CH 26

The cornerstone of party battles is the Defender. 

They have the role of absorbing enemy attacks and allowing the other members to concentrate on their own roles. 

At the current moment, it looks like the Black Dragon only has me in its sights. 

With this, more than half of a Defender’s job has been accomplished. 

For the remaining, if the opponent’s attacks can also be blocked, that will be best, but if I do that, I can’t dedicate resources to attacking, so I’ll have to let that go.

Therefore, I have no choice but to be an evasion-type.

Make the opponent focus their attacks on me, and evade all of them. If so, I can devote efforts to attacking and also aim for counters. 

Even though I said that it was impossible for Caroline, I ended up being forced to imitate this type…

The next most important to party battles is the Supporter. 

Treating the wounded, buffing allies according to the battle situation, a role that supports allies. 

It’s impossible to reenact the performance of Luna, the other Supporter of the Hero Party, because she has a Talent. 

Speaking of which, she usually moves in a way similar to a Healer, but for now I will exclude this role.

If you don’t get hit, you don’t need healing.

Enchanter is already something I can do even without thinking because it’s been so ingrained in my body, so there’s no problem. 

Finally, the star of the party, the Attacker.

There’s probably no need to explain this. It’s the role of attacking and defeating the enemy. 

In the Hero Party, there is the Vanguard Attacker, Oliver, and the Rearguard Attacker, Aneri. 

Both of them are able to use high-power attacks repeatedly, so they are excellent Attackers. 

For Oliver’s role, my current abilities exceed that guy’s when he had previously defeated the Black Dragon, so there’s no issue. 

As for Aneri’s role, I can’t fire off her kind of attack magic so freely. 

However, together with my original magic, I can activate a number of magics with high-power, so it’s also possible to reproduce her role. 

(Alright! It’s doable!)

In a moment, I finish the simulation in my mind, I again activate [Fire Bullet] to use the explosion to block the Black Dragon’s view and start pressing towards it. 

Create a foothold with [Magic Convergence], and in addition to my earlier movements that used the four directions, I include verticality.

Circling around the Black Dragon in three dimensions at high speed without slowing down, I slash everytime I pass by. 

This time, I don’t activate [Impact].

Not only the Black Dragon, but also the attacks from the haze transformed into many various shapes, I avoid them all. 

I’ve slashed the Black Dragon dozens of times, but of course they weren’t decisive hits. 

――However, that is something I know very well.

This time, I had been slashing the Black Dragon only because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 

I was actually flying around the Black Dragon for another purpose.

Turn my back to the Black Dragon and land on the Black Dragon’s right side. 

Not missing this gap, the Black Dragon transforms the haze into a many slender spear-like shapes and drives them towards me. 

“You keep using that attack in situations where I’m relatively easier to hit huh? But I’ve already seen that too often!”

I had manipulated him to make this attack, so I evade with only the barest of movements. 

“Next is my turn!”

While informing the Black Dragon, release mana.

With that, more than forty magic formations appear and cover the Black Dragon. 

This was the reason why I had been jumping all around the Black Dragon until a while ago.

Each time I changed directions in mid-air, I set up an attack magic formula on that spot. 

Now that all the formulae have received mana, magic activates. 

Fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, ice, attack magic of various attributes are launched within the range of the Black Dragon, and along with a boom, the Black Dragon is wrapped in smoke. 

The silhouette of the Black Dragon seen through the smoke nimbly raises its wings and vigorously unfurls them.  

The resulting strong winds produced disperse the smoke. 

It feels like the Black Dragon is looking at me with a displeased gaze.

This attack seems to have caused no damage. 

While with a fearless smile on my face,

“The power is weak for the number of magic used, you’re thinking? Well you’re exactly right. I can’t use magic above the advanced grade. Besides, just now I was trying to save energy by using only beginner magic. Still, is it okay for you to be so relaxed?”

After I alert the Black Dragon, the Black Dragon is again covered by appearing magic formations. 

However, this time I didn’t release mana….

This is something caused by my original magic, [Raise Repeat]. 

[Raise Repeat] is fixed magic that relies on [Magic Convergence]. 

When attack magic passes through the place where it is installed, that attack magic is copied.

And automatically… the same attack magic will be fired but with amplified power after taking in the surrounding mana. 

Magic that is several times more powerful than before attacks the Black Dragon.

This time it appears like damage has been inflicted, and the Black Dragon releases a sound resembling a scream. 

While the Black Dragon is targeted by attack magic from [Raise Repeat], I use [Magic Convergence] to concentrate the surrounding mana on my blade. 

