Come on Bennett, ditch the weapons and bring it on!


    "Y-you bastarddddddddd!!!!"


    Driven by impulse, I swing my axe. Desperate to vent this rage, I unleash an overhead strike as if to slam it into this hateful foe—sidestep—sweeping strike—backstep—upward swing—leaning back diagonally—diagonal slash—followed by a backflip, all of which are evaded. Even in this narrow passage, seriously?!


    "You son of a bitch!"


    I try to step forward—


    Clang—!!


    —The daggers thrown are deflected by Line''s longsword.


    "Hannes! Calm down, coordinate with us!"


    "Hk! O-oh, right, that''s right."


    Damn it! Seeing two of my comrades instantly killed by that bastard just made my blood boil… I know I can''t win against him when I''m seeing red… but if we coordinate in this narrow passage, we might have a chance. With the bonus from the beta version, inheriting the level cap of Lv. 15 and half of our skill levels, we top players have the skill and pride to match—!!!


    "……Hmph."


    Gradually, little by little, we coordinate our attacks to corner him! Kelin''s spear relentlessly targets his feet, making him hesitate to step forward, Line''s swordsmanship aims for his head, distracting him and obscuring his vision. And when his movements stop… no, even if there''s just a slight opening, I''ll slam my axe down—!!!


    "Shi!" "Hah!" "Oraaah!" "……"


    Damn it! Not even a graze! Is this still not enough?! It''s three against one in this narrow passage, you know?!


    Kelin''s spear is evaded as if dancing, and instead, his spear is occasionally stomped on, throwing him off balance and his neck is targeted. Line''s sword flashes are evaded with just neck movements, without even a glance. My wild swings with the axe go without saying…


    "Damn it!" "Monster…"If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I involuntarily curse along with Line… but it can''t be helped, right? It''s just so unbelievably impossible to hit him! But we''re not just struggling, we''re steadily luring him—


    "—hk!"


    Mira releases an arrow. Even if it doesn''t hit, he''s completely focused on us, and the arrow is coming from behind, a blind spot. Distance-wise, it''s Mira''s kill zone. He''ll be instantly killed, pierced from the back of his head, serves him right! Half-convinced of his death—


    "……Oh, thank you very much."


    "—Huh?"


    It was then, as if being pulled backwards by something, he fell backward, the arrow passed right by, and instead, it ended up piercing Kelin''s head… I blankly stared as Kelin respawned, lost in thought.


    —Why did he evade it? —Does he have eyes in the back of his head?


    I know this isn''t the time for this, but the shock was immense, having been so sure it was a hit, I froze with wide eyes. It was only a few seconds, but in that time he closed in on Mira.


    "…Tch!"


    Mira rapidly fires arrows to keep him away, but they''re all deflected by daggers. The sound snapped me back to reality, and Line and I rushed forward, but it was already too late… Mira''s HP was completely depleted, her throat pierced from the front…


    "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"


    "Line! Wait!"


    Seeing that, Line, who had been restraining me until now, launched a reckless charge.


    "Damn it!"


    I followed suit and charged in—


    "Well, yes… that was reasonably fun, you know?"


    While being smiled at like that by him, my throat was pierced and my HP completely depleted. In that fleeting moment before respawning, I was, regrettably, captivated by that smile…


    His smile was the last thing I saw before my vision went dark, and when I opened my eyes again, I was in the temple, surrounded by party members with a funeral-like atmosphere… But I definitely wasn''t captivated by his smile! I refuse to admit it!


    Next time, no way! Next time we meet, I''ll definitely win! I renewed my vow and proposed a post-mortem analysis to the dejected party members—


    ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼


    《Level Up!》 《Skill Points Acquired》 《Karma Value Decreased》 《New skill acquired: Night Vision》 《New skill acquired: Stealth》 《New skill acquired: Silent Movement》 《New skill acquired: Presence Detection》 《New skill acquired: Danger Detection》 《New skill acquired: Keen Hearing》 《Existing skills leveled up》


    The battle is over, my level went up, and I acquired new skills including Night Vision, good things.


    "Phew… I tested whether we could fight even when surrounded in a narrow passage, and it seems we can. Especially Azabu-san was immediately helpful, let''s give her a perfect score."


    『…! (Flap flap!)』


    "Hehe, are you happy? That''s good."


    Indeed, that last arrow, if Azabu-san hadn''t been there, my reaction would have been too slow, and I wouldn''t have taken no damage. However, the monsters didn''t even use magic, so isn''t this a pretty good result?


    "We''ve confirmed there are no problems, and we''ll aim to conquer this area while taming our target monsters!"


    『––––! 』 『Woo! 』 『…! (Flap flap!)』


    Hehe, they''re starting to seem kind of cute. Let''s keep going at this pace. Running into the protagonist was the end of their luck.