CH 18

[Fighting Alongside the Rival!]

“Let’s do this, boys! ‘Power Burst’! ‘Speed Burst’!”

I fired jet-black arrows at the incoming tentacles! Having received my buff, Pontaro and the gang shot off like lasers, piercing through one tentacle after another!

A number of tentacles felled by them, but…

“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

There were still dozens of tentacles left! The relatively new members of the Pontaro Family, from Ponrokuro to Ponjuichiro (6-11), their levels were still a little lacking compared to their older brothers, so the most they could do was stick themselves into the fleshy tentacles, too!

I immediately tried to dodge, but I was too late. Four of the tentacles caught me by coiling themselves around me, then they powerfully constricted my whole body!

“Guaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

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‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

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Miss Message announced ‘Guts’ being activated in my head over and over again! Hold up, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad?!

No matter how high my Luck was, it didn’t guarantee ‘Guts’ to activate always. The activation rate might increase to 99%, but on the off chance that the 1% decided to strike, it would be game over for me!

My white skin began to redden from being constricted as I panicked.

[Kishashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

It was at that time. Pontaro and the gang came back to my rescue!

They surrounded the tentacle that was restraining my arm, made a circle, and then started shaving it off like saws! Because they were attacking on their own, they didn’t trigger my damage-increasing skills, but still, they managed to cut off the tentacle in about 10 seconds!

Alright, I can do this! I grabbed Pontaro with my now free hand, then using him like a dagger, I sliced the rest of the tentacles constricting me. Thanks to my numerous damage-increasing skills, I quickly succeeded in freeing myself.

“Gugagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Seeing me free of its hold, the Gigantic Dragon Plant sent its many tentacles shooting toward me again.

But did it really think that the same attack would work on me the second time? I crouched down to touch my boot and gave an order to the ‘Living Armor Knight’ dwelling inside it!

“Maa-kun, activate your ‘Flickering’!”

“Ng—!”

In the next moment, my body was running like the wind. I dodged past the barrage of tentacles in an instant, took a large distance, and fired my bow!

‘Flickering’ was Living Armor Knight’s skill. It increased the user’s movement speed by 10 times for 5 seconds.

Maybe because his level had been reset, Maa-kun couldn’t use ‘Summon Evil Sword’—the art that allowed him to summon Living Weapons—but this skill alone was more than enough to satisfy me.

“Show that bastard what you guys got! ‘Hyper Power Burst’, ‘Hyper Speed Burst’!”

I gave an extra-large serving of support to Pontaro and the gang as they flew! Having received an extreme boost to their speed, my underlings pierced the face of the over 100 meters-tall Gigantic Dragon Plant like laser beams, dealing critical damage!

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‘Giant Killing’ activates! Damage increases by 10%!

‘Fatal Strike’ activates! Damage doubles!

‘Absolute Zero’ activates! Damage doubles!

Critical hit! Damage triples from hitting a weak point!

‘Heartless Shinigami’ activates! Critical damage increases by 30%!

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With my damage-increasing skills as the cherry on top, the damage they dealt was multiplied by over 12x. It caused the Gigantic Dragon Plant to scream in agony.

“Nice, let’s keep this up! Activate art ‘Summon Return’!”

We may have an actual shot at taking it down. Thinking so, I hurriedly called back Pontaro and the gang, but the moment I was about to fire them again, it happened.

An especially big tentacle suddenly shot out from the Dragon Plant’s back, and a flower bloomed at its tip.

The flower looked as big as the sun from my position. As I was wondering what the damned dragon was up to…

“Guuuuuuuuuuuuuugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

…Light burst out from the petals of the flower, and an extra-large laser shot toward me!

“What the actual fuck?!”

I didn’t even have time to order Maa-kun to activate ‘Flickering’! Traveling at a speed tens of times faster than the tentacles, the laser struck me! My vision was instantly dyed pure white!

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

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‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

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…I was sent flying by the impact, but I felt slightly relieved.

If it had been other players like Korin, that would have taken them down instantly, but I had my reliable ‘Guts’ skill to save me. Rather than a big attack that might reduce me to ashes in one hit, the continuous damage from the tentacles had been more of a threat to me.

My idol costume got scorched and now exposed more skin than it already had, but I immediately got up and tried to regain my posture.

But then I noticed something strange!

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You are treading on ‘Scorching Zone’! You will receive damage equal to 1% of your maximum HP per second!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Guts’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

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“W-what?!”

When I looked down, I found that the ground had been melted into hot mush by the scorching ray the damned dragon had shot.

The hell, its attack could turn the place it hit into a damage-inflicting area?! If it kept using that attack, it would only be a matter of time before this whole boss room turned into Scorching Zone, and that literally would be the death of me!

