Chapter 25

I successfully used 〈Shadowstep〉 on the Moneybags Larna.

No matter how fast it was, now that I had it trapped, the Moneybags Larna could no longer escape me.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!"

The Moneybags Larna desperately tried to get away from me, but its movements stopped about two meters out—the limit of how far 〈Shadowstep〉 could stretch its shadow—and it couldn't go any farther.

"You did it, Elymas-san! You’ve got the Moneybags Larna completely trapped! That means it’s as good as caught!"

Ruche rushed over to me, speaking excitedly.

"...Wait, you said you’d capture it, but how exactly do you intend to finish off that Moneybags Larna?"

That’s right. The Moneybags Larna had two strengths.

The first was its extraordinary speed... and the other was its high Defense.

Its Defense was absurdly high, and it was completely resistant to all kinds of status ailments, debuffs, and elemental attacks.

No ordinary attack could so much as scratch a Moneybags Larna.

"We’ll have to finish it with a critical hit."

In 〈Magic World〉, if you read your opponent’s movements perfectly and land a blow on its vital point, it counts as a critical hit and deals far more damage than usual.

However, allowing players to land them reliably through skill alone would ruin the game balance, so even after meeting the conditions, a critical hit only occurs based on your Luck.

The timing was also extremely strict. Depending on the difference between both combatants’ Agility stats, it could be practically impossible to consistently land an effective blow that met the conditions for a critical hit.

I’d heard the developers had adjusted this aspect by working backward from the limits of human reflexes.

A critical hit dealt 1.5 times the normal damage.

On top of that, it pierced 50% of the target’s Defense.

"I see! Since you’ve restrained it, you have all the time you need to aim for a critical hit! Do your best, Elymas-san!"

Ruche clenched her fist and cheered me on.

"No, even if I landed a critical hit, my attacks wouldn’t deal any damage."

"Huh...?"

"I told you, didn’t I? You’re the one who’ll corner it and pierce its Defense, Ruche."

After all, Heavy Knights had low Attack.

The sword I had equipped now was only just usable at the starting Level, and it was quite weak for my current Level range.

With my current stats, even a critical hit wouldn’t deal a single point of damage.

On top of that, Heavy Knights were slow.

Even an enemy caught by 〈Shadowstep〉 could still move around a little, and since I couldn’t lift my foot, I couldn’t properly track its movements and land a full-force blow.

I couldn’t meet the conditions for a critical hit.

A lucky hit could happen, so the odds weren’t zero.

Still, it was a common joke in 〈Magic World〉: a defense-focused adventurer would trap a Golden Toad with 〈Shadowstep〉 and keep attacking, trying to land a critical hit, but never succeed. Then other monsters would arrive, and hours of effort would go to waste.

"S-So, am I supposed to chase it down and somehow land a critical hit...? But I’ve hardly ever landed one before!"

Normally, it would be impossible.

Ruche was far slower than the Moneybags Larna, too.

For one thing, Jesters were also a class with low Attack, so an ordinary critical hit wouldn’t be enough to deal damage.

"You have one, don’t you? The Skill you already had, Ruche... 〈Dice Thrust〉."

It was an attack Skill you could acquire at 【2】 in 〈Fool’s Acrobatics〉.

I’d confirmed she’d already acquired it when I checked Ruche’s stats.

It was a thrusting Skill, and a random number from one to six appeared as an effect.

A bonus effect corresponding to the number would activate, and if it was a six, the attack dealt 1.3 times the normal damage and was guaranteed to be a critical hit.

To be precise, it was an attack that counted as a critical hit as soon as it properly struck the target’s body.

"〈Dice Thrust〉? But I heard it was a useless Skill, a dud that was always worse than a regular attack on average... B-But you’re right, that could work...!"

〈Dice Thrust〉 had originally been the Skill that led to Ruche getting kicked out of her previous party.

She’d told me that because 〈Dice Thrust〉—a Skill that was worse than a normal attack on average—was the first Skill Ruche had finally learned despite having no Skills and no innate combat ability, Klein and the others had started treating her even worse.

However, 〈Dice Thrust〉 had the potential to easily take down monsters with specialized Defense.

When you ran into a monster you couldn’t beat through ordinary means, using 〈Dice Thrust〉, with its wide damage range, could give you a chance to win.

More importantly, it was relatively easy to meet the conditions for hunting a Golden Toad.

A six with 〈Dice Thrust〉 multiplied Attack by 1.3 and made the hit a critical.

That made for a total multiplier of 1.95.

On top of that, the 15% Defense-piercing effect of 〈Iron-Piercer〉 and the 50% penetration from a critical hit stacked, and their values were simply added together.

In other words, it would be a strike with 1.95 times the Attack and 65% Defense penetration.

Based on Ruche’s current Attack, that would deal exactly 【2】 damage to the Moneybags Larna with 【Defense: 99】—equal to its HP.

The chance of rolling a six was 16.6%, and the effect of Luck modifiers wasn’t all that extreme, so even a generous estimate would put it at around 25%.

But with the Moneybags Larna restrained, she’d have plenty of chances to hit it with 〈Dice Thrust〉—six times, ten times, or even more.

"No class or Skill is useless. Some may only shine in specific situations, or take a little longer to come into their own."

The same was true of people.

"There’s no point in getting too caught up in one person’s opinion of you. You simply happened to seem unimpressive to Klein and the others. I’ll say it again: I need your strength, so I hope you’ll keep lending it to me."

Ruche listened with her mouth hanging open, then her expression grew resolute as she readied her 〈Iron-Piercer〉.

"Y-Yes! I’ll do it! I’ll show you! If I can’t live up to your expectations after you’ve put this much faith in me, then what was the point of becoming an adventurer?!"

Ruche ran toward the Moneybags Larna, leaped into the air, and thrust her 〈Iron-Piercer〉 toward its back.

"〈Dice Thrust〉!"

The number six appeared in the air.

With a crisp sound, a crack ran across the Moneybags Larna’s golden hide.

"Gegoh!"