Chapter 40: We’re Not Finished Yet

The explosion was tremendous, blanketing the area in smoke. Everyone nearby stood dumbfounded, unable to process the sudden turn of events or the deafening blast.

“Boss… Did we get it?”

Diller asked, but I didn’t know either. The monster had taken the bomb head-on. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the grand crocodile was dead.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The leader’s howl rang out, filled with rage from the very depths of its being.

It was still alive.

The grand crocodile revealed when the smoke cleared was in tatters. Almost all its teeth had been blown away, and the explosion had torn open the flesh around its mouth. Part of its snout was completely gone.

But it wasn’t dead.

I felt as though I was witnessing the very source of a rank-B monster’s vitality. Its eyes were bloodshot, filled with the peculiar killing intent of a savage beast on the verge of death.

“That still didn’t kill it…? That thing’s beyond rank B.”

Even Diller’s voice contained a trace of despair.

It really had been impossible after all. A swordsman who couldn’t even defeat an orc could scheme all he wanted, but he could never defeat a rank-B monster. Reality seemed to strike me directly in the face.

Let’s run away right now on these trembling legs. I’d done enough. Surely even Eve would forgive me. In the end, was I truly unable to overturn Metis’s answer?

Diller questioned me with his eyes.

Were we still fighting, or were we running?

My choice was, of course—

“Diller, I have a plan! We’re not finished yet!”

“Whew… Knew you’d say that. Are you really a coward? You look like a man with a death wish to me.”

Diller sounded exasperated. I thought I was an idiot too.

Cowardly Sibyl. That was what people had always called me.

But even a coward had his pride.

“Run to the plaza!”

“Got it.”

The grand crocodile’s hatred was now focused entirely on us. We ran toward the plaza.

We had Delcour’s guardian deity on our side.

We weren’t finished yet.

We reached the broad plaza where the great bell tower stood. There were few people nearby, only the occasional fleeing resident passing through.

Standing directly beneath the great bell tower at the center of the plaza, I stared at the grand crocodile coming toward me.

Its movements had slowed, probably because of the explosion. That was the only reason we’d managed to escape this far.

Blinded by rage, it hadn’t noticed that Diller had vanished.

“Come on. Let’s settle this.”

I gripped my sword in a trembling hand.

I’m counting on you, Diller…

With a silent prayer, I looked up at the great bell tower. In the next instant, the grand crocodile lunged.

It really is slower than before.

Even so, I wasn’t an experienced swordsman. I threw a red ball at the grand crocodile.

But the monster seemed wary after the earlier attack. It turned its face aside, preventing the ball from striking its eyes.

So it won’t work after all.

I rolled to the left, avoiding its charge. But the grand crocodile was more skilled than I was.

It recovered its stance in an instant, opened its enormous mouth, and lunged again. I couldn’t fully avoid its jaws, and it bit down on my right arm.

“GAAAAAAH!”

I screamed from the pain. But my arm hadn’t been torn off. That was probably because nearly all its teeth had been blown away in the earlier explosion.

Even so, the strength of its jaws hadn’t vanished. A dull crack sounded from my arm as the bone broke, and my face twisted in agony.