Jujutsushi Wa Yuusha Ni Narenai

espite having insane biting force, didn’t possess as much strength in terms of opening their maws.
I really hoped this big guy was built the same way and focused my mana on binding its mouth shut.

 

“Ugh, a, damn it, uuh… uuuuuurrgh!”

 

The Basilisk was thrashing around, obviously, but now that I was holding it, I bodily felt its strength, a strength fitting for its massive frame.
I felt a tremendous resistance that, if I were to relax my concentration for an instant, would tear all the blackhairs apart.

Currently I was standing right in front of the beast’s nose with my arms stretched out in front of me, trying to stand stock still with my utmost effort.
I realized that I must look like a really dumb sidewalk mime artist.

But right now, I couldn’t afford to think about stepping to the side and out of the way, or taking up a weapon and striking the Basilisk since, the moment my hold on it breaks, it will rush forward to escape my bog, and really, one tackle from its massive frame should be more than enough to finish me off.

This was ridiculous.
In my head I was standing in a much safer position than this ‘face-off’.

 

“Gh! Garrgghhhh!”

 

It whined in pain with its mouth bound.
Must be the Rems attacking.

I could see black smoke rising from behind the Basilisk’s back.
Looks like they set it on fire as per my instructions.

The albino beast squirmed in pain as its ass was literally on fire.
Its bulky legs kicked around inside the bog as it tried to swerve its body from side to side.

 

“Shit… dammit, damn you, die… just die, you fuck…”

 

Maybe the Rotten Bog wasn’t as effective as I thought.
No wait, maybe, right now, it was just my sense of time that had slowed down due to the adrenaline, and my bog was actually making quick work of its lower body.

But the fact of the matter was that I was reaching the limits of my stamina, while the Boss still had strength to spare, what with the way it was rocking violently.

Looks like they ran out of oil.
Rem and #2 were currently busy throwing all the random weapons we’d gathered.
Some hit, some were knocked away, but overall, it didn’t look like there was much of an effect.

We lacked a decisive blow.
The hell.
The hell is this.
I’m gonna die.
Mei-chan, where are you.

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“Urrghhhh…”

 

No.
I won’t wish for miracles.
I still have strenght left, so I refuse to just give in.
I can’t hope that she’ll save me.

 

 

“Save me, Nii-san.”

 

 

The image of Souma Sakura wishing to be saved was playing back inside my head.

And she was saved.
We were all saved.
By her brother, by the Hero, by Souma Yuuto.
He’d rescued us in the nick of time.
I realized then just what he was.
I understood how she could believe in him.
Believe that he’d be there.

But I won’t.
I refuse to believe that someone will just come and save me.

It wasn’t like I didn’t believe in anyone.
I was sure that Mei-chan was doing her best to search for me even now.

What I couldn’t believe in, what I couldn’t put faith in, was luck.
I didn’t think I was particularly lucky.
But I didn’t think I was born unlucky either.
In this dungeon, I’d been saved many times by outside intervention, by someone else.
And I considered that pretty lucky for me despite ending up a weak Shaman.

But in the face of true hopelessness, in the even of a crisis that spelled almost certain doom, in those moments of utter despair, something like a hero swooping in to save me, believing 100% that I’d be saved no matter what, was just not something I could do.

Why would I? Us humans had limits, all of us.
Reality would always catch up.
There is no hero.
And even if there was, that hero won’t appear every time.
He won’t even appear most times, really.
He can’t save everyone.

Seeing Souma Sakura, I felt like she just didn’t get that, it was like she didn’t even know such a thing was possible.
She believed in him with every fiber of her being.
She believed in her brother, in Souma Yuuto.

In short, she believed from the bottom of her heart that she’d be saved, definitely, and from any crisis.

And me, I couldn’t stand to become that idiotic.

 

“Gghhhaaaaaaaaaaa!”

 

So I won’t give up.
I’ll put up a fight, I’ll struggle till the bitter end.

 

“GAGAA!!”

 

It was then that I saw that Rem was climbing up on the Basilisk.

Throwing wasn’t working out, so she’d done this to attack directly.
Wait, but I hadn’t ordered her to do that.

No, was Rem actually acting on her own initiative?

 

“GA! GA!!”

 

Rem used one hand to stab the Red Knife into the Basilisk and, using it as a hold, she swiped down the Mantis Blade on her other arm over and over.

Stop, get off, if you fall off, it’s all over, dammit.

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“GAGAAAAA!!”

 

Rem payed no heed to my worries and kept stabbing and slashing like crazy.

She got close to falling off many times, but managed to stab into the Basilisk to brace herself.

 

“―― oooo, bauooh.”

 

Finally, finally, the Basilisk’s frantic resistance was weakening.

 

“Al, most…”

 

It was still moving and I had no intention of relaxing my hold on it.
But I could definitely feel its strength waning.

Soon.
Very soon.
I was fine.
My mana and concentration were both nearing their ends but I was fine.
Now, it only had to slowly melt away. Rotten Bog would do the rest.

 

“Hah, hahaha… You did it, Rem!”

 

I hadn’t let up.
My hands were still raised.
I wouldn’t mess up now.

So, what happened next could only be called a surprise, it was simply the Basilisk doing something completely off my expectations.

 

“Buoooohhhhh!!”

 

In an instant, my world was died purple.

 

“Eh?”

 

Wait what? It’s not the breath attack is it? It’s not the damn Basilisk’s acid breath, right?

How? Why? It’s mouth is still clothed shut.

 

“Ah, oh…”

 

So that was it.
It was those gill slits it had on its face, like the ones on a lamprey.
It shot out all this purple from there.
It happened all too fast, but I’d caught a glimpse.
I saw those creepy whatever-holes spewing out the stuff like a pinched water hose.
And then, everything went a very venomous purple.

Shit, shit dammit.
How was I supposed to even know about that…

And while in the middle of complaining, I came to a quick and obvious realization:

Oh, I died.