Log Horizon Web chapter 59

1

"This is irritating."

Naotsugu complains.

He grabs a rag from his bag to clean the stain on his 'armor of silver oath' and 'gaze of lionheart shield'. He has already cleaned his equipment with the waters conjured by the summoner with his Undine. The filth of monsters staining your equipment is a heartbreaking experience. Cleaning up is important in the aftermath of the battle.

"What irritates you Mr Naotsugu?"

Tetora who is cleaning his wand asked.

As members of the 2nd party, the duo spends a lot of their time together. Demikas is moody and moves alone, Rugiusu and Federico spends their time working with the other members of the Silver swords. Filling in as the strategist in this raid guild, Shiroe works closely with William and is often summoned by him.

This means Naotsugu and Tetora spends a lot of time together.

"Maybe the stain will never come off. It might be a curse."

"What a creepy thing for an idol wannabe to say."

"For a super charismatic girl like me, it is only natural for me to be popular. Because I am cute."

"Yeah right."

The expedition for the day haven't ended. It is now noon, so they are taking a break and preparing for lunch. They are doing simple maintenance of their equipment by cleaning them by hand.

"I am not talking about the equipment."

"Okay. So you are thinking about me?"

"No way."

Naotsugu denies without hesitation.


If you force him to decide between like or dislike, Naotsugu doesn't really dislike the Tetora.

Naotsugu thinks he can categorize Tetora under the like column.

Chatting with her is fun and not a bother. She is a good partner when they are talking about nonsense. Speaking your mind without thinking is very refreshing. It is silly but healing for the soul. He don't talk about panties all day to act as a comic relief.

"You look so down. Want to look at panties."

"As if I will do that."

"I think mini skirt are better than hot pants."

"Let's drop this topic."

"No I want to stick with this."

Fufufu, Tetora seems to be plotting something as she sticks on Naotsugu with a smug face. Naotsugu then says 'Hey, back off, that's irritating' and peel her off him. Being toyed around like that is troubling. Tetora is small and nimble, crawling onto Naotsugu when he let his guard down. Naotsugu can't attack her seriously so he can only react passively.

Tetora knows Naotsugu can't do anything to her and doesn't let up on disturbing him. She is just teasing him. How mean of her. And she knows she is cute, which makes it even more terrible.

"I say, doesn't seeing panties make you happy?"

"Ah, what?"

This caught Naotsugu off guard and he didn't give a proper reply.

"It is like a 'Wow"! That sort of feeling? When you see a cute girl like me, you will be energized to work the whole day like nothing, like a high five with god! Don't you feel that way?"

She doesn't stick onto Naotsugu like usual, and ignoring the way she express it, Naotsugu has to agree with her words. He refuse to give any leeway for her attitude.

"Even if that's true, that's too arrogant"

"I understand this feeling more than anyone! I am really a natural idol! You are allowed to let your heart race for me okay?"

Tetora who is snorting her nose smugly is very impressive. Naotsugu has to admit. Not minding the other details, this Cleric is smiling all the time.

This is an important Moe point. Naotsugu strongly believes that a smile is the greatest gift girls can give to the people around them.


And Naotsugu will think about Marielle when he is with Tetora.

Her smile reminds him of Marielle.

The frequency is high, even when Tetora is not around.

He is not after the wonderful soft pressure. But even so, it is really troubling.

Life back on earth is much simpler. Naotsugu landed a job and his life is getting stable. There don't seem to be any problem and he only knew her for a short time. Although there great aspect of the life of an adventurer, it seems more unstable when he thought about things like that. Running amok. The feelings of Marielle is also important. On the flip side, it is not good to drag it too long, Naotsugu thought as he scratch his face.


"Ahh, that's not how it is!"

"Wah!? Why are you yelling?"

Tetora who has sneak to Naotsugu's side was shocked, falling to the stone cold dungeon floor onto her butt. Naotsugu waves his hands  to play it down. "Nothing, my bad, sorry." He pulled Tetora up with his hand.

Naotsugu's train of thought was disrupted and he laments "Well, such things do happen in life."

"Mr Naotsugu, you are like a grade schooler who wrote a love letter to the beautiful teacher on a test, and was found out by your classmates."

