Contrary to his ragged breathing and body that felt heavy as lead, Takeo's movements only grew sharper.
He no longer even waited for the enemies to charge in.
The moment he activated Magic Sword, he swung his blade. Flames flew forward in the shape of an arc, bisecting a high-speed rolling Road Killer clean in two.
By the time he destroyed the Floor 1 Dungeon Core, Takeo's MP had hit 0 due to the Consumption effect of Asceticism. However, more than fifteen minutes had already passed since then, and even though over half of that time had been spent in fierce combat, his MP had recovered to around 20.
Using that meagerly recovered MP, Takeo launched a counterattack—no, an aggressive offensive.
He channeled MP into the aura of his Magic Sword. Even so, Takeo's current Intelligence stat was 12. Unlike Sword Aura, the limit of MP he could imbue at one time was just 2.
Still, that was plenty. There was no need to excessively extend the aura's blade. The Fire Attribute aura cloaking the weapon stretched, extending the blade's reach by roughly 1.5 times.
His reach had likely shifted from that of a longsword to an ordinary greatsword.
Takeo swung the greatsword clad in a magical aura toward the approaching monsters.
The instant the monsters entered his expanded range, he swung his sword at blinding speed, cutting them down and bisecting them before their attacks could ever reach him.
He cleaved an Assassin Falcon swooping down from above in two, severed the foreleg and claw strike of an Invisible Death launching an ambush from behind, and stepped forward to vertically split its massive head in half. Stepping half a pace to the side of a Road Killer's path to dodge its rush, he cleanly sliced it in two as if casually mowing grass. While he naturally could not cleave a Worm Drake in two like this, the moment it burst out from beneath the sand, he unleashed a Flying Blade imbued with 1 MP right into its head, putting an end to its life.
Landing a pinpoint strike on the vital point of a Worm Drake moving at high speed while activating Iron Cutter.
The viewers were gradually beginning to notice the sheer abnormality of it all...
"Whaaa?!"
"No, for real, isn't he way too strong now!!?"
"Almost everything's a one-shot!!"
"Could you not take down Worm Drakes like low-floor trash mobs, please...!!"
"Wait, wait, wait?! I mean, could you even use Iron Cutter like that in the first place???"
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
"Uh, what? What do you mean?"
"I'm saying! If I remember right, Iron Cutter is crazy hard to activate, right?! Then penetrating the barrier every single time makes zero sense!!"
The condition for triggering Iron Cutter's HP Barrier penetration effect was not a secret, so those in the know were well aware of it.
That was precisely why the abnormality of what Takeo was doing right now stood out so starkly.
Deliberately triggering the effect of Iron Cutter was difficult, and normally, it required extensive practice. On top of that...
"Come to think of it, didn't both Samuraiman and Ito struggle to use it properly until they got the Skill Level to 5?"
"Then what the hell is this guy doing, activating Iron Cutter on pretty much every single attack since a while ago???"
"That's why I'm saying it makes no sense."
"I mean, he's actually activating it though, Iron Cutter."
"Don't go getting surprised by Leveling Junkie Bro's craziness now of all times. Is this your first time watching?"
"Activating Iron Cutter like a normal attack is insane enough, but Junkie Bro... hasn't his swordplay gotten, like... way better too?"
"Holy crap. I seriously can't see him swinging his sword. It looks like dropped frames."
"No matter how much of an explorer he is, that's not a level of skill you pick up in a short time..."
"Theory: Junkie Bro was a genuine master all along."
To begin with, activating Iron Cutter every time was anomalous, but beyond that, Takeo's sword techniques had improved beyond recognition in this short span of time.
Like someone who had cultivated sword arts over decades, his form possessed a kind of perfected beauty.
Meanwhile, the battle underwent yet another shift.
Invisible Deaths, Assassin Falcons, Road Killers, Worm Drakes. As these monsters attacked one after another and were subsequently felled, the composition and ratio of the monsters flooding this corner of the desert battlefield began to change.
The numbers of the four aforementioned monster species relatively dwindled, and conversely, the Lamias—who had previously dedicated themselves to ranged attacks to avoid getting caught in the massive monsters' rampages—began actively joining the fray.
