Chapter 48

When we had closed the distance by about half, the figure of the opponent came into view.

"Sure enough, it's a land dragon. Selma, what do you think?"

With the enemy's identity confirmed, I asked Selma about the strategy for the upcoming battle.

A land dragon looks like a dragon without wings, walking on four legs. On average, it is about four meters long, making it quite large. Despite its size, it moves swiftly. However, the hardness of its scales is softer compared to other dragons.

"The monster... is it just that one? Can Orun capture it?"

"No problem."

The land dragon is indeed swift, but its reaction speed is not that high. Besides, it has been injured by Rain's attack. If we take the initiative, we can handle it without any issues.

"Alright. Then, Orun and Will, please take it down. As a precaution, I'll have Rain construct a spell. If it looks like it will take a while, switch to assisting Rain's attack. I'll calculate the timing for the activation. ...[Frontline Ability Boost]"

After giving the instructions, Selma cast a buff on Will. [Frontline Ability Boost] is one of the six basic support magic types, excluding [Magic Power Boost], which are activated simultaneously through parallel construction.

I also cast [Agility Boost] with a [Quadruple Stack] on myself.

Just as the buffs were applied to us, the land dragon, which had recovered somewhat from the damage, noticed us and shot a magic power bullet.

"I'll charge from the front! Orun, circle around to the side!"

While saying this, Will deflected the magic power bullet with his dual blades and charged towards the land dragon.

Since I was taking a longer route, it was natural that Will would engage the land dragon first.

The land dragon charged at Will.

"Alright, just stay still!"

Instead of blocking the attack, Will parried with one blade and brought the other down, slamming the land dragon's face into the ground.

(That was impressive!)

I couldn't help but praise him in my heart. It was such a refined and beautiful movement.

With only a few meters left to the land dragon, I prepared to attack.

However, I sensed a killing intent from behind.

Kicking off the ground, I moved into the air, and something passed beneath me.

Looking back in the air, I saw a turtle-shaped monster that had blended into the background.

The Hide Turtle is a turtle about one meter long, found throughout the lower layers. As its name suggests, it can alter its body to blend into the scenery of the layer. It is skilled at ambush attacks, but its attack power is low, which is its only saving grace. Even though it won't cause instant death, a bad hit can result in injuries that prevent you from rejoining the battle. It becomes particularly troublesome when it appears with other monsters.

(I didn't notice it. As always, it's very good at hiding.)

In the air, I fired three [Rock Arrows] at the Hide Turtle.

All three hit, but they shattered on the hard shell without piercing it.

But that's fine.

If the [Rock Arrows] shatter suddenly in the air, everyone in the backline should realize that the Hide Turtle is there.

I left the Hide Turtle to the backline and created a foothold with [Mana Convergence].

Standing on it, I charged at the land dragon at high speed.

Thanks to Will drawing the land dragon's attention, it didn't notice me at all.

"[Strength Boost], [Skill Boost], [Sharpness Boost]!"

After casting the buffs on myself, I held my sword with both hands.

I delivered a diagonal slash where the scales were melting from Rain's [Super Explosion].

Just before the blade made contact, I activated [Instant Ability Super Boost] and bisected the land dragon.

"One clean cut..."

Will muttered in a tone that was both surprised and exasperated.

The land dragon disappeared in a cloud of black mist, leaving only a magic stone behind.

After confirming this, I quickly turned around and caught sight of the Hide Turtle.

White smoke was rising around the Hide Turtle.

In the next moment, it was encased in ice.

Then, the Hide Turtle, pierced by multiple [Fire Spears] activated by Rain, disappeared in a cloud of black mist.

"Good work, Orun. To bisect a land dragon in this layer is impressive! That was the [Instant Ability Super Boost], right? It's incredible."

Will approached and praised me.

"Thanks to Will drawing its attention, I could focus on the attack. And Will was amazing too. Dual blades are known for being difficult to handle, but you've mastered them completely."

Deflecting the opponent's attack while simultaneously countering is a defender's style. In a sense, it's a counter-style. Compared to a general defender who only blocks attacks, deflecting reduces the impact on oneself. This is a concept I hadn't considered before.