"What is with this awfully specific comment?"

"Fufufu. So, what is the thing that is bothering you?"

Tetora face tells Naotsugu that she won't let him run away. But it is a good chance if Tetora wants to talk about this. Naotsugu wants to take advantage of this misunderstanding.

"Ah, it's about Shiroe." Naotsugu says with a troubled expression.

Tetora's smug expression shines bright. This equates to Tetora saying 'Way to go! How brilliant of me to ask the crucial question!' or something like that. Tetora puff out her chest like a hopeless idiot.


Naotsugu can't depend on Tetora's healing all the time.

It is hard to convey, but Naotsugu ponders how to put his thoughts into words.

"Hey, lunch is ready."

Federico approaches with a box like container. It is filled with asparagus and meat stew. Although Naotsugu was slow to react, Tetora receive the box with a smile and says "Thank you Mr Federico."

As expected of an idol, Tetora is really popular. The raid group accepted her as one of them in no time, and treats her well. She probably has fans too.

Naotsugu can tell from smile on Federico's mustached face as he says "It's my pleasure." He seems friendlier than he looks from the way he delivers the food. Demikas and Rugiusu has probably received their share. They are getting use to the duo from Silver swords taking care of the menial chores. Naotsugu didn't think that this would have happened.

"Eat up Mr Naotsugu. Remember to tell me what is up after this."

"Okay."

Naotsugu answers directly as he search for a suitable place to sit.

This is one of the many small rooms in the Abyssal Shaft zone. Small is a relative term to this dungeon, the room is actually 15m by 15m big, about the size of a mini sports complex. The giant pillar may not be grandiose, but is still decorated by carvings. In terms of atmosphere, it has a religious feel to it with the glowing light coming from the high ceiling.

A granite pillar stump of just the right size is used by them as a bench.

"Chow time."

"Time to eat."

There is an amazingly large piece of meat in the stew. Naotsugu thinks as he chews on a mouthful. It is a pain to explain. The core of the problem lies with Shiroe, but things not going smoothly is just a gut feel.

Simply put, Naotsugu don't understand why Shiroe is so troubled, that's it.

But this human known as Shiroe worries too much and burden himself with too much work and responsibility. That's why people other than Naotsugu thinks Shiroe wears a bitter expression full of worry all the time.

Naotsugu doesn't think so.

Shiroe might have a sour face, but there are interesting things about him too. There are times when Shiroe laze around and breaks bottles because of clumsiness too. He saw him sleeping on the table with a 'I don't care anymore' expression on his face multiple times.

But for those who are not familiar with Shiroe, he always seems to be thinking about complicated issues. He sometimes mumbles to himself but always solve the issues in the end. Naotsugu finds it hard to tell what Shiroe's limit is and it is hard for him to explain to those around him.

Because his normal serious face is no different from his expression in a crisis, Naotsugu can't explain how to differentiate between them. Naotsugu understands, but it is more of a gut feel.

Shiroe right now looks more troubled than normal.

But there is no telling signs.

And it is hard to explain.


"Shiroe," Naotsugu says slowly "How should I put it, seems to be in a crisis."

"Seems?"

"Yeah."

"Let's help him then."

Tetora skewers her asparagus and decided.

Don't go up to him so casually, its troubling, Naotsugu answers.

"The world calls him Black heart glasses, but he actually has a delicate ego. It it okay to involve others? Will it be fine to work on this alone? That's what he is thinking about."

"Is that so. He is mentally a shut-in."

"I can't deny that."

"An idol is necessary!"

"That would probably be helpful."

"So whyare we in this super rural storage cave?"

Because we need money, Naotsugu thought, but knew that this is not really an answer. Shiroe has no interest in piling up gold and watching them. Money is a means to achieve something. That was the case with crescent burger. This time, the purpose of getting the money remains unclear, so Naotsugu is unable to answer.

He wanted to buy the bank zone for the formation of the Round Table. His purpose was not in owning the bank. It is a negotiation chip used to converse with the adventurers of Akiba, a means to an end.

