Seeker 379

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Chapter 379. Lethal Strike

── Zap!

Kazane’s right-hand dagger slashed sharply at the vampire’s neck.

At the moment of impact, a brief burst of sparks glimmered as if igniting.

From the deep cut left by her dagger, black mist gushed forth, thick and heavy.

The follow-up strike with her left-hand dagger merely grazed the vampire’s shoulder.

“Huh? What was that just now…?”

Even Kazane herself, taking a backstep to create distance, looked puzzled.

“It’s weird—its HP just dropped like crazy!”

Even Yuzuki’s shout confirmed the oddity.

What was going on?

But this wasn’t the time to dig deeper into it.

I, too, closed in and brought the vampire within range of my divine spear.

“My weapon’s got [Fire Weapon] on it—take this! [Triple Thrust]!”

With a flash of skill glowing in my hand, I unleashed it.

Thwack, thwack, thwack! The flaming divine spear’s triple strikes exploded into the vampire.

My spear, imbued with [Fire Weapon], left no room for mercy.

Considering the worst-case scenario, I dismissed the possibility of being charmed.

The vampire staggered greatly.

“Griff, fall back! Yuzuki, what’s its remaining HP?”

After my attack, I stepped back, giving orders to my party.

But──

“…Huh?”

The next moment, a sound escaped me.

The vampire, struck by my [Triple Thrust], wavered and then suddenly dissolved into black mist.

But unlike typical monster deaths, the mist gathered into a sphere, hovering briefly before scattering into nothingness.

On the floor before the throne, a large magic stone fell.

“Did… we defeat it?”

“…Seems like it. Its HP hit zero for sure. Even though the monster’s indicator lingered a bit, it’s gone now.”

As I muttered skeptically, Yuzuki answered.

We stayed vigilant for a while longer until the mission completion notification appeared.

 

───────────────────────

Mission Complete: Defeat 1 Vampire!

Party members gain 70,000 EXP each!

New Mission: Defeat 1 Lich (Reward: 250,000 EXP)!

Kodachi Kazane leveled up to 56!

Yuzuki Hotaru leveled up to 57!

Current EXP:

Musou Daichi... 3,006,404 / 3,133,157 (Next level: 126,753)

Kodachi Kazane... 2,851,236 / 3,133,157 (Next level: 281,921)

Yuzuki Hotaru... 3,157,951 / 3,443,048 (Next level: 285,097)

───────────────────────

 

“Looks like we won. ──Whoa, Kazane!?”

“Daichi-kuuun! I was so scared!”

Kazane leaped onto me, clutching tightly.

I barely managed to catch her as I almost toppled over.

Her tear-filled eyes spoke of her relief and fear as she clung to me.

“It felt like my body was being taken over, and it tried to attack you… But I refused! I thought, ‘No way I’m killing Daichi-kun!’ and I managed to fight it off. It was so scary… so scary…”

“…I see. Thank you, Kazane.”

“Yeah… I’m so glad… so, so glad…”

She sobbed into my chest as I gently held her and stroked her head until she calmed.

After a moment, Kazane reluctantly pulled away, her expression soft.

I patted her head one more time, as if comforting a child, and shared my thoughts.

“Thanks to you, we brought it down surprisingly fast. Given how we’d limited our firepower against its [Charm], I expected this fight to drag out more.”

The vampire’s max HP was 1,200, the same as a Fire Dragon’s.

Defeating it this quickly under those conditions had been unexpected.

“What was that move earlier, though?”

Yuzuki asked, tilting her head.

“Clearly, it wasn’t just [Fire Weapon] damage. The attack from Kazane-san’s right hand dealt two, maybe three times her usual damage.”

As she spoke, Yuzuki approached and glanced enviously at Kazane before cradling her mage’s hat to her chest, looking up at me with puppy-like eyes.

Unable to resist, I patted her head too, and she let out a delighted squeak, looking content.

As for Kazane’s right-hand dagger, it was the Ame-no-Murakumoblade we had obtained from Yamata no Orochi’s treasure.

When we identified it earlier, it didn’t seem to have any unusual effects.

“Oh, I think I know why.”

Kazane said, regaining her usual composure.

She opened her status menu, pointing to her skill list.

“It’s probably this [Critical Strike] skill. I told you about it before, Daichi-kun—there’s a rare chance it triggers a critical hit that deals massive damage. It bypasses defense and doubles the damage.”

“Ah, so that’s it.”

I’d noticed the ominous-sounding skill back when we first checked her stats in Yamatai, but I’d forgotten about it.

“So it wasn’t just Kazane-san’s rage powering her strike.”

Yuzuki joked.

“Well, that too! I was so angry at the time.”

“But thinking about what would’ve happened if you had been charmed… terrifying.”

I shuddered at the thought.

Kazane’s lifeless eyes, her dagger slicing through my defenses to land a killing blow—it was horrifying.

“Daichi-kun! I’m not scary! Stop it!”

“N-no, you’re not scary. Not at all.”

“Liar! You totally think I’m scary!”

“No, it’s not you—it’s the idea of you being charmed…”

“Then… what if I got jealous of you and Hotaru-chan and turned into one of those ‘yandere’? Would that scare you?”

Wait, what?

Why was I suddenly picturing that?

“Stop, that’s terrifying.”

“See!?”

“Kazane-san, are you planning to go yandere on us? Are you going to kill me!?”

“No, you’re safe as long as you behave yourself, Hotaru-chan.”

“…This is the scariest thing I’ve heard all day. Please don’t kill me…”

Yuzuki trembled dramatically, and Kazane and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Even Griff chirped joyfully, “Kua-kua♪.”.

Still, there wasn’t time to relax completely.

Though we had defeated our foe, one crucial matter remained unresolved.

With the vampire’s magic stone in hand, we retraced our steps, descending further into the labyrinth.