The Lamias wielding magic or bows maintained their distance as before, while the melee-class individuals bearing shields, spears, and large curved blades resembling scimitars closed in to surround Takeo.
While pinning Takeo down with a barrage of magic and arrows, a Lamia that approached from his blind spot thrust a spear clad in aura.
Takeo accurately deflected only the incoming magic and arrows on a trajectory to hit him, parried the thrust by placing the flat of his blade against the side of the spear, closed the distance by a step, and swung his sword at the Lamia.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he cleaved the Lamia in two.
From that point on, the stage belonged entirely to Takeo.
Using the bodies of the closing Lamias as shields to limit the ranged attacks from magic and arrows, he maneuvered skillfully. While doing so, he dodged the spears and blades assailing him from all directions with minimal movements, flashing his sword countless times right in the middle of the Lamias.
Every time he did, fresh blood splattered, and the Lamias were cut down.
Soon, Lamias carrying massive, thick shields moved to the front, but their shields served no purpose.
A single flash that looked as though it had been swung lightly and casually cleaved the Lamias in two, right through their shields.
Naturally, the Lamias were using Iron Wall and various other defense skills. Even so, once the effect of Iron Cutter activated, the shields were shredded like paper.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!!"
"The Lamias seriously aren't even a match for him?!"
"He can totally keep going like this and win, for real!!"
"The number of monsters is going down!!"
"Just a little more! Hang in there, Junkie Bro!!"
The viewers grew convinced of his victory.
Immediately after, Takeo's vision caught a red pillar rising from the ground beneath his feet. A warning from Danger Sense. He had already seen it countless times in this brief window of time.
However—at this moment, Takeo was surrounded by Lamias. There was nowhere to run.
(—)
Even so, Takeo did not panic in the slightest.
By now, Takeo had surrendered all his actions to his intuition.
Intuition—in other words, an instantaneous answer derived from past memories and experiences.
The answers to the various problems he faced one after another as the battle situation shifted. How to move to dodge enemy attacks, and how to strike to defeat the enemies. Which enemy to take down first, and which enemy to leave for later. To all those diverse problems, his intuition rendered judgments in an instant, as if they were matters he had experienced countless times before.
Without harboring even the slightest sliver of doubt toward those answers, he trusted them and entrusted his movements to them.
Takeo kicked off the ground and leapt.
Right after, a Worm Drake emerged directly beneath him. However, at this rate, it was obvious he would be swallowed by the Worm Drake bursting out with its maw wide open. Therefore, Takeo leapt once more.
Kicking off the plate created in midair by Footing Creation, he leapt diagonally upward away from the Worm Drake's lunging trajectory to evade it.
Then, floating softly—
A monster sprang right in front of Takeo while he was in midair.
—A Fly Bomber.
The massive crane-fly-like monster exploded without any preamble.
Flames engulfed Takeo.
●◯●
The Fly Bomber.
There were two main reasons why this monster had not joined the battle until now.
First, although Fly Bombers were monsters that moved through the air, they merely rode the wind to dance or glide, lacking the ability to fly under their own power. Because of that, the air currents near the ground where massive monsters moved at high speeds were turbulent, preventing them from easily approaching.
Second, Fly Bombers possessed an exceptionally high Intelligence stat while their other stats were exceedingly low, meaning they would die from a mere graze of another monster's attack. For that reason, descending near the ground where many monsters moved at high speeds carried the danger of getting blown into a spot unrelated to the enemy they were supposed to defeat, causing them to Self-Destruct there. Therefore, they had deliberately avoided approaching.
However, as Takeo reduced the number of monsters, the situation changed.
The Fly Bombers that had been softly circling overhead as if biding their time finally began lowering their altitude to join the fight.
Right into their path, Takeo had leaped high, high into the air to evade the Worm Drake's attack—and the Fly Bomber used Self-Destruct.
The Self-Destruct skill was an extremely unique skill that automatically triggered upon complete loss of HP or death. Originally, however, activating Self-Destruct could also be done at will.
The Fly Bomber detonated, blooming a massive flower of fire in midair.
Takeo, who appeared to have been swallowed by the explosive flames—was unharmed.
—Flying Blade.
The exact instant the Fly Bomber used Self-Destruct, the Flying Blade Takeo unleashed sliced through the explosive flames and canceled out the shockwave.
