Chapter 86: Oh, Magic Class; Oh, Paper Armor

"Bilac, something's coming."

"I can tell just by lookin'. I'll tell ya this much. Right now, that thing can cut even a shinigami... but at most eight times. Swing it any more than that and it'll break. I can fix it, but I'd have to sharpen it again, so keep that in mind."

While sending a warning to Bilac, I quickly checked the General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword I received. There's no particular change in its stats, but the difference is obvious when holding it.

"Light? And the blade looks amazingly sharp..."

"I didn't have a furnace or an anvil, so it was a rough job, but I sharpened the hell out of it. Thanks to that, it's thin enough to break any second, but I guarantee the power and sharpness."

I see. If I recall, Bilac had a magic called Stack Grind. I don't know the details, but the General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword, polished half-forcefully, had been shaved down considerably. However, the blood rust caked on from years of overuse had been scraped off, restoring the color of steel.

"Defeat it within eight hits... sounds like a Challenge Quest."

Eight hits... Surely the boss doesn't have that little HP.

How much damage can I deal with my current hand? How can I calculate the damage? While maintaining vigilance, I circulate my thoughts, compiling information and restrictions to derive the conditions for victory.

"Guess I'll just have to believe I can win in eight hits!"

"Yes, desu wa!"

Ahead of my gaze, flames dwell in the staff gripped by the Humming Lich. It didn't just ignite; dark blood-like flames emitted from each of the tasteless jawbone petals form a flaming skull with a missing upper jaw.

"Gugi, ga, gigigigigi..."

"Kukekekekekeke! Kekeka! Kaka!"

"Iiiiiiiiii! Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!"

"Gegagaga! Gagagu, gagagaga!"

"Gugoooooaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

"A, ga————raaaaaa—————!"

Groaning skull, laughing skull, screaming skull, lamenting skull, howling skull, and singing skull... I see, so that's why it's the Humming Lich. It's not just the main body singing; it's a Septet sung by the main body and the six skulls bound to the staff.

"Th-They multiplied, desu waaa!?"

"...No, this might be convenient."

And the flames became smoke, the smoke became miasma, and divided into six. What appeared were six clones almost identical to the Humming Lich... except instead of a staff, each held a weapon, and the parts above the lower jaw were formed by flames of respective colors... But this type of clone attack generally falls into three categories.

Pattern 1: The clones disappear after taking even a single hit. Usually, the main point of these clones is to find the real body, so they often lack distinguishing features from the main body at a glance. So, this case, where the clones are blatantly different from the main body, doesn't apply.

Pattern 2: The clones disappear in one hit but have a certain degree of attack capability. In this case, they are more like fixed turrets. For this type, which specializes in obstruction from start to finish, it's better to ignore them and hit the main body in a time attack... I digress. Anyway, this case doesn't apply for a certain reason.

Pattern 3: A genuine clone attack where the clones themselves are independent enemies. And this type has a not-insignificant probability of...

"Sharing the health gauge with the main body... I want to believe...!"

In short, if the clones were created by the main body, the Humming Lich, shaving off its own essence, then there's a chance if the mechanics allow damage to the main body by defeating the clones.

"Phew... Has about eight minutes passed...?"

I have eight attacks available. I'll slam all of them in with maximum firepower. My current skills include quite a few with activation conditions. I'll investigate everything I can until those conditions are met.

"Verification including everything... Emul! Bilac! Cling on!"

"Yes sir!"

"Ouyo!"

I abandoned various stats in the early game, but with my current stats, the weight of one rabbit and a kindergartner isn't too much trouble... Please put away the hammer, it's heavy.

Five clones rushing toward us, and one clone plus the main body preparing support attacks from the rear. The situation isn't good... but it's not bad either!

"Staff, sword, spear, bow, axe, twin swords... Sh-Shield?"

I check the weapons held by each, including the clones, but one is holding a weapon I don't quite understand. What is it? Too small for a shield. Even if it's a buckler, the stance is strange.

"Gugoooooaaaaaaa!!!"

"Doh!?"

The moment the clone skull holding that small shield... which looks like nothing but a dragon's head... roared, flames spewed from the dragon's neck like a flamethrower. I instantly took evasive action with Drift Step to gain distance, but realized two things.

One: A clone readying a weapon was waiting where I dodged. Cheeky bastards, treating me like a rabbit cornered in a hunt.

And two: The versatility of the skill Drift Step is higher than I thought.

"Uhahaha! Feels like my feet turned into tires!"

Swords swung down, spears thrust out. Using maneuvers utilizing friction and inertia that human legs shouldn't be capable of... I drift and slide to avoid them. It's more like a Drift Slip than a Drift Step, but I like it.

"M-My eyes are spinning, desu waaa...!?"

"Tell us before ya start spinnin' around!?"

"My bad, my bad... I'm gonna spin you more."

Not stupid, but not exceptionally clever (vicious) either, the clones' AI follows my retreat with very straightforward movements. I panicked a little when cornered, but with a playstyle where I move first, I won't make the same mistake twice.

"That half-hearted deflection shooting won't work on me!"

Arrows and miasma balls flying from afar. Using Ricochet Step, which hasn't shown its true value yet due to being Lv.1, I switch from retreat to advance, slipping through the gaps between the clones. Instantly, our positions swap with the clones', and the long-range attacks hit the clones.

"...Did you see that?"

"Just now, definitely..."

"It wobbled, desu wa!"

Confirmed. Clones and main body share HP. And judging by the flinch motion from just that attack, its health isn't that high? Well, makes sense. For me, thanks to the "Curse," it's just a battle against a mage, but originally it would be an obstruction hell fought amidst debuffs and curses. But the situation has turned around drastically. Seven enemies, three people, eight voluntary attacks, preparation... OK, I see a path to victory.

