on any who look at the user.Mana Ward: Deploy a barrier that resists physical and magical attacks.
Skill Taker: Steals skills from a target when conditions are met.
Wow, he has some annoying skills.
『Fran, he’s dangerous. If you get careless, you’ll die right away!』
“Un!”
Thanks to the mana I absorbed from the goblins and army beetles, my mana was nearly topped off. I could use both skills and spells as much as I wanted.
But even with all that, I couldn’t say for certain that we could defeat the opponent in front of us.
He was that overwhelming.
I’d better always have the Return Feather ready in case we have to run away.
“Haha! So you’re planning on coming at me! h.e.l.l yeah! But I won’t hold back just because you’re a kid, got it? After all, you pa.s.sed through the Dungeon!”
“Hey, Devil! What’re you doing! Hurry up and defeat her!”
Huh? At a closer look, I could see a goblin at the far end of the room.
He was speaking better than the usual goblin…
Name: Rare Goblin
Race: Demon
Lv: 11
HP: 25 MP: 131 Strength: 12 Agility: 13
Skills: Digging 2, Summon Bloodkin 5, Club Wielding 2, Speak One’s Mind 2, Instructing 2, Spirit 1
t.i.tle: Dungeon Master
Equipment: Oak Club, Leather Robe, Divine Bracelet
He was a small fry, but he was definitely the Dungeon Master.
And that thing glowing in the wall is the Dungeon Core? (revise. Almost definitely incorrect)
That must mean this is the deepest part of the Dungeon.
But he really is a small fry. Did he really summon the Devil?
I understood why there were so many goblins and army beetles. They were perfectly suited to be subordinates for this Dungeon Master.
But isn’t that Devil way too strong? Is this a special ability that Dungeon Masters have? This would have been fun if he had a Devil summoning skill, but I couldn’t find any such technique in the Dungeon Master’s skills.
Another disappointing part was that there was no skill to control Dungeons.
The Dungeon Master likely used the Core to make the Dungeon. That may have been why there were no Dungeon Creation type skills in its skills list.
“Shut up! I’ll take care of that newbie so shut your face!”
“s.h.i.+t. And I was having the time of my life sp.a.w.ning all these monsters with G.o.ddess Points; all until I got this super rare Devil! Why won’t you listen to me! And why did I have to get a magic user type that always wants to fight in close range!”
I was able to understand the entirety of the situation based on this informative conversation.
This Devil had the Immunity to Control skill. Because of that, the Dungeon Master wasn’t able to control the Devil whatsoever.
“Who’d have thought someone would be able to invade all the way to here! What did you do to my elite soldiers!”
“Ain’t it clear they got snuffed? They’re just goblins, after all.”
“There’s no way supreme beings like goblins would be bested by lowly creatures like humans!”
“Ah, sure, sure. Tis as you say.”
“Anyway, hurry up and kill that one!”
“I would’ve fought her regardless.”
As the Devil said that, he pulled out his sword.
“Hey, that a-hole’s d.a.m.n noisy so I’m going.”
And with that, the Devil charged at us.
“Uryagh!”
“Hyaah!”
Cheeeng! Klang!
“Haha! What a good sword! To think it’d be able to go head to head with mine!”
Name: Demonic Steel Long Sword
Attack: 561+450 MP: 56 Durability: 1000
Mana Conversion Rate C+
Skills: Return to Wielder
It has a high Conversion Rate. Its attack power was already over 1000, perhaps indicating that it was already infused with mana. And because of the Return to Wielder skill, every time the Devil threw its sword, it returned to its hand.
We were able to keep up with the Devil because I used 500 MP to increase my attack power. If I were careless, I might have shattered with his first attack. He’s a scary opponent.
“So you’re sword skills are good at this kind of stuff! But how about this?!”
“Ah…?”
He disappeared for a second but appeared immediately behind us.
“Agh!”
This is dangerous!
Fran’s left arm was decapitated from the shoulder.
Blood gushed out, and her HP dropped in an instant.
『What just happened…!』
I used Telekinesis to grab Fran’s left arm and reattached it to her body.
In a panic, I cast Great Heal.
It was a Restoration Magic 1 spell that could reattach limbs. Securing Fran’s arm to her body was easy.
“Huh? So you have some kind of Telekinesis skill? And to have such high level healing magic; this is gonna be fun! Are you a Spellsword?”
The Devil was smiling, but we were in no position to do the same.
『What’s he doing now?』
The Devil disappeared in an instant and cut Fran from behind.
『Fran! Are you okay?』
“I’m, okay!”
“Well then, here I come!”
The Devil disappeared again. And he once again cut Fran from behind.
“Hup!”
Fran was paying attention to her back this time, and was just barely able to fend off his attack.
“So you’re already blocking my attacks! You have some good reflexes!”
That’s what happened. He clearly disappeared.
Teleportation? He didn’t have any skills like that.
Then was it magic? Could it be because of his shadow magic or darkness magic…?
“Chyaagh!”
“Hah.”
That was it.
When the Devil disappeared, mana flowed out from his shadow. And he came out of Fran’s shadow.
Teleportation magic through shadows.
Now that I knew how he did it, I could figure out a response.
