Chapter 163 : Using Crisis as a Means
Chapter 163: Using Crisis as a Means
A group of over a hundred people was sprinting through the canyon.
The sounds of magic and divine power colliding could no longer be heard.
The sound of breaths and footsteps served as a warning.
Do not stop, and do not look back.
If caught by the one chasing from behind, it was over.
Saaak.
He cut down the Wraith charging from the front in a single stroke.
It was thanks to the Holy Water applied to his weapon.
A Spirit-Type Monster could not block Robin’s path.
When Sigbard swung his rod, they burst apart.
When Aelin loosed her arrow, their bodies were pierced through.
Even so, it did not mean there were no troublesome monsters.
Monsters that were not dealt with in a single blow sometimes charged recklessly.
For example, moving corpses like Deadmen.
“Grrraah!”
A monster with a rotting, decaying body, its teeth and hair falling out in patches.
Normally, it was nothing particularly dangerous, but in Fog Canyon, the story was different.
“If you’re dead, lie down quietly and sleep.”
With Robin’s sword swing, the Deadman’s head dropped helplessly to the ground.
At the same time, black smoke circled once around Robin and vanished.
“Are you really okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine. The blessing Mr. Roger cast on me is incredible.”
Deadmen appeared throughout the Dangerous Area.
Each time he cut one down, a sinister aura seeped into Robin.
A spell that probed mental vulnerabilities to determine the victim’s location.
It was a wide-area spell granted by a Lich.
For now, the effect of the blessing remained, so he was fine—but with every Deadman he slew, the damage was accumulating.
“Th-this…!”
A Deadman lunged at one of the Adventurers running behind.
Robin immediately unleashed his Fighting Spirit, and the creature split in half from head to toe.
The fallen Deadman was immediately trampled under the feet of others.
“Th-thank you.”
“I’ll say it again—don’t fight the Deadmen. Just pass them by. I’ll kill them.”
It was nearly impossible to inspect each member of a group exceeding a hundred while running, yet Robin did so effortlessly.
There were two reasons he intended to face the Deadmen alone.
First, to preserve as much of everyone’s combat strength as possible.
Second, to draw the Lich’s attention solely to himself.
If the Lich happened to close the distance, it was far better for one person to hold it off intensively.
Scattered area attacks were difficult to respond to.
“Grrraah! Grrrk….”
As he dealt with another one, his vision momentarily went dark.
He had killed fifty Deadmen so far.
The damage was steadily piling up.
And the blessing was nearing its end.
One might ask whether he truly needed to go this far—but he did.
Even if Serena cleared the fog and Aelin did her utmost to find the path, the Lich would follow.
Robin could not afford not to prepare for that moment.
“The canyon’s ending!”
As Sigbard shouted, they emerged from Fog Canyon.
Those who had been following began to harbor hope that they could truly shake off the Lich.
“At this rate, we’ll reach the Safe Area in no time.”
Aelin said in an excited voice, but Robin was not so optimistic.
As the blessing faded, he began to grasp the outline of where the Lich was.
Just as the Lich could pinpoint Robin, Robin could also vaguely gauge the distance between them.
“Aelin, if we increase our speed beyond this, how long would it take?”
“More than this? We’re already going fast enough….”
Aelin calculated briefly before speaking.
“If we maintain top speed, it’ll take three hours to reach the Safe Area.”
“I see.”
Three hours was cutting it close.
Robin asked no further questions and focused on pressing forward.
Compared to Fog Canyon, the appearance of Deadmen had decreased.
The probability of being struck by the Lich’s spell had lessened.
With the constraints eased, those who had been holding back freely wielded their weapons.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes….
Before a hundred Silver-Ranked Adventurers, most monsters could not even raise their heads.
For a full hour, there were no major issues.
But perhaps it was because they had let their guard down.
From the rear, the first severely wounded appeared.
“Khk… khngh….”
A middle-aged man was stabbed in the neck by a Skeleton that had burst from the ground.
The Skeleton’s bones were immediately shattered apart, but tension tightened everyone’s nerves.
The man’s companions hoisted him onto their back and poured a potion over his neck.
“Krrrgh!”
Unable to endure the pain, the man fainted.
One carrying the injured, another gathering his belongings.
With one injury, three combatants were lost.
“Injured! Make way—we’re moving to the center!”
The wounded man and his companions shifted their position to the middle of the formation, where it was relatively safer.
Without even turning around, Robin could picture what was happening behind him.
In battle, injuries were inevitable.
What mattered was that the injured had moved to a slightly safer position.
In a hastily assembled group like this, no one would laugh it off lightly.
“Ah… damn it, my arm’s been cut.”
A second injured appeared.
It was not fatal, but it was a slash that made handling a weapon difficult.
As if exercising a natural right, he moved inward into the formation.
“Robin, that bastard hurt himself on purpose.”
“I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
A battle of wits had begun.
Once they felt the Lich had fallen some distance behind, the Adventurers began thinking of what came next.
Reaching the Safe Area would not be the end.
The city was currently sealed off.
To endure in the Uncharted Area, it was best to conserve as many of one’s cards as possible.
“It’s about time that bastard made his move.”
“That bastard? You mean the Lich?”
When Robin responded with a silent smile, Sigbard glanced around.
The Lich was nowhere in sight.
He wondered what Robin meant—then soon realized.
Kugugugugung.
A black magic circle formed in the sky, and darkness billowed outward.
Sigbard saw the Lich emerging from within and quickly averted his gaze.
“That’s the Lich?”
One Adventurer failed to suppress his curiosity and looked directly at it.
The price was mental corruption.
He collapsed mid-run, and those around him were greatly startled.
“What are you doing! Keep your eyes forward and run!”
