Chapter 221
The enemies are numerous, but the front-line members are holding them off well. To take advantage of this opportunity, let's target their obvious weakness, 【Light-Attribute Weakness】. There are three of us, myself included, who can exploit it.
"Star Magic Circle, activate—Holy Ray!"
"I'll use it too! Holy Ray!"
"【Purging Evil Eye】"
The three of us—Nanako, Mikero, and I—simultaneously unleashed magic and a Skill, both devastatingly powerful against the Undead. My beam and Nanako's pierced their bodies, while Mikero's Evil Eye scorched them. Nobody doubted that our opening attacks would inflict a fair amount of damage.
"What?!"
But our expectations were betrayed. Our beams were scattered by the shields, while Mikero's Evil Eye dealt far less damage than we had imagined. Could it be...?
"Do their shields and armor reduce magic damage?!"
I felt like cursing my own failure—and my arrogance. These were Undead equipped with proper weapons and armor. In other words, there was no reason they couldn't be wearing equipment with various special effects, just like us.
Sure enough, just as Appraisal had shown, they possessed 【Light-Attribute Weakness】. However, their armor's performance or their defensive combat arts had reduced the damage. Until now, I had encountered NPCs with weapons possessing special effects, but never any with special-effect armor. That had led to my arrogance!
"Wind Blade... magic doesn't seem very effective no matter what I use..."
"Izaam-han, what'll we do?"
"Their armor and shields are highly durable, but there are plenty of ways around them."
"Something like this!"
As Shio said that, her arrow slipped neatly into the armor through the spot where the neck should have been. Unlike the Living Heavy Armor, whose armor itself was the body, the Headless Royal Guards had actual flesh inside their armor. As a result, Shio's light-attribute arrows inflicted heavy damage.
Right, just aim for exposed areas and everything's fine... As if! You mean Shio can thread magic through a gap in their armor with such precision from this distance? That's impossible!
In fact, Iris and the others were speechless at Shio's incredible technique, just as I was. Even Wool, who was usually so laid-back, seemed astonished.
"No... That's not what I meant. The point is that we don't have to rely on direct magical attacks. Nanako, focus on your summoned beasts, and Wool, make vocal support your priority."
"Sure thing! I'll try pestering them a little, too."
"Just like always. Baa, baa."
Nanako had always relied more on hordes of summoned beasts than on magic. Becoming a Shiragarasu Tengu had given him another way to fight, but this time, his usual method would probably be more effective. He was even drawing a blade from his sword cane, but don't overdo it, okay?
Wool's real strength also lay in supporting his allies with his cries rather than attacking with magic. The magic he had used earlier had merely proven that spells other than light-attribute magic were ineffective as well. So, just as he suggested, we would have him strengthen us as usual.
"Mikero, I'm sorry, but join the front line and act as a shield alongside Eiji and Karu. If things get dangerous, fall back, recover, and focus on healing."
"Understood. I shall coordinate with Nenashi-san."
Mikero, equipped with four shields, was nearly Eiji's equal when it came to defending with shields. That meant he could fight as a tank as well.
However, we still hadn't been able to create armor for him because of his body's shape, so his natural defense wasn't particularly high. He was more vulnerable than Eiji, which meant he probably couldn't fight for long as a tank. He was also one of our few healers, so we couldn't make him overexert himself. He understood that as well, and seemed intent on fighting alongside Nenashi-san, with whom he coordinated best.
"Shio, keep shooting. Iris and Shiitake, I want you to throw your throwing items as well."
"Got it!"
"Understood!"
"What about you, Izaam?"
"Like this. Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Gokuri Summon!"
When Shiitake asked, I deployed a magic circle in a position that would place the Headless Royal Guards between it and Eiji's group. The magic circle transformed into a black hole, and a slender figure in a black military uniform emerged from within.
Beneath the ominous black uniform decorated with silver thread was smooth, glossy, red-bronze skin, with two golden eyes gleaming eerily. He held a spiked sasumata in one hand, while an equally spiked jitte hung from his belt like a police baton.
He was a monster called Gokuri, summoned from Hell through 【Spirit Summoning】's Gokuri Summon. I had used him a few times in the past, and Gokuri seemed to possess reason, unlike Hell Beasts. He correctly distinguished between the one who summoned him and that person's allies, attacked only enemies, and immediately returned while saluting once the battle ended.
However, unlike Hell Beasts, which required no further cost once summoned, maintaining Gokuri's summoned state continuously consumed magic power. The initial magic cost was also higher than that of a Hell Beast, so using powerful magic in this state risked exhausting my reserves. I couldn't use him carelessly, but in our current situation, where offensive magic was largely ineffective, there was no problem at all.
Incidentally, very little was known about Gokuri. For some reason, Appraisal couldn't provide detailed information about him, and even a cursory search of the forums turned up nothing. He wasn't listed in the illustrated book I had borrowed in Fars, either. I had tried talking to him, but although he seemed to understand what I said, he never replied.
Was he incapable of conversation, or was there some other reason? Was the same individual always answering the summons? What characteristics did his Race have? Everything about him was unknown, but there was no doubt that he was a reliable ally—more reliable than a Hell Beast, in fact. The magic cost was fairly high, but I would just have to consider it a necessary expense.
"...!"
