Chapter 169
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: The Final Named Monster, 'Nightmare Fusion' (1)
Although the lamias had developed a tricky reflective barrier, this was a named monster’s battle zone.
If there’s a special pattern, there’s also a gimmick to break it.
An obvious one, at that.
"So there *is* a solution...!"
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
I started going around, smashing the remaining lamia eggs one by one.
*Hiss!*
The pattern hadn't gotten harder. It was just more difficult to deal damage. I diligently dodged the poisonous demonic needles shot by the giant lamias as they hissed menacingly, deflecting them with my sword barrier when they became too overwhelming to avoid, all while running around and smashing eggs.
The blue and red demonic fog swirled around the edges of this nest. It accelerated the growth of the eggs and granted the giant lamias powers like the reflective barrier.
In that case, if I kept breaking the eggs that were growing by absorbing this demonic energy...
*Vwooom!*
Before I knew it, my sword was concentrated not with starlight, but with blue demonic energy.
Then, I looked at the slightly flustered lamias in the center of the battle zone with a sweet smile.
"Who wants to take this?"
Where should I fire it? Since it's blue, should I aim for the Red Lamia? No, their reflective barriers absorb energy. Couldn't I overload the barrier by concentrating even more demonic energy of the same color?
Having made my decision, I immediately launched the blue demonic energy at the Blue Lamia as if firing a sword aura. *Fwoosh!* The blue demonic energy extending from my sword was absorbed by the Blue Lamia's barrier.
*Vwoooom!*
*Clang!*
The crisp sound of the Blue Lamia's reflective barrier shattering from the overly concentrated demonic energy rang out.
"Just as I thought!"
I snapped my fingers.
It was a 50/50 guess anyway. If this wasn't it, I'd just have to try again.
Next up, the Red Lamia.
I immediately moved to the opposite side of the battle zone to break the eggs being nurtured by the red demonic energy.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
"Heehee, heeheehee!"
This is fun.
I'm making the lamias cry a river!
Having become a cruel home-wrecker, I did my best to establish a foothold for monster extermination.
*Kaaaaaah-!!*
*Thud.*
Without their reflective barriers, the giant lamias were no match for me. After finishing the hidden named monster battle without much trouble, I left the devastated lamia's nest behind.
"But you know."
This named battle wasn't too difficult either, but there was one thing worth reviewing.
The giant lamias. Both female.
They were rubbing their bodies against each other, doing something strange.
An unbearable curiosity arose within me.
Of course, I'm an adult. I knew that the giant lamias were mating.
Anyway, those things are monsters corrupted by demonic energy, beyond the reach of common sense. So, setting aside how eggs could be produced between two females...
I felt a slight blush creep onto my face.
"How do... women do lewd things with each other?"
This is just pure curiosity.
Of course, I could look it up on the internet. But the internet is full of unfiltered information. Someone like me, with little resistance to such things, shouldn't carelessly approach Pandora's box. If I accidentally stumbled upon a strange website and it was flooded with flesh-colored pop-up windows, my face might turn beet red and explode.
Should I ask Chris?
[Southeast Divine Mark activated 1/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark activated 1/1]
[North Divine Mark activated 1/1]
(All Divine Marks are active)
(98% until 1st purification is complete)
[Defeated a pair of Giant Lamias (Complete)]
[Celestial Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
"Haaah."
A number of regular lamias were still alive and moving around the Celestial Basin, but having lost their superiors, they no longer attacked in an organized manner. They didn't respawn, either.
At the now-quiet defense point, I yawned repeatedly while watching the purification process near completion.
"It took too long."
The named battle itself wasn't long. The problem was the time it took to run around activating three Divine Marks by myself.
The time I was inevitably forced to waste because I was alone made me antsy, but it couldn't be helped. That's just how the dungeon is structured.
*Fwoooosh!*
Soon, a powerful flash of light erupted from the spot where the Divine Mark was buried.
*Ting.*
[You have succeeded in the 1st purification]
[Defeated a pair of Giant Lamias (Complete)]
[Celestial Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
Watching the faint holy power begin to spread throughout the Celestial Basin, I headed for the central clearing.
In the center of the Celestial Basin, I looked at the bizarre, blackened rock formations scattered around the edges of the clearing.
A thousand years ago, after the Hero's party and the Demon King perished together, it seems this world didn't exactly enjoy an age of peace.
