Volume 3 - CH 10

“Gyugyuh…..GYUUUUuuuuh!”

The Podarge raised its head towards the ceiling and cried.

“It’s the Dream Lord! W-why did it turn into a Wandering Lord….! There is no benefit to even going near the Dream Lord of a Phantasmal Dungeon!”

Izabella all but screamed out.

However, this most likely did not happen due to a mistake by some adventurers.

This was done deliberately to target Snow’s party.

The aim of the person that sent those bandits was to tie down and tire out Snow and Izabella deep in the Phantasmal Dungeon, and even saddle them with a Wandering Lord on top of that.

This is far from a gentle warning.

It’s obviously a murder attempt.

A 【Lv：80】, huh。

Dream Lords all have greater recovery powers compared to ordinary monsters, but in the case of the Podarge this is even more pronounced.

It has a very high Defense as well.

And the most important fact….rather than using its body to fight, it’s best at keeping its distance and shooting magic at people.

That not only makes it harder for us to attack, but since it’s not actually weak in close combat, if we carelessly try to get close, we will just fall victim to its talons.

In contrast, the four of us all have close range Classes.

Luce and I still have some MP remaining, but Snow and Izabella must be close to their limit already.

A high powered magic Class would be needed to deliver a decisive hit to a Podarge.

Even if I were to use [Half-Dead Savage Dragon], without any kind of movement or jumping Skills it would be too difficult to land a hit on it.

Luce is a quick and mobile fighter, but the only way she could deal sufficient damage to the Podarge is with her [Dice Thrust], and even that might not be enough.

The Clown is not a damage dealer Class to begin with, and Luce’s level is still in its sixties.

Her stats are simply too low.

Furthermore, due to its nature, it would be exceedingly difficult to deal consistent damage with [Dice Thrust].

This is bad…..We have ways of dealing some minor damage to it, but if it fights by keeping its distance from us, it will be able to take us all down one by one thanks to its high power of recovery.

We have a distinct lack of options of dealing sufficiently high damage to it.

Also, fighting the Podarge is not so straightforward that I could devise a come-back plan in the process.

“….we are at an overwhelming disadvantage, but we should do what we can for now.”

I readied my sword and moved to put everyone behind me when Izabella stepped in front of me.

“I will draw the attention of the Podarge. You two should take Snow-ojousama and run away, please. Ojou-sama’s leg is injured.”

“I-Izabella!”

Snow yelled in a partly panicking, partly angry voice.

“Hurry up and go….I won’t even last a minute once it starts moving!”

Izabella shouted.

At the same time, the Podarge started moving our way.

“Gyuuuuuuh!”

A magic circle was deployed.

A green colored high speed mana swirl started to appear.

…..that’s a wind attribute magic Skill called [Wind Hunt].

“Kuh…..!”

Izabella readied herself for the incoming magic attack.

It seems she intends to dodge it by reading its trajectory.

However, that’s a bad move.

“Gyuh!”

A sphere of wind was launched.

The surface of the sphere was a rapidly rotating maelstrom of green colored mana.

I cut in front of Izabella and used my large shield to block the [Wind Hunt].

I was thrown backwards by the impact as a sharp pain ran through my hand.

…..I’m unendingly thankful for having found this Corpse General’s Shield.

“The [Wind Hunt] has a target-seeking effect, making it very hard to evade. Its power is still on the lower side, so if your speed is low, then you should block it instead.”

“I-I told you to run away! Are you an idiot!?”

“I was planning on fighting from the start, but after hearing what you said, I wanted to find a way for all of us to survive even more. Also….I’m confident in holding out for at least five minutes, rather than one.”

I smirked as I turned my gaze to Izabella.

She just ground her teeth.

“Trying to go against a 【Lv：80】 monster in this situation is simply too reckless! As a knight in service to the Howlod Family, I can’t let ojou-sama die here!”

“I’m sorry, but….it looks like your ojou-sama has zero intentions of running away and leaving her subordinate to die here.”

I glanced back at Snow.

She was also holding her sword, ready for the fight.

Luce was apparently raring to go as well.

“O-Ojou-sama…..”

“Izabella, if you want to protect Snow-ojou, then use everything you have to hold out here. You and I will be drawing its attention!”

“Eyy! Then it’s do or die! If ojou-sama dies because of this, then I will resent your decision!”

Izabella shouted at us.

After confirming that the Podarge was following me with its gaze, I ran to the left side to circle around its giant body.

The Podarge’s head was following my movements.

“Gyuruh!”

A blade of wind came flying, breaking up the floor just behind me.

That was a [Sylph Cutter].

There are many troublesome magic Skills, but the one you especially need to watch out for when fighting against a higher level enemy is the [Sylph Cutter].

That Skill is simply too fast.

“A chance….! Guah!”

Izabella tried to attack the Podarge from the opposite side, but she was blown back after getting hit straight on by one of its front talons.

You shouldn’t carelessly approach a Podarge, but I can’t exactly blame Izabella for it.

In our current situation we have next to no leeway, if we try to fight conservatively, then we will lose for sure.

We need to try for a hail mary as much as we can.

“[Ice]!”

An ice bullet flew from the tip of the sword Snow was brandishing.

“Gyuh…..!”

The icicle bullet impacted on the face of the Podarge.

It was timed so its attention was divided due to the Podarge keeping its gaze on me to the left, while it attacked Izabella on its right.

It didn’t look like Snow had a mage Class…..Is she an Ice Crystal Knight then?

Just as the name suggests, it’s a Class that combines sword mastery and ice magic.

It compensates for the sword using Classes’ weakness of having no ranged attacks with some magic Skills, and allows the use of ice magic to complement the user’s sword skills.

It’s a Class that’s quite difficult to use, but once mastered it’s pretty powerful.

Though since Snow’s leg is injured and she must be nearly out of MP by now, supporting us like this is the most we can expect….

With the Podarge finally showing an opening, Luce was there to drive her knife into it.

“[Dice Thrust]!”

The number six appeared in the air.

It’s a guaranteed critical hit.

An attack with 1.95 times attack power and 50% defense penetration pierced into the chest of the monster.

“GIIIH!”

The Podarge backed away while swinging its front talons in a frenzy.

Luce also jumped back to put some distance between them.

“I did iiit! That was a good hit! With this…..!”

――――――――――――――――――――

Monster: Podarge

Level: 80

HP: 603/734

MP: 237/272

――――――――――――――――――――

Seeing the Podarge’s HP, Luce immediately went pale.

“T-that did not go down as much as I expected….!”

That’s right…..the Podarge also has a high Defense.

Even if the three of us manage to divert its attention and Luce succeeds in delivering a decisive blow with her highest damage potential Skill, the [Dice Thrust], it will only decrease its HP by a sixth.

And since the Podarge has a high recovery power, if we take too long between hits, it will shortly recover its HP as well.