Volume 9, Chapter 37 – The Underestimating Hero’s Attendant and the Adventurous Margaret

“Yisi! Don’t hold me back! Those are your companions down there!”

When Red used her trump card, [Dragon Breaker], Lin, who had been observing the battlefield from high above, could no longer remain a bystander. With a ‘ ss-rip ‘ sound from the fabric on her back, she beat her enormous dragon wings and moved towards Mary and the others below. As Red’s companion, Lin knew all too well the power of a [Dragon Breaker] strike—it was Red’s all-out attack, capable of contending head-on with an adult dragon.

However, the moment Lin moved, Yisi placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“Wait, Lin. Have you forgotten about the trigger-activated magic items?”

“No trigger-activated item can withstand Red’s full-power strike! The power of [Dragon Breaker] is already at the level of Tier 4 magic!”

Shrugging off Yisi’s hand, Lin stopped talking and immediately rushed towards where Red was about to hit Mary at her fastest speed, having broken through level 60. But even with speed surpassing the hero’s domain, it was impossible to make it in time from such a distance. Lin could only watch helplessly as her companion’s attack collided with Mary.

Too late.

This is madness.

Cursing inwardly, Lin was forced to halt her rescue attempt. Venturing into the range of [Dragon Breaker] unprepared would leave even her severely injured. At the same time, Purple also flew in from the direction of the lake using [Fly] magic, carrying Tiffany, who had her mouth set in a へ shape and looked unhappy. Judging from the fact that both were soaked, their clothes and hair drenched, they had clearly just been through a battle.

“Lin, what happened here?”

Realizing something was wrong, Purple’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Red used [Dragon Breaker]. She was ambushed. This was a trap Camilla and the others planned against you.”

“[Dragon Breaker]? How is that possible! Although I figured they wanted to use this slime to buy time, less than two minutes have passed! They couldn’t possibly have pushed Red to use [Dragon Breaker]!”

“I’ll tell you what happened later.”

Only Yisi, Laxy, and Lin, who had been observing the battlefield from high above, knew exactly what had transpired.

This was a strategy that only existed in a spar.

The moment Red and Purple decided to split up, Camilla’s group’s plan unfolded smoothly. First, Tiffany cast [Blessing of Potency] on Camilla, increasing the power of her next spell, [Ice Lance]. After that, Tiffany was transported by Mary to the vicinity of the lake—an open area easily detectable by the [Eye of Exploration]—to attract Purple’s attention, leading her away from the battlefield and buying as much time as possible.

Reaԁ οո KαtRеadiոɡСafe

As for the method of stalling, Camilla had originally thought that Tiffany, with almost zero combat power, would do well just to make Purple waste some time chasing her back and forth. But unexpectedly, Tiffany utilized her slime characteristics, choosing to merge part of her body with the lake. Just like the slimes Yisi had seen consuming and fusing with each other in Antonio City, Tiffany absorbed a large amount of lake water into her body, thereby gigantifying herself and commanding the lake water to attack Purple.

Although it was an offensive method lacking power—even the most basic Tier 1 [Magic Shield] could block the jets of water—Tiffany employed a highly deceptive plan, one that could earn her the label of ‘scheming,’ which successfully angered Purple, thus stalling for nearly a minute.

—Firstly, when Purple first used [Eye of Exploration] to observe the forest, the Eye formed a huge white eyeball above the trees, making it a very obvious target. At that time, everyone hid under the canopy, only letting Edith, under Camilla’s [Levitation] spell, ascend high into the air to attract their attention. However, they hadn’t expected… They originally thought Purple and Red would spot Edith as she rose and then split up—one to deal with Edith, the other to pursue the remaining unseen opponents. The fifteen-minute limit dictated they had to act separately. But at that moment, the [Eye of Exploration] hadn’t captured the image of Edith ascending (while the Eye’s observation range was wide, the size of the displayed image varied depending on the user’s choice). That was why Edith had been forced to throw the spear to attract their attention.

Subsequently, when Purple and Red separated, Tiffany, who had already been delivered to the lakeside by Mary, began to absorb the lake water. When she had merged herself with the lake and become sufficiently large, Tiffany mimicked her own form with a part of her body, making it appear to flee along the shore.

Thus, Purple, observing this through the [Eye of Exploration], naturally mistook the mimicry for Tiffany scattering and fleeing. To catch her, Purple lowered her flight altitude. And that’s when Tiffany gave Purple a surprise.