What does he want to do with the money? What's the meaning behind it? Thinking back, Naotsugu did not hear of the plan from Shiroe. A man he can trust without knowing everything, that's his friend Shiroe. But it is hard to explain this to a 3rd party Tetora.

(Reason, the reason...)

Naotsugu tilts his head as he thinks. Inspiration strikes.

"Just a guess, but it is to protect our home."

"Home?"

"I'm not talking about a physical building. A place you reside in or something like that."

"You mean a guild?"

"Not just a guild. I don't really understand either."

Naotsugu chew on the bread he dunked in the stew as he think about what to say.

"In order to survive, we will need things to eat and a roof over our head. And also, comrades. A place to live with them is necessary no matter what. That means a family in the old world, but a guild in this one."

Naotsugu has been watching Marielle and the Crescent Moon Alliance for the past 6 months.

A place for everyone to relax. Get up from bed, work, have dinner, play and to sleep after a hard day's work.

Most importantly, the warm and gentle smile that holds all this together.

"All said and done, it is nice to settle down and have a place of your own."

"Huh?"

Naotsugu tries explaining to the confused Tetora. Even Naotsugu is unsure about this, digging this up from the depth of his own heart.

"Speaking of home, that will mean Akiba too. Having a guild in an empty world won't do. Because all sorts of things are inter connected. Even a guild needs a home as well. Be it an organization that provides convenient services or a guild of a friend. The places where we are interconnected with others needs to be treated with care too."

That should be it.

This is the reason what Shiroe is fighting so passionately for when forming the Round Table.

"The city is a gigantic place belonging to everyone. If the city is suffering, all the homes will suffer. In order to protect his home, Shiroe is willing to take on the city or even more powerful enemies."

"...A place you belongs too."

Naotsugu is worried about Tetora not getting what he is saying, but he sees an unexpected expression. That is a smug, gentle and strong smile.

"It is important to protect our home. It is important for us wolves. Mr Shiroe must be quite a guy to command such expectations from Mr Naotsugu... I really mean it, he is more than the rumors made him out to be. It's the same for my home, we are not sure what to do."

"Is Light Indigo not doing too good? I didn't know much about this guild, but did your number fell drastically after the apocalypse?"

"Not really. In summary of our conversation, Light Indigo is not a guild or a home. It is more like a holding place."

"What is that, idol training center?"

Naotsugu tries to find the right words in the chaos. Tetora claps her hands and declares "I am full", then proceed to poke at Naotsugu's face and continues.

"That's probably it. We are idols who exist to protect the homes in everyone's heart. Following along is the right call! My charm radar is beeping here. I will follow this raid to the end even if I have to leave Light Indigo!"

Naotsugu is not sure why Tetora is smiling so smugly, so he just replies "If you say so."



2


"I will be sitting here."

"Ara ara, what an unlady like way to sit."

"My nose itches."

Henrietta lectures Marielle's ettiqutte as they sit around a table in the warm hall.

Henrietta surveys the room looking for the source of the cold air, but the Crescent Moon Alliance dining hall is as peaceful as usual.

The hall ceiling was high in order to accomodate all the members for meals. Crescent Moon Alliance has over 40 members now, and it is not easy to take in so many members. Nevertheless, they still prepared 2 big table that can seat 16 each. If they keep the chairs, all the members will be able to squeeze in.

The rowdy hall during meal time is a quiet place for the guild mistress Marielle and her confidant Henrietta to relax at night. It gives off a cozy atmosphere.

They went through many trials and difficulties in Akiba since the Apocalypse. There were not just sad times, but also happy times that makes you want to dance. After going through all sorts of thingd, the city seems to remember the way it should be after the Libra Festival. The level of happiness wasn't extremely high after the formation of the Round Table Council, but the expression of the people reflects the prosperity and peace they are enjoying.

Although the winter is harsher than the original world, life remains stable in Akiba.

Marielle thinks so too.

Marielle endured much stress as a guildd mistress for the past half year, but she has started to relax recently. It's all becase Henrietta said "If you put on a sour face all day, you will turn into a cranky grandma." During that moment she was lectured, the members of the guild avert their eyes from Marielle. She must not forget to smile, she has been too tense even though she doesn't mean to.

