Chapter 35: The Forgotten Temple (4)

Kwaang──!

The heavy greatsword swung by the statue shattered the floor.

“Whoa!?”

Ibi, who hastily tumbled away to dodge it, retreated a great distance, and at the same time.

“Sister Ibi! Behind me!”

Miki, who had run out, stepped forward as if to switch places.

『You shall not pass!』

Then, as he cast 「Taunt」, a flash of light momentarily sparked, and the gazes of the nearby statues all focused on Miki at once.

At that, Miki immediately raised his shield and took a defensive stance, his body almost completely hidden by the shield.

On the other hand, the statue he faced was two or three times larger than me or Ibi, and the greatsword being swung was even bigger than that.

So, on the surface, it seemed absolutely impossible for Miki to block it.

Physically, it was a size difference that seemed like he would be crushed to pieces just by being touched.

At least, that's how it must have looked to Ibi.

“Hey, wai──”

The moment she saw Miki under the greatsword, she shouted in urgency, but the statue mercilessly swung the greatsword down.

──Kaaang!!

A loud impact sound echoed throughout the cave, and the tremor washed over our skin.

To state the result first, it didn't break.

Neither Miki.

“…!”

Nor the shield he held up high.

Far from being crushed, it was taking the statue's greatsword head-on without even a hint of being pushed back.

Although he grimaced for a moment as he braced himself, he didn't seem to be struggling either.

“Haaap──!”

If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have been able to not just block it, but even push it back.

It was a perfect 「Parry」.

The statue didn't lose its grip on the greatsword that had been deflected, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it had almost lost it.

Because it couldn't handle the recoil of the heavy greatsword and its posture completely collapsed.

In other words, a large opening had been created.

And Miki did not miss that opening.

He slammed his fist with all his might into the leg of the statue whose weak point was completely exposed.

Kwajik!

Centered on Miki's gauntlet that had landed squarely, I could see cracks spreading out with a crackling sound.

“…What’s with that kid.”

Ibi looked quite surprised to see Miki, who she thought would be instantly overwhelmed, not just holding on but even overwhelming his opponent in return.

However, even so, the other statues joining in was a different story.

“…! Those cheap bastards!”

Seeing the 「Taunted」 statues rushing towards Miki's opening, Ibi seemed to have snapped out of it and immediately dashed forward.

『Get down!』

Of course, I didn't just stand by either.

Kuung!

One of the statues that heard my 「Word Command」, which had been running towards Miki, suddenly prostrated itself on the spot.

And almost simultaneously.

“Behind you, you blockheads!”

Ibi, who had jumped high, ambushed one of the statues on the opposite side from behind and delivered a 「Backstab」.

The sharp tip of the dagger flashed and dug into the statue's neck──

──Chaeng!

“Uh, huh?!”

And bounced right off.

If this were a game, a ‘0!’ would have popped up for all to see.

The dagger Ibi had thrust ultimately failed to pierce the statue's hard skin(?).

“How is it so hard…!?”

So, it was this side that had the ‘physical limitation’.

A dagger couldn't pierce that statue.

Of course, because it was a statue.

And one that was moving by magic, and strengthened by magic.

The reason Miki was able to deal significant damage to the statue just now was, of course, partly due to the difference in strength between Ibi and Miki, but more so because he had literally landed a ‘blow’.

In other words, it was a difference in attack attribute.

Therefore, to break those statues, one had to either attack with a ‘bludgeoning’ attribute like Miki.

『If you have a problem, then look at me, you blockheads who can't even turn your necks!』

Or deal damage with the same ‘magic’.

『──!?』

Basasak!

As you can see from the statue that was hit directly by my 「Vicious Mockery」 and instantly crumbled like sand.

However, as I cast 「Vicious Mockery」, the 「Word Command」 I had just cast was naturally released.

At that, the statue immediately tried to get up, but.

“Miki! Break it!”

“Yes!”

Kwaang!

Before it could, its head was smashed and sent flying by the shield Miki had swung.

“Ah…!”

And yet, it continued to move and eventually got up.

Even though it looked like it was alive, it wasn't really alive.

But since it wasn't an ‘undead’ attribute either, both my 「Vicious Mockery」 and 「Word Command」 worked well on it.

Why both were not alive, yet undead were immune and this one was not… to be honest, I didn't know for sure either.

I speculated that it was probably because most undead were controlled by a ‘hive mind’, so the damage from 「Vicious Mockery」 was shared and 「Word Command」 was ineffective, but since these were judged as individual entities, it just worked.

But what I knew for sure was.

『Seeing as you’re moving just fine even after your head flew off, you must have had it just for decoration from the start!』

『──!』

That it worked well anyway.

For now, that was enough.

The statue that had been completely reduced to dust could no longer move.

“Ah, come on!”

Meanwhile, Ibi's attacks were unfortunately still ineffective.

But even if she couldn't deal damage, she was drawing aggro properly.

However, even though it was strengthened by magic and was much faster and nimbler, as I said before, it was still a statue.

This meant its Dexterity stat was not very high.

So Ibi could easily dodge it.

“Hey! Do something about this!”

Though it could be seen differently depending on one's perspective.

So this phase 1 battle with the knight statues was not particularly difficult.

『Your opponent is me!』

If Miki continued to draw aggro and act as the main tank, and on the side, chip away at the statues' health with ‘bludgeoning’ damage.

『Lie down!』

I could either finish them off with 「Vicious Mockery」, or if it seemed difficult to take one down in one shot, I could just tie it up with 「Word Command」 for a while.

