14 The Hero and her Support

"Right on time, Dai-kun."

Yuko, not minding the 10 Great-class attacking her, beamed a smile towards me. It's too beautiful that I became dumbstruck for a few seconds.

"I never knew Hero could smile like that."

Zerina muttered at my side.

Was it that surprising? Did Yuko seldom smile here?

"An ant has come to my backyard. This humiliation!"

The Priest shouted in indignation. He glared at me and pointed his finger. And then the color white filled my vision. There was no indication, just that gesture. 

I stood rooted at the spot. Even if I knew what's coming, I couldn't move. Is this fear? No. I'm just too slow to react. Even with my high clarity, my body couldn't keep up

I don't know how long I stayed in that moment but I only recovered when I felt the cold ground touching my back and a weight was put on top of me

Someone pushed me down to the ground. Zerina?

I looked down and there she was.

"You idiot! Why didn't you move?!"

Zerina shouted, her shoulder bleeding profusely. I could see a hole on it where the attack from that Priest's finger landed. It didn't pass through her body but still the wound looks horrible. That's how strong a casual attack from that Priest is.

Ah. She saved me and in turn she got wounded. What the hell am I doing?

"Dai-kun!"

Yuko's worried shout rang out from a distance.

Then sounds of bodies dropping to the ground filled my ears.

I turned my head and saw Yuko running towards me. The 10 Great-class attacking her were all sent to the ground, reeling in pain. She probably used a Spell or a Skill. All this time she's only using her Foresight to conserve her World Energy reserves but seeing what happened she stopped holding back.

"I didn't see this with my ability. I'm sorry."

She's apologizing to me. Why? This is my fault, not hers.

With tears in her eyes, Yuko pulled out the same potion Zerina had me drink earlier. She passed it to me before she turned her body back to her battlefield.

Her saber shined and with a slash it sent an energy based attack to the approaching enemies. One unlucky Great-class got hit by it and was cut in half. The others halted their steps before looking back to the Priest who's still fuming in anger. Maybe because I didn't die from his attack or Yuko killing one of his subordinates.

I opened the bottle and helped Zerina drink it. With that amount of bleeding, she's starting to lose consciousness. After a while, her wound closed by itself, taking her away from danger.

"I'm sorry. You had to protect me like this."

"I-idiot. I pledged to assist you. Saving you was included in that."

This girl. Now I really hate that I'm currently this powerless. A simple finger attack and I could easily die. If not for Zerina, this useless Support Character would've already ceased to exist.

What huge potential? Bullshit! I'm weak. Uselessly weak.

I bravely come here only to become a burden. Not only did it make Yuko cry, it even made Zerina hurt.

"Don't beat yourself to it Dai-kun. I'll finish this properly. You just have to support me, right?"

Yuko. She's even trying to cheer me up. Ah. I'm kind of pathetic right now. I shouldn't wallow in despair because of this powerlessness. Yuko trusted me. I should just do what I could at the moment.

"Zerina, thank you. You should retreat for now. I'll be supporting Yuko."

"Huh? You couldn't even dodge. What can you do?"

Even when she's still enduring the pain from her wound, Zerina still worried about me. How should I thank her later? Ah. Right. I'll recommend her to Yuko. It will make her stronger and maybe this City will become better off because of her.

"I'm her Support. Of course I'll do some supporting."

"Idiot. Here, take this. You're the same as the Hero, right? Then your system is probably special as well. I don't have anything with me but this Skill Book. This is originally my mother's. Use it if you can."

Zerina took out a Skill Book, it's a bit worn out and different from the Skill Books Caila showed me.

She guessed it right, my system is special. Maybe she already had that suspicion when she found out that I can use the Orb without limits.

"Thank you. Don't worry. I still have my pledge to you. Wait for us. Yuko is invincible after all."

I took the Skill Book from her and it immediately triggered a system message.

