“I’m counting on you, then.”
“Yes, of course. Hold on tightly, sir.”
Xeno took off his armor and carried Melchor on his back, then ascended into the sky and joined up with the three others. Using one of Korinna’s Channeler skills, the <<Wind Deity’s Protection>>, everyone was able to fly.
Melchor had hardly ever used flying skills before, however, so he was not so good at it — And since Xeno was the best flyer in the current party, he had been entrusted with the role of carrying Melchor.
“Let’s go.”
Since Diniel had already found the Black Gate through her scouting, she took the lead as the team proceeded to fly through the Valley. They eventually reached the Black Gate and proceeded down to layer fifty-two without incident.
Carrier Birds and Wyverns started appearing on layer fifty-three, but Diniel effortlessly shot them all down. Since it was easier to find Black Gates while airborne, the team’s progression was relatively quick, with them reaching layer fifty-six in the span of two days.
From layer fifty-six onward, the lush greenery was gone, turning the area into Canyons, and the possibility of multi-wave battles ensuing upon being detected by monsters became quite high. As such, it was necessary for Diniel to take the lead and be on high alert at all times.
“One Wyvern up ahead. I’ll take care of it.”
Diniel stuck her face out from behind a cliff and shot three arrows, crushing its face and piercing both its wings. After confirming that the Wyvern had fallen to the ground and faded away, Diniel called over the four others behind her and continued toward the Black Gate.
Since Diniel had been an Explorer for a long time, she was very familiar with going through the Canyons. By taking advantage of the terrain, she could not only bypass the Orcs and Kungfu-garoos on the ground level, and also eliminate the Wyverns and Carrier Birds from a good distance before they could detect the team.
Similarly, Guild Master Camille was good at exploring the Canyons thanks to her experience in raiding other Dungeons. Still, Diniel had also been a hunter for her hometown for several decades, so she was a precise sniper and had quite a bit of training for her scouting skills, enabling her to explore the Dungeon extremely efficiently.
With Diniel in the lead for another two days, their Canyon exploration progressed at an amazing speed, with them making it to layer fifty-nine. Then they found the next Black Gate, and were set to challenge the Fire Dragon.
“Mind helping us with the Dragon?”
“Not at all. I happen to want some exercise anyway.”
Melchor, who had been on Xeno’s back all the way through the Canyons, started stretching his neck. Xeno smiled happily as he observed the Black Gate to layer sixty, while Korinna’s face turned pale as she trembled like a little critter.
“W-will we be all right? It’s my first time against the Fire Dragon, you know…”
“No problem. Melchor alone is probably more than enough.”
Melchor shot Diniel a reprimanding look in response to her irresponsible remark.
“Now, you remember that I’m your client, yes?”
“We’ll also be fighting the Mount Golem anyway. Better get used to it now.”
“You do have a point there… But knowing you, it seems more like you’re being lazy.”
Diniel showed no concern whatsoever at Melchor’s reply.
“…What a difficult Elf she is.”
Having enough Red-thread Fire Coats for everyone thanks to Ollie purchasing them in bulk, Daryl took them out and proceeded to prepare the Potions, then called out to the four others once he was done,
“Ah, I’ll start going over our strategies now. Please gather around, everyone.”
The usual strategy for this particular fight was simple. First, use a Flash Bomb to temporarily blind it and interrupt its opening breath attack, then exploit the resulting opening to smash the crystal on its forehead, weakening its ability to fly.
After that, everyone would put on their Fire Coats. The Tanks would pull aggro while the Healers heal them and the Attackers start dealing some damage. The strategy had become a classic way of doing things by now.
Still, more mid-tier Clans had been able to defeat the Fire Dragon as of late, greatly increasing the rate at which Fire Dragons got hunted. It was expected that the Fire Dragon would start developing powers to counteract the Flash Bombs and Fire Coats after the next two months or so.
The Guild staff members had already announced their predictions, resulting in mid-tier Clans rushing to make progress while they could — which, in turn, probably would result in the changes coming even sooner than initially expected.
“I’ll be the one who throws the Flash Bomb. Make sure to smash the crystal, Miss Diniel.”
“You know, I’ve been meaning to say this for some time now… You don’t need to call me ‘Miss’. It makes call-outs unnecessarily long.”
“S-sorry…?”
“…Look, just do whatever you want,” Diniel said and looked away from Daryl, then proceeded to put on her Fire Coat and start adjusting her bow.
Melchor looked at her from behind and sighed.
