Chapter 431
Chapter 431
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Defense Specialization and the Big Battle
The black lightning that engulfed the members of “Rapid Shot” that were positioned behind those from “Kingdom of the Flame Emperor” forced those hit directly by it to retreat, splitting their formation in two.
"Will!"
"I'm okay! But… I don’t see anyone.”
"What…? Your eyes can’t see whoever’s behind this?”
It was unusual for such an attack to occur from outside of the average spellcasting range, and even more for an enemy to be completely invisible to Will’s eyes.
“Will, please use my eyes to find them.”
"Understood"
"’Dormant’"
A blue light burst from Lily, and for a moment the entire field was illuminated by a light of the same color coming from above the cloud-covered sky.
"’Awakening’! So? Any luck?”
“…It’s Maple. She’s high up above the clouds.”
Wilbert grimaced as he reported his findings, and Lily quickly began to act in response.
"Okay. Let's go!"
There was only one thing to do about it, which was to have the players who used tamed monsters with the ability to fly to go up there and shoot Maple down.
Meanwhile, Maple also quickly sensed the many players were starting to approach her.
"Whoa! Have I been discovered already!?”
Players riding dragons and giant birds had started to take off and fly towards her much earlier than Sally had anticipated. It was clear that Maple, who was just riding her shield as if it was a hoverboard, was no match for their mobility, no matter how hard she tried.
“‘Deploy Barrel’ ‘Commence Attack’!”
Therefore, Maple opened fire, thinking that her best option would be to do anything in her power to not let the enemy get close to her. After all, the ”Annihilation Area” worked very much like her “Dedicated Affection”, in that its area of effect was a very tall column with Maple at the center, so it would also scorch everything that would come flying from below and cause it to drop to the ground.
But the enemy was still approaching very quickly while dodging her fire. This would only make things harder for Maple, so she was forced to try to make as much distance as possible from each of these severely injured players.
“Tch, come on, we can’t let her do whatever she wants up here!”
"Let’s take her down!”
"Whoa!? This is getting too dangerous!”
Maple managed to throw herself to the ground before the attack from one of the approaching players could reach her.
No matter how much mobility the enemy had, they would not be able to catch up with the speed of her free fall, at least not immediately. And it would be even harder for the enemy to do so if they also had to deal with interference.
"’Commence Attack!"
Maple finished by firing her bullets upwards, shooting through the tamed monsters and forcing all of the players that were riding them to follow her in the same free fall.
Many things had gained the ability to fly in one way or another, but the sky itself was inherently dangerous. Players had to be aware of the possibility as well as the risks of losing the ability to fly while in mid-air.
"Oh!?"
"Damn it…!”
"See ya!"
At this rate, there was a risk of damaging her allies as well, so Maple canceled her “Annihilation Area” and blasted herself in the direction of her faction’s territory. She didn’t particularly have to worry too much about how she would land.
Then, one of the players from her own side left their group and jumped into the air before throwing a rope at Maple, who was about to fall on top of her own army, and caught her with it.
"Hey, Sally!"
"Nice, Maple! That was a great surprise attack."
"Alright, time to move on to the next step!”
"Yeah. I’m counting on you!”
"’Throne of the Heavenly King’ ‘Afterglow of Salvation’!"
In contrast to her previous offensive approach, Maple would now turn to buffing every player in a wide area around her.
However, both the throne and the angel wings on her back were fairly conspicuous. At this rate, she would become a priority target for the enemy.
"’Icicle’!"
The throne was surrounded by several pillars of ice that would physically protect Maple and everyone else in her close proximity.
These ice pillars could not be destroyed by attacks, instead lasting for a set period of time. With this impenetrable barrier created by Sally, Maple wouldn’t be able to do anything other than keep her buffs active, but the enemy wouldn’t be able to reach her, ensuring that the source of those buffs would be safe.
"Nothing will get through these icicles, at least for the time being.”
"Thank you!"
"No, thank you, Maple. I'm grateful that all of us managed to make it this far and are now able to fight in this battle.”
After Maple’s side had solidified her defenses, Mai and Yui started shooting giant iron balls one after another with a force that would overshadow that of any cannon into the enemy territory. Their formation was set. They would take whatever the enemy would throw at them and retaliate with the maximum firepower they were able to produce.
Intense flashes of light, and tremendous flames. Several spells raged like a storm from both sides of the battle, and their tremendous power affected the front lines.
"Velvet!"
"Yeah! When are we going to jump in?"
“It would be helpful if you could go with Mii. The two of you should be able to knock them out in an instant. But before that… Will, let’s go, too.”
Lily produced the same flying device that she had used in her battle with Payne. It looked like a hoverboard, which suspended itself in mid-air through several blue flames that were blowing downwards behind it. Though it was barely big enough for two people to ride on, it had an increased movement speed. Since Lily hadn’t changed her equipment, she couldn’t make a large quantity of them, but as long as Wilbert and herself could ride on one of them, there would be no problem.
