kscans

Chapter 24 - Destroy

Simultaneously with the start, the members positioned in the enemy camp became visible. Just as Hayato had investigated, eight players advanced slowly, guarding the woman in the dress. And positioned behind that group was Leon.

Hayato turned his gaze toward Leon. In reality, it wasn't a distance where he could see, but this was a game. By zooming in his viewpoint, he confirmed Leon's weapon.

(Looks like he's properly equipped.)

Confirming the sword at Leon's waist, Hayato felt a sense of relief. Even though he had heard it in words, he couldn't be at ease until he saw it.

"Hayato-san, what are you doing cooped up in the fortress? We don't want to be thought of as match-fixing, so please come out."

Leon's voice chat came through. He was clearly provoking him, but Hayato was not one to fall for such a taunt.

"Sorry about that. The Meteor Swarm is scary, so I'll wait here for a while. They always say not to go outside on days when meteors are falling, so you should remember that."

While they were talking, the woman in the dress entered Hayato's camp. And she immediately began to use magic.

It didn't matter whether the opponent was on the field or not. The important thing about this strategy was to pin the opponent inside the fortress. Of course, if the opponent didn't come out onto the field at all, they couldn't deal any damage and it would eventually be a draw, but in that case, they would just change their method. It would change to a method where Leon and a few others would directly storm the fortress. It was a way of fighting that only Leon and his team, who were confident in their individual combat power, could pull off.

As soon as the magic was used, Hayato started counting the time. If Esha couldn't handle it, he had no choice but to have Ash and the others charge. He was checking the spell's activation time to find out how much safe time they had.

"This is taking a long time. May I do it now?"

"I'm timing it, so wait a bit."

Hayato cut off Esha's words and measured the time. And three minutes after the spell was cast, Meteor Swarm activated, and balls of fire about ten meters in diameter rained down on Hayato's camp from the sky.

(It's faster than the time I saw in the video. The one I saw was from several Clan Wars ago, so did she equip even more equipment that shortens the activation time since then? What a pain. And the Meteor Swarm spell is not just powerful, its appearance is terrifying. Even though I know there's no pain, if I saw it up close, my body would freeze in fear and I wouldn't be able to move. Virtual reality has an effect in these areas too. It's not wrong to say that the flashier the magic, the easier it is to hit.)

Even if you knew it wasn't real, seeing something realistic would put you in a certain state. Spells with flashy or huge effects also had the effect of making the opponent freeze up.

As soon as the Meteor Swarm spell ended, the woman in the dress drank some kind of beverage and started using magic again.

(I don't think there's any more equipment that can shorten the activation time, but just in case, should I let her fire two or three more shots? It might be a good idea to feign a charge to rattle them. And by making her use magic, I can make her use MP recovery drinks. Is there a possibility I can aim for her running out of MP during the Clan War?)

As Hayato was running various thoughts through his head, Esha suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Whoa!"

"Master, would it be all right to attack soon? My MP isn't decreasing, so I cannot drink my melon juice. Also, I would like to eat my bucket pudding soon."

"I think your means and ends are a little—no, quite a bit mixed up. No, you're right. I'd like to check what their defense is like. Yes, please attack."

"As you wish."

Esha approached the railing on the fortress roof and placed her right foot on it. Then she took out her Beelzebub 666 EC Custom.

(Esha's Critical Shot. In the last Clan War, she defeated the opponent in one hit. But that was probably because he had no defense at all. The woman in the dress seems to have low defense too, but the players around her are in heavy armor and seem to have high defense. Will it be able to deal fatal damage as the skill's name suggests? The range seems to be the entire camp, but ranged attacks basically have their damage reduced the farther they are from the opponent. They're at the very edge of the range, so it's possible it might not even do any damage.)

As Hayato was thinking that, he suddenly noticed something strange. For some reason, Ash and the others had moved away from Esha.

"Hey? What are you all doing?"

"Hayato, it's dangerous over there. I don't think you'll take damage, though."

"Dangerous?"

"Destroy."

At the same moment Hayato spoke, Esha also spoke a word. In that instant, ten magic circles of different sizes lined up from the muzzle of the Beelzebub, pointing at the opponent.

"Huh? What's that?"

The Critical Shot Hayato had seen before had one magic circle. The fact that there were now multiple of them filled Hayato with a strange sense of unease.

The next moment, a sound that could be called the firing of a cannon was heard, and something like a bullet was fired. The recoil made the muzzle of Esha's gun fly upwards. And Esha herself slid backwards from the recoil. Hayato was also blown back a little by the impact.

