Chapter 358: Isolation (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 358: Isolation (5)
His height was around 6'3". Somehow, Noark's special ability bender, Lighthouse Keeper, had a build better suited for a warrior than Blood Knight. Looking at him, I smacked my lips.
Whew... this would have been so much easier if I had Leap.
The distance between him and me was about 130 yards. It was a distance that could have been narrowed with just two uses of that skill.
Well, what can I do? It's gone now.
I left my regrets behind. What was the point of missing something that was already gone? If I didn't have a movement skill, I had no choice but to move with my own two feet. That kind of thinking was more aligned with the spirit of a barbarian too.
"Erwen, Emily. You two hold your positions here."
"...What about you, Mister?"
"I'll be back."
"Back? Where—"
Where do you think?
[You have used Wild Outburst.]
Releasing a roar, I ran forward. "Ooowoah!"
It didn't feel the same as yelling for my ancestral god, but it couldn't be helped. I wasn't certain Raven had caught me yet. Just as with Corpse Collector, there was a chance I'd simply exacerbated her earlier misunderstanding.
Dash.
When I ran forward, leaving the formation for the first time after solely playing defense for my comrades throughout this battle, there was an immediate reaction. It started with Blood Knight. He was standing far away so as not to enter the range of Multi Teleportation, but when he saw me coming, he charged at me.
Khak!
Do you really think that's going to work? A sword using fire instead of an aura? I can just block that with a shield.
Dash.
Ignoring Blood Knight, I sprinted forward again. Of course, it was difficult to shake him off with my agility, which left my back exposed.
Slice!
I didn't necessarily have to block the blow with a shield, though. Even if I decided to just take it with my body, the most it would do was cut slightly deeper—it wouldn't lead to a serious injury like a lost limb or anything. It simply hurt a lot because of my low Pain Resistance.
Ugh, it's like he slathered the sword with salt.
I grimaced at the surging pain, but it didn't stop me from moving. If I were the type of person to stop what I was doing because of pain, I wouldn't have gotten this far.
Dash.
Like a salmon swimming up the river, I kicked off the ground again.
As I did, I got some high praise from Blood Knight. "This—what the...?!" I guessed he was impressed by the sight of me continuing to run forward without any consideration for the fact that I had been stabbed in the back. "Stop...!" It was a bit dull compared to the rave reviews I'd received so far, but the shock in his voice was quite satisfying.
Yeah, when would you have ever experienced something like this before? With that aura of yours, you can usually cut down anything, including a tank.
Slice!
The bastard stabbed me again without pause. Of course, it made no difference. Cuts or not, I ran forward like a runaway train. There was nothing he could do to stop me.
Dash.
It was time for him to finally learn. He may not have realized it yet, comfortably resting on his laurels thanks to that aura of his, but...
Slice!
Damagers were helpless creatures in front of tanks.
Whiiip!
Just in time, supporting fire came in from behind me in the form of an arrow shot by Erwen.
Stab.
The arrow sank right into the bastard's arm. He had been dodging so well when they had us on the defensive—did he want to beat me that bad? I wasn't sure about his logic, but he'd made an obvious mistake, and given the way his expression was already contorting, he knew it as well. Getting hit by a single arrow may not have been a big deal, but the follow-up attack was a different story.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has cast Rupture.]
This was the skill that blew Amelia's doppelganger to pieces.
Splat!
When she activated the ability, Blood Knight's arm crumbled into dozens of pieces and dropped to the ground in chunks.
Okay, that gets rid of that annoying mosquito.
Dash.
Leaving behind Blood Knight, who collapsed from the shock of his arm exploding, I continued running. Of course, before long, the next obstacle appeared in my way.
"Wow, he's like an ogre!" It was the dark wizard, Lyranne Vivian, who was watching me without a care from dozens of feet in the air. She cackled and shot magic at me.
[Lyranne Vivian has cast the rank-four black magic spell Corrupting Flame.]
