’re weak. Berserker will fight from now on.”

No, this was not because I was weak…

I started to deny it, then stopped.

A true master could fight perfectly well in the dark. Perhaps this really was a deficiency in my skill.

But my persona could never admit to such a thing.

Besides, I doubted Biryuho could possibly be unharmed after taking that divine power head-on.

That power was still pouring from the center. The aftereffects alone were enough to turn the plants from purple back to a healthy green. Could a Biryuho who had swallowed a demon truly have survived it?

After reaching that conclusion, I haughtily wiped away the blood streaming from my eyes and nose.

My HP was now barely clinging to the bottom of the gauge. Had the Archmage not raised the mana barrier, I might have died instantly.

“Tsk.”

Come to think of it, White Wind had told me not to end up on the brink of death.

I reflexively touched the area near my right shoulder. The gauntlet and several layers of clothing made it difficult to feel the sealing device beneath them.

Still, nothing rattled inside my clothes, so it did not seem to have broken yet.

“Do you think Berserker can’t do it?! Berserker can!”

Yes, fine. Do it if you can. Who said otherwise?

As long as the divine power continued spreading, I could not leave this barrier anyway. My Poison gauge had at least stopped rising, but it was falling far too slowly.

“Now, now. Calm down.”

Before the battle of pride between Berserker and me could continue any longer, the Archmage soothed her.

The surging waves of divine power ceased at that moment.

The world filling my vision had regained a pristine clarity as all demonic energy was purified.

Some areas had been purified by burning away altogether, creating gaps through which the water could escape.

RUSSSSH.

Water drained between the roots, revealing the interior of the pit.

The Inquisitor, wreathed in radiance, was just rising from the center of it.

Biryuho was nowhere to be seen. Even his corpse appeared to have burned away.

“What? Did we already finish off the tiger?”

Ah. That line…!

RUMBLE—!

The instant Berserker muttered those words, the earth began to shake.

Then the ground directly before the Inquisitor erupted with an explosive boom.

Biryuho burst from it, his entire body burning.

[How? How?]

Crack. Crack.

The fissure in his chest grew wider.

[How…!]

Wider.

Still wider.

[Ah!]

Until it was vast enough to swallow his entire body.

[…Did you think this would be the end of me, Wrath?]

Behind the tiger, a translucent whale fin fluttered into existence like a silken stole.