The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 84



Subjugation of the Puppet Master (2)

While chanting the incantation, Lily recalled a not-so-distant past.

The time when they fought the Puppet Master in a situation far worse than now. Back then, the hero was already battered and bruised, and the party members were exhausted.

In the midst of it all, the Puppet Master was much more robust than now, and they couldn’t prolong the fight like they could now.

Yulis had died first, and Adel and Camilla had been brainwashed. Even she had been paralyzed by its ability, but the saint who could have freed her had long since become a cold corpse.

In that situation, the hero had fought valiantly. Even as his flesh burned and bones splintered, he did not let go of his sword.

The image of him sacrificing his own body, his empty eye sockets still haunted her mind like a trauma.

However, this time is different.

The hero was unscathed, the party members were all intact, and above all, the puppet master was slightly more fatigued than last time. Compared to before, everything was in a much better situation. For now, it was very stable.

So, this time, I will make sure it doesn’t turn out like last time. I will do my utmost so that he does not have to sacrifice anything.

Lily made that resolve as she looked at the puppet master.

*

Sakagak!

The sharp holy sword grazed the puppet master’s left thigh. It was the result of forcing a charge forward while taking a direct hit from a mid-level lightning magic.

He probably didn’t expect to be able to move forward even after being electrocuted. This is the resilience and toughness of a self-harming dark mage, damn it.

However, the results were minimal compared to my efforts. He did react, after all.

Before the sword could fully slice through his leg, he rolled to the side. As a result, the wound on his leg only oozed a little blood.

‘Still, it’s something.’

Of course, it was a gain.

After all, I finally landed a valid hit. The fact that the wound was on his leg was important too.

It was a laughable level of injury, but the more he moved, the more the wound would worsen.

It was slight, but it would steadily gnaw away at his stamina. Now that the battle had entered its mid-phase, the ground war was turning in our favor.

“Huff… huff…”

“Cough cough!”

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Of course, we were not unscathed either. The combination of abilities, electric magic, and scrolls was a disastrous collaboration.

When the body is paralyzed by abilities, powerful magic falls on top of it. Or sometimes the abilities would disrupt the coordination among party members. Frontliners like Camilla and Adele were all in various states of injury.

Normally, Yulis would have healed us, but right now she was preoccupied with breaking the mind control.

‘I’ve also used up two high-level magic scrolls…’

I had also depleted the puppet master’s scrolls. One mid-level, one high-level, and one superior grade.

I wanted to avoid high-level magic this time too, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible. After all, this time it was a sustained spell.

Thunderstorm Creation (雷雲開闢).

A skill that sets up a massive thundercloud in the sky, dealing additional damage from electric magic for a certain period.

A gigantic dark cloud swirled in the gaping sky. Within the dark cloud, countless lightning bolts flickered. That guy, being a master-level magician, could even control the weather.

That skill was truly bothersome.

“Lightning Rod (避雷針).”

Even being hit by such a small guidance-type skill…

Bang! Crash! Boom!

This is why countless lightning bolts are directed towards their targets from the sky. Each of those bolts was at a level that could not be ignored.

‘Damn…’

Still, the fortunate thing is that there is a way to clear away those dark clouds.

“Almost there, just hold on a bit longer!”

As I barely blocked the lightning strikes with the ‘Mana Barrier,’ Lily shouted from behind.

Currently, she was preparing a spell to clear away the dark clouds. There was no way we could leave them as they were.

Finally, gathering all her magical power, she cast a spell.

“Storm Wave!”

A massive wind generated from her slammed into the dark clouds. The fierce wave of wind tore apart the clouds. Indeed, high-level magic needed to be countered with equally high-level magic.

“Ha… Ha… Ugh…!”

It seemed a bit difficult, probably because it was high-level magic.

I could see her breathing heavily and gagging.

It seemed she was feeling a bit nauseous from squeezing out her magical power. Still, seeing her standing tall, it appeared she could hold on for now.

That was enough. This was more than adequate.

The body struck by the lightning was slowly regenerating.

Perhaps due to the continuous regeneration, I was also starting to run low on mana, but I could recover somewhat with the blood in the blood pouch necklace.

More than anything, due to the constant damage, the stacks of ‘Pain Memory’ were steadily increasing.

So.

‘Just one hit is all it takes.’

I didn’t need much.

After sufficiently wearing it out, I just needed to land one spell.

If it had no particular regenerative ability or defense, that one hit would be enough to take it down. Even if it didn’t die, that alone would render it unable to fight.

