kscans

Chapter 67 - Halftime

Everyone was retreating, but Mist alone stayed to face the barbarian. She was buying time. But it was over in an instant. Mist was defeated by the barbarian.

After defeating Mist, the barbarian did not pursue them and instead returned to his own fortress.

Hayato resurrected the defeated Mist, thinking that the enemy must have decided to return to regroup as well, since they were on their last legs.

Esha was still on the fortress roof, her gun at the ready. She was prepared to intercept them immediately if they pursued. Maintaining her stance, Esha spoke.

"It has been a while since I have faced such a worthy opponent. I suppose that is to be expected of the number one ranked clan."

"You're still looking down on them in this situation? I don't think they're just 'worthy,' I think they're a formidable enemy."

"I dealt with this much in my previous Clan Wars."

"Are you sure the Clan Wars you're talking about are the same ones I know?"

From Hayato's perspective, this battle was on another level. In fact, it was on the level of a completely different game. It was like thinking you were playing a role-playing game, only to find out it was a fighting game. That was how different it felt.

Their split-second decisions, in particular, were incredibly fast. It was safe to say that Diite's quick judgment had protected many of their allies.

If she hadn't used damage-cutting and healing magic on Relic, he might have been defeated by that self-destruct attack. And tossing Ren out of the blast radius was also a fine decision.

Maris had been defeated, but sending Lancelot toward the Clan Stone to prevent Relic from being put in a two-on-one situation was a brilliant move.

Just as he was thinking this, a chat request came from the opposing clan's leader.

Hayato accepted the request out of pure curiosity, wanting to speak with his opponent.

"You're the clan leader of Daedalus, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. And you're the leader of Bandit?"

"That's me. Well, it's been a while. We met at the clan application facility, I believe?"

"It was nice meeting you then. I never imagined the person I met that day was the leader of the number one ranked clan."

"I could say the same to you. I never expected the rumored golden dragon to be in your clan. And an NPC at that. That was a blind spot."

"But it seems you knew how to counter it, didn't you? We didn't expect you to stop the Dragon Breath with a knockback."

"It was a gamble. I guess you could say it was thanks to getting some information out of that newbie-hunting clan. I paid their penalty money for them. It was quite an expense, but thanks to that, we avoided getting killed on our first encounter."

(Does that mean he paid over 100 million G? Amazing. And I don't think even that newbie-hunting clan would know how to counter it. No, he said it was a gamble, so maybe he just heard about the situation. He must have gambled that a knockback would work since the attack has a long wind-up.)

"Now then, we're about to start the second half. Are you not going to come out and fight? It seems you're with an NPC maid-san."

(He doesn't know I'm a production class? No, that can't be right.)

He had spent over 100 million in-game currency to get information on Ash. It was impossible to think he hadn't investigated Hayato himself.

This meant it was highly likely that the opponent knew about Hayato and was pretending not to. He didn't know why, but he was probably hoping Hayato would let some information slip.

"I'm a production class player and can't fight at all, so you don't need to count me. You've already investigated me for the most part, haven't you?"

There was no response from the barbarian. But soon, a voice that sounded like it was stifling a laugh came through.

"Well, you're a tough one. I was thinking of letting you lie, then pointing it out to embarrass you."

"You have quite the personality."

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that I'll do what it takes to win, so just let it slide. It seems psychological attacks won't work on you, so I'll end the chat here. I won't say let's have a fair fight, but let's both do our best."

"Yes. Let's both do our best. But we're going to win."

"Listen to you! But we feel the same way. Well then."

With that, the opponent disconnected the chat.

(I can't tell if he's calculating or just a nice guy. Either way, I can't afford to lose. Though, I haven't done anything myself.)

While he was thinking, Ash and the others returned. They had all restocked their items and were now on the roof.

Ren looked like she was about to cry.

"U, um, I, I'm sorry! Because I got greedy, I put everyone in danger!"

"I was the one who said we should steal the cursed equipment. Ren-sama is not at fault. Hayato-sama, if you must scold someone, scold me."

"Hey, why are you assuming I'm going to get angry? I was thinking of having the armor removed even if we couldn't steal it. And I was the one who gave the permission, so if anyone is responsible for that action, it's me. I'm not going to scold either of you. In fact..."

Hayato looked at Diite. Diite, who wore no particular expression, looked back at him quizzically.

"I believe I did quite well, did I not?"

"I was just looking at you because I wanted to thank you. Thanks to your response, Diite-chan, everyone except Maris and Lancelot was able to retreat without being defeated. Thank you."

Diite's eyes widened at Hayato's words. It was an expression not of surprise, but more like her thoughts had frozen. But she quickly broke into a smile.

"Is that so? Well, it is nothing to be thanked for. More importantly, let us think about the next battle. Will we fight in the same way?"

It was unclear whether she was trying to hide her embarrassment or if she truly felt it was nothing to be thanked for, but Diite changed the subject.

They didn't have much time, so he decided to move the conversation forward.

"How should we fight in the second half? The Clan Stone is about half destroyed, but that shouldn't be a factor if time runs out. Are we winning in terms of total damage?"

"No, I think we're losing on total damage. Their self-destruct hit us pretty hard. It was fortunate that no one was defeated, but that should have turned the tables."

If Ash was saying it, it was probably true. But that was a problem. It meant they had to go on the offensive. It was clearly more advantageous to fight in their own territory, within Esha's attack range, but that was no longer an option.

"For the second half, I too shall go out onto the field and fight."

As if reading Hayato's mind, Esha made the suggestion.

"Their Shukuchi is dangerous, but we have defeated two of their front-liners and one mid-guard. If I have an escort, I should be able to manage."

"An escort? Who would do it? That barbarian just took down Mist, you know?"

"It is shameful, but Ash-san is correct. Even at night, I cannot defeat that barbarian one-on-one. However, I did not use Dragon Blood earlier."

"Could you win if you used it?"

"If he would fight me. He would likely run away if I used it. Unfortunately, he seems to have equipment that increases his movement speed, so I cannot catch him."

"We don't have much Dragon Blood left. It would be a waste to use it just to protect Esha."

They continued to discuss various ideas, but none of them seemed like a solution. However, they agreed it would be a waste to leave Esha at the base, so it was decided that Relic would be her escort.

And so, the general plan was decided.

First, they would ignore the barbarian and the black-robed person who used Shukuchi and target the mid and rear guards. The strategy was to eliminate as many of the enemy's buff effects as possible. After that, they would aim for the Clan Stone.

"Once we defeat everyone except the barbarian and the black-robed one, let's go for the Clan Stone. He won't be able to run away if we target that."

To defeat the barbarian who could use Shukuchi and had high movement speed, they had to create a situation where he had no choice but to fight. The easiest way to do that was to target the Clan Stone.

"Alright, let's go then. Hayato, you stay here and focus on resurrecting Mist. As long as you're inside the fortress, you won't be a target for Shukuchi."

"I'm the only one with a pathetic role, but I understand. Everyone, be careful."

Leaving Hayato behind, Ash and the others left the fortress.