I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build
chapter-362-30041322

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 362

Defense Specialization and the Raid Boss 2

As soon as it started, the boss thrust its spear towards the sky, causing torrents of water to shoot out around it. The water pushed out in every direction like a tsunami.

“Maple!”

“‘Pierce Guard,’ ‘Heavy Body’!”

She immediately knew what was needed, and Maple blocked the tsunami in a perfect defense stance. Knockbacks and piercing attacks had been nullified for Maple, while the other seven were able to survive the attacks through ‘Dedicated Affection.’ However, the same could not be said for the other players around them.

Maple was only protecting her own party members, and so those who could not overcome the water were pushed back and drifted away.

“Everyone! Are you okay!?”

“Thanks to you! Still, that’s pretty rough for a starting attack!”

As the shield-bearers, Maple and Chrome had to escort Mai and Yui to the boss. And while they couldn’t see the boss right now due to the water, it had appeared to be connected to the ground at the waist. And it showed no signs of moving. Instead, the sphere of water above its head was spawning countless monsters which immediately fell upon the players.

Even the sphere of water had HP, and you had to destroy it first in order for the players to have an advantage in numbers. In fact, many of the players were currently getting back in formation as they prepared to face the onslaught of monsters headed their way.

“Hey, hey! There’s no point! You have to destroy that thing first!”

“Even Machine God won’t reach it from here!”

Maple and the others had blocked the tsunami, and yet they were still out of range. The players that had been washed away were even farther now, and could not reach the boss even with their magic attacks.

However, there was one player present who was able to deal damage to the water sphere.

“Willbert!”

“He can reach it? Wow…!”

After Lily’s soldiers had made a wall to block the tsunami, he had quickly changed his equipment and pulled out his bow. His bow had a longer range than Maple’s Machine God, and the arrows glowed red as they flew straight towards the sphere. However, they did much less damage than expected. He would have to unleash dozens of arrows at this rate. But Sally knew that those arrows were powerful enough one-shot a monster, and so she sensed that something was wrong.

“It might be…that long-range attacks are weakened?”

“But it’s so high up!”

“Was his name Willbert? From what I heard about his attack power, this shouldn’t be happening…”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but it looks like something else is coming!”

The others raised their faces at Kanade’s voice. The boss had thrust its trident into the air again, and this time numerous spears made of water came raining down on them.

And while the members of Maple Tree were unharmed, they heard other players shouting that they were piercing attacks. Though the attacks weren’t impossible to dodge, using ‘Dedicated Affection’ was still necessary in order to protect Mai and Yui.

“We’ll just have to deal with each problem one at a time. Maple, we don’t know what might happen, so you and Chrome should focus on defense!”

If they stayed there and focused on defense, they would be able to block the water spears with their great shields. As long as Mai and Yui were protected, there was always a chance to get the upper hand. However, resolving the current situation was also an urgent matter. It would be better for one to move while taking some risks, while the other prioritized safety.

“Hmm. What about you, Sally?”

“I’ll try to destroy the water sphere. And I’ll come back if my guess is wrong.”

Sally said as if it was the most obvious thing. Maple smiled back to show that she was counting on her. Only Sally could act so calmly as if there was no problem after seeing the water spears, tsunami, and swarms of monsters.

“Then I’ll go with you in case something happens. I should at least be able to offer some support.”

Kasumi decided to go with her. When it came to attack power, Mai and Yui were enough. In that case, Kasumi was the only one who could keep up with Sally, as she had also put points into AGI and acquired high mobility.

“Okay, let’s go. The other players have already taken a lot of damage.”

Thanks to Maple, they were able to maintain the same state they were in when the battle began, and so Sally and Kasumi jumped out of ‘Dedicated Affection’s’ range, as if now was the time to act. And like that, they shot out towards the raid boss.

As Sally and Kasumi dashed ahead, the members of the other guilds seemed to come to the conclusion that there was no point in focusing on the unending swarms of monsters that were being summoned. And so they also moved forward. They would try and get closer to the boss by any means that they were good at.

“‘Arm of the Warrior,’ ‘Blood Blade’!”

Kasumi turned her blade into liquid as she ran and attacked the monsters that got close to her before they could react. Compared to Sally, Kasumi had superior reach in her attacks, and she also had many skills that were highly effective. Sally made up for the difference with her own abilities, but Kasumi’s power really shone during times like these.

“You can leave the others to me!”

“Thanks. I’ll watch to see if it does anything.”

