The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knightโs Rampage Through Another World
โOoooouuu!!โ
A giant salamanderโฆ Its jaws snapped open wide, spewing a fireball larger than my head.
Its speed wasn’t particularly fast.
But there was no way I could survive being hit by something like that.
โOoooouuu!!โ
My physical abilities are already enhanced by magic.
Dodging the fireball with a sideways leap.
The fireball lands near the entrance of the hall, sending flames flying everywhere.
Whoaโฆ That’s totally an incendiary bomb, isn’t it!?
The impact site is completely engulfed in flamesโฆ
If that had hit me directly, I’d be a human torch in an instant.
Obviously, there’s no way I could block it with my sword.
Truly worthy of a monster appearing in a depressing game world.
Its intent to kill is way too highโฆ!!
Still, it seems โSaraโ takes time to recharge after spitting out a fireball.
The giant salamander monster closed its jaws and glared at us.
The back of its throat began to glow red-hot, sparks crackling and spilling from the corners of its jaws.
โIt’s coming!
โGuh!โ
As โSaraโ snapped her jaws open wide, I rolled sideways with all my might.
The fireball whizzed past right beside me.
The smell of burning hair stung my nose.
A stabbing pain shot through my scalp.
โOuch ouch ouch ouch ouch!?โ
Shit shit shit shit shit! My head’s on fire, isn’t it!?!?
I frantically tried to extinguish the flames by flapping my hair wildly.
Fortunately, the fire seemed to have been put out before it spread throughout mh air, and the stinging pain quickly subsidedโฆ but the nasty smell of burnt hair clung stubbornly to the back of her nose.
Wait, it feels like the top of my head is all crispyโฆ
Hey, hey, the rest of me’s okay, right!?
I frantically feel over my body, checking my clothes and skin for flames, but there’s no heat anywhere.
Looks like it was just a spark from the fireball grazing the top of my head.
But there’s no time to relax.
The enemy is already charging up the next shot.
Now’s my chance!!
โOoooooh!!โ
โWhoa, close call!?โ
I try to boost my leg strength and close the distance in one goโ
My right side stings.
Almost instinctively, I duck.
โโGuh!!
A massive black something roared overhead.
Hey, wait, it’s got a tail counterattack too?!
That’s cheating!!
But there’s no time for complaints.
Almost simultaneously with the tail strike, โSara’sโ jaws snapped open wide.
‘Ooooooh!!’
โDamn you!!โ
I rolled to avoid the fireball it spat out.
The inferno passed right beside me.
โThis is badโฆโ
Seeing where the fireball landed, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of despair.
That attack had completely engulfed roughly one-third of the hall’s rear area in a sea of flames.
While the flames near the initial impact point had weakened compared to before, stepping into that area would undoubtedly turn you into a human torch.
No matter how you looked at it, it couldn’t be a place to retreat to.
But if I did nothing now, the fireballs spewed by โSaraโ would steadily erode my position.
Yet, getting closer meant facing the sweeping attack from its tail.
That tail is far thicker than any tree trunk in the forest.
If something like that hit me directly, no amount of magic-enhanced physical strength would save me.
And if I got knocked flying and fell into that sea of fire? Game over.
But standing idly by like this is a losing battle.
My position keeps getting eroded, and the air is probably getting thinner from all the combustion.
Yet, trying to close in means taking an instant-kill attack.
โOoooooh!!โ
โDammit, you think I’ll get hit?!โ
While I hesitated over my attack, the space I could stand in had already shrunk to about half the hall.
Even as I pondered this, โSaraโ kept spewing fireballs, turning the surroundings into a sea of flames.
Just a few more fireballs, and my safe zone would vanish completely.
โฆHey, wait a minute! Is this game over already!?
No matter how I look at it, this is the kind of situation where I’m completely helpless and just get wiped out, right!?
Isn’t this just a losing event scenario!?!?
Seriously, make the fireballs burn out faster!
Normally, you’d leave some kind of opening, right?!
Soโฆ if I die here, do I restart, or does the event progress?
There’s no guarantee of either.
