kscans

Chapter 808 - And So Come, O Children of Blue, There Is No Way to Close the Door, Part Two

"────You called for us, right?!"

"────Yeah, I called! Though I have no idea who's coming or when they'll get here!"

A dead-end great hall with only a single entrance. The roars of battle echoed throughout.

Without stopping their feet or their hands, two light warriors exchanged shouts.

Behind them, a single artillery mage stood ready. And further behind her, a healing mage watched with bated breath, constantly prepared to cast a recovery spell.

While their four-person party deviated slightly from the standard 1:2:1 formation for a general assault on [Green Connect], they were, without question, the finest of elites, skimmed from the very cream of the crop, even if they couldn't compare to the special forces like the rankers.

And yet, five minutes have passed since the encounter. This wing of an immensely powerful raid party had not only failed to press their attack but was now facing a relentless, fatal onslaught that offered no chance of retreat—

"Ah—"

"Watch out—that was close!"

The irregular being, which had just retracted its horns in an instant, nearly slaughtered one of the vanguards with ease.

To put it simply, its form was that of tree roots. To be more precise, it was a small stag composed of a mysterious material resembling intricately tangled tree roots.

Enemy name: [Administrator:02]—it goes without saying that upon facing it, all four members of the squad let out the same sound, whether in word or thought: Huh?

One glance was all it took to see its meaningful and bizarre individual name.

Up until this point, the path here had been nothing more than one of countless sequential dungeons. That's precisely why the abnormality of the encounter in the boss room stood out so starkly.

And that's why no one stopped the light warrior Lilac, the squad leader who doubled as both a combatant and an artisan, from almost reflexively pulling the "thread" wrapped around his arm.

Their lives were only spared because each of them was a seasoned player who had correctly perceived the sudden crisis the moment they encountered it. Thus, the biggest problem now was…

"If we die, the thread will break…! Lilac-san, you should fall back—"

"I can't! With only one vanguard, we'd be wiped out in seconds! We have no choice!"

They had desperately clung to life, but the reality was that they were already on the verge of burning out, battered and bruised.

As the fist-fighter Daskull knocked away the root-horn spear that had nearly pierced the duelist Lilac's heart—his critical point—the squad leader shouted over his advice, insisting on the reckless choice of maintaining their current formation.

And of course, the threat wasn't limited to a single horn. Without a moment's rest, a flood of dark-colored spears surged from a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree arc, bearing down on the two warriors. If only their power was mercifully low in proportion to their ridiculous numbers…

"You… damn…!"

In the five minutes that felt like an eternity, they had already witnessed this lethal attack twice.

Estimating the interval to be just over two minutes, Lilac gnashed his teeth and prepared his only answer to the unavoidable area-of-effect attack. He kicked Daskull behind him for cover, stepped forward, and raised his two gleaming silver longswords.

"[Resonant Blade's Defiant Cry]!"

The moment the crossed blades rang out, one skill and one ability hidden within his Anima twin swords activated. The resulting taunt effect drew the full fury of the wooden roots onto himself…

They converged, and a brilliant flash of light followed. The result, a few seconds later—

"Ah, damn it all to hell…!"

Everyone survived. But they were now, truly, at their absolute limit.

The flawlessly activated 'Full Auto Parrying' had splendidly deflected the onslaught right up to its maximum threshold, but even a saint's patience runs out. His overtaxed Anima had fallen silent.

It would take a full two days for it to be in a good mood again… and obviously, they couldn't wait that long. Game over was looming, and the strength to resist was what they craved most right now.

—In other words, to be continued.

The protagonists of this story were unfortunately not present. Facing a presumed raid-level boss that toyed with them—the so-called finest elites—without moving from its spot since the encounter began, they had no card left to play.

And so, as those who could never reach the heavens they looked up to, there was only one way they could shine.

"We'll hold the line, no matter what! Heroes are supposed to show up late, right?!"

"Gah… Let's give it all we've got!"

"—That which is a crimson, seething thunderclap…! Artillery is ready anytime! Awaiting the signal!"

"I won't let them die…! I won't let them die!"

All they could do was risk their lives to preserve the avatars connected by the guiding "thread."

Even side characters who could never be special have their pride. They might never be heroes, but they had the confidence, self-respect, and honor of being invited to the grandest stage of all.

If that's the case, then for that very reason—

""""Anyone, just get here fast!""""

They shouted their pleas to the heavens, yet their fighting spirit never waned as they faced forward.

And then, the stag, which had only been bestowing death in silence, without a sound or a move, began to move. The players, too, moved, raising a battle cry as they desperately fought to stay alive.

The abnormal entity overwhelmed the veterans with the sheer pressure of its numbers alone. The monstrous creature of wood, the very embodiment of eeriness, began to pluck off the humans who, not knowing when to quit, rose to challenge it again—

That future should have arrived one second ago.

"[Rebellion]"

A single gust of wind blew upon the battlefield. Whether it belonged to a "hero" or not was yet to be seen.

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From Kanata, to here.