“Look what you’ve done, Daryl — now she has no idea what to say. Don’t worry too much about how to interact with her. That’s just how the Elves are.”
“H-huh… Is that so?”
“That’s right — Though, she does seem to be one of the more… laid-back ones among her kind, I suppose. There are likely no ulterior motives behind the things she says.”
Melchor looked on at Diniel as she shot a Carrier Bird in the distance. Exasperated by the latter’s lack of motivation, he shook his head before preparing some Magic Stones for his gauntlets.
“D-do you think we’ll be all right?” Korinna turned to ask Xeno.
“There’s no need to worry. The Fire Dragon will never even look your way!”
“Really…?”
Korinna looked back coldly at Xeno, put off by his combination of shining silver armor and cheesy choice of words. Xeno seemed utterly unaffected, however, as he simply brushed up the bangs of his silver hair.
“I have confidence in fighting the Fire Dragon. Just leave everything to me!”
“Reeeally…?”
“Now, Korinna! With that attitude of yours, you won’t be able to beat even a beatable foe! That’s right — you need attitude! Assume that your support is essential to defeating the Fire Dragon! Use your Blessing skills to guide me to victory!” Xeno prattled on and spread out his arms, acting as if he was giving a speech to a crowd.
“Uh, you’re making me really want to NOT cast my Blessings on you…” Korinna said, gripping the talisman hanging from her neck.
Indeed, the current layer was uncharted territory for Korinna. Although he had a good idea of how strong things were from observing the enemies she had faced thus far, she still felt a vague sense of unease when it came to what was ahead.
“Don’t worry, Miss Korinna,” Daryl spoke up. “I’ll see if I can make it easier for you to support us. Besides, we have Sir Melchor and Miss Diniel with us.”
“Thank you. Those two are indeed quite amazing — Oh, and so are you, Daryl. You’re as good as the rumors say.”
“Hmph. No need for any pep talk from me, then?”
“Well, I expect you to live up to your big talk, Sir Xeno,” Daryl answered.
“I sure will!”
Xeno beat his chest and cracked a fearless grin, slightly easing Daryl’s worries with his unwavering confidence. Daryl proceeded to move along with the strategy meeting, after which the team walked through the Black Gate.
――▽▽――
The Fire Dragon’s roar shook the sky — though among the team, only Korinna was intimidated by it. She had only ever seen the Fire Dragon through Monitors, and naturally had never heard its roar with her own two ears before. Her limbs stiffened as if she was under a paralyzing effect, and she felt her throat choke down on itself.
“Are you alright? Try to calm down, and take a deep breath if you can.”
In the past, Daryl had also been frozen in fear upon being hit by the Dragon’s roar, so he had expected the same reaction from Korinna. He approached her as her breathing grew chaotic, and encouraged her to try breathing to his rhythm.
Korinna did as Daryl said, tightening her grip on her talisman as she took deep breaths. Daryl, seeing the Fire Dragon gliding toward him in the corner of his eye, reminded Korinna to put her hood on.
“Breath attack incoming! Now make sure to cover yourself with the Fire Coat and crouch down!”
“Y-yes!?”
Korinna, her face reddening from the confusion, hurried to brace herself with the Fire Coat. Daryl, after confirming that everyone was all set, turned to keep an eye on the Fire Dragon as it glided down.
Then, just as the monster was about to unleash its opening fire breath, Daryl threw a Flash Bomb, temporarily blinding it and leaving its forehead vulnerable to Diniel’s arrow. The shot smashed the crystal to pieces, weakening its flight ability. Daryl proceeded to unleash his indigo-blue blast of <<Combat Cry>> and made himself the first priority of the monster’s aggro.
“<<Blessing of Protection>>, <<Verses of Prayer>>.”
Korinna removed the hood of her Fire Coat and stood up, then activated her skills on her four teammates, raising their VIT ratings. Channelers had the ability to choose specific targets for their Blessing-type skills, meaning they did not have to aim their skills like the White Mages. This advantage was one of the reasons why Tsutomu had felt she would do well with evasion-based Tanks like Hannah.
This time, Korinna had been instructed by Daryl to concentrate on support and healing. Korinna, considering that that was the only thing she was good at anyway, activated a string of Blessing skills and watched Daryl as the latter faced the Fire Dragon.
[Wow…]
Daryl, famous as someone akin to a younger brother figure to the Mad Dog, had been known as the little boy who would always hide behind Garm… Until he hit what seemed to be a growth spurt about two years ago, growing big and tall, and then he went through intensive training to become the splendid fighter he was now.
