“You four need to scatter!” he shouted.
[Chain Lightning] was an AOE skill with a decent range. It targeted a specific opponent, then leaped from one enemy to another once it struck. The good thing was it moved linearly when first released and couldn’t track enemies if they moved out of the way. This meant it was perfectly possible to evade the attack.
Fayte, Susan, Kureha, and Titania all scattered, not even bothering to remain together when they ran away. Seconds after they raced from the spot where they had been standing, a powerful bolt of lightning shot from the staff and slammed into the floor. Lightning crackled and the room shook. Light flashed. It was blinding. Even Adam had no choice but to close his eyes to save himself from being blinded. When the attack ended, the stone floor featured a massive scorch mark where the lightning bolt struck.
Adam downed a [middle-grade magic potion], raced forward once again, and attacked. [Blood Sacrifice] had worn off and was cooling down, which meant he could no longer ignore the cooldown times for his other skills—that meant he couldn’t use [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] either—but Adam needed to draw this woman’s agro. That was why he used [thrust] and [slash] to attack even if the damage he did wasn’t as good.
-13,056; -12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -13,056!
Of course, while Adam didn’t think the amount of damage he did was that great, he understood this was just his perspective. Anyone else would have screamed in a fit of jealous rage if they saw the damage his single attacks did. No other player could deal this kind of damage right now, after all.
“Cretin!!!”
Alexandra once more tried to attack him. This time she swung her staff, which launched a [Wind Blade] at him. He couldn’t see the attack. All he could see was a ripple in the air, but that was enough to let him lean his body to the side and dodge. When it struck the wall, the damage done was impressive. A long scar at least 2 yards in length ran across the wall.
-14,520; -5,040; -5,040!
Lilith once more attacked Alexandra with [Throat Slit], but because Alexandra was now aware of her, the attack didn’t deal critical damage like it had done last time. The Demon Knight Assassin made up for her lack of damage by swinging her dagger into the woman’s back. Each [slash] dealt around five thousand points of damage. Sadly, she was only able to attack twice before the woman slammed her staff into the ground.
Leaping backward as a wall formed between her and Alexandra, Lilith prepared to use [hide] again, but she found herself unable to move. A glance down revealed the reason. Her feet were stuck in quicksand! This was the [Quicksand] skill. She grabbed her right leg and tried to pull it out, but it was no use.
“Not so stealthy now!” Alexandra screeched as she raised her staff. “Let’s see how you deal with my lightning!”
With Lilith unable to move, Adam knew she would be done for if they didn’t disrupt this woman’s attacks now. Fortunately, [Blood Sacrifice] and [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] had become usable again, so after activating his physical enhancement skill in exchange for half his health, he raced forward and began swinging his spear as he danced along the floor to form the shape of a sakura blossom on the ground with his feet.
-24,480; -73,440; -220,320; 660,960!
[Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] was Adam’s strongest attack, and the large numbers floating over Alexandra’s head proved why. Each attack did three times more damage than the previous attack. With just a single skill, Adam was able to deal about twenty thousand points short of one million points of damage to Alexandra’s health.
Of course, this meant Adam had become the focus of Alexandra’s spell.
He was very lucky he was so fast.
Adam leaped backward for several meters and dodged as a bolt of lightning flashed from the woman’s staff. It missed him and struck the wall again, but this was not the end of Alexandra’s onslaught as she launched [Wind Blade], [Fireball], and [Water Bullets] in quick succession.
Adam found himself relying on his incredible reflexes born from years of combat training and death to avoid being struck. Sweat formed on his forehead as each attack came within inches of killing him. The [Wind Blade] carved into the ground mere inches from his feet. When the [Fireball] struck, it created an explosion so massive that Adam was sent sailing and still received one thousand points of damage from being burned—and this was despite not actually getting hit. As he quickly downed three [middle-grade health potions] to recover, several hundred bullets composed of water flew from Alexandra’s staff and nearly blasted his body full of holes.
