Chapter 204

―――At around one o'clock in the afternoon of the 33rd day of the winter month.

Yuri's figure was in a grassy field in the middle of the mountainous area where the “Shinto City” is located.

There was no sign of demons in the surrounding area. That's because the children of the Yuri Empire have already carried out a perfect extermination program in this area.

In spite of this―――today Yuri was wearing a variety of trinkets and accessories for actual warfare, in addition to the『 Dress of Sinners 』that she usually wears, to the limit of her equipment.

If those who know the true value of each piece of equipment saw Yuri's current appearance, they would wonder where she is going to face the mighty raid bosses.

―――That's the extent of her equipment. Needless to say, the majority of this equipment is extremely rare items, and if they were to be sold on the market, they would fetch eye-popping prices.

However, the man standing right in front of Yuri seems to have nothing in particular on his mind.

He's also a resident of the『 Atros Online 』, so he should have mastered <Appraisal> skills. The reason he doesn't check the performance of Yuri's equipment is probably because he underestimates her from the start.

Whether he judged Yuri to be weak because she was a woman, or because she still had a child-like appearance, Yuri did not know. Even Yuri doesn't know that.

In any case―――the fact that the person with whom we are going to have a duel is underestimating us from the start. From Yuri's point of view, it was a definite advantage.

“I'm <Summoner> class. ―――If you want, I can fight you without using any of my summoning skills.”

Yuri said, half-agitated.

The man replied uncomfortably, his expression understandably contorted.

“Are you kidding me? I'll wait for you, so you can summon before the start of the game as much as you want. That's the kind of handicap you have to give to children.”

―――It seems that the man is underestimating Yuri as a ‘child’.

Well, that's true. If you think about it, there's no way he would underestimate a woman.

After all, this man―――Susano'os older sister is Amaterasu, the Great Goddess of Amaterasu.

He knew her well enough to know that she was strong enough to preside over Takamagahara, so there was no way that he would be caught up in such trivial ideas as male chauvinism.

“My, you don't mind? You're so kind. Well, I guess I'll take your word for it.”

She smiled as she said this.

It is not a lie that Yuri's class is a <Summoner>.

But―――Yuri's occupation is <Etherlinker>, the top-ranking of the <Summoner> lineage. She can fight using [Bond] without having to do ‘summoning,’ and if anything, that's what Yuri is good at.

Nevertheless―――

If that's what they want, I'm willing to meet their expectations.

“Summon as many of your most powerful pieces as you like.”

“…… My my.”

Yuri couldn't help but laugh at the man's additional words.

I was thinking of summoning Lindwirm, the Ice Dragon, just as I did when I invaded the Volmisian Empire. It seems that Susanoo wants to have Yuri's ‘strongest pawn’. ―――If that's the case, then I should be able to fulfill his wish as well.

The <Summoner> class does not rely on other players, subordinate NPCs, or their own summoned ‘beasts,’ and can turn any monster into its own ‘beast’ as long as it can be defeated solo.

Therefore, even ‘raid boss’ monsters such as the High Dragon Radragulph and the Ice Dragon Lindworm can be made into ‘Beast’ without any problems. Of course, this is only possible if you are capable of defeating raid bosses that were originally designed to be tackled by 24 people, even if you are solo.

With a powerful boss as an ally, this would naturally be an extremely powerful thing.

However, even if you are able to successfully turn the boss into a beast, it is not without its problems. When you are summoning a high-level demon, it will constantly consume a large amount of magic power.

Moreover, the amount of magic power consumed increases exponentially with the level of the beast being summoned. So if you are summoning a demon whose level is too high, like a raid boss, you will be constantly consuming a ridiculous amount of magic power.

In fact, when Yuri was playing the game『 Atros Online 』, she succeeded in defeating it solo and made it her own beast. There were only ‘two’ demons that could not be handled at all because they could not provide for the consumption of magic power during the summoning process.

The first is the Demon Lord Borohaum of Hatred. This is the last boss in the main storyline of『 Atros Online 』, and it is a raid boss that can be fought by up to six raiders, or 144 characters working together.

His level was 2943, the second-highest in the game. It's easy to increase the maximum amount of magic power in the <Summoner> class, and Yuri had also increased her magic power significantly with the equipment she had purchased, but even so, at the time, when she summoned Borohaum, she ran out of magic power in less than three minutes.

The other demon is Rosamia, the Witch of Evil, the secret boss of the game that could only be challenged after Borohaum had been defeated, and was supposed to be unbeatable.

The level of this demon is a whopping 4,000, which is more than 1,000 more than the last boss, Borohaum. Of course, this is the highest-level demon in the game.

Moreover, its battle strategy is vicious, and depending on the situation, it will mercilessly unleash the strongest class of magic that the opponent hates the most at the time, making it difficult to counter.

Like Borohaum, this is a raid boss that can be challenged by up to 6 raiders, or 144 characters working together. If you challenge it without any countermeasures, you will probably be annihilated immediately by the magic【 Purgatory 】, which is released as a greeting right after the battle begins.

(―――Well, if it were me now, I might be able to summon it.)

At the time I was playing the game, Yuri was unable to summon Rosamia.

The first thing that happens when you summon a beast is that you have to pay a minute's worth of magic power, but in Rosamia's case, even that initial payment was not enough with all of Yuri's magic power at the time.

At that time, Yuri's maximum magic power was about 60,000, but now it has increased to 1 million.

―――What was impossible back then may be possible now.

“Answer my call and show yourself―――【 Summon the Messenger Beast 】, Rosamia, the Witch of Evil!”

With that thought in mind, Yuri executed the summoning without hesitation.

At the same time as a great sense of fatigue permeated her body, Yuri's magic power, which had been 1 million, was reduced to 900,000 in an instant.

Apparently, while summoning Rosamia, she consumes 100,000 magic power per minute.

The current Yuri, with her skills and equipment that enhance the natural recovery of magic power, is able to constantly recover 15% of her maximum magic power per minute―――that is, as much as 150,000 magic power per minute.

Rosamia, who could not even be summoned at the time, was now able to maintain her summoned state without any problems.

“Long time no see, Yuri.”

The woman who appeared in front of Yuri without a sound greeted her somewhat happily.

Like Yuri, she was dressed in a black dress. Yuri also responded to her words with a smile.

“It's been a long time, Rosamia. It's good to see you again.”

“I never thought you could summon me… You've grown up a lot, Yuri. It seems to me that it would not be a bad idea for you to hold me now.”

“My. I'm going to take your word for it, okay?”

“I wouldn't say something like this if I didn't mean it.”

Rosamia giggled somewhat happily as she told her this.