The man heaved and grunted gruffly while holding his hammer high. Then, after loudly exhaling a gust of air, he twisted his hips and swung with the force of a freight train.
Knowing an impending blow had been on the way, I pulled my head from the dirt and cast my gaze upward. My eyes followed every motion of his medieval sledgehammer, fully expecting it to knock my head clean off.
Though I wanted to, I couldn't utter a word. Not to beg, not to protest, not to argue, not a single one.
The paralysis was likely because, when I imagined such a thing smashing my head, shivers of fear traveled up my spine and froze my tongue in place. I was locked in confusion and terror by what happened moments ago...and what could happen in the next few.
Just beyond the weapon, I caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. Though with not as much flare as we'd previously seen with Takagi and Weiser, the man's hands lit up faintly with small green spheres of light.
It was small, but he'd been powering his strike up with magic!
With time ticking away, so was the time I thought I had left on whatever the hell planet this was. The hammer's head grew closer and closer and closer to my head.
It had sped so close that I could feel a high breeze's chill as the weapon's tip whizzed past me, just a foot from my skull.
Still, my eyes followed the weapon's head. They followed it straight into a view of his true target: that same goddamn bear!
It was mid-tackle, with outstretched hind legs and an unlatched mouth. The beast must've wanted to deal the man a fatal blow as soon as possible.
ραпdα Йᴏνê|(сòm) Witnessing the sight of those familiar claws bearing down on the hammer-wielding giant of a man, I felt what fleeting hope I had of living vanish.
'It's...alive.' The realization enticed me to just give up. To accept my fate since even this man's monstrous strike hadn't killed it.
Luckily, he must've noticed the beast before I did, given his swing was meant to be a counterattack against it the entire time. He never intended to kill me at all! Or, at least, not yet.
The idea he'd been in the process of splattering my brain was just silly a misunderstanding!
The thought that my "misunderstandings" had gone from petty miscommunications to possible death events had almost been funny, if it wasn't depressing.
Still, I now had the knowledge that even this man's nuclear strikes couldn't finish the beast, not completely. My heart tightened at the idea that we were going to be grizzly food in the end anyway.
Despite facing what could've been his fatal mistake, the man's expression had remained blank and unfazed. Even in the face of the closing in claws and teeth capable of shredding a person to pieces, he hadn't made an attempt to preserve himself.
I'd been about to call him a fool for that until I'd seen why he was so calm and confident.
As the claws closed in, a barrier of sparkling blue-green light intercepted and repelled them away.
'But how?' I questioned how that'd been possible, given how every display of "magic" we'd seen thus far required a visible charge. Some kind of build up with floating, colored orbs. So how did he create what was clearly a magical barrier with no preparation?
I guess the question wasn't necessary. What was important was thanks to the barrier's protection, his swing completed its arc and landed square in the gut of a pouncing bear.
After his strike collided with the side of the beast's belly, the crunch of breaking ribs mixed with the grizzly's cries from having its insides twisted and smashed. Then, after being buried as deeply into the grizzly's gut as possible, the hammer rag-dolled it away, felling it to its side.
The beast's body skidded far across the mud until it halted next to where we'd left it after Agawa's and Takagi's victory.
Like the beast, I'd been totally blown away by what I witnessed. Though he was certainly a monster, to think a man could effortlessly hurl a massive bear like that was absurd!
Probably because of the adrenaline I'd gained from the shock of what I'd seen, I regained some strength in my body.
I turned my neck and cast my sights on the rest of my allies. They, like me, were wearing dumbstruck expressions at what they'd watched, minus our two unconscious members.
Despite having her gaze transfixed on the unknown man, Ayame had not once taken her palms off Nakamura's bleeding back. In spite of the shockwave... In spite of the monster duel playing out in front of us... She still pressured his wounds as best she could.
It was a feat that demanded total respect!
Then, an almost nostalgic roar tore me from my admiration for Ayame. 'It can't be...' I straightened my neck back to the scene of battle-torn carnage.
But it was...
What I'd seen was that same godforsaken thing standing back up with another bright-green aura. Some good news was that, despite the healing and like the blade in its back left leg, the damage hadn't been completely repaired.