"Hinata, let’s get going!"
"Yes…!"
Since she couldn’t risk leaving her friend behind to become an easy target for the enemy, Velvet took Hinata and stepped forward into the front lines. Lily and Wilbert also dashed along with them at a high speed thanks to their hoverboard.
“‘Second Coming of the Thunder God’! ‘Center of the Storm’!”
Thunderclap roared at the area where the monsters and the players were clashing with each other.
One by one, a downpour of lightning bolts annihilated all nearby hostile entities. Even monsters clad in lightning themselves, which apparently had some degree of resistance to lightning-based attacks, were completely overwhelmed.
But there was nothing surprising about that. After all, a white haze had spread throughout the area, and the intense cold it brought had made all defensive stats and elemental resistance completely nonexistent.
“Let’s keep going, Hinata!”
"…Sorry, but I can't let you go any further."
“Haha, let’s have a rematch!”
The ones who had stood in their way were none other than Dred and Drag. Velvet –who at this point could be said to be an actual storm on legs– would cause tremendous damage to the allied base if left unchecked. Therefore, she had to be stopped right here, at this very moment. There would be no retreating this time. The same would seem to be true for the enemy as well.
"I won't lose!"
"Let’s do this…!"
"Man, this job is a poor match for me.”
"Come on! Fighting stronger opponents is exciting!”
"Well, I can’t say I sympathize with that…”
Dred readied his weapon as he continued to mumble about something. Seeing that only got Drag even more motivation for him to brandish his ax.
Meanwhile, several players were passing through the sky at high speed. Just like Maple had done earlier, the enemy had also sent those among them who excelled in area attacks to head for the back line, which was where most of the big damage dealers would be located.
"There's no time to be looking away elsewhere…! ‘Electromagnetic Leap’!"
Velvet rushed in with Hinata, who was floating next to her thanks to her gravity-controlling ability, along with her cold air that lowered the defensive power of those in its area of effect.
“Earth, ‘Lightning Rod’! ‘Heavy Rush’!”
“‘Ice Wall’!”
As a wall of ice caught the blow from Drag’s ax, Velvet threw a punch at Drag. However, due to the difference in reach, her fist can't reach him.
“‘Aurora’!”
“‘Stone Skin’ ‘Grand Armor’!”
"Keep going…!"
A pillar of lightning broke out around Velvet. Just when she thought it would force Drag to retreat, he powered through it by using an endurance-boosting skill and continued to rush toward her.
“‘Burn Ax’!”
“‘Parry’! ‘Heavy Double Attack’!”
"Gwaah!?"
Velvet parried the blow from Dred’s ax to the side before retaliating with a strong one-two punch that sent him flying.
"Oww! That was very powerful!”
"And you sure can take a beating! After all, Hinata’s Skill should be affecting your defense as well…”
"This endurance is special."
The ground under Drag suddenly started shining, restoring his depleted HP. Velvet saw how much damage she had actually managed to deal and understood that Drag had to be under the effect of some kind of buff that massively reduced damage received.
"Then I’ll give you some more! ‘Field of Lightning’ ‘Rain of Thunder’!”
"Drag, I’ll need one of your walls.”
"Sure!"
"’Top Speed’!"
Unlike Drag, Dred's endurance wasn’t enough to allow him to force through such a violent thunderstorm. Instead, he would use his increased speed to instantly close the distance while being shielded by the wall of rock that Drag would create directly above his path.
"’Gravity Cage’"
"…Tch–"
The moment he was starting to get closer, Dred felt a sudden drop in speed, and was forced to return the way he came, leaving the crumbling rock wall behind.
Hinata’s protection was a big problem, as she could wait patiently on the back, waiting for the right moment to intervene.
Since Velvet's destructive power was so extraordinary, Hinata’s devotion to defense eliminated even the slightest weak spot.
"Thanks!"
"We should wait for Mii as planned…”
"I-I know!”
While they were doing that, they could hear the sound of a watchtower collapsing behind them. Enemy attacks were in full swing.
"Please, Payne… Get it done before that ‘Daybreak’ comes…!”
Since they were dealing with Velvet and Hinata, Dred and Drag couldn’t afford to go help the rest of their team. Dred once again readied his dagger as he hoped that Payne, who was the core of this strategy alongside Maple, was doing well on his end.
As the tower collapsed and they all fell along with it, Chrome protected Mai, Yui, and Iz, taking all of the damage her teammates would have taken thanks to his “Guardian” Skill, before quickly raising his Great Shield and turned to face the enemy.
“Haha! Yeah, you can keep those three behind you, I don’t mind at all!”
Chrome looked up to see a plate-shaped machine that was floating in the air. Lily was sitting on the machine, while Wilbert was standing at the front edge of it, aiming his bow and arrow at the four of them.
"If we do that, we don’t know what those two could do in response.”
