Volume 3 - CH 11

“Gyurururururuh!”

The Podarge swung one of its front talons, targeting Izabella.

I quickly jumped in front of her and used my shield to deflect the hit.

However, I couldn’t avoid the force of the impact entirely.

“Guuh! Hurry up and stand, Izabella!”

I used my sword to slap aside the next attack of the Podarge.

“[Parry]!”

Its talons carved out a chunk of the floor right next to me.

I thought about taking the opportunity to go for a counterattack, but my speed was not enough for that.

Its reach was simply too long.

Even though this opponent was not as far ahead of me in level as the Skull Lord was, and with it being a magic type its Attack and Agility were not that high either, we were slowly but steadily losing ground in this fight.

“S-shit!”

Izabella stood up again, readied her sword, and charged at the Podarge.

Luce also tried to adapt her movement to Izabella and get close to the Podarge via its blind spot at the same time.

“Gyuuuuuuh……..!”

A large magic circle was deployed above the Podarge’s head.

The next moment, a windstorm swept through the area.

“Guh! This is wind magic…..the [Gust]!”

I was almost blown back, but I curled up, stuck my sword into the ground and just managed to hold out.

“Guh!”

“Kyaah!”

However, although Snow in the back managed to hold out somehow, Izabella and Luce couldn’t.

They were thrown back by the wind, landing in the corners of the room.

It’s no wonder…..even I, as a Heavy Knight, was barely able to stay my ground.

“It reset any progress of us getting closer to it…..!”

With the time it managed to buy, the Podarge will be recovering.

In the meantime, our HPs will just keep being whittled away.

Our chances of winning are simply too miniscule.

….at this point, all we can do is keep Izabella and me in a tanking role, while Snow tries to distract it from the back via magic attacks, and Luce watches out for an opening to use [Dice Thrust].

However….I don’t think we could pull through against a Podarge with that tactic.

Should I just rush it with [Half-Dead Savage Dragon]?

No, we barely can hold out with two tanks at the moment already.

Even if I switch to offense, Luce and I wouldn’t be able to properly attack with the number of tanks having gone down.

Trying to go for a short fight against a tough and cautious Podarge is very much not easy.

Before we could take it down, either Luce or I would fall victim to it for sure.

“Gyurururururuh!”

Since I was the only one that remained near after the windstorm, the Podarge attacked me with its talons next.

I was unable to keep my shield steady against the monster’s bulk, so when my shield was out of the way, it sent a [Sylph Cutter] at me from a point blank range.

“Gah!”

My armor took the hit which sent me flying backwards.

A dull pain shot through my chest.

The Podarge has high HP and Defense, and its movement patterns are also cautious and defensive.

I couldn’t think of any ways of surmounting that defense with what we had right now.

We are missing a critical piece to overcome this situation.

“Shit….if we at least had the [Reaper Assassin], then we would’ve had a chance.”

Luce and I came to this place in hopes of obtaining that Skill Book to begin with.

If she had that Skill Tree, then her offensive capabilities would skyrocket.

With that, we would’ve been able to try for a short fight with everyone pitching in.

If only it dropped from a Grim Reaper, then this wouldn’t have devolved into a difficult fight like this.

“[Reaper Assassin]…..?”

Izabella reacted to my words.

“I-I have one! I have one of those right here!”

Snow shouted.

“What-…..!”

Indeed….Snow’s party was hunting longer in here than us at this point.

Most likely since yesterday, or even the day before that.

If we count that in, then it wouldn’t be that strange that they would be able to get a [Reaper Assassin] Skill Book from a Grim Reaper.

“Give that to Luce, please! As for the money, I promise I will pay many times its Market Value if needed after this!”

I shouted as I kept desperately diverting the talon attacks of the Podarge with [Parry].

“The Clown there…..take this!”

Snow took out a book from her Magic Bag without any hesitation and hurriedly threw it to Luce.

She caught the book between her hands.

That was most likely the Skill Book for the [Reaper Assassin].

“T-this is, [Reaper Assassin]…..! E-Elma-san! Uhm, uhm, how do I use this…..!?”

Luce asked in a panicky voice while holding the Skill Book.

“You just picture imbuing mana into it! Once you erase [Attack UP] and add the other Skill Tree, then allocate all Skill Points you have into it!”

Before we entered this place, Luce was at 【Lv:64】.

She most likely leveled up three or four times since then already.

That means she should have at least 【20】 points at the ready.

More than enough to get all the early Skills of the [Reaper Assassin] Skill Tree.

“Y-yes!”

Luce’s hands lit up.

At the same time, the Skill Book in her hands turned into particles of light and disappeared.

It was the sign that Luce obtained the [Reaper Assassin] Skill Tree.

I was planning on having her get it someday for sure, but I didn’t think it would happen like this.

――――――――――――――――――――

Allows the acquisition of the 〈Reaper Assassin〉 Skill Tree.

A Reaper dwells in your blade that was honed to the limit.

It takes a life in a single hit; an assassin’s blade of certain death.

A prey you have your sights on can never escape you.

――――――――――――――――――――

This was the description of the [Reaper Assassin] Skill Book.

The [Reaper Assassin] Skill Tree is focused on boosting the power of critical hits.

It’s pretty strong even when used normally, but thanks to its inconsistent damage, not many people use it in general.

However, if it’s used by Luce, who has an abnormally high Luck, and is able to use [Dice Thrust] with a potentially guaranteed critical, depending on the rolled number, then the story changes.

At that moment, I was already certain of our victory.

“Having to deal with something like this just after you got a new Skill Tree is quite troublesome, but we will be taking care of this now, Luce!”