Viewed from above, half of the calm lake surface seemed to come alive, suddenly opening a giant maw and surging with waves, swallowing Purple, who was skimming over the surface, from below. Simultaneously, Tiffany unleashed a torrent of water she had prepared, mixed with small aquatic plants and animals like fish, shrimp, shells, and seaweed, directly onto Purple. Although Purple, having deployed defensive magic in time, was unharmed, and her [Blessing of Water Repellence] prevented any chance of choking, being ambushed by a weak slime sullied her dignity as a noble magic caster.

Added to being soaked, her clothes reeked of fish and mud—when Purple emerged from the lake bottom, there were even two or three fish wriggling inside her clothes—an infuriated Purple unleashed indiscriminate magical bombardment upon the lake. Even though Tiffany immediately used her trigger-activated magic item, she only held out for less than half a minute before being quickly beaten back to her original form.

However, it was precisely for this reason that Purple neglected to use the  [Eye of Exploration] to observe Red’s direction, losing the optimal rescue time. Of course, if this hadn’t been a spar but a life-and-death duel, Purple would never have separated from Red, let alone failed to watch Red’s situation. But precisely because it was a spar, coupled with the opponents being overly weak, Purple let her guard down, leading to the current situation.

It was worth noting that this applied equally to Camilla’s group. If this weren’t a spar but a life-and-death duel, Camilla would never have chosen to sacrifice Tiffany to buy time.

When the dust settled, everyone quickly saw a scene that left them dumbfounded.

Apart from Red, who looked exceptionally disheveled, everyone else merely had their clothes and hair ruffled by the wind, their bodies enveloped in an eggshell-like pale golden light shield. Only for those who had been too close to the point of impact did cracks appear on the eggshell-like barrier.

Yisi and Laxy lowered their altitude and arrived beside Lin. Yisi shrugged helplessly.

“See? No danger, right? You worry too much, Lin. The magic items my—my friend forged can be completely trusted.”

However, if it had been Purple the magic caster, or if Red’s level had broken 39 and reached 40, she wouldn’t have had such an easy time just now. The current [Barrier Bracelet] could at most withstand Tier 3 magic. Against Tier 4 magic, or a Tier 3 attack enhanced with [Penetrate] or [Demon Break] effects, the bracelet would offer no defense.

Her heart finally settling, Lin couldn’t help but clutch her chest and let out a huge sigh of relief. Along with the others, she dispelled her [Fly] magic and landed on the ground.

“Hah, thankfully no one was hurt.”

“Red, how could you use [Dragon Breaker]!”

Rеаd οո ΚαtRеаdiոɡСаfе

Purple, not understanding what had happened, hurried to Red’s side, questioning her reproachfully while concernedly using lifestyle magic on her. Unlike the others, Red, unprotected by a trigger-activated item, was covered in dust, and her right fist trembled uncontrollably from overuse.

“…Haaah, I lost. But looking at you, Purple, you should still be able to fight.”

“What nonsense are you talking? Thinking about fighting in this state.”

“No, I have to say it. If this were an unobstructed field, I could win alone. But a loss is a loss. They are admirable opponents.”

“Is your head full of muscles? Quickly find a place to sit down and change your clothes.”

As Purple forcefully pushed Red along, Camilla’s group also came over to Yisi. Having defeated Red, who was far stronger than them, everyone, including Edith, had faces filled with joy.

“Onee-sama…”

She’s probably waiting for praise.

Camilla’s expression seemed to say.

Although it felt inappropriate—mainly due to age; Camilla, unlike the child-like Mary, was an adult beautiful girl—Yisi still patted Camilla’s head.

“Well done.”

Sensing an expectant atmosphere from Mary on the other side as well—so much so that Yisi felt if Mary had a tail, it would surely be wagging like a puppy’s; in fact, her slightly twitching elven ears already confirmed Yisi’s thought—Yisi gave Mary’s head a praising pat too.

“Ehehe…”

An atmosphere of comfort radiated from her whole body.

However, perhaps feeling her share had been stolen by Mary, Camilla puffed out her cheeks, letting out a dissatisfied “Mmph” sound from her throat, causing Mary to stiffen all over.

Haaah, already an adult, yet still getting angry with Mary. Camilla hasn’t grown up yet.

Feeling torn between laughter and tears, Yisi could only wryly extend both hands, one for Camilla and one for Mary. Then, her gaze fell on Edith, who was occasionally glancing their way. Yisi tilted her head curiously.

Rеaԁ oո ΚatReаdinɡCαfе

“Do Pepe and Refina want one too?”