It started with black flames pouring down from the sky like raindrops, but as was the case with most wide-range area-of-effect abilities like this one, the damage itself was bound to be less intense. I kicked off the ground, covering my head with my shield like an umbrella.
Well, it'll do some damage to the shield... but that's nothing new.
Had there ever been a time my shield was left intact after a difficult battle? I could make up for the repair costs with loot.
Dash.
With that in mind, I kicked off the ground once more and sprang forward. Perhaps that made my opponents feel the need to change their strategy.
[Lyranne Vivian has cast the rank-four black magic spell Tombstone of Pain.]
The rain of fire stopped and instead, a pitch-black fog appeared and swept over me.
Judging by the effect, it looks like this is that ability...
If my hypothesis was correct, there was no way to avoid this skill other than withstanding it with Mana Resistance.
In other words... my opponent won't be able to avoid it, either.
The moment the fog clung to my body, I quickly recited the command in my head.
[You have cast Liability of Risk.]
The effect of my newly acquired active skill from Gachabone was simple. While active, the amount of damage you received was doubled, but the amount of damage you could reflect through Probabilistic Retaliation also increased.
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
When used in combination with Transcendence, it had an interesting effect.
Dash.
It was time for him to finally learn. He may not have realized it yet, comfortably resting on his laurels thanks to that aura of his, but...
Slice!
Damagers were helpless creatures in front of tanks.
Whiiip!
Just in time, supporting fire came in from behind me in the form of an arrow shot by Erwen.
Stab.
The arrow sank right into the bastard's arm. He had been dodging so well when they had us on the defensive—did he want to beat me that bad? I wasn't sure about his logic, but he'd made an obvious mistake, and given the way his expression was already contorting, he knew it as well. Getting hit by a single arrow may not have been a big deal, but the follow-up attack was a different story.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has cast Rupture.]
This was the skill that blew Amelia's doppelganger to pieces.
Splat!
When she activated the ability, Blood Knight's arm crumbled into dozens of pieces and dropped to the ground in chunks.
Okay, that gets rid of that annoying mosquito.
Dash.
Leaving behind Blood Knight, who collapsed from the shock of his arm exploding, I continued running. Of course, before long, the next obstacle appeared in my way.
"Wow, he's like an ogre!" It was the dark wizard, Lyranne Vivian, who was watching me without a care from dozens of feet in the air. She cackled and shot magic at me.
[Lyranne Vivian has cast the rank-four black magic spell Corrupting Flame.]
It started with black flames pouring down from the sky like raindrops, but as was the case with most wide-range area-of-effect abilities like this one, the damage itself was bound to be less intense. I kicked off the ground, covering my head with my shield like an umbrella.
Well, it'll do some damage to the shield... but that's nothing new.
Had there ever been a time my shield was left intact after a difficult battle? I could make up for the repair costs with loot.
Dash.
With that in mind, I kicked off the ground once more and sprang forward. Perhaps that made my opponents feel the need to change their strategy.
[Lyranne Vivian has cast the rank-four black magic spell Tombstone of Pain.]
The rain of fire stopped and instead, a pitch-black fog appeared and swept over me.
Judging by the effect, it looks like this is that ability...
If my hypothesis was correct, there was no way to avoid this skill other than withstanding it with Mana Resistance.
In other words... my opponent won't be able to avoid it, either.
The moment the fog clung to my body, I quickly recited the command in my head.
[You have cast Liability of Risk.]
The effect of my newly acquired active skill from Gachabone was simple. While active, the amount of damage you received was doubled, but the amount of damage you could reflect through Probabilistic Retaliation also increased.
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
When used in combination with Transcendence, it had an interesting effect.
[In exchange for the temporary deactivation of Probabilistic Retaliation's Damage Immunity effect, the odds of activation have been set at 100%.]
It was a guaranteed Gacha.
Whooom!
As soon as the skill was activated, the black fog clinging to my skin began to harden. This was the function of the Tombstone of Pain: temporary movement restriction.
