I started by taking out the most dangerous-looking one. The rest were all fairly strong, but I figured I could make it work with them.
There were two main problems. First, the enemies were spread out, so I couldn’t blow them up all at once. Second, while I’d managed to escape being surrounded thanks to blowing up that demon gen-whatever-guy, I’d left Suama right in the middle of the action.
I decided to ignore Suama. I know it sounded cold, but if I were to try to haphazardly protect her, I’d be giving them a potential hostage target.
Although there was a possibility that they’d assume we were in cahoots because we were traveling together, I still figured it’d be faster to clean them up as fast as possible rather than to fight defensively.
Plus, we had the rings on. Thanks to them, any damage Suama took would be transferred to me, so she’d be fine! She’d be fine, right? I hadn’t actually tested the rings yet, so I had no idea how this would all turn out.
“Take this! Mimic High Kick!” I dashed towards a monkey-like monster and attacked it.
*Ka-thwoom!*
The monkey’s head flew right off.
They weren’t very strong, so I didn’t even need the explosions. Well, given how scattered everyone was on the battlefield, it was likely that Suama would’ve gotten hurt by the blasts too, so that was off-limits for this battle.
Next!
I charged once again. However, this time I lagged a little. Yep. Although it seemed very obvious, my means of locomotion for attacking naturally made things a little complicated.
It was pretty hard to run around while kicking, and I needed to stop for a moment to really get my hips behind the attack. I’d managed to run by while hitting things with Explosive Legs before, but that didn’t seem like it would work unless the target had really let their guard down.
That’s why I’d started with a tackle against that demon gen-what’s-his-name. I instinctively felt that a kick wouldn’t work.
The next enemy was a lizard-man wielding a sword and board. Although it’d been unclear with the monkey, this one clearly reacted to my actions.
Still...
“Mimic Missile!”
Don’t underestimate how tough my treasure chest is! Defending with a shield? Like that matters! I can easily destroy your defenses!
I kicked off the ground, accelerated, and charged straight into the lizard-man.
*Crunch!*
I slammed my treasure chest body straight into his shield. The lizard-man managed to brace himself and remain upright. However, he was unable to fully absorb the impact, and his shield was thrown upwards.
“Take this! Mimic Knee!” I grabbed the lizard-man’s scruff and forced him to bend forward while bringing my knee up into his gut.
*Bwomp!*
The force exploded out the lizard-man’s backside, and I followed up with a punch that sent him flying. He went crashing into a pig-man’s face, and they both bit the dust.
“Hwaaahh! Mimic Axe Kick!” I jumped up and attacked a centaur, aiming at its horse-half.
You’re a huge target, idiot!
He tried to intercept me with his bow, but I was too fast. The centaur’s horse-half was easily bisected in one strike by my heel.
*Clang!*
Grr! I was just attacked from behind! I swung my field of view around to find a praying mantis—man. So was that its scythes just now? Oh well, not like it hurt at all!
“Mimic Rear Kick!”
Using the motion of my hips, I planted a kick straight behind me. The mantis-man crossed its arm-scythes to block, but my kick simply snapped them on the way through. His thin, stick-like body was easily broken.
Considering the amount of bloodshed they’d just witnessed, the other enemies must’ve finally started to understand the difference in our strength. The skeletons and wardogs turned tail and ran.
“Heh heh, did you really think I’d allow you to get away?!”
Oops, I’m feeling weirdly excited!
I dashed forwards, cutting off the runners’ means of escape.
Yeah, these guys are the weakest of the weak!
“Y-You! What are you?! Your strength’s too abnormal!”
“No matter how many times I get asked that, it’s the same answer every time. I’m a mimic who’s just passing by.”
I kicked them. My target seemed to let his guard down, since my attack didn’t seem that serious, but they were sorely mistaken. At this point, I figured Suama was far enough away.
“Explosive Legs!”
*KaBOOM!*
Two of them were reduced to dust. The enemy had been utterly eliminated, so Suama ran up to me.
“Harumi, are you okay?!”
“Yeah, these enemies were easy peasy!”
Oohh, my level went up a little! Demon gen-num-nums must’ve been worth quite a bit!
“But this place has been taken over by those blue bastards, so I guess we don’t need to stay here anymore.”
I wasn’t sure what had happened here, but it didn’t seem like I’d be able to reclaim the dungeon by myself. If we went farther in, it felt like I’d start meeting enemies that I’d be no match for.
We should get out of here quick.
“I know we only just got here, but it seems dangerous. Let’s leave.”
Of course, Suama didn’t object, so we immediately turned around and went back. Luckily, we hadn’t gotten too deep into the forest, so it should’ve been easy to leave... “Should’ve been” were the key words here.
Suddenly, I felt a sudden impact that sent me tumbling over.
“Ouch!”
I’d let my guard down, so I ended up taking some unexpected damage straight to the face. Still, it wasn’t too bad.
“Harumi! Are you all right?!”
“Y-Yeah, I am, but...” I looked around while lying on the ground. We were almost out of the forest and onto the road outside. I didn’t really notice anything in particular, but that made things even more suspicious.
I started to observe our surroundings even more carefully, but I still couldn’t find anything in the end. Suama was also looking around.
“Do you sense something strange, Suama?”
She shook her head.
Yeahh...it’s really suspicious, but we can’t just stay still forever.
“Well, let’s just be careful as we keep going, I guess.” I got up and slowly made my way forth.
*Thunk!*
Once again, I was hit by something. However, this time I was expecting it, so at least I was spared the embarrassment of eating dirt again.
“Hm? Mmmm?”
I stretched out my hand towards the area where I’d felt the impact.
*Plorp, ploplop!*
There was something there...something invisible. I tried feeling around, and found that there seemed to be a set of walls placed around me.
“Um, Harumi, what...?”
Suama was looking at me from the other side of the invisible walls.
“There seems to be some kinda barrier...wait, why are you fine, Suama? What?! What is this! Hey!”
*Slam! Slam!*
I tried hitting and kicking whatever was penning me in, but they wouldn’t budge.
Hello, I’m the one kicking here! How tough can these walls get?!
“It is useless. That is a barrier impassable to monsters. You are, quite literally, trapped like a rat.” The line came suddenly and unexpectedly. The one who spoke was a furry bestial abomination, much more monster-like than I was.