One Slash Too Many Could Kill

The plan went so smoothly it was hard to believe.

It was hardly surprising, really. Put simply, it was just survivorship bias.

Monsters that grew up in the wild had no concept of whether their food had been poisoned.

And the unlucky ones that fell for it generally never lived long enough to pass that painful lesson on to their offspring.

Even the Bullfango King itself had not realized someone had poisoned it. It simply thought it had carelessly eaten some poisonous mushrooms.

It instinctively lay down. This was the most common way wild creatures dealt with poisoning-toughing it out with their powerful bodies and metabolisms.

A few paralysis mushrooms and poison mushrooms were nowhere near enough to kill it. At most, it would feel miserable for a while.

But Gordon had no intention of letting it recover in peace.

He rose from the bushes where he had been hiding, flung a Paintball at the Bullfango King's forehead, then turned and ran.

Caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, the Bullfango King took two seconds to react.

Its tiny eyes turned bloodshot. Roaring, it climbed to its feet and prepared to charge at that hateful figure and trample him into pulp.

But the paralysis mushrooms and poison mushrooms had already begun to take effect.

Its body would not quite obey it. It had barely run a few steps before it crashed into one of the rotting logs scattered through the forest. Wood chips flew as the Bullfango King's furious roars rang out without pause.

It had no choice but to stop.

Dealing with that wretched nuisance could wait until its body returned to normal.

It shook its enormous head, flinging the pungent Paintball liquid everywhere and filling the air with its overpowering smell.

Its sense of smell was severely impaired. It could only scan its surroundings warily with its rather poor little eyes, on guard against that fellow appearing again.

Several minutes passed, but the hateful hunter did not show himself.

Convinced its attacker had run far away, the Bullfango King lay down again, ready to rest and metabolize the toxins.

Just as it settled down and drifted groggily off to sleep-

An agile figure slipped silently out of the shadows among the trees once more.

Hunter's Knife in hand, Gordon approached the Bullfango King from behind.

He fixed his gaze on the wound on its leg, which had yet to heal completely, steadied his breathing, and gathered his strength. A heartbeat later, he unleashed a flurry of slashes.

Downward slash! Rising slash! Another downward slash!

Three consecutive strikes landed precisely on the original wound, tearing open and widening the gash that had already stopped bleeding. Blood sprayed everywhere.

"Aoooowww!"

Awakened by the sudden, excruciating pain, the Bullfango King howled and struggled to rise. Its normally powerful limbs were hopelessly uncoordinated now; even rolling over was difficult.

Gordon gritted his teeth and wrung every last ounce of strength from his muscles, swinging his knife with all he had. This was his best chance to attack.

He had to inflict enough damage to narrow the gap between their raw capabilities as much as possible.

The fine serrations along his sword-and-shield weapon's blade sliced through the Bullfango King's skin and muscle again and again.

Perhaps it was the poison mushrooms, or perhaps its muscles had relaxed while it rested, but Gordon felt that the Bullfango King's flesh was not quite as tough as it had been yesterday.

That was good news. Within just a few seconds, the Bullfango King's left hind leg had become a bloody mess.

A little of the poison mushroom juice smeared on the blade also seeped into the flesh of its wound. That tiny amount of toxin could not poison a creature as massive as the Bullfango King, but it could inhibit the wound's healing to some extent.

"ROOOAAARR!" The deafening roar made Gordon instinctively cover his ears.

The Bullfango King flew into a rage once more.

Steam-like white vapor blasted from its nostrils, and both its eyes and its snout began turning red.

A flood of adrenaline temporarily restored its control over its body. Its enormous, multi-ton bulk "sprang" off the ground with unbelievable speed.

Slowed by the roar, Gordon failed to react immediately. The Bullfango King's hind hoof caught him with a kick, sending him staggering several steps backward and nearly knocking him down.

Fortunately, the Bullfango King's hurried kick had not carried its full strength.

With his leather armor protecting him, Gordon felt as though a heavy punch had struck his ribs. The intense, dull pain blurred his vision for a moment, but did not leave him unable to move.

By then, the Bullfango King had already turned around.

It moved like a tin toy with its spring wound too tight, noticeably faster than usual.

Amid its rasping pants, the Bullfango King jerked its head upward, driving its enormous tusks straight at him. Each was longer than Gordon's entire body.

He hurled himself diagonally forward and rolled.

The quick reflexes honed through grueling training helped him evade that lethal strike by the narrowest margin.

After getting up, he even had time to turn and slash the Bullfango King, leaving a long cut of middling depth along its flank.

The Bullfango King roared again.

Its enormous tusks swept toward him, but Gordon leaped backward in time, neatly evading its counterattack.

Gordon's lips spread into a confident grin.

For the first time, he realized the Bullfango King was not actually all that frightening.

Thick hide, tough flesh, monstrous strength, incredible speed in a straight charge, and quicker turns than an ordinary Great Bullfango-those were all the Bullfango King's strengths.

But when it came to maneuvering in tight spaces, he still had the advantage!

Those enormous tusks were long and heavy. They were an advantage, but weren't they a burden too?

I've got a rough handle on your tusks' reach now. You won't find it so easy to hit me from here on out!

As the Bullfango King adjusted its stance after its missed attack, Gordon did not rush in to strike. Instead, he backed away some distance.

Seeing the gap widen, the Bullfango King promptly charged.

Unlike yesterday, when he had faced the Bullfango King's charge for the first time with fear in his heart, he felt nothing but calm now.

Just before the enormous tusks reached him, Gordon dove into a roll and cleanly evaded the charge. Rather than hurry to his feet afterward, he continued forward through another roll.

The whistle of the Bullfango King's tusks sweeping through empty air behind his ears told him he had guessed correctly.

Once you dodge its charge, this thing immediately turns its head and follows up with a sweep of its tusks. That's what caught me yesterday and sent me flying.

And now there'll be an opening of a few seconds!

Even with the Bullfango King's muscular strength, it needed a moment to readjust after charging, stopping abruptly to turn, and swinging its tusks in quick succession.

That's my chance to attack!

Gordon darted in, reaching the side of the Bullfango King's head in the blink of an eye. Two swift, fierce slashes flashed out like lightning, adding two fresh wounds.

Then, instead of pressing his advantage and continuing to attack, he leaped backward without hesitation to open the distance again.

The words his instructor had stressed countless times echoed in his mind:

Monsters aren't wooden practice targets. They won't let you keep attacking. Know when to stop. At least half the hunters killed in battle died because they got greedy for one more slash.

Sure enough, a second after he pulled away, the Bullfango King swung its enormous tusks with brute force again, sweeping through the spot where he had just stood.

The gust stirred up by those enormous tusks ruffled his hair. Gordon chuckled and charged in again.