142 Part 2
Unlike potato and edamame monsters, they didnt seem to be the type of monster that would fire bullets that were stored within their bodies.
Haruki had no idea about how they would fight.
Lets try attacking them.
Got it.
After whispering that to Karen, Haruki carefully jumped closer to the monsters.
The plant-monsters reacted immediately by swinging their club down at Haruki.
He avoided some of the clubs, and blocked others with his Short Sword.
He rotated towards one side, then to the other.
Using his rotations momentum, Haruki attacked the plant-monsters with his Short Sword.
!!
He had aimed his Short Sword at the torso of one of the plant-monsters, but they blocked it off at the last moment.
At the same time, Haruki moved away.
Then, at the exact same spot that Haruki had been standing
*whoosh!!*
Two clubs were swung down.
Their reaction was fast.
Their skill level with a weapon was also different from that of the Beroberos that he fought with on Chikahos 10th floor.
Werewolves were still better than these plant-monsters in terms of battle prowess.
But Werewolves always fought one-on-one.
These are three of them at the same time.
So this battle was more dangerous than fighting a Werewolf.
Haruki focuses his consciousness.
He delved deeper and deeper into it.
Haruki approached them carefully.
Slashing, stabbing, and dodging according to his opponents movements.
Taking a deep breath, and delivering a counterattack.
Rhea filled the gaps between Harukis attacks with her bullets.
Esta warded off dangerous attacks against Haruki.
(Hmm?)
Haruki felt a slight change as he kept on fighting these three monsters.
What the hell is that?
Before Haruki could recall what it was
*Vrooooommm!!*
Karens lightning strike hit one of the monsters.
The hit caused a thick white smoke to start to rise from its body.
Uh!?
Ugh!!
Haruki and Karen groaned at the same time.
A searing pain ran across Harukis nose, throat, and eyes.
(This pain No way!!)
*cough* K-Karen! Fall back!!
*cough* B-But *cough*!
Do as I say!!
With teary eyes, Karen stepped back at Harukis command.
That pain was a result of the direct hit of Karens lightning attack on the plant-monsters.
Harukis eyes were filled with tears due to the pungent, spicy smell, but he still laughed.
Because these monsters
Kuhuhuhhh I know what Im having for dinner tonight!
Were actually wasabina!
Wasabina was a plant that grew naturally in Hokkaido.
It was also known as horseradish or wasabi radish.
Like regular wasabi, its a perennial plant with a strong spiciness.
It has strong vitality and can be propagated just by planting its roots.
As its name implies, wasabina is characterized by its spiciness, which is similar to that of wasabi.
What if that spiciness were to evaporate with heat?
If one were to step into a space where its spiciness had mixed with the air, it could cause difficulties when breathing, similar to being sprayed with pepper spray.
The reason why Haruki and Karen experienced trouble with breathing and irritation on their eyes was because the monsters had been struck by lightning, which caused their spiciness to scatter into the air around them.
In other words, when dealing with these monsters, Karens lightning magic would be an extremely poor choice.
Of course, scattering the monsters spiciness wasnt only limited to Karens lightning strikes.
Even a regular attack could result in a certain amount of it to be scattered as well.
After cutting through the three monsters, Harukis eyes and nose were so disturbed that he couldnt fight properly for a while.
*cough cough*! Lets Take a short break
Y-Yes! Here, Karaboshi. Heres a towel and some water.
Thank yo*cough cough!!*
Haruki, who was only seeing the monsters in front of him as food, had lost control of himself and devoted himself to the hunt.
Wasabina was also the best food-monster to serve with rice.
However, Harukis mucous membrane wasnt strong enough to fight these wasabina monsters for too long.
Its just like when we were fighting Onions, huh?
These wasabina monsters make it look like Onions tear gas isnt much of a big deal.
Definitely.
The spicy compound found in wasabi, Allyl isothiocyanate, is similar in nature to the onions tear gas, but at a different level.
It is beyond the level that humans can tolerate.
Isnt there a gas mask or something like that we could find in a gear shop?
Maybe so
Haruki hesitated to say anything beyond that.
Since these wasabina monsters had appeared, it would be no wonder that there would be wasabi monsters too.
There may also be monsters other than wasabi that emit tear gas, such as onions.
So it wouldnt be strange that there would be gas masks for fighting wasabi monsters on sale.
However However!
Taking off their usual mask and putting on a gas mask wasnt something someone with a strong presence would do, right?
Even now, it was difficult for Haruki to have a noticeable presence without relying on his mask.
Perhaps because of the manifestation of his Divine Protection, his condition had become worse than ever, and life without his mask was becoming (mentally) difficult.
If he were to keep neglecting this and going around with his bare face, his soul could end up reduced to ashes.
Haruki wanted to keep his mask on for as much as he could.
Even if that meant suffering the spicy scent of wasabi
(I became an adventurer in order to get a presence so I could be noticed by others, so why is my presence getting even more insignificant? I cant understand)
After they were finally rid of the effects of the tear gas, Haruki and the others delved deeper into the forest in search of more wasabina.
During their last battle, the tear-gas spicy compound had been scattered all around them due to the lightning attack.
So Haruki thought that perhaps if they didnt use any lightning-based magic attacks at all, then they should be able to minimize the scattering.
So we cant use lightning attacks, huh
Dont make that face. We still have non-attribute attacks on our arsenal, right?
Ah, youre right!
Karen was taken aback.
She seemed to have forgotten about non-attribute magic attacks.
Haruki understood the feeling of relying on a strong attack. Haruki himself had been relying on Weakness Exploit for quite some time.
However, he knew that if he got too used to relying on a single skill, he could easily get himself stuck whenever his trump card didnt work.
That didnt mean that one should level everything evenly, but one should have something to fall back to.
We should better use non-attribute magic to avoid any problems.
Thats right
After walking in the woods for a while, two Wasabis entered Harukis Detection range.
Karen.
Yes.
Haruki gently raised his hand and pointed forward.
Then, Karen braced herself as her intuition told her what had to be done.
With a swoosh, the grass started to shake wildly.
The two Wasabis quickly jumped out before them.
Haruki aims at one of them and immediately starts attacking.
The Wasabi quickly guarded against Harukis Short Sword with its club.
An intense murderous intent swirled up between Haruki and the Wasabi.
At that moment
*Bang!!*
The other Wasabi, who was trying to attack from Harukis flank, was blown away by Karens non-attribute magic.
Okay!
Haruki cheered on Karens attack, and its caster seemed to be completely motivated.
With this, they could focus on the remaining monster.
Haruki turned on the switch on his brain.
The flash of his blade in the blink of an eye.
The Wasabis club, cut in half.
A continuous onslaught of attacks.
Slash, cleave, stab, and kick.
Guard, dodge, and counterattack.
During the less than three seconds that elapsed since Harukis attack started, the Wasabis leaves and roots had been completely cut off from its body, and then, it died.
When that Wasabi fell to the ground, the other Wasabi that had been blown away finally returned to the battlefield.
Look at that Wasabi
*slurp*
A cruel smile appeared behind Harukis mask.