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Chapter 88 – Raid Dungeon (5)

“…What?”

Gainert was momentarily taken aback by the completely unexpected words.

“You are impressive. You form a perfect combination, but there are a few minor areas that are lacking. If those are addressed, you can fight even more perfectly.”

“What nonsense.”

Barak scowled, visibly displeased.

Marcy also seemed to share his ambiguous expression.

They were mercenaries.

C and B-class mercenaries at that, recognized for their strength after countless battles, to the point where they could enter the kingdom’s capital.

Naturally, they took pride in their power and experience.

But now, a barbarian who they believed couldn’t understand anything was trying to give them advice.

It was an infuriating situation.

“Uh…”

Gainert looked at Ketal with a reluctant expression.

‘He is still a barbarian.’

There were some barbarians who overestimated their own strength.

They sometimes inflicted what they called ‘advice’ and ‘guidance’ on those they deemed weaker.

It seemed Ketal was one of those barbarians.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Gainert nodded.

“Fine. Let’s hear what you have to say.”

It was a mindset of wanting to at least hear the nonsense.

Ketal smiled broadly.

“Oh, thank you. It’s nothing major. It’s about the problem with your combination.”

“I’m curious what problem is so obvious that you dare to point it out so confidently.”

Barak sneered.

Instead of getting angry, Ketal calmly began his explanation.

“Your battle style goes like this.”

First, the archer, enhanced with physical strengthening magic, shoots an arrow.

They start by killing one or two for sure.

Then, the warrior steps up to block the charging enemies.

At that point, the archer falls back.

In a fierce close combat, a misplaced arrow might hit the warrior.

So, the mage supports with mana arrows.

Mana arrows are magical.

Unlike ordinary arrows, they can be controlled freely.

In the midst of intense combat, they can target only the desired enemies.

Mana arrows eliminate all enemies except for one stuck to the warrior.

Then, the warrior deals with the one enemy clinging to them.

After that, they handle the enemies that charge again.

Gainert’s eyes widened as he listened to the explanation.

“You’ve analyzed it well.”

It was a flawless analysis, down to the details Gainert himself wasn’t consciously aware of.

“So, what’s the problem with it?”

“It’s not exactly a problem. You could continue like this if you want. But it’s inefficient.”

There was a more efficient and cleaner way to handle it.

Ketal looked at Barak.

“You start the battle by shooting an arrow at the enemy. But is it necessary to pierce their head?”

“What nonsense is this all of a sudden?”

“Your arrows are quite accurate. Couldn’t you shoot their legs instead of their heads?”

“It’s possible, but what’s the point?”

“Then, what if you aimed at the leg of the nearest orc? It wouldn’t be able to approach, rendering it combat ineffective.”

Gainert, who had been listening, tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just shoot the head and be done with it?”

“This passage isn’t wide.”

At most, two people could move through it side by side.

If someone blocked the way, it was hard to get through.

“A fallen orc won’t just stay still; it will thrash around. Naturally, the path will be blocked, making it harder for the orcs behind to reach us.”

This was a tactic commonly used in modern warfare.

Snipers often intentionally shoot to wound rather than kill, creating casualties that impede enemy movement.

Though the method differed, creating an incapacitated enemy to restrict movement was the same.

“The thrashing orc will delay the time it takes for the others to approach. You’ll have time to shoot two more arrows.”

Until now, Barak could only shoot two arrows.

But with this method, three shots could be possible.

It would reduce the number of enemies reaching the warrior by one more.

Barak, who had been listening with a frown, slowly changed his expression as he thought it over.

Ketal then looked at Marcy.

“Most importantly, if you do this, there won’t be a need to cast physical enhancement magic on Barak.”

“That’s true.”

The physical enhancement was to ensure the arrow could penetrate a tough skull.

If the goal was to wound the leg and make the enemy fall, there was no need for the spell. This would conserve mana.

“And one more thing. Between mana arrows and physical enhancement, which consumes more mana?”

“Mana arrows do.”

Since they involved directly materializing and controlling mana, they consumed twice as much mana.

“So, not using mana arrows means you can cast physical enhancement twice more.”

“That’s… right.”

Ketal then looked at Gainert.

“With physical enhancement, can you push off all the orcs that cling to you?”

“…Probably.”

He could already hold his ground without retreating.

With the spell, he could push them all off at once.

“Then it becomes simple. As soon as the orcs cling to you, physical enhancement is cast. When you push them away, the archer has the leeway to shoot arrows again.”

Mana arrows could be controlled freely but were weak in power, only temporarily hindering the orcs at best.

So, don’t use them at all.

Just use physical enhancement to push the orcs away and let the archer shoot arrows.

Gainert stammered.

“Wouldn’t that put too much burden on Barak? He’d have to keep using his bow until the end of the battle….”

“What’s the problem with that?”

Ketal asked with a puzzled expression.

