Ending Maker Chapter 10
Ending Maker Chapter 10
Chapter 2 - Dungeon Book #4
No matter what anyone said, the highest scorer in Hero Legend 2 was Outboxer009, the server's #1.
But the person who had hunted the most in Hero Legend 2 was Yellow Storm, #2 on the server.
'If you counted only the monsters killed, Yellow Storm would easily have twice Outboxer's total.'
The person who had experienced the most battles in Hero Legend 2.
But even that Yellow Storm had never actually experienced real combat.
'Because Leisegang doesn't count.'
She had been completely immobilized because of the seal, and honestly, back then Cordelia herself and Yuder had both been out of their minds over leveling up anyway.
Either way, this was her first real battle.
Because of that, Cordelia was more nervous than she had imagined, but she was able to carry out the battle with surprising ease.
'This is so easy.'
Baruna's Dungeon Book was by no means easy.
The basic enemies were goblin-type monsters, as expected this early on, but they were anything but ordinary.
Goblins of different attributes appeared in each room, and their levels were not low either.
Calculated in Hero Legend 2 terms, they were around level 10.
Monsters nearly twice the level of Yuder and Cordelia were appearing with entirely different attributes and traits, so it was no exaggeration to call the difficulty nightmare mode.
But despite that, Cordelia felt at ease.
'Our coordination is so good.'
She didn't want to admit it, but it was true.
Moreover, Outboxer009 was providing better support than any supporter Yellow Storm had ever played with.
As soon as the dark-attribute goblins wearing black masks appeared—no, even before they appeared—Yuder was already tearing a light-attribute magic circle, the natural counter to the dark attribute.
The goblins that swarmed out began to stagger with deep fatigue the moment they stepped onto the floor laid with light-attribute power, and Cordelia poured magic missiles onto them before they could even properly approach.
Of course, that wasn't all.
Yuder saw through exactly what Cordelia needed.
Whenever her mana seemed to be running low, a mana potion would come flying from behind before she knew it. Whenever she needed a particular magic circle, Yuder would dart in behind her, press it into her hand, and retreat.
As a result, Yuder and Cordelia hunted with the speed and precision of a doctor and nurse who had spent years working together in the operating room.
But despite that.
Cordelia suddenly scowled and shouted angrily.
"Hey! Stop stealing all the last hits!"
Either way, the enemy monsters' levels averaged 9 to 10.
Since they were nearly double Cordelia's level, taking them down in one hit was nearly impossible, and naturally there were quite a few of them wobbling around on the verge of death.
And whenever those ones appeared, Yuder landed the last hit with infuriating perfection.
'And when did he even bring a bow and hand axes!'
On top of that, his accuracy was surprisingly good.
As expected of someone with the Heavenly Martial Body, Yuder was skilled at everything involving his body.
"SKREEE!"
A goblin struck in the chest by a hand axe collapsed with a single shriek.
It was the one that had been staggering after being hit by Cordelia's magic missile.
Yuder softened them up, Cordelia landed a blow, and then Yuder finished them off.
If you looked only at the coordination itself, it was perfect, but how should she put it—it felt like Cordelia herself was the one doing the supporting, not Yuder.
Either way, the experience system was structured so that the person who landed the last hit received the most experience.
"They're coming again!"
Yuder grunted as he pulled the hand axe from the goblin's chest, then looked ahead and shouted.
A hobgoblin about twice the size of the goblins that had appeared so far charged forward with a roar.
"Grease!"
Cordelia shouted, pointing at the ground. The hobgoblin that had been charging recklessly stepped on the suddenly slick floor and toppled over spectacularly, and Yuder shouted once more as he tore a magic circle.
"Bind!"
Invisible ropes bound the limbs of the fallen hobgoblin. Considering the hobgoblin's monstrous strength, it wouldn't hold for long, but what they needed wasn't a long time anyway.
Yuder let out a short breath. He adjusted his grip on the hand axe and charged, and instead of watching Yuder, Cordelia quickly chanted a spell.
"Hup!"
Yuder had not lied to Cordelia.
Thanks to the Sun's Necklace, he was treating his Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, but Yuder's body was still utterly frail.
But even so, he had the bare minimum of muscle strength.
If that was the case, then all he had to do was attack a spot where even that minimal strength could deal a critical hit.
"Aaaaaaagh—!"
The hobgoblin with a hand axe lodged between its legs let out a convulsing scream. Its thrashing was so violent that the bind magic was on the verge of shattering in an instant.
"Oops!"
He was the one who had attacked, but Yuder, who had rolled across the floor to dodge the hobgoblin's kick, unconsciously placed both hands over his own groin.
And Cordelia completed her spell.
"Fire—Arrow!"
Unlike the non-elemental Magic Missile, this was an arrow of flame packed with fire-element power.
It was a spell that required quite a bit of time for Cordelia, who was still a 1-star mage.
"Aargh!"
The flaming arrow drove into the hobgoblin's groin once more, and the thrashing hobgoblin suddenly went limp with a choking sound.
It was death by shock from the successive impacts.
"Huu...... huu...... huu......."
Cordelia, wrapped in a ring of pure white light, collapsed to the ground with ragged breaths, and Yuder also let out a sigh of relief.
"Mid-boss cleared. Now only the boss room is left."
Listening to Yuder, who had sprawled out completely on his back, Cordelia closed her eyes and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Five hours.
That was how long it had taken to get here.
