Chapter 30

Chapter 030

There was no need to think deeply about what Jakol’s words meant.

Among the tens of thousands of builds, there was only one build that used Parrying.

Facing Jakol, who was smiling like a demon, I moved Persica and the mage bastard behind me.

“I will create an opening. Stay back until then.”

“……Will you be all right?”

“I have to do it even if I am not.”

Now that he knew I was the target he was after, Jakol’s attention would be focused on me.

Since it had come to this, abandoning the pincer attack and having the two of them aim for an opening while I dealt with Jakol was the best option.

At the very least, I should be able to endure.

“If I just kill you, I become a High Priest, huh……?”

“…….”

“I guess I have lucky days too!”

At the same time as the two retreated, Jakol charged in.

I responded as well, roughly knocking away the scythe he thrust forward.

CLANG! CLA-CLANG!

Every time the violet flash of Mysticism gleamed, Jakol’s attacks were broken apart.

The trajectories themselves were obvious, so knocking them away was not difficult, but I could not seize the offensive as comfortably as before.

‘He is recovering his posture faster.’

In exchange for slightly reducing the force behind each attack, the openings revealed after Parrying had almost disappeared.

He had assumed his posture would collapse and focused on balance rather than destructive power.

Since he could not break through Parrying itself, he was aiming for the moment my concentration dropped.

SPLASH!

“……!”

Between the successive attacks, Jakol sprayed blood.

He had deliberately wounded his hand, gathered blood, and then scattered it to block my vision.

‘He knows Parrying’s weakness.’

Parrying could only be used against attacks I “recognized.”

It was a Skill that required me to see through the opponent’s aim and use it with the correct timing.

That was why, if an attack dug in from a blind spot I could not perceive, I naturally could not react to it, and therefore could not break it with Parrying.

“Keuk……!”

I only noticed the strike aimed at my neck when the blade was on the verge of touching my skin.

I hurriedly twisted my upper body and raised my sword to block it, but I could not stop it completely, and one side of my waist was gouged out.

SPLURT!

My skin split open and blood scattered.

It was not deep, but a stinging pain heated my brain like a branding iron.

“Oh…… You blocked that? Usually, their heads come clean off before they can even react.”

“…….”

The bastard let out a sound of admiration.

Honestly, even I found it strange that I had reacted.

When I thought that my head would have flown off if my reaction had been even a little late, a chill ran down my spine.

‘……So a simple pattern fight will not work.’

It was something that clearly showed how different a game and reality were.

Spraying blood to block the opponent’s vision? There was nothing like this in the game.

It was fortunate that I had been unconsciously aware of the possibility. If I had been completely careless, I would have died without even reacting.

“Are we supposed to leave him like that? He is going to die.”

Perhaps uneasy about me fighting alone, the mage bastard’s troubled voice reached me.

“It is fine. If we interfere, we will only get in his way.”

“Pardon?”

Persica’s voice followed.

I tightened my grip on my sword and rushed toward Jakol.

“That bastard is ‘Platinum,’ after all.”

SCRAAAPE!

Stepping in an offbeat rhythm, I quickly dug into the bastard’s blind spot.

In response to the great scythe, which had no choice but to make large movements, I changed my attack method to thrusting.

When I attacked even more fiercely instead of becoming frightened, Jakol’s gaze changed.

“That swordsmanship…… Are you an Ortanis person, by any chance?”

“No.”

What I had just used was part of the Ortanis Swordsmanship that Gordon used.

It was not as though he had taught me.

Since swordsmanship was a secret art of the House, he had not separately taught me the sword method.

However, that did not mean he had refrained from using it even during Sparring.

“I memorized it by watching.”

I had been able to see it with my eyes and clash against it with my body.

Even if I could not be instructed directly, observing was possible, so after Gordon left, I had practiced it countless times.

“What is that supposed to mean? Is it possible to memorize swordsmanship just by watching it?”

“……I do not know. If he says he can do it, then I suppose he can.”

With the fierce chain of attacks, the momentum shifted back to me once more.

Normally, since I was pushed back in a contest of strength, it would have been impossible for me to seize the right to attack, but if I mixed Parrying in between, it was not impossible.

In the end, the bastard sprayed blood once again.

PANG!

It would not work twice.

The moment I saw the blood being sprayed toward my eyes, I used Parrying against the blood.

Seeing the liquid fly away at a ninety-degree angle, Jakol’s face filled with disbelief.

“Does that make any sense?”

“I did it because it does.”

Whether it was liquid or anything else, if it was an “attack,” Parrying would activate.

Jakol clicked his tongue and coated his scythe with the blood from his wounded hand. Then, a red light enveloped the blade.

‘That is 「Blade of Decay」.’

An enchantment-type Skill that inflicted the Decay Status Effect upon attack.

I deflected the descending scythe with Parrying.

