HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Log Horizon - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.4




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button


“And so, Eli-Eli…” 
“I wish you wouldn’t call me Eli-Eli, Mistress.” 
“But Eli-Eli sounds cuter!” 
As Leonardo stood there, dumbfounded, Kanami and Elias fell into conversation. Elias was an Ancient. He wasn’t an Adventurer. Not only that, he was an NPC. In other words, he wasn’t even human. 
Since that was the case, why was this woman talking to him as if they were on really good terms? 
Or, no, even before that, why was Elias even here? 
The Knights of the Red Branch, the order he was affiliated with, was supposed to be attached to the Northern European server. 
Of course, Elias was one of the most famous of the many Ancients. His fame was equal to that of Ling Tianfeng, the “White Wing Princess.” 
That was why Leonardo, who was a resident of the North American server, not one of the European servers, had recognized Elias on sight. Even so, Ancients didn’t often leave the servers they were responsible for. Unless there was a special worldwide event, it wasn’t even possible, and more than anything, in the current Elder Tales, there were no administrators to plan those events. 
A low, calm chime rang in Leonardo’s stunned brain. It was a system sound, and when he checked, there was an open window inviting him to a party. Thinking it was probably from the group in front of him, Leonardo accepted without really looking it over. 
When a party was formed, a mental list of the members’ names appeared. From that screen, Leonardo learned the name of the slight girl who had invited him. 
The girl’s name was Coppélia. 
She’d appeared with Elias a short while ago, but she’d seemed quiet and plain, and the shock of Elias had made him nearly forget about her. 
The girl was small, only about 140 centimeters, and she was dressed in a Victorian maid outfit. She was apparently a Cleric. Of course, her level was 90. 
She came closer, looked up at Leonardo, delicately pinched up her skirt, and performed a graceful curtsey. 
“Coppélia is called Coppélia. It is good to meet you. Coppélia looks forward to working together. Do you wish to be healed?” 
“Oh, uh, I’m Leonardo. Nice to meet you. No, I’m good. No healing necessary.” 
There was something odd and doll-like about the girl. As he looked down at her, Leonardo thought that, although her responses were a bit strange, she seemed like the most decent member of the group. 
Now that he’d registered with the party, he knew that there were only four people in Kanami’s group. The breakdown consisted of himself—who’d just been press-ganged in—the black-haired beauty Kanami, the girl Coppélia who was standing here with him, and Elias. 
Kanami was a level-90 Monk. 
Coppélia was a level-90 Cleric. 
He got that much. It made sense. Three people would make for a small group, but Monks were evasive tanks that kept enemies in check on the front line, while Clerics were in charge of healing. Then there was Leonardo, an Assassin who single-mindedly pared down the enemy’s numbers. The balance wasn’t bad at all. It was a simple party, built from the bare essentials. 
However, Elias was part of it, too, and what was he? 
A level-100 Blademancer. 
The landscape in front of Leonardo seemed to roll and undulate, and it felt like he was losing his grip on the situation. 
In the first place, how could an NPC and a party team up at all? 
Even the “Blademancer” part was a mystery. In Elder Tales, there were twelve main classes to choose from: three Warrior classes, three Weapon Attack classes, three Recovery classes, and three Magic Attack classes. An off-the-wall option like Blademancer certainly wasn’t one of them. The same went for level 100. The maximum level limit for Adventurers was 90. That hadn’t changed since the expansion pack that was added two years ago. 
Having a level so high it surpassed the limits of those around you and a unique main class that no other player could acquire? That was the sort of stuff you only ran into in anime. 
Everything about this seemed to mock what Leonardo knew to be common sense. 
“Your heart rate is exhibiting irregularities. Do you wish to be healed?” 
“No, it’s fine. Am I the one who’s weird here?” 
“Coppélia did not notice an abnormal status icon.” 
“That’s not what I meant… So, uh, you’ve been traveling for a while?” Leonardo quickly asked. 
“Master picked up Coppélia in Via de Fleurs.” 
Registering the presence of automatic translation from the slight time lag after her lips moved, Leonardo let his thoughts run for a little. He was pretty sure that “Whatever-Fleurs” was Paris. That meant that Kanami and Elias had come from the Northern European server and cut across Europe before reaching Central Asia. They might have been serious about making for Japan. 
However, at that point, his thoughts were forcibly interrupted. 
There was a loud sound of something being crushed, and Leonardo realized that Kanami and Elias had disappeared while his mind was elsewhere. 
“Combat has been initiated. Coppélia intends to secure an appropriate distance for healing. Please forgive her withdrawal from this conversation.” 
“No, you’re fine. I’m going, too!” 