Because I could tell where he’d show up.
“Yahoo—Kugh!”
“Too c.o.c.ky!”
“Kuhaha, nicely done! So you’ve already figured out my trick, have you?”
Tch. He sure is relaxed.
Even though I also used Telekinesis and Demonic Venomous Fangs in that attack that connected on his side.
“Huh? Is that poison? To think that you could bypa.s.s my Status Condition Resistance and poison me…truly well done!”
Yes, yes, so you’re still acting like that! You combat-crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
His HP was barely going down from the venom. I guess expecting a ma.s.sive effect against an enemy with strong resistances is a no-go.
『Fran, let’s try and hit his weak point.』
“Un.”
Our advantage was that our opponent was still underestimating us. And also that he didn’t notice my existence yet.
That’s why I myself didn’t attack and focused only on supporting Fran.
“Haaaa!”
“Hyahaha!”
Our blades once again clashed fiercely.
And around the two of them, a light began to s.h.i.+ne.
Immediately after that, hobgoblins appeared from within the light. There were four of them.
“Go, my kin! Kill the intruder!”
The Dungeon Master did that.
To think that hobgoblins would show up here…they were so out of their leagues that they were actually afraid.
As expected, the hobgoblins were hesitating, unable to interfere in such a fierce and fast-paced battle.
“What are you doing?! Attack!”
Under the compulsion of the Dungeon Master’s command, the hobgoblins entered the fray, when…
“You’re in the way!”
One was sliced in half by the Devil’s sword.
Another was slain by Fran’s sword.
“Wha-What’re you doing?! You’re on the same side!”
“These s.h.i.+tty minions are getting in the way! And I’m having such a fine time right now. Screw off!”
The remaining hobgoblins were also sent almost pitifully to heaven because of the Devil’s sword.
I was beginning to feel bad for the Dungeon Master who was shaking with rage and humiliation.
Fran and the Devil ignored the Dungeon Master as their own battle became even fiercer.
The only sounds that could be heard in the hall were the deafening clashes of their swords colliding.
Fran had better sword skills, but the Devil didn’t even react to smaller wounds as he swung his sword, his superior strength and speed giving him the edge over Fran. Because of this, we were stuck in a stalemate.
But Fran had an immediate disadvantage in this battle. If even one of his attacks connect, she’ll be cut in half.
“I’m having a blast! C’mon! But things’ll never end at this rate!”
After saying that, the Devil repelled my blade completely and took a step back.
What’s he planning?
“How about we settle things now! First, I’d better take away your ability to fight.”
“?”
『This is dangerous. It’s his Extra Skill!』
“Hahahaha. Devour, Skill Taker!”
The Devil raised his hand towards Fran and shouted.
『Kugh. He got us!』
Based on its name, that skill let him steal the skills of his target. I had a.s.sumed that because he hadn’t used it until now, that it was a contact-type skill or that it took a long time to activate or that its prerequisites were hard to meet.
The only reason why he didn’t use it was because he felt it’d have been a waste to use it earlier! And what’s worse, he could use the skill without making physical contact!
Since he said it so confidently, that must mean he satisfied the conditions to use it.
Did he stole Fran’s Sword Wielding or Sword Techniques?
Even though we worked so hard to improve those skills! Will we have to level them up again?!
And even worse, if he takes Sword Wielding now, he’ll have taken away our ability to fight!
『Things are looking bad, so I’m going to use the Return Feather!』
“Un!”
We were completely focused on the Devil to not miss even his most subtle movement, but he remained still, his hand still raised.
It didn’t look like Fran felt any ill-effect either.
『……』
“…….”
Huh?
『…Fran, you okay?』
“Un?”
“Tch! It failed!”
Thank goodness. For whatever reason, it looks like he failed.
Was it that he was unable to steal anything?
Since we’re a bit of a special case.
It wasn’t incorrect to say that the skills Fran use are mine; in other words, those skills belong to the weapon she has equipped that were being shared with a special ability. Maybe a skill stealing skill doesn’t work on Fran because he couldn’t steal them from a piece of equipment.
“f.u.c.k my life! There’s no helping it if it didn’t work. Then try this for size! Darkness Bolt!”
The Devil made a sudden change and used darkness magic.
A huge vortex of darkness cut apart the earth like a drill and flew at Fran.
He started using magic.
Based on his status, he was likely originally a ranged attacker.
“Hah!”
But it didn’t hit Fran.
“C’mooon! One more’s coming your way!”
“Hup!”
“Tch!”
His attacks were powerful, but lacking in variety.
Like how Fran’s attacks were before her death match against the goblin mob.
Though his attacks were powerful, it seemed like he lacked combat experience. It must not have been that long since the Dungeon Master made him.
“Darkness Spear!”
“Fire Wall!”
“Darkness Blaster!”
“Pathetic.”
“You’re just das.h.i.+ng all over the place!”
He likely had other darkness magic spells that were harder to dodge. Using those would make things a lot worse for us.
But he continued to only use insta-kill spells.
Regardless, Fran was at a disadvantage.
There was a difference in skill between the two of them.
None of Fran’s attacks could take him down, but any one of his would end Fran in an instant.