[Ding! Detected a Level 1 Special Skill Book]

[Imprint Level 1 Energy Shield?]

Eh? This. Energy Shield? Special Skill Book? So this is not a normal one.

My Adaptability immediately worked and conveyed to my mind how the skill works and how special it is.

This one. If I could explain it simply. This is the same as that Mana Shield you saw from a certain MOBA game back on Earth. The skill will envelop me with World Energy that could reduce the amount of damage I will receive. The skill depended on one's World Energy reserves and since mine is somehow unlimited, this Skill will always be active.

And since this is a special skill. It can level up to increase the percentage of how much damage it can negate. However, it still conforms to one's system. Even if I filled up the experience needed if my system hadn't upgraded yet, it will stay at Level 1.

Another thing to note, the scroll will turn to ashes once I imprinted it, this special book has a limit on how many can imprint it. Zerina probably imprinted this Skill and that made her withstand that attack from the Priest.

Is it fine for me to use this? Isn't this better suited for Yuko?

But Zerina gave this to me with sincerity. She knew the Skill Book would turn to ashes if I successfully imprinted it.

Alright. I'll use this. Yuko will probably say the same. At least with this, I could negate some of the damage, I should just get better at dodging.

"Yes!"

[Imprinted Level 1 Energy Shield]

As soon as that system message rang out. I could feel the World Energy which started enveloping my whole body. It's not visible to the eye because of how thin it is but yeah, this could probably block a bullet from a pistol. The force won't be negated so it will still hurt. Ah. This is like an invisible bulletproof vest.

Well, if that Priest tries to attack me again. For sure, I'll drop dead even with this Energy Shield. I better stay out of his sight.

"So you really can imprint it. Well then. Stay alive, Daisuke."

Zerina watched how the Skill Book turned to ashes after I imprinted it.

"I won't die here. I still have to support Yuko, right? And then there's you, I will complete that pledge."

"You. Get stronger soon! I want to see more of you..."

Zerina silently moved away after leaving those words. This girl, did she also started to have an affection towards me? That blush and that hopeful look from her...

I watched her slowly get away from where we are. To where she will hide, I don't know. Maybe she just needed to recover some World Energy before she could get back into the battlefield. That Princess also needed some help. But first, Yuko. She's the reason why I was sent here.

"Dai-kun, I heard that."

"What did you hear?"

Ah. Did she hear what Zerina said?

I guess I didn't think that the words I said to her earlier will suddenly turn to her gaining an affection towards me. She's beautiful, yes but I'm still not sure what I think of Yuko, if Zerina was added...

I'm probably digging my own grave here. But my top priority is still supporting Yuko in this world. That will not change.

"That girl, she clearly likes you. I don't care about the other details. So, Dai-kun. Do what you did before. I won't order you since we're equals."

Now I'm conflicted. She really heard it but she can still stay positive like that. Ah. I'm engaged to her so her position was higher than Zerina.

Err... let's stop thinking about it for now and do what I have to do.

Yuko jumped back into the midst of the remaining 9 Great-class. Since her Psyche Energy recovered, it became easier for her to respond to their attacks now.

Looking at that. The Priest finally couldn't hold back. Right after Yuko kicked one of the Great-class away, He jumped at that gap.

I saw that and sent an Air Bullet towards him. It will not damage him but that's enough to disrupt his momentum. 

Yuko was smiling when she saw that. She moved to the side and easily dodged what the Priest casted. Looks like he's a Great Wizard but because of the boost he got from being corrupted, he's approaching Master-class. Which allowed him to defeat that Great Knight from what Zerina told me.

After dodging, Yuko used some kind of Skill to appear behind one of the Great-class Dark Soldiers. This one is always at the back throwing attacks at her.

Her saber shined and stabbed the back of that Great-class. One stab turned to ten in an instant. He dropped dead before even uttering out a pained howl. That's probably another skill of hers.

This girl is truly amazing.

That happened so fast that her enemies had just recovered from her vanishing from their sight.

