chapter 68.2

Individually, we lacked the strength to pull through. We only managed to get this far thanks to cooperation and the appropriate strategies.

After confirming what we were going to do, I started to slowly walk towards the Gravekeeper. There was nothing else to be said or done here for the moment. Up until now I’ve managed to achieve the highest performance in this game thanks to concentrating on the task at hand, and this was exactly what I was going to do right now.

「…… You know what? I was always wondering just how you are able to come up with all of those battle patterns, Pencilgton.」

「……………」

I see, so it is basically something in the lines of “Withstand until the enemy breaks down first”. So we were going for the war of attrition, one that would net us the ending like “Leave me be and go”. It was certainly an interesting approach, but quite a boring one from the perspective of the story.

But this isn’t a manga, or an anime. You are not watching other characters endure hardships and overcome challenges. You do that yourself. If so, then is the boss that can be defeated via means of surviving for about half an hour a fun challenge in-game-wise?

No, it is not. It is quite boring. Even if the time limit was smaller, it was still basically a challenge that you needed to survive, not to beat. It was a unique quest that prioritized the story over the gameplay and the “fun factor”.

「I thought that Godly games wouldn’t do such things……」

Balancing the story with gameplay was a feat that many companies fails to accomplish in one way or another. There was always a bias towards one of the two elements. You go for the story and gameplay turns to shit. You focus on gameplay too much and the story ends up becoming shit as well. Or in some cases both elements could be equally as shitty. I’ve seen that happen way too often.

However, I have always believed that ShangriLa Frontier managed to handle both elements in an equally good way. That even if the main goal was to survive for a set period of time it would be possible for you to take down the enemy before the end of that time.

I still believed in that principle even though Pencilgton ordered us to equip armor and weapons that would have the highest possible durability. I kept on believing that there will come a time where Gravekeeper Wezaemon shall fall down under our blows.

The whole body of Gravekeeper went alight with flames and a blade of fire shot right at me. I responded with activating Parrying Protection and managed to avoid the attack by the skin of my teeth.

「………!!!」

「To be able to dodge an attack like that, that’s actually amazing! Did you have some sort of training!? And what is that mask made out of?」

My current headwear was not the usual mask made to resemble the beak of a bird. If I was wearing that mask right now, my head would have been easily split in two by now. I was wearing a helmet that looked kind of like a square “cage” which was shining with a dark-blue glow. As expected, the attack that grazed the helmet didn’t manage to make a single dent in it. However, I was sure that if the Gravekeeper was to hit it too many times, it would surely break and fall apart.

「Battle Helmet “Shikko”. It’s a fairly rare item even by ShanFro’s standards, made out of Stag Beetle’s materials…… Gives some attack boost and critical modifier……」

And since this helmet was made using the materials from a Stag Beetle, it means that it managed to retain some of the properties of the creature that it used to be a part of. Mainly, the hardness of its carapace. That way it was possible for me to deal damage with this armor piece, but also to parry some of the attacks, although it took me a while to nail the right timing for that.

「Being able to parry with my head like that…… Leaves my hands open for action……!」

Of course, since it was made out of the Stag Beetle, it was a whole lot harder and heavier than my previous headwear. Also, there was no use for it during the first and second phase of the fight, which was all about agility, speed and endurance. But that was no longer a thing, seeing as the Gravekeeper’s armor decayed and broke down. Now it would be this helmet’s time to shine.

「Now eat this! I blew eighty thousand mani on that!」

If he had a self-destruct move like that, then I had a trump card up my sleeve as well. I couldn’t use it in the endurance battle, but right now there was nothing that would prevent me from going all out.

As my blades started to shine with bright energy, I couldn’t stop a nasty smile blooming on my lips. It was something that would put even shitty games to shame. No, it wasn’t like that. It was just the full power of the secret sword technique that I bought. I was only able to do this right now because I sacrificed all of my money for it!

The light of the moon was reflected on the edges of my two newest swords, “Upper Fang” and “Lower Fang”. The Gravekeeper must have understood what was going to happen, for he rushed to strike at me and intercept my skill…… But just then, right behind his back, the space shook and swayed, revealing something that absolutely shouldn’t be there. I could see it clearly with my eyes.

「Hey, what’s that behind your back, you asshole……!?」

「………!?」

Secret Sword Art “Mirror Moon”. It was a very powerful and very useful skill…… is what I would like to say, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was also very difficult to use properly.

Once activated, it would project another attack as an image right behind the enemy’s back. So in a nutshell it was a technique that allowed you to do a backstab for free…… now I feel kind of bad after putting it like that.

However, that’s not where the true value of this skill really was. Aside from being able to score double critical hit, you could also get rid of the enemy’s aggro that was directed at you.

Suddenly being slashed by a “new” enemy right in the back, the Gravekeeper completely loses interest in me and turns around to face this “new” threat.

He swings at it, but there was nothing there to begin with. It was just like the moon reflected on the surface of the water. It was nothing more than an image, an illusion.

「I know that stabbing someone in the back is cowardly, so sorry in advance!」

Being able to actually get outside the enemy’s vision and aggro range allowed me to activate the Assassin’s Earring skill. My blade actually manages to pierce the defenseless back of the Gravekeeper, reaching in deep and making blue fumes burst from the wound.

As the effect comes to pass, colorful polygons dance in the air. This caused the aggro of the Gravekeeper to be directed at me again, causing him to try to turn towards me while simultaneously trying to squash me with his fist.

「Drill Piercer!」

I made a small movement of my head to avoid the incoming attack and throw my own skill at him in response, aiming right at the place where it should hurt him the most.

「Now, with my critical hit correction…… Let’s see if there’s any super armor left on you to protect you from that!」

While the Gravekeeper tried to dodge away from my blow, I interrupt his attempt by sending a spiraling strike right in the small wound caused by his destruction of armor just a moment ago.

「I’ll let you know just how sadness tastes like!」

From this point onwards it was completely different from the first and second phase, when he didn’t even flinch to any of our attacks. Twenty minutes have already passed, so now, prepare yourself for a beating, Gravekeeper Wezaemon!

「FUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~~~!!!!!!!!!」

With the tension reaching the maximum levels, I landed an Oppresive Kick right onto the Gavekeeper’s gut.