“Kaito, stand back. I’ll handle this one!”
Shiba released a fireball from his hand and hurled it at the Beast Predator.
The Beast Predator deflected Shiba’s magic with its tentacles, evading the attack.
“A half-baked spell won’t work on this thing, huh? But that’s enough for me to figure it out!”
Shiba readied his spear and charged forward. The Beast Predator tried to fend him off with its tentacles.
Shiba dodged the tentacle attack. However, the Beast Predator redirected another tentacle toward the direction Shiba had moved.
A coordinated multi-tentacle attack. Shiba thrust his spear into the ground, using the recoil to leap high into the air.
“Whoa!”
He then stabbed his spear into the dungeon’s ceiling, using it to hang above and observe.
The Beast Predator stretched its tentacles toward Shiba, but fortunately, the distance to the ceiling was too great, and its reach fell short.
“That was close, close. Who knows what would happen if those tentacles caught me,” Shiba remarked calmly.
He was handling the situation with composure. However, the numerous, freely moving tentacles made this foe quite troublesome.
The Beast Predator squirmed and crept toward Ikezawa.
“W-Whoa! It’s coming this way!”
“Kaito, try to escape somehow. This thing seems strong, but its legs aren’t that fast.”
“N-Not that fast?!”
The Beast Predator broke into a sprint. Its “slow legs” were only in comparison to a werewolf.
By human standards, it was still fast enough to catch up to an untrained person.
“D-Damn it! Time to show off the leg strength I honed in the soccer club! Even if I was just a benchwarmer!”
Ikezawa started running away from the Beast Predator. Despite his modesty, his athletic experience made him quick.
He managed to widen the gap between himself and the Beast Predator.
This thing is tough to fight head-on.
How do we take it down?
The Beast Predator was chasing after Ikezawa.
Meanwhile, Shiba pulled his spear out of the ceiling.
He began falling, obeying gravity, and aimed his spear downward, positioning himself to land behind the Beast Predator.
“If I can’t beat it head-on, I’ll ambush it from above!”
A signature three-dimensional combat style from Shiba. His spear pierced into the Beast Predator’s back.
“GRAAAHHH!”
The Beast Predator took damage. Shiba gripped his spear tightly.
“Infuse the spear with magic!”
As Shiba imbued his weapon with magical energy, the spear’s tip ignited. He seemed to be planning to burn the Beast Predator from the inside.
Whoa! He did it!
A burning spear—that’s so cool!
“Huff… huff…”
At a glance, things seemed to be going in Shiba’s favor. But exhaustion was evident on his face.
Shiba wasn’t the type who could freely use magic. Imbuing his weapon with magic was an advanced technique, one that consumed a considerable amount of energy.
Thinking about that, I couldn’t help but admire Yukiya, who could enhance a blade with magic, even if it wasn’t his own. He’s really something.
…Yukiya, hang in there. Just a little more. I’ll save you no matter what.
The Predator writhed in pain but used its tentacles to try pulling the spear out.
Before it could steal the spear, Shiba yanked it back and retreated.
“GRAAAHHH!”
The Beast Predator let out a roar directed at Shiba.
It seemed to have shifted its target entirely to him, abandoning its pursuit of Ikezawa.
“This is bad. I wanted to finish it off while Kaito was the distraction.”
Now that the Beast Predator’s attention was solely on Shiba, could Ikezawa mount an attack?
Ikezawa was functional as a support, but his offensive capability left something to be desired.
Relying on Shiba as a decoy for Ikezawa to land a decisive blow wasn’t a viable strategy.
On the other hand, since Shiba is strong, a strategy where Ikezawa serves as the decoy is viable.
It’s frustrating that the strategy falls apart when their roles are reversed.
The Beast Predator’s eight tentacles stretched out toward Shiba.
Shiba was doing his best to evade them, leaving him unable to launch a proper offensive.
If those tentacles catch him, it’s over.
To think we’d encounter a monster this strong…
Hang in there!
Shiba pierced one of the tentacles with his spear. Purple liquid gushed out from the tentacle with a splattering sound.
The tentacle impaled by Shiba’s spear twitched, its movements slowing down.
“Alright, if I destroy the tentacles one by one, it’s a manageable opponent.”
Whoa!
He’s figured out a strategy!
This might work!
So the solution is to deal with each tentacle individually if there are too many to handle at once.
Injuring the enemy to shift the fight to your advantage is a basic combat principle.
The strategy was surprisingly simple, but Shiba was already breathing heavily and sweating.
The issue now was whether Shiba’s stamina would last until he could neutralize all eight tentacles.
The Beast Predator’s remaining seven tentacles were still moving energetically, though the injured one continued twitching weakly.
However, Shiba’s movements were visibly deteriorating as well.
The situation appeared to be turning against him—until that moment.
“Shiba! Give it all you’ve got!”
Ikezawa shouted loudly in encouragement. In that instant, Shiba’s movements visibly improved.
With graceful movements, he destroyed a second tentacle.
“This… this is stamina recovery magic. Thanks, Kaito.”
Whoa! When did he learn that kind of magic?
I thought he only had magic to boost speed!
Man, I wish someone would use stamina recovery magic on me. Work’s been exhausting lately.
Totally. As an adult, one day isn’t enough to recover from fatigue.
Shiba began to corner the Beast Predator.
At this pace, Shiba would remain in control and defeat it. But…
A sharp snap sounded as a bear trap clamped onto Shiba’s foot.
“What the… ugh!”
A bear trap?!
A trap set in the dungeon!
Who would’ve thought there’d be traps like this here?
Dungeons often have various traps scattered around.
It seemed Shiba had fallen victim to one of them.
“D-Damn it, I let my guard down.”
He’d been too focused on the fight with the Beast Predator and failed to pay attention to his surroundings.
Shiba quickly attempted to disable the trap, but the Beast Predator wasn’t going to wait for him.
It closed the distance between them.
With a click, Shiba managed to free himself from the bear trap.
However, the Beast Predator’s tentacles coiled around Shiba’s body.
“Ah, d-damn it!”
Nooooo!
Is Shiba going to lose here?!
Even the smallest lapse in concentration can be fatal in a dungeon stream.
It’s over.
“Shiba!”
I couldn’t help but shout at the screen.
What am I supposed to do? First Yukiya, and now even Shiba might…
The Beast Predator opened its massive mouth, bringing the captured Shiba closer to it.
“Sh-Shiba! Take this!”
Ikezawa attacked the Beast Predator with a mace.
However, the attack barely had any effect.
An opponent that only took damage when someone as strong as Shiba attacked it wouldn’t even flinch at Ikezawa’s strikes.
“W-Why… why can’t I muster any strength at a time like this?!”
Ikezawa repeatedly struck the Beast Predator with his mace, but it was utterly ineffective.
Meanwhile, Shiba was being pulled closer to the Beast Predator’s mouth.
“N-Not yet! I won’t give up!”
Shiba conjured a fireball and hurled it directly into the Beast Predator’s mouth.
The Beast Predator flinched for a moment, but the fireball lacked the power to make it release its grip.
“Even hitting it directly from the inside didn’t work…! No, one more time!”
Shiba launched another fireball, but the Beast Predator didn’t stop.
“Damn it… I’m out of gas.”
Just as I thought it was over—
“Raimeigeki!”
Lightning rained down on the Beast Predator.
“GRAAAHHH!”
At that moment, the Beast Predator’s tentacles loosened, and Shiba was freed.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Shiba.”
“A-Ah, thanks, Daigo.”
