The world bared its fangs at any who entered improperly. Of course, it would be a problem to make it completely impossible to get through. If the proper means to enter this world was ever lost, nobody would be able to access the Dimensional Cornerstones. That would cause trouble of its own. Thus, the first savior had likely adjusted the difficulty of getting through here very intentionally. To be specific, it was set up so that a savior accompanied by many knights would be able to fight their way through. It wasn’t impossible, just an imposing challenge. It could be done so long as a visitor cooperated with local forces. However, the first savior hadn’t predicted this situation.
“Ha ha! Eat this!”
“Erk! You stole mine!”
“Heh heh! That’s three! Aren’t I in the lead now?”
“Our leader’s got that spot.”
“He doesn’t count. Hup, that’s three for me too.”
Trails zigged and zagged through the rocky mountains. The path wasn’t all that wide and there were boulders blocking our sight all over the place. The guardian giants protecting this world made use of the geography to get in our way, suddenly appearing from the shadows to attack us. Normally, anyone coming through there would have to do so very carefully. However, this group didn’t care about that at all. They routed the giants attacking us one after the other. Protected in the center of the formation, I couldn’t help but gulp at the extent of their strength.
Warriors all possessed the same enhanced strength and preternatural physical aptitude. They lacked versatility and diversity in their skill set. However, in contrast, when it came to combat, their ability was extremely applicable. For example, they could use any weapon without training. They couldn’t reach the level of a true master—there weren’t many who would bother with tough training when they were capable of fighting without putting in the effort—but in this situation, that strength was put on full display.
To defeat the guardian giants, the Holy Church had provided us with large heavy weapons capable of breaking through their tough bodies efficiently. Almost nobody here had used such weapons before, but as warriors, they were all capable of using them without any particular problems. Greatswords howled through the air, warhammers crashed down, and giant axes mowed all in their paths. This wasn’t really much of a fight. They were just trampling everything in view. The group remained on the move without stopping, maintaining a fixed speed the whole time.
“We sure don’t have anything to do.”
“Seems so.”
Lily and Shiran exchanged a short quip. Hearing that, Kubota, the one who’d been entrusted with guarding us, let out a hearty laugh.
“Ha ha! Of course not! You’ve got us with you!”
Strangely enough, there were two of him. If my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, this wasn’t a twin or anything. One person had really become two. Kubota Yousuke’s nickname was the Multiplex. Judging by the phenomenon I was witnessing, he had the ability to create a shadow or fake, but that wasn’t quite right. There really were two Kubotas.
In his words, his “collision hitbox is halved and everything is rounded down.” To put it very simply, if both of him weren’t injured at the same time, he couldn’t suffer damage. That made it seem like it’d be a problem on the offense, but also according to him, his “collision hurtbox is halved and everything is rounded up.” What’s more, there were only two of him now, but he could create up to five.
It made sense why he was a nicknamed cheater of the exploration team. That ability was total nonsense. It did come with the drawback of being unable to go too far away from his other selves, but in the sense of being difficult to hurt, let alone kill, the Multiplex excelled. He was strong when it came to a fight, but when it came to protecting others without having to worry about any damage to himself, he was as reassuring as an escort could get.
“Just kick back and relax. I’m not gonna let anything lay a single finger on you two.”
Kubota clenched his fist tight in a show for Lily and Shiran. He didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, but he did seem to be the type to want to act cool in front of girls. His approach was a little wrong in this case, though.
“No, you don’t really have to bother with us,” Lily said.
“Please be sure to protect Takahiro,” Shiran added.
“R-Right...”
Lily and Shiran were both capable of fighting a warrior by themselves. They didn’t need guards. The one being protected here was, at most, me. In this respect, declaring he would properly accomplish his job would’ve gotten him more points with them.
“Yeah, I’ll protect Majima,” he said in a fluster, perhaps realizing this.
“Thank you,” I said.
There was no point in dealing a blow to his pride. It seemed like it would be best to change the topic while we were at it. Fortunately, we had the leisure to chat.
“Anyway, they really are amazing,” I commented. “Especially those two.”
Everyone in the exploration team was strong, but two people in particular stood out at the very front—Nakajima and Ishida.
“Hmph!”
Ishida swung a huge hammer and sent a giant flying away. The giant appeared to shatter in midair; if it was lucky, all its limbs had broken and it was out of the fight. Setting aside his hearty offense, he didn’t look like he specialized in defending himself. He took hits every now and then. I’d mistakenly thought that he was bad at defense, but that wasn’t the case. He simply had no need to defend himself.
“Mrgh...”
Ishida showed no signs of blocking or dodging as a giant’s arm slammed into his face. Even a cheater’s sturdy body couldn’t get away from such an attack unscathed. Blood spurted out while flesh and muscle tore open. It wouldn’t be strange for his skull to be cracked. Regardless, Ishida ignored it entirely and swung his hammer.
“Ooooooh!”