Chapter 316
316 – Battalion Commander, Nowell the Angel of the Battlefield
“Guooo! Aaaaah!”
Unarmed, Belmond rushes towards me. There is no trace of sanity in his eyes. His movements are faster than before. It seems that at the cost inflicting a state of rage, [Beserk] greatly enhances the target’s physical abilities. It’s support magic with a drawback.
But I don’t plan on falling behind someone who’s only been strengthened a bit.“Now!”
The archer releases arrows aimed at me. Like before, he shoots three arrows. Even if they hit, they won’t do much damage. The danger they pose as a distraction is greater.
I grab Belmond’s arm. The instant I touch him, Nell kicks off the wall towards me. He nimbly steps on Belmond’s back to jump over me, cutting behind me.
I don’t have enough hands. There’s no helping it. I didn’t want to use it since I’m still not used to it and it seems it uses more magic power, but… I’ll try using partial dragonisation.
I yank Belmond off his feet and throw him in the direction of the arrows. I then focus my concentration on my tail.
“Agaah!”
The three arrows pierce deep into Belmond’s shoulder and abdomen. Unable to react in time to the sudden tossing of someone towards him, the archer is impacted as Belmond crashes into him.My tail enlarges and wraps around my body. I then twist it towards Bell behind me. He avoids the first vertical swing, dodging to the right, then jumps over my sideways sweep. As it misses him, my tail smashes heavily into the floor and wall. Nell uses his jump to create some distance.
I’m really not used to this still… I’m treating my body like putty, so there’s getting around the difficulty. But I don’t plan on playing with these guys any longer than I need to.
Partial dragonisation is hard to control, and its fuel efficiency is bad, but… It’s not like it’s impossible to get the hang of. If I can bring myself closer to dragon form all over, I can regain my scales and stabilise my defence. Besides, my current body is too small and restricts my skills, so I can’t get rid of the enemies all together… If I can make my arms a bit bigger, they should be great as weapons. There’s value in trying it out.
I stiffen and turn my attention to my entire body. Heat runs throughout me and I feel a melting sensation.
“Gu-guuu……!”
“Uoooh! Oooooh!”
Belmond rises to his feet covered in blood and breaks into a run towards me. Since I was aiming to use him to stop the arrows, did I fail to damage him enough? Thanks to [Berserk], he might have completely lost his sense of pain. I should’ve put a bit more force into my throw.
“B-Belmond-san, please stop! It’s doing something!”
Nell asks him to wait and see, but he’s in no condition to hear in his [Berserk] state. Nowell laughs scornfully.
“What an idiot. If you’re not going to attack when there’s an opening like this, when will you?”
She raises her staff high, and a light appears above her head. I guess she’s planning on shooting some attack magic.
My body swells larger and larger, and my skin hardens. My claws taper off into fiendishly sharp tips. I’m about halfway between human and dragon. I can put out a lot more power now.
“Uooooooooh!”
I swing to the left to brush away the oncoming Belmond. My claws tear three deep lines through his body. Droplets of his flesh and blood dance through the air.
【162 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 162 experience points have been acquired.】
…I’m more used to a body like this. It’s easier to move with a tail, and actually killing them is a lot simpler.
“[Stone Spear]!”
The spear of stone that Nowell summons overhead darts towards me. I grab it out of the air, crushing it, then fling the upper half to finish off the injured triple-shot archer. The fragment sinks silently into his throat and he stops breathing.
【174 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 174 experience points have been acquired.】
Great, I can move effectively… All that remain now are the mage Nowell, her guard Baris, and the sword-wielding beastman.
“Wh-what is that monster! Azalea never said it could do anything like that!”
I instantly move to close the gap to the bewildered Nowell.
“Baris! A moment is enough, just stop it!”
Hearing her order, Baris steps between us. But it’s clear he’s on the brink of breaking.
“H-how am I meant to stop it…!”
Baris throws his sword at me and braces his shield with both arms.
“Guagaaah!”
I vigorously swing my arm down.
“Hiih!”
He raises his shield towards my arm. My claw split him in two along with his shield.
【162 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 162 experience points have been acquired.】
Now there’s just two left…
“W-wait!”
Nell shouts from behind. I feel his presence drawing closer, but I should be able to kill Nowell before he arrives.
“Well done earning time! [Berserk]!”
Nowell raises her staff towards me. In exchange for physical enhancement, [Berserk] inflicts a state of confusion. But it won’t work on me.
“Gaaah!”
I use my own magic power to interfere and make use of her magic, resisting the deleterious effect.
“Nah…! M-my magic isn’t having the slightest effect…”
Nowell has [Magic: 277+62], but I have [Magic: 1039]. Support magic of this level is worthless. My magic stat is unchanged even in human form.
“Gauraaah!”
“S-stop!”
I grab her by the throat and slam her into the ground. Her head pops off, and her body convulses for a second, but soon stops moving.
【216 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 216 experience points have been acquired.】
I let go of her body and it thuds to the floor… Now all that’s left is the beastman sword user. Fighting a child is difficult, so I’d prefer it if he’d run away though…
“RaAAAH!”
I use my tail to parry his sword swing, sending him flying with all my strength. He skilfully tumbles as he lands to regain his footing and resumes his sword stance.
…It doesn’t look like he has any intention of falling back.
