Chapter Seventy-SixLen kicked his zy spirit bond awake. [Astral Projection] let his mind shoot up and out to get a bird's eye view. It was time to use his profession’s skills in a way they were not designed to. Harmony’s letters, cherished as always, helped build this technique. [Research], [Spot Mistake], and [Grade] looked at and evaluated the incoming situation. This is not when you want to give an opposing team high marks, but what he saw from the attackers showed a disciplined and experienced group of units. Four teams of five. Probably used the dungeon as a training tool with that kind of composition.

  They needed the power of Rose’s new spirit. Dropping back into his body. [Consecutive Cast] of [Shield] which he channeled through the spell stitching on his robe settled eight yers with an add-on of [Spell Perminance] over Rose and the Butler. Who knows how fragile the bonding process could be.

  Hazgul, I count twenty attackers incoming, what do you see?

  Attackers? I thought you living were always the best of friends. It’s twenty-five, you missed the all-stealth unit, they’re slower so they’re a few seconds behind the others.

  “Twenty-five incoming. Five teams of five, one all stealth, they're coming from different sides to prevent escape,” Len informed the others.

  Harmony forced Chronostasis to give her time to think. If they just stand around fighting in proximity to Rose and Hargreaves that would probably be enough to disrupt the bonding, never mind that they’ll get overwhelmed. With Hyacinth, she could get there fast, and Adric had Bowe. They have to go out there. She shut down the effect.

  “Adric and I will bring the fight to them. Decide how best to protect the princess.” Hand on Hyacinth, the pair of them slipped into the shadows.

  Without anything like the ability to travel through shadows, Adric mounted Bowe as a different kind of ambusher. The kind you saw coming, but couldn’t escape. [Primal Cooperation] allowed him to use his skills with Bowe as they flew, and no matter the acrobatics of a move [Two as One], his evolved riding skill would keep them together. [Dash] and [Stamina Engine] kicked in [Dash] again.

  In this case, the obscurement casting will be helpful. As with against silence, he’d trained under such effects because of how commonly they are used by assassins. [Acute Danger Sense] warned of the incoming spell. Being a prince allowed you to be spoiled with skill stone options, this one gave a little more information than the common off-the-shelf version. Homing spells, three of them, difficult to [Parry] but his princely skill [Simple Solution] had a better idea.

  With a twist, Bowe corkscrewed around the spells and they twisted back to chase him. Bowe’s jaws and a [Swift Strike] hit the first faceless ambusher of the party, dragging the man away, and with one simple shift, they pced another directly in the path of the chasing spells. Adric could feel that source of danger fade away.

  Whoever they were peeling away from the group was a sturdy fellow, His shoulder to his main weapon hand was restricted by Bowe’s jaws, but the other fist was pounding down, trying to get the coatl to release him. Adric gave the man a [Charming Smile], and even though both were blurs to each other, Adric’s practice under this effect knew it would work, more than work as it would have added confusion. In that time, the prince deftly cmbered forward on his pet’s back, knowing his skills would keep him from falling off, sword ready to finish off the man pinned mid-air between Bowe’s mighty teeth.

  Dropping the body, it was time to turn back and get another one. Even with one less, it will be harder as they’ll be expecting it. Adric grimly weighed his options as they sped back.

  Hyacinth spit out the body of the attacker they'd ripped away from a group. No telling how the person’s items could give him an upset stomach when he needed to fight. They figured the one at the back would be most susceptible to [Final Silence], and there was no point in allowing your prey to have a chance to win.

  Harmony's silence won’t be up for the next ambush. Nasty human skills, the toad reflected on the time in the alley when an ambusher had burnt the roof of his mouth, and then he had to beg Bates for one of those nasty-tasting potions to fix it. With the goal being to slow these folks down, it was time to hit a different group. If they were all wary of ambushes, that should give the others time to prepare as they questioned how to proceed.

  Hyacinth chuckled, for he knew who to strike next. No matter how stealthy you thought you were. Prey was prey, and his senses would get them even when they thought they were safely hidden. That was when they expected it the least.

  “You sure?” Harmony asked.

  “Grupt.” And they were off.

  Jessica grasped the anger of her css, letting rage rather than despair fuel the sunfire berserker's energy. Harmony would run off to be a hero like she was the only one who could save the day. It’s not like she could show off this close, going full bst could toast the wizard’s defensive work. Time to move out, but before that, she used her priestess skill[Kind Embrace] on Len to let him recharge quickly.

