Chapter 32 – The power of the Black Flame Sword
The four masses of black flames dancing around Kalos shot out towards the four of us.
“[Dark Blaze]…..a Skill with a minor homing effect!”
I shouted while dashing away.
One of the four shots that targeted me was following after me.
I managed to avoid getting hit by it by hiding behind one of the boulders scattered around.
That was the standard practice for slow moving Classes to avoid homing Skills.
Luce and Celt were able to simply outrun theirs thanks to their own speed.
“Ugh….!”
Mabel was running as fast as she could, but it didn’t seem like she would succeed.
Priest type Classes also have problems with their movement speed.
She won’t be able to reach my cover from that position in time either.
“[Fleeing Hare]……!”
Celt quickly sprinted towards Mabel and covered her with an embrace.
“[Shadow Sink]!”
The two of them sunk into their shadow.
After losing its target, the [Dark Blaze] projectile impacted the ground with an explosive blaze.
They managed to neatly avoid it, but [Shadow Sink] does not actually nullify the attack.
If the projectile fell at the wrong place just now, both of them could’ve died.
“Hoh….you have a good Party. I thought I would at least get two of you with this attack. Your movements are on point and above all, I can see that you trust each other.”
Kalos chattered in a thoroughly unconcerned manner.
Among the possibilities I imagined….Dark Flame Sword being the traitor was clearly the worst case scenario.
Even among the A rank adventurers, Kalos was one who could claim the title of Hero.
He’s not someone we can take on a straight fight right now.
Due to our Level difference, we will be unlikely to manage to hit him, and even if we do, we won’t be able to deal proper damage anyway.
In contrast, we will be hard pressed to avoid or defend against his attacks, and if he gets a clean hit on us, it will be our end.
In this world, the concept of theory crafting Builds does not exist, so we won’t know what he’ll be sending our way.
I also can’t ignore the fact that he was able to reach the realm of A rank adventurers solely on his own power even in a world where you have only one life to spend.
It’s significantly different from the game world, where you could always try again no matter how many times you died.
Kalos being the traitor was the worst case scenario I theorized.
However, I wasn’t able to share this suspicion of mine.
I couldn’t be sure of this right until the end.
He’s known by everyone in the City of Adventurers as a Hero, and one of the hopes of humanity.
I couldn’t just accuse a person like that of being a terrible criminal that aims to shake the foundations of the entire territory.
If I could, then I would’ve been able to request more forces from the Marquis and share my theories about his Build and his fighting style with my Party.
“Let’s see. I wonder who I should start with.”
Kalos relaxed his stance on top of the large boulder.
Just as I thought that, he disappeared upwards.
His physical abilities are really monstrous.
“Where did he…..!”
Celt was whipping his head back and forth, desperately looking for Kalos.
Apparently Luce thought that getting separated would be bad, so she raced to my side.
A glint of blade could be seen above her.
“Luce, above!”
After my shout, Luce’s form immediately split into three.
Realizing that she was the target, she used her [Doppel Illusion] as a distraction.
Immediately, one of Luce’s clones was erased by the landing Kalos.
His next slash dispersed the second clone of Luce as well.
“Oh hoh, I was confident in my luck, but….it seems I missed two out of three. Though not that it matters.”
Kalos said while turning to Luce with a smile.
At the same time, he raised his sword for a large hit.
I dashed forward towards Kalos and placed myself between him and Luce.
“Better brace that shield well, Elma.”
He let that large swing fly towards my shield.
I used my [Magic Guard] Skill to imbue my shield with my mana to strengthen it.
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〈Magic Guard〉【Normal Skill】
By covering your shield with mana when attacked, you can raise its Defense.
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However, even with that, my shield was not up to the task, the hit sending me sliding back despite me blocking it.
“Guh…!”
“Elma-san!”
Luce called out my name.
“In this situation, you are more in danger than Elma, Luce.”
Kalos pointed his sword at Luce.
She is not fast enough to dodge one of Kalos’s attacks.
“Whoa there….?”
That’s when Kalos’s movements were disrupted.
The reason was my [Shadow Stomp].
Before I was pushed back, I stepped on Kalos’s shadow.
I could not lock him down due to the gap between our stats, but I managed to at least hobble him with the help of the attack he pushed me back with.
“[Dragon Killer Thrust]!”
Luce lowered her stance and launched an attack, aiming for a critical point of Kalos.
Yet, Kalos just effortlessly flicked it away with his sword.
“Dragon Killer type Skills have too big of a wind up. You shouldn’t expect a straightforward hit like that to land against a more skilled opponent….even if you manage to inhibit their movements a bit. Did Elma not teach you that?”
It seems Kalos still doesn’t view this fight as a real fight.
I think Kalos only views this as some side entertainment before moving on to finish his real goal.
However, thanks to that, I had enough time to activate the Skills I wanted.
“[Life Shield]!”
My life force manifested and covered my body with a radiant defensive membrane.
It’s a Skill that provides a barrier with the same durability as the 20% HP you sacrifice for its activation.
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【Elma Edvan】
Class: Heavy Knight
Lv: 75
HP: 49/265
MP: 74/110
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And with this, I was finally ready for battle.
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〈Half-Dead Savage Dragon〉【Special Skill】
When the user’s HP is less than 20%, Attack and Agility is increased by 100%.
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From deep inside me, a red light burst forth, covering my entire body.
I intentionally only used a small amount of MP for my [Magic Guard] Skill.
The MP I saved with that is good to have as well, but the real reason for that was that I needed to get my HP below the threshold where I only needed to activate [Life Shield] for me to be able to trigger [Half-Dead Savage Dragon].
“Elma-san….using that Skill here….!”
Seeing the red light covering my body, Luce said in a hushed tone.
I generally don’t use [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] before I can guarantee my win.
That’s because it’s simply too risky to do otherwise.
We indeed do not yet know what Kalos is capable of.
Activating [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] at this point is nothing more than a gamble, but to hold out here I had no other choice.
Kalos is most certainly the most difficult enemy I’ve faced so far.
If we’d tried to fight normally, Luce, Mabel, Celt, every single one of us would’ve been killed one after the other in a matter of minutes.
To avoid any casualties, I had no choice but to activate [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] – therefore raising my stats by a significant amount – and try to make Kalos waste his resources.
I have [Smouldering Fang of Madness] and Luce has her [Reaper Assassin] Skill Tree.
If only we manage to hit, we should be able to deal heavy damage to even a higher ranking adventurer opponent.
Even if he’s a high ranking adventurer, I would find it hard to believe that he would know about these kinds of Skill Trees…..
“That’s a surprise….I had some suspicions, but…..you really are making active use of [Smoldering Fang of Madness]. You really are interesting.”
Kalos sounded impressed.
I only gritted my teeth.
This man…. He’s just too enigmatic.
It’s likely that my information got to him through Hilde, and judging from his words he’s aware of the real value of [Smouldering Fang of Madness].
I thought he was someone unaware of the deeper truths of this world, that he was the type that climbed up to his current level through his talent and wits alone, but it seems not to be the case.
As an adventurer that was active all over the kingdom, he’s much more knowledgeable than an average noble.
Maybe not compared to the Howlod Family, but he’s perhaps more aware of the truths of this world than the Edvan Family.
After firmly stepping on Kalos’s shadow with [Shadow Stomp], I charged towards him with as much force as I could.
Hmm, is Kalos a player as well? Would explain his lack of motivation, only wanting to have good fights. Perhaps he was a PVP player and views the world as a game.