Chapter 239
That afternoon, at the training ground.
As I watched Luna and Rezé playing together, I couldn't help but fall deep into thought.
'The midterms are coming up soon. The real episode is about to start.'
Alex, Raymon, Rodelin, Yuridia, Victoria.
This is the very first episode where the main characters all come together, marking the beginning of the game's serious phase.
'Assignment to Carpathia.'
Suddenly, all over the Empire, black magicians and demons began their rampages.
The Empire sent troops to handle them, and with Carpathia left defenseless, Lizbeth appeared, allowing 'Erosion' to take root.
If the 'host' is not eliminated before the roots take hold, Erosion can never be eradicated.
The core lands of the Empire might turn into lands of death.
Though the Empire redirected troops to Carpathia, they needed 'something' to buy them time until then.
Eventually, the Empire pulled out their 'trump card.'
'Sending students from Annwood Academy' was that trump card.
'Only second and third-year students are deployed to the battlefield. The first-years are assigned to reconnaissance and supplying resources,' that was the plan.
But, as plans often do, it did not proceed exactly as intended.
Lesser demons appeared and attacked the students, scattering blood across the battlefield.
Just when the children were in dire straits, the main group came together to confront and fight them.
That's the gist of the 'Invasion of Carpathia' episode.
For the record, no boss monster appears. This is a mid-chapter episode, not the end of chapter two.
However, there were named monsters. Four of them.
A battlefield where four creatures capable of receiving 'Predation' existed.
An opportunity to gain four skills for free!
'Of course, what I'm really aiming for is something else.'
Yes, what I am targeting is a named monster that the main group misses and that players have never defeated before, a legendary demon.
A sixth-grade demon, Mabelga.
- To kill that. That was my real goal.
'I've set up the plan perfectly. The problem is...'
Firepower. Firepower was the issue.
The reason players had never defeated Mabelga before was simple.
Firepower, in other words 'attack power,' was lacking.
When Mabelga was near death, it would fly into the sky to escape, and a shield would form.
The value was a staggering 10,000.
The problem is that this must be broken in one turn.
At this midpoint in chapter two, the main characters' special move damage is merely 300-400.
And you're telling them to deal 10,000 damage in one turn, with only long-range attacks? It was impossible.
Of course.
'That doesn't apply to me now.'
Titles that boost attack power, the use of the overpowering skill 'Divine Imitation,' and stat increases due to training in the 'Fleur Family Style.'
And a sacred sword that is poison to demons, plus a final damage calculation of double damage with 'Darkness.'
'If a critical hit occurs as well?'
At the very least, it could deal about 5,000 damage.
So, the problem is how to inflict the remaining 5,000 damage...
"Squeak!"
"Rezé, why are you acting like that all of a sudden?"
"So, someone seems to be hatching a terrible plan..."
Rezé immediately went on alert.
She seemed ready to flee at any moment.
'That's why I hate quick-witted kids.'
Yes, the one to handle the remaining 5,000 damage.
None other than Rezé.
'A powerful long-range single target DPS. There's no character to match Spear Rezé.'
However, Rezé's current specs were short by 2,000 to 3,000.
So, the only thing left for me to do before the dispatch was one thing.
'Turn that pufferfish rabbit into a super cannon rabbit!'
Of course, it wasn't going to be easy.
'Not just the power, but also fixing the weak heart that can't kill a living being.'
Rezé, since the 'Magic Gun' became prominent, was once a character researched by countless players.
With hundreds of posts being made daily, it's clear how vibrant that research was and how much interest it garnered among players.
That was why Rezé was ultimately abandoned.
Though Rezé's departure from the battlefield when an area attack was activated was a factor, there was an even more significant reason.
‘Her critical hits never triggered.’
A build for Rezé, the Spear, that made everyone equally vulnerable to a single hit.
For this, ‘criticals’ were essential.
As with any game, a critical hit would deal 1.5 to 2 times the damage.
But no matter how much she improved her stats, aimed at weak points, or used items and mystical powers to set her critical chance to 100%, Rezé’s attacks never resulted in a critical. Not even once.
-Not a bug?
-Must be a setting.
-Obviously! Carrot!
-Ah, really trashy settings. Who comes up with this?
-Join the Carrot Brigade! Free carrots grown by someone who looks like Rezé!
Amid continuous research and users' growing frustrations in lieu of critical hits, endless carrot eating content proliferated.
And so, people gradually abandoned Rezé.
The last of those steadfast in the Carrot Brigade left these words:
-9th year as a Hero of the Academy player. I’m moving on now. There’s something else I must protect instead of Rezé.
I stumbled upon this information in a conversation; it seems Rezé fears killing. This might be related to her inability to trigger criticals... I don’t know how to fix it.
Embarrassing as it is, I leave Rezé in your hands. Eat plenty of carrots!
With that, the last of the Carrot Brigade left.
Along with a picture of their daughter, who looked just like Rezé.
‘Fear of killing... what a headache.’
In this game, changing a character’s ‘heart’ is as easy as it is difficult.
Meaning it's unpredictable.
‘It won't be an easy condition. No one has succeeded yet.’
Fate, growth, elixirs, mysteries.
Feeding those valuable resources to that rabbit? And then it flees the battlefield?
I’d die of frustration right there.
But if.
‘If Rezé overcomes her fear and manages to trigger critical hits?’
The ‘Spear Rezé’ build, maximizing her Magic Gun and skills, is an all-in attack build.
If she starts landing critical hits, she could knock out most enemies in one shot.
Meaning she could kill them before they even use their area attacks.
