Triple resonance with Resonance Ignition. That was Kai’s ticket out of this desperate situation. If she can correctly place three Magia Orbs and blow them up with StormMonster in the center - she should be able to get a kill! But, was that actually doable?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let’s do it! Kai summoned the first Magia Orb. She didn’t bother aiming at the Lancer himself, since the guy was constantly on the move. Instead, Kai placed the orb in a good spot for the triple resonance setup.

To create a triple resonance, the Magia Orbs had to be positioned close enough to each other for their explosions to overlap. However, if placed too closely, the overlap area would be extremely small. It’d be difficult to lure StormMonster into such a tiny area.

Therefore, the orbs had to be spaced out just enough. It should also make it harder for StormMonster to notice her plan. By the time he notices, it’d be too late!

But first, I have to actually survive to that point. Kai gulped. She was already at 30% HP, and every time she used Magia Orb, the skill went on a three seconds cooldown. In other words, she had to survive for over six more seconds. A short duration most of the time, but almost an eternity in this critical situation.

Gotta keep running around. Kai moved from side to side in zigzags. She couldn’t let the Lancer land any free hits on her.

StormMonster needed about 3 to 4 more hits to kill her, so 6 seconds were more than enough for him to seal the deal. As such, Kai couldn’t rest her fingers for even a moment.

Calm down. I can predict his movements to some extent. Kai took a deep breath.

StormMonster was moving all over the place rather hectically, but there was some consistency to his chaos. If I can pin these down, I can juke at least half his attacks!

WHISH. A lance jumped straight at her, but it only pierced through empty air.

“Geh, again!?” Nash ranted. His lance hit nothing once more. “Not gonna lie, all this dodging is starting to get on my nerves.”

Every time, just as Nash started thrusting his lance, the damn Sorcerer moved aside by a few centimeters. And, at least half the time, the small sidestep was more than enough to juke the entire attack. What a damn pain.

Am I rushing too much? C’mon, relax, man. She’s already cornered. I can take my time getting closer before I strike. I mean, it’s clear she’s just buying time until help arrives. She ain’t even trying to fight back.

This was similar to that fight Nash had against LegendaryMemer. Except, Memer did a much better job of making the situation look like a legit fight. Bruh at least retaliated every now and then while running in circles.

But, Beat? This girl ain’t doing squat on the offense. She was just maintaining a distance between them and dodging some of Nash’s attacks in a timely fashion. It was the most obvious stalling attempt ever.

Beat had no intention of actually fighting Nash, it was clear as day. She was just waiting for somebody to rescue her like a princess.

So, c’mon. Nash urged himself. I just gotta treat her like prey that’s trying to slip away. She’s not an opponent I’m fighting. Nah, she’s just a weak little prey and I gonna hunt her down!

“Chase Mode” activated! Numerous engines ignited in his body, granting him the power to crush any fleeing prey like a bug. He was a horror monster, a terror incarnate who was born for the sole purpose of hunting down prey!

CREAK. CRACK. CROOK. His engines died out as soon as they started. Nash lost the surge of power he just experienced.

Huh? The hell is up with that? He frowned. Something was off. It should’ve worked. I don’t get it.

Beat was trying to stall for time, that was clear as day. She was nothing more than a cornered prey trying her best to flee the scene. She had zero intention to fight or retaliate against Nash.

And yet, Nash couldn’t quite finish her off. This zigzagging chick kept sliding past his attacks time and again. He only landed a hit once every three attempts.

Shouldn’t I be better than this when I’m the “monster”? Nash had no idea what was going on.

How could a prey like Beat stand up to the monster? Puny humans were not meant to survive this long in horror movies. As soon as the monster showed up, they should all become hella dead. That was the natural order of things.

Well, I guess they DO sometimes win against the monster in the end. Nash had to concede on that one. But, that ain’t happening in MY movie. He gonna remain as the scary monster until the very end. There was no happy ending for the prey in his script.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

So c’mon! Hit her! Nash thrust his spear again. This time, it connected. “Yes! Almost there!”

Beat was already down to 20% HP. Nash needed like two more hits to finish her off. He gonna end this in a jiffy! Ezpz! Finishing off an injured prey was no sweat for a monster like him.

WHISH. The next thurst. It was a prelude to his victory!

He even played it safe this time. Instead of attacking as soon as he got Beat within range, he kept her on her toes by getting closer first. Then, he thrust the lance right in her face! The timing and distance were both perfect.

Try to sidestep this, bitch! Nash grinned. There was no way Beat could dodge this point-blank attack!

But, she did. Not with a sidestep, but with Dodge Roll.

Damn, would you die already!? Nash ranted as he chased the rolling prey. By the time that elusive bitch recovers from the roll, Nash will already be in a position to strike her again. Ez!