  “Lord Tyler, I’m going out to help keep space between them and you.”

  As a Tank, if his goal was to protect Rose he needed to be close. “Uh, of course,” Tyler answered.

  “I’ll cover the other side the same way,” Max added.

  Maybe the former Knight’s new skills have more of a range component? The way he always teased Tyler was annoying, and that strange connection to Harmony.

  “Go,” Jessica told him.

  Jessica moved out. One against five or more, stupid, stupid, stupid. [Unexpected Guests] The maid skill gave her the warning she needed about the attacker's approach. [Fire Shield] flickered on, and she reached out with a [Fire Lance] as a proper greeting for such an interruption.

  They need time. Thorne will come through, she had to. The quickest of the faceless attackers moved to bypass the berzerker. No more hiding in the shadows. No more being ignored. [Punish], the priestess spell hit the man, sending him tumbling to his knees. It did a little bit of everything, slow, interrupt concentration, and damage.

  That got their attention. The spell that hit her froze her in pce. Two swooped in while two more pushed past. [Stubborn Fortitude] broke the stun. A fist came at her head, and a kick came at her chest. Coodly Manor hadn’t been her only job. Some employers liked to get rough. You had to learn to take or avoid a hit. [Charming Turn] wasn’t meant to be a dodge, but she’d used it enough times that way anyway. [Sp] might be part of the dirty dozen of skill stones, no damage, and not even a real fighting technique, but was fast and easy to get in first. Sometimes. that was enough to buy you a second to run, but for her [Burning Hands] burst to life, her palms now glowing with heat and retribution.

  Jessica leaned into her anger more triggering [Mana Rage]. Someone had to come help. She only needed to buy time. She’d dodged the fist, but the kick made a rib snap. Pain-fueled anger gave an extra burst to her evolved skill. These two were close enough for it. [Raging Sunburst]. She turned herself into a mini-sun while the attackers were within her corona.

  Max didn’t know if the fsh of light that lit up the forest was good or bad. He was too busy tackling his own faceless trio, even going so far as letting Saccerate out of her cage, but not her chains. As long as he kept skin contact with one of the girls attacking him the chaos spirit was in control of that other person’s body. So, he gripped his hands as tightly as possible while his mad partner ughed through the woman's body.

  “Come on dies, there is enough of me to go around to share.” He joked while delivering a [Power Strike] to keep one at bay with his free hand. With his scribe’s skill [Social Connections] he could sense these women cared about each other, no matter the situation that led to them joining in on this ambush. That hesitancy to hurt their friend was helping buy time.

  Saccerate didn’t have that same love and threw her new body in the way of attacks as much as she could as a human sacrificial meat wall.

  Time was more important than putting himself in danger to be able to activate his trump card. [Time management] Informed him he had some more before he needed to up his aggression, even as a random skill sent a burning shock through his system, tasting blood. “Normally, I have to pay extra for pain.”

  Lord Tyler stuffed his fear deep inside. All of Thorne’s training demonstrated that he wasn’t the fighter that the others were. Why did he have to get roped into this Ascendant Games business? He’d rather collect unique and rare items than experiences. As much as it hurt to lose his extremely rare undead servant scroll, he was gd the creepy butler hadn’t chosen him.

  The sounds of fighting caused him to flinch. They would be here soon. His worries came to life as four ranged attacks streaked in, a mana bolt, a fireball, an ice spike, and an arrow. They were all aimed at Rose. What had the princess done? [Redirection] The attacks banked sharply, and with a grunt, Tyler bore their impact on the heaviest parts of his armor.

  With the second volley incoming, Tyler triggered [Sacrificing Future] on [Redirection]. Only one other skill stone of [Sacrificing Future] existed, and Tyler owned it. With only two records of it being used in the Book of Skills, it had been one of the rarest non-unique skill stones he had. How many days [Redirection] will be made useless by applying the boosting effect depended on how much he needed the skill to redirect range attacks to himself, but for today, none would get past him.

  Six attackers, their faces obscured, rushed forward, weapons in their hands. “Burn me,” Tyler muttered.

  Len’s fireball shot past his shoulder toward them, but they needed more time. The wizards' next spell rose up above them, a simple fir. The signal was sent. To protect Rose, they needed to regroup, if they even had time for that.