Kiss My Ass!

Facing the three men with those disgusting smirks, I said,

“I knew you were tailing me from town. Looks like you walked right into my trap.”

“What!?”

“Boss Gonz! Get him!”

“Gonz!?”

When I called out behind them, the three spun around in surprise. In that instant, I took off running.

“Gotcha, idiots.”

I said that as I ran. The three who had turned their backs scrambled after me. I didn’t know if this gesture even meant anything in this world, but I smacked my own rear a few times while running.

“Here, have some of this!”

“You bastard, get back here!”

The three men, faces twisting in anger, shouted as they chased me through the forest. After a while, their formation started to break apart.

Even at the same level, the difference in weight of their gear and base stats was showing. Bit by bit, the distance between them started to grow.

I kept taunting them as I ran through the trees. Then the man in the rear caught his foot on a root.

He stumbled and fell face-first into the dirt.

The other two didn’t notice. They were still some distance apart. I hid behind a large tree and activated Presence Concealment.

Using Presence Detection, I tracked their movements as they ran closer. The moment one of them passed in front of the tree, I swung out, delivering a Breath Strike with the motion of a reversed knife-hand.

My knuckles sank into his throat. He froze in shock, letting out an oof as the air was forced from his lungs.

The one running ahead suddenly stopped. The one behind couldn’t brake in time and slammed right into him.

I drove a side kick into both of them as they tangled together. It wasn’t a sharp karate-style side kick, but the kind of step-in kick those old Hong Kong action stars used, planting the sole of the foot and sending them flying.

“Hyaa!”

With a shout, my heel hit square in his chest, sending the first man crashing into the second. They fell together in a heap.

The one behind, thrown off balance by the collision, tried to stand, but his fallen partner was flailing, clutching at his crushed throat and choking for air. Tangled together, they couldn’t move properly.

I stomped down hard on the knee of the one pinned underneath. A sharp crack echoed through the forest, followed by a scream.

The third man, who had fallen earlier, finally caught up and drew his sword. I judged that the other two, one with a shattered knee, the other choking, were no longer a threat, and charged straight at him.

I held my speed to about sixty percent as I closed the distance. The sword had longer reach than bare hands. As I entered his range, he swung down in a diagonal slash.

At that instant, I burst forward, accelerating sharply. My right foot stepped in as I switched to southpaw, closing the gap even further.

Within his reach, I pulled my left fist tight to my waist. As I did, my hips naturally rotated, drawing my right arm inward.

Normally, that motion would flow into an inward block, but this time, instead of using it defensively, I let the arm continue to rotate inward.

I stored that rotational energy in my hips, then as the motion reached its peak, I tilted my right palm slightly inward, letting a small hollow form at my wrist.

Releasing the stored energy, I added a push from my knees and whipped my arm outward in an outer block, deflecting the descending sword at an angle.

The blade glanced off the curve of my wrist hollow and swung aside. As the motion ended, I hooked the sword arm and grabbed it.

The man’s momentum was already leaning forward from the swing. Even with his skill helping him maintain balance, the sword’s weight kept pulling him ahead.

When I yanked his arm forward and down, his balance broke completely. He stumbled forward, pitching toward me.

I pulled harder, twisting my hips as I did so. My left arm naturally came forward.

Pushing off my back foot, I drove that rotation into my hips and shoulders, launching my left fist.

As I braced my front foot to stop the forward momentum, my upper body pitched slightly ahead, transferring my body weight cleanly into the punch.

Everything aligned perfectly, hip rotation, joint motion, weight shift. My left straight strike landed square on his philtrum, the spot between the nose and upper lip.

It was a clean counter.

At the moment of impact, I tightened my muscles to prevent the shock from dispersing. The rotational energy focused the blow, adding penetration.

The force tore through the nerves behind the philtrum, up into the medulla oblongata. The adventurer dropped instantly, life snuffed out.

I scanned the surroundings with Presence Detection. The one whose knee I had crushed was trying to get up, using his sword as a crutch.

He tried to limp away, but the pain kept him from moving properly. Nearby, the one I’d struck in the throat was still convulsing, gasping for air.

His windpipe was completely swollen shut. He would suffocate soon.

I approached the one with the broken knee cautiously.

“H-hey, listen. I won’t fight you. You can have the money, just please, don’t kill me.”

He begged for his life. I stared at him silently for a moment, then turned and walked into the woods. After a while, I heard him muttering to himself.

“Heh, letting me go? What a soft—Ugh!”

I threw a stone from the shadows. I had aimed for his head, but it hit his stomach instead. The leather armor absorbed most of the impact.

I kept throwing stones. The shapes were uneven, and I couldn’t hit cleanly.

Switching from full-power throws to controlled ones, I recalled TV shows back home that analyzed pro baseball pitching forms, trying different styles as I threw.

The set position was definitely more stable. I kept throwing, thinking about that as rocks flew.

At first, the man cried out with each hit but after one struck his temple, he went silent.

Even after he stopped moving, I kept throwing until there was no response at all. Then I approached. He still hadn’t let go of his sword.

Even beaten, even crippled, even stoned, he hadn’t dropped it.

When I was pinned under a Gray Wolf Leader and its claws sliced my arm, I dropped my knife from the pain.

But this man was different. He’d let his guard down and paid the price, but he’d clung to his weapon to the end.

Unlike me, a rookie adventurer, this was a man who had survived the brutal life of Rock Cliff, where adventurers constantly preyed on each other.

I couldn’t afford to take chances. Even with one leg, a sword skill user could still attack effectively. He might still have some trick left.

It was cruel, but I valued my life more. If I could kill him without getting close, that was the right choice.

The one with the crushed throat was unconscious, but still alive. I stepped in and crushed his skull underfoot.

Using Presence Detection, I checked for other adventurers or monsters nearby. Nothing. I quickly stripped the bodies to prevent the scent of blood from drawing monsters.

Then I crushed all three heads, to keep them from turning undead.

I almost clasped my hands to pray for them, but stopped. Praying for someone’s soul after killing them myself would be hypocritical.

The monsters would clean up the rest. After I leave, only three headless, naked corpses would remain in the forest.

Just a bit more food for the monsters. That was all.

Carrying their packs, I started walking back toward town.