Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 224
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 224
51. Opportunity Seeker (1)
Naturally, facing the Red Dragon Kite was extremely difficult.
Just having the three of us me, Arcia, and the black dog hunt a raid monster was already overwhelming, but this one had intelligence on a whole different level from ordinary Named monsters.
So the usual tricks used in typical dragon raids didn't work at all, and I had to improvise against its unorthodox patterns more than once.
On top of that, it used techniques unique to itself that other dragons didn't have, which only raised the raid's difficulty further.
'A full-coverage wide-area attack!'
When hunting a giant monster that flies through the sky, the standard rule is to climb right onto its body.
But this damn bastard started spewing flames from its entire body the moment we got on its back.
Before long, a powerful blaze engulfed the entire surrounding area like a field spell.
Watching a wide-area attack on the level of Hellfire consume all the space with nowhere to dodge was simply staggering.
The trick for that attack was to defend the front centered on Arcia's shield, while spreading 8th Circle Grand Shields to cover the rear, left, right, above, and below.
But the real problem with this attack was that there was no ground to stand on, so we got helplessly blasted far away.
The pressure was too much to withstand even with flight magic, sending me and Arcia crashing to the surface.
Well, it's a technique meant to stop us from climbing on its back in the first place, so from the dragon's perspective, it achieved its goal.
It's just us who have to re-secure our distance to fight the bastard that are dying here.
"This is insane."
But at the dragon's next move, I couldn't help but feel baffled rather than annoyed.
Right after the wide-area attack, the bastard went into a breath attack stance.
Of course, given the distance, it might have been a proper response, but from the receiving end, it was just a kick in the teeth.
All we could do in response was just duck our heads low on the spot.
-Krrrrrooooaar!
A massive fire-attribute breath that stretched out in a straight line like a laser.
Same as before Arcia thrust her shield forward, and I spread an 8th Circle barrier from behind.
At least this time we had solid ground to stand on, thankfully…
But whether last time or this time, we got shoved back helplessly all the same.
That was because the flames filling our vision melted the ground into a gooey lava-like mess, reducing the friction.
Our fire resistance was so high that the environmental changes didn't harm us at all, but the Red Dragon's breath, even without direct contact, burned and melted everything within a radius of several kilometers.
"Grrk."
Even under the enormous pressure, Arcia gritted her teeth and held on.
Her current level is 250, not 300.
That was due to the support unit's level cap, and the fact she could withstand the breath at all was nothing short of miraculous.
Of course, gear carried a significant share of that, but it was clear she was pushing herself far beyond what her lower level allowed.
"Hold on!"
"Yes!"
Still, I had to tell her to hold on.
If her defense broke, the fight would practically be over.
From behind, I supported her as if hugging her, lending her my strength.
-Boom! Boom!
How long did we hold out like that?
Along with the dragon's annoyed voice, the breath stopped coming in a straight line and began swaying like a wave.
[This damn pest!]
That time, too, I had planted a Hellfire spell into the back of its neck through the Black Eagle, the black dog.
Whenever a breath I couldn't easily overpower came flying, I kept striking the dragon from behind like this.
-Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!
Seizing the brief opening when the breath wavered, Arcia launched the greatswords scattered through the forest like missiles.
Four Sword Aura blades imbued with Aura Blade pierced through the dragon's belly hide and buried themselves deep.
[Guh!]
Our attacks, inflated by various Buffs, must have hurt quite a bit.
In the end, the bastard had to cut off the breath.
As soon as the breath ended, Arcia pulled a new shield from her subspace and swapped out the damaged equipment.
"Let's go."
And we charged in again.
With Arcia's Sword Aura springing up like missiles from wherever she'd scattered her blades and the Black Eagle striking from behind, the bastard couldn't afford to focus only on us it was a considerable burden.
[Annoying!]
It knocked aside the Sword Aura that surged up again with its tail and crunched the black dog in its massive jaws.
But as if mocking its efforts, new Sword Aura blades and a new black dog appeared to harass it.
Arcia had plenty of swords stored for Sword Aura, and the black dog the dragon had killed was never the real body only a clone.
It was a situation that all but forced a sneer.
But I couldn't laugh.
[Recovery!]
Because the bastard would recover in no time anyway.
Thanks to that, there's a saying in Chronicle Online.
To hunt a dragon, you don't chip away at its HP you chip away at its MP.
[HP: 100%, MP: 94%]
The problem was that, true to being a game with impeccable realism, this mad monster's MP pool was far too massive.
'Two hours of fighting, and all I've shaved off is 6% MP.'
Every time the dragon used recovery magic, I could feel our strength draining away there was no helping it.
'Still, it's not all bad. The fight is holding up well enough.'
The difficulty of the final fateful encounter quest was something I'd anticipated from the very beginning.
If anything, I thought it was already impressive that we were fighting this well on our first attempt.
"Hello. We're back."
While the dragon wrestled with the black dog and the Sword Aura, we'd kept our feet moving and now stood right before its nose again.
* * *
'The Bringham Empire suspects that Adrian El Lawrence, Grand Duke, and Olivia Riverdale, Duke, are Opportunity Seekers and has begun an investigation. The person in charge is Duke Christopher, assisted by Count Elfried, the Empire's Intelligence Chief.'
This plan was caught by Blue Moon's intelligence network, which had been closely monitoring the Bringham Empire's situation.
But Blue Moon couldn't relay this to Adrian, because he was currently in the final stage of resolving Grand Duke Lucas's Opportunity.