She need to reflect on this, Marielle sigh softly.

The lecturing party Henrietta seems rather cheerful lately.

Asuka is helping Henrietta with the finances. Although she has to attend to the Round Table Council frequently, but Henrietta has found time to relax in the afternoon like this.

The 2 old friends warms their hands with the mug as they took tiny sips of Cocoa.


"...? ...?"

"Ara, Nanami, what is it?"

Henrietta ask the young girl who is peeping in from the doorway. She watches Marielle's side of the table, warily avioding Henrietta.

The young girl joined the guild very recently and is still shy.

One source of her insecurities is Henrietta who is trying to sip her cocoa inconspiciously.

But Marielle won't miss out the corners od Henrietta's mouth which is cramping with a smile.

The day Nanami came to the guild, Henrietta was overjoyed, grinding the young girl like a pay per use dryer. She tirelessly toy with Nanami like a dress up doll, going through over 30 costumes. When Nanami burst into tears, her protector Hien the assassin protest Henrietta's action strongly. Henrietta finally restraint her instinct to cuddle cute and small things.

Even though Henrietta is reflecting on her action, Nanami is still traumatized by the ordeal. She seems ready to bolt at any instance.

"Want to sit on my lap?"

Marielle grabs Nanami by her waist and put her gently on her lap.

The young Nanami is finally able to see the objects on the table upclose.

The long table that can seat 16 is filled with Marielle's carpentry tools, Henrietta's accounting books, 2 mugs of cocoa and things like bags. Henrietta safekeep the carving knife into the bag. Marielle is thankful to Henrietta's attention to details. As Nanami fidget in Marielle's lap with her eyes wide open, Marielle can feel her mouth breaking into a smile. She can't express it properly in words, but Marielle feels a motherly urge to call for her.

The atmosphere of the hall is warm and peaceful under the gentle glow of magic light. They can see the 2 chef preparing dinner from part of the kitchen visible from the doorway. You can also hear the conversation from the corridor and the greetings of comrades returning home as well as those welcoming them.

Nanami smells like freshly cleaned clothes. Marielle probably smell the same. For Marielle, this is like a bond between family.


"Want some cocoa? Or are you looking for Hien?"

Nanami was surprised by Henrietta who offers her mug with her head tilted. Nanami looks up at Marielle, then the cocoa, and then at Henrietta. Henrietta smiles and says "take it" as she pass the mug to the stunned young girl.

Nanami receives the mug that is too big for her carefully, and drinks it.

"!"

An impactful sense of sweetness.

Nanami face was frozen in surprise.

Among adventurers, the girl knows surprising little of their old world. Everything is amazing, and she desires to learn about them all. The amused members of Crescent Moon Alliance dotes on her and teaches Nanami all sorts of knowledge. But Nanami still likes Hien who she knew first the most. She looks unsettled when Hien is not around, searching for the big brother she can rely on.

(We can educate her such things slowly over time.)

Marielle thought as she takes care not to let Nanami slips off.

Nanami who is sipping the cocoa slowly suddenly freezes.

Concerned about Nanami's troubled look, Marielle looks over and see that that is only a bit of cocoa left.

She drank the whole thing, what should she do, this belongs to Henrietta!!

... She is probably thinking something like that. Nanami is acting suspiciously because she feels that she has done soemthing wrong. Marielle smiles as she watches Nanami.

"Don't mind her, Umeko won't get angry over something like this."

"The one who is addressed as Umeko will get angry though."

The icy retorts made Marielle feign fear. The face Nanami makes as she stares at the both of them is so cute that they laugh out loud. This interaction affirms that both Henrietta and herself feels the same warm feeling, making Marielle even happier. My guild, the Cresenct Moon Alliance is a great home, a place to be proud of.


...Hey! It's cold out here!

These energetic words which don't really serve as a gretting made Nanami spring up and look around.

"That's probably Hien. He should be at the entrance."

Nanami didn't notice that Henrietta's attempt to curry favour with her, so she simply nods with gratitude and leap off Marielle's lap. Marielle caught Nanami and let her down gently with a smile. Nanami then ran off with a pace that borders within the safety limits.

