Chapter 269: Chapter 269: You Should Aim for the Head

Chapter 269: You Should Aim for the Head

"Barrier?"

Seeing a layer of pale blue light envelop the entrance to the fire escape, the Priest immediately realized it was an ability similar to a barrier. He poured all his strength into the flaming greatsword in his hand and slammed it heavily against the blue shield.

"Bang!"

The flaming greatsword struck the shield, but the pale blue barrier only trembled slightly. It showed no sign of cracking.

"The barrier’s maintainer... where are they..."

The Priest immediately grasped the key point. He had sensed the fluctuation when the Fox Mask Woman cast the barrier, so he began searching at once.

With his mental strength, even if Kato Megumi had once again cast her presence reduction skill on the Fox Mask Woman, he would still be able to discover the two of them if he scanned carefully enough.

However, Yuuki Asuna had no intention of giving him that chance.

Sensing danger from his side, the Priest immediately dodged. A crystal-like blade grazed past his cheek.

"You..."

The Priest realized that Yuuki Asuna would not allow him to search for the barrier caster so easily. He immediately tightened his grip on the flaming greatsword and took a combat stance.

But what he did not expect was that after missing her strike, Yuuki Asuna instantly retreated more than ten meters. She seemed to have no intention of attacking again, merely standing there quietly.

"You people..."

Only then did the Priest finally understand.

This crimson Swordsman did not need to fight him at all. She only needed to stall him here.

That Blackwatch Commander would kill the three believers on his side.

Yuuki Asuna did not need to keep attacking either. She only needed to strike occasionally, preventing the Priest from concentrating on finding Kato Megumi and the Fox Mask Woman.

That alone was enough.

There was only one way to break the situation.

Kill Yuuki Asuna.

But with speed and reflexes even superior to Asagiri’s, how could Yuuki Asuna be killed so easily unless she was forced into a true death match?

...

Meanwhile, on the Third Floor of the Hotel, inside the buffet restaurant.

Asagiri, who had swapped positions with Yuuki Asuna, swept his gaze across the surroundings.

The restaurant, which should have been filled with nearly a hundred Players, was now covered in scorched marks and charred ruins. Fewer than forty Players were still standing.

The three believers wrapped in flames were still attacking. Each time flames erupted from their bodies, at least one Player lost their life.

In ancient warfare, an army that did not collapse after losing more than one tenth of its forces could be considered elite among elites. But the Players’ casualties had already exceeded half.

Although those who had died were mostly Players assigned the role of "cannon fodder," if not for the White Suit Man and his two teammates holding the line, the remaining Players would have already collapsed and fled in the face of such heavy casualties.

"You finally arrived..."

Seeing Asagiri appear, the Players who had fallen into despair, as well as the White Suit Man who was leading the resistance as best he could, all had a glimmer of hope flash in their eyes.

Facing everyone’s expectations, Asagiri did not hesitate.

Looking at the chaos before him, he directly activated his skill.

"Blood Burst."

"Thump... thump... thump... thump..."

A roaring sound like an engine announced Asagiri’s arrival.

Asagiri used Blood Burst to enhance his physical abilities because, in this situation, summoning a different Persona would be more effective than the Human Asura.

"Persona..."

The moment Asagiri spoke, the three Fire Clad Believers simultaneously changed direction and launched a desperate attack toward him.

Clearly, because their spirits were interconnected and they possessed the memories of the previous Fire Clad Believers, they all knew that this Blackwatch Commander in the long black hunter’s windbreaker was the target that had to be dealt with first.

Asagiri’s casting was interrupted, and he quickly retreated.

The three Fire Clad Believers thought their attack had worked and gave Asagiri no chance to breathe, immediately chasing after him.

However, when they had been drawn all the way to the entrance of the buffet restaurant, dozens of meters away from the other Players, Asagiri suddenly stopped.

Prototype Mita appeared beside him in an instant.

"What!?"

The three Fire Clad Believers, who had originally thought Asagiri could not summon unless he finished chanting the Persona’s name, were all startled.

They had no idea that Asagiri could complete an Instant Summon by consuming extra mental energy without chanting the Persona’s name.

The moment Prototype Mita appeared, the eerie puppet face opened its mouth and released a chaotic noise like a surge of electric current.

"Ah... what is this..."

Facing Prototype Mita’s draining mental attack, the three Fire Clad Believers, who originally had to allocate part of their mental power to suppress and control their strength, immediately fell into mental turmoil.

