kscans

Chapter 141 - Ranged Attack

The Dragon Breath from Agres struck the newly appeared Duke-class Demon.

This meant that Agres had earned the demon's Hate Value. The demon seemed to have taken significant damage, as its face contorted in fury and it began to move toward Agres.

Agres tried to inflict more damage with its Dragon Breath, but the demon began to attack with magic as well. The demon also summoned what were likely its own subordinates, turning the fight into a numbers game.

The demon gradually closed the distance to Agres and engaged it in close-quarters combat.

Both were about fifteen meters tall. The sight of these two giants fighting was quite a spectacle.

This looks like a scene from some movie... no, more importantly...

"Diite-chan, could you please resurrect the members of the Demon Summoning Research Association?"

Summoning a Duke-class demon required the lives of five summoners. The moment the demon had been summoned, Adrian and four others had been defeated.

"Leave it to me. I will not generate any Hate Value, so I shall attend to it immediately."

Diite used the Holy Magic spell "Resurrection" to revive them.

It consumed a great deal of MP, but she drank various juices as she resurrected Adrian and the others.

Thinking that this was no longer a problem, Hayato looked toward Esha.

"Esha, is now a good time?"

"Agres is occupied with the demon and does not seem to have noticed us. We should be able to manage now. However, I would like a tank, just in case. I am completely defenseless right before I shoot."

"Then we shall serve. We cannot let the Demon Summoning Research Association have all the glory."

It was Mist and her vampire unit who spoke.

In a Clan War, they were limited to nighttime, but in a normal battle, as long as they had their coffins, they could resurrect even during the day. They were the perfect choice for the role of a tank.

Esha and Mist's group moved into range of Agres's Dragon Breath. But Agres, occupied with the demon, did not notice them.

Esha knelt to take aim, but immediately after, a spear of lightning came flying toward them. One of the vampires took the hit. It wasn't enough to defeat them in one blow, but they took considerable damage.

"So that is where you are."

From her kneeling position, Esha lay prone on the ground and aimed her Beelzebub.

Hayato thought it was somewhat inappropriate for someone in a maid outfit to strike such a pose, but he figured it was a more stable position to avoid that lightning magic, so he said nothing.

A few seconds after Esha took aim, she said, "Critical Shot," and her Beelzebub roared to life.

She fired not just one, but multiple Critical Shots into the same spot.

A person appeared out of nowhere and was sent flying. And even as they were being sent flying, more Critical Shots struck them, sending them even farther before they collapsed to the ground. After that, they didn't move a muscle.

It was a bit far, but to Hayato's eyes, the person had been dressed just like Od, whom he had seen inside the World Tree. Even if it was someone else, he judged that there would be no more Meteor Swarms.

"It seems we've taken out the Meteor Swarm user. I can't say for sure that there aren't others, but it's probably okay now. Please charge when you're ready," Hayato said over the party voice chat, and a cheer went up. However, the battle between the demon and Agres was still ongoing, and if they charged in now, they would likely get caught in the crossfire, so everyone was taking the time to prepare.

Meanwhile, Esha, as if her work was done, walked back, drinking Melon Juice with her gun resting on her shoulder.

"A drink after a hard day's work is always exceptional."

"That's good. Thank you, you were a great help."

As Hayato said this, Ash and the others also began to thank Esha.

Esha showed a slightly perplexed expression, but it quickly turned into a smile.

"Please express your gratitude in a tangible form. Preferably with large quantities of sweet food. You need not be shy."

At Esha's words, everyone looked at Hayato as if to say, 'you handle it,' and went back to what they were doing.

Hayato, having been put on the spot, decided it was best to do something and nodded his head. Upsetting Esha now would only result in a decrease in their fighting strength. In other words, he had to keep her happy.

"Um, alright, I'll make you a lot of Chocolate Parfaits after we defeat Agres."

"As expected of you, Master. I am now filled with motivation. By the way, what about the healer on that dragon's back? I could try to snipe her, but it would be difficult to hit her from that position."

The healer, in other words, Randa, who was healing Agres's HP.

As Esha said, shooting Randa on Agres's back from the front was difficult even with Esha's sniping ability. Agres was essentially taking all the attacks aimed at Randa himself.

While it might be possible from behind, hitting Randa on its back from the front would be more difficult than threading a needle. It would be like trying to thread a bullet through it.

"If only we could get behind it. But it's impossible to circle around from here."

"It would be easy if we could fly like Maris-sama and the others."

"Like Maris and the others... ah!"

Those words reminded Hayato of something.

