Chapter 82

"Acrobatic Combo!"

Luze spun and unleashed a flurry of knife strikes.

"Guh!"

Mamylana flipped and collapsed on the floor, then stopped moving. Beneath the unravelled bandages, a withered body was visible.

[You have gained 639 experience points.]

Finally, one of the four Mamylanas was defeated.

This closed the gap in numbers.

The other three also had their HP reduced.

It should be possible to press the attack from here.

"Tch... You finished it off with a skill. I wanted to take care of three here."

Kelt muttered.

He apparently aimed to get the experience points and drop items from the final blow.

Kelt stepped forward while drawing his bow.

With fewer enemies, it should be safe to close the distance a bit, he must have judged.

He seemed determined to make up for the lag after Luze took down the first one.

However, he had moved too far forward.

It was no longer a distance suitable for a ranged class.

As Kelt released his arrow, a different Mamylana spat out a purple liquid.

It was the skill called <Poison Squirt>.

"Shit...!"

Kelt arched his back.

But the purple stream hit his shoulder, piercing through his clothes and into his flesh.

Mamylana's <Poison Squirt> had little preparation, unlike magic skills.

Moreover, since Mamylana's eyes and mouth were mostly hidden by bandages, it was difficult to detect the skill's activation from their gaze or mouth movements, making it hard to predict the initial move.

It was a troublesome skill, not only dealing damage but also inflicting a poison status effect.

It was quite a nuisance.

Even though it was just a single ranged skill from a lower level, the Hunter class had low HP.

The poison status effect from <Poison Squirt> was particularly harsh for the Hunter class.

Poison's main strength was the continuous HP drain, and it also reduced speed.

This negated the Hunter's speed advantage.

Kelt would find it much harder to fight aggressively as he had been doing.

"Damn frog! The potion takes too long to heal! Hey, heal me with magic! You have <Poison Heal>, right!"

Kelt ordered Meabel.

"W-well, that's a bit... difficult."

Meabel replied, looking troubled.

"What do you mean?"

"If <Poison Heal> takes too long to activate and the low-HP Jester, Luze, takes consecutive damage, the front line might collapse before we can cover it."

"You won't collapse so easily against a monster of this level! Don't talk in hypotheticals!"

"Besides, it's not easy to spam <Poison Heal> against a poison attacker. If we get hit again before the battle ends, we'll waste more MP. Also, the front line suffers more from poison than the back line. In this situation, it would be more efficient to heal the back line's poison status after the battle."

Kelt glared at Meabel with a murderous look, but then his expression softened.

"Alright, alright, Miss Cleric. ...I know the healer's share is small and it's tough. I'll make sure to credit you properly later. Okay? I'm not asking for favoritism. It's just easier to work with a flexible adventurer who listens to their senior."

I was fighting the Mamylanas while keeping an eye on their interaction.

Kelt's approach was clever.

He started by yelling and quickly switched to persuasion when it didn't work.

That guy was quite experienced.

Psychologically, when someone you feared suddenly becomes kind, you tend to trust them more than necessary due to the release of tension.

If such conflicts continue during battles, it could lead to a major accident.

Leaving Kelt unchecked might be dangerous.

"Kelt, I really can't do that. I understand you're experienced with exploring the <Dream Hole>, but I have pride and responsibility as a healer. Even if it's inefficient, I prioritize my comrades' safety. That's my principle."

Meabel replied bluntly.

Kelt grimaced and clicked his tongue.

I might have misunderstood Meabel, thinking she was just a tough, devious healer.

During the battle, when I glanced at Meabel, she was looking at Kelt's back with a cold smile.

I recalled her words before we entered the <Dream Hole>.

"People like that, if you just bow your head and keep giving them reasons to delay healing, they'll gradually calm down."

...I almost thought this was Meabel's true nature, but perhaps she was just putting into practice what she said then.

Evaluating the optimal solution in a given situation is something only a class expert can do.

"Meabel, I thought you were a bit scary, but you're actually kind and passionate...!"

Luze was impressed by her words.

I didn't respond.

...Meabel might be more skilled and troublesome than Kelt.