In this world, all corporeal beings outside of humanity could usually be split into animals and monsters. Beings that had not been influenced by mana and retained their original form were animals. Monsters were those that had been influenced by mana and mutated. Generally, monsters were always stronger than animals. The difference between a housecat and a tiger was a good example. Tigers were always stronger, but when a cat was mutated by mana, it might become strong enough to beat a tiger.
Mana mutation affected all aspects of a living thing, making it stronger than anything natural could achieve. But there was one thing that could easily topple that power balance in Midgar, and that was dinosaurs. They were an ancient threat that had been around since before humanity. Even without being affected by mana, they were fear-inducing hunters that deemed everything in their sight as food, as if to say that the strong were powerful precisely because of their strength.
Humans were food. Monsters were food. Its own kind was food. Even grimmfolk were food. Dinosaurs were a naturally strong predator that deemed anything and everything as something to be eaten. That was just how they were. That was why they were feared and hated throughout Midgar, even more so than monsters.
One thousand years ago, Lunaru Fenris had lessened their numbers. Though there were fewer today, dinosaurs still existed, spreading fear throughout the land. And there were some especially feared carnivorous dinosaurs among them. Dinorexes lived in the north. The west had dinoacrocanths. There were dinotalbos in the east, and lastly were the dinogigants in the south. There were other dangerous dinosaurs, but the above four were especially feared.
And right now, one of them was standing right in front of Haruto. It was thirteen meters in height, and it weighed thirteen tons. It was an absolute nightmare by any metric.
On the opposing side, there was a newbie hero and a dainty flugel girl. Any outside viewer would think that this wouldn't amount to a real fight. "Reckless" would be a nice way of putting what they were doing.
But they weren't the only two people participating in the festival. Hearing of the dinosaur, several other adventurers and travelers ran to support Haruto and the girl.
"Heh, a dinosaur? I'll finish it in five seconds."
A cool-looking swordsman in all black stepped forward and drew his weapon. Even his sword was dyed an ugly pitch black. With the air of the mighty, he elegantly approached the dinogigant, his mantle billowing in the breeze.
Is this like that one trope? The one where a strong character coolly shows up out of nowhere and defeats the enemy? Haruto held that hope in his heart as he watched the dude in all-black.
"Fall to my secret technique. Secret Art: Flowing Blade of Dark Shadow!" All-black guy declared his skill in a low, cool-sounding voice as he slashed at the dinogigant.
And it was deflected by the dinosaur's tail as it swept forward and blew him away with an "oof?!" All that had happened in a mere five seconds.
What good are you if you only last five seconds?!
"Seems like it's not just all talk."
Next, an absolutely ripped, bearded man with bunny ears came forward while cracking his knuckles. He didn't falter, even with the dinogigant's size, after seeing the instant defeat that had just happened. He was like a veteran fighter with absolute confidence in his own strength.
When he reached the dinogigant's feet, he grabbed a gigantic leg with both hands. The dinogigant didn't move, not even an inch.
Wait, did he just try to throw it? Like, no, that's impossible, dude. Look at the size of it!
While Haruto was busy with his exasperation, the dinogigant kicked the man away. After rolling on the ground a ways, he stopped, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He was unconscious.
"You small-fry. Let me show you how to fight."
Lastly, an older, ripped, macho-looking dude in bikini armor walked up. He ran to the dinogigant's feet and grabbed its thick leg again.
Come on, you already know that's impossible. What the hell have you been watching up until now? I'm begging you here. Think of the size difference!
The useless man with no ability to learn was kicked away by the dinogigant as well, joining the bunny-eared man in a friendly bout of unconsciousness.
"What the hell did you guys even come here to do…?"
In the end, the only result of their demonstration of the dinosaur's strength was Haruto's exasperation. But he pulled it together and held his sword up. Wendy also fixed her grip on her sword and faced the dinogigant with a nervous expression. The fox monster tried to pad out front, but Haruto hurriedly grabbed it and dragged it backward before readying himself again.
What was surprising was the dinogigant. Haruto had thought that it would attack immediately, but for some reason it was standing still and staring at Haruto… No, at Wendy. It could have been that the dinogigant was sensitive to strength because it was a wild animal. It had probably noticed how strong Wendy was, even though her appearance was deceiving, and decided that it shouldn't recklessly attack.
But as a dinosaur, it was never very patient in the first place.
"Gggghh… GYAAAOOOHHHHHH!"
The dinogigant's roar shook the air as it turned on the spot to strike with its tail. It was aiming for Wendy!
But she'd already closed the gap all at once and got right next to its feet while dodging its tail. Then, her sword flashed! Wendy had cut into one leg before rising into the air once again, escaping the dinosaur's grasp. The dinogigant collapsed on its wounded leg, though it was still attached. It quickly got back up, angrily staring up at Wendy, who was still in the sky.
"W-wow…"
Wendy's speed had Haruto awestruck, his mouth hanging open. To him, she was gorgeous, as well as sharp and fast. It was obvious at a glance how different she was from the all-black swordsman from earlier. Wendy's build was, in fact, a back line specialist, so everything she was doing now was her brute-forcing things, using the difference in their stats. However, Haruto simply lacked the levels to be able to notice that.
While Haruto was busy being too low-leveled to not be awestruck, Wendy and the dinogigant's battle continued. Wendy managed to deal several cuts to the dinogigant with her hit-and-run strategy.
