“I’ll have this one heal me so I can hold out, bawk!”
Kokoru’s idea was to act as a punching bag while his monster healed him from behind, but that wouldn’t be so easy.
“You think you’re so clever!” Veld-Draco shouted.
He then opened his maw and spat out an enormous fireball, which flew straight at the Cleric Bunny.
Shwoooom!
A pillar of flames erupted from where it landed. By the time it was gone, the Cleric Bunny had also disappeared without a trace.
“Bawk?! That was fast! Pretty rude of you to attack a healer, bawk!”
“Hmph! Silence, worm!”
Well, it was obvious he’d do that based on our aggro levels right now. The Cleric Bunny took priority because it had healing aggro.
The Fell Dragon approached Kokoru, wound up his body, then swung his tail at the Birdman with great force.
“Baaawk?!”
Kokoru was sent flying once more, this time landing in front of us. His HP returned to almost zero.
“Kokoru, are you okay?!”
“I-I’m not, bawk. I feel like I’m dying, baaawk!”
“Okay, tag me in! You fall back. Do you have any other healers?”
“I don’t have any more Cleric Bunnies, bawk! Things are looking pretty bawkin’ bleak right about now...”
“Hmm. Well, we’ve only got one choice. I’ll sock him a good one.”
“Your ultimate, bawk? But can you do it, bawk?”
“I dunno; I don’t have the slightest idea of his HP. I can estimate based on damage and how far down his bar goes, but we haven’t even done that yet.”
In that case, I had to go for maximum damage output. If that took him down, I could ask for nothing better!
It was time to use the Peregrine Stone Homura had traded me for my info on the Death Chariot gear! To be honest, I had been planning to use it against the Hadean Rose, but plans tend to change. If I could make use of it here, then I wouldn’t hesitate for a second!
I had forged the Peregrine Stone into my damascus sword to make a Peregrine Damascus Sword, a weapon that would strike twice. My plan was to craft that into a damascus cane by placing the Peregrine Damascus Sword inside of it. With this Canesword, any ultimate I let off would double in damage.
It was the ultimate Canesword, perfect for a trump card. Unfortunately, it had the OEX designation. As a reminder, O meant I could only carry one, and EX meant I couldn’t give it to other people. Once I crafted it, I couldn’t do anything fancy like keeping it in store while I used others to attack. As soon as it was made real, it would be destroyed with my next attack.
Right now, the Peregrine Damascus Sword was sitting pretty in my inventory.
It’s fine! I’ll just use it here and now!
“Bawk, is this gonna work? We only get one chance at this, don’t we, bawk?”
“Yeah. We don’t have time to feel around for a new strategy.”
The dark, grown-up Draco was right in front of us, and he had murder in his eyes. I would usually try to buy time to find a breakthrough at this point, most likely by using Enervating Circle to run around and slow the enemy down.
In order to do that, however, I would need the circle to move along with me—only doable by little Draco with his Target Marker skill. As long as he was being possessed, that wouldn’t work.
Kinda crazy how so many of my tactics rely on Draco, but what can you do?
“No, bawk! This isn’t like you, Ren! You’re supposed to look like you’re going crazy but still think about every action! I’ve gotta find another way, bawk.”
“Bro, you’ve taken too much damage!”
“Bawk, but—”
“Ren’s right, bawk. You need to rest.”
That voice wasn’t mine or Kokoru’s; it was his mom’s.
Did she wake up?
“Momma! Are you okay, bawk?!”
“Yes, my boy. I’m sorry for all this trouble, bawk. As an apology, I’ll do something to help you boys out, bawk.”
Kokoru’s mom stood in front of us.
“Huh?! Hey, it’s too dangerous!” I cried.
Even so, she seemed perfectly composed in the face of danger.
“It’s okay. Before we got married and Kokoru was born, I was his father’s bodyguard, bawk.”
“Bawk, yeah! He did say you used to be super strong, bawk. Not just the strongest of the chickenfolk, but the strongest of all Birdmen!”
“For real?!”
“All this time, I thought he was exaggerating, bawk!”
“Heehee. I like to think I’m still as good as I used to be, bawk. Ren, I’ll try to give you an opening. Watch this, bawk.”
Really? Can she handle this?!
But, well, all we really needed her to do was deal a little bit of damage. That would let me get a rough guess of the enemy’s HP, which would be a huge help.
“B-But, uhh...”
I was really afraid of her getting trounced like that poor Cleric Bunny.
Wait, what would happen if Kokoru’s mom got killed mid-quest? Would she revive?! Or would the event branch off and leave her dead?! I’d never be able to sleep at night! What’s a boy to do?!
“Don’t worry about me. Baaaawk!”
Kokoru’s mom let out a yell, and she was enveloped by a gold-colored aura! It was as if her entire body had turned golden.
Boooom!
The potent energy she was emanating caused the entire mansion to quake.
“Oooh!”
What the heck? That was awesome! That round, little body is hella intimidating!
“Observe me and come up with a strategy, bawk.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
Her sheer intensity made me agree without thinking. I couldn’t see her level or her HP, but she definitely seemed strong.
“Hmph! An empty bluff. You die now!”
Dark Lord Veld prepared to activate Blazing Bomb!
Nooo! That’s the thing that killed the Cleric Bunny!
“Watch out, Momma!”
“Just keep your eyes on me, bawk. I’m fine.”
Kokoru’s mother remained unmoved. Her short, chubby body looked kind of funny, but she walked and talked like a confident, high-class woman.
Shwoooom!
A fireball struck her and created a giant pillar of flame. She disappeared inside the bright-red pillar.
“Whoa, it hit her!”
“Oh no, bawk! Mommaaa!” Kokoru cried.
“Heehee. Quiet down, now, Kokoru. You wouldn’t want to scare Ren.”
Her calm voice reached us from within the conflagration. After the fire faded, Kokoru’s mother was still standing there, unharmed and shining brightly.
“Holy bawk! You’re safe!”
“Keep a cool head and fire won’t be able to burn you. Your feeble fire won’t work on me!”
What?! That didn’t make any sense!
For a moment, I was speechless. Then I remembered our earlier scuffle with Dark Lord Veld.
When he switched from Kokoru’s mom to Draco, didn’t he say that Draco was easier to control? That he could draw more strength out of him?
I’d taken it to mean that Kokoru’s mother was weak, but maybe it could be taken another way. Kokoru’s mother was so strong that he wasn’t able to control her well. Veld had been bawking away while he possessed her, but when he moved to Draco, he wasn’t throwing f-bombs all over the place.
Basically, his power was lacking in some ways. Maybe we really could let her handle it!
Kokoru’s mother approached Veld with her race’s trademark tottering steps.
“How dare you!”
“I should be saying the same thing, bawk. You won’t get away with this, not for a second, bawk.”