Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Confronting the Skeleton Champion
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As soon as I accepted entry into the boss room, the massive door began to creak open on its own.
The light seeping through the gap was dim, but the aura emanating from within was anything but light.
Once I fully passed through the door and stepped inside, a familiar sensation washed over me.
The boss room resembled the tower's fifth-floor structure.
However, it was smaller in scale, more ornate, and the walls were adorned with countless banners.
Additionally, sunlight filtering through the stained glass perfectly accentuated the room's lavish atmosphere.
And...
'Was its name the Skeleton Champion?'
There was no throne here.
Instead, at the center stood a massive greatsword plunged deep into the ground.
Gripping its hilt with both hands was a skeleton glaring right at me.
I quickly assessed the boss's approximate build.
It was a hulking figure that dwarfed the large skeleton from before the door—easily a meter taller.
Its armament was also on a completely different level from the previous ones.
Sleek black armor gleamed with a stylish sheen, and faint ominous red runes glowed on its surface.
The moment I tried to approach it more closely...
The boss's greatsword erupted in an intense blue glow.
It yanked the blade free and swung it vertically through the air.
A massive blue sword beam shot toward me like a cannon shell.
Shuuu—Boom!
'Sword beam release?'
I was at a fair distance, so I easily sidestepped it.
The sword beam exploded with a thunderous roar, carving a long gash into the wall and sending stone fragments raining down.
The speed and power of that released beam were incredible.
'Firing a sword beam the moment it spots an intruder—quite the aggressive one.'
Even as that thought crossed my mind, another beam came flying.
With every swing of its greatsword, beams launched in rapid succession.
I dodged the barrage left and right while steadily closing the distance.
Through the constant evasion, I noticed the boss's beam release cycle gradually lengthening.
High mana consumption, perhaps?
To counter, I used my ring to bait its dodges.
The ring, which I'd activated multiple times today alone, fired a sharp crystal shard toward it.
But this room's boss, wielding its greatsword, simply faced the shard head-on and met it with the blade.
Crack!!
The crystal shard shattered into pieces like ice.
As expected of a boss.
Now both ranged attacks were confirmed ineffective.
'In the end, it'll come down to close combat.'
While it dealt with the crystal shard, I'd already closed in right up to its face.
I charged at it with my magic sword raised.
The skeleton seemed to welcome the melee as well. Neither of us showed any fear.
The two swords clashed fiercely at the center of the boss room.
Clang!
With all our power focused into our blades, a faint shockwave rippled out.
Even that minor repercussion shattered the room's decorative items beyond repair.
I'd put considerable force into it, expecting to push it back on the first clash.
But neither of us budged an inch.
Our magic sword and greatsword moved at breakneck speeds, desperately trying to cleave each other.
From that initial clash, an unrelenting exchange of blows ensued.
Cling! Claaang!
Chaaang—!
The ceaseless clamor of metal on metal echoed through the room.
I thrust my sword toward its flank.
It parried with the pommel of its greatsword and created distance again.
In the midst of that flurry,
I drew on more power for even fiercer attacks, but it blocked them all.
And with expert precision.
In close combat, where Strength and Agility stats mattered most, my Strength held the edge. But its Agility was superior.
Its movements were shockingly nimble for such a massive frame, and its attack trajectories were unpredictable.
It deflected or redirected all my strikes with minimal force.
Its long reach from its size, relatively faster speed, and advanced swordsmanship.
The Skeleton Champion quickly discerned its advantages after a few exchanges and shifted tactics accordingly.
Because of that, it predicted my next moves several times.
Anticipated actions left me no choice but to take the hits with my body.
I tried counterattacking during those openings, but all attempts failed.
In the midst of dozens of exchanges,
My magic sword finally shoved its greatsword aside, seemingly gaining the upper hand.
Yet it bore no wounds,
Only afterimages—while I was the sole one taking damage.
This proved the Skeleton Champion could pierce my Defense and inflict wounds.
And from this brief skirmish, one thing was clear.
The Skeleton Champion wielded its sword far more masterfully than I did.
Its slightly higher Agility played a part, but its swordsmanship felt incomparable.
Especially, the sword beam coating the greatsword vibrated and rotated like a chainsaw at minute speeds.
'Controlling sword energy with such fine, rapid precision?'
All those afterimage wounds were due to that.
But that was as far as it went.
My surprise was limited to its swordsmanship and energy control.
Overall, however...
'Weak. Far weaker than the Giant King.'
