Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: First Named Boss, 'Ancient Golem Minotaur' (1)
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Thump!
"Aah!"
After jumping from the last platform, Beimerung's foot didn't quite make it to the floor of the exit corridor. Just as she missed her step and was about to fall, Death of Death grabbed her and pulled her up.
"Th-thank you, Death."
"It's a basic platforming puzzle. You should probably practice more, junior."
Behind Beimerung, who stuck out her tongue cutely and gave an embarrassed grin, came Cherni's desperate scream.
"Uwaaaaah!"
Beimerung peeked over the edge of the corridor's cliff to look down below.
Cherni, who had fallen from the platform, was rubbing his rear as the gargoyle golems that had risen around him slowly closed in.
Cherni's face turned pale.
"Somebody, help me!"
"Lee Jae-wook, just resurrect and come back. It'll be faster than killing them all."
"Easy for you to say when it's not happening to you! K-kuaaaargh!"
"Wow, this 19+ game is so brutal."
As Beimerung pretended to cover her eyes while peeking through her fingers at Cherni being sliced up, Death of Death voiced his complaint from behind her.
"If we waste time here, we'll never catch up to the No Name party. With Rain in their party, they'll clear named bosses at an incredible speed."
"But it really is hard. All party members have to cross to get to the next room, right? Or we have to kill all the golems below. It's hard enough to keep your balance on these narrow, floating platforms, and we have to step on them and cross quickly before they disappear."
"Indeed, we all fell in the first corridor section. Other parties are probably in the same boat. It's not an easy section to cross in one go unless you're someone like Rain. Even if she made it across in one try, she'd have to wait for her party members. Wouldn't you agree, Chris?"
"..."
Chris said nothing.
Her mind had been a mess ever since they entered the dungeon.
She thought she'd finally be able to identify the members of the No Name party this time, but Rain had disappeared into the dungeon alone.
Her squadmates in Chris's Attack Squad might not have known, but Chris herself had been looking for Rain's party members since the moment she arrived at the dungeon entrance.
Of course, since it was an instanced dungeon, the party didn't necessarily have to enter at the same time. However, it was hard to believe that party members who had been raiding dungeons together wouldn't exchange a single word before tackling an elite dungeon.
She had planned to meet them, ask them to take good care of Rain, and reprimand them for not paying attention to her condition. While she was at it, she was also going to pitch a collaboration for future large-scale raid content.
But she couldn't find them.
It was as if they had never existed in the first place.
"...Does that make any sense? No, but with her, maybe... Even so, were they saying four people couldn't beat it?"
"Chris, what are you thinking about?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
Chris shook her head vigorously in response to Death of Death's question.
A possibility she hadn't considered began to rear its head.
Considering Rain's skills, which she had witnessed while being carried by her, it was a plausible story.
"Solo play...?"
***
[First Named Boss]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]
[HP 7,340,679/8,600,000]
Thump, thump, thump!
It was a three-hit, area-of-effect pattern: stomp twice, then slam the ground with both fists.
I smoothly countered by back-stepping, using an approach skill the moment the second hit's damage window closed, and then counterattacking, never letting up on my relentless assault.
Kaka-ka-kang!
A strange sound rang out. It was the sound of striking metal, like swords clashing against each other. It seemed to be made of high-purity mana crystals that had undergone some special magical treatment. The Minotaur's body was as hard as solid metal.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The golem spun around and swung its fists at me. I swayed lightly from side to side, letting the attacks flow past me.
The Minotaur's basic attack was a swinging pattern with its heavy fists. There was no need to block. A simple twist of my body was enough to dodge.
Its attack speed was quite fast, belying its massive frame that looked more than twice my height. Still, it wasn't much of a threat.
There was only one pattern I absolutely had to block.
The Minotaur suddenly lowered its stance and bowed its head. The bull's two sharp horns glinted as they pointed toward me. Then, it thrust them upwards at me with terrifying speed.
Fwoosh!
Klaaang!
[Block (A)]
- Blocks attacks in a 180-degree arc in front of you.
- (A-Rank) Successfully blocking within 0.2 seconds of using the skill grants the 'Vigor' buff, increasing all damage for 10 seconds.
As I gained the Vigor buff, the force of blocking the immensely powerful upward horn thrust sent my body lifting slightly into the air.
Whoosh.
I spun in mid-air and cast Moonlight Slash, bringing my starlit sword down on the bull's horns.
Clang!
I landed, licking my lips.
As expected, they didn't break off.
I really want to cut these horns off.
Kaka-ka-kang! Fwaat!
I hacked away at the Minotaur with my starlit sword, then parried the second upward thrust with a Flash Strike. Taking its back, I kept up the assault while the Vigor buff lasted.
There was one more reason I had to be especially careful in this fight.
The moment the boss fight started, the entrance I came through vanished. The rectangular room had become a perfect cube.