If possible, Haruto wanted to help, not to mention that he felt it shameful as a man to simply stand by and watch. He also knew that if he acted clumsily, he might end up being a hindrance instead, so he quickly gave up on participating in the battle. Instead, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and spread some random sand and gravel on it before closing it into a package. As soon as Wendy pulled away from the dinogigant, Haruto hurled the tiny package as hard as he could at the dinogigant's eye.
"GAAAHHH?!"
"It's a blinder. How do you like it?!"
Man, I'm barely a hero at this point, aren't I?
Even while thinking things like that, Haruto was also convincing himself that this was the best he could contribute at the moment. Even though his stats were comparatively low, Haruto had still gained way more strength than he'd started out with now that he was over level 30, and he had more than enough to be able to fling a handkerchief filled with sand at a dinogigant's face.
While the dinogigant staggered, Wendy launched a blade of light at it and dealt a deep slash to its torso. When she did, the dinogigant got even angrier and tunnel visioned on her even further. Apparently it didn't even register Haruto as a threat, completely ignoring him.
I'm so pathetic. Seriously, it makes me wonder what the hell a hero is even supposed to be. But… This is good luck for me, you reptilian bastard. I'm weak. I know that. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything.
Haruto activated a hero skill he'd only learned recently, 'Light Sword.' It was a fairly shabby skill that only doubled the strength of the next attack, but paired with the sword that had been found in the Grave of the Black Empress it became a strong technique.
For the timing… Now!
As soon as the dinogigant tried to take a big step to attack Wendy, Haruto attacked the ground under it! It created a questionable pitfall just barely big enough to fit one of the dinogigant's feet.
Haruto immediately ran away and created some distance. He had just made the most annoying, small-minded attack possible. It wasn't the way any man worthy of being called a hero should fight, but while there was little effect, it hadn't been worthless. The dinogigant's foot fell into the hole, causing its stance to crumble and allowing Wendy to make another concerted attack.
"Yaaaahhhh!"
Wendy flew high into the air and, using both her hands to grip her sword, reared back for a huge swing. Then she dropped from the sky! Imitating what Naru had done in her fight against Anko, Wendy slammed her sword into the dinogigant's head with all her might. The moment she hit it, she activated Xcalibur's ability. The slash of light helped Wendy bury her sword deep into the dinosaur's head.
"I'll help! Light Sword!"
Haruto activated his skill, doubling the power of Wendy's Xcalibur.
Xcalibur, having become a literal sword of light, dug even deeper into the dinogigant's head, causing blood to spurt out. By the time the sword lost its momentum, it had cleaved all the way from the top of the dinogigant's head to its nose. It was a huge blow.
"GAH… Ah…"
The dinogigant's huge form wavered unsteadily before collapsing with a huge thud. But it didn't just fall. No matter how long they waited, it showed no signs of moving. Not even a twitch. The fox monster even walked right up to it and took a piss on the body.
Seeing that, it finally sunk in for Haruto that the dinosaur had been defeated.
He clenched his fist.
I don't think I won that.That would be way too presumptuous. It was that girl who won. Yet at the very least, Haruto was happy that the danger had passed.
It didn't seem as if this fact had sunk in for the girl yet as she approached Haruto, so he praised her efforts.
"You did it! You beat that giant abomination!"
"Ah. It's dead? My grandma told me that dinosaurs are scary, so I thought it would still get up or transform or something…"
"Transform?!"
It bears repeating that Wendy was a frog in a well, but everyone who was in the well with her were monsters. There was a sheep who could become giant, a golem who was basically a walking weapon, a scorpion who could also become giant, and a demon who could (of course) become giant. The crab had yet to giganticize itself, but he could probably do it too. That was why Wendy hadn't quite believed it when she'd been told that the dinogigant was strong.
But she was wrong. Haruto waved his hand, denying her claim. "No, that won't happen."
"Uh, thanks. Your support really helped."
"Well, I'm happy to hear you say that, but… Sorry, that was all I could manage."
Haruto had known full well he wasn't powerful enough, so he didn't consider what he'd done a mistake. Even so, he thought it was pathetic. In what world did a hero leave the fighting to a cute girl and instead just threw sand or dug holes? Even in the light novels where the hero was just a stepping stone, they could pull off a fight that was at least slightly cooler.
"Uh… Oh right, I still don't know your name. I'm Haruto. Namikaze Haruto."
"Ah, my name is Wendy. I don't have a family name."
Having finished introducing themselves, the two started a friendly and lively conversation. They were rivals in this hunting festival, but they were also comrades who'd defeated a powerful enemy together. Both had honest personalities, so they weren't guarded with each other, and found that they got along surprisingly well.
But the two of them were still immature, as one might've expected. Even if their enemy was no longer moving, it was a mistake to let down their guard and just chat like that.
The dinogigant, which had been still this entire time, suddenly snapped open its eyes and almost leaped upward. No, it wasn't yet dead. Shockingly,
it was in possession of such strong life force that it could still move even with its head split open.
"No way! Still?!"
Wendy and Haruto turned around on reflex, but the dinogigant's mouth was already right in front of them. But before the bite could reach them, a large gust of wind blew past. The dinogigant stopped moving on the spot, and with its eyes rolled into the back of its head, it finally died. The body fell to the ground.
To Wendy, it only seemed like the dinosaur suddenly got up and then suddenly died. She had no way of figuring out or even questioning what had happened.
"What was that…?"
"Who knows? It got up, but maybe that was the last of its strength? That surprised me."
The two of them were satisfied that it was finally over, at least for the moment. Under that conclusion, they decided to go somewhere else.