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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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-Thump! Thump!
“Eek!”
As Lily’s summoned golems distracted the hellhound, rescuing the cadets,
-Shimmer…!
Edwin’s sword began to glow with a holy aura. The uneven density reflected his turbulent emotions, but it seemed sufficient to inflict significant damage on a mere monster.
‘That’s right…’
In the original story, Edwin would later receive a holy sword from Liris. The holy sword would greatly amplify the wielder’s holy power.
‘I neglected Liris…’
As I lamented this oversight, the massive Cerberus, with its black flames, finally noticed us, its crimson eyes fixated on our position. It must have sensed the holy power.
‘Details.’
I quickly opened the detailed view.
Ding!
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‘Additional damage from Holy attacks… the rest are straightforward.’
No surprises there. Since Edwin might get bitten, creating distance was the priority.
“Everyone, move away from Edwin. Lily, come here.”
Lily scurried over.
“Lily was scared…!”
I gave her a brief hug and instructed Aria,
“Aria, if Edwin gets attacked, remove the status effect immediately. Remember, dispel is the priority, not healing.”
“…Okay.”
“Lily?”
“Lily will cheer you on!”
“Okay!”
With that, I handed Lily the quiver filled with bolts.
-Grrrrrr!!!
-Yarr!!!
-Krrr!!!
The Cerberus, each head emitting a different growl, charged towards Edwin.
Ding.
I checked Edwin’s stats and gave him his instructions.
‘Bladetooth, Sawtooth, Irontooth, in that order.’
“Edwin, focus on the center head. Ignore the others.”
“C-Center! Got it!”
-Clang!!!
The Cerberus was faster than I expected. Its bite clashed against Edwin’s holy barrier, but Edwin managed to force his sword towards the middle head—Bladetooth.
-Shatter!!
-!
-Crunch!
The Cerberus countered by biting Edwin’s sword with its massive jaws.
“Argh!”
A struggle ensued, but Edwin would prevail. His newly acquired trait, [Will], obtained after witnessing Melissa and Kaelan, would give him the edge.
Will granted an advantage in struggles even against opponents with higher stats.
-Slash!
Edwin, unyielding, finally landed a decisive blow.
-Crackle!!
-Boom!
The honed holy power clashed against the Cerberus’s dark aura, sparks flying like lightning.
“Lily.”
“Okay!”
I seized the opportunity and loaded a refined bolt into my ash-gray crossbow.
Ding.
A bolt crafted by melting down silver crosses I’d bought by emptying my pockets.
Normally, in Reincarnated Hero, only items crafted through the crafting system could be used as weapons. However, crossbows were unpopular, so there were hardly any supporting bolts.
‘Just practice bolts and steel bolts, at best.’
So, I exploited a loophole in the system.
‘Normally, enchantment magic can only be applied to a weapon once…’
Items not present in Reincarnated Hero weren’t recognized as weapons by the system, allowing for multiple enchantments. Of course, since they weren’t crafted through the system and lacked in-game lore, they were crude and lacked inherent power.
However, my damage formula, as a gamer, relied on wind archery and skills, so it didn’t matter.
Seriously, what are you going to use this for… It’s crudely made, so be careful when handling it.
Hazel had crafted forty pure silver bolts for me.
‘I broke quite a few getting used to them…’
As I aimed,
-Ugh!
-Grrr… Crack!!!!
Edwin withstood the second attack.
-Sizzle!
Acidic saliva dripped from the Cerberus’s gaping maw, corroding Edwin’s sword.
-Crack! Crack!
The left and right heads took turns biting at Edwin’s holy barrier.
“Yeriel, focus your attacks on the middle head with me.”
“I’ll try!”
To break the pattern, we had to inflict a critical wound on a single head, so I applied a status effect to help Yeriel’s magic land. We needed to conserve mana, corruption level, and aggro.
-Whoosh!
I aimed a rapid-fire volley of pure wind bolts at the Cerberus’s middle head.
-Twang!
The sound of the taut string snapping back. The pale blue bolts pierced the monster’s neck.
-■■■■■■■!
The Cerberus howled, its two remaining heads thrashing. Then, half of the middle head fell to the ground with a thud. I knew this from using it on Nikolseta, but…
‘Terrifying.’
-Clang!
Seizing the opportunity, Edwin’s sword flashed, tracing an arc of moonlight.
-■■■■■■■!
The head I had mangled split open, revealing a clean cross-section like a tree stump.
“Yeriel, now!”
“Okay!”
Yeriel’s short, practiced incantation conjured flames that engulfed the wound.
-Whoosh!
■■■■■!
‘Finish it with Shadowbolt.’
Further strategy was unnecessary. Edwin and Yeriel were far stronger than their original story counterparts.
‘Three heads, triple the reward?’
Simply put,
We were a perfectly synergized damage-dealing team.
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Imperial City, Crow Fey Guild Headquarters.
Regillus’s office, slightly barren due to preparations for the large-scale relocation to Mystic Island. Since recruiting Cadet Kaelan, he had entered a new phase.
The cooperation of the high-ranking demon, Yellody Latasia. The support of the prestigious Heisman family. Crow Fey was poised for unprecedented growth.
“It is simply the flow of a changing era.”
The day he would prove to the incompetent Empire that his choices were correct was fast approaching.
“Lord Regillus…!”
A woman with short, black hair, Sera, burst into his office, panting. Regillus, still gazing out the window, asked, “What is Kaelan’s status?”
“He seems to be synchronized. He has entered Area 4 and plans to activate the magic tower on Mystic Island to open the gate to the underworld.”
“I see. Just keep him happy. Don’t cause any unnecessary trouble.”
“O-Of course. But there are a few things I need to report…”
“?”
At Regillus’s silence, Sera hesitantly spoke.
“We’ve lost contact with Nikolseta Heisman, the second son of the Heisman family…”
“He was a disposable pawn, even to his own family. Arrange for his death to be ruled an accident. We have Macleod Heisman, after all.”
“Indeed… but…”
Regillus turned, looking at Sera with disdain as she trembled over such a trivial matter.
“Is there anything else?”
“I was wondering… if the battle between the cadets and the monster was also part of the plan…”
“Hmm?”
“I apologize if it was a needless concern…!”
“Wait.”
Regillus turned towards Sera. She flinched.
“Yes?”
He checked his wristwatch.
“The academy guardians shouldn’t have arrived yet… Are you saying there were cadets who engaged the hellhound?”
“Th-That’s correct…”
“They must be insane.”
Regillus chuckled in disbelief. Yellody Latasia was incredibly powerful. She wouldn’t have deployed a weak monster that cadets could defeat.
“Typical Clarice. They’ve only raised moths drawn to a flame!”
Regillus lamented Clarice’s standards and considered the implications.
‘This will cause quite a stir.’
If many noble children died because of this monster, the academy would face unprecedented backlash.
“We’ll have to prepare a joint funeral!”
He burst into laughter. He was already worried about how he would contain his laughter at the funeral. As Regillus continued to laugh,
“Actually…”
Sera said, still looking bewildered.
“…The monster has been… eliminated, and Area 3 has been cleared…”
At those words, Regillus’s laughter abruptly ceased.
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