Shoop!
While trapped, you couldn't avoid any attacks.
"Waaaaaah!"
Jeez, that hurts like hell.
Crunch!
I let out a shout and held out for about two seconds, and the hardened fog shattered like porcelain a moment later and fell to the ground. The inner surface of each chunk was riddled with sharp, protruding thorns.
Ha, what is this, a medieval torture device? But I suppose I'm glad that I'm the only one getting mangled.
Once the hit was registered, Probabilistic Retaliation was activated.
Drag, slide.
A skeleton rose beside me, its joints cracking. Perhaps it wasn't a critical success this time as there wasn't a fun sound effect.
[Your Ordinary Luck reflects 30% of the damage received back to the enemy.]
It still did 30 percent, not 15 percent. Plus, since I had taken double the damage, I was in effect able to deal four times the usual return fire. Well, even that seemed kind of unfair to me, though.
"U-Uh...?!" Still, my opponent was a squishy, fragile wizard, right? I supposed this could work as payback. "W-What is this?!"
The moment the skeleton reached its hand out into the sky, a pitch-black fog blanketed the witch on the broomstick.
Shoop!
The disturbing shriek echoed all the way down here. "Kyaaaaaa!"
Jeez, what a pair of lungs. Is that why she's called the Wailing Witch?
Dash.
I dragged my body, covered in big and small holes, forward again. Perhaps because it dealt a fixed amount of damage, the wounds weren't twice as deep, even though the damage was doubled. It still hurt like hell, though.
Maybe that's why she's not dead, either.
As soon as the spell was lifted, Vivian plummeted to the ground screaming before getting a grip and using flotation magic to narrowly escape hitting the earth.
Looks like her wounds weren't even that deep...
I had been hoping that even 30 percent damage would end up being a wombo combo on a wizard.
Maybe she managed to reduce the damage to some extent by activating something like a mana shield in the split second before the spell hit?
That was definitely disappointing.
"Arghhh..."
The attack still fulfilled its purpose, though. Seeing as she was busy curling up in pain, she wouldn't have the energy or presence of mind to bombard me with magic for the next short while.
"Gruhhh!"
After I solved the problem of the dark wizard and started quickly closing the distance with the rear of their group, the Corpse Collector used some corpses he pulled out of his sub-space to block my path. There were seven in total. It seemed he whipped out undead specifically designed to stop tanks from handling me because each of them was big enough to make a large monster cry.
[In exchange for the temporary deactivation of Probabilistic Retaliation's Damage Immunity effect, the odds of activation have been set at 100%.]
It was a guaranteed Gacha.
Whooom!
As soon as the skill was activated, the black fog clinging to my skin began to harden. This was the function of the Tombstone of Pain: temporary movement restriction.
Shoop!
While trapped, you couldn't avoid any attacks.
"Waaaaaah!"
Jeez, that hurts like hell.
Crunch!
I let out a shout and held out for about two seconds, and the hardened fog shattered like porcelain a moment later and fell to the ground. The inner surface of each chunk was riddled with sharp, protruding thorns.
Ha, what is this, a medieval torture device? But I suppose I'm glad that I'm the only one getting mangled.
Once the hit was registered, Probabilistic Retaliation was activated.
Drag, slide.
A skeleton rose beside me, its joints cracking. Perhaps it wasn't a critical success this time as there wasn't a fun sound effect.
[Your Ordinary Luck reflects 30% of the damage received back to the enemy.]
It still did 30 percent, not 15 percent. Plus, since I had taken double the damage, I was in effect able to deal four times the usual return fire. Well, even that seemed kind of unfair to me, though.
"U-Uh...?!" Still, my opponent was a squishy, fragile wizard, right? I supposed this could work as payback. "W-What is this?!"
The moment the skeleton reached its hand out into the sky, a pitch-black fog blanketed the witch on the broomstick.
Shoop!
The disturbing shriek echoed all the way down here. "Kyaaaaaa!"