Just as Adam was beginning to worry he might be hit, Susan came racing in from the left. She skidded to a stop, took aim with her bow, knocked back an arrow, and fired. She then fired another arrow, but this one whistled as it approached. Adam recognized the two skills she used.
[Deadeye] and [Fairy Shot].
-1,320; -3,300!
Neither attack did much damage, but perhaps through some kind of miracle, one of Susan’s arrows pierced Alexandra’s right eye. There was no blood, but Alexandra screamed in agony. Her attacks stopped as she stumbled backward, one hand moving toward where the arrow was protruding.
Susan looked a little green as the woman tore the arrow out and turned to her. Adam couldn’t blame her. Even though this game didn’t show any blood, there was now a black mark all around Alexandra’s eye to show that it was no longer there.
Adam was a little surprised that attacks like that worked, but he didn’t give it a second thought. Lilith had recovered from the quicksand attack, and so before Alexandra could attack Susan, he and she raced forward and launched simultaneous attacks on the mage. Even with [Blood Sacrifice] no longer active, the damage dealt was impressive.
-12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -13,056!
-5,040 ; -5,040 ; -5,040; -5,040!
-1,170!
-9,504; -7,200!
-1,320; -3,300!
-12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -12,240!
Their combined attacks forced Alexandra to look away from Susan and glare at them. Not only did Adam and Lilith launch consecutive strikes without pause, but Fayte and Kureha launched several magic spells from afar. The combined damage they did to this woman was staggering, though it was a mere drop in the bucket for her.
Madness and rage filled her eyes as she swung her staff in their direction and fired several [Wind Blades] with reckless abandon like she was hoping one of them would cut either him or Lilith in half. The two of them moved away from each other. As the wind blades tore through the ground, Alexandra looked back and forth between the two of them like she wasn’t sure who to attack.
By now, their group had shaved off over two million points of Alexandra’s health, and they were continuing to do more damage. Adam and Lilith pulled as much agro as possible. Through experimentation, they learned that Alexandra would not use AOE skills if people were not grouped. This meant they didn’t have to worry about those so long as the long-range attackers split up.
Titania was the only one Adam had to worry about. This Alexandra wasn’t a standard enemy who attacked without intelligence. She soon realized the fairy was the reason for their incredible attack power and began targeting her with extreme prejudice. She sent several [Wind Blades] and [Water Bullets] at the fairy. While they were all dodged as Titania flitted through the air, it was only a matter of time before she was hit by a lucky strike.
Adam would not let this woman’s attack his companion so easily. After drinking another [middle-grade magic potion], he activated [Blood Sacrifice] when the cooldown time ended and once again used [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] to deal an extravagant amount of damage.
-24,480; -73,440; -220,320; 660,960!
Because Alexandra had been so set on taking out Titania, she completely neglected Adam, who used her one-track mind to deal close to a million points worth of damage before she could even respond. Now she had lost almost one-fourth of her health. His attack staggered her, but she recovered too quickly for him to deal more damage
.
“Damn you! This is why I hate melee combatants!” Alexandra cursed Adam as she turned around and launched another [Wind Blade]. Sadly for her, this left her back exposed to Kureha and Fayte’s magic attacks.
-1,170!
-9,504; -7,200!
-1,320; -3,300!
Before the woman could swing her staff to launch magic at the two, Lilith came in. Her dagger flashed as she struck the woman with a series of attacks.
-5,040 ; -5,040 ; -5,040; -5,040!
Alexandra screamed in range and tried to attack Lilith, but Adam chose to hit her at that moment. [Blood Sacrifice] had already run out, so the damage he did was cut by three.
-12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -12,240!
“Damn you! Damn all of you!!!”
With a shriek of outrage, Alexandra slammed her staff into the ground, creating walls that surrounded her on all sides. There was no way for any of them to attack now.
Water swirled around them, gathering together in front of the four walls. Four massive limbs jutted from the swirling water, which changed from an undulating mass into a body packed full of muscle. Pinions at least twelve feet in length exploded from its back. A long neck formed near the front before a reptilian muzzle filled with sharp teeth grew from the end. Near the back, a tail at least eight yards long formed, swinging back and forth. This was Alexandra’s most powerful skill.