Robin’s shout snapped them back to their senses.
The companions of the unconscious Adventurer abandoned him.
A truly realistic decision.
The sound of monsters devouring a person from behind rang out with particular clarity.
“It looks like that bastard is about to use it.”
“Good. We need to show what happens if they slack off.”
“You mean the ones who got injured on purpose?”
Sigbard hoisted Serena over his shoulder and increased his speed.
Aelin also ran faster, while Robin gradually began to fall behind.
The Adventurers wondered why he was doing that, but there was no leisure to ask.
If they stopped, there was only death.
The death of a straggler stimulated their survival instincts more than anything else.
Ssswhaeaeak!
A lump of darkness shot toward Robin.
The sphere wriggled, then dozens of sharp spikes protruded from it.
Slash.
His leap and draw happened almost simultaneously.
The Lich’s magic, severed by Robin’s blade, did not disappear.
It maintained its cleanly cut form as it descended—and beneath it stood an Adventurer.
“What is this…….”
Thud.
The Adventurer who had claimed his arm was cut and moved to the center.
The black magic, reminiscent of a mace, pierced into his abdomen.
The Lich’s magic did not stop there and greedily drained away the man’s vitality.
“Guh…….”
The Adventurer collapsed with a thud and was immediately abandoned.
The moment he was struck directly by the magic, he had already been as good as dead.
“The Lich’s magic will prioritize me.”
The surrounding Adventurers swallowed hard.
“And I can redirect its attacks. Like that.”
The Adventurers understood what Robin meant.
If they did anything to fall out of line, they would not end well.
It was a warning not to resort to petty tricks.
Even so, their anxiety could not be quelled.
“That bastard is right above us—what are we supposed to do now?!”
“What else? We bring it down.”
“What?!”
Robin shouted as if it were obvious.
“Prepare for battle!”
Gripping a sword in each hand, he slashed toward the Lich.
The diagonal Fighting Spirit that shot forward was blocked by a serpent the Lich had summoned.
Having expected it, Robin did not falter and continued to unleash his Fighting Spirit.
“What are you doing? The Lich is getting closer!”
“Then what, just stand there and watch?”
“We have to run!”
“Run? How naïve.”
Step. Step.
Before they realized it, the Lich had touched down and was staring in their direction.
As it drew nearer, defeat weighed heavier upon the Adventurers, and Robin mocked their reaction.
“If you don’t want to die, at least throw stones from the side.”
Ta-at.
Having said his piece, Robin did not hesitate.
He charged straight in to break through the weapons and magic controlled by the Lich.
Dodging the attacks flying through the air, Robin moved as though he were dancing.
“That kind of evasion is possible…?”
When spears and blades aimed at his head and torso lunged at him, he twisted his waist to avoid them.
When attacks erupted from the ground, he stomped down with his foot before stepping away.
It was different from the attack he had shown earlier at the Rest Stop.
Rather than preparing one decisive blow, he matched his evasion to the creature’s speed.
Even the Adventurers who knew of Robin’s skill widened their eyes in shock.
Splat!
A rusted sword grazing his shoulder left a shallow wound.
Though his movements were nearly artistic, minor injuries were unavoidable.
“Shouldn’t we help as well?”
“With what method? You want to jump into that chaos?”
“If necessary.”
The man holding a spear, Teraphil, edged forward.
After observing for about ten seconds, he knocked aside a sword striking from his blind spot.
A tingling shock traveled up his hand.
As the sharp clang of collision rang out like a signal, an arrow flew toward the Lich.
Ting.
Seeing the arrow blocked by magic, the archer wearing a feathered hat clicked his tongue.
“Still, it seems our attacks do work.”
The arrow of Raizen, a third-year archer, was ordinary.
Yet it pierced partially through the Lich’s magic and embedded itself.
At the mere fact that their attacks worked, the eyes of the Silver-Ranked Adventurers changed.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“We can’t just watch and die!”
Seeing the shifting attitude of the Adventurers, Robin smiled inwardly.
The reason he had dealt with the Deadmen alone in Fog Canyon.
If the Lich prioritized him, it became easier for a third party to intervene.
Moreover, the Adventurers still retained the blessing.
There was meaning in having taken on the Lich’s magic alone at great risk.
And one more thing.
“N-no. I can’t do this…….”
A female Adventurer, pouring cold water over the motivation that had just been ignited, hesitantly stepped back.
Robin’s senses surpassed those of ordinary people; he perceived who stepped forward and who retreated behind him.
Shiiiing!
Robin’s sword split the magic apart.
The divided remnants once again flew toward the Adventurers, and the woman’s pupils dilated as she attempted to retreat.
She was struck by the magic.
With her abdomen blown wide open, the woman stared in disbelief before collapsing, coughing up blood.
“I told you. I can alter the path of its magic.”
Even while facing the Lich, he punished those who became obstacles.
Robin kept his word.
Dividing his attention to monitor the rear during battle demanded tremendous concentration.
The Adventurers who had been about to retreat like the woman halted their steps.
“I didn’t deal with the Deadmen alone for nothing.”
He used even the crisis of the Lich’s pursuit as a means to control his allies.
That frighteningly cold and rational judgment left the Adventurers no choice but to follow.
Some acknowledged him sincerely; others stepped forward out of sheer fear.
“Ch-chargeee!”
“Uaaaargh!”
Those who had been watching let out battle cries and rushed forward one by one.
The unfavorable tide of battle improved, if only slightly.
It was truly faint, but that was fine.
The situation Robin wanted had been created.
“Shall we stir up a blade gale.”
The two swords, infused with densely packed Fighting Spirit, hummed.
Robin glared at the sinister skull and lunged at it.