Ch.6Teenage Angst

The intruders impaled by my horn disappeared with a splat—without even having time to scream. Thinking I’d killed them, I let out a victorious roar.

“Muooo———!!!!!!”

After that commotion, I thought to myself that my trait [Beast’s Intuition] must be wrong sometimes, and was about to head home… when [Beast’s Intuition] warned me of danger from behind. I swung my arm—

Hisssss——!!!!

Water came flying at me. Despite being just water, it made a boiling sound as it flew toward me. It disappeared instantly when it hit my fist, but it left a wound on my thick skin.

I remained cautious of this attack that had managed to wound my body, which hadn’t been scratched by ordinary attacks since I’d grown this strong.

I was certain that when [Beast’s Intuition] first activated and I went to check, there had been a man and woman there, and I should have destroyed them with my horn…

With that thought, I looked down at the ground, which should have been stained with red blood, but instead was just wet as if it had rained.

Seeing this, I realized the enemy was still alive. I looked around frantically, but they remained hidden while continuing to attack.

Hisssss——!!!!

Once again came the sound of boiling water. This attack was aimed at my head. The water approached my face in the blink of an eye, but I slightly turned my head and caught it with my horn. The water that hit my horn disappeared instantly, and another attack came flying.

This attack also targeted my head. Even though my skull was hard, I figured it would be dangerous to get hit by an attack that had wounded even my fist, so I kept deflecting it with my horn.

I didn’t know where this enemy was hiding, but they had to be somewhere nearby.

Crackle—!

With that thought, I surrounded my foot with electricity and stomped the ground hard. With a boom——!!!! lightning flowed across the ground until it eventually stopped at a certain point.

As if by magic, I charged toward where the invisible barrier seemed to be.

“Dodge!”

“Yes!”

A man and woman jumped out. When I charged to where they had been, the barrier disappeared the moment my body touched it.

“Ha! Even a beast has some intelligence, I see! But you’re no match for me! Asheet, keep it at bay with spirits! I’ll continue sniping it!”

“Yes.”

At those words, the slave elf summoned a wind spirit. After a brief conversation, the wind spirit launched wind blades at me.

Swoosh—!

Ignoring that, I charged at the man. The wind blades touched my body but scattered without causing any real damage. Thus began a game of tag between me chasing the man and him avoiding me.

“Sylph, I’ll use a technique with higher penetration! Wind Spiral!”

The elf used a more lethal technique after confirming her attacks weren’t working. But even so, the spirit’s magic seemed insufficient to trigger my trait, [Beast’s Intuition].

The wind drill spun against my back but couldn’t penetrate my thick skin and soon dispersed.

“Master! My spirits have no effect on this monster! I need casting time to use more powerful techniques!”

“Kuk—! I’m busy running away too! Just keep targeting its weak points and providing cover!”

While chasing after the guy who was busy fleeing despite his confident attitude, my [Beast’s Intuition] warned me of danger with an intensity I’d never experienced in my five years of life.

Usually, danger just made the back of my neck tingle slightly, but this time alarm bells rang in my head. Sensing this wasn’t ordinary, I braced myself for the attack.

“Hmph—! Even a beast recognizes the danger of this attack! Die from this! Jet Stream!”

With those words, he made a gesture as if firing a gun toward me. I immediately dodged to the left, but… the water stream that flew at incredible speed pierced through my shoulder.

“Muooo———!!!!”

“Hahaha—! As expected of my Jet Stream! A mere beast couldn’t possibly withstand it!!”

The pain, which I was experiencing for the first time, made me lose consciousness momentarily, but [Beast’s Intuition] ringing alarm bells in my head brought me back to my senses.

He was pointing his finger at me again, preparing to fire another Jet Stream or whatever technique. Seeing this, I lowered my horn and charged.

I couldn’t dodge his attack by sight anyway. So I thought I’d lead with the hardest part of my body and crush his pride. When he saw me charging, he burst into laughter.

“Hahaha——!! Being a beast, is that all you can do? Pointing your head to make it easier to hit! Then I’ll grant your wish and kill you myself!”

