The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 32

“Bre!”

Thrown from the carriage, Bre slams violently into the ground, rolling over and over before lying motionless.

Could his HP be in the red zone, leaving him stunned!?

Why now of all times!?

Fighting back tears, I spin on my heel in an instant.

But—

I wish I hadn’t looked back!

Before my eyes spreads a sight that fills my entire field of vision: a mouth so enormous it could be mistaken for a wall, lined with teeth as sharp as drill bits!

It’s swallowing everything in its path, ground and all!

The sight, likely to accelerate anyone’s fear of insects, makes me dizzy!

“Excuse me!”

I approach the immobilized Bre and hoist his body onto my shoulder.

But by then, the Great Boulder Worm’s massive maw is right in front of us.

The bedrock beneath our feet cracks, and a wind stronger than a typhoon increases in intensity, trying to suck in Bre and me.

Even my [Balance] seems to be at a disadvantage in this situation, carrying another person in this environment. I can’t keep my balance stable!

“Not here…! [Follow Wind]!”

A desperate [Follow Wind].

It’s a spell learned at level 1 of [Wind Magic], but it’s originally meant to envelop allies in a membrane of wind, increasing their speed or deflecting weak ranged attacks.

But that wind membrane proves effective.

For a moment, the Great Boulder Worm’s suction weakens.

I dig in my heels and accelerate all at once.

But the Great Boulder Worm accelerates too, determined not to let us escape.

It’s so persistent! Geez!

“Ah! Come on! I don’t want to die in a place like this!?”

“That’s true indeed.”

…Huh?

Did someone jump from the wildly racing carriage?

Eh, Gobzou!?

No, no, no!

“Gobzou, what are you doing!? We need to run!”

I shout as I run, but Gobzou grins fearlessly.

“I reckon I need to slow it down a bit. Yama, you go on ahead.”

He says this as we pass each other.

No, you can’t! Gobzou!

The opponent is probably an EOD!

No matter how skilled a master Gobzou might be, it’s impossible to face an EOD!

If I wasn’t carrying Bre, I’d stay to help Gobzou, but…

What should I do!?

As I agonize over this, an intense light bursts from behind.

—Huh, what!?

I stop and look back, and where the frail old goblin had been, there now stands—

A tall, slender, shirtless man with long hair and handsome features.

“Huh!?”

Well, the green skin and pointed ears, along with the tattered loincloth, seem to hint at who this person might be, but…

“Could it be… Gobzou…?”

“Well, it only lasts about an hour. But that should be enough time to fight at my peak strength.”

Wait, your physical body has actually become younger!?

And you’re incredibly handsome!

Was wrinkly old Gobzou such a looker when he was young!? Time is cruel!

“Sorry about this, you overgrown bug. This might hurt a bit.”

An enormous amount of magical power envelops Gobzou’s arm, enough to make my skin crawl.

Is that [Magic Armor]…?

But it’s on a completely different level from mine!

The atmosphere alone makes it clear that it would be dangerous to touch!

The air is literally crackling, and just looking at it makes my skin prickle! It’s too intense!

“Hah!”

Gobzou closes the distance to the Great Boulder Worm in a single bound.

Hey, won’t you get chomped like that!?

But my worry seems to have been unfounded.

Magical power bursts from Gobzou’s entire body as he punches the Great Boulder Worm while being swallowed.

Is he extending [Magic Armor] over his entire body!?

Gobzou probably used [Magic Armor] to absorb the damage with magical power, allowing him to punch and break the Great Boulder Worm’s fangs without taking any damage himself.

An impact that shakes the air rushes past, and a booming sound like an exploding bomb echoes through the area.

“Amazing!”

And not just the sound, but the power is incredible too!

Not only did it stop that massive body, but it sent it flying several dozen meters away!

Even the Great Boulder Worm seems taken aback by this, stopping its movement.

“Yama, what are you doing!? Let’s run!”

“Huh? Oh, right!”

Wait, with this kind of power, couldn’t Gobzou defeat the Great Boulder Worm?

Should I ask him directly?

“Um… With your current strength, couldn’t you defeat that big thing?”

“Who knows? It’s hard to say after just one hit, but the opponent seems quite tough. Besides, this peak strength is limited to an hour. It’d be tough in a drawn-out fight.”

“I see, so you can’t be certain about defeating it.”

“Look, it’s starting to move again as we speak.”

As we make another attempt to escape, the Great Boulder Worm seems to regain its composure and starts moving.

We somehow manage to catch up to the carriage in the meantime. We toss Bre onto the top of the carriage for Misaki to catch, get Gobzou onto the driver’s seat, and I jump onto it as well.

Afraid of the excessive weight, I cast [Follow Wind] on the entire carriage to accelerate it, and persistently place [Earth Wall] behind us to wear down the Great Boulder Worm’s momentum.

“Ah, geez, don’t come, don’t come…”

Even though it keeps crashing and banging into the walls, the Great Boulder Worm’s speed doesn’t noticeably decrease.

This EOD has way too much energy!?