The shock he failed to fully neutralize slammed into his entire body through his HP Barrier, but the damage was extremely minor. Numerically speaking, it was a mere 3 damage.
Having weathered the explosion, Takeo fell to the ground, pulled by gravity.
Thanks to the two leaps and the explosion, Takeo's landing point had shifted outside the Lamias' encirclement.
Using his entire body like a spring, he absorbed the landing impact.
Without a moment's delay, an Invisible Death pounced toward him.
Rolling to evade the bite, he unleashed a Flying Blade the moment he stood up, cleaving the giant wolf's head in two.
As Takeo regained his stance, the monsters assailed him once more. The Lamias were already moving to surround him again.
However—
"Whoaaaaaa?! He somehow survived that?!"
"How did he dodge the crane-fly's Self-Destruct?!"
"Is he seriously invincible or what?!"
"The Lamias aren't even a match for him anymore!!"
"As long as he watches out for Self-Destruct, he's definitely winning this!!"
"Please, Junkie Bro! Win this all the way!!"
The number of monsters had already fallen below half.
Even though they continued gathering from the surrounding area, there was a limit to that. If he wiped out all the monsters that had converged from the entire vicinity, there would be no renewed assaults until the next repop.
In addition, despite possessing the troublesome skill known as Self-Destruct, dealing with Fly Bombers was actually simple.
If he defeated them from afar using ranged attacks like Flying Blade, he could easily wipe them out without taking any damage.
Therefore—Takeo's victory, as he continued effortlessly dodging attacks and cutting enemies down with a single stroke as if having completely read the movements of the gathered monsters, appeared unshakable.
The only concern was whether his resources like stamina, HP, and MP would run out first.
His MP would likely run out midway. However, with over 50 HP remaining, as long as he did not take a direct hit, he should make it in time. And as for his stamina—
(—)
At this moment, Takeo had reached a zone akin to a runner's high.
True, his breath was ragged, his body temperature continued to rise, and his limbs felt heavy. Even so, he no longer felt any pain.
On an unconscious level, he had judged that he could somehow keep fighting until the remaining monsters were eradicated.
—I can win. I can win without a problem.
He held only that conviction, its foundation vague.
And as was already obvious even to Takeo himself, that was brought about by Alaya-vijnana.
The function of this skill, put into words, was nothing more than "remembering past memories and experiences."
However, it allowed him to recall "memories and experiences" that even he himself had forgotten—no, that he shouldn't have even been aware of having forgotten.
The rapid improvement in Takeo's movements, the dramatic increase in the speed of his sword swings, his mastery of Iron Cutter in such a short time, and the complete lack of panic or fear despite fighting in what was inherently an overwhelmingly desperate situation—all of it was simply because he had remembered past "experiences."
Not "memories," but "experiences."
The experience of having faced similar situations in the past, and having fought even better back then. The experience of a time when he was far stronger than he was now. The experience of a time when he was far more adept at sword arts than he was now. The experience of when he had fallen into far more desperate situations than this. A time far, far, far more than now—
Naturally.
It went without saying.
It was obvious that no such "past" could possibly exist anywhere in the life of Takeo Samejima.
Memories that shouldn't exist. Experiences that shouldn't exist.
They were being fed back into Takeo through Alaya-vijnana, threatening to overturn a future that had already been set in stone—
(—)
As Takeo continued slaughtering the surrounding monsters one after another, he felt a faint sense of exhilaration.
The "experiences that shouldn't exist" seeped into Takeo's physical body. They acclimated. With every passing moment, his body's sharpness and his sword's brilliance increased.
However...
The monsters' movements began to show further changes at this juncture.
In the Sendai Castle Ruins Dungeon—more precisely, in dungeon domains not under the Dungeon Master's management—the monsters' instinct to eliminate "invaders" came into play.
Even if they normally killed one another, they would unite and cooperate to eliminate an "invader."
That was precisely why—the change was only natural.
Immediately after Takeo sliced a shield-bearing Lamia in half with a single stroke—a Fly Bomber clinging to and hiding behind the Lamia's back exploded.
"Wha?!"
"An explosion?!"
"Why?!"
The viewers had not noticed the Fly Bomber hidden from sight by the blind spot created by the forward-thrust shield. Hence, they were astonished by the sudden explosion.
