Hard Carry Support

Chapter 63 - An Unforeseen Occurrence (1)

"The Demon of Deception..."

Mayday, who was 2nd in the rankings, knew most of the relevant information.

The Demon of Deception had one of the highest rankings in the Abyss, together with Darkness and Chaos.

Why was that demon suddenly interested in her?

Was it because she was a user that belonged to the Abyss and was currently 2nd in the rankings?

She had recently got an achievement for getting fame among the members of the Abyss. Maybe it was related to that?

Anyway, she had no intentions of letting the opportunity go.

Mayday slowly climbed the stairs.

[You've accepted the proposal!]

The black sun disappeared the moment Mayday reached the top of the stairs.

Paf-!

In an instant, her body disappeared.

When Mayday opened her eyes, the entire world was covered by lava.

It was an underground city covered by fire.

There were fire waterfalls, and the buildings were immersed in lava.

[Deception is looking at you!]

[You've moved to the last floor of the Evil's Seed Dungeon!]

[In an instant, you'll receive an order from the Demon of Deception!]

'What's that?!'

In front of Mayday was a named boss with black wings and a tail, Betty.

She flinched a little bit but soon noticed that it wasn't moving.

'A demon... No, a monster?'

Behind that monster, there was someone.

There were three users.,,

The reason why she didn't see four was that Hyun was currently using «Assimilation».

Mayday held her breath after looking at a girl that was among the users.

Someone that Darkness would never forget.

Ain was in front of her.

It was at that moment that the quest was formed.

[Hidden Quest: Protect the Evil's Seed Dungeon!]

- The Great Demon 'Deception' orders you! Protect this last territory from the forces of Heaven!

<Reward: Friendship of the Great Demon>

'What?!'

After reading the message, Mayday's face became pale.

'Wait, this is impossible!'

From what she read, it seemed like the forces of Heaven she had to fight against were those three people, and Ain was among them.

But... Mayday had also seen Ain's videos that had been going around on the internet.

How she smiled before giving the opponent a final blow made her remember what happened that night during the Count's Quest.

Even if she'd surpassed level 100 and done the job ascension, would she be able to beat Ain?

No matter how much she tried to think positively, the possibility was low.

Not only that, but Ain wasn't alone. She was with another two party members.

'I can't win!'

Mayday's face became pale because she thought she'd have no chance of winning that fight.

Not only that, but there didn't seem to be a way to cancel the quest.

She was happy when she received her first hidden quest, but this wasn't what she wanted.

The moment she was thinking that, she got another system message.

[The Demon of Deception knows that you're worthless. That's why she wants to put your soul into Betty. Do you accept? Y/N]

'Yes?'

When Mayday answered while being puzzled by the question, something amazing happened.

She felt her body turning into light and scattering away.

Then the sight in front of her changed.

The moment she looked down, she became surprised.

'Wait, this isn't my body?!'

Her entire skin was black.

Not only that, but she had wings and a tail.

Amazingly, even if the body didn't seem like a human’s, she could move it at her own will.

Mayday opened her status window.

Betty Lv.235 (It's currently Assimilating with Mayday Lv.109)

HP: 2512000/2512000

Mana: 340000/340000

- Thanks to her high loyalty, she was once a candidate to become the Demon of Deception, but she ended up becoming a monster that defends a territory. Betty will forever listen to the orders of its owner and protect its territory.

[Strength 243] [Agility 212] [Vitality 1500] [Magical Power 45]

<Skill List>

[Rear Leap]

- Teleports to the rear of the opponent and smashes using its tail.

- Deal 170000 damage and sends the opponent flying.

[Abyss's Wings Flap]

- Generate a strong whirlwind.

[Lava Resistance]

- Receives 99.9% less damage from lava.

<You can also use Mayday's skills!>

Mayday was surprised by what she was seeing on her status window.

Just looking at the stats was enough to know that it was a named boss monster.

She never thought she'd be able to control such a monster of her own will.

At first, she was confused, but after grasping the situation, she calmed down.

'Yes, this is a hidden quest of a Great Demon. So this should be the bare minimum!'

She didn't understand how exactly it worked, but it seemed like, thanks to the demon's power, she was able to possess a monster named Betty.

Among hidden quests, there were some like this that had a special event, so it wasn't that weird.

Mayday had a smile on her face while looking at Ain.

'Yes, if it's like this... I can win against her!'

Ain's bad relationship with Darkness was at a point of no return.

Ain's words underestimating Darkness had damaged the pride of the guild members.

As one of the founding members of Darkness, she also felt the same way.

She wanted to get revenge on Ain because of what happened during the Count's Quest.

'This is the perfect opportunity, no. It may be the only one!'

She still didn't understand very well how the quest worked, but she was sure about something.

Now that she'd become Betty, she was superior to Ain.

Because Ain had turned into her enemy, she had to kill her at least once and stop her growth rate.

Mayday's gaze was fixed on Ain.

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

For the first time since they began fighting, something unexpected happened.

Even though Betty's HP was at 0, it didn't disappear. It was just standing still.

"Is it over?" Practice carefully asked him.

