Chapter 110.2

110 Part 2

Her entire body would scream just by her moving her fingertips.

She didn’t want to move at all.

Karen’s fighting spirit had been completely shattered by the first major injury of her life.

The high-pitched sound of clashing iron made her way into her ears.

— Karaboshi…

Then she realized.

Haruki was still fighting with that fiendish knight.

The moment she noticed that, she regained her fighting spirit.

— I can’t be dozing off here. I can’t leave this all to him. I can’t let myself go back to being useless!

Gritting her teeth, Karen desperately forced her aching body to move.

As she sat up straight, she felt her blood dripping down her forehead.

Trying to ignore her terrible headache and rough breath, Karen gripped her staff tightly.

There was a clear trace of Karen’s trajectory over the ground.

The trace went on for about 10 meters ahead of where Karen was sitting.

Karen understood just how terrifying that attack had been judging from that trace.

But even with that attack, the knight hadn’t been able to knock Karen out completely thanks to the armor and bracelet she was wearing.

She had gotten that bracelet from the capsule the hero Masatsugu had given her.

By sending power to it, Karen’s body was covered with a protective film.

This film increased Karen’s defense by several levels.

The bracelet was a magical piece of equipment exclusively for magic users that boosted defense by consuming one’s own energy.

Karen stood up using her staff as support.

At the same time, she didn’t forget to pour energy into her staff.

Every time Karen reorganized her mind to understand the situation, a violent anger flared up within her.

Anger with her feeble self, who wasn’t able to damage the knight even after having her Magic tree enhanced.

Anger with her pitiful self, who let herself become disheartened and left Haruki to fight by himself.

And above all, anger with the unreasonable embodiment of power standing before them.

Karen didn’t seem to be satisfied with just having to vent out about having been defeated with a single strong attack.

That was just resentment. Nothing but lashing out.

However, that feeling still flared up inside Karen.

Still, contrary to her emotions, Karen calmly analyzed the situation.

If this were Akane versus the Spoon Worms, Akane would be swallowed by them.

Karen knew she had to distance herself from that useless flow.

In order to do that, she couldn’t attack the monster like she had before.

Even with her most powerful magic, she hadn’t been able to even stun him for less than a second.

Magic didn’t work against the knight.

Could that be the case?

Karen wondered to herself.

Karen’s lightning bolts had been able to affect even the Dungeon Lord, who was a huge tree.

So long as her opponent had a physical body, her attacks would definitely deal damage.

If the knight was impervious to magic, then there must be some reason behind it, like something that gave it an immense resistance to magical attacks.

— Could it be that armor it’s wearing?

It had also been the greatest lightning bolt she had conjured so far…

While she kept on thinking, Haruki kept on fighting.

— I want to help him, quick!

Her impatience turned into energy which flowed into her staff.

Her staff had gathered a huge amount of energy, almost to the point of being out of control.

However, thanks to her enhanced Magic tree, Karen was able to control it at the last moment.

— I have to make this hit.

To seize the great chance that had presented itself during this battle.

Karen slowly approached the place where the two were fighting.

She desperately chased after the movements of both Haruki and the knight.

As she watched them fight, the chance finally appeared.

Haruki, who had been assessing the situation, was now getting on the offensive.

Karen, who didn’t fail to notice that, began to run.

To turn her energy into magic…

Wouldn’t this be beneficial for the knight?

In other words, if she could hit the knight with her raw energy without converting it into magical power…

With that in mind, Karen held her staff aloft.

— If I can’t use magic…

— Then I have to pour my raw energy directly into my attack.

Haruki had blocked the greatsword with his two short swords.

Rhea had used that chance to fire at the knight.

The knight had bent backwards after being hit directly by Rhea’s attack.

Karen stood behind the knight.

This was the chance she had been waiting for.

— Now I’ll return the favor!

Karen made a full swing with her staff behind the knight’s head.

The energy that had been gathered at the tip of her staff bursted in a wild explosion.

Karen’s attack, which had been dealt directly with her powerful magic staff…

… Blew the knight’s defenses away.

*Boom!!*

“Wah!?”

The knight’s helmet burst open as if it had melted.

Haruki, who saw the firepower of Karen’s magic staff attack first-hand, was surprised at the impact.

If it had been a regular monster, the blow would have been deadly.

But for this knight, such injury was not fatal.

There was no head inside the helmet.

The knight itself had no body.

Normally, Haruki would have relaxed his stance a little with the conviction of having won after such an attack.

But he didn’t change his offensive stance.

He immediately chased after the knight.

However, Karen was faster than him.

*Vroooooommm!*

A lightning bolt that struck from above broke through the knight’s armor.

The shock of her own attack sent Karen flying back.

No, it wasn’t just a shock.

No such strong shockwave had been generated.

Karen jumped backwards in response with the shock, in order to avoid any counterattacks from the knight.

“Karen, here!!”

Realizing her intention, Haruki quickly reached for his backpack, took of the mask that was attached there, and threw it at Karen.

It was the mask that had the ability to hide one’s presence.

Karen was currently the main source of damage against the knight.

With her strong attacks, she was sure to attract a lot of aggression from it.

But Karen had no means to escape the knight’s attacks.

In that case, there was no other choice but to have her wear that mask that would deceive the knight’s eyes.

She seemed to have understood Haruki’s intentions.

Her face seemed a bit uncomfortable, but still she pressed the mask against her face.

Immediately, Karen’s presence diminished.

Seeing that, Haruki went pale.

“What a dreadful ability!!”

It was truly a fiendish mask.

If Haruki were to equip it by mistake…

Just like that, Karaboshi Haruki could disappear from the face of the earth!

Even being near that mask could put his presence at risk.

The mere thought of her presence being gradually diminished by it gave Haruki the chills.

“Uhh…”

An intense chill ran down Karen’s spine.

The continuous use of her magic staff and lightning bolts caused her body temperature to drop sharply.

Normally, one would feel tired after spending energy.

It makes it difficult to keep focused, and the core of one’s body would become heavy.

The reason why her temperature had dropped so dramatically was probably because she had used a large amount of energy in a very short time.

In addition, she had the usual symptoms of having consumed energy added to that.

Her body felt as heavy as lead.

She couldn’t fight for a while like that.

As Haruki instructed, she put on the mask while trying to suppress the shaking of her own body.

All while trying not to imagine the mask’s horrendous visage as much as possible…