The summoned Gokuri leaped into the fray, drawing his jitte while resting the sasumata on his shoulder. He deftly used the sasumata to hook their arms and legs and send them tumbling, while blocking their counterattacks with the jitte and trying to wrench their weapons away and knock them down.
His fighting style emphasized defense while also aiming to incapacitate his enemies, which was fascinating to watch. Rather than defeating one enemy at a time, he seemed intent on weakening as many of them as possible.
"Now then, even if magic doesn't work directly, the right application can accomplish anything. Twin Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Earth Hole!"
I created two Earth Holes directly in the middle of the enemy formation. Two of them fell to the bottom of the holes and struggled to climb back out, but Iris and Shiitake threw sticky balls at them, pinning them in place. If we could prevent even one more enemy from acting, that alone should be enough to count as support.
"Thanks!"
"This makes things easier!"
By reducing the number of enemies participating in the battle, everyone seemed able to fight with more breathing room. Even if magic was useless in combat, that didn't mean magic itself was useless!
"Let's gooooooo!"
"Boom!"
In the meantime, Sei and Kanna's groups charged in after gaining enough momentum, attacking from both sides. The advantage of medium-sized shields was their ease of use, but they couldn't stop two charging groups at once. The Headless Royal Guard at the very front was blown away like a nameless mook in a manga.
"The armor's hard to cut, but... it looks like we can aim for the body through the gaps."
"The joints, like the armpits and the backs of the knees, aren't well protected! Aim there!"
"I'll try copying that approach!"
Toji deftly slid the curved swords in both hands through the gaps in the armor and cut into the flesh beneath. Ruby attacked from a low position, using her daggers to slash at hard-to-defend places like the backs of the knees and the tops of the legs. Perhaps taking their cue from her, Shifune repeatedly attacked low with her sharp legs.
Most of the women in our party prioritized speed over power. Kanna was the strongest by a comfortable margin, while the second strongest was surprisingly Iris. Iris had said that production Jobs needed strength too, but that was beside the point. What mattered was that the women on our front line might have lighter individual blows, but they attacked in rapid succession.
As a result, their damage per second, or DPS, was on par with Jigoro's and Genzuro's. They weren't carnivorous women so much as women who went all-in on offense.
"Bugoaaaaaaaaah! Come on, attack me!"
"Hnnngh! I shall stop youuuuu!"
"Oh, does the armor itself dent under blunt weapons?"
"Hahahaha! They seem weak against attacks from above!"
"Damn... my fake swordsmanship doesn't work on them. I'll just stick to controlling crows."
The men, meanwhile, tended to excel at acting as walls and disrupting the enemy. Eiji clanged his shield and axe together to taunt them, while Nenashi restrained their movements with vines. Mikero swung a blunt weapon while blocking attacks with his four shields, Mos-san attacked from the air with hooked claws, and Nanako, realizing that his own sword was ineffective, focused on controlling the crows.
At the edge of my vision, Sei and Kanna's groups repeatedly charged in and pulled back, throwing the battlefield into chaos. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Gokuri was also rampaging. The Headless Royal Guards were fighting hard, but there was little they could do while surrounded.
"Uwoooooooh..."
"Aaaaaah..."
The Headless Royal Guards let out muffled groans from inside their armor. How were they even making those sounds? They didn't have mouths.
But the actions of our cornered enemies were shocking. They thrust the swords they held into their own bodies through their exposed necks.
"Is this some kind of knife-swallowing magic trick?"
"It doesn't look like anything that peaceful."
Aside from a few exceptions, we were so shaken by their outlandish actions that we stopped attacking. Gokuri and Kanna's groups continued attacking without pause, but even when blows and charges knocked the guards over, they never stopped thrusting their swords into themselves.
By stabbing their swords into their own bodies, every one of the Headless Royal Guards took self-inflicted damage. If they were willing to reduce their own health in order to force their way through an unfavorable situation, this had to be a power-up.
"The swords... turned black?"
"It is probably the Skill called 【Cursed Blood】."
【Cursed Blood】 was a Skill they had never shown before. At first, I had assumed it cursed its targets with spilled blood, but blood never burst forcefully from those thick suits of armor. Thinking about it, the game didn't even have gory scenes with blood spraying everywhere. Some monsters looked eerie or grotesque, but the depiction of bloodshed was mild.
I had nearly forgotten about 【Cursed Blood】, but it seemed that its actual use was strengthening weapons with the user's own blood. Perhaps it would be best described as a Skill that imbued weapons with curses. In any case, the swords they now held possessed the power to curse anyone they cut.
"Well, that means nothing."
"The 'Black Lantern Charm' is doing wonders."
However, it was an overwhelmingly poor match for use against us. The Headless Royal Guards had not reached Level 70, so the 'Black Lantern Charm' granted us resistance to its effects.
It only granted us high resistance, but apparently the curse wasn't powerful enough to break through it. Sei had just received a shallow cut, but he showed no sign of a status ailment and simply struck back as though retaliating.
Unlike us, Gokuri had no equipment designed to counter such effects, but even Gokuri—if 'he' was the right word—hadn't suffered a status ailment. Perhaps a curse this weak simply couldn't affect a resident of Hell.
In a way, I felt sorry for them. They had finally used their trump card, yet nothing had changed. However, we still had battles ahead of us, so we showed them no mercy and crushed them.