Jeez, what a pair of lungs. Is that why she's called the Wailing Witch?
Dash.
I dragged my body, covered in big and small holes, forward again. Perhaps because it dealt a fixed amount of damage, the wounds weren't twice as deep, even though the damage was doubled. It still hurt like hell, though.
Maybe that's why she's not dead, either.
As soon as the spell was lifted, Vivian plummeted to the ground screaming before getting a grip and using flotation magic to narrowly escape hitting the earth.
Looks like her wounds weren't even that deep...
I had been hoping that even 30 percent damage would end up being a wombo combo on a wizard.
Maybe she managed to reduce the damage to some extent by activating something like a mana shield in the split second before the spell hit?
That was definitely disappointing.
"Arghhh..."
The attack still fulfilled its purpose, though. Seeing as she was busy curling up in pain, she wouldn't have the energy or presence of mind to bombard me with magic for the next short while.
"Gruhhh!"
After I solved the problem of the dark wizard and started quickly closing the distance with the rear of their group, the Corpse Collector used some corpses he pulled out of his sub-space to block my path. There were seven in total. It seemed he whipped out undead specifically designed to stop tanks from handling me because each of them was big enough to make a large monster cry.
If I have to crane my neck this much to look up at them even while using Giantization... then they're maybe about twenty-three feet?
Once again, I thought about how much easier this would have been if I still had Leap, but it wasn't a major issue. I wasn't just any tank. A wall standing in my way? There was no need to go around it.
[You have cast Swing.]
All I had to do was get rid of it.
[The range of all of your attacks is tripled.]
With an elongated hammer, I clobbered the head of the giant zombie standing at twenty-three feet tall. Despite it likely being an undead for tanks, this strike was enough. That was because Swing was based on your Strength stat, and with the Demon Grinder's special effect, the damage it dealt went up 500 percent. Not to mention, it was a downward strike, which meant I got a 50 percent Armor Penetration bonus on top of that.
Kwaaang!
How could a summoned beast stand up to something like that?
Shooot!
With one wallop, the corpse giant was reduced to a pile of rotten meat, blood shooting from it like a large fountain.
Whew, this poison is a bit strong.
[You have been Poisoned (High).]
[Your Poison Tolerance stat is over 100. The Poison's rank has been adjusted to Low.]
The poison sank into my skin and got absorbed. It hurt, but it wasn't enough to make me stop, especially when my target was right in front of me.
I'm almost there now.
I quickly ran through the opening left behind by the fallen corpse giant and stared straight ahead. The distance to the target was about a hundred feet.
What the—? Why is this prick so close?
Did he come all the way over here to summon the corpse giant? Standing about fifteen feet away, I could see Corpse Collector. Even at a glance, he looked very confused, and it would have been rude to just pass him by.
[You have cast Swing.]
[The range of all of your attacks is tripled.]
Without wasting a single second, I brought my hammer down on him. Instead of dodging, he opted to defend, using a skill I hadn't seen in a long time.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Bone Armor.]
It took more than a few hammerings to break it last time. I wondered how it would be this time. And I was soon able to find out.
Crunch!
The shell surrounding the caster's body was stripped away with just one blow of the hammer, exposing the skin underneath.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Momentary Immortality.]
In an instant, the bastard was engulfed in flames and turned to bones. A rank-three essence, this was the highest-grade invincibility skill out there, one that converted your Spirit and Special Ability stats into Physique stats to make you immune to damage for one minute.
Wow, I didn't think you would pull out the invincibility skill after one hit.
Since that had come into play, there was no longer any need for me to waste any strength on him, so I simply grabbed one of his arms and threw him far away.
Dash!
After that, I jumped high as if Leaping, allowing me to get a lay of the land. The stakes my target had planted in the vicinity were shooting out various special abilities like turrets in a war game. The effect of Lighthouse Keeper's core skill, Noble Idol, was as follows: by planting totems on the ground, he could alter the abilities he possessed. For example, single-target buffs and curses could be converted into wide area-of-effect abilities.