"Really."

"What is it?"

"I am jealous of how popular Hien is."

"Before talking about others, Weren't you lectured not too long ago, Umeko?"

"Ma. Ri. elle."

The two of them broke out in laughter.

They have played around like this since old times, but this always fills Marielle with joy.

"... So the sneeze from earlier was because of Naotsugu right?"

"Woo wah!"

Her friend that knows her so well approach her with a menacing smile.

"Have you heard any rumours about Naotsugu?"

"How would I know?"

Even in this magical world, detecting such things instantly is impossible.

"Alright then, why not ask him through telepathy."

Pushing aside the logic of the fantasy world they are living in, Henrietta pushes Marielle to a corner.

It might be a mistake to discuss matters of the heart with this dear friend of hers, Marielle has already regretted this hundreds of time. Henrietta might be working hard and doing a huge amount of work, but her interest of bullying small girls and Marielle is so mean. Just like a scary mother in law.


"Hmmph. I endured it."

"Endured what?"

Marielle can't tell even when she was questioned. Marielle mumbles hesitantly. She is at a lost, averting her eyes and becoming defensive. She intertwine the fingers of her hands together.

"It's just that."

"Huh?"

"Telepathy once a day, at 9pm after dinner."

"..."

Marielle's words silenced the room as Henrietta digest the news. Finally, Henrietta sigh deflatedly in reply.

"Ha ah!?"

"Just once okay?"

Marielle says as Henrietta makes a rare expression with her mouth open wide in the shape of a rectangle.

"Because, he is in a raid right? He is working hard! It is a matter of life and death, he might die okay? Naotsugu is definitely soldiering on, Shiroe is thinking really hard, so we can't disturb them. So we made a promise to only use telepathy after they made camp at night..."

Henrietta sigh as she uses her finger to press against her forehead.

Her dear friend seems so rude. Henrietta didn't seem to understand Marielle's well meaning intentions.

"That's not what I am asking, well, maybe I did... So he telepath you everyday?"

"Yes."

Marielle didn't seem to understand the situation what this means and nods her head.

"I will tell him about Akiba's condition and things about Akatsuki. Well, I told him about Nanami last night. Didn't we made new boots for Nanami? I told him about it. I also told him how we brought the rubber boots together and Nanami and Hien dancing at the entrance. That's right, I mentioned about the tandoori chicken too. Naotsugu said that he wants to taste some too. Naotsugu is so big and strong, he can eat 3 right? It is spicy so he can take 4! We also chat about how great milk shakes are, so we should grab lunch together some time. The time is up before I realised. Na Na, Don't you think the tandoori chicken is delicious too Henrietta?"

"Hah."

Henrietta stood up as if she is suffering from heartburn.

"What is it?"

"I, I need to send something to the production guild liason before dinner."

"Is that so."

"Even if I am starving, I won't be able to eat dinner if this keeps up. Marielle you, really... how should I put this...""

Marielle bid farewell to her depressed dear friend walking out of the hall. This is another normal day for Crescent Moon Alliance.

Marielle has unknowingly gain another point in the gradebook inside Henrietta's mind.

The fight here is as intense as a raid battle, the score are very close.


3


According to the scouting reports, a set of dark purple armor is sitting motionlessly in the middle of the giant basin like arena. A cannoner fires from a distance of 100m with lock on sight as a probing attack. He is about 16m in height, probably a golem or giant.

The detection radius of a raid boss is special and wide. The arena probably turned into a battle field when William's group entered.

The enemy is seventh of the garden Ruseato.

This enemy looks similar to seventh of the prison Ruseato he fought countless times in the raid of 'Prison of 9 heroes.' The stats and tactics has probably been strengthened while retaining its specialty. According to the reconaisance report of the scouting team, seventh of the garden Ruseato has the possibility of having dual modes of black knight and white knight. The memory of the 2 modes interchanging as they attack is still fresh on his mind, a difficult boss.

William shrugs.

He knows the eyes of the raid group is on him.

The have convened the meeting before this. The scouting team attack several times, using their death to exchange for valuable data. The strategy built on these information has been acknowledge by Shiroe of Log Horizon to have a '50 50 chance of success.' This number isn't too bad for the first try.

