Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Doll Dungeon (4)
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[Unique Ability - Action Rewind 1 / 3]
I used the ability by mistake before I could even pull myself together.
I should have calmly analyzed the pattern, but seeing Cecilia die right in front of me made my head go blank.
'Fucking idiot.'
Up until now, I'd endured just fine watching the people around me die one by one.
What made Cecilia different from them?
Was it because she was the heroine? Or had I immersed myself in her more deeply than I'd realized without knowing it?
There must have been some change in my feelings in the meantime.
Whether that was growth or regression, I didn't know.
I immediately checked on Cecilia beside me.
"Haa... haa..."
She was perfectly fine, wiping away sweat without a scratch.
"Why? Is there something on my face?"
Only after spotting the forget-me-not brooch neatly pinned in her hair could I finally relax.
At any rate, I'd gained some knowledge.
Watching someone I know die right next to me feels fucking awful.
Confirmed.
At my feet lay the elite monster I'd just taken down.
The rewind point was right after defeating the monster.
Just before activating the ability, I'd vaguely made out the opponent: a knight clad in silver armor wielding a massive hammer.
The Doll Dungeon's mid-boss, Alain.
It was definitely him.
He'd suddenly dropped from mid-air and crushed Cecilia in one go. Using his ultimate move, no less.
Like Shukarit's lightning hammer or Barhatan's spinning strike, Alain had his own boss-worthy finisher.
A leaping dive straight at the opponent, smashing down with the hammer—Titan Fall.
Getting hit meant near-instant death unless you were wrapped in yellow shards, and even dodging left you locked down by the aftershocks.
With such a long hang time, it messed up counterattack and evasion timing, making it a real pain to deal with.
And it came flying in from outside my field of view, so there was no way I could've dodged.
'But why did Alain leave the boss room?'
In the original game, like the other dolls, Alain only started moving after you entered the second-floor boss room.
He didn't come charging down to the first floor like some horror movie, like now.
Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time something like this happened.
Shukarit in the Beast Dungeon had done the same.
Back then, the mid-boss that should've been holed up in its room somehow pinpointed my location and came rushing in.
If Rene hadn't been there and I hadn't awakened Break, I'd have died on the spot.
Did I accidentally hit some aggro button or something?
It'd be nice if someone could tell me what it was.
With Shukarit, I'd massacred those kobolds, so I had a hunch, but this was my very first time in the Doll Dungeon.
At least my task hadn't changed. I still had to take down Alain first, whether we pushed forward or fell back.
'Whew.'
I tried thinking positively.
It was an enemy I had to face anyway.
Now that I knew he'd open with a preemptive strike, as long as I stayed out of range, I could avoid the insta-kill.
Cecilia and I moved far from the stairs to regroup.
"...What have you been thinking about since earlier?"
"How we're gonna handle things from here."
Alain could be seen as an upgraded version of Barhatan.
Hammer instead of mace, a classic heavy-hitter type emphasizing powerful single blows.
The difference was that Alain's attacks unleashed earthquake-like shockwaves on impact.
The shockwaves were dodgeable for players, but eating one dealt serious damage.
In phase 2, Alain flew into a rage, with noticeable boosts to attack and movement speed.
Meaning his agility stat spiked.
If Jester's Sword slow hadn't worked, our turns might've gotten messed up around then.
After years getting used to turn-based combat, my takeaway was that heavy-hitters were way tougher for me than speedsters.
You could bully speed types by stacking agility for first turn, but that did jack shit against heavies.
You had to tank or parry every hit, but you couldn't just wrap yourself in yellow shards either.
Alain was as tanky as he looked. Wasting damage reduction would just drag the fight out.
The longer it went, the lower our win odds.
'Guess I have no choice but to parry everything.'
Just Guard it was.
This guy was all I could rely on.
The problem was explaining it to Cecilia too.
Sharing Alain's patterns with her would make the fight way easier.
But how the hell do I explain this?
'This world is actually a game, and I know all the patterns because I came from outside.' Say that?
Or maybe it's better to tank her penalty.
That's when Cecilia spoke first.
"If you have instructions, give them. Don't hold back."
"...Huh?"
"You saw something again this time, right?"
I couldn't believe my ears.
'Again? Saw?'
Did Cecilia know something?
I just blinked at her wordlessly, and she continued calmly.
"Why so surprised? We've been dungeon crawling together for a month—how many times?"
"..."
"You think I wouldn't notice your eyes always drifting above the enemy's head during fights?"
She nailed it.
I had to check the gem above their head to know turn order, so my gaze naturally went there.
She'd picked up on that?
"Every time, you gave me orders. Like with the Evil God cultist in Naveille, or just now with that monster. First time seeing them, and you call it like a pro. Common sense says that's impossible."
Now that she mentioned it, yeah, it was pretty suspicious.
Turning the corner and nailing that cultist with a ki-ling toss? If there'd been any witnesses, I'd be rotting in jail.
A woman with Cecilia's instincts wouldn't miss that.
'So she's been looking out for me in her own way.'
I stayed silent, and she added,
"I've known for a while. That you see something and give orders based on it. And that you have no intention of telling me."
"...How?"
"...I kept watching."
Cecilia averted her gaze, as if making excuses.
"P-people all have secrets they wanna keep, right? Me, my sister... you too. I follow your orders because I trust you, that's all."
