Chapter 18

I’ll Handle its Attacks

「It’s within your range! Start firing!」

「O-Okay!」

Though trembling from fear, they started their barrage of attacks at the monster. Spells and arrows pierced the Sea Dragon one by one. With their weapons firepower, the monster’s strength was whittling down slowly but surely. It looked like my initial estimate of five minutes was right.

「It’s getting within range of the mast as well.」I said as I readied my sword.

The next instant, sharp arms lunged at me – no, at the mast behind me. Its Spear Arms were powerful and sharp; if I get hit even a bit, they would certainly cut me into pieces. I readied my sword to hold them off.

Even with a critical hit, I wouldn’t be able to deal much damage to the Sea Dragon with the sword that I had. But I still managed to deflect its arms.

Critical Counter.

It’s a difficult skill to pull off. On top of fulfilling the conditions to bring out a normal critical hit, one must also time the counter perfectly with the enemy’s attack. But in exchange, what you get is a defensive counter that’s about ten times more power than a critical hit. Which is why powerful attacks that would normally be impossible to guard against, you can render ineffective.

「Whoops.」

Its second arm shot forward and once again, I deflected it with a critical counter. I could feel my hands going numb from the sheer power.

It was so powerful in fact, that if I blocked it without a critical counter, it would most likely break my arms and send my sword flying. I can’t make even one mistake.

It goes without saying, but normally, it was impossible for even high-level players in BBO to reliably produce a critical counter. However, the current situation was anything but normal which made it easier to land critical counters. The Sea Dragon didn’t change its target; it was fixated on destroying the mast. To top it off, its attacks were always in a straight line; predicting their trajectory was effortless.

「Wow…」

「He’s repelling all the Sea Dragon’s attacks with his sword! Who on earth is that adventurer?」

「I haven’t seen him before and I know the faces of all the high-ranked adventurers around.」

I seem to be drawing attention. It was dangerous out here. I’d rather those who can’t fight stay inside the cabin. The Sea Dragon’s attacks were all focused on the mast, but there was no telling if it will suddenly stray from its target. Plus…

「Don’t think I can block all its attacks! As long as it doesn’t destroy the mast, then we win.」

Then I dodged one attack. Its arm shot straight past my side and hit the mast. The Sea Dragon had two arms. The timing and angle may sometimes make it difficult to produce a critical counter. Still, if I swung my sword, there’s an eighty percent chance I’ll be able to bring one out, but I didn’t want to take my chances on the twenty percent. If I fail even once, we will lose.

Therefore in the cases where I’m not certain I could counter an attack, I dodged them instead. We just have to take down the Sea Dragon before it destroys the mast. As for the repairs, I’ll just have to ask Myna to handle it.

「Good thing the mast is thick.」

I had the option to evade attacks as well so I didn’t have to deal with those that were difficult to counter. The enemy wasn’t aiming at me either, so it was much easier to dodge.

「Don’t let up! Just keep firing at it! It’s working. Aim for its eyes if you can!」

The Sea Dragon didn’t utilize its agility. It stayed fixed in one spot so it could continue its barrage of attacks. It would be hard to miss it. The Sea Dragon was losing strength and its attacks were gradually getting weaker as well. And finally…

「It’s gone weak now!」

At long last, the Sea Dragon couldn’t maintain its balance from the continuous damage it had taken. It shouldn’t be able to keep on attacking the mast now. I can leave the rest to the long-range offensive team, I thought, and gave out orders.

「Those who can’t fight, stay inside the ship! Unlike before, you could get hit if it strays off target. Long-range team, group up and stay in one spot so I can protect you!」

Upon hearing my words, the people on deck moved inside the ship. The wizards and archers stayed near me. They were quick in doing so, because they knew this was a matter of life and death.

「Haa!」

「Eek!」

As soon as we got in formation, an arm lunged at a wizard. He shrieked in terror. Quickly, I deflected it with my sword.

「Th-Thank you.」

「I’m just doing my part. Don’t worry and just keep firing at it.」

All the while, they kept on the offensive, steadily whittling down what’s left of the Sea Dragon’s strength. There were plenty of arrow supplies around, and an abundance of expensive mana-replenishing potions were provided by Myna. Then…

「It’s over.」

Precisely five minutes have passed since the start of the battle. Finally the Sea Dragon was now motionless.