ch181-ch200 · 199-ch199

Chapter 199: Is the Tail Still Not Ready?

(【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】)

Ten seconds before the boss spawns.

I ready the Orc Knight's spear in my right hand.

The jumonji spear is planted in the ground.

(This is dangerous.)

I feel incredible.

Aikawa's dance buffs stack onto 【Charge・Spear】's super mode, and my body feels light.

Whenever I use super mode, there's always been a sense of straining somewhere—but right now, there's none.

Especially after stacking the shield-side super mode too, the sluggishness would linger, and I'd feel the strain on my body, undeniable and helpless—but now it's the opposite.

No feeling that my body can't keep up.

The usual clumsiness—everything around me slowing, so I slow with it—is gone.

It feels completely free.

Can self-applied buffs and received buffs really be this different?

(It spawned! 【Charge・Spear・Aiming】!)

I throw the spear at the left bow-wielding Orc Knight.

We're behind the orcs right now, so left from our view is left from theirs too.

Without even waiting to confirm where the thrown spear lands, I pull the jumonji spear out of the ground.

I have absolute certainty the spear I aimed at the center of its back will hit.

It will surely crush the magic stone.

(Was that a bit wasteful? But one is fine, surely.)

I even have the presence of mind to think that.

As I ready the jumonji spear, I feel super mode expire.

Aikawa's dance buffs are still active, but the jumonji spear has no weapon enhancement.

It was on the thrown spear, so that's only natural.

To get the jumonji spear enhanced again, they'll need another round of the box step.

"Fuh."

At the Orc General's neck, just as it finally turns around, I unleash a merciless thrust.

With the dance buffs, I shouldn't need to re-stack super mode.

The General's head flies off at the thrust.

Thrust, and immediately retract.

The basics of the spear, no?

The moment I've retracted, I break into a run to the right.

Next I have to clean up the right bow user.

I swing the spear at the nearby magic-user Orc Knight right to left, and homer it off the hilltop.

It flew a considerable distance, which means a considerable drop too.

Falling from this height, there'd be no surviving it.

"Sshh."

On the return stroke I swing the spear left to right, driving the side blade into the bow user's neck.

If I pull it out, it's fatal.

It has HP so it won't die instantly, but it should be unable to nock another arrow.

All that's left is the left-side magic user, and then no more long-range attackers remain.

But it's on the opposite side, so there's the issue of distance.

And its aim doesn't seem to be on me.

Its staff is pointed at Aikawa, peeking out from behind the 'Left Hand Gate'.

I sprint to stop the cast, but I don't make it.

The chant ends, and the 【Fireball】 fires.

Soushi had pulled Aikawa fully into the 'Left Hand Gate's shadow, so it wasn't necessary, but I stop it with the 'Left Eye Gate' just in case.

If it drifted slightly and entered the 'Left Hand Gate', the warehouse would go up in flames, after all.

"Wha—what's this? A new 'Gate'?"

Special skills evolve, you know?

Aikawa's Level 20 already too—once she takes her sub-job, she'll probably have more places she can use 【Partial Beast Transformation】.

(Is the tail still not ready?)

Riding my momentum, I finish off the left magic-user Orc Knight, and the hilltop is secured.

What's left is the six melee-weapon Orc Knights down the slope...

"Showtime. And refresh the buffs, please."

"Yesss, sirrr!"

"Are we allowed to fight too?"

For now I'll let them fight the Orc Knights, and if they manage it, they might handle the Orc General too—but probably too soon for that?

I do want them to get comfortable taking down Orc Knights with ease.

Huh? When I first came here, I was running for my life, wasn't I...

"Six melee ones left."

"Whoa, they're climbing up. Buff refresh first. Ready? Here we gooo—【Dance・Let's】! Right, left, right, left. Opposite foot—. Left, right, left, right!"

""And POSE!""

""Ah-ha-ha-ha!""

The poses line up perfectly too, and the buffs got extended, apparently.

With weapon enhancement back on the jumonji spear, we're at full readiness.

If Aikawa's buffs still have time left, apparently there's no need to cast the skills anew—just 【Dance・Let's】 plus the box step extends them, it seems.

"Good grief. You three, we're in the middle of a battle, you know?"

"You did it too, Haru-kun. And I feel all this power surging up. Gotta thank Mia-san."

"Yeah. Don't feel like losing at all. I'll stack mine too. 【Strength Up・Self】【Endurance Up・Self】【Agility Up・Self】【Magic Up・Self】!"

Aikawa's buffs plus his own—Soushi looks fine.

And with 【Cooking】 putting high-rank-equivalent enhancement on his knife, he'll outdo Aikawa by a step on offense.

"I'll handle the shield bearers, so the other four are on you. Just watch out when Aikawa refreshes the buffs."

They're all fired up, so it should be fine.

"Roger! When I shout '【Dance・Stage】', look this way!"

Aikawa runs down the hill, and Soushi follows.

I'll go too.

Shield bearers are sluggish, so two of them at the very rear.

Running downhill for a running start, I jump.

I leap clean over the heads of the two engaging up front and the orcs alike.

Spinning in midair, I aim a slash at the back of a shield bearer's neck—but it's shallow.

The strike went against my direction of travel, so the force didn't transmit properly.

Kasumi-san is good at this sort of thing, isn't she.

Kasumi-san fights flexibly, unbound by naginata kata.

She doesn't just jump over enemies—she kicks them too, you know.

Kicks, huh...

Wouldn't those work on shield bearers?