‘Anyway, changing Rezé’s nature right now is impossible.’
That means right now, Rezé must manage to inflict ‘5,000’ damage through pure deal, without any criticals.
That’s why I planned to seriously toughen up this rabbit... err, make her stronger from today until the dispatch.
Carrots, training ground, Rezé, and a whip for encouragement (?).
Everything was good, except for one thing.
"Hmm~ So this is your personal training ground? Not bad."
...except that Adonis is here.
Why is he here?
"I had a deep conversation with Caron. You’ve achieved more than I thought."
"Keke, thank you for the praise."
"You also turned down the rat's offer? Quite brave. Hahahaha!"
Slap! Slap!
Adonis kept thumping my back, apparently enjoying it.
Grandpa, don't hit. It's peeling my skin.
No joke. My HP was actually dropping.
"Cough, cough!"
It felt like I was about to cough up blood!
Could it be that Victoria became so frail from being hit by Adonis?
It seemed a reasonable suspicion when Luna suddenly jumped up and ran towards us.
"Hey! I told you not to bully my friend!"
"When have I bullied him? It’s just that this child’s body is weak. Aigoo, tsk tsk. Looks like I need to prepare some tonic for him."
"I’ll make it, so don’t worry!"
"Keke, well, I guess you will."
"Ugh! I’ll bite you to death!"
Luna, no biting! I might die!
Despite my worries, Luna calmly returned to her place.
Adonis simply watched her and smiled faintly.
"Good kid, isn’t she?"
I could feel it. The subtle tension between Luna and Adonis.
There's something there. Something I don’t know about.
Could it be...!
‘Love?!’
...It seems Yuridia has rubbed off on me.
That's absurd. Love, of all things. It was an impossible notion.
I'm not entirely sure, but the reason Luna hasn’t attacked Adonis might be.
‘She's been put in her place.’
Challenged Adonis to a duel, lost, became depressed, bit my head off.
A perfect narrative arc.
‘So that’s where the injury came from. It seems she wasn’t hurt too badly, though...’
Whether she used 'One Flash' or not, that was crucial.
Luna’s One Flash isn't perfect yet, but it has notably improved.
Especially since there was no way she could escape Adonis’s discerning eye.
What if Adonis realizes Luna is the last survivor of the Lester family?
That would be quite a problem.
‘Who knows what variables might arise.’
Luna’s story might unfold with me getting dragged into it, or she might leave my party to seek vengeance.
It’s unlikely, but there’s a chance Adonis might present Luna to the Emperor.
A character I’ve carefully raised from the start of the game leaving the party or dying?
There could be no greater disaster.
"Hmm... Zero, you're really courting danger. Raising a loyal retainer is one thing, but training an assassin too? Are you dreaming of assassination?"
"...Assassin?"
"Right there. A truly fearsome assassin!"
Adonis was pointing at a rabbit.
He was referring to Rezé, who was struggling and tumbling with her magic gun.
‘That... an assassin?’
Indeed, according to Adonis, a most fearsome assassin.
She might be the only assassin in the world who could get killed by her own gun!
"Keke, you misunderstand. That’s just a decorative rabbit."
"Decorative? Why would you keep such a thing?"
"If I don’t, a certain child will bite me."
Adonis nodded towards Luna.
"Then is Luna dreaming of making this child become an assassin? She’s more formidable than she looks."
...Where exactly did Adonis’s thoughts go wrong?
First, I must prove that Rezé is safe. Otherwise, this could become a real hassle.
"Keke, it's nonsensical to say Rezé is an assassin. Look at her frailty!"
Rezé was no different from a meadow rabbit.
Her muscles weak enough to be crushed by her own gun.
Her stamina too poor to run for even a minute.
A rabbit raised organically(?).
In summary, she was 100% harmless.
"Could such a child possibly be an assassin? It's absolutely impossible."
"Certainly... It seems I was mistaken. My apologies."
"Keke, no worries. It's enough that the misunderstanding is cleared."
"But a magic gun... What a fascinating invention. The progress of technology is always surprising. I’d like to see it in action, if that’s alright?"
"By all means."
Just then, Rezé had finished preparing to shoot.
Her gun aimed at a wooden dummy.
"Ah... Indeed. Her presence is so faint. Even being so close. Truly a mysterious child."
"So you thought she was an assassin. Rest assured, as you can see, she struggles even to fire a single shot."
"Isn't that weapon too heavy for her? I wonder if she can shoot it properly."
Now, after Rezé fires her gun and Adonis witnesses its power and leaves the training ground, Luna will train vigorously while I wield the whip, training Rezé.
‘Everyone will have a happy day,’ I thought.
At that moment.
Luna whispered something indiscernible into Rezé’s ear.
Rezé nodded and pulled a lever.
It was the lever for the [Overcharge] skill attached to the magic gun.
Mana whirled inside the magic gun.
A small storm formed of blue mana.
‘Guys...?’
Thump!
The mana bullet was fired, and the shockwave pushed mine and Adonis’s hair back.
Througthththth!!
Crackle-!!
The wooden dummy hit by the mana bullet vanished.
Not shattered. Evaporated.
One of Rezé’s skills, [Concentration S], resulted in an overwhelming density of mana.
Enough to evaporate a wooden dummy.
"..."
Adonis, his hair blown back, wore a stunned expression.
Luna raised her thumb to her neck and then tilted it sideways. Then...
She drew it across her neck—a gesture suggesting she’d slit his throat.
Adonis looked at me. His eyes said it all.
‘If that’s not an assassin, then what is?’
- He seemed to say.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading
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