Hard Carry Support

Chapter 64 - An Unforeseen Occurrence (2)

'Oops!'

Practice took out his shield a little bit late to protect the front.

Boom-! The impact of Betty's claws shook his entire body.

'Ugh, heavy...!'

Practice started feeling powerless.

The moment the claws hit his shield, he was pushed back.

Receiving consecutive attacks from someone with more than 200 stats in Strength and Agility…!

He tried to resist while clenching his teeth, but he couldn't come to his senses because of the effect of the impact.

Paf-!

When a lot of damage had accumulated, Mayday disappeared.

「From behind, dodge!」

By the moment Hyun shouted, Mayday's tail had already hit Practice from behind.

It was Betty's skill, «Rear Leap».

Mayday had immobilized Practice with a normal hit and then used the boss's skill.

Boom-!

There was a huge explosion in the air.

Hyun tried to use «One Second Absorption» on Practice, but it was useless in the face of immeasurable damage.

[You've received 103,928 damage!]

[You've died!]

[You'll be able to log in again in 48 hours!]

Practice's body became light and exploded in the air before vanishing.

ÿIt was a series of consecutive attacks that targeted the opponent's psychology.

It was a technique that would get anyone if it were their first time facing something like it.

After killing Practice with one hit, Mayday smiled.

'At last… I landed an attack!'

The destructive power of a named boss was more lethal than imagined.

It was true that she'd borrowed the strength of the quest, but she couldn't believe that she was able to use such overwhelming specs with her own will!

The current situation made her smile.

'This is the worst.'

On the other hand, Hyun clenched his teeth.

Originally, Betty was a low-IQ monster.

The reason why it had a ridiculously strong skill was to cover its low IQ.

But what would happen if a user controlled Betty?

That would mean that a boss capable of breaking the game's balance had appeared.

Even if the one controlling the boss were an average user, it would make things more difficult. But the opponent was the person ranked 2nd in the Hall of Fame.

What should he do to overcome the difference in specs?

He couldn't think of an answer.

"I'm almost out of mana!"

To make things worse, Ain shouted that.

Anyone would panic under such circumstances, but rather than giving up, Hyun clenched his fists.

Among all the strategies he'd thought of, there was one in which he took into consideration the worst possible outcome.

Back then, he wasn't expecting something like that to happen, but it wasn't like he was out of options.

Hyun quickly shouted.

「Jini, use all your buffs on me... No, I mean Ain!」

"Understood!"

Whir- A purple light came out from Jini's wand and covered Ain's body.

«Retrogression».

It was the Priest's ultimate attack—it made an ally’s body return to the state it was 10 minutes before.

It couldn't modify the cooldown time of skills, but it could change the amount of HP and Mana left.

Soon, Ain's mana was replenished.

"Use all the other buffs too! Quickly!"

Jini felt a little bit of chill after looking at Hyun's eyes.

Up until then, it didn't matter how hard the situation was. He had always remained calm. But right then, he was different.

Wouldn't the face of a general in a battle where one couldn't see the next step look like that?

Jini took a deep breath and used all her buff skills.

«Increase HP», «Natural Healing Power Boost», «Mana Regeneration Boost», «Increase Critical Hit Chance»... Luxurious effects kept shining one after the other.

"Hyun, you need to give me a call later on. Okay?!"

After Jini shouted, Mayday's body disappeared.

The Priest could become very annoying if left alive, so it was normal for her to become the next target.

Boom-!

As the monster's tail crushed Jini, she became light and was devoured by the death effect.

[You've received 138,472 damage!]

[You've died! You will be able to log in again in 48 hours!]

There was an explosion in the air, and Jini scattered into light as well.

…But it wasn't time to care about her death.

「Ain, use the ultimate attack!」

"I was getting ready...!"

Ain, who was waiting for Hyun's orders, nodded.

Giant flames devoured her entire body.

Fwoosh-! Ears and tails made of fire appeared.

It was the form of an incarnated wolf that tripled the damage of all fire attacks.

Crack-!

As Ain activated a Magic, claws that were over one meter long appeared on her hands.

In Hyun and Ain's ultimate attack, there was an effect that increased skill levels by one each.

Support, Close Range Magician…

If both ultimate attacks were activated, the «Flame Claws» became level 7 and evolved to «Efreet's Claw».

That was how Ain looked after Hyun and she had used all their skills.

And it was how they were going to deal with Mayday, who was controlling the boss's body.

Hyun opened the status window.

After activating her ultimate attack, Ain's HP went down little by little.

「We have to finish this as soon as possible.」

As the situation became more dangerous, Hyun's head became colder.

An incredible amount of possible strategies came to his mind and disappeared.

Among an endless amount of possibilities, Hyun found one possible solution.

It was a risky strategy, but right then, they had no other way than try it.

「You just focus on dodging the tail.」

"The tail? But it's faster than my reaction speed."

「You still have to do it.」

"I may make a mistake..."

「I won't blame you, don't worry.」

"Then I'll just put my trust in Hyun..."

