Xeno shook off the fear-induced trembling in his legs and faced the horse-mounted Winter General’s charge head-on.
Whenever Garm was the main Tank, Xeno would cast <<Ember Aura>> on his team members, but that was not the only thing he was good for. He had also been closely observing the battle between Garm and the Winter General.
As Tsutomu had informed them beforehand, the Winter General’s attacks from horseback were quite intense. Although they had managed to destroy its means of launching long-range attacks, its solid and razor-sharp left-handed swords were still usable.
Coming into the fight, the team’s worst concern had been the potential of the Winter General and the horse acting separately, but Diniel and Amy, shooting powerful arrows and continuously targeting the monster’s bleeding wounds respectively, were applying pressure to keep them in check. However, the boss monster’s sword swings from horseback, all aiming for critical strikes, would be quite severe if even one of them managed to hit home.
At one point, Garm had failed to dodge the Winter General’s attack and took critical damage in the joint of his arm, suffering a severe injury. This was precisely why Xeno, as the mounted monster swung down at his neck, went against it head-on and focused on avoiding just the critical hit.
Still, the moment the sword touched him, his arm was yanked upward, dislocating his shoulder. Despite the impact being so great that he had to grit his teeth, Xeno still kept his smile up.
“Heh, I can handle this!”
Xeno fixed his shoulder on his own, his expression seeming as if nothing had happened. Tsutomu promptly cast <<Heal>> on him, actually mending the injury and making it so that he could raise his arm again.
[GAHHH!! That really hurt! I hope I don’t have to experience that again!]
Internally, however, he was screaming from the intense pain. Being a child of a wealthy merchant from the Royal Capital, Xeno had been highly educated in his younger years — meaning he had not been at the forefront as an Explorer in God’s Dungeon for very long. In turn, he had relatively little experience with death.
As such, he could not handle situations as effectively as Garm, who had trained to endure harsh battle conditions — and neither did he possess talent like Amy nor extensive experience like Diniel. Within the ranks of Absolute Helix, Xeno likely was the person whose pain tolerance level was closest to Tsutomu’s.
Despite his high VIT and extra defense from <<Protect>> helping to reduce the pain, the Winter General’s powerful attacks still hurt quite a lot. He, like Tsutomu, would likely never be able to push himself past his physical limits like Garm and Daryl could.
“HAHAHA! Bring it on!”
He had to be honest to himself that it hurt — that the unbearable pain slowed him down, as was to be expected. Right now, Xeno was simply enduring it as he had done during the Mount Golem battle. Any strategies she had learned for dealing with pain, like those Pico had him do in the Swamp layers, had completely vanished from his mind.
Practically cornered by swordplay too fast to follow with the naked eye, Xeno focused on protecting his neck to avoid instant death. The Winter General, however, continued to relentlessly swing its blade.
[…Um, would it hurt LESS if I let it kill me?] Xeno contemplated, unable to endure the pain of his entire body being sliced apart.
A green aura struck him from behind, and the main thing that had been tormenting his body and mind started to disappear.
Then, Diniel’s fire arrow flew at the horse, and Amy sprinted straight towards the boos monster. Tsutomu, monitoring Garm’s condition as he waited within an <<Area Heal>>, provided support to everyone.
“<<COMBAAATTT CRY>>!!”
Xeno, getting a VIT boost from the earthy-yellow aura, proceeded to release his silver aura, determined to not fall behind the three others. Noticing Xeno step back into the front line to face the Winter General, Amy perked up her cat ears.
“Stay alive, man! You’re doing great!”
“Hang in there — Garm’s almost good to switch in.”
“Thank you! And I know!”
“Hey, Dini! You’re not supposed to be that blunt!”
Xeno could not help but notice how Amy stayed cheerful even in the middle of a battle. He faced the Winter General’s swords head-on — and despite having the effect of <<Ember Aura>> on him, the biting cold of the weapons chilled him to the bone.
[Heh, it’s like I’m riding in a ship on a stormy night… or something!]
However, he felt no fear. Amy and Diniel were performing excellently as Attackers. Tsutomu, healing and supporting him from behind, played the role of a Tank to some extent in the form of minor distractions — all of which, from Xeno’s perspective, made him a godlike figure. Xeno had lost count of how many times Tsutomu’s healing spells had saved him from the Winter General’s attacks.
Moreover, he recalled the first time he had come to the Dungeon City and saw Garm, the only Tank-type Explorer on the front lines at the time, on the Monitors. Knowing that he was standing by in the rear, ready to replace him, served as a significant source of reassurance.
“Come on! I’m your opponent!”
Despite having had it as easy in his childhood as Tsutomu had in a first-world Earth country, however, Xeno was mentally strong enough to never break down against the Winter General’s relentless assault. The reason for this was simple: Xeno had been supported by a multitude of people.