Although it was not enough to make their power completely go out of control, it was enough.

"First one."

Asagiri spoke and approached one of the Fire Clad Believers.

The believer had no time to react. In an instant, with fanaticism appearing on his face, he made a decision and directly released the restrictions on his own power.

As the Rope Dart pierced his neck, his body also turned into a fireball and exploded violently.

"Boom!"

The scorching heat made even the Players dozens of meters away feel burning pain across their faces.

The White Suit Man felt the same, but his gaze never left the scene. Instead, disbelief appeared in his eyes as he muttered,

"No way... Could it be..."

From within the flames, two figures slowly walked out.

Since those two Fire Clad Believers could control fire, even though the power did not belong to them, their resistance to fire was clearly very high.

The two of them swept their gaze over the Players standing there and said calmly,

"Hmm. Continue..."

"Where are you going?"

Hearing the voice behind them, the two Fire Clad Believers’ expressions changed, and they immediately turned around.

A figure still stood tall within the sea of fire.

Asagiri’s hunter’s windbreaker was badly damaged, and his body was covered in burns from the high temperature. Yet even after sustaining such injuries, his eyes did not change at all, and his tone remained as calm as ever.

"You will die here. By my hand."

Seeing this, the White Suit Man and the martial artist beside him exchanged glances, then both made up their minds.

"Pre-borrow!"

The martial artist Player activated Pre-borrow once again.

Pre-borrow was the exclusive talent he had obtained after clearing the novice Dungeon. It greatly enhanced all aspects of his physical ability. The drawback was an irreversible reduction in lifespan.

This cost from using an exclusive talent would not recover after clearing the Dungeon, just as Asagiri’s Reversal and Sacrifice cooldowns would not reset after clearing the Dungeon.

However, there was no time to care about that now.

They had to cooperate with Asagiri and kill those two enemies.

Otherwise, there was no possibility of clearing the Dungeon at all.

The remaining Players made no move.

On one hand, they had already used everything they had to resist the three Fire Clad Believers’ attacks earlier, barely managing to survive.

On the other hand, they could not even clearly see the movements of Asagiri, the White Suit Man, and the martial artist, let alone predict the flow of the battle. Even trying to support them with ranged attacks would only cause trouble.

"Undead Touch..."

Iwanaga Kotoko, who was leading the support combat group, attempted to use a skill.

However, because the ground there was covered in flames, the pale arms had not even fully emerged before they were burned to ash, let alone restrain the two believers’ movements.

Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately switched skills.

"IBM."

At the same time, the logistics group, composed of Healer and blessing type Players, simultaneously cast support skills on Asagiri.

"Healing Art!"

"Healing Spell!"

"Light Enhancement!"

"Blessing of Speed!"

With the effects of these Players’ skills, for Asagiri, who had already activated Blood Burst, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Furthermore, healing skills cast from a distance were not very effective. Although they slightly healed some of Asagiri’s injuries, his condition was still far from ideal.

"It’s enough."

Although the degree of recovery was not obvious, Asagiri spoke in a reassuring tone that made people instinctively want to believe him.

"The battle begins."

Asagiri chose one Fire Clad Believer, while the White Suit Man, now wrapped in bone armor, and his martial artist teammate charged toward the other believer.

They used the same tactic as before.

Divide and fight separately.

Facing the Fire Clad Believer’s fire snake, Asagiri did not dodge. He merely summoned Prototype Mita, who had just been destroyed in the flames, and let it continue emitting mentally disturbing howls from a distance.

Prototype Mita’s ability affected both friend and foe.

Aside from Asagiri, who was immune to negative mental effects, the White Suit Man and the martial artist would also be affected.

However, it was certain that the two believers, who needed to deliberately suppress their own power, would suffer far more from it.

So it had to be used.

Seeing Asagiri charge forward while enduring his fire attack head-on, the Fire Clad Believer hesitated for an instant.

Immediately after, he raised his left arm, condensed a high temperature fireball, used it like a gauntlet, and swung it toward Asagiri’s abdomen.

"Bang."

At the same moment the fireball struck Asagiri’s abdomen, Asagiri’s Cursed Rope Dart had already pierced the center of the believer’s forehead.

His left hand had also pierced through the believer’s chest, gripping his still beating heart.

Looking at the believer’s disbelieving expression, Asagiri clenched his hand and crushed the heart.

As the enemy collapsed, Asagiri slowly spoke.

"You should have aimed for the head."

.....

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