Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Volume 4 - Ch 4.12

It looks like it is just how I was afraid it would be. I cannot swing the Club like I usually do.

Is it too difficult for you to do after all?

In theory, Sherry said that it is possible to execute the swing of a hammer or a club in such a way that you could strike two monsters at once with one swing, but that was just that: a theory. The practice, however, was a whole other can of worms altogether. Just because she should be able to hit the two monsters with her Club because she has high enough STR to pull something like that off, it does not necessarily mean that she will be able to pull through with that. I think Sherry really should be able to do that, but she cannot focus her entire attention on the beginning of the swing alone.

In order to execute the technique properly I have to continue the swing past the first monster and onto the second one, but by doing so I am losing the momentum, which means that the swings full power cannot reach tha second monster!

Yes, that is exactly the problem here. Which is why she should take a different approach to it, mainly:

With the next strike, try to do the following thing: instead of putting all of your strength into hitting the first monster, try just to graze it with the tip of your club instead! A direct impact will do nothing but absorb all of the energy put into executing it, leaving you with no momentum to hit the second strike properly!

I shouted to Sherry as I hurriedly used Medical Treatmenton her and then re-applied Plating, after which I used the third Fire Storm, catching all four enemies with it once more, Escape Goat included. As expected, now that it has been hit with another shot of Fire Storm and its HP dropped below a certain level, it was preparing to make an escape. Normally it would have been a bad thing, because without firing another shot of magic right after the previous one there would be almost no chance for us to get it due to the sheer distance it could cover in a matter of seconds, but in the current circumstances, this might actually be a big chance for us.

Since the group we are currently fighting is made out of four monsters, the Escape Goat does not have as much place to manuever. Roxanne and Sherry manipulated the positioning of the enemies in such a way that the three Collagen Corrals blocked one of its paths of Escape, and Roxanne was standing near the other, meaning that if it wanted to try that route, it would have to go through her first, and I know that now that she had it right where she wanted, there was no way she would allow it to slip past her.

The goat tried to back up to the point where there were no monsters next to it and looked around, searching for other possible corridors where it could try to run. But it found no such thing. And even if it did, escaping through one of them would still take it some time, and time was the one thing that it needed, but did not have. Because Roxanne and Sherry are not the only people in here. I was here as well, and I was just about ready to fire another Fire Storm right at it.

(Fire Storm!)

This is going to be the fourth shot in total.

Things are going quite well so far, but a part of me cannot stop thinking how different the flow of battle would be if the monster group we are fighting right now consisted not of three Collagen Corrals and one Escape Goat, but of four Escape Goats instead. If we had to deal with the four enemies that can run away after you whittle their HP down enough and they all started running at exactly the same time, then things would definitely get more than a little hectic. With our current line up being two members in the vanguard and one me in the rearguard, it is more than probable that at least one or two of the Escape Goats would be able to make a run for it, because I can only do so much with my magic that needs to be on cooldown for a couple of seconds between each shot, and Roxanne and Sherry would not be able to reach the enemies that would be placed too far away from them to prevent them from escaping in time. In fact, I think that the battle with four Escape Goats could have ended in such a way even if there were four of us, unless the three members of the vanguard were able to either kill all of them fast enough or move fast enough to intercept them and cut off their escape routes like Roxanne and Sherry did just now.

Sherry shook the club again, attempting to hit the two monsters in front of her at once one more time. Even though she managed to hit the first Collagen Coral with a strike that was not as powerful as her previous one and the momentum did carry her towards hitting the second opponent, she ultimately missed the second Collagen Coral by only a few centimeters. That gap, however, along with the few seconds Sherry needed to recover herself from the strike and assume the battle stance again, was enough for that second Collagen Coral to attack her again.

Kuh. . . . . . . . . !

Since it has come to this, then I had no choice but to step in and take care of both the Collagen Corals and the Escape Goat that began to make its escape by using the gap in our defenses that appeared when Sherry was knocked back by Collagen Corals attack. I have no time to re-apply Plating and heal her wounds, because right now, the more important thing it to put a swift end to this battle, which should be brought by my fifth Fire Storm.

(Fire Storm!)

There, that should be enough to kill all of the monsters at once.

Sparks fly in the air and erupt in a fiery explosion, causing all of the monsters present in battle to fall to the ground. I slaughtered all the monsters before Sherry was hit again by another one of Collagen Corals attack.

Haaaaa. . . . . . . . I have to say, only grazing the enemies with my strikes is way tougher than I thought it was going to be.

It certainly is, is it not? But if doing it in such a way seems to be impossible for you, then we can always try using a different method, or a different formation. So, what do you want to do, Sherry? I am going to leave that call up to you.

I told her while I re-applied Platingand Medical Treatmentonto her now that the battle was finally over.

As tempting as that would be. . . . . I would like to continue trying the way we are now for a little bit more. I feel like I am beginning to be getting the hang of it, so I should be able to nail it after a few more battles.

I see. Is that okay with you as well, Roxanne?

Yes, it should be fine for us to continue like we were up until now, and I see no trouble with it.

Okay, so continuing the way we were going so far it is then.

When I looked at Roxanne for confirmation, she nodded in agreement. Or maybe not in agreement. Since this is Roxanne we are talking about, she is basically going to accept every plan that I will come up with, regardless of what it is and how dangerous or reckless it might be, and is not going to question it in any way whatsoever. That is how much she trusts me in the Labyrinths. I could sing her praises for much longer, but then that would take us an entire day or even more to take care of it, so I will better stop before that happens.

By the way Roxanne, good job on blocking that Escape Goats escape path. If not for your quick thinking and Sherrys immediate follow-up, it would have probably gotten away.

Thank you. I am just glad that I was able to be of use to you, master. However, I would also like to point out that if it was not for your magic, the Escape Goat would have probably escaped, so this battles success if your success as well.