Vol 7 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5: Consideration of Friendshi+p

1

The Abyss Shaft raid team used one week for preparation

They reinforced their camp and made dozens of forceful reconnaissances They wiped out all other enemies except the bosses They did their best to replenish their perishables and headed towards the battlefield

Federico felt his breathing become shallow and took a deep breath

The scenery in front of him was no different from last week

The iarden' Ruseato loomed in the center of the circular arena

The arena where the battle last as fought was shrouded in silence

Federico kept his eyes on his party leader shi+roe and waited for the signal

Federico felt this taciturn young ed over the past week

He led more with the other party ood Enchanter, but he was even better now Federico had gotten used to the new staff shi+roe drew out fro

They could not afford to hold back anymore, they had to do whatever it took to increase their probability of success Federico felt that shi+roe had responded well to their expectations

The probleroup

They provided ingredients fro both the quantity and quality of their rateful Some members commented 'so you couldn't bear to part with your food before this?' but that opinion faded away in no time

They were guests of Silver Sword after all, so they couldn't push the blaroup

Being wiped out was the turning point

Although 'death' was scary and painful, it could bring people together so quite well, but the bonds betweenthis painful experience together elevated their relationshi+ps from friends to a band of brothers

(Although you can't be friends with people you despise)

Federico thought as he bit his lips

(But brothers in arether if they hate each other)

That was the case for shi+roe It was the same for Demiqas too

Azalea closed his eyes in ht hand

He cast the Summoner's spell Soul Possession With it, the Summoner could possess a summoned familiar for reconnaissance He dismissed the spell, shook his head a couple of times and made a curt report to Willians of other enemies”

The sa

The raid bosses ht have learned to cooperate, but they still had their own thoughts and preferences, they weren't perfect Log Horizon's shi+roe mentioned this several times this past week If you talked to hiht far ahead But according to the rumors from Akiba, shi+roe was a mastermind who could manipulate the minions of hell

(I' either type)

Federico thought

shi+roe was an introvert His shy expression felt like a brick wall His explanations were hard to grasp and a bit long winded But these were minor flaws The members of Silver Sword couldn't really criticize others They were just a bunch of recluses, every one of theuy, but aed to the bunch with common sense

shi+roe chanted a short spell and activated it The Enchanter's Elixir spell increased the potency of recovery spells

Vuorinen cast Heartbeat Healing, conjuring a bright green light that was injected into Federico's body The recovery rate had definitely increased Federico was grateful to shi+roe who continued to cast buffing ic on everyone

Preparation time was over It was time for Silver Sword to shi+ne

This was the continuation of that night when William bared his heart for all to see

They counted down quietly Naotsugu rushed out as it went down to zero The Guardian in the 2nd party left the others far behind and charged '7th of the garden' Ruseato alone

(Wait for it Wait for it)

William's left arm was stretched out horizontally as he surveyed the whole arena Federico and the others aiting eagerly Willia for the first attack

”Castle of Stone!!”

Naotsugu roared as he lifted his shi+eld This was the special skill of Guardians that negated all dau took the first hit of the raid, the fierce attack Death Knell Moon

”Now!”

Williaed as he shouted

Federico was right behind him

Death Knell Moon and Kneeling Dark Silver Sere the special attacks of Ruseato in black knight mode Even the elite tank dinkuron needed the support of defense buffs and health regeneration in order to endure these two attacks shi+roe's coated it with his Castle of Stone From their previous battle, they had determined that Death Knell Moon had a cool down time of 90 seconds This meant that Ruseato couldn't use Death Knell Moon for the next 87 seconds Ruseato didn't have any other powerful wide area attacks

Kneeling Dark Silver Sas a powerful single target strike During this tined positions safely

Although this was to be expected in raid battles, a Guardian fro it off so perfectly made Federico smile

Even now, they were afraid of 'death'

But their eh

The ed forith his comrades at his side, the instant they executed their difficult tea in the wind Others ht think this was a dumb and naive euild ive a shi+t'

Just like that night when Williaed the world, this was the path Federico chose

Federico had died numerous times since he arrived in this world

Tiain he rose back froret and frustration over and over again

But he had nohis comrades in the darkness, and he found out it was the salad Soame But to hiuild mates brothers without hesitation He felt that all this was proven

