The Katana Does Not Break

When Carlos and Lulu were taken out, Serge honestly thought it was over.

Though they had struggled through difficult battles before, none had been this hopeless. Serge's trump cards had always dealt massive damage to their enemies, and there had been nothing Ria's katana couldn't cut.

But now neither worked.

He had tried Longinus as well, but it only left a wound about the size of a needle prick.

There was one final trump card remaining. But using it would nearly exhaust his magical power. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to use acceleration magic anymore.

Ria might manage somehow, but without acceleration, it would be difficult for Gig to dodge the giant's attacks. And if he took even a single hit, Gig's supposedly sturdy body would be tragically reduced to mincemeat.

It's fine even if we die. Seeing Carlos and Lulu's bodies disappear just as Maal had described, he didn't doubt that they would revive.

But still, he didn't want to die.

Serge, who had memories of dying, felt this especially strongly.

An instant death would be one thing, but if his limbs were torn off, how much agony would he have to endure?

"Nee-chan!"

Let's retreat. We can still make it now.

It was unfortunate for Carlos and Lulu, but they would have to give up on the armor and staff. Considering how much they had earned so far, it could become a funny story later.

Only those without warrior's blood thought this way.

Maal shared Serge's opinion. She wanted to escape right now. Even if they would be revived, she never wanted to experience that moment of suffering at death again.

But she wouldn't flee. As long as Ria was fighting, she wouldn't flee.

The two warriors didn't even consider running.

Even if I die, Maal will take Serge and escape—thinking that, Ria could focus entirely on the battle.

She wanted to kill the enemy before her. Wanted to kill it completely. That was all she thought about.

Rather than a warrior's instinct, perhaps it was a beast's instinct. Or maybe something even more primal.

Ria thought: This is a true fight to the death.

Her duel in her previous life. The battle with the Ogre King. Those had also been life-threatening, but they were fights with an endpoint in sight.

Of course, those had been exhilarating battles that made her blood boil.

But this was different.

Even in the battles on the previous floors, despite the struggles, she had always seen a path to victory.

But this was different.

There was no way to calculate it. They had made a strategy, but that too had crumbled.

Even so, she simply wanted to kill. Without thinking about whether she lived or died, only her killing intent continued to rise.

"HYAAAAH!"

Pouring every technique, every ounce of power, everything she had into it, she swung the katana down.

The giant's toe was half-severed.

And then, unable to withstand it, the katana shattered.

It didn't break. Unable to withstand Ria's magical power and the impact of the slash, the steel exploded from within.

But because of that, one of the giant's fingers was torn off.

The giant roared. It thrashed about wildly.

The labyrinth—probably built to be sturdy for exactly this reason—crumbled in places all around.

The impact of the debris slowed Gig's movements. The giant's fist came crashing down on him.

Gig was unlucky. He wasn't killed instantly.

For the several seconds until another blow struck him, the pain continued.

Serge showed quick thinking. He used the mithril door he had collected earlier as a shield.

Huddling close with Maal, he watched as Gig turned to light and disappeared.

Once he stored the door again, his first priority became escape. Fortunately, the exit wasn't blocked.

And then Serge played his final trump card.

He picked up a piece of labyrinth stone that had fallen nearby. He looked at the giant's massive body.

The weak point seemed to be its eye. With only one, it was certainly a vulnerability. But it wouldn't be a fatal wound.

The brain or the heart? Probably the heart. He could imagine the giant continuing to rampage even without a brain.

"Nee-chan! I'm using my final trump card! Once I use this, I'll be out of magical power!"

He constructed the spell formula in his mind. Built up his magical power. Mental concentration. If it went off accidentally, he would die.

He focused on the rock in his hand. His target was the giant's heart.

"Explosion Teleport."

The rock in his hand vanished.

Teleporting a solid into another solid. When he had experimented on an ordinary beast, he sent a stone into its head, simply thinking it would die from that.

But what actually happened was an explosion. When matter overlapped with matter, it created an impact of that magnitude.

The blast had struck his entire body, leaving him bedridden for days. His magical power hadn't recovered for a while either.

Now, he had used it again.

An explosion erupted in the giant's chest.

It was enough to bring the giant to its knees. Fresh blood sprayed everywhere.

"It wasn't enough…"

The giant clutched its chest. It had definitely taken damage, receiving a wound unlike any before. But that was all.

Even Serge's greatest magic couldn't bring down the giant. Though it pressed a hand to the wound on its chest, its movements weren't slowed.

But it had drawn the giant's attention for a moment.

Ria slammed the battle axe she had drawn against the wound where the giant's finger had been severed.

It was causing pain. Though not enough to be called real damage, pain was still pain.

Even if losing a single finger wouldn't kill it, that didn't mean it could be ignored.

The giant crouched down. A movement to protect its wound. Its weak point—the eye—was now within reach.

