Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: For Elise (5)
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The power of Corpse Explosion depends on the corpse's stats.
"Actually, corpses don't really have stats worth mentioning."
You could tell just by looking at Giant Queen Elizabeth.
The preservation rate of their lifetime stats determines the performance of regular undead.
"So this time, basing it on that knight Rodrigo's lifetime stats... about 10% of the power, right?"
Skeletons are overly degraded corpses to begin with.
Couldn't squeeze out 100% of stats that could twist steel like taffy.
"Still, not bad for a bone-only corpse."
I clapped my hands, surveying the wrecked boss room.
Good call keeping those bones (Made in Rodrigo).
Even at an estimated 10% stats, that kind of firepower!
The boss mob must've taken a solid hit.
Of course, it involved the minor moral hiccup of using a loyal knight's corpse to blow up the princess, but whatever!
"Don't look so horrified, everyone. Anyway, every time I re-enter the confinement tower, Sir Rodrigo's corpse respawns fresh."
Gates are repeating fragments of some other world's past.
Getting sentimental about the monsters, drops, or structures that appear there? That's hunter disqualification.
"I'm the one closing gates that threaten humanity. Do you really need to sling that kind of mud? Skip the cliché of the masses persecuting the hero."
"You're banned, punk."
I requested a ban on the line-crossing chat and adjusted the angle.
"If you're that suspicious, let's ask the one who got blown up herself. Princess! You're having a blast, right?!"
As the purple flames cleared, the Vampiric Princess stood there with a smirk, chanting her spell.
"See? She's smiling, right?"
That's when the chat exploded with nonsense.
The Vampiric Princess's spell activated.
"Fresh flames, bloom."
Bat-shaped flames poured out by the dozen.
A wide-area shotgun barrage.
"You guys don't get women at all! She's just embarrassed!"
Whatever. No time for BS.
"Wide-area attack, as expected from a mage boss!"
A real pain of a spell, but I had a counter.
Learned it just the other day.
"Ghost Chaff, ready!"
I scattered little ghosts haphazardly in the air.
Incoming fireballs smashed into a bunch of them.
Boom boom boom—!!
Blood-red flames detonating on contact with the ghosts!
This was the technique straight out of my PPT training.
Magic Chaff.
The summon version of fighter jet chaff that blocks missiles.
Curious? Search namuwiki for details.
"Bluntly put, chuck ghosts up front to eat spells instead of your main dealer!"
Simple yet super practical.
Worth that brutal intro with Iyan.
"As long as it's not piercing magic, it blows up the instant it touches my ghosts."
Most explosive fire spells work that way.
Just line 'em up on the firing path.
Enemy spells wasted on ghosts.
"And little ghosts are perfect for this."
Why?
They fly. And they're transparent.
"Our princess, can you even see ghosts? Nope? Then good luck aiming without wasting shots."
An invisible magic barrier!
A shield you can't even target.
Mage hard-counter that'd make any boss ragequit their game.
This is the power of an F-lister glomming onto an S-rank guild!
"Come on, princess! Blast away! 1:1 trade of spells for ghosts? That's a bargain sale! Royal generosity on point! Uh-heh-heh-heh-heh!"
Hey, the little ghost pals are giggling too?
They'll revive when I resummon anyway. What's the big deal?
"Stake your puny lives as chips in this op!"
But the boss wasn't a total idiot.
Once magic stopped landing, she switched tactics.
Flutter!
The princess flared blood-red mana and spread her wings.
"Fragrant mist, squeeze you tight!"
Light faded from her eyes, replaced by crimson glow.
Her nails elongated like blades.
Blood Frenzy.
A vampire staple skill.
"Seals magic, pumps strength and agility instead."
Switching from magic DPS to physical DPS mode.
The boosts scale with her wisdom stat.
Vampiric Princess's fire magic was insanely strong.
Proof of sky-high wisdom.
In that state, her stats outpace your average hunter.
Handing a mage an MP recovery chance!
How bad that is? Plain as day.
Only El Ayla can scrap without getting vamped.
Every condition forcing a boss duel.
But I had zero hesitation.
"1v1 in tight quarters against a magic-sealed mage."
I yanked hard on the summon control threads.
Recovered mana drained out in lumps.
"Lose like this, and I retire as an assassin. Right?"
Joking question to viewers and summons alike.
Laden with full trust in the party.
El Ayla replied with a ferocious charge.
"Nice. Getting hot. Heart's getting fired up!"
Shwick shwick shwick—!!
Scimitar flashed viciously.
Even buffed, Vampiric Princess was a mage at core.
El Ayla? Pure assassin summon!
Epic-class rare specter to boot.
"Stronger than her owner—me—even at level 1."
A level 1 outpacing level 5?
Not something normal summons pull off.
Or summoners would be broken tier zero job.
"Even discounting my half-baked summoner skills back then, that gap ain't normal."
And now she was level 7.
Dare I say, way past swinging swords in E-gates.
Grows like hunters do—but stronger.
That's the true worth of epic-class summons.
Thud thud thud!
Long legs tangled, kicks collided.
Clang clang clang clang—!!
Sparks flew from scimitar and claws.
The twirling melee of the women: black, white, red, and gold.
Seemed neck-and-neck for just a moment.
Then momentum swung hard to El Ayla.
With my backup, El Ayla went berserk.
Last run, Giant Queen Spider stole her spotlight—but now she unleashed merciless, precise swordplay like payback.
"Whisper sweet nothings to me?"
Cornered, the Vampiric Princess tried a non-magic skill—but I quick-placed a ghost in front of El Ayla to block.
Snap!!
El Ayla flicked the charging ghost with a knuckle rap.
Mmm, that stoic face is killer.
I snuck a peek at Vampiric Princess's HP.
Mage-type monster, so her pool was low.
"Keep this up, we bag her in minutes."
That was my time estimate.
Right then—
The boss abruptly dropped Blood Frenzy.
Her innocent face regained sharp intellect.
"Fresh flames, bloom."
Kaboom—!!
Magic power restored, the vampire princess hosed the area with flames.
Bat flames detonated against the chaff.
I groaned amid the deafening blasts and hollered.
"Princess! Explosions are my trademark! You paying copyright fees, right?!"
"Pak ssi! Being princess covers it all?! Call Ancestor Spirits!"
Few survivors left, so one refill.
Kwi-kwi! Ghosts popped into the air.
"Where the hell'd this bitch go? Outta sight?"
Limited space. Nowhere to run?
I used the multiplying ghosts to scan the tower.
And spotted her.
"...Agh, shit!"
Outside the magic-ravaged, gaping hole in the confinement tower.
Brilliantly blue sky, gut-punchingly clear.
The Vampiric Princess, chanting mid-air, way too high to reach by jumping.
Everyone hyped except me. Buncha enemies.