wimbledon

AVERT THINE GAZES, CHILDREN!

... There's a little bit of foul language in this chapter.

Let's go a few minutes back in time.

…

The shriek of torn metal filled the air as the goretusk’s tooth scraped across the heavily-armored adventurer’s greatshield.

“Shit! Kill the damn thing already!” He shouted to his comrades with a grimace.

“I’m trying, you idiot!” The bowman snapped back, using his [Full Draw] bow Art. He effortlessly pulled the bowstring as far back as possible and instantly sent an arrow at the beast.

However, the cheap arrowheads—mass-produced and only meant for small game hunters—were unable to pierce through the goretusk’s thick hide and simply bounced off.

The black bandana-wearing rogue wasn't having much better luck; with his daggers’ short reach, it was practically impossible to get in range of the rampaging beast without getting trampled.

“Fuck! If that idiot hadn't charged in and died right away, we would have been fine!”

“Yeah!” “Screw him!”

Although the party’s fourth member, a greatsword user, would have been able to deal damage to the goretusk (actually defeating it was another matter entirely), they had run in before the tank could grab the goretusk's attention and was killed almost instantly.

Normally, the party could just steamroll through their enemies with brute force. However, now that they were facing something stronger than themselves, the fight was beginning to drag on; without a proper healer or the space to use health potions, the tank’s HP was diminishing and the situation growing more desperate.

Despite this, it never occurred to them that a monster could actually be stronger than them. They were the strongest! They were supposed to be winning! Obviously, it the swordsman’s fault that they were struggling.

“Shit! Agh--"

Regardless, the tank had finally reached his limits. The goretusk ripped through his guard and reduced him to particles, sending him back to Firrstad.

“No, no! Not me--" The bowman came next.

Then, the goretusk turned to face the rogue.

“—!!”

With terror in his eyes, the rogue started running.

And so he ran…

… and ran…

… and ran some more…

‘How long is this fucking thing going to chase me?!’

The rogue sprinted as hard as he could, but still couldn't escape from the goretusk. It didn't seem to care how long it would take to reach him—it simply chased him with the sole intent of destroying whatever was in its sights.

‘... In its sights, eh?’

The rogue suddenly had a very roguish idea as he spotted another party in the distance.

‘I don't have to outrun this bastard… I just have to be faster than them!’

With a grin, he changed his course.

———

As the rogue passed Louis, they gave him a swift shoulder check, knocking him to the ground.

“Thanks for being bait, suckers!”

“What the—?!"

Louis glared at the traitorous adventurer in shock. He hadn't expected the guy to help fight, but to go out of their way to sabotage the party was utterly appalling.

“Blame yourselves for not being faster, scrubs! Ha ha ha--"

Fenris stuck out his foot——

“Uh?” The rogue let out a dumb noise as their leg failed to catch them.

——grabbed the scoundrel by their collar and pants, lifted them over his head——

“H-hey, waitwaitWAIT--"

——and threw them at the goretusk, where they unceremoniously died in an explosion.

““...””

“Nn. Good.”

While Louis and Lily stared at the fireworks with straight faces, Fenris seemed quite satisfied with himself.

“... Did you really have to do that, Fen?” Lily asked.

“He really annoyed me, so… yes.”

“... I’m not sure if that’s a valid reason, but good job!” Louis gave Fenris a thumbs-up.

“Hurry? Hurry up and help me?” Gen desperately pleaded the others, having distracted the goretusk for the entirety of that leisurely little conversation.

“Whoops,” Louis paled, immediately jumping to her aid.

In any case, the fight against the goretusk had begun.

———

(EXTRA:)

“... Why did they explode?!” Lily cried out in bewilderment.

“I think it's just the death effects…” Louis answered. “The goretusk hit them really hard, so the particles scattered everywhere.”

———

(EXTRA 2:)

‘Wolfie throwing that guy into the goretusk actually saved me,’ Gen thought to herself.

The goretusk had spent all of its momentum to hit the ‘clay pigeon’, so she didn't immediately get run over.

‘... That said, it would be great if they would help me already...!’

Gen was quite good at tanking.