ol li The Poison Topopolock Queen/li /ol

    * * *

    THUD!!

    As I was greedily devouring the fallen topopolock corpses to recover my magic power, a deafening rumble announced the arrival of an overwhelmingly massive topopolock that towered above as I looked up.

    Its deep green skin, glistening from the rain, was mottled with purple patterns. The spines protruding from its back were thick andrge like swords. The two legs stomping the ground were powerfully muscr.

    The fangs peeking from its lizard-like face, the ws extending from its forearms – each evoked visions of deadly damage.

    That mottled pattern! It’s a characteristic of the poison topopolocks! And with that massive size…it’s undoubtedly the Queen! A poison topopolock queen who has umted years of experience!

    Extras’s exnation rang with a hint of rm in my mind. I ripped off part of the spine from the corpse I was eating, reinforced it with 【Solidify】, and hurled it at blinding speed toward the queen’s third eye.

    However, the queen swiftly moved her head, taking the iing bone shard on her forehead, just above the third eye, with a dry cracking sound as it shattered.

    The queen red at me with irritated, murderous eyes.

    …No effect.

    It seems her sturdy bodybined with 【Body Strengthening】 deflected Emi’s attack…!

    Oh crap, that’s bad. Does this mean my 【Infinite Pebbles】 won’t work either?

    “MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

    The queen let out an earth-shaking roar that made my body tremble, and then charged straight at me with the momentum of a dump truck crashing into you.

    M-Maybe we should evade while we have some distance!

    No, I can’t evade. If I do, who will protect the mansion?

    I nced back. The barrier around the mansion still wasn’t restored, and it seemed it would take much more time. Reinforcements from the Baron also seemed unlikely at this point.

    Turning my gaze back to the charging queen, I…began running towards her as well!

    W-W-Wait, Emi! What are you…

    What am I doing? Isn’t it obvious, Extra-sama! If I can’t evade, then I’ll meet her head on!!

    I flung pebbles at her. But that’s not all I can do!

    The distance between the queen and I rapidly shrank. The queen seemed intent on simply swatting me away with her momentum.

    As for me, I channeled the magic power I had partially recovered thanks to devouring the topopolocks throughout my body, further amplifying my constant 【Body Strengthening】.

    Then, focusing that magic power into my right fist, I poured more and more into it.

    “…HAH!!”

    When the distance closed to just a few meters, I elerated in an instant, diving straight into the queen’s chest area and smashing her there with my magic power-infused fist – a 【Magic Strike】!!

    BOOOOM!!

    An tremendous sound rang out as the queen was sent tumbling backward through the air.

    A small girl had just punched and sent a massive monster the size of a small house flying – a fantasy sight that defied the difference in mass.

    H-Heavens…Emi, just what kind of audacity allows you to keep doing such things…!

    Extra-sama praised me, but I had no leeway to respond.

    The queen crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact, but deftly used her neck and arms to quickly stand back up.

    Unlike the bone shards, I think I was able to inflict some actual damage this time. But it seemed that much was still far from a fatal blow.

    “MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

    The queen let out another roar, this one seemingly imbued with 【Intimidation】.

    The pressure from it would have left anyone’s legs shaking, unable to move, if they weren’t ustomed to my master’s 【Intimidation】.

    The queen’s anger and hatred towards me for continuing to ughter her brethren – all that fury poured into her 【Intimidation】 as she red at me.

    …Don’t fuck with me.

    I don’t care about your circumstances.

    I’m protecting what I want to protect!

    And I’ll kill what I want to kill!!

    “……..”

    Without flinching, I silently released my own 【Intimidation】 in return.

    I’ll slice off your body, crush you, and devour you whole.

    Unleashing pure murderous intent.

    Naturally, the queen didn’t falter either. Why would she?

    The other topopolocks had already fled back into the forest. The only ones left on this field were just the queen and I.

    The rain continued to patter down.

    Amidst our exchange of 【Intimidation】res, I made the first move.

    Applying the footwork techniques derived from 【Grasshopper】, I instantly closed the distance to the queen in a sh.

    Though the muddy ground prevented me from reaching my usual speed, it was enough against the queen’s massive, cumbersome body.

    While continuously circling around the queen’s thick, powerful legs, I kept shing at them with 【Mantis】.

    “MIGYA! MIGYAAAAAAA!!”

    Enraged, the queen raised one of her massive legs to try crushing me by mming it into the ground.

    From a distance, it might have looked like she was simply stomping the dirt.

    Of course, I immediately evaded and put some space between us.

    Faint traces of blood seemed to be seeping from the queen’s legs where I had shed, but…

    It doesn’t seem very effective. Continuing 【Magic Strike】 attacks may be a better approach.

    Not very effective, huh. Just how sturdy is this damn queen?

    My current 【Mantis】 can slice through regr rock no problem, you know?

    At this rate, even 【Magic sh Thread】 might not work.

    “MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

    “!!”

    In the next instant, the queen leapt!

    As if retaliating against my 【Mantis】, the queen swung down her sharply pointed ws with full force in mid-air!

    After the sound of the wind being cut, a deafening explosion as the ground was gouged.

    I barely managed to sidestep and evade, but the shockwave from the queen mming her ws into the earth sted me away, sending me tumbling.

    After regaining my footing from the rolls, I looked to see arge crater had formed where I had been standing just moments ago.

    W-What tremendous power! Emi’s 【Body Strengthening】 wouldn’t be able to withstand a direct hit from that!

    “MIGYA! MIGYA! MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

    Of course, the queen’s offensive didn’t end with just one swing of her ws. Two, three more times she brought them crashing down, creating more and more holes in the surroundings.

    Each of those deadly shes held fatal power. A direct hit would likely tear through my body like paper in an instant, killing me.

    …If it hits, that is!

    Once again, I closed the distance to the queen in a sh, this time scaling up her back.

    “MI-MIGYA!?”

    The queen seemed startled and confused.

    Those proud ws of yours can’t reach your own back, can they?

    “MIGYA! MIGYA!”

    The queen thrashed about, trying to shake me off, but it was futile!

    Of course, since my feet were adhered to her back using 【Silverfish】!

    With both fists infused with magic power, I continually pummeled the queen’s back!

    【Magic Strike】!【Magic Strike】!【Magic Strike】!【Magic Strike】!【Magic Strike】!

    Fists capable of shattering rock struck the queen’s back repeatedly.

    “MII! GYA! GYA…!!”

    Even the queen couldn’t endure the relentless 【Magic Strike】 barrage, letting out agonized wails.

    Yes, I can do this!

    At this rate, I can beat her!

    …Or so I thought.

    “Kkakak!”

    Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound echoed from the depths of the queen’s throat.

    The queen maneuvered her long neck to re at me on her back with her three red eyes, and then…

    !! Get off her back, quickly!!

    Heeding Extra-sama’s warning, I leapt away just as…

    “BUSHWAAAA!!”

    …a purple mist-like substance spewed from the queen’s mouth.

    It hung in the air for a moment before dissolving into the falling rain and dispersing onto the ground.

    …That ominous purple color clinging to that massive body, it couldn’t be…

    “MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

    Having her breath attack avoided, the poison topopolock queen roared with frustration.

    While she had undoubtedly umted considerable damage from taking my 【Magic Strikes】 repeatedly, her killing intent showed no signs of waning.

    Meanwhile, the magic power I had managed to recover was rapidly draining again, and I would be running on empty soon. At this rate, I would be worn down eventually.

    …This situation might be a little dicey.