“Wha── Hey! I almost got crushed!?”

And since Ibi was (unintentionally) acting as a sub-tank and reducing Miki's tanking burden, if things continued like this, we could easily pass the trial of the 「Forgotten Stareon Temple」.

Of course, the fact that there was a phase 1 naturally meant there was also a phase 2.

It was around the time when the statues were breaking one by one, and about a third of them had been destroyed.

『The virtues required of a great champion are not just courage and strength.』

A voice was heard again from the statue of Stareon.

『Without wisdom befitting them, courage becomes recklessness, and strength becomes violence.』

It was a notification that phase 2 was about to begin.

『Therefore, prove it.』

At that moment.

『Your wisdom.』

──Chwaaak!

From behind the statue where the waterfall was pouring, four large water droplets suddenly rose.

“Th-That’s…!”

And those water droplets soon transformed into a certain shape.

“W-「Water Elemental」!?”

The form commonly called that.

“Th-This way!”

Miki, surprised, seemed to be trying to cast 「Taunt」 in a hurry, but he was at a distance from behind the Stareon statue where the elementals had spawned, and moreover, he was currently surrounded by 「Knight Statues」.

Because of that, he failed to draw aggro, and.

“Keuk! Did it not reach…!?”

As a result, the attacks of the 「Water Elementals」 that began as soon as they spawned were directed not just at Miki, but at others as well.

The so-called aggro had scattered.

Ssaek!

Small water droplets soon transformed into sharp blades and flew through the air.

“Damn it, what are those things now!?”

Ibi, while letting out a complaint, successfully dodged it lightly, just as she had dodged the statue's attack.

And the blade that was flying towards me.

“Teacher Yubin!”

Peeong!

And

“Keuk…!”

Miki, who was relatively close, quickly ran over and blocked it for me with 「Guard」.

But the attack wasn't over.

「Water Blade」 was also flying towards Rine, who had been keeping her distance from us.

However, Rine had her eyes closed and was concentrating on the formula for 「Delayed Casting」, so she wasn't even looking at the blades flying towards her.

“No! Sister Rine!”

Miki, flustered, kicked off the ground and shouted, but Rine's eyes did not open.

Because there was no need to.

Miki was flustered because he didn't know where we had stopped by before leaving Stout.

We had gone to see Ferguson to pick up the artifact we had commissioned the day before.

And that artifact was the 「Cloak of Projectile Evasion」.

So, in fact, if you had to pick the person we needed to worry about the least at this moment, it was Rine.

As if to prove this, Rine's cloak began to glow.

Both literally.

--

Projectile Evasion effect activated!

--

And figuratively.

For a moment, Rine's form blurred like an afterimage, and then, with a slight vibration, she looked as if she had split into several people.

“Sister! Dodge──”

Shuuk!

And then, the 「Water Blades」 passed through the gaps between those afterimages.

“──d it!?”

That was the ability of the 「Cloak of Projectile Evasion」.

If the cloak was charged with mana (usually once per rest), it could unconditionally evade a ranged projectile attack.

In fact, Rine didn't even open her eyes until the moment the 「Water Blades」 passed by her.

『──All formulas, deploy.』

That meant the preparation for 「Delayed Casting」 had not been interrupted at all.

『Bind.』

“Gather the elementals, Miki.”

“…! Yes!”

Miki, who had been staring blankly at the scene for a moment, seemed to snap out of it at my words and kicked off the ground and ran.

Using the advantage of his small body, he skillfully weaved through the legs of the statues and instantly broke through the encirclement, and then,

『I will be your opponent!』

He attempted 「Taunt」 again on the elementals he had closed the distance with, and this time, it was a clean success.

“Hyap!”

And he didn't even stop there, and as if to take revenge for endangering us earlier, he threw a punch at the first elemental that approached.

“──!?”

But that punch passed right through the elemental's body(?).

Just like putting a hand in running water.

“Physical attacks are useless!”

The 「Water Elemental」 could not be cut, hit, or pierced.

Of course, because it was water.

It was a monster that ignored all three attributes of physical attacks: ‘slashing’, ‘bludgeoning’, and ‘piercing’.

It meant it was an enemy that could not be fought with courage and strength alone.

So it was time to show ‘wisdom’ as requested── in other words, to prove sufficient magic damage.

“Ibi! Gather the statues!”

“You always give me all the hard work!”

Ibi, as if she had immediately understood my intention, started jumping over the statues and drawing aggro with a few taps, while grumbling.

The reason the phase 1-2 battle of the 「Forgotten Stareon Temple」 was known among players as a rather tricky battle, the so-called ‘newbie-cutter section’, was because, as you can see, enemies with limited means of attack suddenly popped out all at once.

And not only were there many of them, but each one was also of a high rank.

My 「Vicious Mockery」 damage was just weird; in fact, if you were to rely solely on Miki's bludgeoning damage, you would probably have to hit each one at least ten times.

And as I said in the 「Drunkard's Tomb」, 「Vicious Mockery」 and 「Word Command」 were ultimately single-target skills.

Miki was doing well so far, but eventually, he was bound to get tired.

Besides, I knew that the battle we would fight today was not the end of this battle.

“Miki!”

So I couldn't let him get tired already.

“Use the shield's ability!”

We had to end this quickly.

“──Understood!”

That was the reason I had chosen and brought the 「Shield of Water's Protection」 from among the many holy relics.