As they ran, the boss thrust its trident into the air again, and a thin layer of water spread out on the ground. After a moment, bubbles started to rise.

“Kasumi, over here! Follow me closely!”

“Yes!”

Kasumi had experienced enough to be able to believe in Sally’s decisions. And so she moved behind her without any time lag. Immediately after, water started to shoot out of the ground like geysers. Sally quickly navigated her way through them and moved closer to the boss.

There was only about ten meters between them and the boss now, however, the actual sphere of water would be dozens of meters above their heads. They would not be able to reach it even if they jumped.

However, there were other players who, like Sally and Kasumi, had managed to dodge the monsters and powerful boss attacks as well. And so it was only natural for them to cooperate.

“Sally! Nice to see you again!”

“Velvet! Hinata!”

Sally wasn’t at all surprised that Velvet had made it this far. But she had not expected Hinata to be there as well. She didn’t know how it was happening, but Hinata was floating in the air and stuck closely to the side of Velvet. That was how she followed her.

“Well, I’ve never seen anyone do that before…”

“I had Hinata come with me!”

“That must make you feel dizzy… Wait, this is no time for talk.”

Velvet and Hinata’s goal was also to destroy the water sphere. In that case, there was no time to waste.

“‘Ice Stairs.’”

Hinata activated the skill, and then a staircase of ice appeared around the boss.

Now anyone would be able to climb it in order to reach the spot above the boss.

“Thanks! Kasumi!”

“Yes, we’ll use it gladly.”

“We’re going too!”

Hinata manipulated gravity as she floated behind Velvet, who dashed up the stairs along with Sally and Kasumi. As always, Velvet was unleashing countless bolts of thunder around her, and so the weaker monsters were unable to come close to them. However, they still attacked with their long-range water breath. But since Sally, Kasumi and Velvet all had high mobility, they were able to dodge the breath even when standing on such an unstable platform. And while Hinata did not have the same mobility, her movements were completely synced with Velvet, so she had no trouble following them.

“‘Ice Wall’!”

On top of that, she was able to use ice and weight in order to block the attacks and assist the other three. As other players climbed from below them, the four reached the water sphere. And while Velvet’s lightning was already hitting it, they barely did any damage.

“‘Gravity Control’!”

“For now, ‘Heavy Twin Attack’!”

Hinata’s skill caused Velvet to float up in the air a little, and now that she was closer to the water sphere, she slammed it with the twin attacks. As she was floating, she was not able to move around as quickly. But it hardly mattered at this distance.

However, she did less damage than expected. It was a raid boss, and so its HP was set quite high. They now knew that it would take a long time to carve it all away.

“Ugh. Not quite what I expected…”

“What should we do? I don’t know if staying here is such a good idea?”

Currently, Velvet was very close to the water sphere. This meant that both the sphere and boss were in range of her thunder. She was able to do damage to both while simultaneously getting rid of the swarms of monsters below. That was a good thing, but there was a time limit to how long Hinata could use her skills. Both the ice stairs and gravity control would not last forever.

“Let’s test what we can! Velvet, watch out for the monsters!”

“Got it!”

Sally said to Velvet before jumping forward. And just like the boss, she created water so that she could swim through the air. This made it more difficult for her to dodge attacks, but Velvet and Hinata knocked away the breath that came flying towards her. Like this, Sally was able to arrive at the spot right above the sphere. She then activated her skill.

“‘Freezing Area’!”

Sally unleashed the cold air in the area, freezing the water sphere below her. Unlike skills that created ice, this skill froze objects. And so it was able to turn even the boss’s water sphere into a huge block of ice.

“How about this! ‘Quintuple Slash’!”

“‘Vibrating Fist’!”

“‘Last of the Blades – Oborozuki’!”

Its properties had changed after being frozen, and it suddenly became easier to damage. And so the skills that the three unleashed did visible damage. If they were able to repeat this a few times, they would surely be able to destroy it.

“It’s working!”

“No, wait…something is… ‘Mind’s Eye’!”

Kasumi didn’t miss the flash of blue light in the center of the frozen sphere, and she activated the skill that predicted attacks. Immediately after, her vision was filled with red lights that showed the positions of the attacks.

“This is bad! We have to move away!”

Sally was the first to react, and Velvet jumped back after her. However, there was not much space for them to stand on in the first place, and so the ice shattered before they could move far away. The sphere returned to its original water form, but it was now enveloped in a spiral of water that moved like blades. The four knew that being hit would cause a mortal wound, and so they all prepared to defend themselves.

“Oboro, ‘Spirited Away’!”

