<purga> shaman 45.002

The Shaman can't become a Hero
Act 5: Worst Harem Party
Chapter 45: Armor Bear part.1 (2)
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The axe's blade cracked apart. And to boot, its wooden handle had snapped from the middle. It's clear that it won't function as a weapon any longer. Mei-chan only has this stick in her hand that was even worse than a wooden club.

"Mei-chan! The sword!"

The weapon switchup turned out for the worse. I happen to have the steel sword that is likely the only think we got that can take on the Armor Bear. If Mei-chan still had it, she could've countered right away.

The weapons she has remaining are those fairly dull hatchet and knife, one each. Compared to this sword, the quality is like heaven and earth. And that difference is showing clearly right now, in this life and death fight.

So I started running, meaning to get it to her by any means.

"NO, Kotarou-kun!"

"I'll be fine! The Bear's still set on you!"

Glad she's worried for me, but if I don't put my life on the line here, we're done for. The bog's poison was ineffective, and my blackhair restraints were easily broken through, putting a definitive end to whatever curses I had in mind for support. So the least I can be useful for is delivering a good weapon to her.

Clumsily taking out the sword from its scabbard, I shout out my orders.

"Go, Rem!"

Forget the bodyguarding, and go help Mei-chan. I imagine it impossible for her shabby Goma's spear to do anything to that tough armor, but just diverting its attention for a bit would be great.

"<GoaAAAAAAAAAAAA!!>"

As I attempted to move, the Armor Bear furiously chased after Mei-chan. After slamming her with a tackle, it accelerated its large frame into a charge, and planned to take her down while she was still half standing.

"*Kuh*..."

Mei-chan had already corrected her posture, and nimbly dodged the rushing Armor Bear like a matador. But without any form of weapon, she had no way to follow up with a stab to its defenseless back.

The Armor Bear swerved around in that posture, and bearing knife-sharp extending from it's paw, it swung that log-like foreleg like a storm. I'd be literally minced faced with that, but Mei-chan who'd gotten a great grasp of her knight skill, <Foresight>, dodged it by a hair's breadth.

"Dammit, <goddammit>... running out of time"

There's no telling how long Mei-chan's god-tier dodging will last. She's having to concentrate so much on this seemingly neverending burst of one-sided attacks that she doesn't have any way to counter with her knife of hatchet either.

Naturally, I have no way to just waltz into that level of warzone and hand over the sword to her. Even using Rem as a decoy seems iffy. I would fail to do it, and Rem would get destroyed meaninglessly.

Feels like there's only one thing missing...

"I'll just use this for the hell of it— <Red Fever>"

I use it on the Armor Bear anyway. But as it hasn't eaten any redshrooms of the like, I think a little heat won't bother it the slightest. It's already fired up and raging about, so a bit of extra body-temperature won't even be a bother.

But that's no biggie. It only for the heck of it. The real deal is this.

"I'll distract it for just a bit alright!"

If it's Mei-chan, I'm sure she'll get what I mean. The only good thing about fighting monsters, you can shout out all your plans without an issue.

While thinking so, I fire up my <Blackhair Bind> one more time. This time, I'm not making 5, but putting all that power together, making it bigger, longer, into one big braid— no, weaving the threads precisely, I make it into a sash. The jet-black, glossy sash moved nimbly as the usual tentacles, and caught the Armor Bear from behind.[Note 1]
(*Note 1:  So sash, or (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi_(sash))[obi] err... have you seen (https://myanimelist.net/anime/34019/Tsugumomo)[Tsugumomo]? It's super interesting~ But manga >>>> anime.)

"<Gauh—>"

Freely moving according to my thoughts, the tentacle wrapped around the Armor Bear's head. Winding around over and and over, after just moments, it started resembling a turban.

But this bastard can easily cut up my hairs with the spikes in its armor. The reason my binding of all its limbs were shredded almost simultaneously was because they'd caught into those thorns in its shell. Its head that looks like its wearing a helmet also has this manner of pointed protrusions, so my current means of restraint will be broken soon enough. Even without the spikes, it could use its fangs, its claws, just anything really.

But this definitely did blind the bastard, and stopped its attacks on Mei-chan.

"Thanks Kotarou-kun!"

Mei-chan swiftly takes distance from the Armor Bear, and runs towards me.

The Armor Bear looked boiling mad, scratching around its face as if it got mites, and quickly tore apart the blackhair belt.