Then the bastard released one hand from the weapon that had been knocked upward, extended pitch-black claws, and thrust toward my head.

“……!”

I hurriedly tilted my head to avoid it, but my shoulder was grazed.

Intense pain surged up, and a large amount of blood gushed out. While I stiffened briefly, the bastard swung his scythe once more.

This time, I could not block it, and the blade shallowly gouged my forearm.

“……I understand roughly now.”

My cut forearm hurt as though it were burning.

Seeing the wounded area afflicted by Decay turn black and rot, I began to understand what the bastard’s build was.

‘The one that scratched my shoulder just now was 「Rake Hand」.’

A support Skill that dealt low damage but caused massive bleeding.

The one that used blood to enchant his scythe was 「Blade of Decay」, and before that, he had used 「Blood Moon Slash」 and 「Ambush」 as well.

‘Then his weapon must be the Scythe of Exploitation.’

I had wondered whether it was only something that looked similar, but my guess was right.

At this point, I was starting to understand what kind of build that bastard had.

“It is a [Divinity-Vampirism] build.”

A Divinity-type damage dealer build whose main features were high Status Effect attacks and Vampirism through curse-type Skills.

Perhaps it was true that this was an organization created by a Possessor, because a build used in the community had been absorbed into it exactly as it was.

He had probably made something like a build guide.

“But do you know something?”

CLANG!

Deflecting the great scythe that struck down again with Parrying, I spoke in a voice only the bastard could hear.

“I am the one who made that build.”

The bastard flinched.

I quickly slipped past the following attack and dug inside.

After the enchantment, two basic attacks, one Rake Hand, then another basic attack before creating distance.

“I am the one who researched it and put together the combination.”

I had never played any character other than Ishara, but I had already studied those characters’ builds inside and out. 

Every character in Ethrana Exodus had a fixed concept, so they could not learn Skills that strayed beyond that concept.

However, Ishara was a character whose very concept was “able to use every Skill.”

In other words, she could reproduce the concepts of other characters as much as she wanted.

I had tested every existing character’s concept using Ishara, and I had written guides for them accordingly. 

That [Divinity-Vampirism] build had been born that way as well.

CLA-CLANG! CLACK-CLACK! CLANG!

“You learned it quite well.”

He had learned it very well according to the guide, without any strange arrangements.

Thanks to that, I could see clearly what Skill he would use in what situation.

“And one more thing……”

I spoke while looking straight at the bastard, who was beginning to panic.

“I was originally a one-on-one specialist.”

I swept away all the rushing attacks with Parrying.

The ringing metallic sounds burst out and echoed throughout the Boss Room.

The bastard did not know this, but I had originally played just as much PvP as PvE.

And someone like me was now fighting one-on-one against an opponent using a build I had personally made?

Even if I could not do anything about the difference in specifications, knocking away his attacks was something I could do as much as I wanted.

CRAAANG! BOOM! CLA-CLANG!

Flashes and sparks filled the surroundings.

The pain that felt as though I were being burned, and the dizziness from the blood I had lost, no longer mattered.

As the violet hue of Mysticism embroidered every corner of my vision, and every time sword and scythe clashed, sending the reverberation through my hand,

I felt my heart pounding fiercely.

I exhaled a breath full of heat.

“You……”

I felt that I was alive.

“Are you…… smiling?”

“Yeah.”

I realized that what I felt was the emotion called “joy.”

I felt this unfamiliar sensation with my whole body, this blazing heat I no longer needed to suppress.

“This is fun.”

It was enjoyable.

“What exactly is that……?”

“I told you. If we interfere, we will only get in his way.”

From behind me, Persica’s somewhat uneasy voice could be heard.

“Still, that is…… beyond what I expected.”

The exchange continued.

Dozens of scythe strikes rushed in, but not a single one touched me.

Now that I had finished understanding him, responding was not a problem.

However, the wounds I had suffered during the process of analysis were a problem.

‘My Health consumption is severe.’

Putting aside the pain and dizziness, strength was gradually beginning to leave my body.

It was because I had lost too much blood, and because my muscles had been damaged by Decay.

CRAAANG!

The moment I stepped forward, my leg gave out and I sank down.

I guarded against the scythe that rushed in without missing the opening, and my body was violently flung away, rolling across the floor.

I clawed at the floor with my hand to stop myself.

My skin peeled away, and a long bloodstain followed behind me.

Perhaps I had lost too much blood, because I could no longer even feel pain. I gripped my sword as I was and charged in.

“That is right! Just as you said, this is far more fun than the bastards who collapsed and died like flies!”

“I am glad you are enjoying it too.”

SHAAA!

With the manifestation of Mana, a dark red haze gathered around the bastard’s scythe.

「Blood Moon Slash」.

A Skill that dealt damage in proportion to lost Health and recovered Health by that amount.

‘The maximum number of attacks is five.’

My thoughts accelerated.

