Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 39

　I smiled and took a step forward.

 

　That was the signal to resume fighting.

 

　Kanzaki gives concise instructions to his subordinates.

 

“-You guys, surround this guy!!”

 

　Although they were panicked with fear, the men suddenly came to their senses and dispersed to surround us.

 

　I watch it without disturbing it.

 

　Rather than that, I reactivated the strengthening skill that I had temporarily suspended.

 

Activates “Madness”, “Fighting Spirit”, and “Sword Spirit”.

 

　Then Last Murder was activated automatically.

 

　In addition, I had lost nearly 40 HP fighting the goblins in the monster room, and I had just used up some HP with 《Fighting Spirit》 and 《Sword Spirit》. In other words, my HP was already below 50%, and 《Bl00d Vengeance》 had been activated.

 

　My status, multiply strengthened by several skills, is now like this.

 

————————————————–

 

[Name] Takeo Samejima

 

[Level] 『19』

 

　Experience points to the next level: 289680

 

《HP》44/91

 

《MP》18/18

 

Strength 168 (+117)

 

Sturdy 124 (+84)

 

Intelligence 11 (+5)

 

《Spirit》25 (+13)

 

《Agility》140 (+95)

 

Dexterity 95 (+50)

 

[STP] 『10』

 

[SP] 『3』

 

[Skills]《Damage Increase Lv.Max when equipped with swords》《Madness Lv.1》《Goblin Slayer Lv.1》《Fighting Spirit Lv.Max》《Bl00d Vengeance Lv.1》《Sword Spirit Lv.1》《Provoke Lv.1》《Last Murder Lv.1》

 

[Titles] {Battle Maniac}, {Goblin Slayer}, {Pleasure Killer}

 

————————————————–

 

　I don’t know what level Kanzaki and the other men are at, but with these stats, it’s unlikely they’ll lose.

 

　In addition, the damage multiplier is also increased.

 

　That is, twice the damage caused by “Increased Damage When Equipped with Swords,” four times the damage caused by “Last Murder,” and 1.2 times the damage caused by “Sword Spirit” (only when attacking directly with a sword).

 

　In other words, currently, the damage I can inflict on humans is a maximum of 9.6 times the damage of an attack with a strength value of 168.

 

　Therefore, this is what happens.

 

“Kuhahaha!!”

 

“–Damn it!?”

 

　I approached one of the men surrounding me, a man I’d picked at random, head-on.

 

　However, that movement was a rapid approach due to an agility value of 140.

 

　The man, who was on guard, was able to react to my movements but was unable to counter them. All he could do was slide his sword sideways into the path of my slash.

 

　The outstretched sword becomes a shield.

 

　But I didn’t care and swung my sword down.

 

　Snap!!

 

“—Huh?”

 

　The cross slash offered my hands very little resistance to the man’s sword, the metal breastplate he was wearing, his HP barrier, and his entire body, and in a flash, it sliced ​​his body in half.

 

　The man, split in half by a line running from his shoulder to his opposite armpit, tumbles to the floor with a wet thud, a confused look on his face.

 

　Immediately afterwards, I felt a large amount of experience flow into me.

 

“K, it feels so good…!!!”

 

　Of course, the levels won’t increase in rapid succession, but it’s clear that this is an enormous amount of experience, incomparable even to the Goblin Knight.

 

　I couldn’t help but shiver with pleasure.

 

　And the feeling of cutting a chunk of meat in half with one stroke is so sensual, it’s addictive.

 

“–Huh?”

 

　And while I was basking in the afterglow of the pleasure, the men’s formation suddenly changed.

 

　They went from surrounding me to a semi-encircling fan-shaped formation.

 

　In addition, all of them were emitting a red aura from their entire bodies, likely due to the activation of the 《Fighting Spirit》 skill.

 

　Kanzaki yelled.

 

“Attack from a distance with 《Sword Spirit》! Reduce his HP!”

 

　I see.

 

　It seems they have switched from a strategy of surrounding and beating me up to one of whittling down my HP with long-distance attacks.

 

　You’re used to fighting. That’s correct.

 

　Certainly, my status had risen sharply, but my HP remained the same. If I received multiple hits from the men, it wouldn’t take long for my HP to reach zero and my status to stop functioning.

 

　If that happens, you’ll be killed easily.

 

　Yeah yeah, good job, Kanzaki-kun.

 

　With a confident smile on my face, I watched as the men, now down to nine, including Kanzaki, sent slashes of sword energy flying at me.

 

　However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything either.

 

　–《Sword Spirit》

 

　This skill consumes 1 HP every 10 seconds to envelop the sword in 《Sword Spirit》, enhancing the damage it deals.

