Chapter 54
「Ah!」
「What’s wrong, Elena?」
As they walk through the forest, Elena notices a camera floating in the sky starting to move.
「We might be on camera now! This is our chance to make an impression, you two!」
She whispers, and Cocono and Mew give small nods.
「Hmm, where could that medal be?」
「I don’t see it. Maybe another guild already took it?」
「I wonder. Hey, Mr. Medal! Come out, come out, wherever you are!」
The three continue their conversation, pretending not to notice they’re being filmed.
Their voices are slightly higher than before, as they’ve switched into their streamer mode.
As they keep talking and moving through the forest—
「Come forth, incarnation of the azure water dragon! Devour the enemies that stand before me!」
「Crimson flames of purgatory! Engulf my foes and reduce them to ashes!」
Suddenly, they hear what sounds like two people chanting magic spells from behind.
Elena quickly turns around and spots two masked men a short distance away.
They’re reaching out towards her group, with huge magic circles expanding in front of their hands.
「Aqua Dragoon!」
「Inferno Blaze!」
Immediately after, a dragon-shaped water stream and a massive fireball are launched from the magic circles.
「Ah…」
Unable to react to the sudden attack, Elena stands frozen in place.
「Elena, watch out!」
Mew rushes over, shouting as she shoves Elena hard.
Elena falls on her backside and quickly turns to look at Mew.
Mew is now standing where Elena was just moments ago, with a sly grin on her face.
Soon after, the two spells hit Mew.
「Mew!」
When the fireball dissipates, Mew is nowhere to be seen.
「Elena, in front of you!」
This time, Cocono’s shout reaches her ears.
As Elena turns her head as instructed, she sees two more masked men—one wielding a greatsword and the other an axe—charging towards her out of nowhere.
「O greater power, dwell within the blade of thy servant! Sharp Edge!」
From behind them, yet another masked man casts a light spell to enhance their weapons.
「Blade Dance!」
「Power Axe!」
The men simultaneously activate their special abilities.
It’s too late to dodge.
Just as Elena resigns herself to defeat—
「Penetrate!」
He hears a voice calling out from behind him.
In an instant, Cocono dashes past her at incredible speed, thrusting the rapier in her right hand deep into the axe-wielding man.
Cocono, now standing in front of Elena, takes the attacks meant for her.
Being still at a low level, Cocono quickly disappears into particles.
「Cocono! How dare you!」
Elena approaches the men, her anger apparent as she stomps towards them.
「Foot Stomp!」
「Come forth, incarnation of the majestic water dragon! Devour the enemies that stand in my way!」
「Crimson flames of purgatory! Engulf my foes and reduce them to ashes!」
She activates her second foot technique.
At the same time, two of the men swing their axe and greatsword at her.
However, Elena avoids their attacks with a big front flip, part of her Foot Stamp technique.
She then stomps on the axe-wielding man with both feet.
「Somersault Kick!」
「Aqua Dragoon!」
「Inferno Blaze!」
Without missing a beat, Elena activates Somersault Kick, performing a high backflip while kicking the axe man upwards.
Right after, the water stream and fireball pass just beneath her.
This wasn’t a calculated dodge—it was pure coincidence.
It seems the goddess of victory, or rather, the goddess of streaming, is smiling upon her.
「Onslaught!」
Without a moment’s rest, Elena activates her third foot technique.
She unleashes a barrage of kicks on the man: a roundhouse kick, a back kick, three consecutive thrust kicks, and another back kick.
「Foot Stomp!」
「Rain of light, pour down upon us!」
「Come forth, incarnation of the majestic water dragon! Devour the enemies that stand in my way!」
「Crimson flames of purgatory! Engulf my foes and reduce them to ashes!」
She performs another front flip and stomps down, causing the axe man to dissipate into particles.
The moment she confirms this—
「Shining Score!」
「Aqua Dragoon!」
「Inferno Blaze!」
「Blade Dance!」
The attacks from the remaining four men hit Elena.
☆
The next instant, Elena finds herself in front of the fountain in Starting Town.
「Elena-chan!」
「Ah, you two!」
Elena runs towards Cocono and Mew, who are rushing over to her, waving her hand slightly.
「Elena, great job!」
「Good work!」
「Yeah, you both did great too! Oh, Cocono, Mew, you protecting me was really good! I think the viewers probably got fired up watching that!」
As Elena says this, Cocono and Mew exchange smiles.
The reason why they sacrificed themselves to protect Elena wasn’t just because they wanted to protect their beloved senior—there was a more explicit reason.
It was because 『it would make for better broadcast content.』
「Thank you! Oh, Elena, you were really amazing too!」
「Right? Getting serious after your teammates are taken out is just like an anime protagonist. It was super emotional!」
Elena’s outburst of 「How dare you!」 was for the same reason as the other two.
To be honest, she knew from the start that they couldn’t win, so she wasn’t particularly angry when the two were defeated.
If anything, she felt 「happy」 that her cute juniors had managed to create a good scene.
