Chapter 47 (2/2)
Inherent Skills: 『Fencing Lv4』 『Greatsword Technique Lv3 (bestowed)』
State: Good, Cursed
「Its state is good with a curse applied, so that means it’s a cursed weapon, huh . 」
It’s hard to imagine that the rag around the Goblin’s hips could be anything impressive so I appraised the greatsword instead .
【Greatsword of Fervent Grudge] A greatsword filled with the grudges and curses of many heavy swordsmen . The holder will become an existence specialized towards swinging a sword with great force .
《Passive Effect》 Strength +800, MP -50%, Magic -100%, Endurance -50% Magic Resist -50%, Skill 『Greatsword Technique Lv3』 bestowed
Just as I thought, the greatsword that was in the Goblin’s hands was a cursed weapon . It was a weapon perfect for muscleheads, and generally, Goblins do not use magic in battle so it was good combination between weapon and user . Most likely, this Goblin evolved from Sword Goblin to High Sword Goblin thanks to it getting its hands on this weapon .
「So that was the reason it has such strength while not being a Dungeon Boss . How troublesome . 」
With cursed equipment being rare as they should be, in the almost 4 years I was travelling around in this world in my first run, even I hadn’t seen any more than I could count . The equipment grants great power in return for a lot of demerits, even so they choose their users . More importantly, cursed weapons were filled with powerful thoughts, and users without the aptitude will have their consciousness eaten away .
Losing itself, just to become a monster that could only rampage about .
Since it’s like that, this Goblin probably has the aptitude for it . The fact that its state came out as ‘Good’ meant that it hadn’t been consumed by the sword . Though I knew it was making rational movements, it seemed it was properly controlling the cursed weapon .
「GuGAAAAH!!」
「Shit, it’s somewhat of a pain . 」
It’s not like I haven’t fought with opponents that had their real strength raised with hex magic and cursed equipment . But, in the first run I had a Saintess amongst my companions, and I had also unlocked powerful Soul Swords with good compatibility .
Opponents with curses had poor affinity with the non-affinity magic, holy magic, that the Saintess specialized in, and I was also strong so there weren’t any memories of hardships against them . However, that Saintess was currently a target for revenge, and I’ve yet to earn the amount of experience points to unlock any powerful Soul Swords making it difficult to defeat it with brute force alone .
「GyaUUUuGAa!!」
「-!! Fuh, -!!」
I slid together the incoming blade with the Soul Sword, dodged with footwork, and used the beginning of a sway to slash superficially and dull the sword brandish .
Fortunately, since my 『Technique』 and 『Thought Processing Speed』 were carried over from the time of the first run, I could cover for the hopeless difference of the Level 1 stats .
Nonetheless, I couldn’t find a large opening, little by little small wounds were inflicted and bit by bit its HP was whittled down .
However, HP was, for all intents and purposes, the remaining life force displayed and if it drops to 0 then it would be dead . For example if the HP was high, but its head falls then the number would immediately become 0 .
Conversely, no matter how many small wounds were piled up, to end an opponent with only that would make it a terribly harsh fight .
And, having thought up to that point, suddenly I remembered something .
「…Let’s give it a go . 」
I then skillfully parried every strike and directly met every sword from the front, and when I saw the Goblin warp its face from almost being crushed by force, I then matched the timing of the Goblin’s swing of its greatsword and personally jumped back .
In the opening from the created distance, whilst being economical I recovered the mana I had steadily used up by drinking a potion .
I recalled the 【Soul Sword of Beginning] and in its place, brought out the 【Fire Spider’s Leg Sword] .
In spite of being properly blown away after our swords met, that I had not been given any serious wounds again caused the Goblin to warp its face in irritation .
However, seeing that the weapon I held changed from what appeared to be a normal sized 【Soul Sword of Beginning] to the size of what could be called a short sword of the 【Fire Spider’s Leg Sword], the Goblin thought that it had become advantageous and once again immersed itself in a sense of superiority and showed an ugly smile .
「GuGyaAAAAUuAAAuh!!」
Closing the distance again, the Goblin cut up from below with the greatsword .
Dodging that strike with a half-turn stance, came the roar of the cut wind and the wind shook my bangs . The greatsword that was swung up continued from there to a second strike in an upper stance and came swinging down, to which I was expecting it with the 【Fire Spider’s Leg Sword]in a reverse grip .
「Guh……!!」
「Guh, GYAAAH!!」
A high pitched shriek resounded, the Goblin’s greatsword and my Soul Sword sounded at the last moment .
That was without a doubt a reproduction of the first run, however, this time it didn’t become a display of me being blown away .
「GUGYAUH?!」
「So it turned out well . As I thought this, it’s pretty good isn’t it?」
I hadn’t thought of this way of fighting during my first run, but cursed weapons were just like any other, made of metal .
The part of the greatsword that had met blade to blade was little by little being melted . It was when about half the greatsword had melted did the Goblin notice the predicament and hurried to pull back the greatsword . However, it was already too late .
I released the Soul Sword from my hand and at the same time created footholds in the air with 『Sky Walk』 .
As I twisted my body in the middle of the 3rd jump, precisely on the deep ditch created on the back of the greatsword, I strengthened my leg through magic manipulation and riding the force of gravity, I swung my heel straight down .
「GYGYAAAH?!」
The sound of something hard smashing accompanied the greatsword splitting from the centre .
The Goblin that seemed to have placed absolute trust in its own weapon was dumbfounded and was looking at the broken sword in its own hands .
「Right there!!」
「GUH, Gaa……」
Without any intention of letting that opening slip by, I quickly brought out the 【Soul Sword of Beginning] and imbuing it with a fairly large amount of mana and the intent to kill in one hit, I swung the Soul Sword .
The Goblin that had its windpipe slit lost strength in its body and fell face up .
On the ground, tumbled the remains of the broken cursed greatsword that should have been gripped tightly by the Goblin as if it wouldn’t part even in death .