Chapter 288 Part 1
『I wonder if we’ll be fine even if we don’t exit the Instant Portal one by one…』
「Huh?」
I slaughtered the first three Lesser Gryphons and three Majins, but…
This is what Adele pointed out.
「Are you unsure of what to do?」
『I’m talking about canceling the Instant Portal ourselves. Though that’s not something I normally do.』
『It has a long cooldown time!』
『And even after you trained your Spacetime Magic, it won’t get that much shorter.』
「Cancel it, huh? I’ve never done that before.」
『Well, who would normally do something that would put them as a disadvantage~?』
『I didn’t learn about that until recently.』
「What if there are players who have already logged out inside the Instant Portal?」
『In that case, it seems that you can’t cancel it.』
『I’m sure it’s to prevent some kind of abuse!』
I didn’t know!
I’ve spent a lot of time playing this game.
It’s embarrassing to find that there are still many things I don’t know.
Well, let’s say it would be more embarrassing to act like you know stuff you don’t actually know.
In fact, this might be a very effective tool.
It would let us launch a surprise attack after having secured an advantageous position!
Moreover, such a surprise attack would have a high chance of success.
There is no reason not to use it.
The next wave of Majin attacked without waiting too long.
But this fits my strategy better.
What am I talking about?
Modulus’ thread.
Well, it wasn’t just a thread. By now, it was already a net.
Being able to block the movements of a Lesser Gryphon and its Majin rider together is huge.
This allows us to prioritize the remaining 2 pairs.
What about me?
I was aiming from the top of the tree.
Of course, my target is the Exorcising Priest.
I guess they plan to crush the Instant Portal and attack us, but…
We would be striking first.
I canceled the Instant Portal.
Then I throw one kukri after another at the Lesser Gryphon and its Exorcising Priest below from the top of the tree.
Following up with the Needlefish Javelin…
And then I myself jump down from the top of the tree, aiming at the Exorcising Priest.
The weapon on my hand is the Black Rope.
I put it around the startled Exorcising Priest’s neck and then drag it down from his mount.
Overbearingly so.
I also take some damage because of the force I put into it, but I don’t mind.
Neutralizing this Majin takes priority.
I leave the Summoned Monsters to take care of the Lesser Gryphon, and concentrate on killing the Exorcising Priest.
That’s the way to do it.
《【Javelin】 Level Up!》
《【Climb】 Level Up!》
Well, that seems about right.
And I’ve now confirmed it.
I don’t know what’s the logic behind it, but it seems evident that the Majins can see through Instant Portals.
And it seems that Instant Portals themselves can be used as traps.
Furthermore, it’s possible to launch a surprise attack from them.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that beating them was a walk in the park.
Still, the advantage of being able to make a preemptive surprise attack is extremely large.
This is very useful.
『You look like a hit man, Keith! 』
「A hit man?」
How rude.
My reputation may not be the best, but even then, that’s taking it a bit too far!
『Just a minute. I will change my formation a little.』
『Oh, me too』
Irina recalls her Chimera and summons her Big Spider.
Adele recalls her Orthros and summons her Viper.
They’re great at taking advantage of our enemy’s weak points.
If we think about each Lesser Gryphon and their Majin rider as a “pair”…
Modulus took care of one of these pairs by sealing their movements with her thread.
The other pair is taken care of in a similar way by Irina’s Big Spider.
The last pair was the one I took care of with my Black Rope.
That’s what being in charge feels like.
Let’s let the rest of the Summoned Monsters prioritize killing the Lesser Gryphons.
We won’t let them escape.
It seems that these guys sometimes run away if the battle drags on.
There’s no way we’re letting them escape.
Especially since those Lesser Gryphons have a chance of dropping Gold Ore when killed.
And I’m glad that I don’t have to wait a lot of time for the Majins to come attack us.
I don’t get bored anymore.
Something strikes me as odd as well.
It’s the Instant Portal’s cooldown time.
