Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 67: Rebirth (Part 2)

Kashi assumed the position of party leader from Lunette and then performed a quick scan of all his allies' HPs and MPs. Afterward, he looked at the beast who had recovered from the shock of his earlier attack.

Belrug clawed and roared at them while jumping back and forth as if trying to intimidate, yet test their real strength.

Kashi drew his conclusion: This was a beast. An intelligent one, but a beast nonetheless. This should go without saying, but video games and fantasy stories had many sentient beings that only looked like beasts. From its mannerisms, Kashi deduced it wasn't one of those - or, at the very least, wasn't at the present time. Then it should be hunted like a beast would. After all, it was basically an overgrown lion.

Kashi's fingers gripped his compound bow: The weapon he had conceived after realizing the level of freedom craftsmen actually had. The weapon had a lot more kick to it compared to a regular recurve bow, but also so many rules and restrictions governing its use. He had planned to test its effectiveness and limitations in this world after the fight, but one look at Belrug, and he knew he would need a lot of force and penetrating power to break its hide.

The Monig and his followers still hid smugly behind their shield, but the daeben knew that there was no way they could keep it up continuously for so long without running out of mana. No, they had something else that powered the shield. He concentrated on the Monig, then saw it: a small bump under his coat, Whatever it was had a glow to it almost hidden by the priest's clothes. Almost.

Kashi shut, then opened his eyes. "Syel, I need that barrier open, if only for a second."

Syel grinned as he realized just who he was talking to. "Would love to help, but ain't got any MP left."

"You're a bloodmage, right? All you need is some blood to gain back your MP."

His brow rose in surprise. He didn't recall ever mentioning how he regained MP to Suzuki. "Yeah, But I already drained every dead body for my last attack."

The daeben gritted his teeth. "...There's a living being with lots of life energy."

Syel looked behind the daeben. "Wow, you're colder than I thought," he said as he walked past the daeben and headed to the Rhino.

Kashi glared at Belrug. "The rest of us are to keep Belrug busy until the orchestra regains their MP. The objective is not to slay, but to stay alive." AN obsidian-laced arrow tore into Belrug's arm before anyone even registered the shot being fired. This was an effect of the compound bow doubling the arrow's speed.

Kashi's choking bloodlust, coupled with his terrible visage, served to draw Belrug's aggro. Maddened by the daeben's bloodlust, it charged, forgetting all notions of caution. It dove for and then swiped at the daeben, but four arrows ripped through its paw, then pinned to the opposite wall, thin cables pulling the leg along with them.

Before Belrug could react, four arrows tore through its shins, opened up into claws, and then clamped the back. With a roar, Kashi pulled hard. The beast was yanked clean off its feet, and it collapsed to the earth on its back. "Go!"

The warriors ran past and jumped onto the Belrug torso, hacking away with their obsidian tipped weapons. Of them all, the most effective was Hektor, who was not affected by status ailments from fatigue, however even he was not dealing so much damage.

Kashi dropped to a knee, his breathing heavy as he watched the battle. The scales cracked, then crumbled of his skin, disintegrating to dark, steamy vapor. Even as Kashi reverted to his normal state, he noticed the dragon tattoo did not return to his arm. His confusion over the shortness of the upgrade was answered by a prompt that appeared in front of him.