With the preparations done, he felt a heat wave rise from his back.

William seize this moment to signal with his hand.

The troops burst ahead like water from the dam with the signal. The 1st party leads the way, leaping down from the audience seat which surrounds the arena.

They slide down the crumbling wall moving onwards, onwards.


The attack range of a monster is normally proportional with its size.

For Goblins which are less than 140cm in height, the range is several dozen centimetres barehanded. Their reach can go up to 1 meter when equipped with spears. But for trolls which are 2m high, you have to give 3m allowance for the reach of their club. For the humongous raid boss in front of them definitely has an absurd attack range.

The Silver swords used 10m, 15m and 20m as a benchmark as they trained as Shiroe comes up with the plan of attack. They learn to gauge the distance through their sight and feel. This will cut down on mistakes when estimating the range of the attack.

But it all starts with the first attack. They need to move into the attack range of the enemy steathily, with the tanks in the front and the vulnerable mage and range attacker at a safe distance. They will need to shift their distance, moving back and forth to stay out of the boss' range while being close enough to attack. If they do not make use of the raid boss' blind spot in their strategy, the rear guards will not be able to survive the raid boss level attack. Every strike of is carefully calculated.

Dinkuron leads from the front and charge into the 20m range like a whirlwind. 7 of the garden Ruseato came alive and stood up. Light from the red luminous fluid flowing within the mechanical armour can be seen through gaps as it swings its oversized halberd. Dinkuron grit his teeth and raise his shield to shoulder the strike. His effort paid off as the heavily armored guardian from Silver swords endured the first attack of the raid boss.

The damage is slight, about 10 percent of his total hit point.

But that doesn't mean the attack power of the enemy is weak. Dinkuron was buffed by a protection barrier before the battle started. A high level Kannagi can cast a shield which negates 4500 points of damage. This means the attack broke through the barrier completely and hurt Dinkuron. Without the protection barrier, this attack will take out more than 30 percent of Dinkuron's health bar.

What a powerful attack.

But this is within their expectation. The dispelled barrier was recasted.


The vanguard of the 1st party Dinkuron the guardian is the toughest steel at the tip of the arrow. Supported by multiple healing spells, the iron warrior made his way to the feet of the 7 of the garden Ruseato and cast multiple taunting techniques.

The fight starts here.

"Begin the attack!"

William announce from the 3rd party.

With the support song of bards buffing them, all sorts of physical and magical attack rains onto the raid boss. It is hard to check the status screen in raids, but there is definitely a stupendous amount of debuff cast on Ruseato. This is the reason behind gathering all 12 classes for full raids. The same debuff cannot stack, but this can be overcome by using a variety of spells instead, which works wonderfully when fighting powerful enemies.

The consecutive attacks lit the skies, the earth trembles from the explosions.

Reuseato swings his humongous steel weapon in a 10m circle, attempting to end all life within this range. This strike caused 2 death and brings several melee range fighters to the brink of death.

Even Dinkuron lost half of his health bar to this cruel attack.

But the Silver swords held the line.

All Kannagi has the resuscitation spell 'Soul call prater', which teleport dead comrades to their sides before reviving them. A convenient spell which extracts allies to a safe distance in order to heal them. Recovery is supported by the Carbuncle conjured by a summoner. The mage class has health recovery spells too. They might be weaker than their healer class counterpart, but it helps to relief the burden of the healing specialist.

The healers other than the Kannagi prioritize on healing the wounded. Dinkuron did not back down as he goes head to head against Ruseato.

The powerful strike that sweeps one round is probably the special attack of the raid boss.

The members of the Silver swords will etch this blow into their memory. The summoner besides William squeeze a cute and fluffy Carbuncle which starts the counting the time. The sound reaches the ear of all their allies.

Without exception, all special attacks of raid boss has conditions.

The main condition is their recast time. Powerful attacks will not be launched in rapid succession. Each skill has its own cooldown time. It might be 10 seconds or 30 seconds, but it definitely exist.

The summoner starts counting time in order to gauge the cooldown time. But he won't hold back in his attacking duties in the meantime and adjust to the battle conditions accordingly.