Friends

It felt aard to say this term

At his age, it was troublesome to differentiate friends from acquaintances, and it was hard to classify people like this anyway They ht be close or distant to you, it didn't reallythe workforce, this was how Federico felt

But hearing the teruild master, his eyes felt warm Federico felt complicated

Maybe he would return to the original world one day

The daily life alternating between his work place and residence In reflection, having the resolve to die in a fight was really incredible

It was not bad, but he would definitely refuse if he was asked to stop This was a raid zone, and they were the raiders

”Viper Strike Rush!+”

Using the dark purple gauntlet as a springboard, Federico leaped into the air and attacked Ruseato's are The venoe, but it added the bleeding debuff and reduced accuracy by 4

This number was not trivial for raid battles They would be able to reduce healing by this a theer Federico would say that this was the 4 that would increase their chance of winning

dinkuron relieved Naotsugu's duty as the main tank

He ht be the handsome boy in Silver Sword, but he was equipped with phantasmal armor from head to toe, and wouldn't back down even froentle voice, he was shouting loud enough to shatter eardrums War Cry, a skill that extended the effects of items and increased resistance to status debuffs

Federico felt a surge of energy through his body

He moved to Ruseato's back and dealtbetween vertical and horizontal strikes, his skills allowed other attackers to deal heavier daood start was crucial

About ten e of the arena where the battle with '7th of the garden' Ruseato was being fought, the sound of two dull metallic thuds could be heard

Silver Sword's Samurai Ranodomaru used 'Zentetsuken'

As they had investigated in advance, cutting out a bar froh easily

Federico snuck a glance as he continued his attack

(It isn't time yet!)

The attack output against Ruseato was rau had nullified histhat could take out dinkuron's watertight defense

dinkuron and the others would be massacred with ease if Ruseato called for aid, but it had suffered less than 10 percent dae so far He probably wouldn't ask for help yet Federico was able to wipe away his fear by following this line of thought

There was no guarantee There was a chance that the other 2 bosses would join the fray at any tiht turn up too There was sih scouting thethe Guardians

With the slow passage of time, Federico kept up the attack and kept the status quo, waiting for the plan to start

They thirsted for victory

They wanted to quench the thirst in their hearts, putting their all in strike after strike

Federico's sword Sigh of Musuperu turned into athe armor of Ruseato with numerous blows Cracks appeared on the ar Federico's face But Federico paid it no heed

Federico didn't knoas the kind of guy who preferred doing things right until recently

He understood this in the past week

Wanting to be victorious did not equate to the desire to bring doerful foes, gaining fa eer

He just wanted a proper reward

This was a raid William wanted to win so bad that he cried

A fight where Silver Sword laid their lives on the line

Federico didn't want all their efforts to be for naught He didn't want this to be a e they kept up because of their own stupidity If that were true, wouldn't that be sad?

He bore no grudge against Ruseato He even felt a sense of respect for it

Federico and Silver Sword just wanted to verify one thing

They were not wrong They were stronger

All he wanted was to prove it

”The limit point!”

Willia characters rushed off '7th of the garden' Ruseato wasThe ar a body as white as snow beneath its appearance had changed to that of the white knight mode

The black ar into countless warriors The Adventurers within the trap zone of Ruseato had restricted movement It stuck to their feet and stopped the players froed its formation

”Hurry! shi+roe's party will lead!”

Following Williaroup juates one by one '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura awaited them there

The counterattack of Federico and company started here

2

Deeway

The corridor with a high granite ceiling interspaced with giant pillars extended in a straight path far ahead The end of the tunnel was hazy like the sunset, but they knew through advance reconnaissance that flae hall ahead

Deu in front of him

In Deu was as slow as a tortoise He , but his speed was half of Demiqas' Demiqas would be able to pull aith either a Wyvern Kick or Phantom Step

But he would just charge headfirst into the flau to avoid that even if he hated it

The group was led by Naotsugu and Demiqas

The tank of the 1st party dinkuron was the rear guard, fending off the shadoarriors as they retreated They couldn'tin the rear, Demiqas and the others had to hold the front