Even back then, when I was weaker, I'd taken down the Giant King.
Which meant...
I loosened up and prepared to fight properly.
The afterimage wounds and mana spent on the ring had already recovered thanks to the belt.
'Time to dope up first.'
Before it could charge again, I swiftly pulled potions from my inventory.
Stamina and mana potions as basics,
I crushed the stat-boosting potions in my mouth and swallowed them, gaining +2 to all stats.
Judging by its strength, I wouldn't need to go as far as overload-level potion chugging.
Still,
too early to let my guard down. Even the Giant King back then hadn't shown its full power and had a trump card transformation skill.
But there were differences this time.
The Giant King was strong enough to beat me in a straight fight; this one wasn't.
And,
I hadn't used a single skill yet.
Only now did I awaken the demi-god power within me.
Until this point, I'd fought purely with stats.
'Domain.'
The only monster left in my domain was this one.
No reason to conserve demi-god power anymore.
I stored my magic sword in my inventory
and applied partial reinforcement to both fists.
With the domain already active,
I unleashed a shockwave with my radiant golden fists.
The shockwave, infused with Wave Strike power, hurtled toward it at extreme speed.
The Skeleton Champion couldn't react; the immense impact sent its massive body flying backward.
It rose quickly after slamming into the wall, but I saw cracks forming on its skull.
Its empty eye sockets ignited with blue flames.
'Phase 2, as expected.'
Not quite as intense as the sword energy, but starting from its eyes, its body began to glow faintly blue.
That aura was unmistakably mana.
So it could reinforce its whole body by wielding mana.
It regripped its greatsword and charged at me with far greater speed than before.
But I merely unleashed another domain-infused shockwave.
It tried changing direction or hiding behind decorations to charge, but
with the domain enveloping the entire boss room,
the impact reached it no matter where it was.
It tried blocking the shockwaves with its greatsword but couldn't handle the speed and force, getting repelled again.
Seeing its pathetic state, I thought:
'Mana reinforcement isn't very effective. Because it's a technique, not a skill?'
This wasn't even a full-power shockwave. I was starting to gauge its true level.
The current
Phase 2 boss was stronger than a normal Giant King.
But weaker than the fully powered, transformed Giant King.
This realization made me see how absurd the fifth floor's mid-boss was.
The fourth floor boss was weaker than a regular skeleton knight even at max reinforcement—why was the fifth floor different?
Now, to finish it off, I began operating my demi-god power at full strength.
The boss Skeleton Champion, its bones already riddled with cracks,
mistook that for an opening and charged straight at me, thrusting its greatsword.
I stood still, ignoring it on purpose.
But its blade met my immense Defense and inflicted no damage.
The boss seemed slightly flustered.
In that gap, I drove my prepared fist into its torso.
A supreme strike combining full-power demi-god operation, partial reinforcement, Wave Strike, and domain force.
Boom!!!
It couldn't react to the insanely fast blow and flew into the wall.
The impact shook the entire boss room as if it might breach the castle wall.
I was ready to use Divine Charge or a finisher if it survived.
But the system clearly announced its death with messages.
Two achievements, a boss skill, and a boss item.
The barrage of system messages heralded overwhelming rewards.
'...This much?'
Brimming with joy, I quickly opened the message window and scanned the details.
Then it hit me.
Is this why it skipped the first-entry achievement...?
It had given zone-entry achievements for Zones 2 and 3, but not this time.
I'd wondered, but realized after slaying the boss.
This was probably the system's true direction,
and past zones lacked bosses, so it used entry achievements instead. It had only given first-entry ones twice, no guarantee it'd continue.
And honestly, this suited me better.
If zone entrances grew too wide for me to control later, others might enter first upon opening.
Boss-slay achievements eliminated that risk.
As I reviewed the details, I mentally tallied the haul.
For the two achievements:
The First Boss Slayer gave +1 to all stats.
The First Legend granted a whopping +2 to all stats.
Especially that +2 to all—same tier as my first kill.
First Legend details: Acquired by soloing a boss first.
Unlike First Boss Slayer, which had no party restrictions.
+3 to all stats total.
'If I keep getting achievements like this per zone...'
My joy at the massive gains was short-lived; subtle changes began stirring in my body.
A new sensation awakening within me.
No way.
I immediately checked my status window.
Reaching level 36 wasn't the issue; I inspected the stats.
Defense was the only one hitting 50.
Awakening should start, but
this felt entirely different from previous awakenings.
'...Maybe it's not an awakening after all.'