 

　In that state, you can also consume an additional “1” HP to unleash a slash of aura, a very useful skill.

 

　When launching a slash attack, the amount of HP consumed will not increase or decrease even if the skill level is increased. The amount of HP consumed per flying slash attack is fixed at “1”.

 

　–Normally, yes.

 

　However, there is a trick to this skill. — No, rather than a trick, it’s merely a small trick that can be easily learned by gathering information on the internet.

 

　When unleashing an aura slash, you can intentionally put in extra HP to enlarge the slash that is launched.

 

　However, this does not increase attack power or damage dealt.

 

　So it’s not a technique that’s used very often, but… It’s useful in situations like this.

 

“That’s too bad!!”

 

　I pumped “5” HP into the sword, enlarging the aura that surrounded it, and swung it sideways on the spot.

 

　A huge blade of aura shoots out from the large slash drawn in the void.

 

　The numerous slashes unleashed by the men and the giant blade I unleashed collided head-on.

 

　and–,

 

“What!?”

 

“Huh!?”

 

　–My giant blade crushed the men’s slashes one-sidedly, and I flew off.

 

　That was probably the highest level, and Kanzaki’s slash was no exception.

 

　The reason why it had become so one-sided wasn’t because my current strength was high, or because my aura blade was larger than the men’s. It was because the slashes I sent with my 《Sword Spirit》 were now receiving eight times the damage.

 

　In other words, the power is overwhelmingly different to begin with.

 

“Tsk!!”

 

　Faced with the approaching giant blade, the five men, including Kanzaki, reacted instantly and leapt backwards.

 

　However, the remaining four men were slow to react and remained where they were. Then the giant blade mercilessly reached them–

 

　Bang!!

 

　And he cut the four men’s torsos in half, from top to bottom.

 

　The torso that was slashed away spun around in the air, splattering fresh bl00d, before falling to the ground with a thud.

 

　However, it was not in vain that the four men, including Matsuda and Aoyama, ended up serving as human shields.

 

　The giant blade of aura I unleashed cut the four of them in half, losing its shape and breaking into pieces.

 

　Countless fragments of aura disappeared as if melting into the air. On the other side, the men’s faces were grimacing.

 

“Uh, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!””

 

　They all screamed in unison, turned their backs on us, and ran towards the entrance to the monster room.

 

　Kanzaki, the only one who did not run away, curses the actions of his subordinates.

 

“You idiots!!”

 

　That’s true.

 

　Surely they think they can get away – that I’ll let them get away?

 

“AHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

 

　I kicked off the floor and took off running. I sprinted. In the blink of an eye, I caught up with the man at the back of the line, overtook him, and cut off his head with my sword.

 

　He ran without stopping and arrived at the entrance to the room before the men.

 

　As he slowly turns around, the men’s footsteps stop.

 

　The men realized that I had overtaken them, realized that they couldn’t escape, and before they knew it, another one of their comrades had been slashed to death–,

 

“H, hiiiiiiiiiii!?”

 

“Don’t come, don’t come, don’t come, don’t come!!!”

 

　Confused with fear, he yelled, swinging his sword around like a crying, raging child.

 

　Her face was distorted pathetically, and she was even shedding tears. Witnessing such a disgraceful state, I–,

 

“Pfft, heh, heh heh heh… ahahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!”

 

　I couldn’t contain myself and laughed out loud.

 

“Ahahahahahahaha!! Good! That face is good!! It’s the best!! It’s so pathetic and funny!! It’s cute!! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!!”

 

　What is this feeling?

 

　It’s so much fun.

 

“Help me! Please, help me!”

 

　The men begged for their lives. Watching this scene, a deep emotion welled up inside me.

 

“Ahh! Ahh!! That’s it!! I think that’s what I wanted to see your faces!!”

 

　They mercilessly kill those who are terrified, crying, and pitifully pleading for their lives.

 

　I thought it was more entertaining, fun than any other form of entertainment in the world.

 

“Ahhhhhhhhh…!! I can’t hold it in anymore!!!”

 

　I wanted to play some more, but I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I attacked them laughing, slashing all three to death in a matter of seconds.

 

　I was entranced by the feeling of flesh and bone being torn apart, and felt ecstasy in their screams of fear and pain.

 

　But that wasn’t the only reward for the slaughter.

 

 

　–Your level has increased.

 

 

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! It’s time to level up aaaaahhhhh!!”

 

　A pleasure like I’d never felt before ran down my spine.

 

　In no time at all, he had met the required 300,000 experience points and reached level 20.

 

　The experience points he gained from the ten men were a large amount, even taking into account the effect of Last Murder.

 

“……A monster.”

 

　Only Kanzaki remained.

 

　Feeling great, I turned to him.