I engraved the rushing attacks into both eyes and raised my weapon along their trajectories.

The sword infused with Mysticism drew a violet tail and knocked the attacks away.

“……!”

Five slashes poured down.

I deflected all of them with Parrying and pierced through to right in front of the bastard’s nose.

“Chit……!”

The bastard raised his finger and pointed at me.

Then blood gathered together and shot out as a single spear.

‘That is 「Blood Thorn」.’

A Skill that directly consumed blood to unleash a powerful attack.

It had no Status Effect, but its damage was quite strong.

CLA-CLANG!

I knew it would come.

The instant I deflected it with Parrying, the bastard was smiling beyond the flash.

And the moment our eyes met inside the fading light, the bastard’s smile broke.

Because I was smiling too.

“It is obvious.”

I stepped and twisted my body.

I saw the blood spear rushing from behind, shooting out after a slight delay.

It was the spot where I had deflected the blood Jakol had sprayed earlier.

‘I thought this would happen.’

If 「Blood Thorn」 was a technique that consumed one’s own blood to use, I wondered whether already-spilled blood would react as well.

That was why, the instant the bastard sprayed blood, I had deliberately knocked it away to an isolated place.

It was to induce the bastard to aim for my opening and use Blood Thorn.

CLANG!

Splitting the instant apart, I predicted the trajectory and struck the rushing blood spear hard with Parrying.

Straight toward where the bastard’s heart was.

“Keuhak!”

Jakol, struck by the blood spear, coughed up blood and was sent flying.

“If my attack is weak…… Cough, cough! Then I can just use someone else’s, can I not?”

An attack deflected with Parrying was not erased, but “ricocheted.”

It could hit party members, which was one of the reasons Parrying was avoided, but I had wondered whether this could also be used.

If I moved my wrist properly…… then I should be able to control the trajectory of the ricochet as well.

“You…… How……”

“Who knows?”

The attack power of the ricocheted Skill was the same as the attack power the bastard had fired.

Toward Jakol, who could not regain his senses, I aimed 「Counterattack」 at full stacks.

“I tried it, and it worked.”

THWAAANG!

“Keuhak……!”

At the blow I struck upward with all my strength, Jakol’s body floated into the air.

“Persica! That!”

“I know!”

As though she had been waiting, Persica shot forward.

The powerful thrust of Rushing Thunder struck the bastard’s vital point once again.

As the light of a critical hit burst and Jakol was flung back, the mage’s Fire Arrow exploded against him.

BOOOOM!!

Hot air rushed in with an explosion.

It had landed properly.

“We got him……!”

“He is not finished yet, so be quiet. Do not waste your strength.”

“Huh……?”

What do you mean, “huh”?

Was it even reasonable to think we could have defeated that bastard already at our level?

Persica and I were at the 2-star level at best, and while the mage was 4-star, it was obvious at a glance that he had not been at that stage for long.

‘But that bastard has to be at least above 4-star, given that he can use Ambush.’

On top of that, he had properly set up his build and equipment. There was no way he would die just from being hit by a combo of this level.

As if proving that, the sword in my hand was trembling.

Ishara was sensing the intense hostility directed toward me.

“Potion. Quickly.”

“Huh? R-Right!”

Taking advantage of the brief opening, I quickly drank a Potion.

As new flesh rapidly filled in and the blood I had lost was restored, the severe dizziness and exhaustion subsided to some extent.

“But…… what about your Potion?”

“Mine is for emergencies.”

“No, what is that supposed to─”

The moment Persica tried to say something, Jakol, who had fallen, stood up.

Startled, Persica gripped her sword again.

“Ah…… This is ruining my image.”

He fixed his disheveled hair.

His mouth was smiling, but the murderous light in his eyes made it clear that he was furious.

It seemed being pushed this far by an apprentice was hurting his pride terribly.

“You brought this on yourselves, you know?”

The bastard cut his own forearm and fed the blade with blood.

Then the entire scythe was wrapped in red light and began scattering a sinister force in every direction.

‘That is 「Blood Stockpiling」.’

A Skill that consumed Health to grant the weapon increased attack power, Defense Piercing, Vampirism upon successful attacks, and a high Bleeding Status Effect.

‘Fortunately, it seems he was not 5-star.’

At 5-star, there were Skills stronger and more efficient than that.

Well, perhaps he had learned one and was simply not using it, but given that bastard’s personality, that did not seem likely.

He was probably around the peak of 4-star.

“Get ready. From now on is the real fight.”

This time, a red blood aura surged from the bastard.

He had even learned 「Blood Frenzy」? His guide was more solid than I expected.

That one was in the physical enhancement category, so…… now, if I got hit, I might truly be done for.

“Persica.”

“……Understood.”

I sent Persica back to where the mage was.

Because this, too, was something we had already discussed in writing.

“I was waiting for this moment.”

From here on out, it was a battle against time.