NOVEL WEB Chapter 17
It Appears I’m the Only One Who Can Protect the Ship
This might actually be bad. A Sea Dragon is extremely powerful. I may be familiar with combat, but with my current stats, this one was out of my hands. First of all, my sword doesn’t have the range to reach the monster while it’s swimming out there.
「Gather those who can fight at once! Everyone else take shelter inside the ship!」
Even though her face was pale as a sheet, Myna gave out precise orders. There was nothing else that could be done in this situation. All the while, the Sea Dragon was gradually closing in and from where it directed its gaze, it became apparent what it was after.
「Oh, no. It’s going for the mast!」
「The Ferry Stone?!」
「Yeah. The wooden mast is the only thing supporting that stone, right? If it goes all out, it could destroy that thing in less than a minute. 」
A Sea Dragon’s Spear Arms were extremely tough and sharp. Metal would be a different story, but mere wood wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
「So what do we do?!」
「There’s only one thing to do. Take it down before it destroys the mast.」
I studied the people that gathered around. Hmm… they don’t look too strong.
There was no doubt that they had higher stats than me, but none of them looked like they could stand toe to toe with a Sea Dragon and defeat one. One look at their faces and I could tell that much. It would’ve been a lot easier if a strong adventurer happened to be on board.
There was one silver lining, however. The Sea Dragon hadn’t averted its gaze from the mast for a while now. As a rule, monsters attack things that move. The only time that rule is not followed is when they already have a fixed target for whatever reason. And the target this time was the mast.
This ship was special. Instead of sails that make use of the wind to move, this one relied on the Ferry Stone attached on its mast to sail across the sea. If the mast was destroyed, the ship will be stuck, unable to move forward or back, waiting for the Sea Dragon to tear it apart.
If Sea Dragons don’t live in this area, then that would mean someone’s behind this. Someone who wants this ship sunk to the bottom of the sea.
It would be great if someone could take command in the battle, but unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone up to the task. Fine. I guess I’ll have to take command, then.
「Anyone here who can fire long-range attacks?」
Five men raised their hands. Judging from their weapons, three were wizards and the other two were archers. Considering there were no other adventurers around, having this many was a good thing.
A wizard’s and an archer’s firepower is way above that of a Novice. With this number, they should be able to take down the Sea Dragon in about five minutes. Though if it weren’t completely fixed on its target, it wouldn’t be easy. How ironic was it that it being hell-bent on sinking the ship would be our saving grace. Then again, the wooden mast wouldn’t last a whole five minutes so it didn’t really amount to much.
「You should be able to take it down if you just continue firing at it for about five minutes. Is there anyone here who can protect the mast during that five minutes?」
No one raised a hand. Their job class was most likely Swordsman or something similar. If I taught them, they should be able to fend off the Sea Dragon easily for five minutes, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to teach them how to fight one right now.
「I guess there’s no other choice. I’ll deal with it.」
I climbed up a foothold near the mast. As luck would have it, the Ferry Stone was placed lower on the mast and underneath it was a stable foothold. My sword should be able to reach and block the monster’s attacks on the stone and mast.
「Eld-san, do you really intend to buy time against a Sea Dragon? It’s an A-ranked monster; not a lot of those have been taken down before.」
Not a lot of Sea Dragons have been killed, you say? Well, it’s way more powerful than a mere Wolf so I guess that makes sense. Still…
「If it’s just buying time, I should be able to do it. You all just have to keep on the offensive before I get killed myself.」
Truth be told, I don’t want to go against that thing. One mistake will surely lead to death. Hell, if someone else wants to deal with it, I’ll leave it in their capable hands and get the hell out of here.
But no one else was up to the task. The chances of surviving will be much higher if I fight it than just sitting back and letting it destroy the ship. It may be powerful, but it was still alone.
I’ve trained countless hours in BBO on how to withstand powerful attacks. As long as I don’t make a mistake, I won’t get killed by the Sea Dragon.
I’ll just have to trust myself to not make that mistake.