Chapter 164
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Elite Dungeon, the World's Basin
As I passed through the valley and entered the World's Basin, a landscape different from the outside unfolded.
It was just a basin surrounded by rocky mountains, yet the feeling was completely different from the outside. Even the air was strange. If I had to define this feeling in one word…
Discomfort.
And I knew the source of this discomfort.
"Dense demonic energy."
Here, the demonic energy was thicker than the natural life force.
Some being was emitting a thick cloud of demonic energy.
If there was one thing that set it apart from other dungeon-style Elite Dungeons, it was the open sky. However, the murky air made the sky look hazy.
Instead of trees, there were piles of stones and large boulders scattered about, and monsters roamed around them. Griffins, ogres, goblin hordes—the variety of monsters was vast. They were all enhanced by the demonic energy pervading this place. These were not foes that would fall easily.
In a way, it was more like a field than a dungeon.
The approach to clearing it was different from dungeons divided into zones, where you encounter named bosses sequentially based on your progress.
Still, I knew how to proceed, thanks to the information I received when I got the first-clear quest.
Before the seal on the World's Basin was completely broken, the elite knights of the Roeid Duchy had infiltrated this place and made preparations.
'We've buried Divine Marks in three locations within the World's Basin. If they start emitting holy power, there's a risk the master of this basin will notice, so they are currently inactive. We need you adventurers to activate them.'
Operating in an area with dense demonic energy is extremely dangerous. You could even call it a small demon realm manifested in the mortal world. It was a task that could be undertaken without much pressure only by 'adventurers from the stars,' who could challenge it dozens, even hundreds of times.
They said that once the Divine Marks were activated by adventurers, a purification of the demonic energy would begin, centered on those locations. If all three Divine Marks were successfully activated, from the boss's perspective, the air would suddenly start to turn foul. Only then would it reveal itself to deal with the intruders.
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[???]
[World's Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
The priority is to fulfill the activation conditions for the Divine Marks at each location.
The locations are southeast, southwest, and north. Three spots, then.
And the overall dungeon progress condition is one.
Usually, the overall progress updates each time you clear a named boss.
"Is there only one named boss?"
There was a possibility that this was the first Elite Dungeon with only a single named boss.
If so, the process of activating the Divine Marks would be as difficult as a named boss fight.
And there was one more hidden condition.
[???]
"What's this?"
I tilted my head, looking at the hidden condition that appeared in the quest interface.
I was very curious about those question marks, but for now, I had to focus on activating the Divine Marks.
*Tap, tap, tap.*
I moved quickly between the boulders.
Toward the location of the buried Divine Mark closest to the entrance.
*Tap.*
Before long, I arrived at the spot where the southwest Divine Mark was buried.
In a wide, open area, there was a single man-made trace. A pile of stones was stacked in the center, so nine times out of ten, the Divine Mark was buried underneath it.
Various monsters were roaming the area, but the most conspicuous ones were…
*Ssssss.*
[Level 55 Lamia]
[HP 10,000,000 / 10,000,000 (100%)]
…Lamias, monsters with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a naked woman.
They flicked their tongues like snakes and made bizarre noises as they slithered between the rocks.
I instinctively covered my face slightly with my hand.
"Whoa, that's lewd."
I'm fine with gore, but this is a bit much.
Who knew I'd miss the safety filter. With the filter on, wouldn't they have at least been wearing swimsuits or something?
First, I'll deal with the surrounding monsters.
*Tat-tat-tat-tat!*
I leaped out from behind a boulder with Astaroth drawn and started running at high speed.
*Swish, swish!*
*Kieeeek—!*
The nearby goblins, one per strike.
And soon, the Lamias spotted me.
*Sssssssss—!!*
The snake women let out bizarre sounds, writhing their serpentine lower bodies as if to coil around me, and lunged.
There were a lot of them. Their HP was also formidable. It seemed these snake women were the main force of the World's Basin.
Their numbers were too great to handle one by one. I decided to use an area-of-effect skill for the first time in a while.
