My Glasses Will Be Able to Conquer the Whole World, I Suppose - CH 81

Chapter 81 – One month since then – Part four

(Cherry’s Point of View)

We readied ourselves for the fight as we waited.

That was because Swallow, who went out to search for the Ironhead, had yet to return.

The three of us were waiting, confirming that everything was ready, and trying to relax our tense bodies.

“… I wonder if he always felt like that while hunting…” Florentine commented.

She had almost no experience fighting Demon Beasts, and she had never come this deep within this mountain… She seemed to be really restless. She was constantly looking left and right as she tried to stay in place.

As for who ‘he’ was… There was no need to voice it. It was definitely Eil.

“No. He has surely gotten used to this by now.” Chace replied.

He was holding a real spear that had been finished just a week ago. Chace carefully and slowly stretched his body, warming himself up in a seemingly calm fashion.

Most likely though, Chace must be the one who is most nervous among us. For he is the one who will directly fight against the Ironhead.

But from a cursory glance, he seems calm.

“We need to get used to this quickly.” Chace said.

Instead of just looking like we’re calm, we need to be able to be calm for real here… Chace is right.

I have to get used to this tension. This anxiety; this fear that makes my whole skin tingle, that makes me feel like my organs are being lifted from below and squeezed…

This time we’re accompanied by a guardian, but… One year from now, I’d like to be able to walk down this mountain while whistling.

For today’s battle, the emphasis is on Chace’s training, but I should start fighting by myself soon.

After all, this is just a stepping stone towards my real goal.

******

It came without warning.

Swallow’s voice popped out of the forest in an instant, “I’m home!” she said.

… Isn’t she late? Did something happen?

She may be a spear master, but she’s still a child. We shouldn’t have let her go alone to such a dangerous place… Could she be wounded?

Anxiety filled me as unfortunate event after unfortunate event flashed through my mind.

But then, the person we were waiting for came. She was unharmed.

“Sorry, sorry. It took me a long time to find the Ironhead.

“Well, get ready, it is coming.” She told us.

The three of us reacted quickly and got into position.

Chace in the front, with me and Florentine behind.

Swallow was standing behind me and Florentine, ready to intervene if the need arose.

And then, it came.

The grass and the trees rustled. The low branches were snapped… And a giant cow-headed giant, covered in black hair, appeared in front of us. The Ironhead.

It truly is a giant… I had heard about it, but this Demon Beast is truly big.

It was more than twice my height, and it was evident that it was incredibly muscular, even if its arms and legs were completely covered by black hair.

For a moment, the Ironhead stopped its charge as it mooed.

It seems to be somewhat intelligent. It saw that there were four people in front of it, even though it was only chasing a single prey until just now.

However, it was only for a second. The Ironhead then roared, seemingly to simply acknowledge the extra people as prey.

It doesn’t seem to even consider that we could be the hunters, and it could be the prey.

Either that, or its roar was meant to threaten us… Regardless of the real reason behind it, the Ironhead charged forward, running in a straight line.

And then it groaned… Caught.

It stepped on the magic circle that I had prepared in advance. I had set up a trigger for when enough weight had been put on top of the magic circle, and the Ironhead did just that.

Sure, I can use normal attack magic, but my specialty is on setting traps with my magic circles.

The effect I chose was binding. A strong invisible force that pulled the Ironhead’s feet towards the ground.

Its right foot didn’t leave the ground like it wanted, and then its left foot also got stuck within the magic circle’s bindings. It was only its upper body that kept moving forward, without the feet accompanying the rest.

I thought it was going to fall flat on its face, but it seemed to have minimized the damage by putting both hands on the ground.

I thought that it would be damaged if it fell when considering how large its body is, but it was able to protect itself just like a human would.

Though well, this much was within our expectations.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Florentine exclaimed.

She started throwing stones, that she had previously prepared, with her gloved hands.

The strength of the stone throws was enough to pierce through the hide of the Ironhead and start wounding it with vicious hit after another.

If she was targeting a human, she would have surely broken its skull by now.

However, our opponent was a Demon Beast that was much tougher than a human. Even if those rock throws could crush skulls, all that they could do to the Ironhead was create some bleeding wounds.

Though well, this seems to be quite painful to the Ironhead at least, as it seems to be trying to avoid or block the stones.

Also, the effect of my magic circle was short-lived.

In exchange for reducing its duration, I was able to create a strong enough effect that could even stop an Ironhead in place.

… At least for a few seconds.

But a few seconds was all that we needed. Just enough to let Florentine throw enough stones that were coated in the paralyzing poison that had an almost immediate effect.

The magic circle faded. The Ironhead groaned and stood up.

But some blood was flowing from its head, and its legs were trembling. Our attack was effective, and the poison was surely taking effect.

Now, time to finish it.

“Take thiiiis!” Chace shouted.

The chance for victory was right in front of us. Everything was going according to plan.

Chace used his Gift to charge at full speed against the Ironhead, using a simple and deadly trust of his spear against it.

It was certainly a deadly blow. He put all his weight, speed and skill into that attack. He closed the distance in the blink of an eye, and pierced the abdomen of the Ironhead.

It pierced, but…

“Unskillful!” Swallow shouted.

It happened just as she shouted that.

Chace was staying true to the basics. He had to pull back now… But he stopped for a moment.

His retreat was stopped, for the muscles of the Ironhead kept his spear in place.

He was sticking to the basics. Keeping his weapon in hand. Trying to retreat while holding his weapon… Due to his inexperience in actual combat, Chace was unable to abandon his spear and escape.

And then, despite the effect of the paralyzing poison, the Ironhead raised its right arm and hit Chace with a direct sideways blow.

The retreat failed. A fatal mistake… Chace was hit.

The sound of the blow echoed loudly. Louder than anything I ever heard before. It was a sound that echoed in my ears together with the sound of Chace flying into the depths of the forest, holding the spear that he did not let go of.

Everything had gone according to our plan.

However, a single moment of hesitation. A single thing that we didn’t expect… And now the situation had been overturned.

This is the dreadfulness of real combat.