Vol 3: Chapter 29
What appeared was a stupidly huge tank. Attached with six wheels, and equipped with weapons on top. However, its appearance reminded me of a “Buddha statue” I knew.
The Golden Three Heads, Six Arms.
The face of a Lev on the front, the face of a human on the right, and the face of a dwarf on the left.
Every arm was different; slender arm, hairy arm, thick arm, feathered arm, bug-like arm, and long clawed arm. And each arm carried a sword, shield, staff, axe, spear, and hammer respectively.
The body was covered with metal that imitated cloth, and several jewel-like stones embedded on the chest.
Simply the giant body and its tremendous mass was equivalent to a destructive weapon, but it was further equipped with large weapons.
Exactly what you would call a “Juggernaut”.
「Non-san! Behind you!!」
I screamed as loud as I could, but my voice didn’t reach her—the fog was obstructing it. Leon, wary of me as I turned around and yelled, pointed his longsword at me.
That idiot! Why doesn’t he notice the thing right behind him!?
In a way that Leon wouldn’t notice, I shot【Wind Magic】one by one from both hands. As the wind cut through the fog and scattered it, I shouted yet again, “Behind you!” Instead of Leon, it was Mimino-san who noticed.
「Leon, enemy!」Mimino-san shouted.
「Huh–?」
The Juggernaut was already holding aloft a weapon.
Leon looked up at it with a stunned face. As if he never expected for an enemy to appear from there.
The sword—or rather the massive lump of metal, cut through Leon, and the person who was in his grip, Non-san.
「Ah……」
Or so I thought, but a black shadow flew in from the side and knocked them both out of the way just in the nick of time.
That one swing of the sword broke the ground by several tens of centimeters deep.
「Zerry-san!」
I didn’t even notice her. She had sensed the abnormal situation and headed back right away.
Amazing! Zerry-san’s good image has increased explosively in my heart!
However, even though he was saved by her, Leon kicked away Zerry-san and got up.
「What the hell do you think you’re doing?!」
「Ouuuuch~~~! That’s my line! I wanted you to die smashed under that sword too, but I helped because Non-san was also in danger! Non-san! Non-san!」
Non-san was on the verge of fainting, probably because she was strangled too strongly.
「Zerry-san! Get away!」
「Roger!」
I started running and shot a Flame Tornado by combining【Fire Magic】and【Wind Magic】, but there was still a fair distance between us and the shield that the Juggernaut carried scattered the flames.
But that was enough. Zerry-san was already running away, carrying Non-san who was released from Leon’s grip. Whereas, Mimino-san threw out all the things that were in Neko-chan’s load-carrying tray, placed Dante-san inside instead, and drove away.
Then the Juggernaut turned its attention towards me.
The head turned around with a clicking sound. The face of the human—the expression of anger was directed at me.
(Well, then… what should I do?)
I think this is the first time since Ouroboros that I have to deal with such a huge enemy. At that time, I couldn’t finish it off by myself, and required help from the rest of the party.
Dante-san and the others are not in a state to help out right now.
Can’t expect Leon’s help either. Rather, him not getting in my way is help enough.
「!!」
Just when I thought that the Juggernaut’s upper body shook slightly, the wheels started rotating, chomping onto the ground below, as the huge mass charged at me.
「Crap!」
Although I jumped sideways, I was a bit too late and had to use the blast from【Fire Magic】to boost my speed. However, that sort of emergency escape measure was unsafe. My body lost balance in the air, and I crashed landed on the ground.
Though much better than facing that Juggernaut head on. The tank crashed into the wall with “faces”. A number of “faces” were blown off and a part of the wall collapsed, but the Juggernaut reversed smoothly, as if it simply crashed into a sand castle.
Seriously… how on Earth am I supposed to face that.
I stood up while casting【Healing Magic】on my right shoulder, which was bruised. I escaped into the fog while shooting several【Fire Magic】shots from a long distance. However–
「Kuh…」
The Juggernaut readied its shield and charged straight at me. Even though I shot【Fire Magic】 from an angle, like tracking missiles, it was still charging straight at me as if it could see me clearly within the fog.
However, since I was running around in a circle, I didn’t have to escape with a【Fire Magic】boost this time.
Next, I tried to stop its movement with【Earth Magic】, but the Juggernaut just broke through it, like it wasn’t even an inconvenience.
(What do I do, what do I do? Ivy with【Flower Magic】? No, that won’t stop it. Clog up the wheels with something? No, the underside of the wheel is guarded by a solid steel plate.)
In that case–shoot【Lightning Magic】.
I didn’t want to use this if possible.
My right hand glowed in a pale light and a lightning attack flew toward the Juggernaut.
Acting like a lightning rod, the spear absorbed the lightning—but the jewel in the center of the body glowed and absorbed it all in.
「Shit… A counter-measure was already taken?」
There are two drawbacks to【Lightning Magic】. One is that you have little control over the direction in which the lightning strikes. However, this time there was no problem because the enemy was a huge hunk of metal.
Another drawback is that there is a recoil of the lightning sent back to the user. The stronger the lightning, the more powerful the recoil. My arm was burned all over.
(This Juggernaut can probably absorb magic.)
We resumed playing tag. While treating my injuries with【Healing Magic】, I think again.
My stamina and mana are finite. If I don’t take it down soon, I will be at a disadvantage. No, maybe it’s better to secure an escape route first…
「Bocchan! Can you hear me?」
「I hear you!」
I heard Zerry-san’s voice over the fog, and I replied while changing direction towards her.
「The entrance to this room is blocked! That damn Leon blocked it and ran away!!」
「!?」
「I tried to secure an escape route, but Leon got to it first! It seemed that there was also a switch, doors came out from the top and bottom and shut off this room!」
That bastard… What a scum!
「What about Non-san!?」
「She’s recovering!」
「Please take her to treat Dante-san!」
「What about you, bocchan!?」
I…
「I’ve got no choice but to destroy this guy!」
The Juggernaut, which was right on my tail, thrusted the spear at me. When I leapt and evaded the spear, another arm swept its axe at me. I rolled across the ground and avoided the sweep.
The moment I dodged around and placed myself behind the Juggernaut, the wheels on the left and right rotated in the opposite direction and the body turned around on the spot.
Huge, fast, and has a small turn. An extremely troublesome opponent.
「I’m gonna stop worrying about everything else. The only thing on my mind is to destroy you.」