[Moonlight Slash (S)]
- Unleashes a powerful 360-degree slash. (Casting time: 2 seconds)
- (Instant Cast) Upon a successful block
- (D-Rank) Enters Quickdraw Stance after casting the skill (Quickdraw Stance re-entry cooldown: 30 seconds)
- (B-Rank) Casting time reduced by 1 second
- (S-Rank) Casting time reduced by 0.5 seconds
*Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh!*
*Kaaaaah!*
Moonlight flashed repeatedly around me. Long gashes were carved into the bodies of the snake women charging at me.
It was a skill I hadn't used often, as I had been focusing on named boss fights or battles against strong single targets. But there was no better skill for dealing with monsters swarming from all directions. In fact, I'd used it quite effectively in low-level areas with lots of weaker monsters.
And now, I also had powerful area-of-effect skills like Flash and Starlight Sword Ki.
*Flash, pa-pa-pa-pat!*
Before the Lamia horde could surround me, I used Flash to break through them, then immediately turned and unleashed my sword ki. But as elite creatures enhanced by demonic energy, the Lamias didn't fall easily even after taking both Flash and the sword ki.
*Chk.*
I corrected my posture and raised my sword.
Should I try using my newly acquired skill?
The sword in my hand began to dance. Starlight gathered around my body.
[Sword Curtain]
[Invincible while casting (Cooldown: 1 minute)]
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
I could clearly hear the sound of the Lamias, lunging with their whole bodies, being repelled by the protective Sword Curtain.
Stopping the dance that had lasted several seconds, I forcefully scattered the starlight gathered around me.
[Sword Curtain: Release]
[Follow-up to Sword Curtain]
[Unleashes a powerful slash across a 30m circular area centered on the caster]
*Vwooom!*
*Pa-pa-pa-pat!*
*Kieeeeeeek—!!*
Starlight swept through the area. The weakened protection of the demonic energy could no longer shield the snake women. The Lamias were caught in the fierce storm of starlight, chopped into pieces, and splattered green blood all over the basin floor.
My eyes widened at the scene my Sword Curtain had created, and I let out a gasp of awe.
"Whoa."
I used to be a little envious of mages' area-of-effect skills, but I guess I don't have to be anymore.
*Scritch, scritch.*
Having dealt with the surrounding monsters, I crouched down and drew a pattern on the ground around the pile of stones where the Divine Mark was buried.
As I etched the simple activation magic circle I'd received from Eleonora onto the ground, a faint white light began to emanate from the stone pile.
*Vwoooom.*
"Holy power."
It's been a while since I've seen this.
It was the same light I always saw from Saintess Elena's hands when she healed me.
Sister Elena's holy power was far more incredible than what came from an old holy relic like this.
Lost in old memories for a moment, I shook my head vigorously and moved toward the southwest to activate the next Divine Mark.
*Ta-ta-tat!*
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 1/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
*Chwaaaat!*
*Thud-thud-thud.*
Leaving the dismembered corpses of the Lamia horde scattered behind me, I immediately began the work of activating the second Divine Mark.
*Vwooooom!*
The Divine Mark, activated by the magic circle, began to emit holy power from the pile of stones.
The second one was a success, too.
I tilted my head.
"This is too easy."
To be sure, the Lamias here were numerous and very strong monsters.
But they were at a level I could handle on my own by continuously unleashing powerful skills.
The difficulty was surprisingly low for something called a '4-Player Recommended Elite Dungeon.'
Have I just gotten too strong?
Feeling a strange sense of disappointment at the dungeon's more mundane difficulty than expected, I opened the dungeon progress interface to check the location of the last Divine Mark.
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 1/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
"Huh?"
The progress for the southeast Divine Mark activation had reset.
The only location where the condition was currently met was the southwest one I had just activated.
I stomped my feet in frustration.
"Why?!"
Did I draw the magic circle wrong? That couldn't be it. I clearly confirmed that the activation condition was met before I left the southeast.
As I stood there in confusion, a bizarre sound soon reached my ears.
*Ssssss.*
The sound of Lamias.
I looked around.
Lamias, Lamias, and more Lamias.
Even more Lamias than had been in this clearing before, their eyes bloodshot, began to swarm toward the activated Divine Mark.
I gritted my teeth.
Just activating the Divine Marks wasn't the end of it.
The situation in the southeast was probably similar. After I left, the Lamias must have gathered again and dug up the Divine Mark that was emitting holy power.
I had to protect each location until all the Divine Marks were fully activated.
This format was a kind of…
"Defense dungeon...!"