Kurushimi held her katana up in front of her, waiting for the living armour's next move. But the living armour didn’t resume movement once it had regained balance. The living armour stood still as its metal carapace pulsated all the same.

As Kurushimi was feeling confusion by the living armour's sudden choice to stand completely still, the metal around its chest began moving weirdly. It wriggled and writhed in a strange manner. Even more so around the hole Kurushimi had made with her backstab.

“Huh?!”

Kurushimi blurted out in shock. Nearly loosening her guard, she watched the living armour’s chest as the hole started to close up. The living armour appeared to be regenerating its wound. Similarly, the bites and scratches made by the canisfangs had already sealed up.

“It can regenerate? Is this a single skill or is it related to its ‘berserk’ state?”

The living armour had been wounded prior to going ‘berserk’, yet it had only just revealed this healing ability. It was possible that the living armour had been saving the ability for a more serious injury but Kurushimi guessed it may be linked to the ‘berserk’ state she had put it in. Kurushimi started to manifest mana into her eyes.

“I want to see if I can find anything about that ‘berserk’ state.”

《Used skill: 『Appraisal Lvl. 2』!》

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Living Armour

Lvl. 26

HP: 156/200

MP: 90/100

SP: 167/200

(Currently under the effect of the unique skill ‘Berserk’. Affected user will have moderately increased strength, speed and massively increased HP regen at the cost of some intelligence.)

---------------------------------

Using ‘Appraisal’ allowed Kurushimi to see a basic description of ‘Berserk’. Just as she had previously used ‘Appraisal’ to see the ‘leader’ buff on a canisfang, it seemed that the current level of ‘Appraisal’ allowed her to see a status effect the target was being affected by.

“Unique skill, huh? So I won’t be able to learn it… Unless I can steal it through ‘What’s yours is mine’ maybe?”

Kurushimi shrugged before lowering her katana to her side. With her free hand, she pointed it towards the still healing hole in the living armour's chest. Before it could fully close up, the hole exploded and re-opened in a bloody mess.

《Used skill: 『Blood magic Lvl. 4』!》

The living armour staggered once again as its healing wound was opened once again. Blood splattered out across the ground. The living armour held a hand up to its chest, bending over and shaking. The living armour began to roar horrendously in anger. Its deep crimson eyes grew bloodier.

But as the living armour was mid-roar, it was suddenly interrupted as its face was immediately slashed. The metal was cut through as the dark katana paved its way through the living armour's face. Kurushimi had immediately followed up with a second attack, spilling even more blood across the ground. The living armour retaliated by swinging forward with its fist.

《Used skill: 『Evade Lvl. 2』!》

Kurushimi quickly jumped back to avoid the living armour’s fist. It was fast and strong, meaning Kurushimi had to really jump back with all her strength to avoid it. A distance had been created between the living armour.

The living armour breathed heavily as it glared at Kurushimi. It twisted around, picking its greatsword back up off the floor. The slash across its face had already begun healing and the hole in its chest had sealed up.

“Even with ‘Blood magic’, I can’t make a permanent wound. It seems I can only preserve the injury for longer.”

Realising her current attacking style wouldn’t work, Kurushimi knew that she would either have to wear it down till it can’t regenerate anymore or attempt to finish the living armour in a single attack. The problem was, although she could cut through the living armour’s armour, she couldn’t cut deep enough for a fatal wound.

“I should have gone for the head in the beginning, I guess~”

Kurushimi scratched her head as the living armour roared again. Kurushimi jumped and hurried to ready her katana as the giant began storming in her direction with its greatsword trailing behind it.

The living armour stomped on the ground, using the momentum to swing the heavy greatsword horizontally in Kurushimi’s direction. Time slowed down as Kurushimi quickly ducked down, holding her katana over her head. Kurushimi allowed the greatsword to slide over her head, following the path she had made with her katana.

