"I'm ending this right here!!"
The moment I declared it, I steeled my resolve and activated Berserk.
My HP was currently being chipped away by the repeated use of my Fighting Spirit skill. At this point, I only had 16 left.
If I took even a single hit from the Goblin Knight, my HP would be completely depleted in an instant. Even if the lady behind me used healing magic to restore it, it would be like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.
Besides, I had no idea how long it would take to finish this fight. I wanted to reserve all my HP for my Fighting Spirit skill. Either way, if I took a hit, I wouldn't be able to maintain the skill, and I’d be killed the moment it dropped.
I couldn’t afford to take even one blow.
Therefore, I decided that the increased damage taken from Berserk wouldn't be a disadvantage.
Power surged through me, and a wave of exhilaration filled my heart.
My Intelligence value dropped from 6 to 5, and in exchange, my Strength shot up from 63 to 70 in a single burst.
Combined with Fighting Spirit, that put me at exactly double my original Strength value of 35.
"—Here I come, oraaa!"
"————"
Thud!!
I slammed my sword against the Goblin Knight's shield.
The impact was clearly more powerful than before, but it was still far from enough to decisively break the monster's stance.
If things continued like this, I would only waste my time and stamina. I realized I would never defeat the Goblin Knight at this rate.
No—is that actually true?
As I pressed the attack with a fiery intensity, I considered the possibilities.
If this were a game, blocking with a shield would have two possible effects. One: a significant reduction in damage. Two: a complete nullification of damage through mechanics like a Just Parry.
But even with status screens, this was reality. I wagered that the latter—complete damage nullification—didn't exist. Or rather, perfect parries that completely deflected an attack only happened once in a blue moon. For everything else, I wanted to believe that a tiny amount of damage was still bleeding through.
Unfortunately, with my current stats and technique, breaking through the Goblin Knight's defense was probably impossible.
However, if its defense worked the way I suspected...
"I'll just chip away every last drop of your HP!"
"————!!"
I should be able to drain the enemy's HP even by hitting its shield.
It was a crude, brute-force strategy, but right now, it was my best shot at victory.
In the next moment, I received proof that I wasn't wrong.
"—Here comes a Heal!"
A voice rang out from behind me.
Immediately after, a pale orb of light shot from the lady's staff and struck me in the back. The light enveloped my body, slightly easing my physical fatigue. At the same time...
HP 8/61 → 40/61
My HP was restored all at once.
The Goblin Knight must have realized it, too. Its behavior changed instantly.
The moment it blocked my sword with its shield, it forced a counterattack, abandoning the purely defensive stance it had maintained until now.
I met the strike with my own blade. I scooped upward, parrying the blow, and the Goblin Knight's posture momentarily crumbled.
It was only for a fraction of a second—not enough for a follow-up.
But.
"————!!"
"Hey now, you bastard...!"
That was as good as the Goblin Knight admitting my hypothesis was correct.
The realization that I had a way to recover HP meant it would lose a war of attrition. That's why it was desperately trying to go on the offensive.
Even now, its HP was being whittled away bit by bit.
"Don't go panicking on me now!"
"————!?"
The sense of futility and the despair that I might not be able to win vanished instantly.
Having found a clear path to victory, I intensified my assault.
With a feral grin, I slammed my sword against the shield over and over with heavy, echoing thuds, and I shouted back to the lady.
"Miss! If you've still got MP, hit me with another Heal in one minute!"
"Y-Yes! Understood!"
I kept the pressure on, slamming my blade down repeatedly to ensure the Goblin Knight never had a chance to counter.
"————!!"
I could practically feel the Goblin Knight's expression behind its helmet. Its movements and aura had shifted. This thing was panicking.
Of course it was.
There was no way my attacks hadn't been doing anything. My strikes were currently packing four times my usual power. No matter how high its Endurance was or how well it blocked, it couldn't possibly nullify that damage entirely.
The Goblin Knight's HP was definitely dropping.
The question was—would it die once its HP hit zero?
The answer was no. HP was just a form of mysterious energy, much like MP. Under normal circumstances, it acted as an invisible shield influenced by Endurance and Spirit, mitigating external force.
Sometimes, it was even consumed as fuel for various skills.
HP didn't represent physical stamina or life itself.
So, was there no point in draining it?
Far from it.
When HP reached zero, a specific phenomenon occurred: Status Function Stop. The moment your HP hit zero, an explorer like me would revert to a state no different from a regular human on the surface.
The same applied to monsters.
The shield the Goblin Knight held was made of metal, but it wasn't superior to anything forged by humans. If anything, the quality was likely worse.
The only reason it didn't shatter after taking repeated hits from my attacks—which were powerful enough to pulverize boulders—was because of its HP and Endurance. It likely had defensive skills that boosted the shield's durability through its Status.
Therefore, once its Status stopped functioning, the Goblin Knight would no longer be able to withstand my blows. Even with its shield and armor, it would be reduced to a creature wearing nothing but scrap iron.
At that point, I wouldn't just be hitting it—I'd be able to destroy the equipment itself.
"Oooooooooooooooooh!"
"————!"
So—die, die, die!
I unleashed a violent, relentless barrage, giving it no room to even breathe.
As long as Fighting Spirit was active, my stats were high enough to completely overwhelm the Goblin Knight.
The monster was clearly rattled, unable to find any opening to strike back.
—I can win! This is it!
That absolute conviction pushed my movements to even greater speeds.
And then, the moment arrived.
CRAAAACK!
Something shattered into a thousand pieces.
"————!!"
"————!?"
It wasn't the Goblin Knight's shield.
It was my sword.
"—Eh?"