ATMCP 09

Chapter 9

[Cooldown]
00:29:57

I had expected that I wouldn’t be able to use my skill infinitely, but I never thought there would be a cooldown.

I bit my lower lip tightly and checked the condition of the melee dealer’s wound.

“Ugh……!”

As the melee dealer groaned in pain, the golden light around his wound shone even brighter.

A recovery of 10 HP wasn’t a lot, so it only managed to stop the bleeding.

But even that alone made me let out a sigh of relief.

Once my mind calmed down a little, I remembered the leader’s question and quickly raised my head.

“Ah, right. This skill is both a buff and a heal. Your attack power and defense will increase by 50% each. For 10 minutes, you’ll also receive small amounts of healing over time.”

[Current Synchronization Rate]
56%

When I revealed the effects of my skill, my synchronization rate increased.

Apparently, someone thought I was a naive idiot.

I learned another thing: I didn’t need to explain my skill effects in such detail.

The leader looked at the party members and quickly made a decision.

“Even with increased attack and defense, it will be difficult to fight the Dullahan while the melee dealer is incapacitated. A Dullahan is an A-rank monster. With our current strength, it’s impossible. We might be able to retreat, though.”

The leader’s eyes briefly moved toward the injured melee dealer.

His gaze was so cold that I instinctively stepped in front of the melee dealer.

“If we retreat while carrying an injured person, we’ll just get caught anyway.”

The meaning behind the leader’s words was obvious.

The melee dealer listened to him with a face twisted in pain, but he showed no sign of objecting.

The leader seemed encouraged by that and gave us an order.

“We abandon the melee dealer and retreat. We’ll come back after the Dullahan moves away.”

“Ah, then what if I use plants like before to stop it?”

I hurriedly suggested whatever came to mind.

“How can plants that aren’t strengthened by your skill stop a Dullahan?”

The leader coldly dismissed my suggestion.

My synchronization rate continued increasing beside me, but I couldn’t bring myself to simply accept the leader’s decision.

We were calling each other by positions like characters in a game, but this wasn’t a game. This was reality.

The melee dealer was still alive, and since this was my first dungeon as a beginner, I wasn’t prepared to abandon someone just because everyone else thought it was necessary.

In the end, I couldn’t clearly agree or disagree with the leader’s decision and just hesitated.

Then someone supported me.

“But if we retreat now, the Dullahan will attack our backs. A Dullahan has intelligence. If we show our backs, it already knows how to hunt us down.”

The mage firmly gripped his staff and opposed the leader’s opinion.

The tank also rubbed his chin, clearly deep in thought.

After observing the situation for a moment, he added to the mage’s words.

“Also, there’s no guarantee that it will move away from the exit after some time. It will know we’ll eventually have to come here. I think it’s better to break through here and escape.”

I just nodded enthusiastically.

“Besides, there are no Wraiths right now. If Wraiths join that group later, the situation will become even worse. This might be our last chance.”

While we were discussing, time continued passing, and the melee dealer’s wound healed a little more.

However, when he grabbed his sword and struggled to stand, the bleeding that had barely stopped started dripping again.

“Ah! You’re bleeding again! Blood!”

“Whether we go forward or backward, I have to move anyway. Let’s get out and receive proper treatment.”

The melee dealer said that while looking at the leader.

In the end, he was the one who had to decide whether to drag a party member along or not.

It was right that the final decision should be made by him to avoid conflict.

The leader looked at everyone’s faces, then brushed his hair back.

“Alright. We’ll secure the exit first to escape the dungeon.”

I couldn’t hide the bright expression that naturally appeared on my face.

The tank and mage saw my expression but pretended not to notice and looked away.

Ah, I know I look funny. I know.

“Healer.”

At the leader’s call, I quickly raised my head.

“Use that skill from earlier to hold down the skeletons as much as possible.”

“Yes!”

“Tank, block the Dullahan’s attacks with me, even if it’s only for a short moment. Our goal is to push it away from the exit even slightly.”

“Understood.”

“Mage, when we succeed, use the opening to clear the path to the exit. Focus all your firepower and break through the center.”

The leader looked at the melee dealer.

He seemed unsure whether he should give him an order or not.

Because of the continuous healing, his wounds were slowly recovering, but it was only enough to prevent him from dying immediately.

“I’ll help the two of you restrain the Dullahan. After the mage’s attack, I’ll handle the skeletons left in the passage. Is that enough?”

The melee dealer seemed to notice the leader’s hesitation. He spat out bloody saliva and raised his sword.

The leader gave him the okay signal and raised his shield properly.

“Let’s go!”

