kscans

Chapter 64 - Offense and Defense

"Protect Ash!"

Hayato had meant to say that to Mist and Lunaria. But the two of them, who had retreated to avoid being caught in Ash's attack, couldn't get to him right away.

The moment he thought, this is bad, he heard a small sound next to him. He heard it over and over again in his ear.

At some point, Esha had aimed her Beelzebub and was attacking the barbarian man. It wasn't "Critical Shot" or "Destroy," but a normal attack. The damage was low, but it could be said to be an attack perfectly suited for a feint.

It wasn't a fatal blow, but the opponent disliked the attack. The next moment, his axe vanished, and he was holding a giant shield. He was deflecting Esha's attacks with it.

"This attack won't be able to pierce that shield. But I can at least reduce its durability. It might break, after all."

Esha said that, propped her left foot on the railing, and aimed her Beelzebub again. Then, she fired the gun several times at the same tempo.

"Master, please prepare a large quantity of Melon Juice. I don't have enough on hand."

"Ah, yeah, got it. I'll get it from the storage."

Esha's attacks consumed MP even if they were normal attacks. Ten attacks would deplete her MP. To avoid that, she needed to attack while recovering her MP.

Hayato went to the storage, brought back a large quantity of Melon Juice, and handed it to Esha.

"Mist-sama and Lunaria-sama have managed to reach Ash-sama. Maris-sama too. We have a little breathing room now."

Esha said that and started drinking the Melon Juice.

Hayato felt a little relieved at her words.

If Ash were defeated, it would be difficult to win the Clan War. He didn't think Ash would be defeated that easily, but he was quite worried about the unusual situation.

"As expected of the number one ranked team. To stop Ash-sama on the first encounter. Or is information leaking from somewhere?"

"Don't say such ominous things. But for now, is the danger gone? Ash has recovered... he's back in human form?"

"He's out of MP, I suppose. He did say that when he transforms into a dragon in a Clan War, his MP gradually decreases."

"He did say that. Well, Ash is pretty strong even in human form, so he should be fine."

"That might be a little too optimistic. The other two have caught up, and their mid-guard is in a battle stance. What's more, their rear guard is giving their front line buffs with dances and songs. This might be dangerous even for Ash-sama and the others."

Hayato looked at the enemy members.

Three front-line fighters, including the barbarian, three mid-range fighters using bows and other long-range attacks, and three rear-guard members using attack magic and buff-effect dances and songs were arranged in a balanced formation. The last person was on standby at the fortress.

As Esha said, Ash and the others were being pushed back. It was probably the difference in buffs.

Of course, Diite was also supporting the front line with her support magic, but it wasn't as effective as the songs and dances of a dedicated support player. Besides, Diite was also healing. It must be a tough situation.

The only thing that was effective was Ren's "Dragon Curse." It was stronger than any support buff, with a debuff effect, or rather, a weakening effect. It was only on one person, but the target was the barbarian who seemed to be the enemy leader.

On top of that, she was dealing gradual damage with her Curse Magic. The power was increased by her cursed equipment, forcing the opponent to use a lot of recovery magic. If this kept up, they could defeat the enemy barbarian.

"This is bad."

Esha muttered that while continuing her attack.

"Huh? I think we're doing pretty well so far, though?"

"No, the enemy mid and rear guards are starting to target Ren-sama and Diite-sama. Relic is protecting them, so the attacks aren't getting through right now, but it might be dangerous with just Relic."

He thought of having Esha help, but stopped. The enemy mid and rear guards were in their own camp. They were out of Esha's attack range.

"Maris! Aim for the rear guard!"

Ash's voice chat came through. Maris agreed and, along with the griffon Lancelot, aimed for the priest-like opponent who was using recovery magic.

Hayato thought the strategy was to take out the healer first to defeat the barbarian on the front line. Without healing, Ren's Curse Magic would defeat him in no time.

But when Maris tried to aim for the healer, the enemy mid-guard launched a long-range attack with bows and crossbows. The fierce attack seemed to prevent Maris from getting close to the enemy's rear guard.

"So it's no good..."

"No, I think it's a good strategy. The attacks on Ren-sama and Diite-sama have stopped. That means Relic is free."

"Huh?"

If the attacks on Ren and Diite stopped, Relic was free.

"Relic! Aim for the healer!"

"As you wish."

Relic responded to Ash's voice. And in an instant, he moved in front of the priest. He must have used Shukuchi, as if returning the favor.

Relic moved into an attack motion and tried to attack the priest.

But it was blocked.

At some point, a player with a giant shield had appeared in front of the priest. And he used the shield's Weapon Skill "Shield Bash" to push Relic back.

"The opponent is skilled as well. I thought the person left in the fortress was only defending the Clan Stone, but he used Shukuchi to move, switched to a shield, and blocked the attack on Relic. This is bad."

The moment Esha said it was bad, the enemy barbarian was in front of Diite. He had ignored Ash, who he was fighting, and used Shukuchi to teleport in front of Diite.

The barbarian had already equipped his axe and was in his attack motion.

If she didn't dodge, Diite would take a lot of damage. There was a chance she would be defeated in one hit. But Diite made no move to dodge at all.

However, there was one difference in Diite. The book she usually had equipped was gone from her hand. In other words, she was currently bare-handed.

And the next moment, she caught the barbarian's descending axe by clamping it between her hands.

Everyone present was surprised by her action.

"Hmm, a near miss. I think you should have aimed for Lunaria-kun, not me. Well then, you should try again later."

Diite spun sideways and unleashed a backhand strike. It looked exactly like "Backhand Blow." It didn't seem to do much damage, but its effect sent the barbarian man flying backward.

"...Huh? What's going on?"

"She nullified the attack with the Hand-to-Hand Combat skill Blade Catch. I'm a little surprised. Did Diite-sama have a skill like that?"

Hayato couldn't understand Esha's words. It was because he had seen Diite's skill composition.

Diite's skill composition was that of a magic user. She absolutely did not have any Hand-to-Hand Combat skills. So why could she use "Blade Catch" and "Backhand Blow"?

Only Diite could answer that question, but there was no time to ask.

Hayato, though puzzled, decided to watch the situation unfold without saying anything.