If the goddess had been alive, the priests of the Supreme God's church, who wielded her power, would have gone around purifying the regions tainted by demonic energy. But the gods vanished from this land, leaving only a few holy relics behind. The people of the continent must have focused solely on using those relics to purify the lands where humans lived, with no resources to spare for remote places like this.
Judging by the current state of the monster-infested northern snowfields or the eastern gorges, the demonic energy left in this land must have exerted all sorts of influence over a long period.
The demonic influence might have been sustained by new invaders from another world, like in the harsh colds of the north, or...
"Like in this Celestial Basin, creatures exposed to demonic energy for ages could evolve into unique specimens."
The lamias I dealt with were probably just ordinary snakes living in the gorge. Creatures exposed to demonic energy evolved into bizarre beings.
And it wasn't just living creatures that were affected by the demonic energy over the long years.
Even inanimate objects, things without life.
*Rumble, rumble, rumble.*
The blackened, bizarre rocks.
The rocks... began to move.
The metal these rocks contain in large quantities is probably mithril. A metal with high mana conductivity used to craft various magical tools. They must have absorbed the demonic energy permeating this gorge and been reborn as grotesque beings that emit demonic energy on their own.
*Ooooooh--!!*
The black rocks finally gathered, forming a massive, humanoid being.
A colossal figure that looked to be at least three to four meters tall.
Black demonic energy billowed from its hard, rock-based body.
It's thick. Sticky.
A sticky, black demonic energy, like concentrated tar, overflowed from its entire body.
*Shing.*
I drew Astaroth.
"This is a being created by my failure to complete the Hero's mission."
A being that would not have been born had I not left so abruptly.
This continent, devoid of the goddess's holy power, doesn't have many ways to counter demonic energy.
When I returned to Earth, the goddess must have squeezed out every last bit of her remaining power to send me back. Interfering with a higher dimension would have been an impossible task for a goddess of a lower one.
In a way, I also contributed to the goddess's demise.
In that case, I must be the one to undo it.
I will personally normalize this world that has become a game.
And overwrite the history of the original dimension.
*Ooooooh-!!*
*Flash.*
In the part that looked like the golem's head, two ominous red lights flared.
Gripping my sword, I charged at the black golem, which emitted a bizarre, resonating hum from its entire body.
[Named]
[Level 55 Nightmare Fusion]
[HP 100,000,000 / 100,000,000 (100%)]
*Whoosh, whoosh!*
Contrary to its hulking, seemingly sluggish appearance, the black golem's attacks came at a considerable speed.
I ducked to avoid the golem's attack as it swung its massive arms to pressure me, then closed in and delivered a single slash as if to pierce its chest.
*Clang!*
Sparks flew from the golem's body where my sword had cut. Its hard body, made of mithril steeped in demonic energy for ages, seemed to have taken little damage from my slash, as if to prove it possessed HP in the hundreds of millions.
I immediately spun around and swung my starlit blade horizontally. *Krrrk!* At the same time, the golem wrapped its arms around its body.
A defensive stance, followed immediately by a spinning attack.
*Whoooosh!*
*Kaaang!* *Skrrrt.*
As the golem extended the arms that had been wrapped around its body and swung them wide to the left and right, a spinning attack swept through the entire area with a terrifying whoosh. Pushed far back by the immense force of the spin, I stabbed my sword into the ground to steady myself and frowned.
A defensive stance followed by an all-around sweep. It has powerful damage that penetrates guards and a long-range knockback effect. I have to use a Just Guard.
The golem turned toward me, now at a distance. At the same time.
*Vwooom!*
With an ominous hum, a purple energy began to concentrate in the area of the golem's head.
Facing it, my mind raced.
Nine times out of ten, it's a frontal pattern similar to a breath attack. Evade by rushing in and getting behind it? It's already in its wind-up animation. I could get hit mid-dash. Evade backward? If the distance increases, it'll be hard to get close again. This is a boss with a terrifying one-shot pattern; a trial-and-error process to adapt would be essential. But for me, death carries a heavier weight than for other players. Of course, my belt can prevent instant death once. But the pain will still be there. And what if the breath is a continuous beam? I'd just die again right after reviving. In that case...
We've only just started the fight, but I have no choice but to use my sword barrier.
*Fwoosh!*
I swung Astaroth rapidly. As the dance of the floundering swan began, starlight instantly descended to envelop me.
*KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-!!*
Immediately after, a gale of black energy blasted toward me.