[Water Dragon].
“Lilith!” Adam shouted.
“Yes, Master!”
Adam had no time to scold her as they rushed forward and began attacking. He still couldn’t activate [Blood Sacrifice] yet, but his incredible attacks pulled this monster’s agro like nobody’s business, which allowed Lilith and the long-range attackers to fight without worry.
-12,240; -12,240; -12,240; -12,240!
-5,040 ; -5,040 ; -5,040; -5,040!
-1,170!
-9,504; -7,200!
-1,320; -3,300!
The [water dragon] slammed its tail into the ground at Adam, nearly crushing him, but he rolled out of the way and attacked the tail. He spun the spear in his hands and used [slash] without reserve—or he would have, except he’d run out of MP.
-1; -1; -1!
His eyes went wide. This had never happened before, but he soon realized that in his effort to pull this monster’s ago, he had used up all of his MP attacking.
“Crap! Lilith!”
“I’m here!”
Adam leaped back as Lilith jumped onto the [water dragon] and began attacking with [slash] and [pinpoint strike]. Damage signs appeared above the monster’s head as Adam took a [middle-grade magic potion] from his item pouched and downed it.
By the time he’d recovered, Lilith, Fayte, Kureha, and Susan had dealt around one hundred thousand points of damage on their own. Adam finally activated [Blood Sacrifice] and attacked with [slash] and [thrust] once again.
-39,168; -30,645; -30,645!
Adam’s last attack destroyed the [water dragon], causing it to explode into droplets of water. At that moment, the walls surrounding Alexandra crumbled, and the woman herself attacked the moment she became visible. A [wind blade] tore through the air toward Titania.
“Move, Titania!” Adam shouted.
Despite his warning, Titania did not have any time to dodge. She had only just turned around to see the attack coming toward her. Her eyes widened, her body froze, and the blood drained from her face.
Just as the [wind blade] was about to tear her body apart, Lilith appeared in front of the tiny fairy and took the attack in her place. Adam stared in horror as a massive damage sign appeared above her head.
-29,500!
Lilith’s body hit the floor with a heavy thump and didn’t get back up. She was dead. It was obvious she had died. Her health was at 0. Adam felt a sharp pain slice into his chest like a bladed weapon cutting his heart open. He knew that she was not really dead, that she’d resurrect back at the cathedral in Solum, but just seeing Lilith’s body lying there sent his mind into a spiral.
His vision became filled with red, but his heart grew cold.
“Ha ha ha! How do you like that?!” Alexandra laughed as she swung her staff around, prepared to hit Titania with a magic attack again.
-5,040 ; -5,040 ; -5,040; -5,040!
-1,170!
-9,504; -7,200!
Susan, Fayte, and Kureha attacked the woman, but it seemed she would not be deterred. Now that she understood who the most dangerous person in their group was, she had no intention of letting Titania go.
But Adam also had no intention of letting her continue to attack Titania. He activated [Blood Sacrifice] and charged forward, swinging his spear to use his most powerful attack once more. [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] activated as he went through the familiar steps.
-24,480; -73,440; -220,320; -660,960; -1,982,880!
Adam demolished the rest of Alexandra’s health, even going so far as to unleash the last of his five-petaled attack, despite how it wasn’t needed. He’d never been able to release all five attacks before. Alexandra kept disrupting his attack pattern, but she was unable to do that this time. The vengeful dean screamed in shock, anguish, and rage before disappearing.
“Haa… ga… hoo…” Adam took several deep breaths as he hunched over. Sweat formed on his forehead and got into his eyes, stinging them.
“We… we did it,” Susan mumbled like she couldn’t believe it. As the seconds passed, her eyes began shining. “We did it!”
“Yes, we did,” Fayte smiled. Then she shifted her gaze to Adam. “Though I suppose we have you to thank for that.”
