Chapter 203 – Battle Plan

This time, their opponent was the renowned Vick Swordsaint, wielder of the Wind-Bathing Punisher—the foremost Sword Saint of Dillon Kingdom, second only to Sangus himself. Rumors claimed he already had one foot across the threshold of the Master-Level.

Neither Iron Tower at level 13, Boss Lady at level 12, nor Punk at level 13 dared let their guard down. After all, they had to remain vigilant against—and potentially fight—more than just Vick Swordsaint alone…

Since this battle was nominally a team effort, the four had pre-assigned basic combat roles.

Recalling the intelligence provided by the “Nightwalker Alliance” and their own preparations, Punk felt reasonably confident about this challenging fight.

In truth, everyone had made thorough preparations to ensure the battle proceeded as flawlessly as possible. However, ninety-nine percent of these preparations were conducted privately. The only collective preparation was the allocation of battlefield responsibilities.

As the saying goes, specialization is key. Having formed a temporary team, they couldn’t simply charge at the boss in a disorganized rush. This was a real world, after all, where friendly fire was a genuine risk (though in an evil-aligned party, it was often hard to distinguish between accidental misfires and cunning, premeditated murder).

To smoothly assign roles, all five present agreed: each must disclose their combat style, at least revealing their basic offensive methods without exposing their trump cards. After all, Vick Swordsaint was not an enemy to be defeated through haphazard attacks. Moreover, the five had to prioritize protecting their fragile but invaluable cash cow—Princess Trelinka.

The order of disclosure naturally started with Bloodclaw, as his professional level was the lowest among the five.

Bloodclaw was straightforward. Since both Punk and Boss Lady, long-time resident of Black Fort, had already witnessed his fighting style, he candidly outlined his basic capabilities.

In this semi-public “intelligence sharing,” Bloodclaw’s explanation was reasonably sincere.

According to his account, he typically created a blood clone with nearly identical strength to himself before combat. He then attacked through nearly flawless coordination with this clone, while relying entirely on agile movement to evade enemy strikes.

Overall, excluding any hidden trump cards, Punk categorized Bloodclaw’s combat style as a form of “unconventional kiting”—prioritizing survival, with offense as secondary. Damage relied on accumulation, defense on evasion. He would never take a hit he could dodge, and preferred protracted battles over swift assaults.

Besides Punk, the other two quickly grasped the strengths and weaknesses of Bloodclaw’s approach.

To maximize his combat advantages, the three voted and assigned him the task of escorting Princess Trelinka across the battlefield. His mission was to fully leverage his expertise as an escape artist, ensuring they stayed clear of the central combat zone.According to Iron Tower’s description, his combat style primarily focuses on defense. The peculiar liquid metal hidden within his body can envelop him at any time for protection.

Punk categorized his fighting approach as “defensive offense”—centered on defense while simultaneously counterattacking enemies. The hallmark characteristics are all-around defense paired with high-frequency attacks.

Thus, he naturally assumed the role of a tank. Iron Tower himself volunteered enthusiastically for this task, appearing as though he had long desired to battle Vick Swordsaint.

Boss Lady was the most unique among the four. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t human at all, being a shapeshifter—yes, one of those magical creatures distantly related to slimes.

Despite being a shapeshifter, Boss Lady was also a level twelve Stalker. She excelled at using her malleable body to generate numerous tentacles, launching sudden, dense assaults from all directions.

However, due to the crystal Vick Swordsaint produced—which was beyond their intelligence and particularly countered Stalkers—Boss Lady could no longer leverage her stealth assassination advantages. Her role was temporarily reassigned to battlefield support, with her new task being to disrupt Vick Swordsaint’s attacks alongside Golem Two whenever possible.

As for Punk, a mage skilled in “crowd control and execution,” he took on the primary “artillery role.”

In the early stages of combat, his main responsibilities were layering curses on Vick Swordsaint and casting support spells on allies. Once Vick exposed a weakness, Punk’s powerful spells would deliver the final blow or finish him off.

The group also conducted a basic analysis of Vick’s combat style. Based on the intelligence from his recent swift defeat of Ex and Naya, his approach was preliminarily judged as “defensive counterattack”—defending against enemy strikes and seizing openings to retaliate.

However, Vick Swordsaint’s offensive power, amplified by his Combat Skills and Master-Level weapon—the Wind-Bathing Punisher—was terrifyingly high. Even Iron Tower, with the strongest defense, couldn’t confidently withstand it. Thus, the four devised a safety-first strategy of “attrition warfare,” reasoning that collectively, they could outlast Vick alone.

Of course, combat styles are merely a basic reference; no one treats them as absolute truth. After all, every powerhouse present had their own trump cards, and those unexpected aces would be the key to victory.

In the split second Punk recalled all this intelligence, Vick Swordsaint, having peaked his momentum, gathered his Battle Aura and launched a Charge directly at them. Seeing Vick transform into a blazing cannonball hurtling forward, Punk swiftly dodged aside under the effect of Greater Swiftness, simultaneously casting a spell that struck the linearly charging Vick Swordsaint.

“Formal-Level Conjuration Spell—Greater Daze”!

The curse landed squarely on Vick. Yet, even mid-Charge, Vick’s reaction was incredibly swift. The instant he detected the curse’s energy eroding his Battle Aura defense, he instantly solidified his aura to clash with Punk’s spell. His Battle Aura was so resilient that the curse’s power was instantly scattered by the erupting torrent of aura.Punk’s spell failed to strike Vick, but by concentrating his Battle Aura to resist the spell’s attack, Vick’s Charge speed abruptly decreased slightly.

Seeing his curse spell produce little effect, Punk showed no surprise or panic. He never intended to disrupt Vick Swordsaint with just an ordinary spell—slowing the Charge speed was sufficient.

The velocity of “Greater Swiftness” was not to be underestimated. The moment Vick’s speed dropped, Punk had already evaded the Charge.

“This is only the beginning, Vick Swordsaint”!

Transformed into a shadow streaking away at high speed, Punk cast a cold glance at Vick Swordsaint and murmured softly to himself.

(End of Chapter)