WHISH! He thrust his spear. It went right through the enemy’s back!

That’s it. One more hit and it’ll be a done deal. Finally, he almost got her...!

This was the last part of this overdue chasing session. All his senses were 100% focused on his prey, and that’s why he didn’t notice...

Got you! Kai successfully lured the enemy into her trap by making the guy chase her roll.

The three Magia Orbs were already set in place, forming a triangle around StormMonster. It seemed like he hasn’t even registered their existence yet.

It’s time! Kai activated Resonance Ignition!

The casting animation was very basic, but very satisfying at the same time. The Sorcerer merely snapped her fingers. Yes, that’s all. A simple, little snap. And yet, this one snap held the power to erase over half of a bruiser’s HP.

“Huh?” Nash saw the Sorcerer snapping her fingers for some reason, but his brain failed to register the meaning of that action at first. What was this girl snapping for? Which Magia Orbs was she planning to blow up?

Actually, she placed a couple of these earlier, right? Nash checked around him, and that’s when it hit him. “OH SHIIIIIIIIIII-” BAAAAAM! The Magia Orbs exploded simultaneously!

Three magical explosions erupted and converged in the center, right where Nash was standing! It was a triple resonance!

B-But, I’ll survive, right? I mean, I got tons of HP... Nash sweated bullets. Math wasn’t his strong suit, so he had no idea how much damage to expect. All he knew was that this ult was bad news! This shit always dealt a broken amount of damage!

No problem. I’ll make it through. I just gotta land one more hit on her! Nash thrust his spear once more. There was no escaping from the huge explosion either way, so he just had to go for the head while he still had the chance. If he lands this hit, he’ll get the kill...!

Alas, it was too late. The three explosions converged on him. The triple resonance erased him from existence.

“You gotta be shittin’ me...” Nash laughed in denial. What was this bullshit? He had 60% HP just a moment ago, healthy as a horse. And yet, that ult did him in. Yeah, just like that, in a matter of a second. Just how much freakin’ damage did that broken ass spell did!?

The damage was just barely enough to erase all his HP, but those who knew math could estimate it well enough.

Phew. Kai sighed in relief. Looks like my quick math was on point.

The exact damage of the resonance was a little tricky to calculate. The biggest unknown was how much damage a single explosion would deal, and the rest of the math relied on this crucial piece of information.

That’s where Kai had to trust her honed intuition. She assumed that a single explosion of Resonance Ignition would take about 7% of the Lancer’s HP. It seemed like a realistic assumption since the damage of a single explosion wasn’t that amazing.

A resonance of two explosions made each explosion deal double damage. In other words, quadruple damage! 7x4 = 28. That’d already turn the puny 7% into 28%.

But, that wasn’t nearly enough. The Lancer had 60% HP, so the only option was a triple resonance. How much damage would that be?

Triple resonance meant triple damage for each explosion. In other words, it amplified the total damage nine times over! 7x9 = 63.

It was worth memorizing the multiplication table they teach in school just for this. Kai chuckled.

Though it was a joke, knowing the multiplication table was literally what allowed her to come up with all these numbers on the spot. That’s how she figured that max damage might be enough to delete 63% of StormMonster’s HP, which was higher than his remaining 60%. Without that certainty, she probably couldn’t have convinced herself to gamble on such a difficult play.

And, it all actually worked out. Kai won! She toppled StormMonster with her own two hands!

But, it was too early to celebrate. An uninvited guest arrived on the scene and ruined the party. It was Laplace, the enemy Cleric.!

“N-No way...!” Kai choked. When did that guy come here? Why was he here!? “No. T-That can’t be... No!”

But, words alone weren’t going to stop the Cleric from doing his thing. He cast Arise without asking for anybody’s permission.

“Stop...” Kai trembled. She finally achieved her first victory in this game, she finally saw the light at the end of this dark tunnel! But, this Cleric was going to take that small ray of hope and crush it in front of her eyes. He was going to cast Kai back into the endless darkness.

StormMonster was about to get back on his feet. And, this time, he’ll finish the job. He’ll execute Kai without batting an eye. And, yet again, Kai will prove to be nothing but a liability for the team. She’ll go down in history as a weak player who could do nothing for the team except for dying left and right. She was the very definition of trash.

The white magic of revival enveloped StromMonster’s ashes. It was healing magic of the highest degree, so potent it could even restore a body that has completely vanished, so long as traces of the soul remained behind.

No matter how strong the explosions of Resonance Ignition were, they couldn’t fully delete StormMonster from the game. As such, Arise had no problem salvaging StormMonster from the dead and summoning him in front of Kai once more.

The monster was about to return. And, once he does, he’ll deliver swift revenge. It was a dead end.

Kai struggled until the bitter end to get this far, but it was all futile. Until the very end, she couldn’t achieve anything in this game...