If I have to crane my neck this much to look up at them even while using Giantization... then they're maybe about twenty-three feet?
Once again, I thought about how much easier this would have been if I still had Leap, but it wasn't a major issue. I wasn't just any tank. A wall standing in my way? There was no need to go around it.
[You have cast Swing.]
All I had to do was get rid of it.
[The range of all of your attacks is tripled.]
With an elongated hammer, I clobbered the head of the giant zombie standing at twenty-three feet tall. Despite it likely being an undead for tanks, this strike was enough. That was because Swing was based on your Strength stat, and with the Demon Grinder's special effect, the damage it dealt went up 500 percent. Not to mention, it was a downward strike, which meant I got a 50 percent Armor Penetration bonus on top of that.
Kwaaang!
How could a summoned beast stand up to something like that?
Shooot!
With one wallop, the corpse giant was reduced to a pile of rotten meat, blood shooting from it like a large fountain.
Whew, this poison is a bit strong.
[You have been Poisoned (High).]
[Your Poison Tolerance stat is over 100. The Poison's rank has been adjusted to Low.]
The poison sank into my skin and got absorbed. It hurt, but it wasn't enough to make me stop, especially when my target was right in front of me.
I'm almost there now.
I quickly ran through the opening left behind by the fallen corpse giant and stared straight ahead. The distance to the target was about a hundred feet.
What the—? Why is this prick so close?
Did he come all the way over here to summon the corpse giant? Standing about fifteen feet away, I could see Corpse Collector. Even at a glance, he looked very confused, and it would have been rude to just pass him by.
[You have cast Swing.]
[The range of all of your attacks is tripled.]
Without wasting a single second, I brought my hammer down on him. Instead of dodging, he opted to defend, using a skill I hadn't seen in a long time.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Bone Armor.]
It took more than a few hammerings to break it last time. I wondered how it would be this time. And I was soon able to find out.
Crunch!
The shell surrounding the caster's body was stripped away with just one blow of the hammer, exposing the skin underneath.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Momentary Immortality.]
In an instant, the bastard was engulfed in flames and turned to bones. A rank-three essence, this was the highest-grade invincibility skill out there, one that converted your Spirit and Special Ability stats into Physique stats to make you immune to damage for one minute.
Wow, I didn't think you would pull out the invincibility skill after one hit.
Since that had come into play, there was no longer any need for me to waste any strength on him, so I simply grabbed one of his arms and threw him far away.
Dash!
After that, I jumped high as if Leaping, allowing me to get a lay of the land. The stakes my target had planted in the vicinity were shooting out various special abilities like turrets in a war game. The effect of Lighthouse Keeper's core skill, Noble Idol, was as follows: by planting totems on the ground, he could alter the abilities he possessed. For example, single-target buffs and curses could be converted into wide area-of-effect abilities.
I guess he was desperate.
Seeing as the totems were shooting flames and mana bullets, it seemed he had turned off support abilities like Acceleration and Soul Regeneration and quickly switched to attack mode.
"...You monster." Even after watching me come all this way despite the attacks pummeling me from all sides, the enemy didn't run. It must have been more risky for him to go outside the range of his totems. Soon, he shouted in a desperate tone, "Come!"
The hell? No way I'm going inside that.
[You have cast Eye of the Storm.]
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
At this point, I figured I was within range, so I used my grab technique.
Shaaaaaa!
A gust of wind rushed toward me.
"A-Aaagh!" My opponent got caught up in the gust and was sent flying.
You sounded so posh when you were talking earlier, but I guess you scream like that when you're in a tight spot.
Squeeze.
With my shield-covered hand, I grabbed the guy's neck in mid-air. He struggled for a bit but quieted down when I applied more strength, like he should have from the start.
Boom.
Dropping my opponent to the ground and looking down at him, I cut to the chase. "Those rings. I hope they're expensive."
The journey here had been tough.
Smack!