Gainert fell silent.

Right.

There was no problem.

That’s what the party was for in the first place.

They thought about Ketal’s words.

The result was clear.

It was rational.

Much more so than their current fighting style.

It was hard to accept, but no matter how they thought about it, they couldn’t deny it.

Ketal smiled with satisfaction.

“This is the method I thought of. What do you think?”

“…It seems there are no issues. But real combat is a different matter.”

Gainert protested as if to defend his pride, as it stung to follow a barbarian’s advice so readily.

“Then why not give it a try? I doubt there will be any problems.”

“That’s… true.”

With nothing more to say, Gainert agreed.

He looked at his party members, who had similar expressions.

In the end, they decided to fight as Ketal suggested in the next battle.

“Roar!”

An orc charged.

Barak shot an arrow, hitting the orc’s leg.

The fallen orc thrashed and blocked the path.

Taking advantage of the moment, Barak nocked another arrow and fired.

“Roar!”

An orc pushed through all the obstacles and approached.

At that moment, Marcy cast a spell.

“Ha!”

Boom!

The orc was repelled.

Barak didn’t miss the opportunity and shot an arrow.

The battle ended in an instant.

Ketal smiled with satisfaction.

“It works.”

Gainert, who finished off the fallen orcs, had a stunned expression.

“No way. This is….”

It was incredibly simple and risk-free.

It felt almost too easy.

“We struggled to come up with our fighting style….”

“Experience makes a difference.”

They had formed this party at most a dozen times.

While not a small number, it was insufficient to find the most efficient method.

In contrast, Ketal had repeated tens, hundreds, thousands of trials to tackle higher-level enemies.

They couldn’t match Ketal in strategy and party composition.

Not to mention his extensive experience leading barbarian groups across the White Snowfields.

He had directed group battles countless times.

‘Ah, this is it.’

He had given tactical advice to a seasoned mercenary party and even got them to accept it.

He felt great.

He understood why meddlesome tacticians existed.

After that, they continued advancing until they encountered a trap.

It was a floor trap that triggered arrows from the walls.

Gainert pondered.

“We don’t have a thief. How do we handle this?”

“I can disarm traps.”

“What?”

Gainert was surprised by Ketal’s words.

A barbarian disarming traps?

“I’ve seen it done before. I have a rough understanding of the process.”

Ketal stepped forward confidently, and Gainert was flustered.

‘Can you really disarm a trap like that?’

Disarming traps was no easy task.

One wrong move could trigger the trap and endanger lives, requiring high-level skill.

The idea of doing it based on having seen it once was hard to believe.

Ketal took out a skewer from his pocket, equipment prepared for such situations.

“I think it was like this.”

Recalling how Kassan disarmed traps, he inserted the skewer into the hole and wiggled it around.

“Hmm.”

Ketal inserted the skewer further.

There was a crunching sound as something broke.

“Oh. It’s done.”

Ketal pressed the floor.

No arrows were fired.

“Resolved.”

“…Huh?”

Gainert had seen thiefs disarm traps many times.

But he had never heard such a brute sound before.

Something felt off, but the trap was disarmed, so there was nothing to say.

They continued onward.

And then they saw it.

A chamber that appeared at the end of the passage.

In the middle of it was a doll hugging itself.

“A mid-boss, perhaps.”

The boss’s room was likely beyond this chamber.

Once they passed through this room, they would face the boss.

“Marcy, what do you think that is?”

“Hmm… just a moment.”

Marcy, staring at the doll and trying to recall something, spoke up.

“It looks like a mimic doll.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a doll that copies anyone who comes within a certain range of it. It perfectly replicates their strength and experience, making it a formidable opponent.”

“Is there really something like that?”

Ketal muttered, sounding intrigued.

Marcy replied nonchalantly.

“It’s not much of a problem if we’re in a party.”

In other words, it was only a threat to individuals.

When faced with collective strength, it wasn’t much of an issue.

“So, the question is, who goes up to it….”

“Ketal, it’s probably best if you go.”

The weakest one here was Ketal.

Since they didn’t know much about him, even if he were copied, it would be easy to defeat him.

Ketal smiled.

“Sounds good.”

Ketal approached the mimic doll.

The others prepared for battle from behind.

Ketal was quite excited.

A monster that copies its opponent.

It was a trope often seen in creative works.

Creak, creak, creak.

As Ketal approached a certain distance, the mimic doll’s eyes began to glow.

It staggered to its feet.

Just as Gainert was about to tell Ketal to back off,

the doll moved.

“Huh?”

They momentarily lost sight of the doll’s movement.

The doll had somehow arrived right in front of Ketal.

As they realized what was happening, the doll swung its arm.

“Danger….”

Just as Gainert started to shout,

Ketal, with a disappointed look, muttered.

“Is this all?”

Ketal moved his fist.

The doll exploded, scattering fragments everywhere.