"Excuse me. I’ll be taking your lives now."
““Chrome…!””
"Don't worry. I'll do something about it!"
That being said, things weren’t looking so good. Taking their movement speed and distance into account, they probably wouldn’t be able to retreat to the royal castle. The barricade that Iz had set up and Chrome’s Great Shield would be their only defense against Wilbert’s arrows.
"’Rain of Arrows’"
"’Multi Cover’! ‘Light of the Spirits’!"
The first Skill was to protect everyone from the pouring rain of arrows, and the second one was to negate any damage taken for a brief moment.
"Mai, Yui. Listen to me. We can only win this with your attacks. Iz and I will somehow create an opening for you..
After hearing Chrome’s calm tone of voice, the twins nodded slightly and prepared their eight large hammers each.
"Necro! ‘Weight of Death’! ‘Burst Flame’!"
Lily's flying machine skillfully dodged Chrome's flames while Wilbert continued to shoot his arrows even as they moved. Though Chrome was borrowing Necro’s ability to attack from a distance, it was certainly not his specialty.
"…Leave it to me!"
Izu took out an iron wall from her inventory and placed it in front of her, somehow preventing Wilbert’s attack.
"Iz, take care of the defense! We can’t afford to let this fight drag out for too long!”
Every passing second had the risk of a stray arrow knocking out either Mai or Yui, so they had to settle things quickly.
Even though they would be destroyed in a single blow, now that he knew that Iz’s walls could block Wilbert’s arrows, Chrome had no choice but to leave the defense to come forward.
"Fay, ‘Item Enhancement’! Chrome!"
"Yeah!"
Having defended against the first shot, Chrome then managed to endure a direct hit from one of Wilbert’s arrows –which he fired with unparalleled accuracy– and made direct eye contact with Iz.
Seeing that, Iz stomped strongly on the ground, and suddenly a large amount of thick water columns appeared around them.
"Does this mean you're ready to accept your fate…!?"
"Don’t count me out just yet!"
Then Iz crushed the crystal she was holding, and the next moment, a huge ivy Next, when Izu crushed the crystal that she was holding, huge vines that resembled Syrup’s “Thorn Shackles” stretched through the water columns, restricting the flying machine’s movement.
"Now!"
"Go! Get ‘em!"
"”’Weapon Throw’!”"
If Wilbert and Lily wouldn’t be able to avoid two iron balls, how would they fare against sixteen sledgehammers? A deadly iron mass with destructive power that surpassed even Wilbert's arrows flew straight toward the two.
“"’Quick Change’!””
Lily quickly switched equipment with Wilbert, and while feeling certain death approaching in front of her eyes, quickly activated a series of Skills one right after another.
“‘Lifeless Army’ ‘Reproduction’ ‘Puppet Wall’!”
A swarm of soldiers appeared one after another in front of Lily and Wilbert, intertwining with each other to form a huge wall. While this wall was promptly destroyed by the twins’ flying sledgehammers, Lily and Wilbert prepared their posture in the air on the other side and descended.
Though he could have used this chance to attack, Wilbert didn’t want to put the time bought by the wall made by Lily to waste.
"Phew… A mere scratch from those hammers, and we would’ve been done for. You two were already strong enough to defeat a Raid Boss on their own, but you seem to have gotten even stronger. I’ll take care of you. Even with my firepower, I can defeat you all.”
Mai and Yui unequipped their sledgehammers back into their inventories and then re-equipped them, and prepared themselves for the next attack while Iz deployed yet another barricade.
"I don't mind if you take over for Wilbert, you know? You’ll only make things easier for us.”
"We’ll see about that. Let’s go."
When it comes to Lily, who could apply pressure with numbers, Chrome broke a sweat as he saw a large number of soldiers popping up in front of him, thinking that might not be able to protect his friends this time.
But he still had his “Stout Guardian” active. As he readied his Great Shield, resolved to do all that he could, two huge shadows rushed in from both of his sides.
"Haku!"
"Sou!"
““‘Hardening’!””
Two gigantic white snakes broke in, twisting their bodies as if scooping up the field.
"You guys made it in time!”
"Looks like we did.”
Kanade and Kasumi rushed over. After taking care of the other “Rapid Shot” members, who were trying to reach Lily and Wilbert, in order to prevent their reinforcements from arriving for as long as possible, they rushed to help Chrome and the others, and were fortunately able to reach them in time.
"Looks like we’ve got company, huh?”
“Yes. But this may actually be beneficial for us.”
"As long as we can pull it off…”
After saying that, Lily sat down on her “Garbage Chair”, and with a single wave of her banner, a large number of soldiers spawned in front of her. It was an instant turnaround in terms of numerical advantage.
“Let’s keep going. The more of them we draw to us, the easier it’ll be for our allies.”
Their goal was to keep Mai and Yui from resuming their attacks. It wouldn’t be an easy fight by any means, but Lily and Wilbert couldn’t afford to back down.