Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Unique Specimen, 'Giant Lamia' (2)
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[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 1/1]
[???]
[Celestial Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
Tap, tap, tap.
Tapping my scabbard impatiently, I sat cross-legged atop a large pile of rocks, waiting for the next wave of lamias. A disgruntled mutter escaped my lips.
"This won't work."
It was a waste of time.
There was no point in just defending the North Divine Mark.
Unless I activated all the Divine Marks, it seemed I couldn't expect any further changes in the Celestial Basin area.
The three locations where the Divine Marks were buried. At a glance, they seemed randomly placed, but if you drew lines between them, they formed a perfect equilateral triangle.
A kind of divine magic circle, with each point forming a vertex.
The full-scale purification of the Celestial Basin would only begin once the Divine Marks at all points were activated and started resonating with each other.
But if I left this spot to activate a Divine Mark elsewhere, the lamias would dig this one up.
There was no way. It was physically impossible.
I didn't have three bodies.
*Is this how they're stopping me because I keep soloing everything? Even when they added a berserk pattern, I broke through with the cheat key known as the Hero's power, and I bypassed the instant-death mechanic with the belt Igraine gave me. So now they've presented a structure that's physically impossible to solo?*
This was tyranny. I wanted to advance alone. Even if the Celestial Basin's structure wasn't solely the game developers' intention, it felt like the continent of Astria itself had been trying to screw me over lately.
"Ugh."
Frustration welled up, and I felt tears sting my eyes for no reason, but I forced them back.
And I sank into thought.
*Think carefully, Rain, Iseulbi.*
[Entry Level: 53]
[Elite Dungeon (4-Player Party Recommended)]
[Celestial Basin]
"It's not a 4-player party dungeon, it's a 4-player party *recommended* dungeon."
Recommended.
Not required.
This rule had never been broken from the start.
Damage output was a secondary issue.
It wasn't just me; other users often succeeded in soloing elite dungeons after boosting their stats.
All the elite dungeons I'd been through so far could be cleared solo by understanding the mechanics and using equipment skills and items. Of course, they did force some rather unconventional plays.
"In that case."
This place is possible too.
It's just a dungeon that recommends party play.
I just haven't found the way to solo it yet.
*'It's just a recommendation, right?'*
I recalled the words of the new Swordsman I was mentoring, Nagi, and smiled.
It was thanks to Nagi. In some ways, she's even sharper than I am.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've seen her. I've been busy placating Chris lately, and there was the Tomb of Swords attempt, and my mind has been a mess. I wonder if she's leveled up much? I should go see her after I clear this elite dungeon. It seems about time for Nagi to challenge the Forward Base, too.
I shot to my feet.
I stood up from the rock.
My course of action was set.
I didn't need to focus solely on the Divine Marks.
[???]
The question marks on the dungeon progress interface had to be some kind of hidden condition.
This was probably the key to clearing it.
From this moment on, to find that hidden condition...
I would search this entire vast Celestial Basin, this whole instance field.
Thoroughly.
*Thwip!*
I immediately leaped off the rock.
Ssssss-!!
Leaving the next wave of lamias behind, I set off to find the hidden clear condition.
Rumble-!
The sound of the lamia horde digging through the pile of rocks faded into the distance.
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[???]
[Celestial Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
I ran at high speed, passing through the center of the Celestial Basin, and began to explore the edges of the basin, which were surrounded by rocky mountains.
In the center was a wide, open area that looked like a final boss arena. And, scattered across the floor at the edges of the basin...
"Why didn't I notice before?"
Huge holes, drilled here and there into the rocky ground.
Traces of something massive moving underground.
And.
Sssss-??
Shhlick!
Just then, I lopped off the head of a regular lamia crawling out of one of the holes. I figured out the direction the slanted tunnel led and started running toward it.
'The dungeon progress interface.'
It's certainly a useful feature that presents the necessary conditions for clearing a dungeon.
And, to clear the dungeon, you obviously have to satisfy those conditions.
