In response to the goblin's strike, I reflexively brought up my sword, bracing the flat of the blade like a shield to catch the blow.
"Ghugh—!?"
The power behind the downward slash was staggering, forcing me back instantly. A violent shock rattled my entire frame. The monster’s blade, coated in Sword Aura, bit deeply into my left shoulder. Excruciating pain flared as blood sprayed out, yet I still couldn't halt the momentum of the sword.
I was forced down to one knee as if being crushed. All of this happened in a mere heartbeat.
Then, something unbelievable occurred.
My physical abilities were suddenly, slightly enhanced.
"—!?"
I knew immediately that Blood Vengeance had triggered. Even though I had managed to block, my HP had fallen below half.
What ridiculous power. However, that boost was exactly what made the difference between life and death.
"Oooooooooooooooh!!!"
With my marginally boosted strength, I finally halted the movement of the blade pressing down on me.
In that brief moment of stillness, I poured a massive amount of HP into my longsword to expand the volume of my aura. Manipulating it, I attempted to "slide" the goblin's blade—which was currently pressed against the flat of mine—off to the side.
This was the trick I had used against the Berserker before coming here, allowing me to parry a strike from its greatsword.
I'll go into the specifics later, but this was one of several techniques that became possible by increasing the skill level of my Sword Aura. By manipulating the aura covering the blade like a fluid, I could make anything that touched it slide off like a comedian covered in lotion. I simply called it "parrying." Descriptive, if uninspired.
Regardless, the utility of this trick shouldn't need further explanation. As long as our swords were locked like this, there was no strike that couldn't be parried.
(—Wait, I can't parry it!?)
It failed. It seemed there were some strikes that simply couldn't be parried.
The cause was immediately obvious. The powerful aura covering the goblin's sword was repelling my own. Because of that, I couldn't get my aura to interact with its blade to slide it away.
So, what now?
In that instant, a flash of inspiration hit me. I really am a genius! I had never tried this before, but I executed it immediately.
—Mighty Blade.
If my aura was too weak, I just had to strengthen it. The aura covering the longsword glowed even more intensely. Instead of releasing that concentrated power as a Flying Blade, I delicately circulated it across the sword's surface. And then—
"!? Wait, stop—!!"
—I failed.
I couldn't control the aura I was trying to manipulate. Apparently, the maneuver was either beyond my current skill level or just fundamentally impossible. As if rejecting my control, the massive volume of aura went wild.
The next moment, it exploded.
BOOM!! With a flash of blinding light, the Sword Aura burst. A horrific shockwave erupted between us.
The only saving grace was that both the goblin and I were blown back. It was essentially half-suicidal, but I managed to survive the monster’s killing blow because of the blast.
While the intense pain choked my breath and my vision turned white, I still managed to control my rolling body and scramble to my feet.
"Takeo-kun!? High Heal!!"
Hinata-san’s healing magic flew toward me without a second of delay. The pain vanished rapidly. As expected of Hinata-san. Nice timing!
If I had the luxury, I would have given her a "Like!" for that, but there was no time.
I stood up and immediately checked on the goblin. It had been blown away just like me, but unlike me, it hadn't taken much damage. It was already standing and regaining its stance.
—Here it comes.
The goblin swung its sword. Multiple times, right where it stood.
Four Flying Blades were released in an instant. As expected, they flew toward me with incredible speed.
Should I evade, block, or offset them? If I offset them, should I use Mighty Blade or not?
I didn't have time to hesitate. Unlike before, there were four of them. If I failed to offset them with my own Flying Blades, I wouldn't have time to react to the follow-up.
Therefore, even if it meant wasting a massive amount of HP, the safe bet was to meet them with Flying Blades reinforced by Mighty Blade.
However—what I released were ordinary Flying Blades with only 1 HP poured into them.
"Hah!!"
Four of them. I swung my sword in rapid succession to release the counter-slashes.
The projectiles from both sides collided head-on at a point much closer to me than the midpoint between us.
The scene from earlier flickered in my mind. Would they be one-sidedly shattered again?
—They weren't.
The moment I released the Flying Blades, I already knew the outcome. Unlike before, the chill of dread had vanished.
The Flying Blades collided one after another, shattering with the sound of glass being slammed onto the ground at high speed.
The offset was successful.
With that, I was certain.
