I Awakened With My Dark History - Chapter 09

========== CHAPTER 9 ==========

I thought I wouldn’t be able to use skills infinitely, but I didn’t know there would be a cooldown.

I bit my lower lip hard and checked the Melee Dealer’s wound.

“Ugh…!”

As the Melee Dealer groaned in pain, a golden light shone even more intensely around the wound.

A health recovery of 10 wasn’t very significant, so it barely stopped the bleeding.

But even just that was enough for me to let out a sigh of relief.

Once I felt a bit more at ease, the Leader’s question popped into my mind, and I jerked my head up.

“Oh, right, this skill is a buff and a heal. Your attack and defense will go up by 50%. You’ll also get a little bit of healing over 10 minutes.”

As I revealed the skill’s effects, the Synchronization Rate went up.

It seems someone thought I was a naive idiot.

I realized one more fact: there was no need to explain the skill effects in such detail.

The Leader looked at the party members and made a quick decision.

“Even if attack and defense both increase, it’s hard to fight the Dullahan while the Melee Dealer is incapacitated. The Dullahan is A-rank, so it’s impossible with our current strength. Retreating might be possible, though.”

The Leader’s gaze drifted lightly toward the Melee Dealer.

His eyes were so cold that I reflexively stood in front of the Melee Dealer to shield him.

“And even if we retreat, we’ll get caught while carrying the injured.”

What the Leader was trying to say was obvious.

The Melee Dealer listened to the Leader’s words with a face twisted in pain, yet showed no signs of resistance.

Seemingly emboldened by that, the Leader instructed us.

“We’ll abandon the Melee Dealer and retreat. We’ll come back after the Dullahan moves.”

“Ah, what if I use plants to tie its feet down like before?”

I blurted out an opinion in my panic.

“It’s not even a skill-enhanced plant, so how are you going to stop the Dullahan?”

And the Leader coldly swatted down my words.

The Synchronization Rate kept rising beside me, but I couldn’t bring myself to obediently agree with the Leader’s judgment.

Even though we were calling each other by terms used in games, this wasn’t a game; it was reality.

The Melee Dealer was still alive, and as they saw, I was a beginner on my first dungeon raid, so I had no resolve to abandon a person.

In the end, I just dithered, unable to clearly oppose or agree with the Leader’s judgment.

Then, support for me arrived.

“But if we retreat now, the Dullahan will target our backs and attack. The Dullahan is a monster with intelligence. It already knows how to catch us if we show our backs.”

The Mage gripped their staff tightly and opposed the Leader’s opinion.

The Tanker also rubbed his chin, looking clearly conflicted.

He observed the situation for a moment, then added a word to the Mage’s statement.

“Besides, there’s no guarantee that they’ll move away from the exit as time passes. They’ll eventually know we’re coming here. I think it’s better to break through here and head for the exit.”

I just nodded my head vigorously.

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

While we were talking, time passed, and the Melee Dealer’s wound healed a little more.

But as he leaned on his sword and struggled to stand up, the blood that had barely stopped dripped down again.

“Gasp! You’re bleeding again! Blood!”

“Whether we go forward or backward, I have to move. Let’s get out and get properly treated.”

The Melee Dealer said that and looked at the Leader.

In the end, he was the one leading the party members here.

It was right to let him make the final decision so that a fight wouldn’t break out.

The Leader checked all the party members’ faces and then swept his hair back.

“Fine. To escape the dungeon, we will secure the exit first.”

I couldn’t hide my expression, which brightened on its own.

The Tanker and Mage saw my face and then looked away, pretending they hadn’t.

Ah, I know I’m funny. I know.

“Healer-nim.”

I jerked my head up at the sound of the Leader calling me.

“Use that skill from earlier to tie up the Skeletons’ feet as much as possible.”

“Yes!”

“Tanker-nim, please block the Dullahan’s attacks with me, even if just for a moment. The goal is to push it away from the exit, even just a little.”

“Sure.”

“Mage-nim, if we succeed, take the opening and clear the path to the exit. Concentrate all your firepower to break through the center.”

The Leader looked at the Melee Dealer.

He seemed to be gauging whether or not he could give him instructions.

As the healing continued, his wound was slowly closing, but that was only enough to keep him from dying immediately.

“I’ll help keep the Dullahan in check with you two. I just need to handle the remaining Skeletons in the path after the Mage-nim’s attack, right?”

As if noticing the Leader’s hesitation, the Melee Dealer spat out blood-mixed saliva and raised his sword.

The Leader gave the Melee Dealer an okay sign and then held his shield properly.

“Let’s go!”

The Leader, Tanker, and Melee Dealer ran out together. Taking that as the signal, I immediately touched the ground.

“Flower Spirits, please hold the enemies down!”

