The Back Alleys' People (4)

Even if you rub your eyes, it's still written that way.

Before the main story begins, is this not part of the Arlong's Nest episode?

And the stage name is Gadam Hangseol Street.

I don't know what the kanji means, but it looks different from the kanji I know.

'It's supposed to be "Damja" and "Seolja", but this one has "Dam" for fog... I don't get it.'

Since there's a sword dao, it must be about cutting, stabbing, and severing.

No matter what, it's easy to tell it's Jack the Ripper's territory.

'Oh?'

A pleasant surprise.

For a while, there was nothing but the agent list, so it was quite inconvenient, but now I could intuitively understand the current situation.

When I looked into the void, the familiar interface appeared.

A map with a simplified 2D graphic of the alleyways.

At the bottom, the agents, the cost increasing by 1 per second, and the enemies gathered far away.

They hadn't moved yet, but it was obvious they would soon head towards the defense point.

'The defense point I need to protect... is the 'hostage'?'

The number of enemies is 85.

It was like the start of the stage, as we began to move, they started approaching the hostage's direction at a slow pace.

Only then did the shape moving beyond the hazy alleyways in the distance seem visible.

'Their form is a military formation. That's fortunate, at least.'

Each entity has low health and attack power, but they push with numbers.

Blocking the passage with area-of-effect skills and [Guard] agents is an effective tactic.

Since there's no [Guard] among them, I have to wipe out the entire military formation with the area-of-effect skill.

Besides [Legion], there are [Slasher] following the original form and [Specter] in the shape of a demon, but the current difficulty is the easiest form to deal with.

'Slasher and Specter are beyond what I can handle. If I block the passage, the military type would be the best.'

"Kane, here..."

"Yeah. It doesn't seem like the back alleys. It seems like some kind of barrier magic..."

It couldn't be explained.

From [Urban Legend] to [Jack the Ripper], the enemies on the interface were slowly moving towards us.

"Kyaaaaak!"

A sharp scream was heard, and Edith's head turned that way.

"Kane! That sound!"

"Let's go towards the direction where the scream is coming from."

"...Yeah!"

The source of the scream was in the direction of the hostage.

Since the Jack the Ripper army was starting to move faster, I needed to think of a way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stop them.

Types with multiple enemies, area damage, continuous damage, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠special effects.

For area continuous skills held by [Magic] series agents, it requires a lot of mana.

So, to compose it, add mana recovery traits to assist them.

'Trait copy. Born from Flames. Skill copy. Ashes of the Earth.'

Small embers rose from my body, and mana slowly began to rise.

My feet didn't stop, and upon arriving in front of the hostage, I saw a Jack the Ripper entity trying to swing its knife.

"Hand, don't drop it!"

Edith rushed over and kicked the weapon away with a kick.

Then, she punched the hostage to increase the distance between the hostage and the Jack the Ripper.

"Kane, these guys, are they...?"

"Eh, they don't seem human?"

I calmly handed the weapon dropped by the [Jack the Ripper] to Edith.

Edith received the dagger and calmly took a deep breath.

"Huff, are you here to save us?"

"Sis. I'm scared..."

"Yeah. Don't worry. If you stay here quietly, I'll save you."

Two kids who looked like they were under 10 years old.

After calming the frightened children, looking at the interface, the guys who had reached close by were visible.

Even with the naked eye, the distance was visible, and there were dozens of movements staggering beyond the fog.

Wearing black coats and black masks, each holding different daggers.

The blade length is about 20cm, good for inducing chaos in narrow alleys, but advantageous for the opponent too.

"Edith. Can you stall for time?"

"Is there a way?"

"Just hold out for 20 seconds."

When I showed the embers flying from my body, Edith understood.

It meant she intuitively realized that it would take time until the mana filled up.

"Really, asking for an unreasonable favor."

"Can't you?"

"Of course."

Edith loosened her body and looked at the approaching military formation with a confident expression.

'Just hold out until Robert comes.'

Since Robert, the knight, wouldn't miss that we disappeared, there must be some way.

"Just hold out for 20 seconds."

Really, making an extremely dangerous request without hesitation.

But I had no choice.

The technique with flickering flames, I don't know where I learned it, but it must be a technique that requires warming up.

Since I rested, the movements were light.

Lightly stepping with light steps, then landing, the foot slid across the slippery floor.

Tadak-

With a light footstep, the foot hit the wall.

Charging from the wall, swinging the leg.

The attack reached before the front Jack the Ripper could extend its blade.

In a battlefield where killing intent was felt, the senses were sharp.

I vaguely knew that even if the attack hit the head, I wouldn't die from it.

'Compared to Uncle Robert...'

Weak and slow.

And extremely so.

If it were Uncle Robert, he wouldn't have allowed this attack.

Then, countless blades aimed at the nape and vital points, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠activated scales blocked the blades.

"Shallow!"

The blood was boiling hot, and mana seemed to fill up.

With that mana, I made scales again and took a defensive posture.

'There are many, but it's doable.'

Kagak!

The scales blocked the blade and before it broke, I extended my fist.

'Fast and concise.'

Kwang!

One punch to the abdomen.

With a burst sound, one Jack the Ripper scattered like dust.

Even as it scattered like dust, the dagger was thrusting out.

I blocked with the dagger's blade, but then the next two or three daggers twisted my body to barely avoid.

The number of enemies was too many.

One falls, then two come after.

'Need to push them back.'

I kicked the belly of the guy running at the front, and tripped the leg of the following guy, and the narrow alley pushed them back in a rush.

I stabbed daggers into the backs of the guys trying to jump over me, broke the daggers with scaled fists, blocked, and blocked again.

"Hup!"

Even though more than ten had fallen, several times that number entered the alley.

'Health is still comfortable.'

Huff.

I breathed lightly and clenched my fist.

20 seconds, hold out that time so Kane can't come.

Even if the defense is pierced and the blade is thrust in, even if blood droplets get on the enemy's knife.

'11...12...!'

All the techniques I learned from Uncle Robert burst out, blocking the enemies.

'56, 57, 58...'

While watching Edith's struggle, I continued breathing until the interface's gauge filled up.

Embers flew with the in-breath and out-breath, and mana rose quickly.

'It's done.'

My body was like a ball of fire, emitting heat with every breath.

Yet, there was no pain.

The promised 20 seconds, the time for mana to fill up.

Now, I could intuitively feel that I could use the skill.

"Edith!"

At the same time as the words, Edith retreated from the alleyway.

Her body was full of wounds here and there.

And from inside the alleyway, countless Jack the Ripper were pushing their bodies and entering.

Just the visible ones were over forty.

"Ashes of the Earth."

Slowly, embers fell and touched the ground.

The ground cracked with a crack, spewing hot heat.

Within it, as the ashes burned, the Jack the Ripper were swallowed by the flames.

Without stopping, they ran, but already countless embers of ashes were floating in the air.

And the alleyway

Was swallowed by the flames.