Thus, the battle continued. The creature used magic to evade our relentless assaults.

It was a chaotic fight rather than a glamorous one.

“… At this rate, I will lose.”

In the midst of it all, the creature muttered quietly. It seemed it had truly realized its disadvantage.

We were struggling too, but if things continued like this, it was only natural that the puppet master would be defeated.

“That cannot happen. Even though I have lived a long time, there is still too much I want to do before I die.”

Because of that, it finally began to gamble everything. It pulled out all the scrolls it had hidden in its robe.

One high-level magic scroll, two advanced scrolls, and one high-level magic that the puppet master would cast.

I could see clearly what they were trying to do. They intended to use all those scrolls at once.

It meant they were going to sweep everything away with tremendous power.

Gwoooh!

The lines of the scroll glowed as immense magical energy surged forth. Sparks erupted in every direction, heralding the onset of disaster. The alarm bells in my head rang fiercely.

Damn it, two high-tier spells and two advanced spells all at once?

That was an attack that might barely be manageable even if two tower masters from the Magic Tower came together.

That was truly dangerous. If I made a slight mistake, I might really meet my end in an instant.

“Everyone, gather in one place!”

I shouted urgently. We had to gather in one spot to have any chance of defense. Even if my barrier broke, others might still defend for me.

Kwahagagah!

At last, the magic was unleashed.

A high-tier spell, the thunder dragon that had smashed the ceiling of the mansion at the beginning.

An advanced spell, a thunderstorm that dropped lightning extensively all around.

An advanced spell, the lightning spear that took the shape of a spear and shot forth.

A high-tier spell, the thunder star that gathered surrounding currents and sparks to create a massive electric sphere.

Each and every one of these was an attack capable of collapsing this mansion itself.

I activated my barrier to the maximum. Not just me, but all the party members did as well.

Yulis cast a blessing related to defense, and Lily layered a barrier over my mana shield.

Camilla firmly held her shield in front, while Adel took out one of the relics she possessed.

I thought to myself. This seemed to be the decisive moment.

The outcome would depend on how well we could defend.

At last, the magic came flying.

With one blow from the thunder dragon, Lily’s barrier shattered into pieces.

Camilla diligently countered the storm falling from the sky.

My mana barrier was shattered by the lightning spear, but Adel’s relic distorted the spear and redirected it toward the wall.

Then came the thunder star.

Crackle!

A massive electric sphere, as big as my own body, slowly approached.

The magic, having absorbed the surrounding currents, contained energy greater than any of the others.

The barrier broke. It was already too close to evade.

Now, the only things I can trust are my regenerating body and Ulysses’ blessing. I deliberately took a step forward to prevent the magic from reaching my party members.

Crackle!!

At last, pain engulfed my entire body. The gathered current burned me from all sides.

What on earth can I compare this feeling to?

Yes, it felt like being inside a microwave with output hundreds of times greater.

“Ughhh!!!”

My body burned and regenerated in a relentless cycle. With the continued attacks, my mana began to dwindle rapidly.

I was barely replenishing my mana with the blood pouch necklace, but even that item was starting to show signs of running low.

Damn it, would I even be able to use the ‘Pain Memory’ skill like this?

Fortunately, this situation didn’t last too long.

“I did it, I dispersed it! Ugh… Ughhh!”

Lily had poured all her effort into scattering the current. Perhaps it was too much for her, as she ended up vomiting heavily on the floor, but thanks to her, we were still alive.

Now it was our turn.

From a distance, I could see the puppet master gasping for breath. Well, considering he had activated the scroll and used high-level magic simultaneously, he would need a moment to catch his breath.

But that brief respite would push him into a corner.

Thud!

The first to charge in was Adele.

She immediately recognized the opportunity upon seeing him stop.

Without hesitation, she pulled a lasso from her bag and threw it at him. Caught off guard, he had no choice but to get his feet tangled in the rope.

“Now’s the time!”

Adele shouted, and I lunged forward.

A body that had burned away, reeking of char, I ignored it.

The tearing pain in my muscles, I ignored it.

Even the twisted insides from squeezing out too much mana, I ignored, and I pushed aside the screams of my joints from my mind.

[Congratulations!]

[The level of ‘Pain Resistance’ is increasing!]

I brushed aside the system window that popped up before my eyes.

With a single-minded focus on landing a blow on him, I concentrated my magical power in my hand. The skill I would use was already decided.

At last, my palm made contact with him, and I activated the skill.

[Using ‘Pain Memory’!]

—

Boom-!

Thus, the creature’s side burst open.