Ain took a deep breath.

How you avoided being hit from an attack you couldn't dodge was by moving in an unpredictable way.

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Ain stepped on the city building's roofs very quickly.

She kept moving erratically... The moment Mayday disappeared, she jumped!

Paf-! The tail brushed her foot.

As the wind whip exploded the air, the buildings around there became ash.

'I dodged it!'

Ain stepped on a spire-shaped roof near there and got her balance.

The fact that she had dodged it once didn't mean there wasn't any more danger.

It was different from an AI that gave you some time to relax.

The opponent was a human being.

—She kept attacking without giving her time to rest.

Ain changed direction again after Betty's figure disappeared.

Whish-!

The tail moved through the air while making a sonic boom.

The instant death-inducing whip passed over Ain's chest.

She hadn't been hit, even though her movements had been a little bit slower because she hadn't remained still.

Her claws, tail, and rocks had barely torn apart some clothes.

Mayday couldn't hide her surprise at Ain's movements.

Even though she was attacking at speed one couldn't possibly fathom reacting to... She wasn't able to land an attack.

After backing off a little bit, Mayday opened her mouth for the first time.

"Wonderful movements. I can't believe you're able to dodge this."

While being «Assimilated» to Betty, her voice sounded grotesque, as if a demon was speaking.

"But… you know what?"

Just like that time, she felt a wall. But unlike back then, she wasn't feeling despair.

There was no need for that.

Up until then, she'd just used the skills of the boss. She hadn't used any of her skills.

"I have a new job. I'm now a Psychokinesis Sorcerer."

As Mayday moved her hand, the rock pieces scattered away in the lava city began floating in the air.

Tens of rock pieces soon became hundreds; then they surrounded Ain.

"You won't be able to dodge all this!"

The moment Mayday closed her fist, all of the rock pieces attacked her simultaneously.

There was no way she'd be able to dodge it all!

Hyun immediately used his «One Second Absorption».

Tap Tap Tap- As all the rocks hit Ain's body and bounced away, Mayday's eyebrows twitched.

'She didn't take damage?'

Even back then, from time to time, Ain showed a ridiculous defense that defied common sense.

What skill was that?

She didn't know the details of it, but she was sure she wouldn't be able to block every single attack.

'It's okay. I'm sure at least one will be able to damage her!'

Mayday knew that it wasn't a fair fight.

Her specs had received a huge buff thanks to the Great Demon's Quest.

It was obvious that she was going to win, but just winning had no meaning.

It wasn't time to get desperate for victory.

She had to find Ain's weak point.

If she'd faced her with her regular specs, the fight would've ended without her being able to try all this.

Mayday started to use her psychokinesis.

Whap-!

Suddenly, Ain's attack came flying toward Mayday.

—It was the giant Efreet's Claw that was about to smash her.

But Ain's claw suddenly stopped mid-air.

It was thanks to a skill Mayday had activated.

'It isn't moving...?!'

Ain felt like a transparent rope was blocking her.

«Air Restraint».

It was a skill of the Psychokinesis Sorcerer that blocked weak or light things.

"Ugh..."

Ain quickly backed off.

She immediately charged again.

She tried to smash her again, but her movement was blocked once more.

She had been restrained by the same skill again.

Mayday smiled after seeing Ain having trouble landing attacks on her.

'Does this work...?'

Yes, even if not every single attack worked on her, she just had to find the ones that did.

The truth was that Mayday had chosen to become a Psychokinesis Sorcerer because of Ain.

She was sure Ain's job was related to Magician.

Wouldn't a Magician with low strength and close-range skills be weak to psychokinetic attacks?

Mayday's guess was correct.

Although «Efreet's Claw» looked giant and grotesque, it had no weight.

Basically, it was easy food for her.

'Good, I've found a skill that works on her!'

Mayday became excited.

She decided to slowly search for an opportunity.

Both claws intertwined.

Ain's fight with Mayday looked like a match between two monsters.

But unlike what it looked like from the outside, it wasn't a brute, mindless fight.

On every single attack, there were lots of mind games involved.

Whish- Mayday once again used the «Rear Leap».

It was the attack that took out Practice!

Ain tried to jump again, but right then, Mayday had another card.

The moment Ain jumped, she tied her up with psychokinesis.

"Oof, you shouldn't carelessly jump like that!"

Mayday smiled while seeing Ain struggle in the air.

A Magician with low strength had no way to free herself from psychokinetic attacks.

No, maybe some Magicians had skills that allowed them to do that, but that didn't seem to be Ain's case.

"Will you be able to dodge while being tied in the air?"

After locking Ain in the air, Mayday raised her claws.

A Close-Range Magician that had a weak body would probably die instantly after receiving Betty's attack.

The moment death was approaching her…

Even Ain dripped with a cold sweat.

"Hyun, I might really die!"

「It's okay.」

Whish-! Mayday's claws scratched the air.

「I'll move from now on.」

The reason why Mayday's attack failed was that Hyun had taken control of the body and used a skill.