Chapter 217

Thump. Rumble… a massive creature down below slammed into something, and the force caused the entire room to shake. I checked my clothing one more time. All of us were in our best armor now. Carmine was freely wearing her paladin armor, which seemed shiny even in this dank underground ruin. The only girl who didn’t have much protection was Terra. I walked over to her and put a protective cloak around her.

“Terra, you don’t need to worry about fighting,” I explained. “We will destroy the dragon, okay?”

“I-it’ll destroy you too!” She said, reaching out and grabbing my shirt. “I can’t protect you.”

I smiled and patted her head. “Let us protect you for the moment.”

She was an embodiment of the lore or something like that, yet she was afraid of her own final boss. This was definitely another odd dungeon. Then again, which dungeon had I entered so far that could be considered normal or traditional. It seemed like every curse manifested in a unique way and formed a unique dungeon. Dungeons not only looked different and had different monsters, but they had a kind of personality to them. Each dungeon was absolutely unique.

Terra seemed to melt under my touch, looking quite cute for a moment as she blushed with her head down. However, immediately after, she shot an uncertain look at Carmine. It seemed like she didn’t trust the woman. The others didn’t seem to trust her either. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t wary of her, but cutting her out and trying to defeat the dragon on our own would be impossible. Plus, she was a paladin. The church might be xenophobic. What isekai story didn’t end up revealing a church that favored human beings? That said, they were still inherently good, right?

“Alright… for the last time, here’s the strategy.” I said, finally pulling away from Terra. “Terra will stay back and keep safe. Carmine says she needs to be close to use the control spell, so she’ll be at the forefront. With the highest defense, that’s probably the perfect spot for her. Lydia, use your speed and try to distract the dragon. Don’t do so much damage that his interest changes to you, but keep him from fully focusing on Carmine.

“Miki… your job is to damage the dragon’s spirit. You likely won’t be able to make it afraid or scared by attacking its spirit like you could with people, but you might be able to weaken its control, slowing it down. Celeste, concentrate on its eyes or whatever it sees out of. Try to blind it so that it can’t fight back effectively. As for me… I’ll be keeping everyone healthy…”

When I put it that way, I suddenly felt pretty awkward. I was the support class. I kept everyone’s health up. I’d be using group heal, heal, and keeping an eye on the status. However, when I thought about my role next to anyone else, it felt really inadequate. None of the girls seemed to be judging me though, as they all nodded in acceptance. It was looking like I was the only one who felt my role was a bit weak. I suppose it was fine then.

“Alright,” I said, nodding to everyone. “Let’s finish this.”