Chapter 170
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Final Named Monster, 'Nightmare Fusion' (2)
[Sword Veil]
[Invincible While Casting]
Sword Veil protected the user's body with starlight, which could also be unleashed as a wide-area attack. If not unleashed, I could move while temporarily gaining a resistance effect.
The starlight's protection lasted for about three seconds, similar to the invincibility skills of other classes.
Three seconds was more than enough.
KWWAAAA-!!
SWOOOSH!
Piercing through the ferocious gust of miasma that threatened to erase everything in its path, I, cloaked in starlight, shot forward like an arrow.
KWAAAAA!
The miasma breath covered the entire area in front of me; it clearly wasn't a single-shot attack. If I had carelessly used a backward dodge, I would have been swept away by the lingering gale even after my invincibility wore off.
Protected by Sword Veil, I approached the golem and began to slash at its body, counting the seconds in my head.
One second, two seconds, two-point-five, two-point-eight.
The breath attack hadn't ended yet. Only 0.2 seconds of Sword Veil's protection remained. I couldn't maintain my forward position any longer in this gale of unknown duration. First, I would use Flash Strike to get behind the golem.
*Chk.*
I immediately lowered my stance.
*Flash!*
A flash of light cut through the miasma, and upon moving behind the golem, I was completely out of the breath's range.
At the same time, the breath attack ceased.
WHOOSH!
Evading the golem's terrifying left arm as it spun around, I began to formulate countermeasures for its standard patterns one by one.
First, a two-swing combo, left and right. Then, it raises both arms for a slam. The range was enormous. I could block the swings, but the slam was clearly an unblockable attack. Facing it head-on could have turned me into a Rain pancake. In that case, I needed to get a Just Guard on the second hit.
CLANG!
Blocking the golem's arm with perfect timing, I used Counterattack against the massive arms slamming down toward my head.
*Shhhk.*
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
I moved through space while simultaneously swinging my starlight-infused sword as if to strip away the dense miasma surrounding the golem's body.
Just Guard the second hit, Counterattack the slam, followed by a spin attack that included me in its range even after I'd moved behind it.
The golem's arms wrapped around its own body.
WHOOSH!
CLANG!
The first time, I failed to time it and got knocked back, but this time I blocked it perfectly. Since I got a Just Guard, the damage was completely nullified.
And then, the breath.
VMMMM!
Purple miasma glinted from the golem's head.
I didn't need to use Sword Veil this time. As long as I wasn't knocked back by the spin, there were plenty of ways to respond. Since I used a left Counterattack on the slam, I just needed to use a right Counterattack here.
*Shhhk.*
KWWAAAA-!!
And then, a free damage window from behind while the breath attack lasted.
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
I felt like I had more or less adapted to its standard patterns.
It seemed I wouldn't need to block often. I just had to focus on the timing of the spin attack. A Just Guard there would prevent the knockback and also provide a damage boost through the 'Vigor' buff.
A boss with a one-shot pattern consisting of a wide-area attack of terrifying power and a forward breath after a knockback. For a pile of rocks, it was surprisingly fast.
But since it was a boss with fixed patterns, all I had to do was establish a cycle of appropriate responses and attacks. This one's standard patterns weren't too difficult. Compared to Zakam, whom I faced in the 'Tree of the Abyss' raid dungeon, it was on the gentle side.
So its standard patterns were only at an elite dungeon level, I supposed.
The problem was the special pattern.
[Named]
[Level 55 Nightmare Fusion]
[HP 80,014,912 / 100,000,000 (80%)]
The golem's HP was at 80%.
If a special pattern was coming, it would be around now. If not now, then at 70%, or maybe 60%. In any case, I had to be careful from this point on.
CLANG!
Confirming that my next sword strike sent sparks flying from the golem's body, I slightly slowed my assault.
The golem momentarily froze its movements.
THUD!
It stomped its foot lightly and then jumped toward the center.
KRAAANG!
A tremor and a deafening roar that seemed to shake the entire basin vibrated through my body and ears.
It's just a pile of rocks, so it must be heavy, yet it moves so well. It even has a jump pattern. Could it try to crush me like that?
However, the special pattern that followed completely shattered my expectations.
*Gurgle.*
It wasn't the sound of its body rumbling, but the sound of something viscous oozing out. That strange noise echoed.
From where?
There was only one possibility.
Of course, it was coming from the golem.
Soon.
'It' began to flow from the golem's entire body.
*Gurgle. Gurgle.*
A black substance.
A viscous liquid. No, a gas? An unidentifiable substance, somewhere between liquid and gas.
*Gurgle.*
The substance, bursting forth from the black golem as if overflowing, began to fill the clearing.