Korinna, feeling that they both had quite a bit in common personality-wise, was inspired by how he was facing off against the Fire Dragon without hesitation.
The others were excellent, too, as she had seen during the past few days’ explorations. Melchor certainly had quite an unusual air about him — and so did Diniel. Perhaps it was due to how long they had lived, but she could not help but feel that there was something about them that set them quite far apart from other people.
And then there was Xeno — perhaps the one she knew best among the team, though she was sick and tired of his hammy disposition. It could not be denied that he had the abilities of a top-notch Explorer, however.
He had not shown even a hint of exhaustion despite moving around for hours on the sand during the Shell Crab battle, and he had better control over his flight than even Diniel. Her DEX rating was higher than his, so there was no doubt that his flight control had been achieved with thorough practice.
Xeno’s excessive self-confidence seemed to mostly stem from innate narcissism, though at least a small part of it was likely a result of all the real effort he had invested. That was why he did not flinch one bit against opponents he had never defeated yet — including the Fire Dragon. Even now, he seemed perfectly relaxed, smiling as he observed Daryl’s movements and even cheered him on.
“<<Ray of Solace>>.”
If she were to be honest, Korinna herself did not understand why she had been chosen to join this Clan. Tsutomu had told her that she was the best of the Channeler candidates, but surely there were many other people who were as good as her. She did not get why he would seek out a Channeler instead of another White Mage, either.
At first, in recruiting a Healer inferior to him, she had thought it was a part of his scheme to maintain his position in the main party — but after seeing Tsutomu on the Monitors, she instantly knew that that was not the case.
From Korinna’s point of view, the only Healers who could match Tsutomu were Stephanie of Ealdred Crow and Lorena of Silver Beast — and that was the reason she was so confused as to why Tsutomu would let her in. Her capabilities as a Channeler were not so different from the average, and she would not consider her own appearance to be good enough as a marketing tool. She just had no clue how she had managed to get into this Clan, one full of all these excellent members.
[Is it all right for me to have it this easy? I’m not going to get a streak of bad luck later… right?]
In the time between leaving her previous place and application into Absolute Helix, Korinna had not received a single invitation from any other Clan — and her savings had not been particularly long-lasting, either. She had to make ends meet by exploring the Dungeon with teams arranged by the Guild’s matchmaking service.
Compared to that lifestyle, she was having such an easy time now. The Attackers here did not rush in with no regard to strategy, and the Tanks could actually keep themselves alive. Even now, despite constantly taking hits from the Fire Dragon, Daryl was firmly standing his ground — like a wall that provided the people inside it with reassurance.
Even if Korinna were to make some mistakes, Daryl probably would be able to easily make things work out. In contrast to the many chaotic, structure-less battles she had gone through, now she actually had some decent peace of mind — or rather, she sometimes felt like she was not doing enough due to having so much leeway.
“<<Blessing of the Sacred>>. <<Blessing of Recovery>>. <<Verses of Prayer>>.”
After casting more Blessings onto Daryl and using <<Verses of Prayer>> to make them take effect immediately, she proceeded to focus on healing. And although she had been initially told that supporting the Attackers was not necessary, she also cast some Blessings for Diniel whenever she could.
“<<Blessing of Swiftness>>.”
This time, she did not use the <<Verses of Prayer>> together with the Blessing, and seeing that there was still some time before the previous VIT buff expired, she took this chance to cast the <<Blessing of Protection>> as well.
Korinna had only a rough idea of her support effects’ durations, but at least she understood them enough to keep them from running out. Several dozen seconds later, the Blessings took effect, boosting Diniel’s AGI and VIT.
Channelers’ support effects generally lasted much longer than those of White Mages, so she had no problem when it came to managing her mental energy, but in exchange, she must always stay on top of her time management. After all, in a real battle situation — especially when things got hectic — it was often difficult for one to accurately estimate time in their mind.
Then again, this party’s Tanks and Attackers were excellent — Diniel and Melchor hit just hard enough to keep the aggro from shifting to them, and Daryl showed not a single sign of collapsing despite having the aggro constantly on him and being knocked away by the monster’s attacks again and again.
[I can do this…!]
Seeing Daryl like that, Korinna was motivated to keep up her healing and support. Then, right when Daryl was exhausted, a silver blast of wind rushed forth from behind Korinna.
“Now, Daryl! It’s about time I take over!”
Xeno ran past her and brushed off his Fire Coat to the side, revealing his armor, shining as brightly as the sun. Now it was time for Xeno the Paladin to face the Fire Dragon.
