Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 1

My swords felt heavy. My armor felt heavy. My whole body felt heavy.

I’m sure that not only my virtual avatar, but my real body as well felt that way.

And that is all while heavily leaning on Rei’s abilities in this battle. But she herself must have been close to approaching her point of exhaustion.

Especially since her armor and sword worked in unison, it must have been exceptionally taxing. The sword is infused with a holy power and the armor is holding the power of darkness. And during battle those alignments were switching with one another, making for a truly unique playstyle.

Based on the current setting Rei was receiving bonus defense stats or attacks stats, which was crucial in taking down some of the more formidable opponents.

However, our opponent right now was none other than the apex predator, Night Prowler Luukan. A monster that could easily one-shot Rei even with her defensive boosts engaged, and because she was wearing heavy armor her evasive capabilities were drastically reduced.

And even if Rei somehow managed to avoid direct hits, her HP would still eventually reach critical levels thanks to the small portions of damage her skills were inflicting on her. Being locked in combat like that made it difficult to drink HP Recovery Potions, so the only option was to use healing crystals –– a very rare and very expensive resource.

「A-amazing……」

Hoping to get out of this battle unscratched was like hoping to waltz right into the eye of the raging storm and live to tell the tale. At the same time Saiga-0 couldn’t stop being amazed at the sight of the mechanical bird that was in the sky right now, blowing away the clouds and making sure that the moonlight would shine onto the battlefield. It was way more advanced and way more sophisticated than anything that Saiga-0 had ever seen before in this game. And it was all thanks to the half-naked man who was currently going all out against Luukan.

Saiga-0 knew that Sanraku was bearing two curse marks that Luukan placed on him. It must have been really inconvenient for him to not be able to wear proper armor on his torso and legs.

First of all, the statistic called “defense” in this game wasn’t determined by sheer numerical value. More than its stats, armor was pretty much crucial in this game because it was protecting your body from harm, so having parts of your body exposed like that was simply asking for trouble.

No matter how masculine his body was, Saiga-0 was somehow feeling embarrassed to be so close to a half-naked man all this time. At the same time she understood why it is that some of the players would choose to leave their curse marks on their bodies. But still, her goal of introducing Sanraku to the Saint Iristella didn’t change one bit.

But having not one but two curse marks placed upon you was actually insane. For Sanraku, the pressure must have been unbearable, knowing that one single attack of Luukan could have ended his life.

It’s because of that that his skills were all specialized in defense and evasion, but there is a limit of how many times skills can save your skin from a certain death.

That is why she needed to support him and protect him from danger. Once she decided on that, Saiga-0’s spirit and concentration became as light as a wind.

Even though he must have been aware of his own power shortages, Sanraku was currently doing his very best to achieve victory in this difficult battle. Still, it was Saiga-0 who was at a much more severe mental burden, because their strategy was resting on the fact that she would have to land all of her strongest attacks perfectly.

And just like that they continued to play ball pass when it comes to aggroing Luukan, switching in between attacking and defending accordingly.

More. Just a little bit more and all of the conditions will be satisfied. But somehow, that time felt unbelievably far away for Saiga-0.

But there is also a parameter known as “Hunger” in this game. And right now Saiga-0 tried to take off her helmet and quickly eat a portable meal set to get rid of that status, since it was decreasing her stats. It was at this moment that she heard Sanraku’s scream and realized that she made a huge mistake.

「Alter-Ego! Watch out!」

Due to her carelessness, a dark shadow was now approaching her.

It was their mistake for assuming that Luukan would keep his aggro on the person that was currently attacking it the most! A mistake that could cost them dearly!

This wolf turned out to be more cunning than they initially thought! It knew that Saiga-0 would need to restore her health and it chose to attack right as she was about to do so!

「Damn……」

It was already too late for her to defend or try to evade. And even though there are ways to revive after death, you have to use them before you get killed!

Even though Luukan’s huge body was already starting to cover her sight, Saiga-0 somehow knew that Sanraku was looking at her right now. And even though she knew that the end was near, it filled her heart with warmth and joy. But she was also terribly sad

(I’m so sorry, Sanraku-san…… I was only a burden to you in the end……)

Even though they agreed to do their best together, she made a fatal mistake like that. She could only apologize and hope that she would be forgiven.

The wolf’s fangs were quickly approaching her. The darkness formed into a huge mouth that seemed to be devouring even the light itself, and soon that sharp darkness would close upon her body, snapping her in half just like it did with Animalia.

She wasn’t afraid of a brutal death. She died a number of times over the past year in this game, and even though death by being snapped in half was not a preferable end, she was ready to accept it without any complaining. However, being chewed and swallowed certainly will not be pleasant.

That is why Saiga-0 failed to notice something. No, she wouldn’t be able to perceive it, since Luukan’s body was blocking her vision. Sanraku was not behind Luukan, as he started a mad dash towards it, closing the distance in between them in a matter of seconds.

「I was going to keep it hidden for some more, but fuck it…… “UTSUSEMI”!!!」

「He?」

Somehow, she thought that there was something strange about Sanraku’s voice. Then, in the next moment she experienced something truly bizarre: as Luukan’s fangs were about to close on her body and snap her in half, she felt as though her body got pushed to the side, or moved, and she felt something similar to lag. Then, there was the sound of Luukan’s fangs hitting something. But instead of dying, Saiga-0 was still alive. And the thing that was miraculously in between Luukan’s fangs was……

「A log?」

「When you talk about a substitution, of course the first thing that comes to mind is a wooden log!」

After it chewed it for a while in suspicion and then spat the remains out, Saiga-0 could see that the thing that was in its mouth just a moment before was indeed a wooden log. Even though Saiga-0 was aware that there was a class in this game that allowed for such a skill to be used, it was the first time she saw it up close and personal.

It is a skill characteristic of a class that you get from leveling up “Bandit” class enough times, as well as coming from the skill that you get from mastering the “Stealth” skill. It was a skill that allowed one to move without making a noise and lowering the levels of attracting aggro from surrounding enemies. Truly a skill that only a special hidden class could have in its arsenal……

「Ninja?」

「That’s right! Incidentally, are you perhaps the acquaintance of Sanraku…… My fair lady?」

「Eh? Ah, yes. My name is Saiga-0」

「I knew it! But I must say, I was expecting a bird head…… I heard that it looks kind of funny and I really wanted to see that…… But still! What a performance! It seems that person truly is something else!」