Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 96
Defense Specialization and the Two Similar People
As Frederica and Drag were protecting the a.s.sembly of Holy Blades’ orb, that meant that Dread and Pain were out stealing orbs from other guilds.
Dread had a team of 30 members with him, and they had already succeeded in taking two orbs.
As Dread was not very good with wide-ranged attacks, they had suffered a few casualties, but things were still going very well.
“Let’s do one more…though, I’m getting quite tired.”
He said as he looked in the direction they would be heading in.
Then he caught sight of one player who was quietly standing there.
Dread felt a chill go down his spine, and he could not explain why.
“…All of you, there’s been a change in plans. Take the orbs and go back to the base. Now, hurry.”
The other players looked taken aback by this sudden order, but they saw that there was something different about Dread, and so they did as he said.
Once they were all gone, the person who wore a robe, came closer to him.
Dread unsheathed his two swords and called out.
“Hmm… You’re a strong one, aren’t you?”
“Maybe?”
“…I believe my instincts on this one. And I’ve always won until now. So…”
Dread sighed, he concentrated hard and muttered:
“While it is annoying to have to do… I better crush you here and now.”
“I too…did not expect to meet you here.”
So saying, the figure in the robe, who was Sally, pulled out her two daggers.
Dread looked at her weapons and squinted.
“…Tsk. This will be worse than what her report suggested.”
He cursed. Sally did not miss it.
Now she was sure about what she would do, and she moved closer to Dread.
These two monsters had only met by accident, and now they would fight.
Neither Dread nor Sally used attack skills.
It was because the activation of skills with a set path would create holes in their defenses.
After all, it was unthinkable for someone who fought with two short swords to not be able to dodge attacks.
Dread blocked Sally’s attacks, and Sally easily dodged Dread’s attacks.
As Dread’s movements were quicker, he was able to hit more times, preventing Sally from retaliating.
“‘Super Acceleration’!”
It was Dread who did it first.
Now that his attacks were coming at an accelerated speed, Sally found herself dodging too late for a second, and Dread pressed in.
However, just as Dread’s sword was about to thrust in, he changed his movement and jumped back.
“…instinct…huh…”
“I would be dead if I ever doubt it.”
It was nothing more than instinct that caused Dread to retreat.
Sally saw a much different style of evading than her own.
Dread now maintained a distance between them as he stared at her.
“Because I strongly believe that I have to defeat you here… ‘G.o.d Speed’!”
This skill’s name was also one of the names that Dread was known by, and as the name implied, it granted him the speed of a G.o.d.
This power was set with the belief that the speed of a G.o.d should not be something that a human can process, and so he became invisible for 10 seconds.
“…Huh…”
Due to her information gathering, Sally was aware of this skill.
There was one reason that Dread did not keep this skill hidden.
It was because, just knowing about a skill, did not mean you could do anything about it.
With the exception of a handful of players, no one could deal with this skill.
However, Sally was among that handful.
“‘Running Water’!”
Sally used the current of sound and wind to find the invisible Dread. Then she purposely left openings in her defenses, inviting him to attack.
Then she shouted the name of a certain skill as she cleanly blocked his short sword.
“‘Leap’!”
She leaped back in order to gain some distance, which allowed her some time to consider the direction of her next attack. However, Dread was still not visible to her.
“…Did he leave? Well, at least I was able to show ‘Running Water.’ That’s good.”
Sally was sure that Frederica and Dread were from the same guild, and so she was satisfied to have been able to gain some more reliable information.
“…But it looks like it will be really hard to have your attacks land on him.”
Sally thought that she would try and practice Dread’s methods of using fear and instincts as sensors in order to avoid attacks. Then she went out to search for the next guild.
Dread chased after the other members who returned first and thought about what had happened.
“‘Running Water’… Even without it, her ability to evade was impressive… Also, that feeling I got…”
There were only two other players in this game that had made Dread feel such a chill upon seeing them.
One was Pain. The other was Maple.
“If she was equal to those two…does that mean I barely survived?”
Sally still had hidden powers, she had not gone all out in that fight.
That was the only explanation for what he felt.
But after thinking this, Dread grew tired of it all.
“I’ll talk to Pain about it when I return. I’m not good at thinking about such things.”
The two had met by coincidence and parted ways with something important acquired.
Dread had heard about Sally from Frederica, and now he felt something disturbing.
Sally had succeeded in making herself look stronger with the use of Running Water, but more than that…
She had found out a way to improve her evasion abilities even more.