The leader, tank, and melee dealer charged forward together.

Receiving that signal, I immediately placed my hand on the ground.

“Flowers, please hold the enemies down!”

There was no time to whisper softly.

When I shouted the activation phrase with strength, plants rose from the ground with a faint glow.

Following my command, they wrapped around the ankles of the skeletons and the Dullahan.

They coiled around empty bones, tangled around their feet, and made their movements awkward.

Even when the plants were cut or broken, new ones sprouted and continued restraining the skeletons.

There was only one opponent they couldn’t stop.

The Dullahan.

The Dullahan stepped on the plants as if it couldn’t even feel them and swung its sword toward the tank.

The tank knocked the sword upward with his shield, creating an opening for the melee dealer.

However, the injured melee dealer’s movements were too slow to properly take advantage of it.

Instead, the leader was faster. He pushed his shield into the opening and slammed the Dullahan away.

BANG!!

The Dullahan’s armor and the shield collided with an explosion-like sound.

The impact sent the Dullahan flying backward, and the leader’s shield shattered into pieces.

Just like the original plan.

The mage raised his hand.

Flames flickered around him, distorting the air.

“Flames, overflow!”

The fire rose like a wave and swallowed the skeletons.

The moment the skeletons and plants touched the flames, they were consumed instantly, disappearing without leaving even bones behind.

Even if their cores remained, they would never regenerate from that.

“We opened the path! Securing the exit!”

The mage shouted and grabbed my hand, running along the path cleared by the flames.

Because the distance to the exit was short, the mage and I easily pushed through the skeletons and secured the way out.

“Exit secured!”

At my shout, the party members fighting the Dullahan began retreating.

Clank—

The Dullahan followed the retreating party members and swung its sword.

The tank stopped retreating and blocked the attack.

At the same time, he slid his shield along the sword and struck the Dullahan’s chest.

It was an unbelievably quick movement.

But even that wasn’t enough to break through the Dullahan’s armor.

The Dullahan simply took the tank’s attack with its body and grabbed the shield with both hands.

Creeeak—

The tank’s shield bent under the Dullahan’s grip.

The tank hurriedly released his hand from the shield and backed away.

The Dullahan didn’t miss the opening.

It threw the crushed shield directly toward the melee dealer.

“Ugh!”

The melee dealer hurriedly blocked the shield with his sword, but he couldn’t completely absorb the impact.

The blood that had finally stopped began dripping again, staining the ground.

The problem was that he wasn’t the only injured one anymore.

While fighting the Dullahan, the tank and leader also accumulated several wounds.

“Huff… huff…”

“Damn, the skeletons are blocking us again.”

The skeletons began blocking the path once more.

“Crazy……”

“We’re screwed.”

Eventually, curses slipped from their mouths.

It was understandable.

Even retreating wasn’t easy.

I quickly turned my gaze toward the mage.

“Mage, is there any way to restrain the Dullahan? If you attack it from a distance—”

“My mana is gone. I used everything I had left on that spell. I need time to recover even a little!”

Then the melee dealer stepped in front of the tank and leader.

“I’ll knock it back once. Run behind me.”

The tank and leader widened their eyes in surprise, but soon nodded.

There was no time for me to say anything.

The two turned around and ran toward the exit.

The Dullahan charged after them.

The melee dealer raised his sword and blocked the attack.

Of course, someone who wasn’t even a tank couldn’t stop a Dullahan’s attack.

I watched as the Dullahan’s sword strike slowly broke the melee dealer’s sword.

Flutter—

Strange.

A sound like thin plastic rapidly flapping entered my ears.

Even though there was no plastic anywhere.

“Ah……!”

“Healer!”

Before I knew it, my hand had grabbed the back of the melee dealer’s neck and pulled him backward.

I didn’t even know how I got there.

I only knew that the world looked slightly slower.

In that slowed world, I caught sight of thin wings fluttering right beside me.

Because of that movement, the Dullahan seemed to notice me.

The Dullahan’s sword flew toward my neck.

But I knew it wouldn’t reach me.

Flutter.

With the sound of plastic-like wings behind me, my body moved diagonally.

Not sideways.

Upward.

The Dullahan’s sword passed beneath the feet of me and the melee dealer.

Behind me, I heard the confused voices of my party members.

“What skill is that?”

“She said she was a healer?”

Sparkle.

[Current Synchronization Rate]

90%

The synchronization rate suddenly jumped by more than 30%.

Apparently, my action had been that foolish.

‘Even so, it hurts a little. I saved someone and they’re calling me stupid.’

Still, because of that, the condition for activating my skill had been fulfilled.

“Bloom!”