Ch.322Failing NPC. (3)

A mistake. Another failure.

-WHAM!!!

-CRACK!!!

“Tch.”

“Gor!!”

The sword I had taken breaks. The fist of a guy with no technique or skill flies into my face, and even when I [Mimic] it and strike back the same way, I’m the one who gets pushed back. Somehow, things have been like this lately.

“It’s fine. Just a useless weapon breaking. Please burn it down as is!”

“Y-Yes!!”

“Ugh…!! Windria!!! Maximum power whirlwind!!!”

[Ruler of Knights Durahan: Level 680]

[HP: 432,963]

Almost an hour. For an hour we’ve been repeating the same pattern, but its HP barely decreases. A complete misjudgment. I can’t believe, against something like this…

[HEEEAAAD!!!]

“Kugh, giant form…!!”

-BOOOM!!! …THUD!!

Its body slam pushes me back despite my giant form, forcing me to one knee.

“Gor?!!”

“Ray! Stay back!! You need to conserve your skills!!! The same goes for Lady Ira’s skills!!!”

“Ugh…!!”

I underestimated it too much. Given how the two of them practiced in advance, and how easily we took down the monsters above, I can only say I let my guard down completely.

[HEEEAAAD!!! GIVE IT BAAACK!!!]

-WHAM!! CRACK!!!

“Guh…!!”

[Slime Mime Golem: Level 639]

[HP: 84,632]

I truly didn’t expect its defense would increase the more it gets attacked. My arm cracks and breaks as I block its attack. The impact isn’t that great, but with its defense increasing, its attack power seems to have naturally risen too. If this turns into a war of attrition, it’ll be extremely difficult. No wonder it didn’t die even after taking Lady Ira’s skill. Could its defense have increased after that attack?

“Tch. Eat this.”

-CRASH!!!

I strike its body with my other arm and send it flying, but its HP barely drops. Damn it, neither physical nor magical attacks seem to work. If I don’t whittle it down more and finish it in one go, it might become an unstoppable monster…!!

“Gor! Let’s retreat instead!! It’s obvious its defense keeps increasing, right?! At this rate, you’ll be exhausted first and that’ll be the end!!”

Right, dungeon boss monsters don’t chase beyond the dungeon, so retreating would end this. What Ray says is correct, and I had considered that too. But.

“The master will be here soon, and how can I face him if I can’t defeat one measly monster…!!!”

[Skill: Absorption. (Effect: Earth Lesser Spirit Activation.)]

-CRACKLE!!!

I use the earth spirit, which I usually wrap around my fists, as an attack. Countless stone spears rise from the ground, momentarily stopping its movement, and I leap forward to kick it with all my might. A tremendous shockwave echoes throughout the dungeon, making everyone scream. Good. This should be enough…!!

[Ruler of Knights Durahan: Level 680]

[HP: 421,771]

“Ah, seriously, stop cheating.”

Only 10,000? Its armor is dented and only 10,000 damage? If there was something inside, it would have been crushed to death, but only 10,000? While I’m stunned by this unbelievable number…

[HEAD!! GIVE IT BAAACK!!!]

“What the hell…?”

My body freezes as if grabbed by something the moment the twisted creature screams. What is this… Ah. Because of its high level, did it have some kind of skill? Damn, today has been nothing but failures.

[HEEEAAA…!!!]

“…Looks like I’ll take this hit head-on.”

The creature, leaping at incredible speed toward my immobilized body, somehow creates a sword and aims for my neck. I won’t die if my head gets cut off, but this is going to hurt…

“[Connector]”

-FLASH!!!

[REEEEK?!!]

“What…?”

A golden beam of light, and the appearance of a giant blocking my view startles me, making me look at my shoulder. There, a golden female swordswoman with flashing blue eyes was already preparing her next skill.

“[Full Spirit Release.] [Swift Sword] Wind Riding Form 2: Protective Wind. Die.”

-SWISH!

As Durahan is pushed back after being blocked by the giant in front of me, Ray doesn’t miss the opportunity to pursue the enemy, lightly swinging her sword once, causing wind to blow inside the enclosed dungeon. And then.

[WHAAAAT?!!!]

-SLASHSLASHSLASH!!!

As countless invisible slashes begin to tear away at its armor, Ray, who has already returned to my shoulder, taps my cheek with a frown.

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard? I understand the strategy you mentioned, but if your head gets cut off, how shocked do you think our Ira and Miss Grace would be? Huh?!”

“No, I wouldn’t die just from losing my head…”

“Are you stupid?! The sight itself would be traumatic!! Anyway! You’re just as reckless as Jack, I swear…!!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, but why did you use [Connector] on me? You should move that thing quickly.”

“It wasn’t a compliment?! Eek! [Connector], attack!!”

-BOOM!!!

A new skill Ray gained as she leveled up. [Full Spirit Release] and [Connector]. Full Spirit Release adds her level x2 to all her stats for 30 seconds—what the master calls her absurdly overpowered skill. It comes with the drawback that after the 30 seconds, her HP and MP are fixed at 30% of maximum for 30 minutes. And Connector is…

[RAAAH?!!]