As Korin said, it really was a cheat-like monster. I rolled away from the Scorching Zone, nocked Pontaro and gang to my bow, and then I took aim at the damned dragon.

But I was greeted by a despair-inducing sight.

“Guuuuuuugaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…!”

Seven flowers were blooming behind the roaring Gigantic Dragon Plant…!

They all released light at the same time and fired extra-large lasers at the place where I was standing!

“Wha—?!”

Seeing that, I thought to myself. I’m fucked.

Although I may be able to withstand the lasers themselves, the following damage-inflicting area conversion effect would definitely end me. I didn’t know how much of a wide area would turn into Scorching Zone once those extra-large-sized lasers burst, but I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to escape before it killed me.

Then, the moment I was almost swallowed by the lasers.

“Nggg—!”

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‘Flickering’ activates! Movement speed increases!

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Maa-kun’s skill activated! What’s more, my legs started running on their own!

With that, I narrowly dodged the lasers and went on to rush toward the Gigantic Dragon Plant’s feet.

“This is… Maa-kun, you forcibly controlling my legs through the boots?! And you can activate your skill on your own?!”

“Ng—” Maa-kun replied with a snobbish groan, as though saying, “Hmph, that is a matter of course.”

Wait, for real? Then I wouldn’t have to waste time ordering him to activate the skill every time the need arose.

But still, the fact that your summon was capable of controlling your body might not always be a good thing to players. In case you didn’t get along with your monster, who was to say it wouldn’t suddenly decide to troll you while you were in a tight spot … Summoners’ possession system was very dangerous in many ways.

If this became public, the already few numbers of people choosing Summoner as their job might drop even further.

Ah—but of course…

“I believe in you, Maa-kun. We’ve become buddies after exchanging fists after all!”

“Ng…!”

We had become friends after our fight! That alone was reason enough to entrust my body to him! I relaxed my legs and entrusted all movements of my lower body to Maa-kun.

I then threw away my bow and grabbed all members of the Pontaro Family from Pontaro to Ponjuichiro in my hands as tightly as I could!

“This is the right choice, right, Maa-kun! If we challenge him in close combat, he won’t be able to fire a laser attack. That’s why you’re getting closer to him, right?!”

“Ng… ngggggggggg!” Maa-kun groaned as though saying, “Hmph… that is correct! Now, let us go my rival (friend). The one who will defeat you is me. Until that fated day arrives, I will lend my strength to you!” With his help, I leaped onto the Gigantic Dragon Plant!

“I’m counting on you, Maa-kun! Activate art, ‘Hyper Speed Burst’!”

The moment I cast ‘Hyper Speed Burst’ on Maa-kun, who was already under the speed-boosting effect of ‘Flickering’, my body surpassed the speed of sound!

It allowed me to defy gravity, and I ran up the body of the Gigantic Dragon Plant that rose into the sky like a tower!

“Uoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” The Dragon Plant let out a startled voice. It sent out countless tentacles to knock me off, but no one could stop me when I had my buddies with me!

I swung the eleven arrows in my hands and slashed the incoming tentacles one after another, continuing to move forward unhindered!

Maa-kun wasn’t the only reason I could pull off such crazy movements like wall-running the body of the Gigantic Dragon Plant.

‘Flying’, the skill of Pontaro and the gang in my hands must be playing a part. While its effect might not be strong enough to let a player float, it should help in defying gravity. I really was grateful to these cute underlings of mine.

“Really, thanks, you guys. Now, let’s beat this big guy!”

In response to my shout, Ma-kun leaped up! It brought me past the height of 100 meters and above the Gigantic Dragon Plant’s head!

“Gugagagagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” A shriek-like scream came out from the Dragon Plant’s mouth. It was no wonder. It must be the first time for a big guy with a length of over 100 meters like it to have to raise its head to look at the enemy.

Seeing its face, I grinned, then I raised the eleven arrows overhead as I fell toward it!

“Time to die, you big piece of shit, eat thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!”

I swung down and stabbed it in the face with all the jet-black arrows I held in my hands!

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‘Head-to-Head’ activates! Damage increases by 10%!

‘Giant Killing’ activates! Damage increases by 10%!

‘Fatal Strike’ activates! Damage doubles!

‘Absolute Zero’ activates! Damage doubles!

Critical hit! Damage triples from hitting a weak point!

‘Heartless Shinigami’ activates! Critical damage increases by 30%!

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A total of ’18x’ damage. And it was done eleven times!

“Gugagyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” The Dragon Plant let out a scream. Having taken ‘198x’ damage in one blow, the gigantic plant dragon released a thunderous roar before collapsing to the ground.