However, Takeo had noticed just moments before. Naturally, it was thanks to the warning from Danger Sense.
Right after cleaving the Lamia, he brought his sword up on the return stroke and unleashed a Flying Blade. Slicing through the explosive flames, it canceled out the shockwave. But as expected, his attack power was lacking. Iron Cutter was useless against a simple shockwave. The shock he failed to fully neutralize slammed into his entire body.
Without resisting it, Takeo swiftly leapt backward.
Rolling across the ground as if blown away, he opened up distance. He managed to limit the HP consumed by that explosion to just 2.
"Junkie Bro?!"
"Are you okay?!"
"You're alright, right?!"
He was alright.
The intuition brought by countless "experiences" whispered to him. The shift in the Fly Bombers'—no, the monsters' behavior.
I knew it, he thought. It made sense.
Dungeon monsters, excluding slimes, placed an immense priority on eliminating "invaders."
He remembered that.
If he remembered, all he had to do was adjust his fighting style accordingly.
He understood that the monsters had now turned into "carriers" for the Fly Bombers.
No, wait—this could be exploited.
He made an instantaneous judgment.
Cleaving a Road Killer charging like a detached truck tire on a highway in two, Takeo used its corpse before it could disappear as a foothold to leap high into the air.
Looking down from above, he saw a Fly Bomber on the back of a running Invisible Death.
Channeling what little MP he had left, he unleashed a Flying Blade, slicing the Fly Bomber on the wolf's back.
A flashy explosion erupted.
The Invisible Death and several Lamias surrounding it were caught in the blast and perished.
"Whaaa?!"
"A crane-fly?!"
"Why is it on its back?!"
"Wait, I get it! If he uses them like that—!!"
"Brilliant!!"
His MP ran out. He switched from Magic Sword to Sword Aura.
He calmly observed the enemies. Was that one a Fly Bomber carrier or not? If not, defeat it normally. If it was a carrier, lure it as close to dense clusters of monsters as possible, then cleave through it along with the Fly Bomber using Flying Blade to trigger an explosion.
Naturally, he could not see through every single Fly Bomber hidden in the monsters' shadows.
"Again?!"
"Too close!!"
There were times when a monster he defeated thinking it was clear ended up exploding.
Even so, he saw through it an instant prior thanks to Danger Sense's warning, neutralizing it with Flying Blade and leaping far back to mitigate the damage.
However—in a true dungeon, the monsters' learning ability was high.
Leaping backward to evade an explosion and rising with the momentum of his roll across the ground, Takeo was met by several shield-bearing Lamias hurling the shields they held all at once.
Clinging to the surfaces of the shields were Fly Bombers.
His body moved instantly. Swinging his sword, he sent a Flying Blade flying. It cleaved through one of the Fly Bombers clinging to a shield. An explosion occurred, the flames engulfing the other Fly Bombers thrown alongside it—and the Self-Destruct skills triggered in a chain reaction.
A massive explosion erupted.
Takeo lightly hopped, kicked off a plate generated horizontally via Footing Creation, and leapt parallel to the ground.
Faster than sprinting across the sand, he distanced himself from the swelling explosive flames.
Rolling across the sand, he sprang back to his feet with the momentum.
Right then—
"Look out, Junkie Bro!!"
"Run!!"
As if lying in wait, Invisible Deaths and Road Killers pounced on Takeo. Not just one each. There were multiples of both. And the Invisible Deaths were carrying Fly Bombers on their backs—
(—)
Takeo instantly cleaved a Road Killer in two, then immediately followed up by firing a Flying Blade at an Invisible Death.
The slash cleaved only the Invisible Death's head in two. Yet as if that mattered not, the Fly Bomber on its back triggered Self-Destruct.
He was surrounded. That was why the distance was so short. A position where the flames would engulf Takeo.
Yet just before the explosion went off, Takeo reached his hand out toward the corpse of the Road Killer that was still rolling forward under its own momentum despite being bisected. Grabbing the edge of the carapaced corpse, he yanked it toward himself with raw strength. Readying the carapace to act as a shield against the explosion, he hid his body behind it.
Flames and shockwaves raged violently.