Grabbing my opponent by the neck again, I slammed my forehead into his face. Not only was this a bad angle for bringing down the hammer on him, but now that I was up close, I could see he was also wearing a necklace. If I hit that with the hammer, it'd get crushed.
I was about to headbutt him again when his body went limp. Was he dead, or just unconscious? I was hoping it was the former, so I headbutted him two more times.
Crunch, chomp!
Oh, how disgusting. Anyway, that should take care of him. Now, what should I do?
Now that I'd achieved my first goal, it was time to rethink things.
Since I've beaten Lighthouse Keeper, I think we can beat the rest of them, four against three.
Should I retreat now and use teleportation, or continue fighting and beat the rest of these bastards up? I didn't have too much time to think it through.
Boom, boom!
Even at this moment, the corpse giants were closing in on me.
Yeah, let's dip for now.
I'd been stabbed countless times, struck by magic, and even poisoned on the way here. Things like that could be overcome with willpower, but my MP was holding on by a thread. I'd been maintaining Iron Fortress to face the aura user, and even used Giantization just now. And that wasn't all. I'd been firing off various skills willy-nilly and even linking them with Transcendence. If my MP bottomed out, it'd be hard to stop an aura, which would make it more difficult for me to protect my comrades from Blood Knight.
And it would be a problem if reinforcements showed up on top of that.
After making my decision, I turned back the way I came, still holding my newly-acquired loot by the throat. But what was this?
Why is no one attacking me?
The corpse giants who had been charging at me formed a wall as if to protect something, and no spells came at me, either.
"Necrapeto! What on earth are you doing?! Stop him! It's not like it'll kill you, anyway!"
Judging by the shouting, it seemed their wizard had recovered as well. So what was going on? The answer soon became clear.
"If you want to stop him, do it yourself, Miss Vivian!" a relatively intact undead shouted on behalf of Corpse Collector, who was currently just bones. "Looks like your magic works well enough!"
"What...? Were you not paying attention earlier? My spell was bounced back!"
Now that I was taking a second look, I could see they weren't too eager to touch me after what they each went through. That was fair—they didn't have any information on me, and I was sure they didn't want to get snapped up and have their skulls shattered like Lighthouse Keeper. Thanks to that, the path ahead was clear as I ran, dragging his body along behind me.
"What, you're going to fight me?"
Blood Knight, who had activated one-armed mode, now stood in my way. Then he asked, "Name?"
Huh?
"What is your name?"
That's all you wanted to know?
I had only one thing to say to that. "If you're going to fight me, then fight. If not, get lost. I need to get back and eat..." I paused for a moment and waited for a response. "Cat got your tongue?"
When I started running forward again, Blood Knight moved to the side. "I'll learn it soon enough."
Surprisingly, Blood Knight didn't try to stab me in the back and let me go instead. It seemed he'd learned from the taste of helplessness he got earlier. True, how was he going to stop me when I could just ignore him and keep running even as he drove a blade into me?
I picked up speed in the final spurt and soon arrived at my destination. The magic circle on the ground was glowing like it was ready to go at any moment, but the wizard herself was frozen.
"What are you doing? Let's go."
At my prodding, Raven raised her head and looked at me. For some reason, her eyes seemed to be shaking violently.
What is it?
When I looked around in confusion, I noticed Erwen and Amelia were also wearing similar expressions on their faces.
Jeez, and I even came back with loot. They look like they're staring at a monster.
I guess he was desperate.
Seeing as the totems were shooting flames and mana bullets, it seemed he had turned off support abilities like Acceleration and Soul Regeneration and quickly switched to attack mode.
"...You monster." Even after watching me come all this way despite the attacks pummeling me from all sides, the enemy didn't run. It must have been more risky for him to go outside the range of his totems. Soon, he shouted in a desperate tone, "Come!"
The hell? No way I'm going inside that.
[You have cast Eye of the Storm.]
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
At this point, I figured I was within range, so I used my grab technique.
Shaaaaaa!