The opening phase of the plan was simple

The last tiarden' Ibra-Habura and '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga opened the giant gates and entered

The gaps in the gates were too narrow for theh, and it seemed that they could only be opened from the other side

The scripted event was probably the two gates opening up after they defeated '7th of the garden' Ruseato But that was not the case this time

The plan this tieon

Thisthis arena as a prison to isolate Ruseato was the gist of the plan Ruseato was unable to pass through the iron gates and enter the passageway so he couldn't pursue the group escaping through the western passageway But it was possible for hiate with his destructive attacks, that's why they engaged Ruseato until he turned into the white knight mode eak attacks If they didn't defeat all the shadoarriors, Ruseato wouldn't be able to ht mode

They had already scouted ahead using a covert type summon They had already been briefed on several possible situations that ht arise, but it was a relief for this situation to prevail

Ruseato couldn't open or destroy the gate and was effectively nullified The frost giant Tarutauruga situated in the east ate into the arena, but he wouldn't be able to access the western passageway, just like Ruseato They had been cut out of the equation If Deressed into the depths of the zone, they could conquer this dungeon

But none of the raid members felt that it would be so easy to achieve victory

Even if they defeated Ibra-Habura, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be another raid boss waiting According to shi+roe's interpretation of the dungeon layout, you could reach Ibra-Habura's lair by going the long way froer, '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga would definitely rush over

It was only an optia could not destroy the iron gates They should assume that it would buy them some time, but would eventually fall And if it did, they couldn't atteate would be destroyed

That's the situation Even though Demiqas and the other Adventurers could respawn, the situation would keep on changing The same opportunity would not come twice The members of Silver Sere tense as they ran down the corridor

(damn it!)

But this was to be expected

There was no way to predict all the possibilities Even grade-schoolers knew this There were socould happen Like waking up on a SundayTV How s not going your as the norm in the real world

The alternate world of Elder Tales lured you into letting down your guard and forgetting about uncertainties You thought that this was just a gao just as you planned Because you could do that, it created the illusion that everything you did would be successful

He was beaten badly by shi+roe

Deo your as their reality And he knew because he fell for the illusion He was tricked by the game-like appearance he saw in his tiny world His journey here was the sauard down But his wariness dripped away slowly like water flowing froain

(I wasn't careful and failed in this dull place I was taking it lightly and failed Because I underestimated that bunch of people, that's why I failed)

Demiqas re at him

An unhappy face, she was probably looking down at Demiqas That couldn't be helped Demiqas had hurt the People of the Land deeply He didn't kill anyone, but he had treated them with violence, traded them like commodity and worked them like slaves Of course he would be hated The only reason stopping thee was his physical prowess

That wo sex appeal When Delared at her with his fierce eyes, she would say with ait then just kill me' That was her favorite phrase 'If you can't kill et in the way of my chores' She scolded him

Demiqas was utterly defeated

People of the Land died when they were killed They knew this very well, but they lived on valiantly using this one life they had They used what little they had to leave their mark on this world Demiqas' life seemed so cheap in contrast

Demiqas underestimated this alternate world

He lost to shi+roe because he thought this was just a game

Before he could learn froainst the powerless People of the Land

He lost to Silver Sword too He was defeated when they met for the first tiain, leaving Brigandia in a dire state

And now, he lost to the raid bosses There uilddefeat, there were still 20 odd ga to follow William

De left to lose

The white corridor made from stone bricks came to an end abruptly

The tall ceiling had reached the new height of a 6 story building The giant spherical space before the 30m in diameter

The walls were e stripes Stairs severalthe walls spiraled down into the pit Puddles of blue waters were scattered all over The vast space had surprisingly bright colors, illuhts

”This smell”

”Ah ah, hot spring festival”

Naotsugu answered shi+roe in a way that even Demiqas understood This was the smell of sulfur The stones had all been soaked in various chemicals

The group descended down the stairs spiraling round the edge of the pit At the bottoiant snake Ibra-Habura

This was probably the raid boss' standby mode

As they planned, Naotsugu leapt off froreat serpent

The support was minimal, but they didn't have tiu headed in without complete preparations

