My Spaceship Has Been Stranded, but There Is an Earth-Like Planet in Front of Me, so I Want to Aband

Birth of a Demon

————————

Suddenly, the red light from the cocoon intensified, accompanied by a rapid heartbeat.

“I’m too lazy to think, so I’ll just blow it away!”

Feeling the danger, Rudy pulled out a dart-shaped grenade from his bag.

“You’re being rough, but I don’t hate that idea!”

Naomi also stepped forward with her staff, starting an incantation for a spell.

A crack appeared in the center of the cocoon, and a hand emerged, grabbing onto it. The hand had eight fingers, each adorned with sharp claws.

“Oh flaming serpent, burn everything in sight!”

Naomi completed her incantation. Flames surged forth from the tip of her swung staff, encasing the cocoon in a serpentine trajectory.

“Did it work?”

Rudy’s voice prompted Naomi to shake her head.

“It resisted; it didn’t work.”

The flames that enveloped the cocoon didn’t spread but dissipated as if vanishing.

Another hand emerged from the cocoon, and the creature within tore it apart, revealing its form.

“It’s a plant-like creature,” Rudy said.

As Rudy described, the being that emerged from within was a monster with a human-like body. It stood about 2 meters tall, with a muscular frame covered in gray fur. Its face resembled a budding flower before blooming.

Upon seeing their opponent’s true form, Naomi, unlike the nonchalant Rudy, broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed nervously.

“…It’s a demon.”

“A demon? What’s that?”

“It seems to be a monster that existed in ancient times. I only know about it from literature…”

Could it be that a non-reproductive combat organism gave birth to an evolved offspring? Perhaps the Mana of this planet is influencing it… Rudy analyzed the situation.

Drawing a bow from his back, Rudy prepared an arrow fitted with a grenade.

The demon spread its hands towards Rudy and Naomi. As its palms split vertically, bloodshot menacing eyes appeared.

Capturing the two with its palm eyes, the flower buds on its face split into eight sections, revealing a massive mouth.

The mouth was filled with sharp, thorn-like teeth, wide enough to easily swallow a human head, and drool dripped onto the floor.

Suddenly, a slicing sound cut through the room.

Rudy’s arrow struck the demon’s head, and at the same time, the grenade exploded, blasting the demon’s head away with a thunderous roar.

“What?!”

“You just revealed your weakness… Are you an idiot?”

Rudy muttered in exasperation.

In contrast to his nonchalant attitude, Naomi stood there with her mouth agape, her gaze alternating between Rudy and the headless demon.

“…What was that just now?”

“A grenade. TNT mama… no, it’s different, it has six times the power when converted.”

“I don’t understand this TNT conversion, but that’s amazing…”

Naomi wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, impressed by the power of the grenade.

“But we defeated the demon with that. If we let it rampage like this, the damage would…”

“Wait a moment. It’s not over yet.”

Rudy interrupted Naomi’s words.

As Naomi looked at the cleared smoke, she saw that the blown-off face of the demon was slowly regenerating.

“What?! It can regenerate even if its head is blown off?!”

Surprised, Naomi shook her head.

“Normal animals… no, different. Discard the idea of it being like a regular animal. Its head… just the mouth, it must have a separate brain.”

“I see, I understand.”

“Naomi, can you handle a bow?”

As soon as Naomi understood, Rudy asked her a question.

“To some extent, I can handle it.”

“Then, take this.”

Rudy handed Naomi a bow and arrows with grenades attached to them.

“Attach these to the arrows, and… then? No, not that. When you shoot the arrows, they explode.”

“I understand that, but what about you?”

“Naomi… while you prepare, I’ll engage in close combat.”

“Close combat? Are you going to fight it directly? That’s dangerous!”

“Experience is my extraordinary skill!”

Rudy replied to Naomi’s warning with a line he remembered from a hero that appeared in an old video. Then, he unsheathed his shortsword and rushed towards the demon.

The demon, whose head had been blown off, noticed Rudy’s presence and extended its left arm, swinging down its long claws.

Rudy parried the demon’s claws with his shortsword and swiftly turned his wrist, thrusting a blow towards its regenerating head.

The demon raised its right arm and deflected the attack with its claws.

As the clash between claws and sword seemed imminent, both of them stepped back. Then, simultaneously, they leaped forward, and a fierce exchange of blows ensued.

Inside the room, the intense clash between Rudy and the demon resounded with metallic sounds.

I thought he was just a child even when I asked about his age… Naomi held her breath as she watched Rudy and the demon battle.

According to the literature Naomi had read, demons were impervious to weapons and magic. Their extended claws could slice through anything, be it a sword or armor. They devoured humans, their appetite seemingly insatiable.

When they first appeared 800 years ago, they caused the collapse of over ten cities, an event referred to as a disaster.

Rudy’s swordsmanship, confronting the disaster head-on, was not only extraordinarily skilled but also beautiful, requiring many years for even seasoned warriors to reach such a level.

Naomi was on the verge of being mesmerized, but she quickly began attaching a grenade to an arrowhead.

Can such a small object really cause such an explosion? I wish someone could teach me how to make it, but it’s probably impossible… And about using a bow, I’m not that good. However, if I use magic to shoot, I won’t miss a single shot.

Naomi began chanting her magic without aiming her bow, waiting for the right moment to release the arrow.

Even if Rudy’s attacks landed, the demon realized they only caused minor pain and left no wounds. In response, it began relentlessly striking back without bothering to defend.

This isn’t good… Rudy winced at the intensified attacks from the demon.

Although his reinforced clothing with shock-absorbing sheets protected him from the demon’s claws, the demon’s attacks surpassed that defense, causing him considerable pain with each blow.

Rudy deflected the demon’s claws with his sword, then leaped to the left. However, he slipped on a cocoon thread that lay on the floor.

Taking advantage of Rudy’s opening, the demon delivered a kick to his abdomen, driving its foot into Rudy’s belly.

“Ugh!”

A kick with enough force to create a hole in an ordinary human’s torso. However, Rudy’s reinforced clothing absorbed the impact, though he still let out a groan as his breath was knocked out.

Damn it! Rudy glared back and grabbed the demon’s leg. He twisted his body and fell to the floor. The move he used was a professional wrestling technique called “Dragon Screw.”

With the demon’s leg caught, both Rudy and the demon fell to the floor. In that moment, the demon’s fixed leg couldn’t keep up with the momentum and twisted its knee.

Intense pain shot through the demon’s right knee, causing it to roll on the floor. If its head weren’t regenerating at the moment, it would have let out a scream.

“Get back!”

At Naomi’s shout, Rudy distanced himself from the demon.

Simultaneously, an arrow released by her magic pierced the demon, and the grenade exploded.

Rudy was also blown away by the blast, but thanks to shielding his face with his arm, he managed to escape unharmed.

On the other hand, the demon, despite its tough fur absorbing the shock of the explosion, couldn’t prevent the actual burns caused by the fire.

The demon’s body was charred and inflamed, with its fur burnt all over.