The scene before me isn’t a game.
At least for me, it’s undeniably reality itself.
Which means if I die, that’s it.
โโฆโฆโฆโฆ!!โ
My molars grind together, creaking.
Butโฆ!
What I’m facing is precisely this kind of situation.
Then I don’t have time to whine about a little hardship like this!
So what do I do?
Don’t panic. Don’t get heated. Stay calm.
Think, meโฆ think!
โฆFirst, assess the situation.
Rightโฆ Sara’s fireball attack takes about 7-8 seconds to recharge after firing one.
But if I try to close the distance during that time, her tail swipe comes.
I can dodge the fireball, but the tail is borderline reaction speed. If she attacks consecutively, it’s hard to handle.
In other words, getting close isn’t easy.
โฆBut that only applies to fighting on the โgroundโ.
โโฆโฆYeah, I can do this.โ
I quickly scanned the entire hall before murmuring softly.
This hall, perhaps due to its temple-like interior, has stone walls with many uneven surfaces, and embedded pillars stand at regular intervals.
ใhe arched ceiling offered numerous places to grab hold.
And, upon closer observationโฆ I noticed that before โSaraโ launched fireballs, it lifted its body using its front legs.
From here, this is purely hypotheticalโฆ
Its head is quite large relative to its body.
If so, its neck muscles might struggle to support that weight. It could be strong at downward angles but struggle to tilt its head upward.
Or perhaps its fireball-spewing organs are structured to become blocked when it looks upward.
If it could spit fireballs upward, it could smash them into the ceiling to rain fire over a wider area. Compared to straight shots, it could also fire curved projectiles, making it harder for us to predict the impact point on the fly.
Or just switching between straight and curved shots could put us at a massive disadvantage.
But Sara remains focused on spewing fireballs from the highest possible position.
While it stays within predictable ranges, it’s highly likely that thing can’t spew fireballs upward.
Of course, possibility is just possibility.
But to find a way out of this situation, verification is necessary.
Unfortunately, the price is my lifeโฆ but it’s well worth the gamble.
โAlrightโฆ now it’s my turn!โ
โOoooooh!!โ
โSaraโ roared, and fireballs flew toward me.
I leaped swiftly toward the wall, dodging them.
Using that momentum, I kicked off the wall again.
Using the wall’s uneven surface like a triangle jump, I scrambled up nearly ten meters in one go, hanging from a protrusion near the ceiling.
โWhoa, whoa.โ
Like a rock climber, I traversed the arch supporting the ceiling and positioned myself directly above Sara.
Thanks to my magic-enhanced physical abilities, hanging by one hand didn’t put much weight on it.
Hahahahaโฆ I’m a monkey!!
โWhoa!?โ
Below, I could see โSaraโ shaking her head from side to side in confusion.
She seemed able to tilt her head upward somewhat, but looking straight up was impossible.
Perhaps because of that, while she knew I wasn’t on the ground, she showed no sign of noticing me.
โฆThen I noticed a quiet gaze from below.
Looking down, I saw Sword-Making-sama staring intently at me from the back of the altar.
For a moment, I thought she might be acting as โSara’sโ eyes, but she showed no sign of signaling my position to that thing.
It seemed she intended to remain neutral, observing the outcome of our battle.
However, while gazing at me, she moved her lips slightly.
I couldn’t hear her voice, of course, but I understood what she was saying.
“Good job”
โGood job, huh?
Hah, it’s not over yet, you know.
โโฆWell then.โ
Still, I couldn’t just keep enjoying the view of the lower world.
To not disappoint Swordmaker sama’s expectations, let’s wrap this up quickly.
Hanging from the ceiling arch with one hand, I took one deep breath.
Then I let go with a snap.
A strong sensation of floating accompanied the roaring wind at my ears.
In an instant, โSaraโ loomed before me.
I gripped the โWell-Sharpened Swordโ with both hands as tightly as I couldโ
“Woooooooaaa!!”
With a roar from the depths of my gut, I thrust the sword, carrying the force of my fall, into Sara’s head.