However, right after Takeo weathered the point-blank explosion using the Road Killer's corpse as a shield—
With light thwip-thwip-thwip sounds, several objects pierced the ground around Takeo one after another.
They were spears. Not just one. A total of five surrounded him. And clinging to the long shaft of each spear was a massive crane-fly—
(—)
They all used Self-Destruct simultaneously.
Just prior—Takeo leapt. Three times.
Once by kicking off the ground. Then twice more by generating aura footholds in midair.
With just three leaps, he soared over twenty meters up. He managed to escape the radius of the massive explosion detonating on the surface.
Yet flying toward him this time were Assassin Falcons.
Carrying Fly Bombers on their backs, multiple falcons converged from all directions.
(—)
It's fine. I see them.
Before they could close in, Takeo continued firing Flying Blades to shoot down the giant raptors carrying crane-flies.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes, four slashes—unleashing them while simultaneously using the momentum of his sweeping horizontal swing to perform a half-spin in midair. Turning to face his rear, he fired Flying Blades at the giant raptors approaching from that side as well.
As if knowing this was the decisive moment, the number of Assassin Falcons attacking this time was immense. Every single giant raptor remaining on the battlefield was flying with a crane-fly on its back.
Even so, Takeo's intuition whispered that it was "fine." He understood that as long as he increased his attack rate, he would make it in time. He had slipped through crises of this magnitude so many times he was sick of it.
He pushed the speed of his sword swings even higher.
He drew forth even more "experience" from Alaya-vijnana.
From the "past" where Takeo Samejima had been at his strongest.
(§¶∆¥#§%&?!)
In midair, within a fraction of a second, the Flying Blades unleashed in rapid succession sliced through the giant raptors one after another, and the flames from the Self-Destructing Fly Bombers blossomed into fiery flowers like fireworks.
Takeo's movements accelerated further and further.
And then—
Takeo swung his sword with his right arm, then smoothly swung his left arm in a fluid motion.
His completely empty left arm.
(—Ah.)
Here, Takeo's conscious thought returned.
He realized his mistake.
He thought to himself: I remembered too much.
(Right... right now, I'm only using one sword—)
Nothing would happen just from swinging an empty left arm.
His interception failed to make it in time, and the surviving Assassin Falcons swarmed toward Takeo as he fell through the air.
—And the Fly Bombers riding their backs exploded all at once.
●◯●
The drone camera was unharmed.
It had been able to film with its camera, but its performance wasn't high enough to keep up with Takeo's movements—inevitably, the drone was hovering at a distance from Takeo at that moment.
That was why it captured everything.
A massive flower of fire blooming in midair.
From within it, it captured the figure of Takeo blown away by the impact.
With a force even greater than getting hit by a massive truck, he was slammed into the ground in an arc, rolling across the sand like a soccer ball—and then fell silent.
Lying on his back, thrown like a discarded doll, Takeo did not twitch in the slightest.
"J-Junkie Broooooooo!!!"
"No way?!"
"Hey, are you serious?!"
"No way, Junkie Bro?!"
"Get up!!"
"Is he dead?!"
"Move, run, Junkie Bro!!"
"Someone help him!!"
"Don't die!!"
Comments poured out from the drone one after another.
However, without sparing even a glance at the drone, the monsters closed the distance toward the motionless Takeo.
All that existed there was a cold intent to "reliably eliminate" Takeo.
To confirm whether Takeo was dead or not, and if he was still breathing, deliver the finishing blow—
In reality—Takeo was still alive at this moment.
HP 1/480
The effect of Unrivaled: "Once during skill activation, endure any attack with 1 HP."
Thanks to that, he had barely survived by a hair's breadth.
However, if he took the next attack, his HP would be entirely depleted. Once his HP hit zero, the temporary superhuman would lose the blessings of his status and revert to an ordinary mortal.
If that happened, the monsters would undoubtedly grant him certain death this time.
Until that happened, he had a grace period of mere seconds.
The time it would take for the monsters to close in on Takeo and deliver the final blow.
At this moment, Takeo—
"I'm home, Takeo-kun."
"Welcome back! Good work today, Mashiro-san!"
Like a daydream, he was recalling a memory from the past.
A memory that, no matter how one looked at it, no matter how much one thought about it, should not have existed anywhere.