Skills were diverse, and there were many I didn't know about. I couldn't say for certain which skill it was, but... it was probably Mighty Blade. Or, at the very least, the goblin possessed a skill that, like Mighty Blade, increased the damage multiplier of a single strike.
Actually, I had seen its sword glow intensely several times. I was very familiar with that specific light.
Yes, it's exactly the same as Mighty Blade. Thank you very much.
In contrast, during this exchange of slashes, the glow of its aura had remained constant. That was why I judged that it hadn't used its (assumed) Mighty Blade.
That prediction hit the mark perfectly.
And that was exactly why the path to victory became clear.
Sorry, did you think I was being cornered?
This is a guaranteed win—well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration.
"If I can focus on defense...!"
The goblin had started running, chasing the Flying Blades it had released. Immediately after they were shattered, it was already within sword reach.
With quick, compact, and efficient movements, the goblin swung its sword.
Seeing its blade glow particularly bright, I activated Mighty Blade as well.
Not to block or parry, but to meet the strike head-on.
Sword and sword collided at point-blank range.
"—!!"
"————"
The Sword Aura scattered like radiating lightning, and a catastrophic roar, like two trucks colliding head-on, echoed through the room. However, the impact returning to my hands wasn't as bad as I had expected.
My sword swung through, knocking the goblin's blade aside.
I found yet another chance for victory.
In an attack where we both used Mighty Blade, I had the higher power.
I didn't know the level of the goblin's version, but because I had the Goblin Genocider title, my damage multiplier was larger. And likely by a considerable margin. After all, my current damage multiplier was a staggering maximum of 134.4x.
I didn't know what the goblin's stats were, but if I activated Mighty Blade, my power would be superior due to the sheer difference in the multiplier.
Unfortunately, the goblin didn't lose its grip on the sword I had deflected. Instead, its arms were bounced upward, leaving its torso wide open.
I swung my sword across its middle.
It evaded.
The goblin showed not even a hint of agitation at being overpowered; it simply maintained a perfectly calm expression as it coolly leaped backward. My slash cut through empty air.
From there, a fierce sword fight began.
The goblin, which had retreated to evade, kicked the floor and closed the distance all at once as if spring-loaded. A slash was unleashed smoothly from its movement.
—Fast!!
Its movements clearly surpassed my current self. However, they weren't so far beyond me that I couldn't react. I couldn't let my guard down for even a second, but it was a speed I could manage as long as I stayed focused.
I countered the goblin's slashes with my own.
If I blocked, my body would be pushed back by the impact or crushed like before. Or I could try parrying, but it seemed the goblin’s Sword Aura skill level was higher than mine. Using aura-based parrying carried too high a risk of failure.
So, I offset its slashes with my own.
And then, by matching its strikes without using Mighty Blade, I discovered something new.
I deflected and offset the goblin's slashes. I could feel it through the hilt. The difference in power wasn't as great as when Mighty Blade was used, but even with normal attacks, I was stronger.
In that case—if I could properly activate Mighty Blade whenever the goblin used its own, it wouldn't be difficult to withstand its offensive. Based on its speed and reaction time, I could tell the goblin's stats were higher—but even those weren't a hopeless difference.
Therefore—I could win.
"Shaoraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
I met sword with sword. Metal and aura collided incessantly, playing a noisy duet. There was the high-pitched clashing and scraping of steel, and the sounds of aura bursting like explosions or thunder. In the center of it, I dealt with the goblin's relentless attacks with my own flurry of strikes.
It was a back-and-forth struggle like walking a tightrope, with no end in sight. Even so, I didn't think I was being cornered.
Because time was completely on my side.
"High Heal!!"
As expected of Hinata-san!! Wonderful!!
Even without me giving instructions, Hinata-san calculated the HP I consumed from my skills and fired off a High Heal with perfect timing whenever my health dropped. Having awakened to the Saint skill, Hinata-san's High Heal could restore 300 HP in one shot. That meant it could fully heal me in a single go. To top it off, her MP consumption was halved to 5, giving her incredible sustainability.
On the other hand...
The goblin had no allies. Unless this guy could use healing magic, it had no way to recover its HP.
Additionally, I knew that the method for calculating a monster's HP and MP was the same as a human's. HP was the sum of Strength and Constitution, and MP was the sum of Intelligence and Spirit. In short, there were no monsters with massive amounts of HP like tens of thousands or hundreds of millions like in a game.