Of course, they had taken breaks in between. But even so, it was clearly a forced march that was bound to exhaust them.
'As expected of Yellow Storm.'
Yuder, who had calmed his breathing and raised his upper body, smiled as he looked at Cordelia, who was sitting a short distance away, panting.
If the person who had come with him had been anyone other than Cordelia, they probably wouldn't have made it here in five hours.
'No, I probably wouldn't have even made the plan in the first place.'
Either way, they had made it here.
Because this was a virtual dungeon where death wasn't permanent, its XP efficiency was poor. Even so, the huge level gap meant Yuder had already reached level 8, while Cordelia had reached level 7 and was just short of 8.
'It's possible.'
Yuder, who had counted the number of remaining magic circles, nodded.
They had used fewer magic circles than expected, so at this rate they could afford to challenge the boss room.
"Cordelia, are you very tired?"
Instead of answering Yuder's question, Cordelia lay down on the spot, and Yuder decided to rest a little longer.
And then, one hour later.
After recovering their stamina and mana through energy circulation and meditation respectively, Yuder and Cordelia stood side by side before an enormous black door that was obviously the boss-room entrance.
"What comes out from inside?"
"Fury Wolf."
"Not a goblin?"
"Fury Wolf. It's fast. We'll both have to keep moving."
"The plan?"
"I'll bind it, you hit it. But......."
"But?"
"Until I give the signal, focus only on evasion. I have some prep work to do. Why?"
When Yuder asked, Cordelia didn't answer right away. Instead, she narrowed her eyes once.
"You're not planning to do something weird, are you?"
"What weird thing? We'll barely be able to take it down even if we work together."
"Hmm, fine. If that's the case."
Cordelia made up her mind, loosened up, then jerked her chin at Yuder. Yuder opened the boss-room door.
* * *
The moment the door opened, silence hung in the air.
The atmosphere itself changed completely.
Beneath a black sky, the ground was covered in white cloth.
In the center of it stood a single giant wolf.
Its green fur was marked by vivid yellow stripes, its yellow eyes gleamed, and hot breath poured from its jaws.
The distance was about thirty meters.
It was by no means close, but it wasn't a distance that allowed them to relax either.
Yuder glanced at Cordelia once, and Cordelia did the same. After exchanging a look, the two of them slowly widened the distance between themselves.
The Fury Wolf did not move rashly. Hot saliva dripped from its jaws as it looked back and forth between Yuder and Cordelia, then suddenly its fur bristled and its limbs tensed.
Immediately after.
At the moment Cordelia let out a breath.
Boom!
The Fury Wolf kicked off the ground. It charged toward Yuder, and Yuder, who had predicted it in advance, threw his body without hesitation and rolled across the floor.
"Cordelia!"
Instead of answering, Cordelia tore the magic circle she had received during the break. Bind magic surged toward the Fury Wolf, and Yuder, back on his feet, tore another circle. Another Bind.
"GRAAAH!"
The Fury Wolf roared. Cordelia's Bind shattered under the roar, while Yuder's wrapped around the beast.
"Grease!"
Cordelia cast Grease between Yuder and the Fury Wolf. The beast broke free of the Bind through sheer strength, stepped onto the slick floor, and slipped.
Yuder threw a hand axe at the Fury Wolf. Without even checking whether it hit, he tore through magic circles in succession.
Boom!
This time it wasn't bind.
The first was the precious Water Fall he had been saving, and the second was Lightning.
A mass of water formed in midair and crashed down on the Fury Wolf. A bolt of lightning struck the thoroughly drenched beast.
"GRAAAH!"
Pain colored the Fury Wolf's roar.
But at that moment, Cordelia felt something was off.
"Yuder?!"
She shouted as she threw herself aside. The Fury Wolf had charged at her—and even faster than before!
"Not yet!"
Yuder rolled across the floor and tore a magic circle. Then a bolt of lightning struck the Fury Wolf once more.
And Cordelia was certain.
Yuder wasn't attacking the Fury Wolf.
He was strengthening it!
"You lunatic! Lightning attribute!"
Against the Fury Wolf, a lightning spell as weak as Lightning was little more than a power boost.
And yet Yuder had fired off Lightning twice to strengthen it.
Why? What for?!
"Bingo!"
The moment Yuder shouted, the Fury Wolf howled at the sky. At the same time, a massive horn burst from its forehead.
Crackle—!
Lightning flashed along its horn.
And then Cordelia understood.
This had been Yuder's goal from the very beginning.
To strengthen the Fury Wolf and draw out its hidden power.
It was probably the hidden condition for obtaining the B-rank skill book.
"F**k! I knew something was weird!"
She had thought it was too easy for a dungeon that gave out a B-rank skill book from the very start!
A strengthened dungeon boss.
The Fury Wolf hadn't just grown a horn on its forehead. Its entire body felt much larger than before.
"Good! It fully awakened!"
When Yuder shouted in a voice full of delight, Cordelia immediately screamed at him.
"You lunatic! Can we even beat that thing?!"
"We have to beat it! What? Don't tell me you can't."
"You bastard! You damn bastard!"
Even in this situation, he was provoking her!
Cordelia hastily swept her hair back and adjusted her grip on the magic wand that looked like a conductor's baton.
Yuder also grinned, then clutched a bundle of magic circles in his left hand and a hand axe in his right.
"It's coming."
At the moment Yuder spoke, the Fury Wolf kicked off the ground.