Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Necromancer King Necredin (2)
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Arisha Rose.
The head nun in charge of Rose Orphanage, the adult who had raised dozens of children including Mine, and a truly virtuous soul.
Though not connected by blood, she had been like a mother to Mine.
At the same time, she was the greatest source of Mine's trauma.
[Why are you making that face? Aren't you happy to see me again?]
The 'Chariot' Climud from my memories was a petty bastard despite his burly appearance.
Unlike other bishops who fought to the bitter end once battle began, he would flee at the first sign of trouble.
Even at the very last moment, he had set up all sorts of ridiculous traps and waited for the protagonist.
But that made him all the more of a schemer.
He had seen through it long ago.
That Mine was the core—and the weakness—of our party.
That was why.
"Senior. Let's go."
"Yeah. We have to."
I had no intention of falling for his psychological warfare.
A former ally turned enemy gimmick.
Wasn't it something you saw everywhere?
Mine had been prepared for it from the start.
Among the dungeon's wraiths, there might be faces she knew, and even the worst possibility—that Sister Arisha might be one of them.
Since she had entered with the resolve to cut them all down herself, it didn't matter if one of them turned out to be the boss.
"Mine. Let's begin."
After clashing with countless people over a long time, I had reached one conclusion.
'No character is as unpredictable as Mine.'
On the surface, she seemed gentle, but when something unexpected happened, she was the first to charge in.
The problem was that those choices usually led in bad directions.
'Then it's my job to rein her in.'
What I saw before me wasn't Sister Arisha.
It was the final boss of the Undead Dungeon: Necromancer King Necredin.
So I simply moved as planned.
I swung my sword just as I had always intended.
Slash!
A gray sword beam tore through the air, carving a vivid wound across Necredin's chest as he sat on his jade throne.
[Ugh...]
Clutching his chest, he let out a pained breath.
'He took it on purpose.'
It was obviously a ploy to stoke Mine's guilt.
A red gem floated above Necredin's head.
[Ahh... It hurts so much. Mine, your holy power has always been strong. How about it? Won't you come heal me?]
With a chilling smile, he spread his arms wide.
As if inviting her to rush into his wounded embrace.
Mine's shoulders trembled faintly.
"Si... Sister..."
A heartbreaking voice leaked from her lips.
Then, as if entranced, she took a step forward.
But that step went no further.
Because I immediately pulled on her reins.
"Mine. Snap out of it."
"But that's..."
"You said it yourself."
I turned her shoulders by force, making her meet my eyes.
"You wouldn't lie. So how can you fall for a lie after saying that?"
"A... lie?"
Mine's wavering eyes regained focus.
She looked at the nun on the throne once more.
"Is that the sister you knew? Would she just demand healing right after getting hurt?"
I had shared many stories with Mine over time.
Sister Arisha hadn't particularly cared whether Mine had a lot of holy power or not.
To her, Mine was just one of the countless unfortunate kids who had ended up at the orphanage.
"I told you before entering the dungeon. If you encountered her even as a wraith, you had a lot to say. Was demanding healing one of them?"
"No."
"...You're right. The sister I knew wasn't like that."
[Mine...?]
"The sister I knew would have asked about my well-being first if she saw me again. How have you been? What do you like? Any boys you're interested in lately?"
[...]
"That's just a disgusting monster wearing the face of someone precious to me as an insult."
At her cold voice, Necredin made a sorrowful expression.
[Mine... Why are you doing this? I am Arisha Rose. Nothing more than the vengeful spirits of her and all those you couldn't save, fused into one.]
"No. The person I knew never had eyes like yours."
Mine turned to me with a wistful smile.
"Thank you. I almost lied to myself again. I knew... I definitely knew..."
"Lies are fine. As long as you don't fall for them."
I said that, but a corner of my heart swelled with pride.
Keh.
She had grown. Our little Mine.
[No matter how much you deny it, deep down you know, don't you? That I'm someone precious to you.]
But Necredin seemed determined to stick to his act until the end.
He waved his hand, and dozens of wraiths merged together, reforming into four wraiths.
Each one clad in the armor of imperial soldiers.
Mine's gaze fixed on the swordsman wraith at the front among the four.
Unlike the others, he held his sword in a particularly steadfast stance.
The swordsman wraith looked around and spoke.
[Where... is this? Just moments ago... there was a giant skeleton right in front of me...]
"Uncle Shelop."
Shelop Innis.
He was Pasha's father.
Then, the other wraiths seemed to awaken one by one, muttering in confusion.
[My body feels as light as a feather. What is this?]
[And what's this sword in my hand? We were clearly on a mission.]
In the midst of it, one wraith spotted Alicia and widened his eyes.
[Wait... Is that...?]
At his voice, the gazes of the other three wraiths turned to Alicia as well.
[Could it be... Alicia... Your Highness?]
"Do you know them?"
"They're all people I know. Holtz, Marco, and that one over there is Shusha, I think? I've never seen him in person."
[What a heartbreaking reunion, Mine. You couldn't even say a proper goodbye. This time, lead them to rest yourself.]
Necredin crooked a finger.
[Or will you join them?]
At that signal, the four wraiths raised their swords toward us in unison.
[Wh-what's happening...? My body... it's moving on its own!]
[Stop! Stop it! Why is the sword aimed at Her Highness?!]
[Ugh...! Someone... is giving orders in my head...!]
[He... Help us...!]
The wraiths creaked into attack positions.
At the same time, wraiths swirled around Necredin, forming a creepy protective barrier.
A familiar pattern.
'Is the pattern the same as Necredin's?'
"Aren."