This goblin's HP likely fell within the range of a few hundred as well. There was no way it was four digits.
Fighting Spirit, Sword Aura, and Mighty Blade.
Without any means of recovery, if it continued to maintain and activate several such intense skills, a few hundred HP would run out in no time. In contrast, since I had Hinata-san, my effective HP was over several thousand!!
Therefore!!
I would win just by enduring!! It was a guaranteed victory!! I didn't even need to take risks—however, the situation remained that a single mistake meant instant death. If my concentration snapped first, I'd die!
So, after numerous exchanges, I decided to make my move to accelerate the goblin's HP consumption and bring the fight to a quicker end. I was getting used to its movements now.
Up until now, I had only used Mighty Blade to offset the opponent's—but...
"The fact that I can deflect your Mighty Blade with mine means...!!"
Focusing, focusing, focusing, I searched for an opportunity to counterattack.
I deflected the goblin's attacks again and again, and immediately after knocking aside its Mighty Blade-infused strike with my own, I saw it. Dragged by its sword being deflected, the goblin's posture collapsed just a tiny bit.
I won't let you dodge this time!!
I immediately stepped forward.
"It means you have to use Mighty Blade to block mine, too!!"
—A horizontal Mighty Blade!!
It wasn't a timing where it could leap backward to evade. The goblin swung its sword to meet the strike from its forced posture. Its blade glowed with a particularly strong light. Mighty Blade clashed with Mighty Blade, and my strike overpowered it!!
I stepped toward the goblin, whose posture had collapsed further, and swung my sword as if I'd been waiting for this moment.
Mighty Blade, Mighty Blade, Mighty Blade, Mighty Blade, Mighty Blade—!!
Now, I was the one launching a one-sided assault. With no room to evade, the goblin had no choice but to deal with it using Mighty Blade. Just as I had been forced to do many times, I was now forcing it to activate its high-cost skill over and over. This had to be grinding down its HP.
It's my turn from here on out!!
Still, as expected of Level 60, its stats were higher overall, and its swordsmanship was skillful. Although I was attacking and creating openings by breaking its posture, I couldn't quite land the finishing blow.
Even so—
"High Heal!! —Bless!!"
Our Hinata-san is super strong, you know!?
Not just healing; she reapplied Bless shortly before its duration expired so there were no gaps in the buffs. Super helpful!!
"Energy Protection!! —High Regeneration!!"
On top of that, she was piling on other buffs too!! With Energy Protection, which seemed like it could withstand at least one normal hit, and the continuous healing from High Regeneration, I had some leeway in HP management. Psychological leeway also affected the sharpness of my movements.
Attack, attack, and keep on attacking!!
But naturally, from the goblin's perspective, Hinata-san, who kept using healing magic and support magic, was perhaps an even more annoying existence than I was. By now, the aggro Hinata-san had generated was completely higher than mine. Hinata-san likely realized that too. The reason she was still firing off spells without hesitation was—
"Oraa!! You pervert!! Don't look away!!!"
Because there was only one enemy monster.
In truth, the goblin had tried to attack Hinata-san many times. It tried to head toward her or fire a Flying Blade at her. However, trying to do something like that while I was right in front of it was just an opening.
I wouldn't let it go toward Hinata-san. I wouldn't allow it to fire a Flying Blade at her. I would cancel the goblin's actions with my own attacks. And each time, I unleashed a Mighty Blade, accelerating its HP consumption.
There was no longer any possibility of me being one-sidedly defeated. The battle would end either by me making a mistake and being killed, or by the goblin running out of HP and being unable to use Fighting Spirit or Mighty Blade—or, by me finding a chance to land a Mighty Blade on the goblin's body before that happened.
●◯●
The viewers of "Hinata Channel" watched the battle between the abnormal goblin and Takeo Samejima through their screens.
At first, they were on edge seeing Takeo purely on the defensive against the goblin's overwhelming physical abilities. However, even from an outside perspective, it was clear that the tide of the battle was starting to tip in Takeo's favor.
The sword fight produced a cacophony of roars and bursting aura. The dance of sound and light created a scene of fierce combat, like being in the eye of a thunderstorm. In the center, one person and one monster continued to clash swords at point-blank range with incredible speed. It was a breathtakingly tense atmosphere where a slightly delayed reaction could end the match instantly.