Adam shook his head. “I did deal the most damage, but if this had been just me fighting, I would not have been able to win. This victory belongs to us. All of us/”
The group of five—three humans, one fairy, and a fox yokai—gathered together and smiled at each other, though the smiles soon left as they looked over at Lilith’s corpse. Adam parted from the group, walked over to Lilith, and knelt. There was no blood to be seen. However, Lilith’s dull eyes were wide open in surprise. Seeing her eyes like that caused his heart to clench as if the Frost Giants of Norse mythology were squeezing it to a pulp.
“I can’t believe Lilith died,” Fayte mumbled.
“She sacrificed herself for me.” Titania’s expression was guilt mixed with gratitude. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I cannot believe she did that.”
Adam took a deep breath. “Lilith sacrificed herself because she knew you’d die if she didn’t. She understood that you were the most important factor in this battle and decided to give up her own life so we could achieve victory.”
“But her level...” Susan began.
Adam smiled and placed a hand on Susan’s head. “I will help Lilith get her level back up. No—I’ll make sure her level is even higher than it was before she died.”
Susan froze when Adam placed his hand on her head, and Adam, realizing what he had done, jerked his hand away from her as if scalded.
“S-sorry,” he said. “I’m not sure what possessed me to do that.”
“N-no. It’s okay. It isn’t like I… disliked it or anything,” Susan muttered, her cheeks turning a deep red.
Fayte and Titania looked at the two as they stood there in awkward silence. While Fayte’s expression was hidden, Titania clearly wanted to say something. Her face was scrunched like a pug.
“You six did a rather magnificent job defeating me, but please don’t think this means you’re actually powerful,” a voice suddenly said, causing their blood to run cold. “If I was actually alive and in top shape, there’s no way you would have won.”
Everyone spun around in shock. Adam held his weapon at the ready, prepared for combat. Titania fluttered behind Adam as though seeking his protection. Fayte and Susan merely stood there in stunned silence. The only one who didn’t seem too surprised was Kureha, but Adam thought that was because he wasn’t well-versed in fox facial expressions. For all he knew, she could have been so shocked sh
e had a heart attack.
Floating several yards away from them was none other than Alexandra, but her body seemed more ethereal than before, and she was floating instead of standing. Her appearance wasn’t much different from when they were fighting her. However, the enraged look on her face was no longer present.
Alexandra smiled when she saw at least one of them prepared for combat. With a soft chuckle, she raised her staff in a gesture of defeat.
“Relax. I do not have any intention of harming you now.”
“How do we know that’s true?” asked Adam.
“You’re a suspicious one, aren’t you?” Alexandra rolled her eyes, then shrugged as though it didn’t matter to her whether he believed her or not. “You have already defeated me. This spirit body of mine can no longer retain its physical shape. I’ll be disappearing soon… but I wanted to speak with the ones who defeated me before I go. Oh! Right. How about I revive your friend to show my sincerity?”
None of the players present were sure they could believe her words. Susan looked the most uncertain, like she was tempted to believe this woman despite her distrust, but Adam and Fayte still stared at her suspiciously.
As if to dispel their distrust, Alexandra waved her staff at Lilith’s body. Motes of light emerged from the staff and floated over to it. The body was soon surrounded by hundreds of tiny motes, which were absorbed into the body. One second passed. The motes disappeared. Then Lilith stirred. Adam, Fayte, and Susan watched in shock as the woman stood up, shaking her head as though to clear it.
Adam quickly checked Lilith’s stats. He was relieved to see that she hadn’t lost a level—he guessed being revived through magic allowed players to keep their level—but all of her experience points, ability points, and reputation was gone. That must be the price one paid for dying. Adam supposed if she had died and been resurrected at a cathedral, she’d have lost all of that and her level would drop by one.
“Are you okay, Lilith?” Adam asked.
“Yes, Mas—I mean, Adam,” Lilith said.
Adam flinched, but then cast a glance at Fayte and Susan to see if they had noticed the woman’s slipup. They hadn’t. He heaved a sigh of relief.
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