Right now, all the pioneering players challenging this dungeon were probably checking the clear conditions and obsessing over activating the Divine Marks. They wouldn't see anything else. The hidden condition might bother them, but as long as they had enough people, defending wouldn't be a problem. If the boss didn't appear even after the purification succeeded, they could worry about the hidden condition then.
However.
"Even with enough people, the defense process itself won't be easy."
The huge holes all over the Celestial Basin. They didn't look like they were made by regular lamias.
There was definitely a unique specimen.
It was probably a creature that would appear to interfere with the purification process once all the Divine Marks were successfully activated.
As long as this unique specimen was alive, the defense would be extremely difficult. I had to deal with it first.
Of course, with enough people, it might be possible to carry out the defense while enduring the unique specimen's attacks. But dealing with a hidden boss, a unique specimen, would make the overall difficulty much easier.
And then there were the lamias that endlessly appeared within the Celestial Basin. This was clearly not the combat structure of a typical elite dungeon.
This wasn't an open field. Even 'respawns' in an open field have conditions. This game, Astria Online, is very realistic despite being a game. Even the monster respawn system in the open field wasn't just monsters appearing out of thin air; new ones would emerge from a nearby forest or something similar.
The mobs you kill in an instance dungeon don't respawn.
But here, they just kept coming.
What if the respawn condition for the regular lamias was linked to the survival of the unique specimen?
"If I take care of the unique specimen, there's no need to defend at all."
Thud.
I looked at a cave carved into a corner of the rocky mountain surrounding the Celestial Basin's edge.
The entrance wasn't that large. Just big enough for one or two adult men to squeeze through. You might mistake it for a small, natural cave, but...
I looked at the several huge holes in the ground nearby and grinned.
The passages the unique specimen used.
These things move underground.
In that case, this must be...
"The unique specimen's nest."
I carefully, yet confidently, stepped through the cave entrance.
Stealthily.
"It's cleaner inside than I expected."
The cave's interior had a clean stone floor.
It was a considerably large space.
I've seen this kind of structure often in other elite dungeons. This was, nine times out of ten, a boss room.
And, at the edge of the large cavern...
"Gasp."
I was flustered for the first time in a while.
Eggs, eggs, eggs.
A feast of giant eggs lined the entire wall.
Eggs so large I could curl up and fit inside one.
They were incomparably larger than an ostrich egg from Earth or a Kopopo egg from the Astria Continent.
I'd seen eggs this big once before.
In the chimera hatchery I encountered during the 'Citadel of Aspero' raid.
These things...
"Are these lamia eggs?"
The red and blue demonic energy swirling around was accelerating their growth. The ominous light from that energy faintly illuminated the cave.
In that case, the ones who laid these...
Are in here?
I couldn't see them on the cave floor or walls.
Which means.
I looked up at the high ceiling of the cave.
In the gloom...
Ssssss-
"Ah... Aah!"
I instinctively covered my eyes and blushed.
Two giant lamias, one red and one blue, were entwined, their serpentine lower bodies coiled around each other and their upper torsos pressed close.
Naturally, being lamias, they both had the upper bodies of women.
Wait, these eggs. Did they lay them?
But all lamias are female, so how...
"How... how can two females produce eggs?"
A strange sense of curiosity arose, but the feeling of disgust was stronger.
Safety filter, I need a safety filter for minors.
Clang!
Furious, I drew Astaroth and unleashed a wave of sword energy at the intertwined lamias on the ceiling.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
"No lewdness allowed!"
Kieeeek--!!
Thud.
Struck by my sword energy, the two lamias let out a loud cry and fell to the cave floor.
Kaaaaah!
Sssssssss!
They let out a vicious roar, raising their long, serpentine lower bodies high.
I looked at the two giant lamias, the blue one and the red one, who were clearly showing their hostility, and smiled confidently.
I hate defense missions. This is much better.
"Now this feels like an elite dungeon."
[Hidden Named]
[Lv. 55 Red Lamia]
[HP 69,140,050 / 70,000,000 (99%)]
[Hidden Named]
[Lv. 55 Blue Lamia]
[HP 69,117,998 / 70,000,000 (99%)]