"Emul, Bilac, quick strategy briefing."

"O-Oh, in this situation!?"

"Yes sir, what should I do?"

Behold, the difference between an experienced rabbit and an inexperienced one. After all, strategy meetings during combat are standard for Emul. Running, hopping, rolling, falling... she's kept up with my improvised strategy building. I'd be troubled if she wasn't used to it.

"............So with that plan, Emul and I will clean up the clones. Bilac, wait near the main body. Even if it's a magic class, it's still an Area Boss; we have no choice but to rely on you for the finishing firepower."

If I wanted to, I could have Bilac repair the used-up General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword and fight that way, but since I dragged the backstage NPC Bilac out onto the stage, it would be a waste not to have her fight. Besides, having leveled up too much, I've probably exceeded the appropriate level for this area.

"In that case, might as well rush through quickly."

I have a clear objective right now, and this place is just a passing point, merely the front gate. wasting time here is pointless, and more than anything, while I don't particularly like relying on high-level NPCs, avoiding it is a separate issue.

"But still... to think I'd have to do somethin' like breakin' a weapon..."

"You're wrong, Bilac."

"Mu?"

"Weapons are always swung to win. If you can't win even by breaking it, that's what's rude to the weapon, right?"

Bilac's eyes widen as if realizing something, but sorry, this is a quote from another game, not my own words. By the way, the character who said this fought with all their might—so much so that due to inflexible AI, they were a super-muscle-brain who would unleash a finishing move that broke their own equipment on the first turn against any enemy. Being too faithful to the dialogue made giving them a wooden stick the most cost-effective solution... what's up with that?

"So... from here on, we rush non-stop!"

"Yes sir!"

Bilac detaches from my back, gripping a bottle of Holy Water as the black rabbit circles around toward the main body. Emul clings to my head, firing Magic Edges to keep aggro off Bilac.

"Ten minutes passed... Let's do the standard game massive buffing!"

"Massive-!"

Overheat. A skill activated on the condition that ten minutes have passed since the start of combat. It's an exceptional skill that boosts all stats for a full five minutes, but once five minutes pass, all stats are halved... truly a short-term battle skill like temporarily running the engine out of control.

Layering Nitrogain. Recast time: an astonishing one second. Its effect is to boost STR and AGI by shaving off 20% of HP—a skill that could be called a self-harm version of Accel. Rather, its true value lies in damage control.

And layering Climax Boost triggered by health reduction. I can adjust health and get buffs; thank you, Nitrogain.

"Lone Wolf [Transient] became a little hard to use..."

The effect amount increased compared to Fighting Spirit of the Starving Wolf (Hunger Wolf), and the duration extended, but the troublesome activation condition of "being the only one receiving the target's hate" was added, restricting its usage. I'd like to evolve the skill quickly if possible, but... no, that's not important right now.

"Emul, I'm going to defeat those five one by one... We'll pick them off. Don't need power, just rapid fire."

"Roger thaaat!"

Switching to the offensive, I target that Flamethrower Bastard first. Adjusting my position to circle around, I make the clones chase me so the Flamethrower Clone is at the very rear.

"Mumumu... [Magic Edge]!"

"Hah!"

Matching the timing with the magic blade, I activate Six-Boat Leap. Using the magic blade—which normally couldn't be caught up to by running, though I wouldn't call it a bullet—as a shield, I close in on the clones approaching me.

"Two steps to approach... Here!"

Effect application steps: six. Two used for approach, remaining four steps used for Side-Vertical-Vertical-Turn commands to take the back of the Flamethrower Clone chasing from the rear.

"That head must be hot. I'll take it off and cool you down."

Still saving attack skills, I swing the Decapitation Sword held in both hands in a horizontal flash. The blade of the clumsy Dullahan who lost his head and continued to cut necks regardless of life or death reaches even the culprit who sank this canyon in miasma.

The revived sharpness on the blade harboring the obsession of the General Dullahan strikes the cervical vertebrae, cutting through the hard bone and severing the flame-spewing lower jaw from the spine.

"Buffed Critical Weak Point Correction Confirmed...! Emul, next is anyone but the Axe!"

"Understood desu waaa!"

Four clones remaining here, seven attacks remaining for me. With the Flamethrower Clone gone, the four that turned around are met with newly fired magic blades. Striking the opening while they deal with that, the next target is the Axe-wielding Clone. Noticing my approach, the Axe Clone swings its axe down at me, but here I activate Momentary Sight.

Originally derived from a Parry skill, this skill seems to have developed in a strange direction triggered by the Wethermon fight. Presumably, it remains in the Parry category, but this skill doesn't deflect attacks...

"Even if launched later, if it hits first, it's 'Go no Sen' (Post-initiative). To think the system would handle that for me..."

An attack launched immediately after activation hits the opponent before their attack lands, inflicting a momentary stiffness state. By the Momentary Sight that transformed into an offensive skill taking the initiative from a reactive stance, the Axe Clone's neck is severed and scatters into miasma. Three clones remaining here, six attacks left!

Author's Afterword

Humming Lich
The hazard source scattering miasma in the Canyon of Ancient Souls. Even if purified, it will revive from the miasma filling the area.
By the way, normally you would fight while constantly taking slip damage and stat debuffs, plus feeling like water-logged tissues are stuck all over your body. It slams debuffs like a demon, but actually, both the main body and clones are weak.
The remnant of a mage who participated in the war of the past. Rumor has it that if a party is formed with a male character and a female character, the clones' attacks become more fierce.