Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 191
191. Mari-nee and the Defense Battle (Part One)
Once the strategy was decided, a party was immediately formed under Mareus-san’s direction, and a raid was quickly organized to unify them.
Kanna-san and Graham-san adjusted the party positions, while Roulette-san took the lead, inspiring everyone with her powerful yet graceful presence.
Protected by everyone, Jade-san swiftly began to draw something on the ground using his own blood.
The first thing that caught my eye was a circle about two meters in diameter.
Within its center, fine circles and lines were drawn, filled with what looked like Sanskrit characters.
The drawing was more intricate than a magic circle, closer to a mandala.
However, unlike a typical mandala that is brightly colored and depicts animals or deities, this one was monochromatic and devoid of such imagery.
Because of this, it gave off an eerie impression rather than a sacred one.
“Thirty minutes. Just hold them off for that long.”
Without stopping his hand, Jade-san gave an estimate of the time needed.
“That’s asking too much, with all these monsters,” Mareus-san grumbled with a frustrated look.
“We know it’s unreasonable. But if Mareus-chan has a better idea, I’m all ears,” Kanna-san replied.
“If I had one, I would’ve said it already.”
“Then stop complaining about what’s been decided. If you’re a man, face it with resolve,” she scolded.
“Like you, huh?”
“Hmph!”
“Ow!”
Kanna-san delivered a powerful uppercut from a low stance that caught Mareus-san square on the chin.
The force was enough to not only snap his head back but also lift his entire body high into the air.
I was becoming more and more curious about Kanna-san’s job class, but since he recovered soon after, maybe my suspicions were… dismissed?
At the very least, I should mention that the people from the church were giving Kanna-san a fearful glance.
“The battle is about to begin,” Roulette-san announced.
With those words, the tension in the air tightened, and the people from the church spread out to the left and right around Roulette-san.
I moved to the center, along with Gils and Vel.
From the start, I had Gils use his [Dragon Threads], while I held the [Golden Rainbow Threads] for support.
As we clearly defined our offensive and defensive roles, a white figure suddenly stood beside me.
“As promised, you’ll let me fight alongside you, right, Maria-nee-sama?”
“Estelle-san…”
I would have preferred her to stay at a distance, watching over us, but there was no way to stop Estelle-san, whose smile concealed an intensity.
Well, in this situation, no place was truly safe anyway.
If that’s the case, it’s better for us to be together.
Seeing me nod, Estelle-san’s smile bloomed like a flower.
“I will protect you, Maria-nee-sama, and everyone else!”
With those words of resolve, Estelle-san began to sing.
Unlike the requiem we heard at the event, her song was gentle, enveloping us warmly.
“Is this… a hymn?”
Her song spread out, reaching everyone in the raid, and surrounded them with a faint light.
When I checked the status screen, it showed that a buff had been applied to nullify any status ailments.
Given the troublesome abilities of Argos that we’d heard about before, this was incredibly helpful.
Graham-san and the others were also glad, saying, “This eliminates one of our major concerns.”
As if in response to our preparations being complete, the monsters of the Great Magic Forest charged at us.
All of the monsters were huge, and one swing of their arms or a single stab of their horns could easily obliterate my HP in an instant.
But the church’s tank members stood firm, blocking those attacks without moving an inch.
“Amazing…”
A voice of admiration slipped out.
With the advance of the front-line monsters halted, the momentum of their attack weakened momentarily.
That’s when those who excelled in close-range combat rushed in.
They focused their attacks on the monsters’ limbs, steadily reducing their threat level.
“Don’t force yourself to defeat them, just weaken them enough to use them as walls against the next wave of monsters!”
“““Understood!!!”””
Graham-san’s commands flew out, and the members of the church responded promptly.
Compared to before, their movements as a group had become significantly more refined.
Their retraining in Regios was clearly not just for show.
“We can’t afford to fall behind either,” Roulette-san grinned, kicking the giant wolf’s jaw upward from below, lifting its upper body.
“We’ve gotten stronger too,” Gils added, wrapping the wolf’s limbs with his [Dragon Threads] and pulling to sever them.
Their coordination was flawless, but as expected from the monsters of the Great Magic Forest, it wasn’t over yet.
The wolf seemed like it was about to spew something from its mouth.
“I won’t let you!”
The moment I wrapped my [Golden Rainbow Threads] around the giant wolf’s mouth to shut it, flames exploded inside.
With nowhere for the flames to escape, they appeared to burn the inside of its body, and the giant wolf writhed in agony before dying.
We continued to fight, constantly supporting each other, and about fifteen minutes had passed.
Suddenly, the pressure from the monsters increased.
With Kanna-san and Estelle-san desperately supporting us, the cause became clear.
Behind the monsters, sensing the abnormality, Judas-san had noticed and was leading Leon and the others toward us.