“Tsk, treating me like a child? And have you finally started targeting Refina?”

Noticing Refina’s fluttering vampire wings suddenly stop, her face looking bashful, Yisi quickly waved her hands.

“No, no, I absolutely didn’t mean that.”

Tiffany, soaked to the bone, also came before Yisi, wrapped her arms around her waist, and buried her chin in Yisi’s slightly rising chest. Looking up, she pointed unhappily at her mouth.

“Hungry.”

“Yes, yes, I know, I know. Tiffany is the hero of this battle and deserves a good reward. You can eat whatever you want when we get back.”

“Anything?”

Tilting her head like a child, coupled with her expressionless face, Tiffany exuded a different kind of cuteness from Mary.

“Yes, anything.”

“Then, dragon meat.”

“Uh… well…”

This girl really dares to ask.

Although there was a dragon nearby, it had a contract with the Divine Religion and was an ally. If she slaughtered it, Lin would probably eat her—maybe just the tail would be okay?

The dangerous thought had just surfaced when Yisi immediately suppressed it.

No, better just find a wyvern or something of that level. Tiffany didn’t specify what kind of dragon meat.

“My Lord, let’s conclude this spar with Red and Purple’s victory. Although our coordination exhausted Red’s magic power, Purple still retains her full combat strength. If Purple flies into the sky with flight magic and then bombards us with spells, we have no way to handle her. From the beginning, the strategy we adopted was too risky. If Tiffany hadn’t bought so much time, we would have been wiped out.”

Reаԁ οո КatRеаԁіոgCαfе

Laxy walked to Yisi’s side, reporting everything she saw with her head lowered.

As the Angel of Guidance, Laxy’s judgment in combat matters had never been wrong. And the facts were just as Laxy stated: Purple still had most of her magic power. If the fight continued, her exhausted companions would surely be no match.

Brushing the twin tails that had fallen forward behind her, Yisi nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, let’s leave it at that. It was too much to begin with. I underestimated Red and Purple’s strength.”

In her calculations, since the [Barrier Bracelet] could completely block any Tier 3 magic without [Penetrate] or [Demon Break] effects, Red and Purple, being level 39 and capable of using at most Tier 3 magic, shouldn’t have been able to handle the bracelet. However, the reality was, setting aside Purple who was born a magic caster, even Red, who used her fists as weapons and didn’t have that much destructive power, could break the bracelet’s defensive barrier.

“Wait, Yisi. I think we can call it a draw. Purple and Red’s performance was too disappointing. Although I guessed they might underestimate the enemy, I didn’t expect Red to actually lose. If Atwood saw this back when he was an instructor, Red would be confined for at least a week. Now, as the team leader, I need to make them understand their mistake.”

Like an elder to the two, Lin wore a serious expression, her beautiful purplish-blue eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

“Calling it a draw would be too deliberate. What do you think, Camilla?”

“My thoughts are the same as Laxy’s. Although we depleted Red’s magic power, we absolutely cannot defeat the remaining Purple. Therefore, the result should be our loss. This is an irrefutable fact.”

Giving Lin an ‘I told you so’ look, Yisi spread her hands.

After frowning in thought for a moment, Lin sighed.

“Alright. But I will definitely teach them a good lesson when we get back. By the way, Yisi, your trigger-activated magic items this time seem different from the last? They have no offensive capability anymore. That firestorm before really gave me a scare.”

“Yes, I changed the offensive capability to auxiliary enhancement for the wearer. This way, accidental injuries can be avoided.” For example, Refina’s slowing attack, Pepe’s body enhancement. “It’s just that the [Barrier Bracelet]’s defensive performance is a bit weaker than I thought. I’ll have to think about how to strengthen it further later.”

“Yisi, were you serious just now?” Looking as if her jaw would drop to the floor, Lin opened her mouth wide in exaggeration. “Defensive performance that can even block a [Dragon Breaker] strike, and you call it weak? If those high nobles heard you, they’d surely doubt if they’ve ever seen the world! Even the trigger-activated magic items on the Hels Kingdom’s king aren’t as good as the ones you all have!”

“Eh.”

Although she really wanted to ask Lin how she knew about the Hels King’s trigger-activated items, she felt she might hear some terrifying answers. Yisi very consciously changed the subject, smiling and tilting her head, using her blue-streaked silver twin tails to attract Lin’s gaze.

“Tiffany happens to be hungry. How about we all enjoy a meal in the forest after so long? The weather is getting cooler, and I have a dish that’s perfect for this season.”