Rubble littered the street. Kurourushi blocked the middle of the road with its insect body turned sideways, its carapace gleaming with an oily metallic sheen in the dim light.
Hajime Kashimo stood opposite it, holding an iron staff. A little dust clung to the hem of his clothes, but his expression was unruffled.
Kurourushi struck first, kicking off with its insect legs and lunging forward, the Festering Life Sword slashing diagonally through a foul-smelling gust.
Hajime Kashimo raised his staff horizontally to block. A dull clang numbed the web of his hand, and tiny pits immediately appeared across the staff's contact surface.
The slime on the blade was corrosive, sizzling with fine bubbles.
He used the force to step back and swept his staff around, smashing it squarely into Kurourushi's chest plate.
Sparks flew, but only a faint white mark remained on the insect armor. The recoil traveled up the staff, numbing his arm.
Kurourushi screeched and changed its attack. The Festering Life Sword swept low across the ground, scattering rubble, while its blade abruptly sprayed a burst of dark green acid straight at Hajime Kashimo's face.
Hajime Kashimo leaped backward. The acid struck the rubble in front of his feet, hissing and smoking as it ate out small pits.
After three head-on exchanges, the iron staff's surface was already pitted all over. Sticky insect slime mixed with residual acid clung to it, its smell enough to turn his stomach.
Trading blows head-on puts me at too much of a disadvantage. I need to target the gaps in its joints.
Hajime Kashimo slid his fingertips up the staff. Blue-green arcs crackled out, forming a blade about an inch long at its tip, its edge glowing faintly.
As though it had seen through his intentions, Kurourushi abruptly opened a slit in