But gradually, Takeo's offensive pressure mounted.
『Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!! What is this fight!?』 『Seriously, the sound is insane!!』 『It sounds like a machine gun firing!!』 『I mean, both Leveling Junkie Bro's sword and the goblin's sword are so fast they're invisible!!』 『Isn't it crazy that they're clashing at that speed and not a single attack has landed!?』 『The Sword Aura scattering around like lightning is brutal!!』 『Just the aftereffects look like they'd blow away a normal goblin...!!』 『Is that really Sword Aura!?』 『Isn't it too flashy for Sword Aura? I mean the power, the sound, the effects and all!?』 『No, the light of the aura is stronger than normal Sword Aura, so they're probably using Mighty Blade!!』 『I knew it!?』 『Wait, if that's the case, isn't Leveling Junkie Bro using Mighty Blade too much!? At that rate, his HP will be gone in no time, right!?』 『That's why Hinata-chan is firing off High Heals, you idiot!!』 『Seriously, Hinata-chan's healing timing has gotten so good!』 『It's no exaggeration to say that Hinata-chan is the one supporting this battle. I can tell as a long-time fan of Hinata Channel』 『By the way, I get that Leveling Junkie Bro is using Mighty Blade, but why is the goblin's sword glowing just as much sometimes!?』 『This probably means... that goblin also has Mighty Blade.』 『A monster having Mighty Blade, for real!? Isn't that a Title Skill!?』 『It's a well-known fact that monsters can have Title Skills regardless of titles.』 『In Shinjuku Dungeon, the Leadership skill that Commanders have is originally a Title Skill too.』 『Really!?』 『Wait a minute!? Isn't Leveling Junkie Bro starting to push back before we knew it!?』 『You're right!!』 『That onslaught of Mighty Blade is insane!!』 『The HP consumption must be brutal, but Hinata-chan, who's covering for it, is also amazing!!』 『Seriously, could they actually win against a Level 60 opponent!?』 『If it keeps going like this, it really will happen...!!』 『Leveling Junkie Bro's language is getting rough. That's proof he's getting high. When Leveling Junkie Bro gets high... he's gonna do it.』 『Expert Bro!?』 『No, I mean, is Leveling Junkie Bro really at an advantage!?』 『Someone tell me!!』 『In short, it means Leveling Junkie Bro and the others will win because of the difference in sustainability!!』 『Regardless of whether the goblin is really using Mighty Blade or not, it's consuming HP just by using Fighting Spirit and Sword Aura. Leveling Junkie Bro doesn't have to worry about HP because of Hinata-chan's healing, but the goblin doesn't have that.』 『Explainer Bro is here!!』 『I see!! So if they keep fighting like this, the goblin's HP will get low, and it won't even be able to maintain Fighting Spirit, let alone Mighty Blade!!』 『If that happens, it's definitely Leveling Junkie Bro's win!!』 『Holy crap!! They can actually beat a Level 60!!』 『Hmph, we've won!』
At that moment...
『Wait, if that's the case, isn't that goblin acting weird...?』
The viewers began to notice the abnormality.
『That goblin has definitely activated a skill like Mighty Blade dozens of times already, right?』 『Ah...』 『That's right...!! Why hasn't its HP run out yet, that goblin!!』 『Huh? What do you mean?』 『Is something weird?』 『Even at Level 1, Mighty Blade consumes 10 HP per use. We don't know what that goblin's skill level is, but if it's used it dozens of times, it's weird if it hasn't consumed several hundred HP already.』 『Since a monster's HP is also the sum of Strength and Constitution, it's weird if it hasn't reached its limit already!!』 『Wait, maybe it's already at its limit?』 『Won't it soon be unable to activate Fighting Spirit or use Mighty Blade?』 『If it's a Level 1 Mighty Blade, I can see why it would still have HP left. But Leveling Junkie Bro's Mighty Blade is Level 3, right? Even if the goblin is being overpowered, can it really counter him with a Level 1 multiplier?』 『Oh!! If it's Level 2 or higher, the HP consumption is two or three times more!!』 『Then seriously, it's weird if its HP hasn't run out already... right?』
Realizing the inexplicable fact, anxiety spread among the viewers. Then, the battle abruptly shifted to the next stage.
『Wha!?』 『Eh!?』 『Wait!?』
Before the viewers' eyes, the goblin's movements accelerated.