Naotsugu attacked with the support of Tetora's reactive heal and Vuorinen's healing over time Demiqas couldn't see any hesitation in his action, an excellent move

De through the air The members of Silver Sword also joined the fray

It became a chaotic battle immediately

The opening at the corner of the pit was probably the 'answer' At the deepest end of this entrance was the finish line But there were no 'convenient' gates blocking the entrance to block off any pursuers They had to take down '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura here And they needed to do that before '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga arrived

The distance attack tea ice arrow spells prematurely

Deu just barely ed to draw Ibra-Habura's attention

A fire stor u used Anchor Howl and becaravate his foe In the short tione on the amount of hate the tank drew from the monster was still unstable, Demiqas had already learned that He understood how e as soon as possible, but being too hasty edy

”Fortress stance! Let me test the performance of my new armor and shi+eld!”

Naotsugu braced hi up a ith his back Blue aura jettisoned from his heels, this was the defensive skill used by Guardians He blocked the ene with his sword This skill traded mobility for a boost in defense, a skill not available to Monks like Demiqas

But Des known as mobility

”Ora ora ora! Aura Saber!”

De kick from midair

The attack followed a path si the scales of the burning snake It s and day Protection spell of the Druids reduced flanificantly, so Demiqas wouldn't lose too much health as he attacked

Dearden' Ibra-Habura, which was the size of a mini bus, with his Phanto behind him and unleashed a Wyvern Kick

Wyvern Kick again

Another Wyvern Kick

The sole of his Storm assault Sabaton Boots, which see shocks to the scalp of his head If he were to do this in Susukino, the abandoned buildings would crumple into a mountain of debris Not just Dereen, Federico was also striking with his fla Ibra-Habura with the other iant

Suddenly, Delow

This was shi+roe's buffing spell Keen Edge

(That bastard!)

Deue in displeasure He wanted to spit, but his iant snake Deer Echo Fist It had low accuracy, but he couldn't

The slithery eyes of the reptile focused on De intent

”Wide area attack, fall back!”

The melee warriors left the front lines on Williauardian statue, crossing his arht on

Without any hesitation or regret, Demiqas expressed his will in his oay

Demiqas didn't move an inch as the flame vortex spewed by Ibra-Habura encircled him

3

Naotsugu watched the sea of flah his a onto hi him whole

But even in this hellish scene, Naotsuguforith his eyes barely open

He felt hot with the fla naked on asphalt under the bright summer sun It hurt, but was bearable

Naotsugu observed that the flames hit him in waves, and took a deep breath as one wave subsided He held his breath as if he were diving in water He was doing this to prevent das, but it seemed like he wouldn't be hurt lethally even if he breathed some of the fire in

(That arrogant Monk isn't bad in a fight)

Naotsugu was covered by Tetora's reactive heal, Vuorinen's health regeneration and Toko's daation shi+eld These spells were known as classic healing atory Feast, was strong The dai could cancel out 6000 points of dae seeu wouldn't be surprised if the hit just now pushed hie of death

Deu

He probably used Cover Ring, a skill which allowed you to share the daher resistance to ele out the dau would be able to stay on the frontlines Naotsugu had a newfound respect for Demiqas

”Alright, here I go! Taunting Blow!”

Naotsugu attacked to aggravate Ibra-Habura

The giant fla The enormous head butted with a force which rivaled a heavy truck, the wide openas heavy construction machinery It closed in with the speed of an out of control train, s stiffen and vision narrow

But Naotsugu shook off the pressure and cracked a smile

He was pushi+ng hith to smile at all

But having nothing to spare was hard to explain You didn't really feel that you were running on e left Even if you had a 3 day weekend, you still couldn't find the effort to do your chores Even during the hellish period when you were so busy you had to sleep in the office, you could still find the strength to find a particular brand of pudding in the convenience store That's hoas

That's why he still had the spare energy to s on empty

Naotsugu held on to this belief and swung his blade

Pulling in hate with his roar, adopting a defensive stance with his shi+eld, he refused to back down

And he kept on su hen he took on the role of the roup

”Bring it on!”