In other words, that anger was just an act.
It’s a very calculated way of thinking, but it can’t be helped.
After all, the three of them are streamers.
「Haha, thank you! Well, now that we’ve made our mark, shall we enjoy the event as spectators from here on out?」
「Yeah! Oh, there’s Sieg.」
「You’re right! We should study his chatting skills!」
The three members of Strawberry Montblanc, now released from their roles as streamers, prepare to watch the progress of the event as regular viewers.
☆
「Alright, I’ve found another one!」
Lucifer says as he rushes to a rock and picks up a small box lying there.
「Oh, for real? You’ve been amazing since earlier!」
「Lucifer really has a nose for this stuff! Thanks to him, we’re making good progress!」
「Hmph. Finding mere small boxes is child’s play for me. After all, I possess these demon eyes!」
「Yeah, yeah. Praise him a little and he’s like this right away. Well, whatever. Let’s move on to the next treasure box… Lucifer! Behind you!」
Destroy suddenly shouts, pointing behind Lucifer.
Lucifer casually turns around and sees an arrow flying straight towards him.
The next moment, the arrow hits Lucifer directly.
「Hmph, this technique again. How irritating. Attacking from an unseen position is the act of a coward.」
Lucifer says this as he checks his HP to see how much damage he took.
In that instant, Lucifer’s eyes widen.
「Hm? What’s wrong?」
「…Rayleigh. Didn’t you say earlier that this Homing Shot or whatever it’s called has low power?」
「Yeah. It shouldn’t be that strong.」
「I see. Well, I just took 110 damage from that.」
「110!? That’s super strong!」
「…Looks like our enemy is pretty damn tough. We better heal Lucifer quick.」
「Oh, right!」
Destroy and Rayleigh each cast the light healing magic Heal on Lucifer twice, which they had learned beforehand.
After Lucifer is fully healed, Rayleigh brings the conversation back on track.
「They probably know our location now that they’ve hit us, so they’ll likely be heading this way soon. Should we attack first, or run? What do you think?」
「Hmm, well…」
「What’s this? It’s rare for you to hesitate. Usually, you’d be all ‘Retreat is not in my vocabulary!’ and try to attack even if I tried to stop you.」
「Normally, that’s what I’d want to do, but… I’m out of MP.」
Lucifer says this with an embarrassed look on his face.
Seeing his attitude, Destroy puts his hand on his chin, deep in thought.
「Well, I guess that settles it. In that case, let’s withdraw and continue collecting the dropped medals.」
「Yes, that would be the wise decision—」
「No, let’s stay and fight! We might not win, but if they’re that strong, they must have a lot of medals too!」
Destroy’s words surprise both Lucifer and Rayleigh.
After a moment, Lucifer’s face relaxes into a pleased expression.
「Heh. Indeed, Destroy is right. What was I thinking, considering turning my back on the enemy? I must have been out of my mind.」
「You got it! To be honest, I’ve been itching to go up against a tough enemy too! Lucifer, Destroy, let’s do this!」
「Yeah!」
「Yep!」
Having decided to launch an attack themselves, the three members of Dark Faith begin walking in the direction the arrow came from.
☆
「There, over there!」
As they walk for a while, Destroy suddenly raises his voice.
His finger points to five players walking towards them.
They’re all dressed in the same outfit and wearing masks.
While their faces can’t be seen, judging from their clothes and build, they all appear to be men.
The other group seems to have noticed them too, as they start running to close the distance.
The three stop, with Destroy and Rayleigh readying their weapons.
Lucifer, on the other hand, spreads his arms wide and opens his mouth.
「First, let us exchange greetings. We are those entranced by darkness—」
「Flying Edge!」
「Power Shot!」
But the masked men, closing in, activate their special abilities without paying any attention to Lucifer’s words.
A slashing attack and an arrow fly towards Lucifer.
However, due to the distance, he easily avoids them.
「Hmph. Launching an attack without warning—how barbaric. You shall atone for this discourtesy with your lives! Let’s go, Destroy! Rayleigh!」
「Yeah!」
Immediately after, Destroy steps forward.
On the enemy side, two men—one with a one-handed sword and one empty-handed—come forward and close in.
「Come forth from darkness, fangs of jet black! Devour those who oppose! Darkness Bite!」
「Crimson hellfire! Engulf our enemies and reduce them to ashes! Inferno Blaze!」
Meanwhile, Lucifer activates his third-tier dark magic, while Rayleigh casts his third-tier fire magic.
「O divine judgment! Gather here and smite my enemies! Volt Sphere!」
「O thorns! Gather and intertwine to form a spear that pierces my foes! Thorn Pierce!」
「Arrow Rain!」
At the same time, the enemy’s rear guard also activates their third-tier combat arts.
The black fangs and massive fireball launched by Lucifer and Rayleigh directly hit two of the staff-wielding men.
Right after, Rayleigh is simultaneously struck by a giant ball of lightning, a rain of arrows, and intertwined thorns forming a spear.