There was no time to even whisper quietly.

As I shouted the activation command vigorously, plants rose from the ground with a faint light.

And following my instructions, they grabbed the ankles of the Skeletons and the Dullahan.

They wrapped around the empty bones, holding them tight, and dirtied the ground beneath their feet, making their movement uncomfortable.

Even when the plants were cut or broken, they rose anew and kept holding onto the Skeletons.

There was only one opponent this didn’t work on: the Dullahan.

The Dullahan trampled them as if it didn’t even feel the grass, swinging its sword toward the Tanker.

The Tanker deflected the sword upward with his shield, creating an opening for the Melee Dealer.

However, the Melee Dealer was sluggish due to his injury and couldn’t properly exploit that opening.

Instead, it was faster for the Leader to shove his shield into that gap and strike the Dullahan.

Bang!!

The Dullahan’s armor and shield collided, and something like an explosion erupted.

With that impact, the Dullahan’s body was pushed far back, and the Leader’s shield shattered into pieces.

It was exactly as the initial goal.

The Mage raised his hand high. Flames flickered around him, distorting the air.

“Oh flames, overflow!”

Flames rose and covered the Skeletons like a wave.

The Skeletons and plants just touched the fire, but they were instantly consumed by the flames and disappeared without leaving even bones behind.

That was a state where even if a core remained, regeneration was out of the question.

“The path is clear! Securing the exit!”

The Mage shouted that, grabbed my hand, and ran along the path where the flames had passed.

Since the distance to the exit was short, the Mage and I pushed aside the Skeletons and easily secured the exit.

“Exit secured! We did it!”

At my shout, the party members who were dealing with the Dullahan pulled back.

Clang—

The Dullahan pursued the party members pulling back and swung its sword.

The Tanker stopped retreating and blocked that attack.

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

It was a surprisingly swift movement.

However, even that movement was insufficient to pierce the Dullahan’s armor.

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

Ggugeugeuk— Kkiik—

The Tanker’s shield crumpled in the Dullahan’s hands.

The Tanker hurriedly pulled his hands off the shield and backed away.

The Dullahan didn’t let that opening go and threw the crumpled shield directly at the Melee Dealer.

“Ugh!”

The Melee Dealer hurriedly raised his sword to deflect the shield, but couldn’t completely shake off the impact.

The blood that had barely stopped dripped down in droplets again, dirtying the floor.

The problem was that the injuries were no longer just on him.

While keeping the Dullahan in check, small and large wounds increased on the Tanker and Leader’s bodies as well.

“Hoo, hoo…”

“Ha, those damn Skeletons again.”

The Skeletons started blocking the path again.

“Crazy…”

“We’re gonna die.”

In the end, curses flowed from their mouths as if they were grinding their teeth.

It was understandable, as it wasn’t easy to retreat.

I hurriedly turned my gaze toward the Mage.

“Mage-nim, is there no way to keep the Dullahan in check? If you keep it in check from a distance…!”

“I’m out of mana. I poured all my remaining mana into that skill just now. I need at least a little mana to gather!”

Then the Melee Dealer blocked the front of the Tanker and Leader.

“I’ll deflect it once. Run back.”

The Tanker and Leader opened their eyes wide in surprise, but soon nodded and accepted it.

I didn’t even have a chance to say anything. The two turned and ran toward the exit.

As the Dullahan rushed in to pursue them, the Melee Dealer raised his sword to block the attack.

Of course, he, who wasn’t even a Tanker, couldn’t block the Dullahan’s attack.

The scene of the Melee Dealer’s sword breaking from the Dullahan’s sword strike was visible in slow motion.

Pararak—

It’s strange.

A sound of thin plastic flapping rapidly rang in my ears.

Even though there was no plastic anywhere.

“Gasp…!”

“Healer-nim!”

My hand had somehow grabbed the Melee Dealer’s scruff and was pulling him back.

I don’t even know how I got there. However, the world looked a bit slower.

In the slow world, I caught a glimpse of thin wings flapping right beside me.

It seems I caught the Dullahan’s eye because of that movement.

The Dullahan’s sword flew in, aiming for my neck.

But I had a conviction that it wouldn’t reach me.

Parak.

Along with the plastic sound from behind my back, my body moved diagonally.

Not to the side, but upward.

The Dullahan’s sword grazed past beneath my and the Melee Dealer’s feet.

I heard the voice of a panicked party member from behind.

“What, what skill is that?”

“I thought you were a Healer?”

Twinkle.

The Synchronization Rate shot up by over 30 in an instant.

My actions must have been that stupid.

‘Even so, that’s a bit hurtful. Saving someone and getting treated like an idiot.’

Still, that fulfilled the activation condition for the skill.

“Blooming!”