"..."
"So I'll follow whatever you say. Tell me what to do this time too."
Watching the corner of her mouth curve softly, I was certain.
She wouldn't follow my orders.
There was already precedent.
I'd instructed her long ago: in combat, prioritize yourself.
Before I used the ability, Alain's hammer had come down where I was standing.
Cecilia shoved me aside and took it instead, losing her life.
With her superior senses, she could've dodged easily.
Sure, I'd have turned into ground beef.
But she chose death in my place.
Cecilia was true to the original. She never listened worth a damn.
Having experienced that, I never wanted to see that scene again.
'Yeah. I should tell her.'
So I gave her the orders.
Not everything, just that Alain would ambush us, along with his weapon and basic patterns.
Cecilia didn't ask how I knew.
From her glance at Rene, she seemed to guess it was like Lumen's effect—Rene's ability.
Impressive. Half right, half wrong.
"Got it. Hammer attacks, plus quakes and shockwaves. That's plenty."
After sharing all the info, Cecilia proposed an idea.
"Hammer's got a wide area, right? If we can block with structures, it'd be easier."
She was spot on.
I could picture it. Monsters had predictable attacks.
Using structures to mitigate damage or hinder movement would definitely help.
But...
In the original, there were no structures around when fighting Alain.
'Wait... in the original, we fought in the boss room, right?'
Now we had to fight Alain on the first floor, not the boss room.
And the area was littered with fallen wax dolls. Scattered among them were Lumen's glowing particles.
Games often had enemies laying down favorable fields for battle.
Field effects, they called them.
Malia's Jester's Domain was one such example.
What if we could do the same?
With all these Lumen particles scattered around, wasn't this basically a healing field already?
Thought turned to action.
"Cecilia. Can you smash all the room walls to make movement easier?"
She nodded and used Arts on the three right-side room walls.
I used Flash on the left-side walls too.
Kwaang!!
Kwaang!!
Kwaaaang!!
Gray and white flashes filled the first floor with deafening booms as the six walls collapsed, linking the rooms into one long passage.
Lumen particles sparkled amid the passage.
Our eyes met across the way.
Gazes intertwined, small smiles tugging at our lips.
Prep complete.
We stepped out and stood before the stairs.
Channeling every ounce of energy, we focused on the foe about to appear.
- Woooom.
"...It's coming."
No sooner had Cecilia spoken than a silver afterimage plummeted from the stairs.
The Doll Dungeon's mid-boss.
Alain's second appearance.
Encased head to toe in silver wax armor, he spotted us at a distance and leaped from the stairs.
The hammer bigger than both of us spun three and a half times in mid-air before slamming into the ground.
Kwaaaaang!!
Alain's finisher, Titan Fall, detonated.
That instant.
"Now!!"
"Yeah!"
Whoosh!
Cecilia and I kicked off in perfect sync, leaping into the air.
Kurrrung!!
The ground shook mercilessly.
Titan Fall had a distinct rhythm, like Barhatan's spinning strike.
Dodge the initial blow, and the quake still swept you off balance, leaving you sprawled.
Then Alain's follow-up left you defenseless—a textbook combo.
But if you predicted the quake too?
Like now.
Countless debris chunks and wax doll remnants floated up with the tremor.
Thud!
Cecilia used them as stepping stones, charging straight at Alain.
- Woooom.
Clang!!
Her Shatter Sword clashed with Alain's skull just as a blue gem appeared above her head.
Then above mine, then Alain's.
Turn order: Cecilia → Me → Alain.
Cecilia's turn.
Her White Silver Dance counted as one Arts with four hits, quadrupling the odds of landing armor shred.
I'd told her: spam White Silver Dance until armor shred stuck—until she felt the 'hand taste.'
Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!
Four tin-can pummels rang out, and an armor shred icon popped above Alain's head.
Four times 25%? That's 100%. Or not.
"Take that!"
Cecilia, mission accomplished, flipped backward.
My turn.
I gathered power in my calves and dashed along the wall.
Before the aftershocks hit, I was already under his chin.
Slash! Slash!
Two Corner Slashes carved twin X-wounds across his body.
Alain's turn.
Stroking the wounds, he raised his hammer skyward.
Couldn't even speak beyond 'wooong,' but his pissed-off vibe came through loud and clear.
I raised my sword to parry the plunging hammer.
Kugugugu!!
[Just Guard!]
"Grraaah...!!"
Slow motion.
Just Guard success.
No ground beef today.
But no blocking the ensuing quake.
My body vibrated, bones creaking, guts churning with nausea.
This was Just Guard?
The hammer's monstrous force sent me flying into the wall.
Debris and wreckage rained down relentlessly.
'Fuck... that hurt like hell.'
In my narrowing vision, sparkling particles caught my eye.
I reached out, and they seeped in, mending every wound.
Healing field OP.
Bursting from the rubble, Alain glared in disbelief.
Like, how are you moving after that?
His gaze shifted to the Lumen particles clinging to me.
He was probably thinking right now,
'This game sucks.'
Yeah. Jealous? Lay your own field then.
'I saw this bullshit scene first.'
My eyes drifted to Cecilia's brooch.
His followed.
Light was already gathering on her sword.
"Radiant Fang."
White fangs tore mercilessly into Alain's body.