“Baldy, is that a Titan? What the hell’s my sister thinking, sending one of those after us!?”

Titans are one of the high-tier units. Just their size is enough for anyone to know how powerful they are.

“No, it isn’t,” explains Ricard, shouting so I can hear him. “Look closely. Don’t you see something that looks like wings on its back? It must be some tier of angel, but extremely enlarged.”

“Oh…! Now that you mention it, I can see something white on its back.”

Why did Marta use an angel here? Even in this large room, with enough room for Pegassi to freely fly around, it can’t even fully open its wings. Unless… she just wanted to make us panic? If that was her goal, she succeeded.

But even if this isn’t an actual Titan, I’m sure Marta buffed it quite a lot. I don’t think Clara can stop it for long.

“Lily, think faster!” I pressure her. “We must get out of here before Lemon is defeated.”

“I know, I know… but it isn’t that easy, you know?”

I’m not an expert when it comes to these kinds of things, but if I’m not wrong, the puzzle to know which is the next platform is drawn on top of the current platform. Then, you need to match it with the possible next pillars, which have similar drawings on the laterals…

Yep, I have no idea how to solve it.

“How many are left?” I ask while scanning our surroundings for the presence of more Pegassi. There are none right now. “Can I help you somehow?”

I don’t think I’ll be of any help, but you never know.

“No, I believe I have this one. This pattern matches the one on the right. Hup!” She jumps on the next platform and lands safely. It doesn’t break and collapse, so she was right. “Yes! Only two remaining.”

“Nice job,” I say, making the jump too. “How long will it take for the next one?”

“Hmm… I don’t know… Huh!? It’s the same as the first one? Then, the answer must be the square with three triangles…” Surprised, Laura scans the three possible pillars we can jump on. “What!? Why are there two of them with the same pattern? It makes no sense.”

“Same pattern?” I observe the two patterns and sure enough, they look the same to me.

“No, there must be something I missed… but what?”

As she analyzes everything again, I take another look around us. Ricard is struggling to keep the Sacred Cats at bay, there are three of them that escaped his control and are now coming to us. I’m sure that soon, more will follow. Also, Clara’s HP is getting dangerously low. One or two strong hits and she’ll die.

One cat comes at me, and I smack it with my staff, sending it flying to the ground below. The other two go at Clara, but they’re stupid and smacked by the colossal angel, who sends them flying.

“Tsk! We can’t go like this… Lily, are you sure it must be one of those two? Are you sure the last one is wrong?”

“Huh, why…?”

“Just answer me.”

“Yes, it must be one of the two. But–”

“Then, just jump on top of one at random.” I interrupt her. “We can make one more error.”

“But… I don’t like to do things this way. Also, what about the last one? I just need a little bit more time to inspect the clues and I’m sure I’ll find the right one.”

“Just do it! We don’t have time! If it comes to it, I’ll take care of the last one.”

“You? Take care–”

“I said jump!” I interrupt her again and gesture to her with my hand. “We have no time! You can use Blink if it breaks, so don’t waste time.”

“Ok…” She reluctantly nods and jumps on the central pillar. “It doesn’t break, then this is the good, Uaaaaah!”

She was sure this was the good one because it didn’t break as soon as she touched it like the previous ones, so she was surprised when it broke. She uses Blink but doesn’t aim properly and misses the platform I’m standing on. Luckily for her, I extend my arm in time and grab her, pulling her back.

We fall to the ground, she’s on top of me.

We stare into each other’s face. Hmm… there’s something soft touching me right now… No, no, we don’t have time for this!

“If this one was wrong, then the other pillar must be the good one, right?” I say, snapping her out of her daze. “Go and start solving the last one.”

“Um, right. I shall go…” She reluctantly stands up, allowing me to follow suit. After sending me another look, she turns around and jumps on the platform. This time, it doesn’t break.

I watch as the third tower lights up. We can’t make any more mistakes now or we’re done for. I have no idea what’ll happen if we make a fourth mistake, but I’m sure Marta has something nasty ready for us. Maybe all the pillars will crumble at the same time, or some attack will wipe us out. The only thing I know for sure is that we’ll all die.

Luckily, since the giant angel appeared, there hasn’t been any more Pegassi appearing, so I can focus on other stuff.

“Alright, only one pillar remaining. As for the rest…” I turn to the other’s situation and start giving orders. “Baldy, come here. We can’t let you stay there anymore!” I shout so that Ricard, who’s blocking the Sacred Cats right next to the first pillar, hears me.

“Ok,” he answers, “but you’ll have to tell me the good path!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“The good path…?” Ah, shit… I don’t remember which platforms are the good ones… I can’t disturb Laura now, I guess I must rely on Clara’s memory. “Lemon, do you remember the good path?”

Clara, who’s fighting the colossal angel in the central part of the pillars, answers me. “Yes, I remember. But I can’t guide him if I’m busy with this.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “I was going to tell you to retreat anyway.” I think the best way to proceed is to get the giant’s aggro. “Lemon, don’t attack it anymore and help Baldy. Chaotic Beam!”

The beam hits the monster right on its head, but it isn’t enough to get its attention. “Another time! Chaotic Beam!” After the second one, it turns its head in my direction. The eyes, emitting golden light, are really intimidating. Then, with heavy steps, it walks in my direction.

Aaah, shit. Am I going to die like this…?

For a moment, my heart stops, and then I remember I’m inside a game and recover my sanity.

From the looks of its wings, this is just an Angel, the weakest of them all. Though… it is a 20-meter one, so it’s certainly not a ‘normal’ one.