「Rayleigh, are you alright?!」
「Somehow! But damn, this might be bad! I’m already down to less than half HP!」
「I see! Then hurry and heal yourself! I’ll cover you!」
As Lucifer says this, he turns his attention to the enemy’s rear guard.
The staff-wielding men who just took the magic attacks seem to have an air of composure about them, though their expressions can’t be seen behind their masks.
「Crap!」
At the same time, Destroy’s voice reaches their ears.
When they quickly check, they see Destroy under fierce attack from the two frontline enemies.
「Damn!」
They knew the enemy was strong, but this is beyond what they had imagined.
On top of that, they’re outnumbered.
Honestly, their chances of winning are zero.
「Rayleigh. It seems this is as far as we go.」
「…Looks that way. Can’t be helped, we’ll do better next time.」
「Indeed. But I have no intention of losing quietly. Let’s at least take one of them down with us!」
As Lucifer says this with a grin, Rayleigh mirrors his expression.
「Yeah, that’s the spirit! Alright, I’ll buy you time while I chant. You deliver the finishing blow!」
「Understood! I’m counting on you, Rayleigh!」
「Leave it to me! …Haaaah!」
Rayleigh roars as he charges towards the three rear guard enemies.
In that instant, the enemies all reach out towards Rayleigh, unleashing their combat arts.
Confirming this, Lucifer also extends his hand.
「O death god hungry for life! Answer my call and quench your thirst now!」
As he chants, a huge magic circle appears beneath the enemies’ feet.
At the same time, the enemy attacks hit Rayleigh.
Being more powerful fourth-tier magic and special abilities, Rayleigh instantly turns into particles.
「Grim Reaper!」
Right after, as Lucifer calls out the spell name, a death god emerges from the magic circle and swings its scythe with both hands.
The attack successfully hits the three rear guard members standing on the magic circle.
However, not a single one of them dies.
Their remaining HP must be very low now, and one more hit would probably finish them off, but Lucifer is out of MP.
So then—
「Destroy! Attack either of those staff-wielders!」
Lucifer shouts as he runs towards Destroy.
「Got it! One, two, three!」
As he finishes speaking, Destroy, who had been facing off against the two frontline enemies, takes several backsteps.
Lucifer takes his place in front of the vanguard.
「Come forth from darkness, fangs of jet black! Devour those who oppose! Darkness Bite!」
The retreating Destroy activates his magic.
Black fangs fly towards the staff-wielding man on the right.
When they hit, the man disappears in a shower of sparkling fragments.
「Octuple Blow!」
「Rapid Thrust!」
Right after, before they can celebrate, Lucifer is hit by attacks from the two vanguard enemies.
His HP rapidly decreases.
「O azure current! Gather here and become a vortex! Maelstrom!」
Furthermore, a huge magic circle appears at his feet.
A massive whirlpool emerges from it and—
☆
Lucifer is teleported to the plaza in Starting Town.
Destroy is beside him.
「Hey! Lucifer! Destroy! You did it!」
Right after, Rayleigh, who had died earlier, comes running over, shouting loudly.
「Indeed! Destroy landed the finishing blow!」
「Yeah! As expected of you, Destroy!」
Lucifer and Rayleigh turn to Destroy with smiles on their faces.
「…」
But he just stands there, head down, saying nothing.
「Destroy? What’s wrong?」
「Did something happen?」
When the two ask, Destroy takes a deep breath before speaking, still looking down.
「…I’m sorry, you two. It’s my fault…」
「Hm? What exactly are you apologizing for?」
「…Because I said we should fight. If we had run away like you two suggested, we wouldn’t have been defeated…」
Hearing Destroy’s words, Lucifer and Rayleigh look at each other.
Then they both laugh.
「Is that all you’re worried about?」
「Destroy, you have no reason to apologize. If anything, I’m grateful!」
「…Huh?」
Destroy looks up, blinking in surprise.
「Why do you look so surprised? If you hadn’t said ‘let’s fight’ back then, I would have become a coward by now. It’s only natural that I’m grateful for not having to show such weakness.」
「That’s right! Sure, we lost, but it was the most fired up I’ve been in a while!」
Hearing these words, Destroy finally relaxes his expression, as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
「…Thanks, you two.」
「Hmph, now you’re thanking us? You’re truly incomprehensible!」
「You got that right! …Oh, look over there. It’s those guys from earlier.」
Rayleigh points at a display floating in the sky.
The screen shows the masked men they were fighting earlier.
They’re moving through the forest silently, without exchanging a single word.
「Man, those guys were incredibly strong.」
「Indeed. I didn’t expect such powerful opponents to exist. We need to train harder… Alright! From now on, we’ll watch and learn from the battles of the strong, and from tomorrow, we’ll focus on leveling up again!」
「…Yeah! I’ll do my best too!」
「Same here! And in the next event, we’ll definitely win!」
「Indeed!」
「Yeah!」
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