NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
[Named Enemy (Level 2)]
[Level 40 Lion Balgard]
[HP 14,049,600/20,000,000]
Grrr!
Balgard’s HP has reached the point where the next saw blade will appear.
Chris’s eyes sharpened as she surveyed the battlefield. She needed to quickly assess the position of the saw blades to ensure that Rain wouldn’t struggle.
Just one saw blade piercing through the center of the battlefield would be enough to maintain Balgard’s bleed stack. The remaining saw blades could be dribbled by the ranged damage dealers.
Of course, if two or three additional blades could hit Balgard, it would decrease his HP even faster, but with the current three-person firepower after finishing castle farming, just one saw blade should be sufficient to avoid seeing the enraged patterns.
Two blades would start making it very difficult for the tank. With three, wounds would begin to accumulate on the tank’s body. At that point, it would become unbearable. Even an experienced fighter could only manage combat against two saw blades.
Kiiaa!
Chris secured recognition of an additional saw blade that appeared and fixed her gaze towards the center of the battlefield.
But soon, her eyes began to glaze over.
“Wow.”
While partnering with Rain, Chris found it incredibly hard to focus on the gimmick.
Rain’s fighting posture was like a painting.
Rain dodged the saw blade that came close with a slight twist of her body. At that distance, one would expect to get grazed, yet Rain maintained a perfect gap with the saw, receiving no damage at all.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Simultaneously, Balgard’s triple spin attack came flying in, and Rain lightly raised her sword to block it. Soon, Rain’s body wavering, leaving a blur, appeared behind Balgard, starting to slash at him.
Beautiful starlight sparkled around Rain. The gothic-style dress she wore fluttered gracefully.
It seemed that if it were a real outfit, it would be cumbersome in battle, but in-game clothing does not hinder the user’s movements due to the system. That attire merely accentuated Rain’s beauty.
Chris’s gaze wandered aimlessly after the white hair of the silver fox named Rain.
At that moment, Chris was far more interested in the scraps than the noble sentiments.
She was busy capturing screenshots of Rain’s seemingly noble battle appearance.
Huff, huff.
When Chris was puffing while taking screenshots of Rain, a panicked shout from Bae Merong reached her ears.
“Sis! One more saw blade, over there!”
“Eh!”
The moment Chris snapped back to reality and looked at the saw, something flew toward her before her charm could catch it.
Clang!
It was the “Unarmed Fighting Technique” used by the inspector to avoid recognition of monsters from far away.
Kiiaa!
Soon the saw recognized Rain and zoomed towards the center of the Named Enemy combat area.
“S-sorry! Rain, are you okay?”
Rain slightly turned her head towards Chris, sending a small smile as if to reassure her.
“Okay, yes! I’ll trust only our Rain!”
Chris could see a look of pride in Rain’s eyes.
It felt like watching a child exclaiming, “I can do this too!”
Rain, who was trusted by Chris, looked genuinely pleased.
Clang!
“Ah!”
Bae Merong, who was approaching the next saw, also blurted out in surprise. Rain’s unarmed technique had snatched the recognition of the saw before Bae Merong could reach it.
Clang, clang, clang!
One, two, three, four, five saws.
Rain took recognition of each saw as they appeared.
As Balgard’s HP rapidly decreased, the number of newly appearing saws began to increase over the ones that were already worn out.
Bae Merong and Chris found themselves rooted to the spot, unable to attack Balgard.
Now, all the saws were aimed at Rain. But none could land even a scratch; they only ripped into Balgard’s body. Rain’s movements were elegant as she gracefully evaded every saw blade.
When the trajectories of two saws crossed roughly halfway, tap! Rain’s form faded momentarily before appearing right back in place.
Chris’s head was busy analyzing Rain’s movements.
It was a first-time experience. A technique that allows the inspector to become invincible while standing in place? Had she heard of such a skill before? Does something like that even exist?
Had she used a back evasion followed by a close attack in almost no time? A skill combo that gains invincibility without moving from the spot?
Whack!
When saw blades were overlapping at angles that were utterly impossible to avoid, Rain used the “One Flash” skill to slip through the narrow gap between the blades.
Chris and Bae Merong stood with their mouths agape at Rain’s absurd movements.
“Oh my.”
“If I showed this to Deadly Death, he might quit the game.”
Grrr!
Balgard, having been overwhelmed by countless saws, let out one final roar before collapsing onto the ground.
It was much faster than when Chris’s party gathered to take him down.
“I didn’t know we could take down a Named Enemy this quickly.”
“Do you think others can do something like this? It’s only because of Rain that this is possible. Even that Deadly Death couldn’t pull something like this off, right?”
Rain sheathed her sword while taking a deep breath. Chris felt a sort of awe towards her. The very flow of battle felt centered around Rain.
Shuff shuff.
As Chris watched Rain gracefully approach, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her short legs bouncing towards her.
Compared to the splendid and beautiful battling warrior, such a dainty gesture could only be described as cute.