When Elder Tales was still a game, the time is track by a 3rd party software or just a physical stopwatch. Every move of the raid boss are recorded for reference and analyzed by the second. With reference to the timer, the attack damage, attribute, area, rate, animation, penetration, critical chance, all this are taken note of.

The challengers will also share their information on the cloud servers and discuss it on the forums. They will then try again with better tactics and strategies.


"18, 19, 20, 21..."

The steady count mixes with the noise of steel on steel clashes of the sword and the reverberating sound of thunder and fire.

All the members focus on the count and the enemy before them.

The Silver swords wo continues to challenge raids in this world swallowed by chaos uses primitive and awkward tactics.

The strong guild of the past has fallen on hard times.

Covered in dirt and forced to the edge, there concentrate on the count and their will for victory.

When the count hits 26, 7 of the garden Ruseato collosal halberd swings. The horrible strike comes again.

But Williams comrades are fearless.

The assassins and swashbuckler leaps into the air.

The bards and druids pulls away like a spring.

Cleric buff the defence of tanks who took the full hit.

They handled the 2nd strike much better.

The incoming storm after they started counting time is over, there are no casualties.

The hit points of many players fell drastically, but they are on the mend with the support of the healing team.

They made it through the 1st phrase, they can handle the attack of the enemy.

Willaim sneers with a violent look.

No. The raid boss covered with blade like armor definitely has more attacks up his sleeves. And he has not even shift into alternate modes yet.

But things aren't too bad, William thought as he shoots his arrows.

Before William realized, the words has escaped from his throat and he roars "Up the DPS! we can't win this if we hold back, weaken him!"

Huge amount of arrows flew out.

Sword clashes, threatening to dissolve the formation. Flaming spells dance and surround Ruseato.

William understands. All the boss monsters has incredible amount of hit points. Just the number alone is enough to turn players off. For a first class raiding guild like Silver swords, the level 94 guardian Dinkuron has the base hit point of 18,000. The raid boss has one or two thousand times that amount of health.

If you view the hit points of 7 of the garden Ruseato in the form of a health bar, you can see how slow the attacks are grinding his health down. It is hard to even see the damage done when you look at the health bar. Even so, piling up all this minute damage is the only way to take him down.


"Look out below you!"

The shrill voice came fro the bandit Federico.

7 of the garden Ruseato suddenly slow his movement and a black mist or ooze seeps out from his feet. It's wiggling movement threatens to cover the entire floor of the arena in a hurry.

"It causes damage, attribute is poison! Action, wrong, it hinders movement. Attack speed and power are diminished."

Dinkuron reports his findings. At his feet is the black ooze with weak flickering lightning as it entangles Dinkuron's metal boots.

William hesitates for a moment.

It cause damage, but it is very slight.

The sparkles cause consistent damage, but is weak as it didn't break through the protection barrier that was cast on him. Other melee members with weaker defence also did not suffer major damage.

The damage is insignificant and hinders movement... As William sense of danger tingles, 7 of the garden Ruseato starts to move with heavy steps.

Dinkuron uses 'anchor howl' to stop him, but the effect was nullified.

The armor of Ruseato has a new nullify spells effect.

Movement hindering effect with low damage.

When William realize his intent, he roars.

"Mass buff defence! Mass healing!"

This roar is like pressing a button, the team reacting on command.

Translucent hemisperical barriers, the dim glow of defence spell, the orange light of reactive heal, all of that are blown away with one stroke. The metallic armored body of 7 of the garden Ruseato is like a weapon itself. The towering machine leap with the agility of a cat. The halberd swings close to the ground mowing through the members of the Silver swords.


But despite that.

More than half of the group survived.

The fearless sound of counting continued, ignoring the pain.

"Healers of the 1st hold down the front line! 2nd party retreat to recuperate! 3rd and 4th lower output to 70%, prioritize resuscitation!"

William smile, unable to hold back his joy.

He can smell the blood dripping from his nose.

The taste of iron in the blood, that is the raid William is after.

The enemy is strong, beyond his expectation.

But William and his crew are still alive.

The battle is just beginning.



End