I squinted to see its side had been irreparably disfigured by the man's strike. It was a good sign! I hoped.
"Just die already!" A voice filled with irritation shouted from behind me. Though I couldn't turn, I knew it couldn't be anyone other than Takagi. "Why won't the thing fucking die?!"
Despite the beast's unyielding nature, the man merely shrugged and took up his hammer once more. As the grizzly stood up, favoring the side that hadn't been caved in and whimpering, the man spoke in a gruff voice.
"Help whenever," he spoke in a low tone and paced a few steps toward the beast.
I was baffled. Had he been talking to us? Surely he saw how battered and beaten we were. So to expect us to fight with him was ludicrous!
But I was given my answer when two feminine figures appeared on his left side.
"Huhhh," one sighed, "we thought ya had it covered! A measly Quillbeast shouldn't be that big of a deal! 'sides, Yuki did give ya the barrier! Ya should be thankful!"
The girl had shaded green hair that drooped low down her back in an unkempt braided ponytail.
Within her grip was an expertly crafted shortbow made from shaped and smoothed pinewood. Matching the picture of an "archer," she had a leather-bound quiver that boasted numerous feathered arrows tethered to her back.
She looked us over with attractive turquoise eyes; her expression was fascinated and curious. "So, these guys from town, ya think? They look like hell!" she snickered with a grin.
"Focus, " the second girl ordered, "it's still alive." she nodded in the grizzly's direction.
Her voice was tranquil but commanding. Despite her quiet demeanor, I could feel a degree of animosity and control from her that you'd only experience from a natural-born leader. I'd know, since my boss was the same way.
Unlike the other girl, we couldn't discern anything physically noteworthy about her.
She'd been shrouded in a plain, black burlap cloak with shadow obscuring most of her facial features. Her only revealed characteristics were her sparkling azure eyes and a single lock of purple-tinted hair that dangled in front of her face.
"Asuka, cover us from here," she said, then turned to give us a cold stare. "and guard them."
"But!" the archer whined.
"Do it," the cloaked woman ordered.
"Fiiiiine," the archer sighed. She then turned to me and smiled, "guess I'm babysittin ya...huh?"
I awkwardly chuckled, still confused by what was happening. "T-Thank you?" It sounded more like I was asking a question than expressing gratitude.
"Dontcha mention it!" she said with a wide grin. "Glad tah meetcha newbie!" She took her free hand and motioned to my collar.
'Newbie?' I'd been about to ask what she'd meant when she turned from me and ran to Nakamura.
"Oh, this ain't good! She dug from a pouch latched onto her waist by a beige rope belt. When her hand emerged, she'd been holding what looked to be pure white cloth bandages and clearly homemade gauze.
Ayame, seeing the strange girl revealing medical supplies, turned from complete fear to just major distrust.
"Can you help him?" Ayame asked impatiently.
"I can def'nly try!" the archer replied oddly cheerily.
Though I would've liked to celebrate our fortuitousness, my fears returned when the ground shook by another of the grizzly's howls.
Finally, the beast charged with reckless abandon. Completely uncaring about its well-being and just focused on tearing apart any that stood in its way. Despite its approach, the three strangers remained calm and unphased.
"Shrug, you're with me." The cloaked girl raised two delicate, light-skinned hands from her cloak, revealing that she'd been gripping symmetrical lightweight longwords in each.
The honed blades shimmered strands of thin light as the sun's few rays interacted with their polished surfaces. Despite the metallic portions appearing to be of master quality, the handles themselves were makeshift, comprised of multiple straps of darkened leather.
The hammer-wielding giant of a man turned to her and, like his apparent namesake, only shrugged in response.
The cloaked woman flourished her swords with a spin before pacing forward. Likewise, the giant gruffly grunted and swung his hammer into attack position.
The preparations for their fight now finalized, the two set off to kill what I'd now assumed was unkillable.
Though I was filled with hope at that moment. Hope that our first day in this nightmare was finally coming to a close. Hope that we'd finally see a chance to relax in safety's sweet embrace.
Sadly for us...there was still one moment of despair to be experienced before the day was done.
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