Darker than the Black Dragon’s haze, the blade is clad in a pitch black aura. 

(No matter how many times I see it, it still looks like something a bad guy uses… It would’ve been good if mine is pale gold like Oliver’s.)

Oliver’s converged mana is like a morning sun that illuminates the world with warm light. 

On the other hand, mine is a cold darkness that symbolises the lightless night. 

Even though the effect should be the same, the appearance is exactly the opposite.

When the attack magic copied by [Raise Repeat] stops, again the Black Dragon disperses the surrounding smoke. 

And the Black Dragon that comes out from the smoke is more wounded than before, you can tell just from looking that it is damaged. 

The Black Dragon releases killing intent uncomparable to before, but it seems it hasn’t lost its calm.

It got more vigilant after seeing the mana gather on my blade. 

“Looks like you can still take it. Then, no breaks, time for the third wave!”

For the third time, magic formations appear, and attacks containing more threat than the second wave target the Black Dragon. 

No matter how weak beginner magic might be, its power has been amplified, then further amplified. 

The power has likely been raised to an extent only slightly inferior to special-grade magic. 

The scream of the Black Dragon echoes throughout the Boss Floor. 

When the attacks stop, I hold a sword clad in a black aura.

The Black Dragon doesn’t scatter the smoke like it previously did. 

The smoke gradually clears, the silhouette of the Black Dragon starts to show.

Aim at the Black Dragon’s wings, release a pitch black slash.

“Heavenly Flash…!”

Towards the wings of the Black Dragon, a murky slash flies in a straight line.

Of course, just before it hits the wings, I activate [Impact] to ensure they are severed.

–Or so that was how it was supposed to go.

The Black Dragon blocked my slash with its tail.

Needless to say, colliding with that expanding mana, the tail was cut, but the power was much lower than my estimation.

[Impact] cannot increase the power for more than only a short time, less than a second.

Because the mana was released at a point before my original calculations, the attack ended up finishing before [Impact] was even activated. 

(How did it know I was aiming for the wings!?)

It was covered in smoke, so it shouldn’t have seen the slash. 

That being the case, it wasn’t that it had blocked it by reacting. 

If it didn’t know in advance that I was aiming for the wings, it wouldn’t have moved like that.

(It should be the first time that this particluar dragon is seeing Heavenly Flash, so why…)

Using this moment where I am shaken, the Black Dragon flaps its wings and takes to the sky. 

This Boss Area had turned into something like a dome, so there was a ceiling. 

Th Black Dragon closes in on the ceiling, and from about fifty metres in the air, looks down at me. 

“…Shit, couldn’t stop it from flying huh.”

If I could have blasted its wings, it wouldn’t have been able to fly like that. 

As long as it can stay in the air, this will become an extremely difficult fight. 

Since there is [Magic Convergence], I can, to some extent, do aerial battles, but surface battles are definitely easier to fight. 

I don’t want to fight on the opponent’s stage, but if I remain on the ground like this, I’ll just receive flame bullets and haze attacks from the air one-sidedly.

As I am about to chase it up into the air, I feel a flow of mana and realise that the members of “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit” are trying to activate magic. 

It seems that mana can’t be felt by ordinary people. 

However, perhaps because of my Talent [Magical Convergence], I can grasp the sensation of mana somewhat. 

(Don’t attack too much and attract too much attention, and don’t hit me by mistake…)

I was thinking that, but I notice it is Selma who is trying to activate magic. 

(I know from the previous joint subjugation that Selma doesn’t have effective attack magic against that Black Dragon. So that means — support magic on me!?)

Currently, my abilities are being raised to a level beyond Selma’s support magic. 

Furthermore, [Stacking] is composed of extremely unstable conditions, like walking on thin ice. 

If something like a third person’s support magic is added, it will surely collapse.

In this battle, that kind of opening will be deadly. 

I instantly come to that conclusion and take action. 

To interfere with Selma’s magic, use [Magic Convergence] to disturb the mana around Selma and prevent her inflow of mana.

Selma’s magic activation is delayed.

“No need support magic! Throws off my senses! Think first about protecting yourselves!”

While I shouted at the members of “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit”, from the sky, the Black Dragon’s flame bullet fell. 

Immediately leave the spot and dodge the flame bullet.

Following which, while constructing footholds with [Magic Convergence], move front, back, left, right in a random manner to prevent being locked on. 

Every time I change direction, as before, set both beginner magic and [Raise Repeat].

Half of them will be activated immediately, and half are put in a standby state where they can be activated once mana is injected.

While firing various attack magic, dash up fifty metres into the sky where the Black Dragon is.