It definitely looks like we won’t be able to use it for a while after having defeated these monsters.
That’s probably because we cleaned them up in such a short amount of time.
So it cannot be used immediately after a battle ends.
Still it becomes available once again after waiting for a while.
Let’s take a look at the Cooldown section of the Instant Portal spell…
Approximately 10 minutes.
That’s quite short!
《【Rope Artes】 Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Rope Artes】weapon arte【Arrest】!》
《【Javelin】 Level Up!》
《【Ropework】 Level Up!》
After taking care of a few pairs, I got several Level Ups.
Irina’s Big Spider also leveled up quickly, reaching Level 3.
She had summoned only recently, so that’s super quick!
I have high hopes for its ability to support us with her threads.
In Modulus’ case, it’s more than the threads she lets out.
It’s terrifying because she shoots out her threads to form a huge net, and our enemies get entangled in it.
Then there’s the Imp under Irina’s command, too.
She could try to go for an Arachne using those two monsters, right?
But there are some problems as well.
Hunting several pairs in a row is fine and all, but the interval between their attacks is getting longer and longer.
Well, I guess there’s no other way around it.
Let’s approach them anyway, knowing full well how risky it is.
『Are we getting closer to the Turtlesnake?』
「I want to confirm the number of Lesser Gryphons and other monsters circling in the sky.」
This is a lie.
I simply want to hunt more monsters.
But they can probably tell, right?
Of course they can.
Well, as long as they don’t object, I’m stepping on the gas.
《[Pole Weapon] has leveled up with the battle victory just now! 》
《[Mental Enhancement] has leveled up with the battle victory just now! 》
《[Earth Magic] has leveled up with the battle victory just now! 》
《【Pole Weapon】 Level Up!》
《【Mental Reinforcement】 Level Up!》
《【Earth Magic】 Level Up!》
This time I thought I’d try changing the way I fight.
I tried using Indra’s Halberd instead of the Black Rope.
And what was the result of that?
I jumped off a tree, thrusting downwards using my own body’s weight.
And the moment my feet hit the ground, I caught the Exorcising Priest with the protrusion on its tip.
Then I dragged it down from the Lesser Gryphon, and stabbed it again.
At that point, it was already at my mercy.
Indra’s Halberd is nice!
I set Dust Magic on it.
This was taking the Lesser Gryphons in consideration rather than the Exorcising Priests.
Although it has a low chance of success, I expected to hit them with an Attack Down debuff.
The Exorcising Priests aren’t particularly tough opponents.
A single surprise attack can take care of them very quickly if it succeeds.
The problem then is that the Lesser Gryphons are quite resilient.
Last battle, they kept on attacking us even after their Majin riders had been defeated.
It seemed to me that reinforcements could arrive at any moment if the battle had taken much longer.
So we can’t let our guard down with them either.
「This fighting style seems pretty effective.」
『It looks good!』
『We should be contacting the others, right?』
「Can I leave that to you, Irina?」
『Sure.』
Besides, we had some other great results from this battle.
While Irina finished her report, Adele created a Nue using Fuse Monsters.
It’s the result of fusing her Forest Tiger Mii-chan with Bii-chan, who had Class Changed into a Venom Python.
It seems that the newly created Nue will retain the name Mii-chan.
Well, she was a Summoned Monster that has been with her since the very beginning. I’m sure there’s some attachment involved in that decision.
Adele’s lineup had another change.
She added a new Big Spider to her arsenal.
With the threads of two spiders, locking our opponents down will be done quicker and more reliably.
That was a good plan.
『I made a post on the forum as well.』
『I’m done changing my formation!』
「Good. So, next…」
I see three figures up ahead.
More Lesser Gryphons with their Majin riders.
New prey.
I don’t know…
I’m starting to see these guys as just walking piles of experience points.
It’s just an illusion!
I have to focus on making sure our surprise attacks are successful!
Thanks for the treat.