"I don't think so..." Hyun said while looking at Betty, who wasn't moving at all.

Even though it had died, it didn't become light and scattered away. Rather than that, it was emitting dark energy while standing still.

Even Hyun couldn't understand what was happening.

'Why hasn't it died?'

Betty, whose HP was at 0, didn't seem either alive or dead.

The party members were watching it anxiously from a distance.

Suddenly, Mayday appeared behind Betty.

'What?'

Hyun's eyes widened after seeing who had suddenly appeared.

'Mayday...?!'

She was currently 2nd in the rankings and was Darkness's strongest Magician.

Hyun remembered all the information about the Hall of Fame rankers, so she knew it was Mayday when she saw her.

'Why is she here…?'

Hyun suddenly started to feel uneasy.

They were currently doing a Heaven's Quest.

On the other hand, it was widely known that Mayday was part of the forces of the Abyss.

Hyun suddenly thought about a possibility.

'No way, did we get overlapping quests?!'

Because the forces of Heaven and Abyss were fighting against each other, from time to time, some overlapping quests appeared.

It was similar to what happened during the Count's Quest.

If Mayday had received a quest that overlapped with the Knight Commander's quest, it wasn't weird that they got to face each other.

Paf- Mayday's body suddenly scattered away and entered Betty's body.

"Wait, that skill!"

Hyun was so surprised that he shouted using Ain's voice.

It was a skill effect he'd seen hundreds of times.

It was his ultimate attack.

Mayday had suddenly «Assimilated» into Betty.

"Isn't that the skill you use, «Assimilation»...?"

Among the party members, it was Ain who noticed the skill's identity the first.

Because she'd been the target of the skill, she identified the effects of the skill.

It seemed like the members of Stardust didn't understand the gravity of the situation yet.

"Hyun, what's happening? It seems like the boss has revived!"

"Just now... I think I saw Mayday's face for a short while..."

「It's «Assimilation»...」

Cold sweat dripped from Hyun's forehead.

He quickly explained to the rest what had happened.

「It seems like Mayday has «Assimilated» into Betty.」

"«Assimilation»? The skill you have?"

「Yes, maybe we'll have to fight the boss once more...」

"No way..."

Jini couldn't help but find the whole situation absurd.

A user «Assimilating» into a boss monster… It sounded too ridiculous.

But she couldn't doubt Hyun's words.

Paf- Mayday's new body wholly disappeared after Hyun finished his explanation.

It was Betty's «Rear Leap» skill activating.

「Damn, everyone, dodge it!」

Boom-!

When Hyun shouted, Mayday was already at the rear and about to smash using the tail that was as strong as steel.

The good thing was that Mayday still wasn't used to Betty's skills.

"Ugh!"

The tail attack that had failed smashed the ground.

Practice groaned as pieces of rock rose.

「Don't think about the formation!」

Hyun shouted.

「The formation has no meaning anymore!」

Because it was a user who was controlling Betty, the situation was completely different.

Now that the boss monster didn't have an attack pattern anymore, being in front of it wasn't safe anymore.

Ain, who also understood that, carefully asked Hyun.

"Hyun, is there a way to beat this?!"

But there was no time to answer.

Smash-!

The tail once again scratched the ground.

The rocks that were smashed rose like waves.

"Ugh...!"

Jini, who was hurt by the rocks, groaned.

The only good thing was that the tail didn't hit her.

But before they could relax, a strong wind came to where they were.

Betty's second skill…

A strong whirlwind appeared in the underground space.

'This... Skill link?!'

Hyun's face became pale.

Because Mayday had smashed the ground in the middle, the party's «Bind» had broken.

Then, immediately, she'd sent some whirlwinds their way.

It wasn't hard to imagine what was going to happen next.

「We're doomed...!」

Whish- As a strong wind rose, everyone's bodies were blown away.

The lava waterfall that had risen to the sky was falling like rain.

"Ugh...?!"

Jini, who had the lowest Agility among the party members, was in danger.

In a short period of time, a lot of messages saying she'd received damage appeared.

Because the party members had scattered away, there was no way to help them!

The moment the whirlwind was over, Jini's HP was almost at zero.

"Are you okay?!"

Practice tried to get close to her, but he didn't have enough time to do it.

Paf-!

Mayday was targetting Practice next.

Boom- They could hear the supersonic sound of the tail cutting through the air!

Crack-!

[The durability of 'Neo Long Sword' became 0, so it broke!]

[You've received 1053 damage!]

"Ugh... What's this!"

Practice couldn't believe what was happening.

It was a good thing that the tail hadn't hit him, but his sword ended up breaking.

He never thought the broken sword's remains would hurt its owner!

It was the first time he'd seen a message like that.

Even during that, Betty's attacks weren't over.

Practice tried to concentrate.

'What pattern is it?'

Betty was flying low with its wings wide-opened.

Among the boss patterns Hyun had told him, there wasn't anything like that.

But he couldn't keep standing still without doing anything.

Practice noticed something when he tried to pull out his sword.

—It had broken into pieces because its durability had reached 0.