The Priest gnashed his teeth and tried to send another spell towards her.

But yeah. I'm here. Aiming an Air Bullet to his wrist. His aim changed slightly.

This time his eyes turned towards me again. Fury apparent on it. Before he could attack me, Yuko was already charging at him.

"One of you! Kill that ant first!"

He shouted and the Great-class nearest to me turned his body and charged to my position.

On his way though, a fire type spell shoot towards him. It came from Yuko again. The attack made him tumble on the ground which gave me the chance to widen our gap.

That girl. She probably used her Foresight and saw the danger that guy will bring me.

She will need another refresh soon. The Orb still needs about 5 minutes before I can use it again so I have no choice but to constantly move around the area while Yuko starts fighting aggressively.

Before we arrived, since she's minding the use of her Ability, she fought them defensively. Now that I'm here she started killing them one by one.

If only I'm stronger, I could take half her burden but yeah, for now it will be like this. Me just watching and being saved by her occasionally.

It didn't take long before another Great-class fell from her saber.

The Priest, even with the boost from being corrupted, was still no match for her. She's purposely only pushing him back which gave her the space to kill his subordinates one by one.

My Air Bullets also provide some assistance. I always time it for when Yuko couldn't dodge in time.

After 2 minutes, Yuko's Psyche Energy is about to be exhausted again.

Using Flash Step, I left behind the still chasing Great-class.

He was always hindered by Yuko's Level 1 spells so he never had the chance to catch me who's like a cat jumping and running all around.

I shot another Psyche Boost towards Yuko. She threw me a smile again and a Blessing flew from her towards me. Looks like she's also waiting for me to be in her range.

She's the Hero, she can imprint 5 of each Skills, Spells and Blessings. This is not surprising.

[Received Blessing of Haste: Speed +30% for 5 minutes]

Now I could escape the Great-class easily.

Throwing another Air Bullet towards that guy. I left the vicinity of Yuko's battlefield.

Now the Great-class was down to four and the Priest is already too red from anger.

He stopped shouting and just raged over attacking Yuko.

But she never took him seriously. She was always ready to push him away. And in that pattern with my well-timed Air Bullets, Yuko finally defeated the 9 Great-class.

The guy chasing me stopped as well, for the first time, he felt fear.

They thought they could corner the Hero earlier but turns out, she's just buying for time.

With the dead bodies of the 9 Great-class, Yuko stood there like a lonely warrior in the middle of a great battlefield.

I am in awe.

Since the guy chasing me stopped. I also stopped moving and watched her. Plus from all the running I did, I'm already tired. My stats were still meager compared to Yuko. If it continued, even with her assistance, I will be caught soon.

"Now. There's only the two of you. Won't you use that thing you got from them, Corrupted Priest?"

"To think that I will be pushed to use this. You will regret this Hero. You shouldn't have meddled . You have no way of stopping the fate of this world. You don't know how strong they are. Great-class? Master-class? They're just grunts compared to the real fighting force of that world."

"I know. But they're not here, right? It means they can't come here. They can only watch how we push their forces away."

"That's where you're wrong, Hero. They can descend."

The Priest then took out a spherical object. He broke it to the ground and a black smoke appeared in its place. The smoke then crawled slowly towards his body. And with a hoarse voice, he shouted.

"Oh Great One. Use this body of mine as a vessel! Descend to this World and wreak havoc!"

Once the smoke enveloped his body, it started to burn him until his ashes dropped down to the ground.

He neither shouted nor cried in pain but after the fire subsided what took his place is a black giant silhouette. It doesn't have a real body. It only consisted of that smoke that enveloped the Priest.

Just from looking at him, my knees already started to tremble.

I looked at Yuko and her face also turned from calm to seriousness, the way she gripped her saber tightened.

Will she be fine? Will we be fine?

I already had the urge to grab Yuko's hand and run away from this place.

What to do?