Even So, He Could Still Swing The Axe.

That was why Kikori tried to swing his axe—

But he instantly rolled to the side.

A cleaver-sword stabbed into the spot where he had been a moment earlier, and Kikori took it as his chance, springing up and kicking off the ground.

“Oooooooooooooooooooo!”

He roared, swung his axe, and brought it down on the fully extended arm.

“…No way.”

But the axe he swung with all his might didn’t even leave a scratch on the Big Goblin.

Bang—its swung arm sent Kikori flying.

He crashed into a tree, and the tree creaked as it snapped and fell over.

“Geh—cough…”

The damage came through even past his armor. He had been knocked away plenty of times before, but this was on another level.

When he looked over, Kuon already seemed unconscious.

He couldn’t carry him and run.

If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to leave Kuon behind and flee.

But Kikori laughed at the thought the moment it surfaced.

He staggered upright and shaped his face into a grin.

“Hah… I can’t abandon him. If I did that, I’d be… trash.”

He wanted to live.

But… if he left Kuon here and became trash—

He felt like he’d never be able to face Aria-san again.

He hated that.

So… Kikori glared at the Big Goblin.

“Hey. Are you the one causing this anomaly?”

The Big Goblin didn’t answer.

Its toy—something it could kill whenever it wanted—was still alive.

It grinned as if to say that was all it amounted to.

And that was probably true. Kikori’s axe hadn’t been able to put even a single scratch on it.

Then… Kikori only had one path to victory.

The destruction spell Break. Against a hobgoblin, it had enough power to blow off a single leg.

Then against this Big Goblin, it would probably do even less.

Even so, if this spell had even a little effect—

‘Think. While it’s looking down on me, where can I land it to get the maximum effect…?’

The arm holding the cleaver-sword? No— it could still hold the weapon with its other hand, and more than that, it could just beat Kikori to death.

“GRAAAAAAAAH!”

He dodged the swinging cleaver-sword, rolling pathetically along the ground.

He’d already let go of his axe. A heavy weapon that didn’t work was nothing but baggage.

What about the legs? It felt like a good idea. The legs were the starting point of movement.

But something about it still felt wrong.

Then where? He only had one shot. With a spell he didn’t even know would work, where did he fire it?

Gaoon—the cleaver-sword clipped his chest armor shallowly… and yet, that alone gouged deep into it.

The armor wasn’t doing anything. It should’ve been the same iron, but it felt like clay or something.

“…!”

His heartbeat sped up.

A life-or-death crisis—death itself—was right there.

Faced with Kikori continuing to evade, the Big Goblin was about to get serious.

“Ah. I see.”

There was only one way.

Only one place.

But… could he do it?

No—he had to.

That was the only thing left to him.

If he failed, he would simply die.

For some reason, being driven into a corner did the opposite—it set Kikori’s mind free.

With even a smile on his face, Kikori broke into a run.