Chapter 31: Release the Bunny

Chapter 31: Release the Bunny "Jehanne!" Xu Tao raised his voice in worry. But although her weapon was destroyed, with a wave of her hand, a new one was pulled out of thin air, covered in a flash of holy light. "I’m fine, Sir Tao! I can handle this!" she shouted as she waved the new spear around like a majorette’s flag. Then, she stabbed it forward, aiming right at the monster’s abdomen. Although she wanted to hit a more vital part, like the heart or head, she couldn’t reach it with how tall the enemy was. This was the best she could do to initiate. SCREEECH! Thanks to her attack, the monster’s attention switched fully from Xu Tao to her. Now freed, Xu Tao could finally observe the monster closer. "Kuh! Hap!" Jehanne waved her flag-spear, barely able to deflect the enemy’s attacks. In terms of speed, she was also a bit slower than the enemy. Reaction speed, much less... There wasn’t a single aspect where they prevailed against the monster before them. The only advantage they had was numbers. There were three of them, and only one Boss. "Excalibur!" Arthur, who finally arrived nearby, raised his voice and slammed his sword’s tip toward the ground. The next moment, a powerful wave of golden particles of light erupted, engulfing everything within a hundred-meter radius. The boss and Jehanne, of course, were included in this range. "...!" The moment the light reached them, Xu Tao and Jehanne felt a sudden change... Power seemed to dwell in their limbs, more than they had earlier! GRAAAAAGH! And the boss monster, on the other hand, cried out in pain. Its surface started releasing thin wafts of black smoke, as if it was burning under the golden light—but other than smoke, and the seemingly painful scream, no damage was inflicted. "Tough one, indeed!" Arthur grumbled with an awkward grin. After all, it was his first time seeing an "unholy being" remain alive while within his holy sword’s golden field. But his holy field not only damaged unholy enemies. It also applied a slight buff to his allies—just like Jehanne and Xu Tao. A minor adjustment of roughly 25% to all the basic stats. But that minor buff managed to let Jehanne have more breathing room. With her speed increased, she was now able to keep up with the Boss monster, dodge its attacks, or move away from its reach. "But she’s still losing..." Just one glance and he could tell Jehanne was still being pushed back. In fact, her attacks barely left a mark on the enemy’s body. No, honestly, it wasn’t working at all—not even a scratch. "Arthur," Xu Tao turned to the fake gentleman beside him. "If you try, can you injure that thing?" Xu Tao, technically, could injure the enemy. He could even wipe it out in one hit... But doing that, using forbidden techniques, would leave him with a lot of problems to handle. Backlashes, in particular, which could be deadly if another weird event was started by the system. "Well," Arthur didn’t beat around the bush, honestly answering. "Judging by how the goddess’s attacks barely leave a mark, I don’t think I can." "I see..." Xu Tao nodded in disappointment, but quickly followed up. "But if you had double your current strength and four times your current speed, could you do it?" "Huh?" Arthur seemed confused by the question, but seeing the serious look on Xu Tao’s face, he thought about it. "...I can. I think." He nodded, confirming. "Alright, that’s good enough." Xu Tao patted his shoulder before holding an item in his left hand, presenting it to Arthur. "Wear this, and you’ll gain more strength and speed as I said earlier!" "..." Arthur glanced at the outfit once... and fell silent. "No way," he said, shaking his head. "You want me, the previous King of Camelot, to wear that? I’d rather die!" he shouted. "And no matter how you look at it, that’s for female use!" "Right..." Xu Tao sighed. "Then go and hold that monster for a while. I need to borrow Jehanne." "You..." Arthur wanted to complain, but then glanced at the outfit, and then to Jehanne... before frowning hard, while nodding. "Alright. On it." Arthur pulled Excalibur from the ground the next instant, causing the gold field to die down. Jehanne, losing her buff, was confused for a moment. But thankfully, it didn’t expose her to any danger. She just gained distance rapidly, keeping a wary eye on the enemy’s movements. "Jehanne, come over here!" Xu Tao shouted just as Arthur jumped forward, getting the monster’s attention. Without as much as a question, Jehanne ran, turning her back to the enemy without hesitation. She arrived beside Xu Tao in just a few seconds and quickly asked, "What is it, Sir Tao?" Her eyes, of course, were watching Arthur carefully. She was worried that he would fall from the monster’s attacks. But just like her, Arthur was able to efficiently parry the incoming attacks like punches, kicks, or slams. The way they did it was different, though. Jehanne did hers with skill, while Arthur was obviously brute-forcing his way with strength. His speed was way too low, after all. He couldn’t outrun the enemy, so he couldn’t even distance himself. He had to stand firm, like a tank, soaking the incoming attacks. "At this rate, we won’t be able to defeat that boss," Xu Tao explained before stretching his hand, placing the item he had over to Jehanne’s hands. "But if you wear this, and gain its stat increments, I’m quite sure we can." "This...!" Jehanne stared at the outfit in her hand. After all, it was quite familiar—she saw it just yesterday, after all. It was none other than the semi-permanently sealed outfit, the UR Bunny Suit! "No way I’d—!" Jehanne started, but Xu Tao interrupted her. "If you don’t wear this, then I’ll have no choice but to chip away at my own life force and fight the boss with it—" he said, before adding the clincher, making Jehanne flinch. "—while wearing this." "..." She tried imagining Xu Tao wearing the outfit, just like she did the day before... But for some reason, the idea felt repulsive to her now. "I’d hate that even more...!" she grumbled, holding back her nausea. "Alright... I’ll wear it..." and albeit reluctantly, agreed. "Great!" Xu Tao then waved his hand, fingers folded into the sword gesture—before his fingers pointed upwards, palm facing skyward. GRUMBLE! The ground shook lightly as four tall walls appeared around them. "There, you can change here," Xu Tao said, smiling. "Let me help you out of your armor." And casually offered. Jehanne stood still, as if petrified. Then, her mind processed the implications of this... and her face exploded, blushing like ripe apples. "I can do it myself!" "You sure? Well... Alright." "Yes! I’m sure! So please standby outside the walls!" Seeing Jehanne so flustered, Xu Tao was confused. However, they didn’t really have time... Having no choice, he jumped out of the small walled area, leaving Jehanne behind, alone. Visit freewebno(v)el.com for the best novel reading experience