“Come on! It’s not slowing down at all even after taking Gobzou’s hit!? [Earth Wall]!”

“That’s probably an earth-attribute monster! Earth and fire magic won’t be very effective, and it’s strong against physical attacks too! Its weakness is likely wind, but there aren’t many strong attack spells in [Wind Magic], so it’s difficult to counter!”

Indeed, even among the [Wind Magic] I can use, the only attack spell is [Wind Cutter] at level 3.

Still, it’s better than doing nothing!

“[Wind Cutter]!”

Blades of wind assail the Great Boulder Worm’s massive body, inflicting minor wounds, but they quickly become indistinguishable.

Doesn’t this thing have skills like [Auto-Recovery] or something?

“It’s no use! This level of attack isn’t doing anything at all!”

“Then I’ll do it.”

Saying this, Misaki moves to the rear of the carriage. Taking up position at the very edge, she lets out a piercing cry.

That’s the shock wave technique she used on Instructor Lilica too!

“It’s wind-attributed, sort of.”

The impact wave that lands with a thud momentarily stops the Great Boulder Worm’s movement. Could it be slightly effective?

“Isn’t this working!? Let’s try to escape with Yama-chan’s [Earth Wall] and Misaki-chan’s voice!”

“It’s the Banshee racial skill [Death Scream].”

So that’s what it’s called!

And so, Misaki and I take turns hindering the Great Boulder Worm as we press on.

The only advantage is that other monsters don’t block our path, probably frightened by the Great Boulder Worm’s rampage, but this chase is wearing on our nerves.

Eventually, as Misaki’s MP runs out and I’m the only one who can do anything, it becomes a situation where total annihilation seems to be just a matter of time.

Even I don’t have infinite MP. Just as I start considering whether to risk using [Magic Penetration Pressure Palm (Just for Show LOL)] as a last resort, the Great Boulder Worm’s movements suddenly slow down.

“It’s slowing down!? Why!?”

“The area boss’s safety zone must be near! Even it won’t pursue us into the safety zone!”

“If that’s the case, with one last push we can— [Earth Wall]!”

And five minutes later, as we watch the Great Boulder Worm reluctantly sink back into the ground, shaking its head, we let out

a sigh of relief at our narrow escape.

■□■

The First Area.

That’s what they call the region from Evilgrande to the Forsine Underground Labyrinth. After defeating the boss on the first floor of the labyrinth, the road to Forsine opens up. That’s why monster-side players refer to this boss as the Area Boss.

The Area Boss of the First Area is the Rock Little Dragon.

It’s said to be an evolved form of the Rock Lizard, appearing similar to a normal Rock Lizard but with the addition of wings.

Perhaps to represent the Area Boss’s habitat, the safety area before the boss is uniquely composed of rocky terrain, unlike most of the Forsine Underground Labyrinth.

There’s a long, sharp fissure in the rocky area. When you go through it, you reach a fairly spacious circular plaza that serves as a waiting room before the Area Boss.

Well, what I’m trying to say is that all our banging and crashing didn’t reach the ears of those waiting here at all.

Seeing us arrive in such a battered state, many of them snickered, which honestly irritated me.

They probably think we’re just a weak party that attracted a bunch of monsters and barely managed to escape with our lives.

Hey, if you guys had faced the Great Boulder Worm, you’d have been turned into polygons and died in an instant, you know?

I’m not saying anything now because, honestly, even moving my mouth is a hassle!

“Sorry, but is this the end of the queue?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. But are you guys okay? It’s reckless to challenge the Area Boss in that condition, you know?”

The person Tatsu spoke to seemed pretty nice, thankfully.

Right now, I’m feeling pretty raw after being pushed to our limits.

If they’d said something stupid, I might have had to have a little CHAT with them.

Stopping the carriage, I slump on the driver’s seat, finally feeling a sense of relief.

Phew, that was tough…

“Is everyone okay…?”

“Need a potion. Bre’s on the brink of death.”

“Ah, sorry. I forgot to heal. Here you go.”

I hand a potion to Misaki and take the opportunity to pour tea for everyone.

Gobzou has returned to his frail old state without me noticing. Maybe because he’s finished a big job, but he seems to be enjoying his tea more than usual.

“So? I want to assess our current situation. My MP is less than half, how about the rest of you?”

“No MP left.”

Well, that’s to be expected for Misaki.

“Gah!? I-I thought I was going to die!? Huh? My right arm won’t move…?”

Bre, who’s just revived after drinking the potion, complains about discomfort in his dominant arm.

Ah, it’s the same symptom as Gaga.

Falling from a carriage seems to lead to surprisingly serious injuries. The speed we were going probably contributed to that too. We can’t leave it untreated.

I take out a [Regeneration Potion] and toss it to Bre.

With his impressive reflexes, Bre manages to catch the [Regeneration Potion] I threw with one hand, albeit precariously.

“Whoa there!”

“Drink that. It should heal you.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you very much.”

Given this situation, it looks like Bre might be the only one who can fight the Area Boss without any problems?