Leonardo broke into a run, racing through the arid streets with the girl. 
They didn’t even have to look. The ruins of Tekeli didn’t have many buildings to block the view; the cold highland wind and the intense sunlight had easily eroded the ancient brick. Only a sparse few of the ruins’ remaining walls and pillars were as tall as Leonardo, which made it easy to pinpoint the scene of the fight. 
Near the point where one of the wide avenues that divided the town into quarters went eastward toward an exit, a violent thunderclap echoed. It was electroshock magic. The horde of heat mirages, enough of them to warp the landscape, was probably Daylight Shades. 
From the look of the distortion, there were definitely several dozen of them gathered in that one area. 
Elias, who was still a few hundred meters away, raised a transparent two-handed sword over his head, then began fearlessly slashing his way to the center of the host of monsters. 
What are they doing?! 
A river of cold sweat ran down his back. 
Elias was fine. Leonardo didn’t know the details of that special Blademancer class of his or his true level-100 skills, and so, although it was a faint hope, it was possible that he’d be able to rout countless Daylight Shades by himself. 
However, Kanami—who’d dived into the melee on Elias’s heels—could never do it. Any attempt would be utterly suicidal. 
This was clear from the fact that Leonardo, who was also level 90, had been slaughtered in under five minutes. 
“Tactical distance secured. Initiating combat support. Chanting: Sanctuary, Shield Pact.” 
If things were like this, there was no help for it. 
He’d just have to die again. 
Leonardo steeled himself. Coppélia, who was running next to him, seemed to have entered the spellcasting range. She’d begun to cast support spells on her companions. She hadn’t attacked directly, but using support spells was a solid backup action— In other words, she’d joined the fight. 
The Daylight Shades were bound to notice, and they would set their sights on her. 
Since Elias and Kanami were fighting on the front line, things were all right at this point, but if those two fell, the demons would mark the slight girl as their next prey. When that happened, it was as clear as day that the Frenchwoman would lose her life. 
Ultimately, she’d practically signed a delayed-action death certificate. This was true for all the members of the party, aside from Leonardo. 
And if that was the case, he needed to dive into the jaws of death, too. 
Of course he thought it was stupid, but that was what made him a geek: doing stupid stuff like that. Leonardo was a genuine New Yorker, and he had his pride. It wasn’t like anybody would ever understand it, but frog ninjas were, by definition, allies of justice. 
How could he just stand here staring at some woman’s tail? 
“Rraaaaaargh!” 
With a howl as if he were squeezing the air out of his lungs, Leonardo charged at the horde of monsters, which rippled like a heat mirage. He used his reinforced physical abilities to flip, running right over his opponents’ heads. It was Mobility Attack. In most cases, this would put him in a monster’s blind spot. 
I ain’t holding nothin’ back! 
For his first attack, Leonardo chose the biggest lethal move he had. 
A warrior’s reason for existing was to draw the enemy’s attention, erasing their companions’ presence from their minds. The role of a healer was to keep their companions recovered, preventing their deaths. And magic users had to control the battle, keeping unforeseen situations from coming up until the fighting was over. 
Then what did Assassins, a weapon attack class, do? 
The role of Weapon Attack classes could be summarized as “destroy the enemy.” Among them, Assassins in particular were designed with abilities geared toward eliminating enemies. 
The greatest of these techniques, Assassinate, inflicted close to ten thousand in damage instantaneously, just as Leonardo had predicted. In addition, as an incidental effect that targeted enemies more than ten levels below him, it caused instant death. 
A dry, high-pitched sound like a fired blank echoed through the area. 
Along with the noise, which sounded almost comical, a single Daylight Shade burst, its existence ending. 
“Aha! You’re finally here, huh, Croakanardo?!” 
“Lay off the rude nicknames, all right?” 
“In that case, let’s begin in earnest. —Come, Crystal Stream! Fairy blood within me! Lend me strength so that I may slay the enemies before me!” 
You think you’re in an anime or something? Leonardo snarked silently, but he didn’t have the leeway to actually mutter it aloud. Having destroyed a monster in the blink of an eye, he surveyed his surroundings carefully. There was still a ton of enemies left. He could actually see several dozen right now, and he knew from previous experience that, if the party took their time, the ones who were currently surrounding the town would gather here. 
He had to cut down the enemy’s numbers without losing his cool, and he had to work at maximum efficiency. Elias’s body was wrapped in a torrent of shining purple and pale blue light. When he took a closer look, that protection seemed to have been cast on Kanami, Coppélia, and himself as well. 
Thanks to that effect, which seemed to reinforce their defenses, they were currently managing to hold the battle line. However, even if these were level-50 monsters, with this many of them, they absolutely couldn’t underestimate the pressure. 
If they were able to whittle down the enemy’s numbers this way, fine. 
That said, if the speed with which their opponents summoned backup and increased their ranks was faster than Leonardo could cut them down, the balance would crumble easily. When that happened, Coppélia’s recovery spells wouldn’t make it in time, and the front line would gradually crumble. They’d push themselves, and as a result, they’d be wiped out. 
In the end, this fight was a battle to reduce numbers. 
Leonardo bit his lip. 
In which case, as an Assassin, he held the key to the battle.
 



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login