kscans

Chapter 65 - Back and Forth

The barbarian man, pushed back by Diite, ended up fighting Ash again. The opponent seemed flustered, but he quickly recovered.

"I wanted to turn the tables with that, but it didn't work... Master, it is possible to fire a Destroy at that location. With them so clustered together, we might be able to defeat all of both our front lines. What do you say?"

"Rejected. We're not fighting like that."

"Even if it means we lose?"

"Can you really call it a win if you sacrifice your comrades? Sure, you might have won the battle, but emotionally, it's a loss."

Esha laughed for some reason at Hayato's reply.

"You're a softie as always. This isn't a time to be choosy about our methods if we want to win."

"We can win without resorting to such methods. Everyone is strong, so there's no way we'll lose. Esha, you can drink as much Melon Juice as you want, so please support everyone. Ash and the others will turn the tables eventually."

"You're a demanding master. I'll be looking forward to the food at the victory celebration."

Esha drank her juice, then aimed her Beelzebub and looked through the scope. She then began firing in rapid succession.

"Maris! Aim for the Clan Stone!"

"I'm on it!"

Ash's voice chat came through.

(I see, since the person with the shield came out, the Clan Stone is defenseless. Maris should be able to get to the Clan Stone first.)

Even with Shukuchi, you can't move directly in front of an opponent in the air. To be precise, it's not impossible, but even if you appear in front of them, you'll immediately fall to the ground, taking fall damage. The higher you are, the more damage you take, and falling from where Maris and the others were would cause massive damage.

Maris skillfully maneuvered Lancelot, dodging the mid-guard's attacks as she headed for the enemy base.

The knight-like player with the shield tried to return to the fortress, but he couldn't catch up to Maris.

(Could this be a win?)

Just as Hayato thought that, the knight's equipment changed.

It was what you would call a ninja outfit. He was wearing black cloth equipment that covered his entire body. The equipment drastically increased the player's movement speed.

(No way. Is he faster than a griffon?)

The opponent, moving at about three times his normal speed, looked like he would reach the fortress before Maris and the others.

"Maris-sama, please stall that man. I will be there shortly. Ash-sama, I leave Ren-sama and the others in your care."

"Got it!"

"U-understood!"

A rare request from Relic. Ash and Maris complied.

Maris changed direction and charged toward the man in the ninja outfit. The man dodged with a swift movement. Being able to move at that speed showed he had trained considerably.

He was dodging Maris's attacks, but he wasn't just on the defensive. The man counterattacked Maris with a knife-like weapon.

Maris blocked with her shield, then fled into the sky.

But the man aimed a crossbow and pursued her with it. It was the crossbow Weapon Skill "Sonic Blast," which fired a wind-attribute shockwave.

Maris blocked the attack with her shield, but Sonic Blast was an attack that forcibly dismounted a rider.

Maris, who was in the air, fell from the griffon and plummeted to the ground.

"Fugya!"

"Maris!"

Hayato, who was watching, shouted much louder than he intended. She had been dropped from quite high up. That meant she must have lost a lot of HP from the fall damage. And on top of that, the man in the ninja outfit was approaching her at a considerable speed.

"That's far enough."

Relic appeared in front of the man. He then unleashed a "Low Kick." On the immobilized man's chest, Relic struck with a right-handed knife-hand strike.

"Just in case, I have stolen the shield. This man's shield-based defense should be gone now. Unless he has a spare, that is."

The opponent switched equipment to launch a variety of attacks and defenses. To shut one of them down, Relic had stolen his shield with the Stealing Skill.

"Maris-sama, I will hold him here. Get on Lancelot and go for the Clan Stone."

"Y-yes! Understood!"

Maris, while drinking a potion, staggered toward Lancelot.

"Maris! Run!"

"Huh?"

Ash's panicked voice came through.

In front of Maris was the barbarian man. And he was swinging his axe.

"Aim for the Clan Stone!"

Perhaps thinking she couldn't be saved, Maris gave an order to Lancelot. After that, she took the hit.

Maris's HP dropped to zero, and she should have disappeared into particles of light. But for some reason, instead of particles of light, Maris disappeared into black particles.

And on the battlefield, something else unusual was happening. Black particles were falling from the sky onto Lunaria's sword. When all the particles had fallen onto the sword, the gem embedded in it shone brighter.

"I won't forgive you...!"

Lunaria said that as she raised Arondight into an overhand stance and swung it down.

The player fighting Lunaria blocked the attack with his sword. But, as if it were nothing, her sword destroyed his and cut him down along with it. The opponent disappeared into particles of light.

Hayato was confused by the overload of information. He had no idea what was happening.

Hayato looked at Esha with pleading eyes.

"The sword Lunaria-sama holds, Arondight, grows more powerful each time an ally falls. Since Maris-sama was defeated, the sword's seal must have been released."

"...The item description didn't say anything about that, though. By the way, is Maris okay?"

"Of course, she's fine. It's not like her soul was eaten. The black particles are just for dramatic effect, just for show. Now then, the only enemy in our camp now is the front-line person fighting Mist-sama. Shall we finish this while we have the chance? It's about time, after all."

Hayato hadn't noticed until now, but quite some time had passed. And the field was enveloped in darkness, with the moon and stars shining in the sky.

"Mist-sama, please keep the enemy in front of you occupied."

"It is not an experience I wish to have often, but I suppose it cannot be helped. Hayato-san, please have a coffin ready. In the worst case, I will become strength for Lunaria-sama's sword, so it's fine even if you don't prepare one."

Hayato understood from those words. He hurried to get a coffin from the storage and placed it on the roof.

Then, Mist bit the opponent's neck. It was the vampire's unique skill, "Bloody Bite," which healed her HP by biting the opponent.

The good thing about this skill was that the opponent couldn't move from the spot during the attack. They couldn't move until they shook off the vampire.

Esha aimed her Beelzebub at Mist and her opponent. Ash and the others moved away from them.

Esha looked through her scope and asked Hayato.

"I will be sacrificing Mist-sama. Are you alright with that?"

"She'll resurrect, so it's not a sacrifice."

"I don't dislike that kind of decisiveness. Destroy."

Ten magic circles, large and small, lined up from Beelzebub toward Mist and her opponent. A sound like a cannon was heard, and a bullet of light was fired, piercing through all the magic circles and becoming a laser-like beam that shot through Mist and her opponent.

The opponent and Mist disappeared into particles of light, but ashes appeared in the coffin he had prepared.

Hayato immediately poured tomato juice on them, and the ashes took on a human form, and Mist appeared there.

"Well now, we've defeated two of their front line. I suppose this is where we start our counterattack?"

Hayato nodded at Mist's words.