Hero Route 2

At this moment, though neither side could see the other, the air was thick with tension, poised on the edge of battle.

Both the five heroes and the Skeleton Mage's undead forces braced themselves, every muscle and bone ready for action.

The Skeleton Mage, having overheard the humans' conversation, knew that his forces had been detected.

From a human perspective, the towering Skeleton Executioner posed the greatest threat, followed closely by the Bull Demon, the second largest monster in the castle.

Incidentally, these two were the most formidable creatures within the fortress walls.

Therefore…

The humans would likely target and kill the Skeleton Executioner first, then turn their attention to the Bull Demon.

But if the Skeleton Executioner were to fall, it would not matter.

The Executioner was merely one of the undead army's main forces. Its loss would be painful but manageable.

Even without it, they still had the Howling Succubus, whose incredible speed and sound-based control abilities made her a formidable adversary.

[Creature: Howling Succubus

Strength: 20 Agility: 30 Endurance: 15

Durability: 10 Prana: 8 Intelligence: 3

Technique: 17]

In terms of threat level, the Howling Succubus was no less dangerous than the Skeleton Executioner. Her destructive power might be weaker, but her ability to control and disorient her enemies was more than enough to deal with these humans.

...

[Holy Hero: Anyi, my [Beam] can only be released instantly, and it can only target one direction. I think it's better to use 1/5 of my mana to kill the Skeleton Executioner.]

Ariana's combat experience during this campaign hadn't gone to waste. She no longer blindly followed Anyi's instructions but had begun forming judgments of her own.

Based on her understanding of her abilities, achieving the effect Anyi sought seemed unlikely.

[Sword Hero: No, our main objective isn't to kill the Skeleton Executioner.

Although it's powerful, our attributes under [Encourage] are enough to match it.

Our main objective… is to kill the monsters that inflict negative status effects.]

「Negative statuses…?」

Ariana froze, recalling the barrage of debilitating effects Layton had endured earlier.

Some statuses could be removed, but minor [Ailments] required food or other specific methods to cure.

[Holy Hero: Wait…]

Ariana paused, consulting the system and opening the negative status Bestiary.

[Blindness] [Hallucination] [Paralysis] [Stun] [Silence] [Phantom Hearing] [Nausea] [Insomnia] [Charm] [Sore Throat] [Frustration] …

Every status they had encountered was meticulously recorded.

Then, she turned to her attribute interface, re-reading the description of [Durability].

[Durability: Affects all resistances, maximum health points, resistance to control skills.]

「Control skills…!」

The realization struck her like a thunderbolt. Negative statuses such as [Blindness], [Hallucination], [Paralysis], and [Stun] were all the result of control skills!

Even Layton, with a staggering 38 Durability under the combined boosts of [Encourage] and Goblin equipment, had succumbed to control skills. He had fainted, and the debilitating effects had lasted nearly two minutes.

What about those with lower Durability?

Like Miruku, whose base Durability was 0 without [Encourage], or herself, with only 3.

If Layton's 30 Durability had resulted in two minutes of blindness, how long would she or Miruku be afflicted?

If 1 Durability equaled an hour of blindness, wouldn't they be helpless for an eternity?

[Holy Hero: Anyi is right. We need to eliminate the monsters inflicting negative status effects first!

Otherwise… I'll definitely die!]

Miruku, Layton, Karen: "?!?"

Anyi: "…"

Almost.

If she were hit, Ariana would be controlled for far too long—unless she used [Purification].

But what if a negative status robbed her of consciousness, leaving her unable to activate her skills?

[Holy Hero: But how do we… I know!]

「Kami-sama! I want to maintain the [Beam] Multiple release for a long time, please tell me how!」

Without hesitation, Ariana reached out to the system in her mind, seeking answers.

[Searching…

Search complete.

Hero-sama, you can issue the [Continuous Skill Release] command during the skill's Multiple release charging phase.

However, please note this method will consume the required mana for Multiple release per second.

That is, if you use 50 mana for a Multiple release, you will consume 50 mana per second.

Due to the high mana consumption, please use this skill carefully.]

「Okay! Thank you, Kami-sama!」 Ariana replied, a burst of gratitude in her voice.

[Holy Hero: Anyi! I know what to do!

Sword Hero: Okay.]

From the moment Anyi gave his suggestion, only twenty seconds had passed.

Less than half a minute, yet Ariana had already grasped the heart of his strategy.

In short, Anyi was pleased.

The Holy Maiden, while often appearing scatterbrained, showed surprising brilliance at critical moments.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy footsteps echoed ominously, drawing closer.

From the shadows, Miruku emerged at full speed, rejoining the group.

"The enemy is moving." She gripped her twin daggers tightly, her tone tense yet steady.

[Sword Hero: Ready.

Holy Hero: Okay!]

With a deep breath, Ariana activated [Encourage] and entered the skill's charging phase.

「Skill: Beam, Multiple release, using 50 mana… no, 200… no! 250!」

Her mana reserves were already diminished from the earlier battle with the 17 Class 3 undead.

This time was different. The stakes were higher.

If she used too little mana, the attack might fail to kill the enemies. Too much, and she risked depleting her reserves entirely.

Settling on 250 mana, she calculated that a 10-second release would consume half her total mana.

Ten seconds… would it be enough?

Doubt flickered in her mind.

[Sword Hero: Don't waste too much mana. Intangible undead monsters only have 1 Durability.]

Ariana's eyes widened. Anyi, as though reading her thoughts, interrupted with an unexpected reminder.

Frantically, Ariana reopened the monster Bestiary and scanned the entries for the intangible ghosts.

「Durability 1… Durability 1, Durability 1, Durability 1…」

He was right!

Intangible undead monsters all had 1 Durability.

Her tension eased slightly. With 250 Prana, she could easily annihilate them without wasting excessive mana.

"Here they come!" Karen shouted, her voice trembling with urgency.

Her heightened vision revealed countless skeleton soldiers flooding into the hall from every corridor.

At the forefront, the towering Skeleton Executioner, the ferocious Bull Demon, and the cunning Howling Succubus led the charge, supported by a mix of Skeleton Knights and spectral Class 3 monsters.

At the rear, the Skeleton Mage followed closely, shielded by a formidable Skeleton Knight.

「Come on! Humans! Attack!!」 The Skeleton Mage sneered to himself, his confidence unwavering.

"Boom——!!"

Suddenly, an immense beam of light erupted from the center of the hall, blinding the undead forces.

The light was so intense, it seemed to carve through the oppressive darkness of the castle itself.

"Waaaaaah aaaaa!!!"

Ariana's scream rang out—not from pain, but sheer surprise.

In the midst of releasing the Beam, Anyi had grabbed her waist without warning.

Move!!