Vol 2 Chapter 8 (1/2)
LEVEL 2: Everything is Precious, Nothing is Replaceable
Chapter 8: Grasping Beyond Reach
After safely—or perhaps not so safely—acquiring the [WIDOW MAKER] technique, Haruhiro and the others resumed their daily routine in the Siren Mines
Ranta had learned a Dread Knight spell called [DARK TERROR] which instilled the fear of the Black God Skulheill into an opponent and robbed the on hoas employed, it seeh to use it right
Mogzo returned with the dual techniques [FORWARD THRUST] and [REVERSE THRUST] [FORWARD THRUST] was a one-handed thrust with fairly long reach while [REVERSE THRUST] was a thrust used while retreating These were like less fancy versions of Ranta’s bait and confuse skills, [PROPEL LEAP] and [JUKE STAB]
shi+horu learned the [SHADOW BIND] spell A shadow eleround, which would immobilize any enemy who stepped on it It had drawbacks however; only one ele enemies could force their way out of the bind, and it only lasted for up to twenty-five seconds But like [PHANTOM SLEEP], any battle skill the opponent ht have was irrelevant to its effects It was more of a support spell than an attack skill, but it was a spell that matched shi+horu’s personality
Yume returned with [STAR PIERCE] She had practiced her new knife throwing skill so much and with so ood with it She had even bought a s knives of her oell, not exactly, as according to her, “Yume didn’t knohat knife to choose so Yume’s master took Yume shoppin’ and told Yume this one, this one, or this one and to pick only one but he bought it for Yuht some with her own money too…”
It seemed as if Yu to her and Haruhiro couldn’t blame him
Mary returned with the light ic spell [LIGHT OF JUDGEMENT], an offensive spell that utilized the God of Light Lue was short and the dao numb and slowed their moveht directly with this technique, but rather to support Mogzo and the other front line party members
With everyone’s new skills, the tea ability had improved The power of shi+horu’s new spell [SHADOW BIND] was an especially crucial addition
“shi+horu, that’s a! You stopped an elder in its tracks!” Haruhiro crowed
They were on the third stratued with a kobold party led by one of those tough foreive orders rather than fight at the front shi+horu’s [SHADOW BIND] had rendered it unable to take so much as a step forward Only its h, so it should have been able to continue giving orders to its followers, but it seemed the elder had fallen into a state of panic
“Now! Take down the followers!” Haruhiro shouted
Ranta however, not needing to be told, or disregarding that he hadn’t been told yet, had his left hand extended, already charging at Follower A
“Here coht! For Skulheill! Tremble with fear, disbelievers! [DARK TERROR]!”
A purplish h its nose and mouth The kobold let out a short howl and leapt wildly at Ranta
“Wha—!” Ranta isword, but the kobold didn’t stop there It launched a series of ferocious attacks void of any semblance of sanity “What the—! Why—?! What the hell—?!” he shouted, deflecting the attacks “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”
“…It does seeh,” Haruhiro remarked
In the end, Ranta was still Ranta Haruhiro was du zo made for Follower B while Yume headed to Follower C, but Mary was ahead of them both
“O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [LIGHT OF JUDGEMENT]!”
Follower B, aiting for Mogzo, was bathed in light Its entire body began to spasm violently
Mogzo followed up i, “THANK YOU!!”
Follower B went down and Mogzo immediately shi+fted over to help Yuzo to not use a new skill when the situation didn’t call for it
“I guess there’s no other choice,” Haruhiro murmured and started over to help Ranta
He was getting into position at Follower A’s back when so suddenly occurred to hihten away its targets, but instead force the a do-or-die counterattack Ranta failed epically with it earlier, but Haruhiro actually benefited Follower A was so intently focused on killing Ranta that it didn’t notice Haruhiro at all He effortlessly took up his position at its back and… [BACKSTAB]?
No, ht as well try, “[WIDOW MAKER]!”
Haruhiro latched onto Follower A and locked both of its arms in place for the moment He had become proficient at that s in place as well But just getting the opponent’s arms pinned down increased the success rate of the technique er into the base of the kobold’s neck, slit its throat, and jumped away
Follower A wasn’t stone dead just yet and, though it was unlikely, staying that close invited the possibility of getting counterattacked But that wasn’t the only reason Haruhiro jumped away
“TAAAAAAAAAKE THIS!” Ranta shouted, ju kobold Then he subsequently finished it by stabbing it again through its heart with all his strength
“YESSSS! GOT MY VICE! GOT MY VICE!” Ranta declared with a gleeful shout
“That was reckless! You could have stabbed h it!” Haruhiro yelled
“If you die, it’s one more Vice for me! YES!!!”
Dumbass But that much Haruhiro already knew All he had to do was remember that dumbasses will be dumbasses and then he wouldn’t see so much red But he was pissed He was beyond Godda it in
“YAH!” Yu [SWEEPING SLASH] quickly followed by [CROSS CUT] The combination attack put Follower C on its back foot
“THANK YOU!” Mogzo’s [RAGE CLEAVE] ca the kobold on the spot
“Everyone! To the foreman!” Haruhiro shouted, the obviousness of the state out to his tea everyone and boosting tea shy The kobold foreer disabled and the team moved to pound him into oblivion Of course, the foreht back hard What was the best way to deal with an opponent like this?
Haruhiro and the others had learned the answer through experience Four of the randomly, they waited for it to attack Then person it attacked would defend while the other three counterattacked They would repeat this process until the enemy was down
As a result, they took down the elder kobold without anyone on the tea injured Ranta’s movements were as questionable as always but Haruhiro decided to let it go, since it was a completely one-sided victory
“Haven’t you had enough of this stratum?” Ranta asked “These enemies are way too easy It’s about time we moved on, leveled up”
“Here we go again…” Haruhiro sighed
Haruhiro still wasn’t entirely convinced after they took down another foreman and two followers, but when they came across a sink well that led to the fourth stratu as a viable option Everyone was fighting very well today and he wanted to keep theOn the other hand, he didn’t want today’s successes to et carried away at times like these
“Hht before his eyes, Haruhiro fell deep into thought
His own feelings put him at fifty-fifty, descend or not
“When are you going to quit being indecisive?!” Ranta demanded
And Haruhiro had to admit that this ti a little too indecisive, even for Haruhiro What were everyone else’s opinions of a leader like this? shi+horu’s and Mogzo’s expressions were anxious Yuhtful expression Ranta was the only one as pissed off
This was no good When decision time came, he had to make a decision So he did
“Let’s do it tomorrow,” Haruhiro announced
“WHAT!?” Ranta instantly protested
Haruhiro had anticipated his resistance, but it still annoyed him
“Nothing wrong with coht?” he replied “We’ll have time to mentally prepare beforehand so its fine”
“I’m already mentally prepared!!”
“You’re just one person! What about everyone else?!”
“So it’s my fault that I’m the only one who’s ready and the rest of you are chicken shi+t!?” Ranta spat
Wow Holy shi+t that pissed hie Haruhiro closed his eyes and forced hiry didn’t do anyone any good He had to control hio to such lengths to control himself on Ranta’s account?
It was Ranta’s fault It was all Goddamn Ranta
When Haruhiro opened his eyes, he didn’t look at Ranta His self-control would evaporate if he so ht now