There was no escape route. For me, this was a very nasty situation. If I couldn't clear it on the first try, I could be in for a world of hurt.
Even so, the Minotaur's HP was dropping fast, soon reaching the 75% mark.
Oooooooh-!
Can golems feel pain? It writhed as if in agony.
I raised my sword and focused on the Minotaur's movements.
Its behavior was different from its normal patterns. This was clearly a sign that it was entering a special phase.
Oooooooh-!
Kwakwakwaka!
As the golem straightened its crouched body as if stretching, a burst of blue energy erupted from its torso. I reflexively used Backstep.
Flash!
The moment that energy swept through the room, the wall at the 3 o'clock position flashed red once.
My eyes didn't miss that light.
I immediately closed in to deal with the Minotaur's patterns while keeping my eyes on the wall at the 3 o'clock position—the one that had flashed red among the four walls of the cube-shaped room.
What could it mean? It seemed to be a signal to use that wall for something.
Kakak!
As I landed my first strike on the Minotaur after it entered its special phase, I immediately sensed something was wrong.
The sound of my sword hitting it had changed.
The golem was taking less damage. Exactly half.
The light emanating from the mana crystals that formed its body had grown stronger. And that light was forming a barrier around the Minotaur.
I had to disable the barrier as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I would surely trigger a time-attack pattern.
The mechanic for disabling the barrier was clear. I had to use the wall at the 3 o'clock position that had flashed red.
Tat.
I immediately put some distance between myself and the Minotaur, then stood with my back to the wall at the 3 o'clock position.
Oooooooh-!
Thump, thump.
Seeing the distance between us, the Minotaur stomped its feet twice and lowered its head, pointing its sharp horns at me.
Lure out its long-range pattern and make the bull charge into the wall that flashed red.
Just like a matador.
Thump, thump, thump!
The Minotaur began to charge at me, horns lowered.
I couldn't deal damage while it was charging. Of course, dealing reduced damage wouldn't help much anyway. Disabling the barrier as quickly as possible was what mattered.
The charge direction couldn't be off. The longer the barrier remained, the tighter the noose of the time-attack pattern would become.
Ssk.
Just as the bull's charge reached my feet, I used Counterattack and moved behind the Minotaur.
Kraaash! Rummble.
Ooooom-!
The moment its massive horns slammed into the wall, a red light burst from it, shattering the Minotaur's barrier. The Minotaur then fell to its knees, entering a groggy state.
"Just as I thought."
Kaka-ka-kang!
Without hesitation, I began unleashing a flurry of strikes on the kneeling Minotaur's body.
[First Named Boss]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]
[HP 4,365,500/8,600,000]
The Minotaur's HP dropped to around 50%.
It was time for the second special phase.
Fwaat!
I used a final Flash Strike to push the Minotaur's HP below 50%, then watched its movements.
Oooooooh-!
Kwakwakwaka!
Just like at the 75% mark, it unleashed a room-wide AoE, and one of the walls flashed red.
This time, it was the 9 o'clock position.
Tatat.
As I quickly moved to the 9 o'clock position and stood with my back to the wall, the entire room began to vibrate violently.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
"Hah!?"
I quickly lowered my stance to keep my balance.
This was different from the first special phase. There hadn't been any vibrations like this before.
Clank.
A strange sound echoed.
Creeak.
The four walls moved back slightly, separating from the floor.
Only a deep darkness could be seen in the gaps.
Forgetting to watch the golem, I stared blankly at the walls as they began to move.
"Whoa."
This dungeon actually separates the walls of the boss room.
The four walls detached, and after moving slowly at first, they soon began to rotate at high speed.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The sight of the four walls rotating in one direction, accompanied by a strong vibration, was truly a spectacle.
I watched the rotating walls with a dazed expression.
A labyrinth. A cube-shaped room.
It wouldn't be strange for the walls to rotate or for the room itself to move. There was that old labyrinth movie with a cube theme where the rooms kept shifting.
But I never thought the walls would actually move. Is something like this possible with the combination of ancient dwarven technology and the mana from mana crystals?
Clank.
Before long, the detached walls stopped rotating and reassembled into the shape of a room.
Tatatat!
I snapped out of it and quickly moved.
The wall that had flashed red was no longer at the 9 o'clock position.
Fortunately, my eyes hadn't lost track of the rapidly rotating wall's original position.
The wall that had been at 9 o'clock had moved to 12 o'clock.
Thump, thump, thump!
The Minotaur's charge, which began the moment the walls stopped rotating, was also aimed toward the 12 o'clock position where I had moved.
Kraaaash! Rummble.
Ooooom-!
Slamming its horns into the wall, the Minotaur fell to its knees once again. At the same time, the red light that erupted from the wall completely shattered its barrier.
I raised my sword toward the motionless behemoth.
Alright, so that's how it works.