System's POV
chapter-452

The Hero Party looked at the two five-meter-tall monsters in front of them with grim expressions on their faces.

They were none other than the Three-Horned Minotaur that they had fought in the past that almost wiped out their entire party.

One was already enough to give them an extremely hard time. However, their new "Master" seemed to think that one wasn't enough for them, so he added one more Three-Horned Minotaur in their simulation using the GANDAM Monster Hunter Mode.

"Z-Zion, isn't this a bit too much?" Shana asked as the one-minute countdown of the battle started ticking.

"Really?" Thirteen inquired.

"Yes!" Erica replied angrily. "One was already enough to make us suffer, why must you make it two?!"

"Fine, let's remove one then," Thirteen commented.

Seeing that the Hero Party was still traumatized by their previous experience against the Rank 5 Overlord, the teenage boy decided to give them some slack.

When the other Monster disappeared, the Hero party sighed in relief and readied themselves for battle.

The moment the battle started, Diana didn't hesitate to step to the front with gritted teeth.

She was the tank of their party, and she needed to ensure that the Monster wouldn't reach Shana, Erica, Mildred, and Joshua at the back, who specialized in ranged and support combat.

The Minotaur roared, sending a shockwave that pushed Roland, Derek, and Diana, who were the Vanguard of their party, back.

Thirteen watched in amusement as Roland and Derek went to the Monster's left and right sides in order to distract it, while Diana stood at its front with her shield at the ready.

Support attacks rained down on the Monster from the back as Erica, Mildred, and Joshua used their spells to deal damage to it.

Angered, but not fazed, the Monster swung its Axe at Diana, which sent her skidding several meters backward as her foot dug on the ground.

'Mmm, she's not half bad,' Thirteen thought as he gazed at the pale-faced crusader, whose left arm was now numb from tanking the blow of the Minotaur.

Derek and Roland, on the other hand, both unleashed their Sword Skills and attacked the Monster's legs, drawing blood.

However, Thirteen wasn't impressed by their combination attacks, and even shook his head in disappointment.

'Such wasted opportunity,' Thirteen thought.

As the battle progressed, it was obvious that the Hero Party had a good level of teamwork because they were able to support each other when they needed it the most.

However, Thirteen could only sigh repeatedly since Erica, Mildred, and Joshua were just bombarding the Minotaur with spells, without actually targeting a specific area.

It was like they were simply trying to overwhelm their opponents using sheer fire power.

This might work against low-level Monsters, but when it came to stronger and more powerful ones, every hit was crucial.

Derek and Roland, who were dealing damage up close and personal were able to land a few decent hits, but it wasn't enough to immobilize their target.

Diana, on the other hand, could no longer raise her shield. And it seemed that she had sprained her arm, or worse, broken a bone.

Shana's support skills were concentrated on Diana, so the Crusader was still not out of the battle just yet.

But, Thirteen knew that it was only a matter of time before a mistake was made, and when that happened, it would spiral to oblivion.

As if he had successfully predicted what was going to happen next, Derek got hit by the Minotaur's backhand blow, which caught the Swordsman by surprise.

The Minotaur's attack sent the Swordsman flying, dealing serious injuries to his body.

Seeing that his friend was in great danger, Roland activated his skill and made his sword shine brilliantly.

However, the Minotaur didn't back down and clashed against him, with its Axe covered in red flames.

When the two weapons collided, the expected outcome that Thirteen predicted came true.

Roland was unable to find something to support himself with as he took the Minotaur's blow, because he had jumped off from the ground to execute it.

Meanwhile, the Minotaur's feet were firmly planted on the ground, allowing the Monster to have the advantage in striking power.

The Hero of the Hero Party was blown away by the attack and crashed into a boulder, breaking it completely.

With the two pests out of the way, the Minotaur charged forward to attack the three range attackers, who had been persistently getting on its nerves.

Diana hurriedly got in its way by using a Taunting ability, forcing the Minotaur to attack her.

However, at this point, she could no longer raise her shield, and simply held on to it with both hands, as she braced for an attack.

When the attack came, Diana was no longer able to hold out against it and was blown away completely.

The blood that had been threatening to escape her lips since earlier finally trickled down as she crashed on the ground with a loud thud.

Her left arm was bent in an unnatural angle, which meant that it was now completely broken.

Left with no one to defend them, the Range Attackers were easily subjugated, with Mildred being the last one to die.

It was a complete team wipe, which made Thirteen scratch the back of his head because of how bloody the ending became.

Remi even had to cover Rhia's eyes because Joshua's head had been severed from his body due to the swing of the Minotaur's axe.

When the teenagers removed their Neuro-Linkers, all of them had pale expressions on their faces.

Diana had the worst of them all, and Shana, despite feeling pain all over her body, used her healing powers to heal her first.

Since it was a battle in a Virtual World, their bodies didn't suffer from any injuries.

However, the pain they felt was very real, which they were not able to shake off very easily.

Twenty minutes later, when everyone had finally regained their composure, Thirteen clapped his hands to get their attention.

"First, let me say that I saw that all of you did your best in the battle against the Three-Horned Minotaur," Thirteen said. "Your teamwork is also good, so I won't talk about that part for the time being."

Thirteen paused after seeing the relieved expression on the Hero's faces, making him sneer.

"But, let's be honest, that was a very horrible way of fighting," Thirteen said in disdain before he pointed at Diana. "You are a crusader, and it's your role to protect your people from the enemy attack.

"However, that doesn't mean that you have to tank every single god-damned blow, especially against a Monster that is stronger than you. If the Minotaur gave you an overhead strike, dodge to the side because the Axe will just simply hit the ground.

"If it uses a slash you can charge forward, and use a Shield Bash to hit its leg. Basically, you just wore yourself out because you defended against its attacks the whole time. Learn how to dodge and attack at the same time.

"There is a saying that offense is the best defense, but defense can be used as an offensive weapon as well if you know how to do it."

"Listen here, Zion," Roland interjected. "Diana did her best, so you shouldn't berate her like this."

"Yeah, she did her best tanking the monster's hits, while you and Derek didn't use that opportunity to incapacitate the Minotaur," Thirteen said in disdain. "You and Derek just randomly slashed at the Minotaur's legs, but what good did that do to the battle? Absolutely nothing.

"You are supposed to be the front liners, and you can't even do your job properly. You're part of the reason why Diana is always having a hard time. It's very hard to carry pig teammates, you know?"

Rianna covered her lips because she was finding it hard to keep a straight face as she listened to Thirteen berate Roland, who had never been talked down to by anyone in the past.

He was the Hero of the Hero Party, and everyone wanted to be on his good side. Even if he made a mistake, no one would call him out on it, so hearing Zion do it without holding back made her feel giddy.

The teenage boy's nagging continued, but he didn't just nag Roland and Derek, he nagged at everyone.

Even Shana was unable to escape, making the Saintess' face turn beet red as Thirteen listed all of the things that she should have been doing as the Party's main pillar of support.