《Used skill: 『Evade Lvl. 2』!》

Once again the living armour let go of its greatsword without a hint of hesitation. The greatsword now in the air, the living armour raised its hand and reeled it back. As this went on, Kurushimi stayed crouched and completely calm.

“You’re gonna try the same thing again!? Do you think I’m stupid!?”

Of course Kurushimi wouldn’t get fooled by the same trick twice, she didn’t even need ‘Evade’ to dodge this one. If she really were to get fooled by this trick again, Kurushimi felt that she would deserve death at that point! As the living armour’s fist barreled towards Kurushimi, Kurushimi continued to remain still until her image suddenly disappeared.

《Used skill: 『Short-distance teleportation Lvl. 1』!》

Kurushimi appeared behind the living armour’s fully exposed back. This time she would aim for the head as she should originally have done. Kurushimi thrust her katana towards the back of the living armour’s helmet. The blade tore through metal as blood splashed out from the strike.

Kurushimi gasped as she saw the hand of the living armour get pierced. Unexpectedly, the living armour had moved its arm in a blur, positioning its hand over the back of its head. With its hand in the way, Kurushimi wasn’t able to drive her katana even near deep enough into its head.

“I thought it was supposed to have lost its intelligence! How come it could predict my attack?!”

“It most likely has lost its intelligence. I presume that battle instincts would be what allowed it to predict your attack.”

Voice-san answered Kurushimi’s question for her. The living armour had indeed lost some of its intelligence as the description had said, but it had kept its survival instincts intact. Kurushimi felt absolutely cheated.

“Survival instincts shouldn’t be that strong~!”

Kurushimi shouted as she quickly tilted the katana down, cutting through the living armour's hand to break free from it. More of the living armour’s blood splashed down onto the ground. The living armour turned around to face Kurushimi.

In Kurushimi’s face, the living armour roared. But this time, the roar was different. It was ear-piercing and made Kurushimi’s mind go blank, momentarily stunning her. Relating the roar to anything else, Kurushimi felt that it was similar to the roar it made before opening its mouth.

The metal around its mouth twisted and malformed, splitting into multiple segments with fleshy insides accompanied by rows of teeth. Realising it had indeed opened its mouth, Kurushimi woke up and jumped back. If she had stayed, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had bit her head clean off.

The living armour relentlessly began to chase Kurushimi. Extending its arm, it attempted to grab Kurushimi. Kurushimi dodged and swung her sword, cutting the living armour. As blood covered the ground, the living armour didn’t flinch or stop.

-For such a humanoid looking monster, it’s surprisingly animalistic!

Kurushim continued dodging the living armour attacks, cutting into its armour and leaving a trail of blood along the path she was chased in. The living armour opened its metaly mouth to try to clamp down on Kurushimi with it sharp rows of teeth. Time slowed down as it got closer.

Kurushimi conjured mana into her hand and kicked the living armour in the chest before it could get to her. The living armour tumbled back as Kurushimi held her hand up to it. The trail of blood behind it started to writhe about and vibrate.

《Used skill: 『Blood magic Lvl. 4』!》

Kurushimi reeled back her hand, causing large volumes of blood to begin rushing her way. The wave of blood pushed straight through the back of the living armour, causing it to split in two.The two halves fell down onto the ground separately.

Stepping to the side, Kurushimi allowed the blood to slow down on its own and slowly let go of the blood, allowing it to soak into the dirt. Kurushimi wiped the sweat off her forehead and took a deep breath before looking back to the living armour.

The living armour still had its mouth wide open. Despite dying and having lost the crimson glow in its eyes, It still looked rather threatening. Kurushimi’s attention was then stolen by system messages popping up.

《Skill proficiency reached. Skill: 『Blood magic Lvl. 4』 has become 『Blood magic Lvl. 5』》

《Skill proficiency reached. Skill: 『Evade Lvl. 2』 has become 『Evade Lvl. 3』》

《Skill proficiency reached. Skill: 『Short-distance teleportation Lvl. 1』 has become 『Short-distance teleportation Lvl. 2』

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》

《You have leveled up!》