An Angel has higher base stats than I do, so we should be in a balanced situation after the Champion’s buff. But I can’t lower my guard because it’s an angel created by Marta, specifically designed to train us.

There’s no way it’s weak.

Also… all angel-like units, from the Angel, the basic one, to the Seraphim, the strongest one, have the same innate skill, called Divine Mark. It’s one of those skills that seem useless until you actually fight against one.

Divine Mark might be the most flat-out broken innate skill in the whole game. And when I say this is because it’s a skill that’s always good, in any situation. Unlike with most other skills, there isn’t a single situation when this skill is bad or useless.

Divine Mark (Passive innate skill) Increase all damage dealt by 10% and reduce all damage taken by 10%.

Yep, you read it right. A flat 10% increase to everything they do, and a 10% reduction to everything against them.

As if the fact they can fly wasn’t broken by itself, they also have the most universally useful innate skill in the entire game.

Fucking devs… why do they favor the Divine Blood faction so much?

Though I won’t complain because, thanks to this fact, once I can start using their units – which are generally stupidly expensive – I’ll be able to have all their perks, and even mix them with others, making my units invincible!

‘…Andreu, maybe you should stop dreaming about the future and refocus on the colossal angel that’s about to smack you…’

What is this!? My conscience…? It’s been a long time since–

‘Focus on the fight!’

Oh, yeah, the fight!

A mace as big as I am is falling, ready to turn me into a pulp. I jump on one of the safe pillars on time, avoiding the attack. The following shockwave makes me shiver.

“Oh my god… how did Lemon survive for so long…? Won’t I be dead as soon as that thing touches me?”

I observe the angel raising the mace again when Laura shouts at me. “Mad Rat, umm… we have another problem here!”

“What problem?” I manage to answer, barely avoiding the following attack.

“It’s the last pillar… This time, the three options look the same. It’ll take some time to solve it…”

What? The three options look the same? Hmm… this does put us in a difficult situation. I guess there’s no other option, it’s time to reveal my incredible detective skills

“It’s ok, I’ll take care of it. But I’ll need you to keep this guy busy.”

“Fine by me, but… Are you sure? Aren’t you weak with puzzles? You didn’t solve a single one of these.”

“Don’t worry. Aren’t I the greatest leader? When have I disappointed you? Haven’t I always surpassed all your expectations? Hahaha!”

Not sure what to say, she stays quiet and attacks the colossal angel, trying to grab its aggro. At the same time, I jump from platform to platform until I reach the last one, the one with the puzzle we need to solve.

“Hmm… interesting… If I’m right, then this means…”

I intently stare at the three pillars in front of me.

Yes, I’m checking the pillars and not the drawings and clues. What did you think I was going to do? Solve the puzzle? Hahaha! Did you expect me to solve it quickly when Laura couldn’t?

But I have a secret technique nobody else knows. An infallible cheat code that’ll allow me to solve this! What’s my secret technique? It’s the knowledge of battling against Marta since we were kids!

I know how she thinks, and I’ll find the correct path without solving the puzzle.

There are three pillars I can jump to from here. I’ve been calling them pillars until now, but they’re irregular platforms of varying sizes and shapes. This is important because it’s the reason it’s impossible to predict the path without solving the puzzles. At least, it’s the reason it should be impossible… if I weren’t here.

There’s one platform very close to this one. I don’t even need to jump to reach it, I can walk to it. Then there’s a second one that’s more than a meter away, and the third one will require a long jump to reach it.

Knowing my sister, I’m sure this last jump can’t be easy. I’m sure it’s the third platform. Well, I’m not 100% sure, but there’s a high chance it is.

I take a last look behind me. Ricard is following Clara’s instructions and hopping between platforms in my direction. There are dozens of Sacred Cats chasing after him, using any means necessary, like pushing other cats to the ground below or using the wrong platforms, to try to reach him.

They’ll soon reach Laura’s position. It’s impossible they’ll survive the fight against both the cats and angel, so we’re done for if we don’t leave this area soon.

“We don’t have time to solve it properly, so I might as well leave it to chance, don’t you think? Hahaha! Here I go!”

I shout, making the long jump to the last platform.

As soon as I land, I stabilize myself and wait. It doesn’t crumble. “I guessed it right! Fufufu! Hahaha!” I stop laughing to tell the others. “Come on, everyone! I found the last one!”

I see relieved expressions on their faces, but they’re too focused on surviving to say anything.

Laura is the first one to reach me. She doesn’t make the jump and instead uses Blink. I can understand her: it’s safer to use Blink if she isn’t confident with making the jump.

“How… how did you solve it so fast?” she asks.

“Solve it? I didn’t,” I answer, avoiding one of the angel’s attacks.

As you might expect, it chased Laura all the way here. But now we have enough space to move around, so it isn’t as dangerous as it was before.

“Then, how did you…”

“I just left it to my gut feeling.” At my answer, she sends me a silent glare. “What did you expect me to do, when we didn’t have time?”

“Haa…! It’s fine, it doesn’t matter anymore. But to think you risked everything on luck…”

“Well, we needed to do something or we were dead anyway. And it worked in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it? Hahaha!”

“...”

image [https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]

“Luck is also a skill. It might as well be the most important skill in the game because, with it, you can solve problems and surpass situations that you shouldn’t be able to. If you don’t consider yourself lucky, you should try to find a companion that does. I’m sure it’ll help you in the most unexpected situations.”

- Excerpt of an interview with a random DMA player.