The bullet-like object fired from the gun pierced through the lined-up magic circles and headed in a straight line toward the woman in the dress. And in less than a few seconds, it shot through the tanky mohawk guy and the woman in the dress.

The two of them disappeared into particles of light without even a moment to scream. Naturally, the enemy camp was in a panic.

After confirming this, Esha looked at Ash.

"Well then, Ash-sama, I leave the rest to you. I am going to have a snack time now."

And without waiting for Ash's reply, Esha began to eat the bucket pudding.

"Alright, then we'll go out onto the field and wipe out the rest. However, don't lay a hand on Leon. I'll deal with him. Ren and Relic, you come later. You two are up after Leon is alone."

"Okay, cursing is for last, so I'll hold back until then. And if I do a good job, I'll eat dessert too!"

"Understood. Ash-sama and the others, may you have the fortunes of war."

While Ash and the others were talking, Hayato finally recovered from his stunned state.

"Hey! Wait a minute! What was that!? It went through both of them!"

At Hayato's words, everyone stopped for a moment. But Ash just said, "I leave the explanation to you," and left the roof with his men.

"Huh? That's strange, right? It pierced through a heavily armored opponent, and on top of that, it also defeated the woman in the dress normally?"

By the common sense of this game, Hayato's surprise was not an exaggeration. To finish off a heavily armored opponent in one hit was something that even the defense-ignoring Excalibur Replica couldn't do. Moreover, it was a ranged attack. Ash's Dragon Breath was similar, but if something like this was possible, it was at a level where you would definitely complain to the administration.

"Hayato-sama, please calm down. That is Esha's weapon skill, Destroy. Its effect is to consume all MP to defeat any opponent in a straight line. It is an attack that is a guaranteed kill if it hits, but its long cool down time is its one flaw. In a time-limited Clan War, it could be said that two times is the limit."

"Isn't it strange that she can even use that twice? Can you please say it's strange? In the first place, isn't the fact that the words ‘guaranteed kill’ even come up strange?"

Hayato looked at Relic with a pleading expression. The power was such that it made him wonder what all the strategies he had been thinking about until now were for. Moreover, it seemed that everyone but him knew about it. If there was such a thing, Hayato thought he would have liked them to tell him from the start.

"Ha-Hayato-san! Wha-what was that! Ju-just what kind of attack!"

"Be quiet for a second. I'm busy right now."

Hayato dealt with the chat from Leon carelessly. He really was busy. He didn't cut the connection, but he put it on mute so he couldn't hear Leon's voice. And he looked at Relic again.

Relic looked at Hayato with a gentle smile.

"This is the technique of Esha, who was called the Goddess of Annihilation. A guaranteed kill on a troublesome opponent from the fortress roof. To use magic with a long activation time within Esha's range of attack is like saying, ‘Please defeat me.’"

"I feel like everyone, including me, would say, ‘How were we supposed to know that?’ But you all knew, didn't you? Why did you keep quiet? I'm supposed to be the leader of this clan, but am I the only one who thinks so?"

"Esha told us to keep it a secret. I told her that was not good, but she threatened not to use it if we told. Perhaps she wanted to surprise you, Hayato-sama."

Hayato turned his neck around and looked at Esha.

Esha was moving her mouth, mogu mogu, but after swallowing with a gulp, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Then, with a sharp expression, she held out her left hand toward Hayato and gave him a thumbs-up.

"I wanted to see your surprised face, Master, so I kept it a secret. Also, for the past week, watching you agonize while thinking of various strategies gave me chills. It is quite embarrassing."

"Alright, find another job next month."

"How cruel! I am useful! I am useful, I tell you! If you like, I can fire another shot! And if you fire me, I will send a clumsy maid next time! Using all my authority!"

"That sounds better—Hah, well, it's fine now. I think it made things easier, thanks to you. So, can you support Ash and the others now? Your MP is gradually recovering thanks to the bucket pudding, right? What, not enough at all? You're not lying because you want to drink melon juice?"

Insisting that was not the case, Esha took a bottle of melon juice from her item bag and began to drink it deliciously.

Hayato thought, "Give me a break," but his feelings were complicated.

(I knew she was off the charts, but is this okay? I'll have to email the administration again. It's not at the level of a failed balance adjustment, it's a bug. I don't know about this game, but in many cases, knowingly using what is clearly a bug is subject to punishment, so the technique called Destroy is sealed until I get a reply from the administration.)

While Hayato was thinking such things, the battle of Ash and the others had begun on the field.