Maris had told him that she could now carry a second person. He had heard the story when Maris had brought Ash and the others to the Dragon's Grave. Esha could ride with Maris and get behind Agres.

"Maris, can you carry Esha? I want her to snipe that healer from behind."

"This is hard to say, but that's impossible."

"Huh? You can carry a second person, right? Can't Esha ride on Lancelot's back?"

"We can do a two-person ride, but Lancelot would probably hate it and throw her off."

"Maris-sama, I take that as a challenge. Let us try it first."

"I'm coming down, so just wait a second."

Maris, who had been circling in the sky, came down toward Hayato's group. It was obvious at that point. Lancelot was wary of Esha. Even Hayato could feel its fierce determination not to let her on.

"Esha, don't put too much of a strain on Lancelot."

"I feel like I have lost something important in exchange for strength."

The reason Esha was disliked by animals was because her Taming Skill was at negative 100. It was a demerit that had occurred as a result of maxing out skills like sniping to 200, but it had been an accident, not something Esha had chosen to do.

It was unfortunate for Esha, but Hayato saw a glimmer of hope. Even without Esha, there were many members present who could perform ranged attacks. They could have the tamer members carry them for a two-person ride and attack Agres from behind.

"Maris, can you ask the other tamers to do a two-person ride? I think ranged attacks from the air would be very effective."

At Hayato's words, Maris folded her arms and groaned.

"Um, this is very hard to say, but being able to do a two-person ride and wanting to do it are two different things. It would be difficult to have them carry someone they just met today."

"Oh, right. They wouldn't want to do that all of a sudden. And they'd be reluctant to let someone on their precious pet's back..."

"Lancelot and I wouldn't mind giving you all a ride, though."

"But the only one in our clan who can do ranged attacks is Esha—"

Just as Hayato said that, Ren shot her right hand up into the air.

"I can use Curse Magic! I need to get reasonably close, but I should be able to slowly weaken Randa-san!"

"That's great. Diite-chan can use attack magic too, but I want her to focus on healing, so I'll leave it to you, Ren-chan. Is that okay with you, Maris?"

"Yes, that's fine. Lancelot is happy too. Of course, I'm happy too!"

"Maris-sama, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you disliked it when it was me...?"

"Esha, don't get involved."

For the time being, Hayato had Esha drink some Melon Juice to calm her down. In the meantime, Ren got on Lancelot with Maris.

Watching them, Ash's brow furrowed.

"Ren, are you sure?"

"I'm sure! Besides, I need to show you my cool side soon! And I have this, which I got in Labyrinth Castle!"

They had fought the Phantom Knight repeatedly in Labyrinth Castle to get cursed equipment, but a rare monster called the Phantom General had appeared instead.

The cursed equipment it had dropped was the "Third Eye."

It was a circlet-type headpiece, but with a gem with an eye pattern that sat right on the forehead, it looked as if a third eye had opened. Most people would have called it tacky, but Ren was quite fond of it.

And its effect was "HP gradually decreases, but magic power increases."

This also applied to Curse Magic. It meant that the gradual damage dealt by the curse would also increase, so when Ren obtained it, she held it up with both hands and cried.

"Alright Ren-chan, be careful. Take some Potions and an Elixir just in case. And did you eat a Chocolate Parfait? It's dangerous if you don't have HP and MP slowly regenerating. Right, I should have Diite-chan cast Regenerate on you."

"...Um, Hayato-san, you're being more overprotective than my brother. You sound like my mother."

"It's because I'm worried about you, Ren-chan. Ash is too, right?"

"Well, yeah. But I trust her too. Ren, show us your cool side."

"Yeah! I'll curse them good! Uhihihihi...!"

Whether it was a heartwarming scene or not was debatable, but Hayato could see that they got along well. Worrying about it wouldn't change anything, so he decided to leave it to Ren.

"Maris, take care of Ren."

"Leave it to me! Lancelot and I will protect Ren-chan!"

Maris and Ren got on Lancelot's back. As they took to the sky, Ren shouted, "Hyahho!" and brandished a Five-sun Nail in her right hand.

"Is Ren-chan going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine. Maris not only has a high Riding Skill, but her technique in controlling Lancelot is also excellent. If they focus on dodging, they shouldn't get hit by Agres's attacks."

Hayato nodded at Ash's words.

Hayato remembered how skilled Maris had been as a coachman for the Griffon Courier Service and the carriage. He figured she could handle her own pet, Lancelot, even better.

Maris and Ren joined the tamers in the sky, and they all turned to face Agres.

At that moment, the Duke-class demon was defeated by Agres and disappeared into particles of light.

It was the signal for the second charge to begin.