Chapter 24

"Gecco! Gecco!"

The golden Larna walked down the corridor with a thud.

Her eyes had turned into large gemstones, emitting an emerald glow.

――――――――――――――――――――

Monster: Golden Larna

Lv: 40

HP: 2/2

MP: 36/36

――――――――――――――――――――

I swallowed hard.

It was definitely the Golden Larna.

If we could defeat her, we would not only level up quickly but also get closer to purchasing the "Smoldering Mad Fang."

Her HP was only [2]...

However, countless adventurers have failed to reduce that single-digit HP and ended up in tears.

"Wha! Wha, she's here! She's here! Wha, what should we do? What should we do!?"

Luuce tugged at my arm.

Her voice was kept low to prevent the Golden Larna from escaping, but it was tinged with excitement.

"Take a deep breath, Luuce. Let's calm down first. Whether we can hunt her down depends on how calmly we can act."

"Y-Yes!"

Luuce took a deep breath, exhaling loudly.

Her agitation was evident from just that.

But I understand her feelings.

Seeing her in person is incredibly exciting.

She exudes a presence far greater than in the game, a living treasure chest walking around.

"Did you put the skill points from leveling up into 'Fool's Acrobatics' and bring it up to [10]?"

"Y-Yes! I successfully obtained the skill Elma mentioned."

Luuce nodded vigorously.

"Good, follow the plan. I'll wait here for the Golden Larna, and you need to drive her towards me."

"Leave it to me! Don't worry, Luuce. I can do it, I can do it...!"

Luuce repeated the mantra to herself, taking deep breaths to calm down.

"...And, it's okay if you fail, you know?"

After composing herself, Luuce ran towards the Golden Larna.

The Golden Larna doesn't start to run until an adventurer gets within four meters.

The corridor of the "Angel's Toy Box" is exactly four meters wide.

Even if the Golden Larna is at the edge of the corridor, it's designed so that you can't just slip past her.

But that's only if you walk on the floor.

The corridor is four meters wide but six meters high, and the diagonal distance is over seven meters.

At "Fool's Acrobatics" [5], you can obtain "Acrobatic Step."

This skill increases your walking speed and allows you to walk on walls and ceilings while active.

The duration is only about two seconds, and it requires a thirty-second cooldown to use again.

In other words, using "Acrobatic Step," you can slip past the Golden Larna without triggering her reaction and get behind her.

"Acrobatic Step!"

Luuce ran up the wall, kicked off the ceiling, and quickly landed on the floor behind the Golden Larna.

Now, Luuce and I had the Golden Larna sandwiched between us.

"Gecco!"

The Golden Larna noticed Luuce but didn't charge towards me.

Instead, she turned to face Luuce and started running to get past her.

We need to drive the Golden Larna towards me, so this isn't an ideal situation.

But, this was expected.

"Doppel Illusion!"

Luuce's form split into four shadows.

"Doppel Illusion" is a skill obtained at "Fool's Acrobatics" [10], creating illusions of herself.

In the narrow corridor of the "Angel's Toy Box," it's impossible for the Golden Larna to avoid the illusions and get past Luuce.

And the timid Golden Larna can't be expected to charge through the illusions.

This is one of the Golden Larna's weaknesses.

She is completely resistant to status effects, so she can't be blinded or confused.

However, she can't see through the illusions created by "Doppel Illusion."

The Golden Larna immediately turned and charged at me.

Her speed was like a released arrow.

Her [Agility: 67] is no joke.

Another weakness of the Golden Larna is that she is affected by "Shadow Step," a skill I have.

"Shadow Step" is a very special skill, so this action restriction is not considered a status effect or debuff.

It's also not an attribute attack.

The effect of "Shadow Step" only lasts as long as you are stepping on the shadow.

If the monster's body slams into you, it can easily be canceled, but the Golden Larna has [Attack Power: 9] and can't deal any damage to me no matter how hard she tries.

The real issue is whether I can successfully use "Shadow Step."

The corridor is narrow, but four meters wide.

Her speed is more than three times mine.

Honestly, it's much harder than using "Acrobatic Step" to get behind her and creating a wall with "Doppel Illusion."

"I can't afford to fail, being the one who suggested this..."

I took out a white magic stone from my "Magic Bag."

It's a holy attribute magic stone.

I bought it along with "Iron Piercer" specifically for hunting the Golden Larna.

Magic stones produce special effects when mana is channeled through them, depending on their attribute.

A fire attribute magic stone would release flames, and a water attribute magic stone would release water.

However, the effects are too weak compared to the MP cost, so they are rarely used.

They are often used as materials for crafting items.

This holy attribute magic stone doesn't have a significant effect.

It emits a healing light, but a "Heal Potion" is much more efficient.

But I needed the effect of this light.

"Come on, Golden Larna! I'll catch you!"

The Golden Larna sharply turned to the left just in front of me and fled.

There was no way I could catch up.

The shadow was only about fifty centimeters long, and there was no way I could step on it accurately.

I threw the holy attribute magic stone to the left.

It grazed the tip of the Golden Larna's nose and flew past.

As it hit the wall, it emitted a white healing light.

The Golden Larna's shadow was stretched several times longer by the light.

I quickly stepped down.

"I've got you, Golden Larna!"

The Golden Larna, who had been moving at high speed, suddenly stopped as if pulled by a string.