Ria threw a spear. Not one of her common spears. It was one she had carefully selected at the royal castle.

But even that only grazed the eyeball slightly before falling to the ground, leaving barely a scratch.

"Damn it."

Ria cursed. The vital point had come slightly closer. But her most trusted blade was gone.

She pulled a sword from her bag. A mithril sword. It was inferior in hardness and sharpness compared to the katana, but better suited for channeling magical power.

She struck the giant's foot with all the magical power she could muster, but the edge was dull. Overall performance-wise, it was about the same as the katana. At least it didn't explode.

Using her light body to its fullest advantage, she toyed with the giant. But if her attacks weren't working, eventually she would exhaust herself and be crushed.

She swung down on the giant's finger with a sword filled to its limit with magical power.

Another finger fell. And the sword shattered as well.

When this battle ends, I'm going to choose a proper katana. Ria made that resolution in her heart.

She swung her battle axe and wounded the giant's hand.

It was probably causing pain. But no matter how many times she repeated this, it wouldn't be enough to bring down the giant.

Still, she kept fighting. As if living only to fight.

The acceleration magic wore off, and the giant's hand swatted her. Her body slammed hard into the stone wall.

But she launched herself forward in a single breath, swinging the axe again. The handle bent and became unusable. She took another attack. Deflected it.

Getting crushed flat was the only thing she had to avoid. Everything else she could endure.

Even as her flesh and bones creaked in protest, she could still endure. Pain Resistance-san, you're doing good work.

Her body suddenly swayed. The acceleration magic had worn off.

Her whole body ached, but she could move. She could still fight.

Letting out a war cry, she swung down her replacement axe.

Still not enough. The weapon was too weak. Repelled by skin and muscle, the steel bent.

She was crushed.

By its palm, she was crushed. Without realizing it, her movements had slowed.

But she could still move. Body Strengthening-san, Bone Strengthening-san, Internal Strengthening-san, thank you for your hard work.

Seeing Ria still moving even after the floor was destroyed beneath her, the giant finally tried to crush her in earnest.

Its fists destroyed the floor surface. The flying debris bit into Ria's armor and tore her clothes to shreds.

She was slammed into the wall again. Her muscles groaned and twisted. The bleeding was severe. Normally, she would have died from ruptured organs.

But she kept moving.

Using her katana as a cane, she stood up. The will to fight remained unextinguished in her eyes.

Would she die? That was no longer important.

The giant swung its hand, slamming her into the wall twice, three times. Even her reinforced skeleton creaked, likely developing countless hairline fractures.

She regenerated. She healed. Her Gifts were unleashing. But it still wasn't enough.

It still wasn't enough to defeat this giant.

The giant picked up the small creature tottering toward it.

"Nee-chan!"

"Ria-chan!"

Bloodied and battered, looking like a suitably crushed little thing, the giant tried to eat her.

Faced with the massive jagged teeth before her, Ria laughed.

"You fell for it, you fool."

She severed her own left leg, held in the giant's grip, with her katana.

Free-falling, she slipped right into the giant's mouth. Before she could be chewed, she invaded deeper within.

The giant's throat moved, swallowing Ria. No, she made it swallow her.

Ria's leg fell to the ground. A cleanly cut cross-section.

The giant clutched its chest. It let out an agonized groan.

Inside the giant's belly, Ria was rampaging freely.

Using Fireball magic to illuminate the slimy, writhing organs, she indiscriminately stabbed everywhere with her thick-bladed weapon.

Since she had lost a leg, she anchored herself with her remaining foot and the weapon she had driven in.

If she was vomited up, it was over. There wouldn't be another chance. She probably had no strength left anyway.

The acid and mucus dissolved her armor and clothes. But Ria didn't stop moving.

Thank goodness I have Acid Resistance.

The giant was suffering.

Unable to even thrash about properly, it just suffered. It clawed at its own stomach and chest. Eventually it collapsed, legs flailing pathetically, sharp claws tearing through its own chest.

Serge and Maal watched this in terror.

The giant's movements gradually slowed, then it convulsed, and finally went completely still.

She did it.

"She did it from the inside. So even a giant can be defeated that way."

Serge mumbled in a daze. He couldn't believe it. Was she Issun-boushi? He couldn't believe she had actually gone that far, cutting off her own leg.

A katana emerged from the belly of the giant lying on its back.

Perhaps because it had lost its hardness in death, the flesh was cut easily.

Along with the smell of entrails, a lump of flesh appeared. Draped in long black hair and covered in blood and acid, it was Ria.

The katana she had been using as a cane, unable to endure the abuse and acid any longer, snapped.

The one-legged Ria collapsed and slid down from the giant's belly.

"Ria-chan!"

Maal rushed over. Serge's legs wouldn't support him, and he followed unsteadily.

Her breathing was ragged. One eye had been lost to the acid. Even so, she spoke to the two figures before her.

"It's… my win."

And then she lost consciousness.