Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Before my wide-eyed eyes, the enemy swung the large silver ingots in both hands with all his might.

My brain turned completely blood red.

Spurred on by the screaming wind, I bent my knees with all my might, narrowly avoiding this fatal blow.

The greatsword sliced ​​off several strands of hair from where the upper body had originally been.

"Buzzing!"

“Ouch!”

As my snow-white hair flew through the air, the Minotaur swung his sword at me as I bent over. I rolled to the side like a spring. A deafening roar followed.

A fierce, torrent-like attack began.

The blood-stained silver sword, swung with tremendous force, made the air growl and pierce through. The sword strikes, proud of their long-range attacks, relentlessly pursued me. Punches and kicks occasionally grazed past me, as if each strike was cutting away my lifespan.

My breathing and heartbeat were burning hot, and I was anxious.

I was forced to perform a series of close-quarters dodges, and the fact that one wrong step could mean certain death narrowed my thinking.

The alarm bells in my mind rang incessantly.

My eardrum is about to rupture.

"!...!"

When I realized it, I was covered in wounds. This was the price I paid for desperately dodging the Minotaur's attacks, rolling around on the floor.

I have no spare energy. How could I possibly have any? I'm about to be completely destroyed.

If the attack continues like this—

The ambiguous vision of the future began to feel real, flickering in my mind.

In an instant, a bloody end flashed through my mind.

This can't go on. It can only postpone death, not prevent it.

Want to escape.

Run! We have to run!

If we don't run away quickly, we're doomed!

"Bell, sir...!"

In the corner of my field of vision, a small pile of objects shifted slightly.

It was Lily. She steadied herself and stood up, her blurry vision drifting towards me. She was still bleeding. I called out urgently:

"Lily, run!"

The almost screaming sound made her petite body tremble.

Dodging the sweeping sword, I desperately told her to run away.

But Lily didn't move. She stood there, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

Blood rushed to my head.

"Run! Run! I'm telling you to run!"

Lily shook her head violently, crying. Perhaps she was out of her mind, acting like a child throwing a tantrum. Why?!

Lily is staying here, how can I escape!

Lily has to leave so I can escape!

You understand, right? Don't understand? Please, you understand!

"Run! Aa ...

I yelled and chased Lily away.

Lily, tears streaming down her face, turned her back to me with a contorted expression.

She took off running, disappearing into the depths of the passage with the sound of her footsteps.

That way I can escape!

Finally, it was my turn to escape!

escape……

(...How is that possible...!)

If I run away now, who will stop this guy here?

If we let this thing leave this cave, Lily will die.

If this bull monster targets Lily, then Lily, then Lily will…!

"……brute!"

I tucked my right wrist into my protective gear and drew my double-edged dagger.

I berated my own feet, which wanted to turn and run, and confronted the Minotaur head-on.

I couldn't tell if I wanted to cry or get angry. All sorts of emotions were tangled up inside me, a complete mess.

I stepped into a state of self-abandonment and continued my one-sided battle with the Minotaur.

"Buggy ooh ...

"!"

My opponent threw a left straight punch, which I parried from the side with my double-edged dagger.

The impact made my right hand tingle and go numb, but I dodged the incoming greatsword. The short sword couldn't deflect the weapon.

Retreat immediately. The distance has been shortened.

My excited, distorted eyes met the Minotaur's sharp eyes.

"Lu-bu, bu-wu, wu-wu-wu!"

"Ugh, sob sob!"

Without any protective gear, I was always in a life-threatening situation. Every time the greatsword struck the ground, the sharp shards that shattered it rained down, tearing my skin and black shirt to shreds.

The Minotaur's breathing was erratic. Perhaps it was losing patience because it couldn't catch me.

My breathing was labored. Large beads of sweat slid down my cheeks several times. My throat was parched to the limit.

The lingering force emanating from the Minotaur repeatedly rustled the grasslands. All the sounds within the dungeon came from our attacks and defenses.

Under the phosphorescent light that illuminates the entire ceiling, two shadows move incessantly in the vast cavern.

"Hoo-hoo... Buoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

The Minotaur roared.

It was like an angry shout at me, "Don't you dare run away!"

When I mustered all my courage and began to defend with my short sword, I had already noticed my speed—my "agility" was barely enough to keep up with my opponent.

However, I cannot take a step forward.

The destructive whistling of the wind brushed past my ears, stealing the warmth from my body. It made me freeze in place, amplifying my fear.

Don't go forward.

Let's keep retreating in an ugly fashion.

Run away, run away, run away, just to buy some time.

If we can just get through this moment, then...!

That's enough, isn't it...!

"Ha, ah!"

Ignoring my rapid breathing, I dodged the sharp sword.

I don't know how many times I've been on the verge of death in an escape scene, the tension squeezing my heart. The wind pressure felt like it was cutting into my cheeks.

I ran while trembling.

I plan to circle around to the side of the Minotaur, who is swinging his sword forward and bending forward. That's his blind spot, his only safe zone.

The moment I stepped into that place, the Minotaur's eyes gleamed sharply.

“——”

Huff, huff, the Minotaur, its breath coming in short gasps, pulled its gaze away from the greatsword embedded in the ground, and then hurled its head toward me in one swift motion.

"--What!"

A horizontal headbutt delivered from an off-center stance.

What grows on the hard head of a bull is—horns!

A curved horn suddenly appeared, striking me with a stunned silence!

“Ah!”

Knowing it was pointless, I still raised my protective gear, and the Minotaur's horn easily pierced through it.

Fortunately, it didn't cause a fatal injury. The bull horn attack, which was aimed from below, was slightly off-angled when it pierced through the protective gear, and only caused a shallow cut to my left arm.

but.

The Minotaur's horn is still stuck in the armor.

I was lifted up by the firmly planted horn, and my left arm was raised above the Minotaur's head.

"babble!"

"Ooh o ...

I was being tossed around.

Every time the Minotaur shook its head, I swayed back and forth like a pendulum.

Two meters above the underground city floor, his whole body was shaken.

The ground is so far away. My vision is constantly shifting!

The violent shaking made me feel nauseous.

The left arm, which was attached to the body, was creaking and groaning; the joint was about to break.

After the Minotaur shook its head wildly two or three times, the protective gear finally exceeded its limit before I did.

The connecting parts of the already half-destroyed armor have broken off.

As the Minotaur's head swung sharply upwards, its left arm was freed, and I was thrown high into the air.

"Wa ...

After rapidly approaching the ceiling of the 9th floor, which was more than 10 meters high, I immediately began to free fall.

As I drew the arc-shaped parabola, I was pulled toward the surface of the underground city.

Unable to recover, the ceiling slipped further and further away in the blink of an eye—and the fall began.

"babble!"

His back slammed violently into the ground.

Starting from the spine, a scream coursed through the entire body. A flickering light flashed in and out of the mind.

The hands and feet spasmed in an ugly manner.

If it weren't for the "Durability" bonus in the [Ability Value], I would have been dead already...!

"ah……!"

It was flashing before my eyes.

Waves of pain made me groan. I frowned and closed my eyes tightly.

Soon, the sound of the Minotaur's footsteps could be heard through the ground where he lay.

This is bad. Even though I thought that, my body wouldn't obey me. Only my throat was panting, searching for oxygen.

And when I become unable to move, the fear that I have managed to suppress easily resurfaces.