Volume 2 - CH 14

“You will be able to shave off the Death Armed’s HP, right?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded to Luce’s question.

In this world, where death is the end, I didn’t want to rely on such a risky and dumb strategy, but there is no other way to win against the Death Armed other than this.

Even if we tried to run, it would end the same way.

With such a level gap, we have no way of making it out alive by running away.

Even if we somehow did, turning the Death Armed into a Wandering Lord would cause the death of who knows how many people.

The Death Armed has an extraordinary amount of HP, tough armor covering its body, and an overwhelming power of recovery.

To get through all that, an attack from a Heavy Knight, which was called the Balance Breaker in Magic World, was needed.

If I put my remaining Skill points into [Smoldering Fang of Madness], then I can replicate the Heavy Knight’s exceptional extreme firepower in this world.

I wanted to leave this for later due to the high risks it still carried, but now I don’t have any other choice.

“I-I will help! Elma-san! What should I be doing?”

Luce must be scared right now, but she still tries to encourage me by speaking louder than usual.

“….thank you, Luce.”

I recalled the layout of this place in my head, and tried to simulate a way for us to win.

At our current levels, we won’t have too many chances to create an opportunity to attack without fear of immediate reprisal.

We will have only a single chance.

“I will send you up with a [Shield Bash], Luce. Once you land on its back, jump off of it right away to a boulder…. then try to hit its tail once when you can.”

“H-hit its tail once…. I understand!”

Luce replied enthusiastically.

Luce must’ve wanted to ask more about the plan too.

There is no way she is not nervous.

I also wanted to take a bit more time to explain, but seeing how Luce accepted her role without hesitation, I thought that it would be for the best if we finished this in short order, even if she’ll be in the dark for a bit.

“JIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIIH!”

Still heading straight for us, the Death Armed just broke a boulder in its way into pieces with its huge maw.

Luce kicked off from the ground.

I brought up my shield and pushed her upwards.

“[Shield Bash]!”

Luce’s body was sent flying a great distance.

She kicked off the Death Armed’s armor, then used her [Acrobatic Steps] to move from boulder to boulder in the direction of the Death Armed’s tail.

“JIIH…..!”

The Death Armed moved its gaze to Luce.

To shift the Death Armed’s attention, I quickly pulled out a Smile’s earth attribute magic stone, put mana into it, then threw it at the Death Armed.

In the blink of an eye the magic stone started shining, then it released countless earth needles right in front of the Death Armed’s face.

Direct attacks with magic stones are nothing more than greatly inferior versions of actual magic Skills to begin with.

Especially against a higher leveled Death Armed.

There was no chance that a direct magic stone attack done by a Heavy Knight would do any damage to it, and clearly, it didn’t even scuff its armor, but…. I managed to successfully divert its attention back to me.

The Death Armed was starting to slow down and focus on Luce before this, but now it’s started heading my way once again.

Until Luce manages to attack its tail….I’ll have to go all out and buy enough time.

“[Life Shield]!”

I shouted while brandishing my sword over my head.

My life force manifested, covering my whole body with a membrane of light.

――――――――――――――――――――

〈Life Shield〉【Normal Skill】

It takes 20% of your maximum HP to activate.

A shield with the same durability as the HP deducted covers the entire body.

――――――――――――――――――――

20% of my current maximum HP…..

I paid the necessary 【ＨＰ：28】 and activated [Life Shield].

――――――――――――――――――――

【Elma Edvan】

Class: Heavy Knight

Lv: 54

HP: 22/145

MP: 12/60

――――――――――――――――――――

And now, the conditions for activating [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] have been met!

――――――――――――――――――――

〈Half-Dead Savage Dragon〉【Special Skill】

When the user’s HP is less than 20%, Attack and Agility is increased by 100%.

――――――――――――――――――――

With this my Agility doubled.

The huge body of the Death Armed became a drawback, hindering its maneuverability.

I rushed to a small gap between a huge boulder next to the wall, which was hard to move, even by a Death Armed.

“JIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIIH!”

The Death Armed kept destroying its way towards me, as it kept up its pursuit.

Even when I’m in this state, the Death Armed is still faster than me….!

I can’t let the Death Armed catch up to me.

When an enemy gets close to the Death Armed’s body, it starts to go apeshit with its legs and tries to send the opponent flying.

With our levels we won’t be able to handle that, even a single scratch could prove fatal.

I noticed the light of a magic circle shine over me from behind.

It’s the magic Skill of the Death Armed….the [Death Needles].

It sends out sharp projectiles coated in poison.

They fly fast, there are a lot of them, and they also pack a punch.

The reason why it’s much more scary than the Rock Centipede’s [Rock Blast] is because due to the high speed of the one that activates it, there is not enough time for the target to hide behind something.

And due to the rapid fire, even the [Life Shield] is all but useless against it.

However….just before activation, the movements of the body and the maw slows down.

I immediately turned on my heel and rushed towards the Death Armed.

I pushed my shield ahead of myself and charged at the Death Armed’s face equivalent.

“[Shield Bash]!”

I could feel the impact of the Death Armed’s charge through my shield.

The durability of the [Life Shield] has met its limit and crumbled.

As for the [Shield Bash]….if my Defense and Attack stats are lower than the opponent’s, then I’m the one that gets thrown back.

I received the backlash from the [Shield Bash]….which blew me back at great speed.

With those maneuvers, I was able to avoid the [Death Needles] somehow.

“Good…..!”

Also, thanks to my careful adjustment of the angle of my shield, I was able to get on top of a boulder with that.

“JIJIJIJIJIJIJI…..!”

The Death Armed kept glaring at me, looking irritated…..

“[Dice Thrust]!”

At that same moment, Luce, who was able to get behind the Death Armed’s tail, launched a [Dice Thrust] at it.

Body fluids of the Death Armed spilled out from its tail.

A normal attack would’ve been enough too, but it seems she managed to hit it with a 【6】 roll critical hit.

“JIIIIIIIIIIH!”

The Death Armed let out a screech of rage.

The tail of the Death Armed is not its special weak point or anything.

However, due to it not being covered in scales, it’s a relatively soft, long and thin target, which is quite easy to hit.

In addition to that, in contrast to its torso and legs, it can’t use it to counterattack right away.

A Death Armed’s tail is something of a reverse scale for it.

Our positions are perfect.

Both Luce and I are at the positions I envisioned at the beginning.

We also managed to infuriate the Death Armed.

With this, we have everything we need to take it down.