And he fired his Jet Stream. His technique instantly headed toward my head, but I had anticipated this. I quickly turned my head to the right…

Splash——!!

The Jet Stream couldn’t penetrate my horn and dispersed weakly.

“What—!? My Jet Stream!?”

He seemed not to have expected his technique to be countered, as he remained dazed even as I approached. I raised my hand to give this chuunibyou a good bonk on the head.

Boom——!!

With an ominous sound, my hand swung down to bonk his head. My fist, larger than his body, flew toward him.

“Master, danger!”

However, he survived thanks to his slave who pushed him away. Though the slave collar prevented her from using attack magic through spirits, she could apparently throw herself to push her master away.

And my fist succeeded in turning the elf’s body into liquid through alchemy.

Splash—!

Crushed by my fist, she didn’t even leave a corpse behind—only liquid splattered on the ground indicated she had been there. With the elf’s death, the spirit was also unsummoned.

“Puhh…!”

The annoying chuunibyou didn’t die, but I was satisfied that I’d killed his slave, meaning we could now have a fair one-on-one. I turned toward the chuunibyou.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

“Asheet…? Asheet… Where… did you go…?”

Unable to believe the elf’s death, he kept calling her name.

Apparently she was a slave he was quite fond of, as he seemed unable to believe she was dead. Despite my approach, he just stared blankly at the blood she had left behind.

Then, as if coming to his senses, the chuunibyou moved away from me. After being dazed, he seemed to think he couldn’t let her sacrifice be in vain.

“How dare—! How dare a mere beast do this to Asheet——!! Don’t think I’ll let you die easily, you cow——!!”

The chuunibyou formed hand signs. Thinking this guy might be a ninja, I approached with the intention of interrupting his hand signs, but after quickly forming two signs, he shouted his technique name.

“Tidal Wave!!!”

This guy, is he pretending to be a ninja while being a mage? Come to think of it, why would a mage form hand signs instead of chanting? So confusing.

Unlike the earlier Jet Stream, [Beast’s Intuition] gave no warning, so I ignored it and approached him.

After firing consecutive strong waves in a place with no water, he formed hand signs again. I ignored the Tidal Wave and approached, but he continued forming signs until he finally completed them.

“Wrath of Poseidon”

The abundant water around us took form. A giant with a bushy beard, about my size, holding a trident, stabbed at me with it.

Clang——!!

Seeing this, I countered with my horn, but water shot from the tip of the trident. Along with [Beast’s Intuition] activating, water like the Jet Stream he had fired earlier penetrated my skin and stopped at my skull.

“Muooo—!?”

Sudden pain. Fortunately, my skull was hard—otherwise, my head would have been pierced and I would have died. But fortunately, my skull was sturdy, and the giant he had created by squeezing out his power was ultimately useless.

When the trident was blocked, the giant tried hand-to-hand combat, but my strength was S-rank. According to the status window’s standard, I had strength comparable to a cyclops, said to be a descendant of giants.

I extended my fist toward the giant’s outstretched arm, piercing through the water that composed his arm.

“Kuuuk!”

It must have been his trump card, because when I easily blocked it, he put more power into strengthening the giant… but the only effective hit against me was the high-pressure Jet Stream technique.

His other techniques posed no significant threat to me, so the chuunibyou seemed to want a ranged battle, trying to create distance by pulling the giant back. But since I was weak at ranged combat, I stuck as close as possible to prevent him from creating distance.

Every time the chuunibyou stepped back, I took a step forward to follow him as much as possible. Realizing it was impossible to create distance, the chuunibyou engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

But the giant was too weak to engage me in close combat and eventually lost its form and dispersed.

The chuunibyou watched this scene in dismay. When I finally stood before him, he smelled as if he had soiled himself.

“Why… I’m… a chosen human…? How could I, the protagonist, die in a place like this…”

I picked up the guy who was spouting chuunibyou lines. Eventually, the chuunibyou met my eyes as blood dripped from my face.

Looking at him, I grinned—

And tossed him into my mouth.

The chuunibyou, who firmly believed he was the protagonist, met his end by being eaten in one bite by the “beast” he had dismissed.