The Poison Topopolock Queen

Zushin!!

As I was devouring the carcasses of the Topopolocks I'd killed to recover my magic power, what appeared before me, shaking the ground, was a Topopolock so huge I had to look up at it, far too huge.

Its deep green skin, glistening in the rain, is mottled with purple patterns, and the spikes growing from its back are each as thick and large as a sword.

The 2 legs planting it on the earth are bulging with muscle.

The fangs peeking out of its lizard-like face and the claws on its forearms are all sharp enough to promise fatal wounds.

<That mottling! It's the mark of a Poison Topopolock! And that huge body...... it's definitely a Queen! A Poison Topopolock Queen, seasoned by long, long years of experience!>

A hint of panic seeps into Omake-sama's explanation echoing in my head.

I tear a piece of spine from the carcass I was eating, strengthen it with 【Solidification】, and hurl it at ultra-high speed toward the giant Queen's three eyes.

But.

The Queen jerked her head and caught my bone pebble, flying at her eyes, on her forehead...... just above her third eye.

With a dry ka! sound, the bone pebble shatters.

The Queen glares at me, looking annoyed, hateful, and seething with killing intent.

......It's not working.

<Her tough body plus 【Body Strengthening】 seems to have blocked your attack completely, Emi......!>

Eh, this is bad.

That means 【Infinite Pebbles】 won't work.

“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

The Queen let out a scream so loud it set my whole body tingling, then began charging at me.

A dump truck barreling down on me. That's how much pressure it gives off.

<W, we've still got some distance! Let's dodge!>

That's a no-go.

If I dodge, who's going to protect the mansion?

I steal a glance behind me.

The mansion still has no barrier up.

Apparently, restoration is still going to take some time.

As for reinforcements from the baron, hopes are slim, I reckon.

I turn my gaze back to the charging Queen.

And then...... I start running toward the Queen too!

<W, w, wait, Emi! What on earth are you......>

What am I doing?

It's obvious, Omake-sama!

I can't dodge, so, I'll meet it head-on!!

Throwing pebbles, that's not all I can do!

The distance between the Queen and me closes in an instant.

The Queen looks poised to simply blow me away with her momentum.

As for me.

I let the magic power I've recovered thanks to the devoured Topopolocks surge through my body, further strengthening my always-active 【Body Strengthening】.

And then, my clenched right fist.

I pour, and pour, and pour magic power into it.

“......Haah!!”

Just as the distance to the Queen closes to a few meters, I accelerate sharply.

In an instant, I slip in under the Queen's chest and, right there...... punch with all my might, a strike packed with magic power, 【Magic Strike】!!

DOGOH!!

A tremendous boom rings out, and the Queen arches back and flies through the air.

A small girl sending a giant, hut-sized monster flying with a punch.

A fantasy scene, mass difference be damned.

<E, eek...... Emi, what kind of nerve do you have, as always......!>

Omake-sama is praising me, but I don't have the luxury of replying.

The Queen slammed into the ground with a roaring zudon!!, but deftly using her neck and both arms, she was back on her feet in no time.

Unlike with the bone pebble, I did definitely deal some damage, I think.

But apparently that much is still nowhere near a fatal wound.

“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Then the Queen lets out a scream.

That cry...... seems to have 【Intimidation】 packed into it.

Pressure that, if I weren't used to Master's 【Intimidation】, would freeze my legs on its own and leave me unable to move.

Anger and hatred toward me, for continuing to slaughter her kin.

Packing all that resentment into her 【Intimidation】, the Queen glares at me.

......Screw that.

Like I give a damn about your reasons.

I'll protect the things I want to protect!

And the things I want to kill, I'll kill!!

“............”

Without flinching, I silently unleash my own 【Intimidation】 in return.

I'll slice your body apart, crush you, and eat you to death.

I hurl pure murderous intent at her.

Naturally, the Queen doesn't flinch either. There's no way she would.

The other Topopolocks have already fled back to the forest, leaving only me and the Queen, just the two of us, on this grassland.

The rain is still drizzling down.

Our standoff drags on, 【Intimidation】 against 【Intimidation】, and the first to move is me.

Using my running style adapted from the 【Grasshopper】 technique, I close the distance to the Queen in an instant.

With the ground this muddy I can't reach my usual speed, but against a Queen whose huge body can't turn on a dime, it's plenty.

Circling the Queen's thick, sturdy legs, I keep slashing at them with 【Mantis】.

“Migya! Migyaaaa!!”

The enraged Queen lifts her giant foot and slams it down toward the ground, trying to crush me.

From a distance, it might look like she's stomping her feet.

Naturally, I dodge immediately. I put some distance between us.

Blood seems to be faintly seeping from the Queen's legs where I slashed her, but......

<That's not, doing much, is it? Sticking with 【Magic Strike】 looks like the better plan.>

Barely any effect. Just how tough are you, Queen?

My 【Mantis】 these days slices clean through your average rock, you know?

At this rate, things like 【Magic Slash Thread】 probably won't work either.

“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

“!!”

In the next instant, the Queen jumped!

And as if in retaliation for my 【Mantis】, the Queen swings her sharp claws down with all her momentum!

A whoosh of air, and then an explosion as the ground is gouged out.

I manage to dive sideways in time, but the shockwave from her claws slamming into the earth blows me away.

I tumbled over a few times, and when I got my footing back and stood up, the ground where I'd just been standing had caved in deep, leaving a crater.

<W, what power! Not even your 【Body Strengthening】 can fully block that, Emi!>

“Migya! Migya! MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Of course the Queen's attack doesn't end with a single swing; her claws come down a second time, a third, mass-producing potholes all around.

Every one of them a killing claw, with fatal power behind it.

If I were hit by that, I'd probably be torn apart like a piece of paper and die in an instant.

......If I were hit, that is!

I instantly close the distance to the Queen again, and this time, I climb up her back.

“Mi, migya!?”

The Queen, startled and bewildered.

Your proud claws can't reach your back, right?

“Migya! Migya!”

The Queen shakes her body to try and throw me off, but it's useless, useless!

After all, my feet are stuck fast to your back with 【Silverfish】!

Staying right there, I pour magic power into both fists and punch the Queen's back over and over again!

【Magic Strike】! 【Magic Strike】! 【Magic Strike】! 【Magic Strike】! 【Magic Strike】!

Fists that should be able to crush boulders strike the Queen's back over and over.

“Mi! Gya! Gya......!!”

Even she can't take a barrage of 【Magic Strike】, it seems; the Queen lets out an agonized groan.

Alright, I can do this.

If I keep this up, I can take her down!

......Or so I thought.

“Kakaka!”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound echoes from deep in the Queen's throat.

Then the Queen moves her long neck and glares at me on her back with her three red eyes......

<!! This is bad! Please get off her back, quickly!!>

The instant after I sprang clear at Omake-sama's warning.

“BUSHUAAAH!!”

Some kind of purple mist spewed out of the Queen's mouth.

It drifted in the air for a while, then dissolved into the rain and fell to the ground.

......That purple that looks so bad for you, it couldn't be anything but......

<It's poison. That's 【Poison Breath】! You could call it the Poison Topopolock's signature attack! Even for you, Emi, breathing that in would be dangerous!>

“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

The Poison Topopolock Queen, roaring her irritation at having her breath dodged.

She must have built up a fair amount of damage from taking my 【Magic Strike】 so many times, but her will to fight shows no sign of fading. She's raring to kill.

Me, meanwhile: the magic power I'd finally gotten a little of back is dropping fast, and I'm about to run out of stamina. At this rate, I'm slowly losing.

......This situation, might be kind of bad.