“‘Parry’!”

“‘Ice Wall’…!”

“‘Third of the Blade – Kogetsu’!”

They overcame the attack by disappearing from the field, blocking with physical defense, or leaping over it. However, there were so many blades that it soon became clear that it would be impossible to avoid every single one.

As they wondered for a way out of this, fire and light shot out from both sides and momentarily blew away the water blades, allowing the four to make an emergency escape.

Sally and Kasmui raised their heads to see what had happened, and saw the four from Congregation of the Holy Swords.

“Yoo-hoo! I see that you’re playing on the edge again. Did we save you?”

“I didn’t think you would be faster than someone who is flying.”

“Well, the sky ended up being filled with summoned monsters. It was so troublesome…”

The two were riding on the back of Ray, who was now gigantic. When they looked in the direction that they had been in, they saw Ignis and the members of the Kingdom of the Flame Emperor. Apparently, Velvet and Hinata had been saved by them.

“It’s just like the previous event then. I saw you running, but was surprised at how quickly you arrived.”

“You helped us again. Thank you.”

“I don’t mind. However, I hope that you can help us now.”

“By freezing it? I can do that. If I can only get close to it again.”

While Hinata’s platform was now gone, Ray and Ignis were here, so it would be possible to get closer.

“Alright, I’ll tell the others to attack as well. Knots, ‘Messenger Pigeon.’”

Frederica sent the small yellow bird on top of her head towards the other members of Congregation of Holy Swords, and then waited for them to approach the boss once again. Mi and the others seemed to be thinking the same thing, and they continued to kill the monsters around them while waiting for the right opportunity.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Payne signalled to Mi and the others, and then made Ray charge in all at once. Once they were close, Sally froze the sphere of water, and all twelve of them began to attack it. At the same time, the guild members that had been told of the next freezing, and other players that had been waiting, unleashed their magic and skills, causing the sphere’s HP to drop dramatically. The destruction of the sphere was the first step in this boss fight, and it was now down to a dot. Then the ice returned to water, which suddenly increased and spread out.

And once again, there was a whirl of water blades in the center, and something like a blue core that was protected in water. It was obvious that they were supposed to break it.

The next great move was likely triggered by the HP loss. Water shot out passed everyone in the area and rose into the sky. At the same time, the boss raised its trident into the air, creating water spears that were more numerous than ever before. Simultaneously, there was a change in the ground, as if to punish players who were nearby and trying to attack.

It was an attack that could not be escaped. Its power was unknown, but the area of effect covered everything. Sally’s expression tensed when she saw this. Mi and Payne realized that it would be difficult to escape its range on Ray and Ignis, and so they decided to try and survive by using damage nullifying spells. However, they could only protect their party members and summoned monsters.

“We won’t be protected…!”

“It’s going to be backbreaking work, surviving this!”

“I’ll support you as much as I can!”

“So will we.”

Marx and the others immediately created walls and footholds. And Misery created damage reduction fields. Shin and Mi were ready to knockdown as many as they could. As for the Congregation of Holy Swords, Drag would use boulders, and Dred would use a similar skill to Sally’s and make footholds. Frederica and Payne started to make obstacles.

Sally was surprised that they were able to offer this much support to players outside of their party in an instant. And while the three were still at a disadvantage, they shared a look that showed that they were determined to survive this.

By jumping from platform to platform and on Ignis, they were able to escape the rain of water spears.

They wished that there was something they could do about the core, but knew that the objective was clearly to survive this part. And so it was with both regret and annoyance that they looked at it.

Suddenly, they saw a red light shoot through the narrow gaps in the whirl of water blades, and pierce the core.

Sally’s eyes widened in surprise. Half of the water spears in the air vanished then, and they were able to see much more. Sally knew that there was only one person capable of this, but she continued to concentrate. She did not want to get hit right as the situation had started to improve.

“Bullseye. Good job, Will.”

“Phew… Well, I was able to save face as an archer.”

Willbert let out a deep sigh, and then both he and Lily changed equipment.

“You did all of this Will. The rest shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Let’s hope so. It’s your turn now.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

After changing equipment, Lily created numerous lifeless soldiers. By sacrificing them, many players were able to prepare to defend themselves. Willbert had fulfilled his role. Now it was Lily’s turn to protect as many of the fighting force as she could.

“In the end, it’s about numbers. We have so many players here. Clearly, it makes sense to protect them, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

So saying, Lily created unlimited numbers of soldiers to take the damage from the rain of water spears and geysers. And like that, she protected all of the players in the area.