Chapter 39 – vs Gatekeeper - Strawberry Lilies

Hello, everyone. I’m Ayane, and I’m staring at him.

My opponent was a large, bear-like Gatekeeper, LV. 99, and I, LV. 16, was one-third his size.

First of all, I will definitely lose.

But the Gatekeeper said that all I had to do was to show my power, which was a bit of a relief.

「…」

「…」

Both of us are counter-attackers, which means that we don’t attempt to attack first.

Now… I don’t know what to do…

「… You’re not coming? Then I’ll go first」

「――! ?」

――Gyain!

The distance between us was 20 meters, but in an instant, he closed the distance and swung down his huge sword that was over 2 meters long.

I quickly deflected it with my sword and leapt to the side.

It’s just as I expected of LV. 99. How can he be so fast with such full iron equipment, a big sword, and a big shield? It would be dangerous to approach from a distance.

There are not many places in his body that are exposed because of the iron equipment. But it’s not that there aren’t any, so if I poke around those areas, I could do some damage.

After the side step, I noticed the small gap on his left hand arm, where he is holding the huge shield.

「Fu!」

――Shun!

「… Ku!」

I missed… !

「Oh. You’re really good」

「… Thank you for that?」

He avoided me at the last minute, but he praised me, so that was good.

「I’ll have to live up to your expectations as well」

「………. No way」

Wait. I might have poured oil on the fire.

「Fuun!」

「Uwa! ?」

「Fuu!」

「Ottotto…」

「Fuun!」

「Wha! ?」

He uses not only his big sword, but also his big shield as a weapon. He hasn’t lived for hundreds or thousands of years, has he? … I mean, he’s alive, right? It’s not like he’s a spirit or something… ?

「You’ve got a lot of time to think in the middle of a fight」

「Ga! ?」

I was pondering whether he was a spirit or not, and then he kicked me. Now I’m down to 400 HP…

「Ouch… ! ?」

「Ha!」

―― Kyin! Kin!

――Gyiiin! !

―Gyin!

Deflect, deflect, deflect, deflect.

There is no time to attack, and even if there was, the opponent would never have an opening before that.

――Gyaiin!

I was thinking about it as I deflected him. I wonder if there is any effective way…

Something…

―Gyiin!

Something… ! !

「That’s it! ――《Spiritualization》! !」

TL. If anyone forgot, this skill enables you to become a spirit

「Nu… !」

In response to the opponent’s attack, I used the 《Spiritualization》 weapon skill.

――Shun!

……….

The attack didn’t connect.

As soon as I attacked, I slipped past him.

Then, I turned around and swung my sword between the helm and the chest plate, at the opponent’s neck.

――Oh, no! Did I use the wrong amount of force?

I applied the wrong amount of force, more than I thought I would.

The blow, which would definitely kill a normal human being, successfully entered the Gatekeeper’s neck.

――Gu…… !

「No… Way…… ?」

The blow that should have surely decapitated him did not do so.

Also, my sword stopped at the neck without being prevented by the big sword or the big shield.

「Congratulations. You’ve passed」

The person who had been attacked announced the results with a cool face.

Perhaps there was too much of a level difference… ?

「Still, I’m not sure you can make it to the 50th floor of this tower at this rate. You need to be diligent」

「Y- Yes…」

I was instructed and walked past the Gatekeeper, who had returned to his post while I was confused.

It looks like I won’t be stopped again.

Gatekeeper said that if I’m good enough, I can make it to the 50th floor. I guess technically I can handle it, but considering my level, I guess 50th floor is just about the limit. If I go any further than that, I won’t do any damage like the Gatekeeper earlier.

I don’t think I’ll make it to the 50th floor first, but I’ll keep that in mind.

And so, after passing through the nondescript gate, I logged out.

Author:

If there is too much of a level difference, no damage is often done.

By the way, the duration of the weapon skill 《Spiritualization》 is x 1 second of the activator’s skill level. When spiritualized, physical attacks are disabled. But you won’t be able to physically attack anyone yourself either… You’re a spirit.