“Great job, Rain! I’m sorry for losing track of the saws. That must have been tough, right?”
Shake shake.
Rain shook her head lightly. It was a sign of ‘it’s okay’. Chris beamed a big smile.
“From the middle onward, you were blatantly taking recognition first. You must have been feeling secure. It was definitely gameplay worthy of confidence.”
Bae Merong also came over to compliment Rain. Rain’s presence seemed to jump with joy. It was evident that she looked quite pleased.
Chris smiled as she adjusted the frills of Rain’s gothic dress.
“So, what do you think? Do you like the outfit?”
“Yes. It’s pretty.”
At first, she had looked a little uncomfortable wearing it, but now she seemed perfectly accustomed. Rain would occasionally turn around to glance at her dress with a smile.
Lately, Rain seemed like a cat that had never been touched by human hands was slowly starting to open up.
As Chris and Bae Merong clung to Rain, a slightly disgruntled voice came from the handrail of the staircase leading up.
“Hey, bus drivers? I think we’re done here; can we head back up now?”
“Ah! Customer! I’m so sorry!”
Bae Merong hurriedly rushed towards the bus customer.
Chris and Rain watched and started laughing.
[Named Enemy (Level 3)]
[Level 40 Demon Commander Aspero]
[HP 874,360/6,000,000]
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the magic orbs exploded continuously, Chris and Bae Merong quickly moved their bodies, recalling the orb generation patterns.
In the meantime, Aspero’s ominous onslaught focused on Rain. Bae Merong remained tense, always ready to deploy the Ice Prison at a moment’s notice.
For level 3 named enemies, the role of the ranged dealers is to prepare party protections and unleash high damage. As long as they remember the basic positions of the magic orb generation, they won’t need to be overly anxious about dodging.
However, one pattern where Aspero’s chimera arms extend to attack even ranged dealers is quite threatening. But during this raid with Rain, they didn’t need to worry about that.
Boom!
As Aspero’s chimera arm stretched out, it struck the wall behind Rain. Ducking her head, Rain’s sword moved momentarily in a dizzying way.
Bash! Bam! As Aspero’s arm was shredded along the trajectory of her sword, it quickly regenerated, forcing Aspero back to his usual close combat.
“That pattern can destroy body parts.”
“That was the most threatening. We had to keep an eye on both the orbs and the chimera arm attack range.”
“From the initial pattern of the arm extending, it seems it’s been luring the dealers the opposite way? I can’t believe Aspero’s fight is this easy.”
Thanks to that, Chris and Bae Merong, feeling relaxed, continued to converse lightly as the battle progressed.
As the fight progressed smoothly, they swiftly reached Aspero’s desperation pattern.
Graaah!
Thud.
Whooooom.
With Aspero’s foretold movements, purple orbs began to fill the combat area.
0% desperation pattern, the start of a series of six area-wide explosions.
The three bus drivers activated their invulnerability in the predetermined order.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the third explosion, Bae Merong used her party protection, Ice Prison, to secure the cooldown for their invulnerability.
The fourth and fifth explosions followed. All three used their revived invulnerability skills to avoid damage.
Whooooom.
And then came the forewarning of the sixth explosion. At the same time, Chris shouted.
“Be prepared for the shock! Since there’s only one party protection for the three of us, we have to take this first hit!”
Chris and Bae Merong positioned themselves among the orbs that had appeared. As long as they didn’t get hit directly, they could absorb the first hit with their bodies.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the last explosion erupted, Chris and Bae Merong were swept away by the impact.
Gah!
Barely surviving the explosion, Chris immediately gulped down a potion. Still reeling from the blast, she glanced at the center of the combat area, her eyes frantically searching for Rain.
“Rain, are you okay!? Still alive?”
Stomp stomp.
The Rain she had been anxiously searching for emerged from the dust, walking out without a scratch. Chris’s expression brightened upon confirming her safety.
“Rain!”
“Could it be that you used the new skill’s invulnerability to pass through?”
At Bae Merong’s question, Rain nodded.
The short-lived invulnerability that Deadly Death succeeded in achieving just once during the first raid.
Rain seemed to be using that ability as casually as breathing.
Chris couldn’t help but be in awe.
“What the…”
Chris’s party successfully completed their bus run today. Despite the high price of these early open buses, thanks to the reputation of Chris’s attack team, customers kept coming in.
“Thank you for today’s hard work.”
Chris beamed at the bowing Rain.
“I’ll see you tomorrow! Rain, thanks for your hard work!”
Rain smiled softly and waved her hand. Her figure soon disappeared from Chris’s view.
Rain’s expressions were gradually becoming more pronounced. Their relationship was also flowing in a good direction.
However, today Chris noticed a difference in Rain’s face, one she had never seen before.
Unease.
Because she had long been gazing at Rain’s figure, she could detect a subtle dissonance.
She wasn’t quite sure what was different, but it was definitely not the same as usual.
Chris muttered softly to herself.
“It’s weighing on my mind.”