Chapter 31
I charged the approaching Tin Knight with 〈Shield Bash〉, knocking it back, then parried the blade of the second Tin Knight coming at me from the side with 〈Parry〉.
The moment the Tin Knight left itself open, Ruche charged in and slashed at it with 〈Iron-Piercer〉.
“Take that!”
The Tin Knight staggered backward from the blow.
“All right, I can do this... I can do it, too!”
“Waaaaaah!”
In the back, Embryo exposed its eye and let out a loud cry.
A flash of light streaked through the air. The head of the fallen Tin Knight reattached, and it rose with the jerky movements of a puppet.
That brought the number of enemies back to three.
“Th-This is never going to end... How can we...”
“Yeah. There’s no point in defeating the Tin Knights. It’ll make them use up MP, but in a battle of attrition, we’re the ones who’ll run out of chances to win. We need to attack Embryo itself. But it’s floating out of reach in the air, and... its body is covered in a suit of flesh armor, so it almost never exposes its weak point: the eye.”
“You have a plan... right?”
I nodded.
“Use your 〈Dice Thrust〉 to pierce it. If you fail, it’s over. One chance in six... We have no choice but to stake everything on your luck.”
Embryo has one major weakness.
Critical hits.
A critical hit with a melee weapon multiplies your Attack by 1.5 and grants 50% penetration against the target’s Defense.
Embryo’s flesh armor has 【Defense: +66】.
The eye itself has 【Defense: 22】... meaning its total Defense is only around 【Defense: +88】.
Of course, that’s still far higher than mine as a Heavy Knight, enough to block any ordinary attack completely.
That’s certainly a serious threat, but it’s much softer than the Moneybags Larna.
Considering Embryo has a decent amount of HP, that’s only natural. Still, if Ruche lands a critical hit with 〈Dice Thrust〉—which managed to damage the Moneybags Larna even before we leveled up—she can deal massive damage through its flesh armor.
Combined with the damage I dealt using magic stones, that should be just enough to finish Embryo off.
“B-But I can’t jump as high as it’s floating!”
Of course, I’d thought of that.
Ruche could run along walls with 〈Fool's Acrobatics〉, but there was no way she could close the distance that way.
Embryo would be wary of anyone with a melee weapon getting close, too.
It could just retreat away from the wall, and in the worst case, fire a 〈Sylph Cutter〉 at us from point-blank range.
“First, I’ll force my way close to Embryo. I’m slow, so it’ll take everything I’ve got. Once I make it, follow right behind me. I’ll use my shield to launch you into the air.”
As I’d explained, 〈Shield Bash〉 was a Skill that pitted 【Defense + Attack / 2】 against the opponent’s value and knocked them away.
It didn’t matter if you ended up in midair.
Besides, a Jester has low Defense and Attack, making it easier to build up distance with 〈Shield Bash〉.
And this Skill only deals damage if you slam the target into a wall.
Normally, we couldn’t use a strategy like this.
Relying on luck for a critical hit was inefficient in the first place, and Embryo normally floated much higher, far beyond the reach of 〈Shield Bash〉.
But things were different now.
That was because the ceiling in this passage was lower than the ceiling in the boss room where Embryo normally waited.
This strategy was only possible because Embryo had come outside during 〈King's Wandering〉.
“So it all comes down to rolling a six with 〈Dice Thrust〉... I understand. I’ll do it! I’ll definitely roll a six!”
“Yeah, I’m counting on you, Ruche! Sorry, but I’m going to have to rely on your luck!”
I shouted as I knocked the Tin Knight I’d been fighting to the side with 〈Body Check Slash〉, then forced my way toward Embryo.
Ruche moved quickly and followed after me.
Ruche flew into the air.
I crouched and held my shield out as a foothold for her.
“〈Shield Bash〉!”
I sent her flying toward Embryo with all my strength.
Ruche’s small frame soared through the air.
Everything had gone perfectly up to this point.
But whether Ruche could roll a six was entirely a matter of luck.
If she failed here, our chances of winning would be all but gone.
My body was close to its limit, too, and I wasn’t even sure Ruche would land safely.
All I could do now was pray to the goddess of fortune.
In our recent fight with the Moneybags Larna, Ruche, despite her high Luck, had failed to roll a six with 〈Dice Thrust〉 seven times in a row.
I knew that kind of streak didn’t mean anything, but the odds had to even out eventually.
So surely, this time, she could roll a six on her first try.
“〈Dice Thrust〉!”
Ruche thrust at Embryo with her 〈Iron-Piercer〉.
A glowing number appeared in midair... and it was a four.
Her blade bounced mercilessly off Embryo’s mass of flesh, dealing not even a single point of damage.
“Kiki... Gya-ha, kya-ha... Aaaaaa... Ahahahahahahaha!”
The hollow that resembled an eye widened, and the thing that looked like a mouth split open.
It was a triumphant, malicious grin I’d never seen in 〈Magic World〉.
I gritted my teeth.
It hadn’t worked...
Maybe I shouldn’t have gambled our lives on a strategy like that, even if I had no other options.
I didn’t know whether we still had any chance of winning.
But I didn’t want to give up. I’d dragged Ruche into this, too.
At the very least, I had to draw the Tin Knights’ attention so she could land safely.
When I gripped my sword tightly and looked up, an unexpected sight met my eyes.
Ruche had her feet planted against the ceiling, her 〈Iron-Piercer〉 poised toward Embryo’s back.
“〈Fool's Acrobatics〉...!”
The Jester Skill, 〈Fool's Acrobatics〉!
It was a Skill that increased your instantaneous speed and let you run along walls.
Ruche had used 〈Fool's Acrobatics〉 to walk across the ceiling, quickly steadying herself while upside down.
“This is truly the last chance! 〈Dice Thrust〉!”
A six appeared in midair.
The blade of 〈Iron-Piercer〉 shot forward, piercing through its center.
It pierced Embryo’s flesh armor from the back of its head, spraying red fluid everywhere.
From its gaping maw, a large, bloodshot eye emerged.
The three Tin Knights suddenly stopped moving, as if their strings had been cut, and collapsed onto the floor.