A gust of wind rushed toward me.
"A-Aaagh!" My opponent got caught up in the gust and was sent flying.
You sounded so posh when you were talking earlier, but I guess you scream like that when you're in a tight spot.
Squeeze.
With my shield-covered hand, I grabbed the guy's neck in mid-air. He struggled for a bit but quieted down when I applied more strength, like he should have from the start.
Boom.
Dropping my opponent to the ground and looking down at him, I cut to the chase. "Those rings. I hope they're expensive."
The journey here had been tough.
Smack!
Grabbing my opponent by the neck again, I slammed my forehead into his face. Not only was this a bad angle for bringing down the hammer on him, but now that I was up close, I could see he was also wearing a necklace. If I hit that with the hammer, it'd get crushed.
I was about to headbutt him again when his body went limp. Was he dead, or just unconscious? I was hoping it was the former, so I headbutted him two more times.
Crunch, chomp!
Oh, how disgusting. Anyway, that should take care of him. Now, what should I do?
Now that I'd achieved my first goal, it was time to rethink things.
Since I've beaten Lighthouse Keeper, I think we can beat the rest of them, four against three.
Should I retreat now and use teleportation, or continue fighting and beat the rest of these bastards up? I didn't have too much time to think it through.
Boom, boom!
Even at this moment, the corpse giants were closing in on me.
Yeah, let's dip for now.
I'd been stabbed countless times, struck by magic, and even poisoned on the way here. Things like that could be overcome with willpower, but my MP was holding on by a thread. I'd been maintaining Iron Fortress to face the aura user, and even used Giantization just now. And that wasn't all. I'd been firing off various skills willy-nilly and even linking them with Transcendence. If my MP bottomed out, it'd be hard to stop an aura, which would make it more difficult for me to protect my comrades from Blood Knight.
And it would be a problem if reinforcements showed up on top of that.
After making my decision, I turned back the way I came, still holding my newly-acquired loot by the throat. But what was this?
Why is no one attacking me?
The corpse giants who had been charging at me formed a wall as if to protect something, and no spells came at me, either.
"Necrapeto! What on earth are you doing?! Stop him! It's not like it'll kill you, anyway!"
Judging by the shouting, it seemed their wizard had recovered as well. So what was going on? The answer soon became clear.
"If you want to stop him, do it yourself, Miss Vivian!" a relatively intact undead shouted on behalf of Corpse Collector, who was currently just bones. "Looks like your magic works well enough!"
"What...? Were you not paying attention earlier? My spell was bounced back!"
Now that I was taking a second look, I could see they weren't too eager to touch me after what they each went through. That was fair—they didn't have any information on me, and I was sure they didn't want to get snapped up and have their skulls shattered like Lighthouse Keeper. Thanks to that, the path ahead was clear as I ran, dragging his body along behind me.
"What, you're going to fight me?"
Blood Knight, who had activated one-armed mode, now stood in my way. Then he asked, "Name?"
Huh?
"What is your name?"
That's all you wanted to know?
I had only one thing to say to that. "If you're going to fight me, then fight. If not, get lost. I need to get back and eat..." I paused for a moment and waited for a response. "Cat got your tongue?"
When I started running forward again, Blood Knight moved to the side. "I'll learn it soon enough."
Surprisingly, Blood Knight didn't try to stab me in the back and let me go instead. It seemed he'd learned from the taste of helplessness he got earlier. True, how was he going to stop me when I could just ignore him and keep running even as he drove a blade into me?
I picked up speed in the final spurt and soon arrived at my destination. The magic circle on the ground was glowing like it was ready to go at any moment, but the wizard herself was frozen.
"What are you doing? Let's go."
At my prodding, Raven raised her head and looked at me. For some reason, her eyes seemed to be shaking violently.
What is it?
When I looked around in confusion, I noticed Erwen and Amelia were also wearing similar expressions on their faces.
Jeez, and I even came back with loot. They look like they're staring at a monster.