Everyone should have noticed Naotsugu's shout Williae output and shi+ft to the left!”

Naotsugu's sot it

It had been more than 3 weeks since they invaded Abyss Shaft They could build on their u understood how Williau's intentions as well

Naotsugu's body was bathed in recovery spells repeatedly, pushi+ng his hit points up

Dereat job, but his health had fallen below 30 Unlike Deht in like a relief pitcher in baseball, Naotsugu had no tiu repeatedly To reduce dau's health was the basics in ensuring the safety of the group Naotsugu accepted their assistance without hesitation

In the ht about the old days

That was a fun place to play in, cou served as the main tank for the Debauchery Tea Party, so he had experience with raids In fact, Debauchery Tea Party was a group that went for raids at an insane rate because of Kanami's nature She treated the raids as just an obstacle blocking their way They went to challenge raids in overseas servers because she wanted to see new sceneries, what a joke

”Hey, get over here!”

His new Armor of Silver Oath was really dependable It was sturdy with all parts connected tightly There were no loose pieces hanging around The Gaze of Lionheart shi+eld was excellent too It provided better cushi+on against the shock to his wrist He could keep on fighting with such equipment in hand If he shi+fted his shi+eld in the way of the bright spots in his vision, he could even push back the attack from Ibra-Habura's tail He could feel the increase in defensive power

”Do you even lift? Bring it on festival!”

Naotsugu roared with brute force

”Whoa Mr Naotsugu, you are fired up!”

Tetora suddenly approached and chatted casually

Naotsugu leaned even”Leave this to u's shoulder and stood facing the arena She spoke with a clear voice

”Everyone! How's your fighting spirit?”

The battle was still intense, so no one gave a definite answer to Tetora But everyone could see her This was obvious as they would see Naotsugu as tanking the fierce attack of '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura when they attacked Ibra-Habura Tetora was speaking to everyone on the battlefield while standing on Naotsugu's shoulders

A wave of clashi+ng sounds filled the hall That was the best they could do to respond to the question of this petite idol Swords and axes rose and fell, frost and lightning rained down on the monster

Tetora was satisfied with the sound, ht hand into the sky

”Alright, let’s fight together! Work hard everyone! Go, go!”

Tetora's courageous and loud voice could round The sound reverberated through the air and reached out to her comrades

Aurora lights with the colors of the rainbow appeared above the stars flew out and pleasing music could be heard This was the Cleric's special spell Aurora Heal It was e to cover a hundred Adventurers with its healing light

”What a great view festival!”

”Of course, I ael after all!”

The Cleric was all s spells like arrows The speed and skill were even better than the healers of Silver Sword due to shi+roe's support, an excellent raider

Naotsugu used this opportunity to attack

Everything was going well so far As shi+roe had expected, the hit points of '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura was less than that of '7th of the garden' Ruseato It also lacked alternate forms and means to recover health It only had wide area attacks and the 'characteristic' of sapping the hit points of everyone in the zone

But the team already knew this, and has equipped anti-heat equips and cast the appropriate anti-elearden' Ibra-Habura had a lot of hit points, they had already rind half of it away They should be able to win if they kept up this pace

(But we can't let our guard down)

Naotsugu watched theattention to the surrounding situation

”Inco!”

”I got it covered!”

Naotsugu wasn't telling that to Tetora alone Everyone else understood his intentions too

He was playing the role of a shi+eld Naotsugu's confidence was mandatory for the main tank of a raid

'We can win this time' 'We should be able to pull this off' If you approached a probleuarantee victory If it was so easy to win, there will be no need for any of shi+roe's stratage to lose', 'Let's give up', you would really lose That's how a raid went

If you wanted to inspire your tea were acceptable

The hand on his shoulder took away the heat froh his body This was Tetora's Minor Heal In order to release the full potential of the Cleric, sheNaotsugu with her sunny words

Tetora understood too Their nonsensical dialogue could turn into everybody's strength Naotsugu understood very well and was in a good mood He didn't squeeze a s from his heart

”Have you fallen for u?”

”Absolutely not!”

”Isn't this the place where all sorts of flags are raised?”

”Your inopportune words mess up the mood!”