"Yeah. I get it. We have to take out the four in front first, right?"
But something was off.
Why couldn't I see the wraiths' turns?
I could clearly see Marias's summons.
Before the question fully formed, the four wraiths moved simultaneously.
Boom!
The lead wraith, Shelop's, swung his greatsword, sending a deep blue sword beam slashing across the floor toward Mine.
Mine hadn't summoned Logia yet.
There was no tank to take the hit.
'Damn it!'
In that instant, Aren dove in front of Mine.
She crossed her sword to block the incoming sword beam head-on.
Boom!
Aren quickly embraced the staggering Mine amid the shockwave.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, Lady Aren...!"
As Aren supported Mine, the two wraiths from left and right charged at her.
Slash! Slash!
Two consecutive sword strikes left wounds on Aren’s shoulder and thigh.
Blood sprayed out.
"Kh...!"
Her stance had collapsed from blocking Shelop's sword beam, so she couldn't block the second attack.
The final strike followed.
Pew pew pew!
The archer wraith's soul arrows embedded into Aren's back.
That was when I realized.
'The reason their turns weren't visible.'
The wraiths weren't individual entities.
Unlike the original Necredin, this fake Necredin was a boss formed by gathering all the dungeon's wraiths into one.
The summon and the summoned wraiths' linked attacks all counted as a single action—one turn.
'Even if we take out all the wraiths, there's no guarantee the barrier will break.'
I cooled my head.
What was in front of me was a new boss that Climud had created to crush us.
That was how I decided to think of it.
In games, the hardest moments are facing the first boss without knowing the patterns.
Having to dig through each one blindly and figure out the strategy.
When it's a life-or-death struggle like now, conquering it becomes incredibly daunting.
Because lives are a one-time chance.
But he didn't know.
That what was a single chance for others was three more for me.
'We'll peel it away. One by one.'
My turn.
I lowered my sword and stepped toward Shelop.
Wraiths halve physical damage.
It would be hard for me to take them out directly.
Mine would be the core damage dealer for this strategy too.
In that case.
Even if physical damage doesn't work, what about Corner Slash's weakness application?
"Corner Slash."
I embedded Corner Slash into Shelop's translucent body.
[Weak!]
An X-shaped wound appeared, granting me an extra turn.
At that moment.
[Kkh...!]
[Ugh...!]
As if connected by invisible threads, groans burst from the mouths of the other three wraiths who hadn't been hit.
Their translucent bodies flickered faintly as if in pain.
Extra turn: Return of Light.
A wide-area attack with a broader range than Gale Step.
Gray light exploded from my sword tip, engulfing the four wraiths.
[Kraaaah!]
[Uwaaaaaah!]
Once again, the wraiths screamed in unison.
'It worked.'
But the unease didn't fade.
Return of Light was a clear physical attack. And wraiths had strong resistance to physical damage.
Even in the original, you couldn't deal proper damage to wraith types without magic or holy power.
'This much damage from just one Return of Light?'
[What are you trying to do?]
Pattern analysis.
As I threw myself backward, Mine's blue gem lit up.
Mine's turn.
It should have been Aren's turn normally, but she was injured in the leg now.
Naturally, her turn got pushed to the back among us.
'The turns are already messed up once.'
"I'll summon Logia first!"
Mine tried to summon Logia immediately.
Just summoning Logia consumed a precious turn.
'I should have had her summon Logia before entering combat.'
The moment I nodded.
"Mine. Heal the barrier."
"Huh? But Lady Aren...!"
Aren spoke calmly.
"It's fine. This much is nothing."
She struck a pose as if flexing nonexistent arm muscles, showing off.
But cold sweat dripped down her forehead.
From the pain of her wounds.
She looked at me.
'Ah.'
From her eyes, I realized.
That she truly was the protagonist.
I had been progressing the battle based on original patterns, even using regressions.
Constrained by turn-based combat, but for those living in this world, it was an overwhelming advantage.
But what about Aren?
She had tackled dungeon strategies so far without knowing any patterns at all.
For her, every dungeon was a life-risking first clear.
That was why she instinctively knew.
That right now, the most important thing wasn't treating the injury in front of her—it was figuring out the unknown enemy's patterns.
"H-Halibal...?"
Mine's voice was still flustered.
A natural reaction.
It was telling her to prioritize attacking over helping an injured ally.
"Do as Halibal says."
But Aren, the one injured, reassured Mine instead.
"Because we learned something from Halibal's attack just now."
Her gaze still on me.
I met that gaze squarely and repeated to myself.
'It's okay. I won't let this chance slip away meaninglessly.'
I stared piercingly at Necredin and the wraiths.
Not missing even the slightest incongruity.
"Ugh... Okay. Heal!"
Mine hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, she bit her lip and gathered her holy power.
A beam of light burst from her hand, shooting straight toward Necredin's barrier.
[Kyaaaaah...!]
The wraiths forming the barrier let out death throes.
That was when it happened.
As Necredin staggered, the wraiths in front of him staggered too.
Seeing that, Alicia muttered.
"What happened? We attacked the boss, but the wraiths in front are affected too."
"Yes. Halibal's previous attack was the same."
Attacking the boss affects the adds, attacking the adds affects the boss.
And no separate turns for the wraiths?
'This... is it that?'
Link.
A gimmick that often appeared in games.
Enemies linked together shared a single fate.
Any damage or status ailments one took were shared by all connected others.
Meaning, attacking any one of the five inflicted the same damage on the remaining four.
And usually in these cases, the monsters had low health pools.
It had to be that way.
'Attacking all five at once means 5x damage.'
Single-target attacks had their damage dispersed to 1/5.