His beloved wife Pico, friends from the Royal Capital, the members of Absolute Helix, and the numerous spectators who had watched him through the Monitors — Xeno was uplifted by all these people, and he had a heart that could genuinely accept their kindness.
Xeno wholeheartedly believed in his fellow Clan members. He felt no shame about being chosen as a member of this team. He embraced the expectations of those around him, turning them into his strength.
In contrast, Tsutomu had an ongoing plan to return to his original world, and as such had been maintaining a certain distance from everyone in this world. Spending much of his free time playing Live Dungeon, he had done very little of other activities in life.
Furthermore, as a renowned White Mage in Live Dungeon, had been exposed to both the kindness and malice of faceless strangers. Therefore, he had not been eager to accept the goodwill of others. He did not believe that being supported by others — in ways not in the combat sense — would necessarily make him stronger.
“<<Heal>>.”
Still, Tsutomu was fortunate enough not to be trapped in such a mindset, and had been able to apply his experiences from Live Dungeon to this world. As a Healer, Tsutomu would only face severe pain in situations close to total party annihilation. Given his knowledge, skilled Clan members, and the ability to see others fight the layer bosses through the Monitors, such situations were practically nonexistent.
Eventually, with the combined efforts of Diniel and Amy, the Winter General’s horse finally collapsed. After tumbling from its horse, the Winter General put its hand on the fallen steed as the latter began dispersing into light particles.
“Diniel! Now!”
“<<Stream Arrow>>.”
Diniel pressed the attack against the dying horse and further intensified her assault on the Winter General as it was attempting to strengthen himself. Arrows rained down like meteors, covering both the Winter General and its fallen horse. Tsutomu also attacked with <<Air Blades>>, and Amy with <<Dual Wave Slash>>.
When the dust settled, there was no sign of the Winter General anywhere — only a pure white Magic Stone on the ground where the monster was supposed to be.
▽▽
Successful in defeating the Winter General, the team returned to the Guild in triumph.
“Thank you, thank you!” Amy responded to her excited fans who had come to watch her.
Xeno rushed over to give Pico a big hug, and Garm proceeded to engage in a conversation with the Guild staff members.
In the midst of this, Tsutomu was observed from a distance by those around him. He had gained some recognition after the Stampede, but it seemed that his fans were still hesitant to approach him, likely because they had seen him rush straight to the Pedestal just now.
Displayed on Monitor #2 was Absolute Helix’s second team, the members of which were Garm’s apprentice Daryl, the evasion-based Tank Hannah, the Dragonewts Amira and Leleia, and the Channeler Korinna.
However, the only one facing off against the horse-mounted Winter General was Daryl, while the others were nowhere to be found. Amid the commotion of the Guild celebrating the first team’s achievement on the eightieth layer, Tsutomu walked around, and found that four individuals dressed in flaxen clothing had gathered in a corner.
“Looks like you made pretty good progress. Better luck next time?”
“…T-thanks, Teach,” Hannah responded, being the only one to do so.
Amira and Leleia maintained a distance from each other as they continued to look at the Monitor, while Korinna kept her eyes cast down.
“You’re not getting changed?”
“I kinda wanna stay like this until Daryl’s back, you see,” Hannah said, gripping the edges of her shirt.
“Ah… okay.”
Tsutomu looked at the four, and saw that they were quite clearly weighed down by the atmosphere.
“But it’s not like he’s lost yet! Maybe he’ll come back in full gear, who knows!?”
“Yeah… I think that might be a bit too much.”
Even if Daryl had managed to push himself past his limit, he would eventually run out of steam and die from the lack of healing. His candy Potion stock had already depleted, and the Winter General was nowhere near collapsing — its four swords were still intact, and the horse was still full of energy. The outcome of the battle was quite apparent.
“Can I go?” Diniel walked over and asked.
“Ah, yes, go ahead. I’d like to stay and watch.”
“‘Kay. See ya.”
After she was done updating her Status Card, Diniel proceeded to make her way back to the Clan House. Tsutomu watched her leave and then, along with the determinedly supportive Hannah, continued to look at Monitor #2.
After a while, Daryl was struck by the Winter General’s charge and fell, and then got his head cut clean off. Monitor #2 went pitch black, switching to showing a different image in the next instant.
At the same time, Daryl, dressed in default clothes, sprung from the Black Gate as if being kicked out of it. He looked around and seemed to realize that he had died, and proceeded to weakly slam the floor with his powerless fists.
“Hey. You did great — you’ll get it next time. C’mon, let’s get changed, then we’ll go home.”
“…Yes.”
Offering gentle words to the dejected Daryl, the members of the Absolute Helix Clan returned together to the Clan House.
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