Chapter 355
As they were at quite a distance from the town, it would take some time for the reinforcements to arrive.
“This would be really rough without Sou’s damage reduction. I guess this is where Will and I being buffers who focus on attack ability is not an advantage.”
“Well, my defense ability isn’t that strong either. Also, I won’t be able to block it like this endlessly.”
“Oh, it’s more than enough. Ah, it looks like we have an unexpected ally, Will.”
She said as a player who was a short distance away noticed the giant squid and started to come closer. This was some good luck. And so Lily called out to other players in the area, who were watching hesitantly.
“It just appeared out of nowhere! But it seems like something you can’t beat with just a few people! So please lend us a hand!”
Even the players who had become frozen at the sudden appearance of a giant monster they had never seen before, moved to attack at once. And like that, the attacks that had focused on the trio were now spread out. And they succeeded in escaping for a moment.
“Phew. That was close. I was starting to wonder if it would crush us. Thanks for the damage reduction.”
“Yeah. But I feel lucky to have been able to see your high defense ability.”
“I can summon this many soldiers. So it’s really nothing.”
“Well, it’s important to get a second look. I understand just how high it is now.”
“That’s true.”
“The nearby guild members should be here soon.”
“We’ll want all the help that we can get. Look, one of the players who are helping us just got blown away.”
Even when top level players like Lilly, Kanade, and Willbert were being aided, it was all they could do to focus on defense. So it was no wonder that it was too much for some of these other players.
In fact, about a third of the players who had come to their aid had already fallen prey to the tentacles. And since the squid was hovering above ground, it was difficult for players who had short-range attacks to fight it.
“It’s easy for sorcerers to attack it. And you two can shoot from a distance. We should continue to attack it when we can.”
“Yes, it won’t do if the attacks focus on us again. And so we should take things slowly until the others arrive.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
And so Lily summoned more soldiers to create a wall in front of them, and they started firing at the squid. Kanade also used the most powerful of Sou’s magic books to continue attacking.
“Sou, ‘Mixed Up.’”
Kanade told them that it would now be more difficult for the monster to target them. Lily thanked him and then buffed her own soldiers.
“More people are gathering as well. If it was only the three of us, then lessening our presence wouldn’t mean anything.”
“Yes, now we should be able to fade in with the others.”
“That being said, it only makes it less likely to target us. It might start targeting us again if we keep attacking it or use ‘Provoke.’”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
As you could continue to attack without really noticing it when it was between players, you could say that it was more of a PvE skill than a PvP skill.
Eventually, the guild members of Rapid Fire arrived, and they showed an impressive party play that was different from the random players that had joined. They were united as they both protected and dealt damage.
“It looks like they arrived. Things will finally get easier now.”
“But it really does have a lot of HP.”
“Yeah. This is without a doubt tougher than a boss. Unless management made a mistake while adjusting it, this is clearly meant to be fought with a large number of players.”
Now that the members of Rapid Fire were attracting its attention, it became easier for the solo players to fight, and the damage started to accelerate. As one of the larger guilds had called their members at once, many others noticed the movement and came as well. And with so many players gathered together now, the HP that had seemed so inexhaustible to them before, started to diminish.
However, there was no way that a monster that was this powerful would end with these tentacle attacks alone. And so its movement patterns started to change.
The squid floated into the air and then shot out great amounts of ink towards the ground. It spread out like a cloud of dust. And even though they were not under water, it floated in the air and obstructed their vision.
“This… Lily!”
“I know! ‘Puppet Rampart’!”
As Lily waved her flag, the summoned soldiers crumbled away, and they started to reassemble as a giant wall. Like this, the three were protected from the front, just before being attacked. There was a thunderous roar and a flood of water fell towards them, gouging out chunks of the wall. And while the water pushed away the clouds of ink, it also completed its purpose of hiding where the attack had come from.
“Large area attacks for large groups. It’s the proper move.”
“This really is troublesome… Judging by the range of the clouds, everyone is being targeted.”
“I wish we could stagger it once so we can regain our footing…”
“…Good. I think we’ll get our opening.”
The two looked at Kanade with puzzled expressions, but Kanade showed them by pointing to it. Right above the giant squid, a giant turtle was hovering while shining a light on the ground. And just in that moment, three figures could be seen jumping off of its back.
Willbert quickly realized what this meant.
“That’s Maple. And Mai and Yui? …Huh? And that weapon…?”
Willbert saw the three shoot down at a tremendous speed and then slam their weapons into the squid with all of the force from their momentum. Maple’s hand had turned into tentacles that she used to tear apart and swallow. And on both sides, Mai and Yui were hitting it with eight hammers.
These hammers exceeded Willbert’s damage, and had a destructive power that was dozens of times stronger than the average player. An unbelievable amount of damage effects burst out from the squid as its HP dropped visibly. And like that, the hovering squid was forcefully knocked out of the air as it fell to the ground.