Just look at me!
*This time... I was dead. There was no way around it. Big Black Eagle had slipped from my hands the moment I'd just fired it... Had I... been too
confident?*
That was what I thought, but my body seemed unwilling to give up. Almost without thinking, I reached for the piece of rebar jutting out behind me.
The moment I touched its rough
metal surface, I suddenly remembered what it was...
I remembered seeing a group of kids in the neighborhood that day. They'd stolen a half-meter length of rebar from a construction site. I also remembered
one of their mothers scolding them. She'd shouted so loudly that nearly half the neighborhood could hear her!
I vaguely remembered...
The mother had said something like...
"What do you need this thing for?! The end's so sharp! You could stab someone with it! Throw it away! Go home and do your homework!!"
It was rebar!! And one end of it was extremely sharp...
I might only get one chance. I'd have to wait until it lunged at me. Only then could I raise the rebar, because I had almost no strength left...
But...
What I never expected was that the monster wouldn't lunge at me and eat me right away. Instead, it suddenly reached out a hand
and grabbed me by the face!!!
All I could do was watch as its palm grew larger and larger in my field of vision, watching the strands of flesh wriggling across it like
worms...
So... it uses the grip of those strands of flesh to climb?
The next second, it had grabbed me. I instinctively raised my left hand to grab its claw, when suddenly I felt a tremendous force. The monster
had clamped its hand around my head and lifted me right up!
My entire weight was hanging from my neck. If my body weren't so light now, that alone would probably have dislocated my
spine!
I didn't know why the monster hadn't killed me right away. It had lifted me high into the air, but my left hand
had already grabbed its arm, which was covered in little lumps of flesh. And in my right hand... the cold, rough sensation gave me one last chance to struggle.
Don't panic... Don't panic... If I miss this chance... I'm dead!!
I couldn't see anything in front of me, but it was obvious the monster was examining me. It was huge, able to lift someone around
five-foot-seven like me high into the air. I guessed its hind legs were as nimble as its forelimbs, but could also support its body when it stood.
I didn't know how high it had lifted me. Everything in front of me was pitch-black, and the feeling of those strands of flesh wriggling against my cheeks made me feel
sick to my stomach!!
I wanted nothing more than to kill it right then and there!!
No! Don't panic! Absolutely don't panic. I only get one chance!!!
I told myself that and relaxed. I didn't know if the monster was smart enough to notice the hand I had hidden behind my back, but this was the only way
I could make it let its guard down.
Why... isn't it moving?
I'd been hanging there for about ten seconds, but the monster still hadn't made its next move.
What is it going to do!!!
Suddenly! Another slimy claw slid up through the gap at my waist!! A damp, icy sensation made every pore on my body
stand on end. The sickening feeling shot straight up my spine to my scalp. Even my scalp started tingling and itching!!
But... the next second, the claw began tearing at my shirt!!
"Riiip!!"
As the fabric tore, my skin suddenly felt cold. At the same time, I felt the sunlight on my back! That claw was actually
trying to rip open my shirt!!
Damn it!!! Is this monster trying to mate with me?!!! Even if I die, I won't let you have your way!!!
At the thought of the horrible scene that might follow, I steeled myself to die rather than let the monster have its way!
I thrust the hand hidden behind my back forward, driving the rebar that had been propped vertically against my back straight ahead!!
"DIE, DAMN YOU!!!"
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Divine Weapon, Big Black Eagle
"DIE!!!"
The monster had grabbed me by the face, but its hand only covered the part above my nose, so I could still shout. The next second!
"Pfft!!!"
"Raaagh!!!"
A piercing shriek rang in my ears. At the same time, I felt the rebar in my hand stab into something. Before I could pull it back, a tremendous force squeezed my head painfully and flung me away!
The instant I opened my eyes, I caught a glimpse of the monster. It was clutching its head, its only huge eye letting out
a horrible scream!
The world spun around me, and I rolled straight into the grass. The impact nearly snapped my neck. In a daze, I heard my cervical vertebrae make a strained
"crack, crack."
I landed in the grass, and the soft blades cushioned my fall. I was relieved, but... I didn't have the strength to run anymore.
My flip-flops had flown off somewhere when I'd first been knocked away, and... that strange state had just ended...
"Am I... really going to die here?"
I struggled to get up. Suddenly, a "click-clack~" sounded to my right. Nearly overcome with despair,
I whipped my head down!!
"Big Black Eagle!!!"
Right beside me lay Big Black Eagle, already loaded with a crossbow bolt and ready to fire. In that instant, nothing else
existed in my eyes!
I snatched up Big Black Eagle. Its heavy weight made it difficult to hold. There was dirt and grass stuck to it,
probably kicked up when Big Black Eagle hit the ground.
But I didn't look closely. The moment I picked up Big Black Eagle, that strange "squelch, squelch" of footsteps rang out almost at the same time!!
It was coming!!
I jolted and quickly turned to look at the monster. It was charging toward me. It had only one eye left,
but it was still heading straight for me. In that instant, I could even see the sharp teeth in its gaping maw, with a strand of pale, rotting flesh stuck to them!!
"Die!"
I raised Big Black Eagle. The monster used the momentum of its charge to leap straight at me!!!
"Bang!!"
The instant I pulled the trigger, I left my fate in the hands of heaven. It was moving too fast; I couldn't make out its movements at all. The next second,
the monster slammed right into me!
"Ugh!"
I managed only a muffled groan before my consciousness sank into darkness. I couldn't see a thing...
When I slowly came to, I could barely breathe. My body felt as if it were wrapped in dozens of pounds of cotton, and even moving a hand was difficult.
When I reached out, I touched something cold and limp, covered in bumps about the size of fingers.
I jolted!
I opened my eyes. The monster was lying right on top of me!!
My mind immediately conjured up all kinds of R-rated scenarios. I instinctively struggled, and the monster,
like a corpse, was shoved aside and lay in the dirt-covered grass.
"Is it... dead?"
I rolled over and sat up. A wave of soreness washed over my whole body. I took a deep breath and, by moonlight, looked at the monster lying there...
The monster... was still the same monster, but now a crossbow bolt had pierced straight through its mouth and out the back of its head, leaving
a sharp arrowhead with a black scab on it.