[Let's report this information to Duke Olivia Riverdale.]
So Chester, the Opportunity manager at the heart of Blue Moon, made that suggestion to Gregory, who had become Adrian's loyal right-hand man.
"Will that be all right?"
[If she acts on that information, the Bringham Empire will find it strange, and they'll pay even more attention to her side.]
The idea was to divert their gaze elsewhere for now.
Gregory seemed to think there was no other choice, and nodded, deciding to follow Chester's orders.
But the two of them didn't know.
What Duke Olivia Riverdale was currently thinking.
* * *
News that the Bringham Empire was reopening its investigation into Opportunity Seekers was quietly relayed through Blue Moon to the Intelligence Division of the Riverdale Mage Tower.
Naturally, it was quickly reported to Olivia, and upon hearing it, she bit her nails.
"What's this all of a sudden?"
At Marquis Lake, the vice-head of the Riverdale Mage Tower, asked, Olivia shook her head with a serious expression.
Meaning she herself had no idea why the Bringham Empire had suddenly launched a re-investigation.
And that was only natural.
After all, she was merely a member of the Riverdale family who had happened to see through Adrian's lie and from the Bringham Empire's perspective, which had gone to war to capture Lewis Fairmont, there was no reason to tie Adrian to Grand Duke Lucas.
"Then it's highly likely that Duke Christopher, the one in charge, is behind this."
"That's what I think too."
"That man, the more you look at him, the more he's a beast than a Mage. It's like he has a feral instinct about him."
If there's any nation that best understands how terrifying Duke Christopher is, it would be the Kingdom of Lucias.
And also, contrary to what's known about him, just how impulsive and irrational his actions can be.
But whenever Duke Christopher stepped in, the Bringham Empire mostly came out ahead and that track record had made the Emperor trust him.
"For now, it's best we act visibly and draw their attention."
"After all, we're not the real ones, right?"
"Exactly."
At Olivia's decision, Marquis Lake narrowed his brow, calling it utter devotion.
But Count Preston thought differently.
"Even so, that'll only buy us a few days. The opponent is that Duke Christopher, who transcends logic with instinct, and backing him is Count Elfried."
"We need to think ahead to the next move?"
"Yes."
Furthermore, Count Preston argued that Adrian should be informed of the matter so he could prepare.
In other words, they should do to Adrian exactly what Blue Moon and Chester had done.
"That's a good idea."
Olivia accepted his suggestion.
Thanks to that, as news of the Bringham Empire spread from Blue Moon to Riverdale Mage Tower, and from Riverdale Mage Tower to Lawrence Mage Tower, Chester and Gregory the source of the information had to act taken aback.
But Olivia went one step further...
"And while we're at it, it'd be best to solidify the Grand Duke Lawrence faction."
She decided to create an Adrian faction without Adrian, on Adrian's behalf.
Her first target was none other than Ibril, the Saintess of the Holy Land Everhill not the President of the Prius Republic, nor the Queen of the Kingdom of Roberto.
"How far would you, Saintess, go for His Highness the Grand Duke Lawrence?"
"What do you mean by that, all of a sudden?"
"It means he is currently in danger and in need of the Saintess's help."
"..."
"No matter how outstanding His Highness the Grand Duke Lawrence's abilities may be, it would be difficult for him to overcome the coming crisis alone."
Ibril's expression wavered at Olivia's abrupt words, but she soon shot a suspicious glare at her.
As if to say Adrian is the one in danger, so why are you the one stepping forward?
"You need not worry. It's not because of any romantic feelings toward him."
This was practically Olivia admitting she knew of Ibril's feelings, yet she simply curled the corners of her mouth as if she didn't care.
"You just asked how far I'd go for him, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"I would gladly give my very life. Does that suffice as an answer?"
Ibril gave off a rather different aura from the rumors, but Olivia didn't pay it much mind.
After all, Ibril's answer meant the addition of a new ally who shared their cause.
And not just anyone a pillar of a church with worldwide influence at that.
"Then allow me to inform you of the current situation."
"Very well. I'm listening."
Adrian was able to experience the strange phenomenon of a faction forming in his name, all without his knowledge.
* * *
When the dragon appeared in the final fateful encounter quest, I estimated I'd experience death at least ten times.
But we managed to keep the battle going by finding appropriate responses to every unexpected situation, and while the pace was slow, we were steadily chipping away at the dragon.
[Red Dragon Kite]
[HP: 32.1%, MP: 2.5%]
This felt completely different from the 8th stage of the fateful encounter quest.
Back then, we took down Balrog a Named monster on our first try, but I never once felt like we might lose.
With the dragon, that wasn't the case at all.
I didn't have the slightest feeling that I would win.
And yet, even I couldn't understand why we were doing so well.
Was it because of our thorough preparation?
Or had all the combat experience we'd accumulated finally reached its full potential?
We were pushing the dragon back.
[How did it come to this...]
The dragon itself seemed utterly bewildered, as if it had never expected this situation.
-Boom boom boom crash!
-Thud! Slash!
[Y-you monstrous brats.]
Arcia and I moved as if our souls were linked from the latter half of the battle onward, without a single word or exchange of glances, we understood each other's movements like interlocking gears, handling any surprise as we faced the dragon.
Thanks to that, the dragon gradually began looking at us with disgust, and by now it was treating us as complete monsters.
But we didn't even have the energy left to respond to that.
It had been 50 hours since the raid began.
Arcia and I had long since exceeded the maximum connection time for Chronicle Online, set in place for user safety.