CH 23: END OF TRIALS

Bam!

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

[Ninth wave cleared.]

[Prepare for the final wave in 30 minutes.]

"Motherfucker. It was about time."

I plopped on the grounds while heaving.

The moment I did so a terrible pain came from my side.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck."

I had totally forgotten that a fucking wolf wounded me on my side with its claws.

After cursing for a while, I finally calmed myself and inspected the battlefield.

The previous cave was now basically full of ruin, blood and gore. The blood flowed so much that the ground was completely stained red.

All around me were bodies of different beasts laid dead.

After the first and second waves, the third wave of monsters didn't die simply from an explosion. So I had to use my LMG.

For the fourth wave I used a few flashbangs to disorient them.

Each wave had monsters that were stronger and faster. By the sixth wave, I couldn't keep them at bay anymore and had to fight while being surrounded by monsters.

I felt like each second was a minute. Now, after this wave, there was no part of my body that wasn't slightly wounded.

I looked with disgust at the blood from those monsters covering me.

'I wonder what the girls would think if they saw me like that. Ram would surely hold her nose while saying that I stink. While Shuka would have a worried expression.'

I laid down and watched the ceiling with an absent-minded expression.

I was rapidly nearing the limit of what my limited training could help with.

The monsters were becoming too fast for me to shoot and too strong for them to die easily. If before, one head shot was enough, now it wasn't. During the last waves, a goblin needed three headshots before being downed.

'The final wave will have variants without a doubt.'

Third tier monsters could be killed by a trained human even without mana, for the simple reason that they themselves couldn't use mana and their physical ability wasn't that much higher than humans.

But, there were always exceptions.

Elites monsters.

All monsters with a + in its class were called variants or Elites. They were the result of evolution and had power and abilities normal members from their race or at their level shouldn't possess.

This made them dangerous. Because you couldn't even know what level their variations brought them to.

If I had to give an example, if Rimuru from 'reincarnated as a slime' existed in this world, he would be classed as a G+ monster.

See how scary it is? A G with the power to fight gods. Hahaha. Thankfully he didn't exist here.

He didn't did he?

*Groan*

Let's hope I didn't raise a flag.

'Well enough sitting around.'

I got up and went back to putting explosive traps. Even though it didn't help that much anymore, each monster blown up was one monster less I had to deal with.

When I was finally about to create the last bomb.

It failed.

I tried again, but,

"Agh!!"

All I got in reward was a splitting headache and a nosebleed.

"*Chuckle* Man. I am really in a bad shape. Thankfully I had prepared myself."

I knew that sooner or later I would become unable to use my power. I was simply too tired right now. My mental faculties weren't at their best.

As such, I had made some preparations.

I turned away from the trap after filling it even if it was empty and walked towards the first door. There, close to it, two swords were placed.

I took them and inspected them carefully with distaste. No matter how beautiful they were, a fake would always be a fake. As such I had no love for them.

One sword is blue and the other onedark brown. They were Mamako's holy swords. Well, more precisely the pitiful copies of those swords.

The Holy Sword Altura of Mother Ocean and The Holy Sword Terra di Madre of Mother Earth.

From what I knew, those swords allowed Mamako to control water as she wished. But in my hand they were just a magic sword that made water and earth type magic easier.

'Sigh. I guess in the end it really came to it.'

From the start I knew how things would go. Mental strength was also necessary for magic, but for elementary spells the loss was negligible.

What would have happened if I began with magic?

I would be way more wounded and tired, my mental strength would be in a worse state and I wouldn't even be able to save myself.

Now though, by using my mental strength first, I could use mana later without hesitation.

"Two blades. Huh."

Dual blades wielding looked cool on TV, but it was shit in reality. You had more chances to cut yourself than to do anything.

But what if you had mana? Then things changed.

I began to gather mana through my body. I could feel the world around me slowly change. I was faster, stronger, better.

[Reinforcement magic]

Something necessary for all mana's users who wanted to focus on the path of warriors.

I still wasn't at a truly high level but it should be enough for the last two waves.

I dispersed my mana and closed my eyes. I couldn't sleep, but I could take some rest.

[60 seconds remaining.]

I opened my eyes slowly before stretching and then checked the guns and swords on my waist.

[10 seconds remaining.]

Let's give it our all.

[FINAL WAVE. START.]

ROOARRR!!!

I didn't hesitate and activated the bomb the very moment those monsters appeared.

BAMM!!

The result was immediate, and I could see them lose about a fifth of their members.

'Are they 30 or 40?'

But the number wasn't the problem.

*Rumble*

Was it about 2 or 3 meters tall? A huge green fellow holding a cleaver slowly walked out of the door.

"Hulk is that you?"

*Snicker*

I laughed at my own joke. Of course it wasn't hulk. If it was I would have simply put down all my weapons and waited for my death.

So no, it wasn't a hulk. But for me it wasn't really different.

A Goblin champion. An elite monster.

Well. Isn't it interesting. After this, perhaps I should call myself Goblin Slayer?

'I need to kill the maximum possible before focusing on that bastard.'

Killing 30 to 40 monsters with a sword wasn't possible for me as I was now. But,

------3RD POV

The very moment the champion appeared, Akira didn't hesitate to use his last flashbang

Bam!

Of course, he had the proper equipment on to not receive the backslash of this weapon.

Grrr!!

The monsters screamed in pain as they were disoriented and blinded. The champion wasn't an exception.

Akira didn't miss this chance. He immediately lifted his LMG and began to spray bullets like there was no tomorrow.

Bang! bang! bang! bang!

Screams and blood filled the room as the weakest of the monster were exterminated. But,

Clack!

An empty sound resonated.

Without any surprise, he discarded the now empty gun before reaching toward a pocket-bag being him.

What he held weren't flashbangs, but rather grenades.

Click

Taking out the pin with his teeth, he threw them one after another towards the monster and began to run away as fast as possible.

Bom! Bom! Bom!

This blast managed to kill another group of opponents.

But, Akira could see that those monsters weren't blinded anymore.

Readying his sword, he took a deep breath. Those who survived were without a doubt the strongest of the lot.

So. He had to give it his all.

Mana surged from his body in waves as he focused all his attention on his swords.

The monsters' attention snapped back to him as they began to rush without hesitation. They could feel the danger and wanted to crush him as fast as possible.

Akira on the other hand wasn't flustered in the slightest by their mad rush. He breathed in and out before slowly raising the sword in front of himself while crossing them. Then, just as the monster were about 5 or so meters away from him, he swung them down with all his strength.

<<Beast breathing, Second Fang: Rip and Tear>>

Suddenly, from the perspective of those monsters, it was like the world was divided in four.