-CRASH!!!

“Good!! Hmph! It seems more helpful than Gor!!”

“No, it has the same stats as me, so it won’t do any damage either. You should have made a copy of yourself inst…”

“Then your head would have been cut off!!”

A skill that creates a copy of someone designated as part of Ray’s party. Right now, she’s made a copy of me to fight in my place, but it’s not doing any damage either. At least her initial Full Spirit Release and Wind Riding combo managed to shave off about 100,000 HP, but I was hoping she’d make a copy of herself and take off about 200,000. Sigh, she saved me, so I can’t complain too much…

-CRASH!!!

“Ah!! Gor is useless!!!”

“…Add ‘copy’ before my name. I’m doing my best, you know?”

My copy, which has my stats but fixed HP of 10,000, disappears with one hit from the enemy. This is why I said you should have made a copy of yourself—your copy would definitely have been more helpful than mine. It has additional effects too.

“Anyway, after one more attack, I have to fall back. You understand, right?”

“You’re going to slack off for 30 minutes in the back after just two attacks to save my neck? Why not use it one more time?”

“And end up collapsed for a whole day like last time?! Don’t you remember?!!”

She remembers well how she used the skill twice in a row against a floor boss on the day she received it, then spent exactly 24 hours bedridden until the same time the next day. Well, wouldn’t it be fine to be bedridden for a day? We’re heading home after defeating this thing, so you can just lie down and sleep the whole time.

-PAT!!

“I don’t want to!!”

-SWISHSWISHSWISH!!

[Ruler of Knights Durahan: Level 680]

[HP: 293,681]

[HEEEAAD!!!]

“Ugh…!! It’s gotten tougher!!”

I informed her of the enemy’s characteristics, which is why Ray even pulled out the magic sword given by the master and delivered another full-power strike, but still. Its defense has risen much higher since Ray’s first attack, and this time she couldn’t even shave off a few tens of thousands. Tch.

“A knight that gets harder the more you hit it, what kind of pervert is this? That’s why you should have cut off its head!!”

-CRASH!!!

“Huff! Huff!! I-I’ll fall back for a bit…!! Heuung…”

-THUD!!

As Ray staggers back after her 30 seconds are up, I take her place and kick the enemy away again. However, while it lost 10,000 HP earlier, this time it didn’t even lose 3,000. This is truly maddening. It’s not even flying away like before—don’t tell me it’s developing resistance to the same attacks? A few more kicks and it might just stand there without budging.

“Gor!! I’ll use my [Oppa] skill too!!”

“Mr. Gor!! We’ll attack too!!”

“No! I appreciate the thought, but Lady Ira, Miss Grace, please gather all your magical power and prepare for a full-power attack. With Ray out of commission, you two need to take down that creature in one hit.”

“Heuung. I-I’m not useless… Just wait 30 minutes…”

“I don’t think I can hold out for those 30 minutes…!! Kugh!!!”

Perhaps angered by being kicked repeatedly, the enemy now starts striking my ankle with its sword. I punch it away and take a step back. I can only maintain my 5M giant form for about 3 more minutes. If I return to normal size, I might not be able to shield the two people behind me. Even though my MP has increased and my recovery rate is higher, allowing me to hold out for over an hour, I’m reaching my limit.

“Got it! This time I’ll use my [Oppa] skill at full power! Piyak, gather enough to blow up the dungeon!!”

“Peet~!!”

“Aqueria! Windria!! Activate your spirit arts in sync with my magic!! Think of it as giving your all with nothing else to do afterward! Gather at full power!! It’s a triple fusion spirit art!!!”

[⎯⎯~♬]

[⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!]

This time? Huh? There’s no need to blow up the dungeon though? Triple fusion spirit art? The gathering magical power feels strange? They clearly said they fought and had to retreat before, but for some reason, they’re saying things like “this time at full power!” while gathering tremendous magical energy. Miss Grace even looks like a tiny headmaster from here. And Lady Ira actually reminds me of the master. Wait, this…

-CRASH!!!

“W-Wait, do I need to dodge…?!”

Durahan charges toward me regardless of my confusion. And I can’t dodge to protect the two behind me, especially since they’re giving me looks of absolute trust that I’ll protect them no matter what, making it even more awkward to dodge!! W-Wait a minute!! Don’t tell me they weren’t going all out when they fought before…?!!

“Gor!! I’m going all out!!!”

“I’ll show you!! To repay your trust, I’ll take it down in one hit!!!”

This is heavy!!! And scary!! The trust is heavy and scary!!

I don’t know what’s happening exactly, but the image of the master appearing above Lady Ira’s head, complete with Piyak’s aura, is truly terrifying! Moreover, Miss Grace has compressed a rock spell into a tiny water droplet and is using wind spirit arts to spin it at a speed my eyes can barely follow, creating super-compression!! If something like that touches my body, even I would be torn apart…!!!

“Go! Oppaaa!!”

“High-compression Spirit Fusion Cannon!!!”

Oh dear, another failure.