It was black and sticky.
The very essence of miasma, condensed over a thousand years, flowed out as if to fill not just the central clearing, but the entire Heavenly Basin.
"Hah."
I let out a gasp without realizing it.
Ever since I started playing Astria Online, I had never seen or heard of anything like this.
No, not in Astria Online, but I had seen something like it in reality. It was some kind of slime creature in the Demon King's castle.
This was concentrated miasma.
A fusion, as if all of humanity's sins had gathered to become a single entity with a will of its own.
The sticky miasma flowing from its body poured out, as if to replace the very air in this basin.
If a human body were to be consumed by such concentrated miasma, it would surely lose its form.
My teeth chattered.
To think such a monstrous being was lurking in a mere elite dungeon? A being that wouldn't be out of place in the Demon King's castle?
I needed holy power.
Without holy power, I couldn't fight that fusion.
But right now, I had neither the Holy Sword nor the Saintess Elena.
I slowly backed away.
*Gurgle.*
The miasma flowing from the fusion's body spread like air, or perhaps like a sticky slime, and quickly closed in around me.
I was surrounded by the black, viscous energy that had covered the clearing and was now beginning to overflow into the entire basin.
I glanced behind me.
No, my escape route wasn't cut off yet.
I could still escape.
Should I run for now? Staying here is a pointless death.
No, calm down, Rain. This world isn't real right now. It's not like you'll actually die, right? Did I just have a flashback to the old days? Will I have a better chance if I try again?
This is a game. A special pattern. There must be a way to deal with it. They wouldn't have put in a mechanic that you're completely helpless against.
This world, which feels so meticulously designed.
That thing is just a named monster in a game for now.
In that case, they wouldn't have placed an unbeatable boss here without a thought.
For now, let's try to endure it with Sword Veil.
And think of a way to break through while doing so.
*Chk.*
I readied my sword, preparing to cast Sword Veil.
*Gurgle.*
Just as the surging river of miasma was about to completely envelop me.
FWHOOSH-!!
A pillar of holy light descended upon the spot where I stood.
I canceled the casting of Sword Veil and let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew."
I was glad I didn't run.
I had a feeling there would be a protective mechanic.
The 'Divine Mark,' a holy relic that still radiated holy power in this world.
I had completed the mission to activate the Divine Marks before facing this boss.
It was a necessary step after all.
The dome-shaped divine magic circle, created by the resonance of the three Divine Marks, was currently enveloping the entire Heavenly Basin, in the process of purification.
The divine magic circle had detected the source of the concentrated miasma and begun its full-scale purification.
However, this was merely holy power borrowed from an ancient relic. Such thick miasma would not be easily purified.
In reality, the only area the miasma hadn't yet covered was the narrow space around the edge of the clearing where I stood.
The combat area currently permitted to me was...
A circular space, eight meters in diameter.
Inside the pillar of holy light.
VMMMM!
*Gurgle.*
A battle began between the miasma trying to fill this space and the holy power trying to purify it. The holy power had a slight edge. Aided by the purification circle, the surrounding miasma was slowly thinning.
It seemed this would take time. For now, it looked like I could only move within this eight-meter-diameter circle.
The final named monster battle of the Heavenly Basin.
In a way, this was a process of purifying the source of the miasma concurrently with the boss fight. It would probably be purified easily once I shattered that golem to pieces.
An unsettling thought crossed my mind.
But why an eight-meter radius around me, specifically?
If this struggle between miasma and holy power was part of the named monster battle, a part of its mechanics...
Then this was...
"A mechanic that severely restricts the combat area...!"
The miasma couldn't invade this space.
However, it seemed the 'Nightmare Fusion' itself was unfazed by the pillar of holy light.
THUD!
The black golem, standing in the middle of the surging miasma.
Leapt into the air.
"Hah."
*Swish!*
I hastily cast Sword Veil.
The golem's massive body immediately covered the entire space where I stood, slamming down violently.
KRAAAAANG!
GRIIIND!
Fierce sparks flew between the golem's body and my starlight. The golem's body landed on top of my Sword Veil, but it couldn't crush me.
I had been a little worried, as the extent of what Sword Veil could block was unknown territory, but thankfully, I wasn't flattened into a Rain pancake. In a way, it was a system-based invincibility, so maybe that was to be expected? In any case, Sword Veil could also protect against the jump pattern.
THUD!
The golem pushed itself up from on top of me and stomped its foot once more.
WHOOSH!
The black behemoth leapt into the air again.
The jump wasn't a one-time attack.
Getting crushed meant death. Getting knocked back also meant the end. I would be devoured by the waves of miasma.
I had a gut feeling that surviving in this narrow space was not going to be easy.