"Well, I've trained a lot. If I just did the basics, I couldn't protect my teammates. If I lost my balance after blocking an attack, it would be meaningless. I've been trying to find a style where I can stay on my feet while receiving attacks, and this is the result."

Will spoke with a distant look in his eyes.

I've heard rumors about the circumstances of the previous ace's death. If those rumors are true, Will must have been working hard for the past year. Otherwise, he wouldn't be standing here now.

We were having a light conversation, but Will and I took a step back at the same time.

As a result, the distance between us widened considerably.

Immediately after, a magic power bullet passed between us.

Yes, there was another land dragon.

From my perspective, it was on the left side, about fifty meters away.

The other land dragon had been hiding underground. It suddenly emerged from the ground and looked at us when I bisected the first land dragon.

Monsters generally target areas with more people. So, we deliberately exposed a weakness to draw the attack towards us instead of the three backliners. Of course, with a defender present, it might have attacked us anyway, but we did it just to be safe.

"Orun, Will, thanks for the help."

Selma's voice echoed in our minds. This is her ability, [Psychic Sensitivity]. I first experienced it during the briefing, and it's clear even from a distance. As expected, it's an incredible ability.

"No problem. By the way, Orun, our teamwork was perfect, wasn't it?"

"I didn't expect it to crawl out from underground. It's good that Will had the same idea. I was constructing a spell to support Will, but it turned out to be unnecessary."

"Hahaha, too bad!"

"Let's save the chat for later. Orun, can you jump?"

As expected, Selma asked the question I anticipated.

"Of course. I'm a former party enchanter. I've already completed 80% of the spell construction."

"Great. Then, Will from the front, Orun from the back. We'll finish it with magic. You two, hold it for a few seconds."

"Got it!"

"Understood!"

While Selma constructed the spell, the other two backliners launched attack spells at the land dragon, dealing damage and keeping it in check.

"Alright, done! Will, let's go!"

"Whenever you're ready!"

Will responded to Selma's call, readied his dual blades, and disappeared from the center of my vision.

Then, he reappeared in front of the land dragon at the edge of my vision.

I confirmed this and channeled mana into the spell I had constructed.

"[Spatial Leap]!"

When the spell activated, the scenery in my vision changed, and the back of the land dragon was right in front of me.

[Spatial Leap] is one of the support magic spells. Its effect is to move the target to a specified location. However, it won't activate if there's already something at the destination. Therefore, you can't directly move an object into an opponent's body to attack.

[Spatial Leap] is said to be the most difficult spell to construct, not just among support magic but among all magic. If support magic had ranks, it would definitely be in the special class.

Even with my confidence in my spell construction speed, it takes a few seconds due to the complexity of the spell. It's a powerful spell for surprise attacks, but it requires very precise settings. Therefore, it's almost impossible to activate it in the middle of a battle where the situation changes from moment to moment.

Why can I use [Spatial Leap] but not advanced magic?

Will and I surrounded the land dragon.

We cut it up while pinning it in place.

Immediately after activating [Spatial Leap], I didn't have the time to construct other spells.

Besides, our goal was to hold the land dragon, so I didn't use [Instant Ability Super Boost].

"Activating attack spells. Counting down! Five, four, three—"

Selma's voice echoed in our minds.

After delivering a deep slash to the back of the land dragon's hind legs, I moved away from it.

When the countdown reached zero, the ground around the land dragon turned into a swamp.

The land dragon's feet were caught in the swamp, and the rising mud enveloped it, immobilizing it.

Immediately after, a massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the land dragon with a thunderous roar.

This was the special-class lightning magic [Heaven's Thunder Hammer], not the simplified [Super Explosion] from earlier, but Rain's serious special-class magic.

The swamp instantly evaporated, and the surrounding area was glassified.

Despite being severely injured, the land dragon was still standing.

Then, Lecre's follow-up [Ice Spear] pierced its body, turning it into black mist.

"...There are no more monsters, good work!"

After observing the surroundings and confirming there were no more monsters, Will approached me, raising his hand.

"Yeah, good work, Will."

I gave him a high-five and offered words of encouragement.

I think this was a very good first battle for our party.

Thank you for reading to the end.

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