kscans

Chapter 132 - Battle with the Illusion Dragon

Hayato and Esha arrived on the fifteenth floor.

The floors of the World Tree were basically circular in shape, with stairs that ascended from the west side along the north wall in a semicircle, emerging on the east side. The structure was the same for all of them.

However, the fifteenth floor was slightly different. There were no surrounding walls, and you could say it was almost entirely outside. Also, at the center of the floor was a giant crystal orb entwined with tree branches. The crystal orb was slowly pulsing with a blue light.

(So this is the Spirit Core. It feels like I'm being drawn in.)

He felt that if he kept staring at the crystal orb, which gave off a strange sensation, his thoughts would come to a halt. He didn't know if it was a virtual reality effect or some kind of hypnotic presentation, but wondering if he should be staring at it, Hayato looked away.

On that floor were the Elf Queen, the Dwarf King, and many Elves and Dwarves who seemed to be their attendants.

Word of Hayato's group had reached them, and the Elf Queen expressed her gratitude, then asked them not to go any higher than this floor and to wait here. So, Hayato and Esha were waiting on the spot.

(The equipment of the people here is fine. As expected of a queen, a king, and their attendants.)

It was debatable whether they could win against Agres's group, but they had the air of being reasonably strong.

The Elf Queen wore a dress reminiscent of a swallowtail butterfly and held a staff studded with jewels. And the Dwarf King was covered head to toe in Adamantite armor, also holding a giant Adamantite axe.

Their attendants had similar equipment, and looking at their gear alone, Hayato thought they were considerably strong.

In any case, they only needed to defend this place until the Stampede was over, so they didn't need to win.

Moreover, while moving to this floor, there had been Elves and Dwarves defending, but their equipment had been problematic, so Hayato had been crafting as he ascended. As a craftsman, it wasn't perfect, but since there was no time, he had compromised with decent equipment, which still had sufficient performance.

It would take a considerable amount of time for Agres's group to get this far.

Thinking that there would be no problem, Hayato looked outside.

Looking down at the ground from the fifteenth floor was a bit scary. Even if he fell, there would be no pain, but gravity would still apply, and he would definitely die from the fall damage.

"Esha, don't push me from behind, okay?"

"Are you telling me to push you? Is that a tsundere thing? Like, 'it's not that I want you to push me,' or something?"

"There's no tsundere like that."

After that exchange, Hayato looked down.

The ground was covered in mist, so he couldn't see clearly. However, he could see many white dragons fighting with players.

(Are those dragons the monsters that appeared in the Stampede? They're mini versions of the Illusion Dragon, but the real one hasn't appeared yet.)

Seeing that several of the white dragons had been defeated, it seemed like the Illusion Dragon could appear at any moment, but it wasn't there yet.

Just as Hayato thought that, a change occurred.

The mist covering the ground began to gather in one place. It gradually grew larger, forming the shape of a dragon.

Immediately after, a dragon's roar that caused stun, a Dragon Roar, assaulted the surroundings.

The Illusion Dragon had appeared.

While most players were unable to move, there was a group that attacked without being affected at all.

(Is that Ash's group? I couldn't tell where they were, but this makes it easy to see.)

He had been looking at the ground from the considerable height of the fifteenth floor, and it was covered in mist, so he hadn't been able to find Ash's location, but he had finally found them.

Hayato watched Ash's group's movements.

Basically, Ash's mercenary group was a close-range combat unit with no characters who could use Holy Magic. There were some members who specialized in magic, but they were quite few. The foremost magic specialist was Ren.

Ash's group slashed at the dragon, and from a little behind them, Ren unleashed curse magic. Ren also often lowered the opponent's STR with her Dragon Curse. This was their basic strategy.

Since they had no Holy Magic, they used potions to recover HP. Apparently, it had been quite tough before they met Hayato, but he had heard that it became much easier once he started mass-producing potions for them.

(Ash is strong on his own, but he's probably stronger in a group battle.)

He couldn't hear Ash's voice, but he could faintly see gestures that seemed like he was giving some kind of command. The members of the mercenary group appeared to be fighting according to his instructions.

All the members of the mercenary group were equipped with Dragon Eater Replicas. Furthermore, they were also equipped with high-performance armor and other gear made by Hayato, boasting considerable strength.

This time, there were no conspicuous NPCs like Cecil from the Imperial Capital or Lunaria from the Demon Capital, so it seemed that players were praising Ash's group.

The Illusion Dragon exhaled a mist breath that caused status effects, but Ash's group attacked without being affected. The Illusion Dragon seemed quite surprised, and its movements were sluggish.

(Pat's group was blocking the herbs that are the ingredients for the medicine, so they probably thought they were fine. They wouldn't think there's a dish that grants status effect immunity that the dragons don't know about.)

That same Pat's group should be under attack by Rosalie's Black Rose members by now, and they wouldn't be able to come here. It should also be very difficult for Agres's group to climb up inside the World Tree, so you could say the situation was quite advantageous.

(We can do this, right? There's still time, and it's too early to be relieved, but there shouldn't be any problems so far. Ney's group should be coming soon, and it's highly likely that other players will gather too. In terms of fighting power, we should be fine.)

That being said, Hayato had a tendency to worry. Just in case an unforeseen situation occurred, he watched the ground intently from the fifteenth floor of the World Tree.

After that, Ney's group also joined and, like Ash's group, attacked the Illusion Dragon.

The Illusion Dragon's HP was already down to about a third, and at this rate, it was a situation where they could defeat it normally.

"We should be fine with this, right?"

It was the moment Hayato said that to Esha.

The Illusion Dragon turned its neck around and looked up at Hayato.

Then the Illusion Dragon flapped its wings for a moment and leaped. It clung to the World Tree. It was hard to read a dragon's facial expression, but even Hayato could tell it was glaring at him.

"Hayato! You did something, didn't you!? Pat's group said it would be fine, but what's with Ash's group not being affected by poison or paralysis! And you're gracefully watching the Stampede with your girlfriend!? I'll crush you and this whole World Tree!"

Part of it was correct, but another part was a completely misplaced personal grudge, and Hayato was troubled. And he wanted to say, don't shout my name out loud where so many players are.

But that aside, there was a problem.

The Illusion Dragon didn't just cling to the World Tree, it started to climb. It would probably be faster to fly with its wings, but maybe that was restricted during a Stampede, because it didn't do that, instead skillfully climbing the World Tree with the claws of its front and back legs.

They were attacking from the ground with magic and ranged weapons, but most of them weren't reaching and didn't seem to be effective.

The Elf Queen and her attendants noticed the strange situation and started a ranged attack on the Illusion Dragon from the fifteenth floor. However, since the distance was still far, it didn't seem to be very effective. It would probably have an effect if it got closer, but he didn't think it had enough firepower to defeat it.

In terms of time, it was climbing at a speed that would allow it to reach them. He didn't know how much durability the Spirit Core had, but it was better to assume there was a high possibility it could be broken.

Thinking that, Hayato spoke to Ash's group via voice chat.

"Can either Ash's group or Ney's group come over here? I want to defeat the Illusion Dragon here, no, I want to knock it down. But Agres and the Thunder Dragon are inside. It doesn't seem like they can make it this far without a decent amount of fighting power."

"So that's what's happening... Understood. Then Ren and I will go. We'd be effective against those two. Ney's group, wait on the ground for Suien to fall. When he does, please focus your attacks."

Ney nodded and said, "Got it. Leave the ground to us."

Hayato confirmed that Ash and Ren were entering the World Tree. Then he asked the Dwarf King to support the two who had come in.