But as the bear had regained its vision, Mei-chan had already arrived. We're completely out of the Armor Bear's range. And in one more step, I can hand over the sword i'm holding out.

"<GaAAAAAAAAAAa!!>"

Right as the mad roar beat into my eardrums, a shock ran through my body. A dull pain erupted throughout.

I didn't even know, what happened. Like what even. It felt like suddenly punched out of thin air.

"Uu, Aa... Aaa..."

When I came to, I was on the ground. Shit hurts. Not cause I hit my back falling, my whole body... no, more on my left arm, side, and thigh I guess. That whole area is stinging like crazy. Like that time I was in gradeschool in a snowball fight, I got hit with a snowball right in the stomach. That ball had a rock inside which I swear was full of murderous intentions, and that's the sort of pain I'm currently feeling.

Ah, I get it, it's a rock. It was rocks. In small pellets like a shotgun.

Earth attribute magic— I first thought, mostly cause the gamer inside me was fooling around. How damn stupid. Tasting this humiliation in my mouth, I thought how I should've realized this simple fact much sooner. Along with the iron taste of blood, the repulsive taste of dirt spread throughout my mouth.

That's right, the Armor Bear would know it won't reach us, so it used projectiles. Making a submarine pitch motion, it gouged out the ground and made it fly. For a bear that side, it'd be easy to dig up a decent amount of dirt, it did just that, and blasted the rocks found inside straight at me.

For the bastard, I'd imagine it wasn't that big deal of an attack, just a small revenge for my actions. But on my end, this kind of physical damage scores hard every time.

"<GOAAAAA!?>"

Seeing the Armor Bear yelling from the surprise pain, it just goes to show how much damage it cause me. Good ol' <Pain Return> that likes to show up in the late game had arrived, and showed the bear what hurt feels like.

"<Kotarou-kun!?>"

Ah oops, sorry Mei-chan... The pain was a bit too much, I let go of the sword. It's a bit far to bring back.

"Ugh, Uuu... Ouch, f'kin hurts..."

Sure it's lame, I'm trying to stand up as tears blur my eyes. Shut up with the "Ouch", the least you can do is play tough and do "I'm all good!" From all the pain, I had succumbed to voicing it out, but returned to action somehow.

But the simple fact that I can do so, only means that the Armor Bear that's umptieth times tougher than me can do it much sooner.

<Pain Return> is supposed to dish out the same proportion of pain I received, but the Armor Bear had gotten up from its tilted posture, and as if saying it's pain was already gone in the wind, it came charging.

"<Kuh... yaAAAAAAa!!>"

In an instant, Mei-chan looked at me, the Armor Bear, grasped the circumstance fully, and drawing the knife and hatchet from her hips, she took stance. Forgoing the sword, she stood right beside the absolute hindrance that is me, and with those pathetic excuses for weapons, she determined to take the crazed Armor Bear head on.

"<GAAAAa!!>"

The storm of combat restarts. Right in front of me clash the rusty blades and sharp claws. It had become a domain I can't imagine to invade with my measly curses. And I hadn't the time to consider either, their showdown saw its end instantly.

"—!?"

Knife cracked apart, and hatchet broken midway. Still holding on to the weapons that had lost every part of their purpose, Mei-chan was blown away at terrific speed. The spray of scarlet arcing in the air told of the severity of her wound.

Their crossing of blades was over instantly, but I could slightly follow it. Mei-chan's blades had actually made it past the Armor Bear's shell, tracing against the joints in its shoulder and leg, but the issue was depth. With the plain horrid quality of her weapons, she only penetrated a slight bit of skin.

Since she had attempted to make her attack pass through that tempestuous chaos, this time, Mei-chan's <Foresight> couldn't make it in time. And she got hit. Even while abandoning all defense to make a fearsome Berserker's attack, she couldn't overcome the difference in sheer muscle.

"<Mei-chan! Hang in there!!>"

"Uuo, k..."

Having rolled on the dirt, and covered all over in mud, Mei-chan slightly budged. But that's it. It wasn't like last time where she got up ready for battle without delay.

I could see both Mei-chan's arms deeply wounded. She must've used them to block right on the verge of taking those claws.

But we all know there's no way you can block those knife-like claws with naked skin. Her arms were torn up sleeves and all, and I could clearly see blood flowing out vividly. If she got the sword now, she wouldn't be able to use it at all.

"I'll buy some time! Just get up somehow!"
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