"Support me."
Fixing her grip on the sword, Luna spoke.
Their attention had never once left the big Arcane Card, yet with every single attack they made, they kept slaughtering the monsters.
There was something strange here, and they could all feel it. Yet, it's not like they had any other choice.
"Support? Don't worry, I won't be holding you back!"
Rebutting Luna, Aurum sent the Giant tusked boar to bulldoze a horde of monsters.
"Guooo—!"
Not a small amount of monsters were killed with this one attack, and a smug smile appeared on Aurum's face.
But before they could celebrate, the big Arcane Card had finally moved.
A jet-black aura hurled towards them like miasma from hell. But a single streak of flame annihilated it.
Just like the other, Alice was also a possession type. But rather than the melee type, she focused more on range attack and could support the team by firing elemental attacks from the back rows.
Alice's firebolt then flew through the air. The arrow broke the piercing aura and went to pierce through the big Arcane Card's shoulder.
Luna didn't miss this opportunity. Taking the opportunity given by Alice, she leaped and cut down diagonally with her sword.
This attack should have been pretty fatal.
Yet, when the sword hit the big Arcane Card's body, Luna felt like she was hitting a big iron.
Her hand was numb from the aftereffect of the impact, and she instinctively felt something was wrong.
" Luna, quickly get away from there!"
Alice screamed, but Luna was a tad too late.
The Big Arcane Card's fist was raised, and immediately it hammered toward the place where Luna was currently standing.
*BOOM!!!!!*
. . . . . . . . .
On Cade's side, he now was no longer with Luna and the others.
Instead, he was currently escorting the survivors outside the building.
He knew the protagonist party should be fine on their own. But even in the game, this event would only end with the perpetrator being able to get away safely, and there were no traces of the perpetrator like he was never even there before.
Therefore, what Cade was trying to do was to find the perpetrator of this incident.
Standing among the midst of survivors, Cade was lost in his own thoughts.
Occasionally he would glance to his left and right and observe the survivors, with his focus being on the man at the very back of the line.
He looked completely ordinary with a white coat of a researcher. Yet for some reason, Cade could not dismiss the uneasiness in his heart when he looked at that person.
He had short black hair and almost dead-fish eyes. But when his eyes met Cade's, the smile that appeared on his face was as if saying, 'When are you going to make a move?'
Looking at him, Cade couldn't help but look at him in confusion.
…should he make a move or not?
Cade was busy considering things when Grigory's voice appeared out of thin air.
' A bit undecided, I see. Kid.. Do you know what they say? Even when there's a 99% chance of something being false, what matter is the 1% probability of that the thing being true.'
-Thud! -Thud! -Thud!
Immediately after Grigory said those words, one after another the researchers started falling to the ground.
Only here did Cade realize his grave mistake.
He wanted to guide the researchers and, if possible, ambush the perpetrator that hid among the researchers.
Yet, now the mantis had been caught by the cicada. The hunter has become the hunted.
Cade instinctively tried to summon his Arcane Card, but a wave of vertigo caused him to stumble a bit.
. . . . . . . . . .
BOOMMMM!!!!
" Luna!!!"
At Luna and the other's side, the entire place was filled with dust and debris as the punch was about to demolish everything entirely.
Both Aurum and Alice were looking in Luna's direction with worried expressions.
Heck, Aurum even began to tremble a bit.
For him, who had never had any friends before, the existence of Luna and Eva was like his closest relative.
So when he saw Luna was about to be injured by the Big Arcane Card, something inside him clicked, and he felt a burning sensation throughout his body.
Unconsciously, the tusked boar Arcane Card was recalled by him, and slowly but sure, a red aura began to spread all over his body, enveloping him.
But in this current situation. No one was careful enough to see the change in Aurum.
Just now, Aurum, Alice, and Eva have felt the strength of the Big Arcane Card, and even if it wouldn't kill Luna in one attack, it would still heavily injure Luna.
The three looked at each other and immediately rushed as they tried to help Luna out of her predicament.
But when they reached there, and the dust surrounding the place was finally removed, they were greeted by something shocking.
Luna, she stood there unharmed by the attack, and right in front of her was something like a humongous phoenix standing full of majestic blocking the attack of Big Arcane Card with ease.
" You guys, don't worry! I am here now!"
A voice came from the side which brought a huge relief to Aurum, Eva, and the others.
. . . . . . . .
Looking around, one by one, the researchers fell to the ground unconscious.
"Damn it!"
Gnashing his teeth, Cade tried his best to combat the drug effects.
It was indeed a blunder on his part.
Originally, his plan was to apprehend the perpetrator behind this and at least gain some info about the plan, but who knew that he would actually be the one targeted instead.
Although the drug was not that strong, continuous exposure to the drugs could still pose a hazard to his body.
The researchers were quickly affected because they were not that strong in physique, but Cade, still had a few times until the drugs fully took effect.
Not going to waste time, he quickly took off his clothes and made a temporary mask.
...but even so, he didn't know how long she could remain conscious. Time was ticking, and he could only try her best to not fall until reinforcement came.
As standing not too far from him, the perpetrator was actually smiling as he look at the struggling Cade.