Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Lesser Demon's Riddle
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[Second Named Boss]
[Level 48 Lesser Demon]
[HP 45,560,771 / 50,000,000 (91%)]
First encounters with any named boss are always difficult.
The process of learning its patterns through trial and error and establishing a suitable damage rotation is crucial.
For example, with the pattern where the demon swings its arms left and right, you only need to block the second hit, which has knockback. You can take the first hit and offset it with a potion, or if you have the physical skill, you can use your agility to dodge it while continuing to attack.
Then, you capitalize on the delay before its next attack to cram in powerful skills and continue your damage rotation.
In a Fighter's case, after countering the knockback pattern, you'd follow up with two Iron Fists, two Straight Punches, a Roundhouse Kick, and a Spinning Kick. Then, you'd resist the wide-area ground slam with a backstep and close in with an uppercut.
Thus, the most efficient damage rotation is established through repetition and mastery. Once you've mastered it, you can deal more than double the damage you did on your first attempt.
In that sense, the second named boss before Chris's Attack Squad, the 'Lesser Demon,' was an excellent punching bag.
Chris's party had fought a similar creature to death in Astria Online's second elite dungeon, the 'Tomb of the Sealed Demon.' This one just had far more HP and faster patterns.
Boom, boom! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Death of Death stood firm before the demon, his attacks flowing like water. Cherni and Beimerung constantly squeezed in damage, deftly weaving out of the linear range of its threatening frontal flame pattern.
Chris clutched her talismans and smiled.
This was a favorable situation for Chris's party.
They had always been overshadowed by Rain's ability to adapt to patterns and unleash overwhelming damage from her very first encounter with a boss, but against a familiar one, Chris's party could out-damage Rain, who was alone.
The problem, as always, was the special pattern. It would surely be different from the 'Sealed Lesser Demon.'
The demon's HP soon reached the 90% mark.
Chris warned her party members.
"This is where it gets serious! There's no way we're supposed to burn through all this HP with raw damage! You saw what happened with the mid-boss, right? Scan the combat area! There might be special objects or adds spawning!"
Thump, thump!
The three ranged dealers, excluding Death of Death, scattered in all directions. They didn't know where the special object would appear. Positioning for a swift response was key.
Just as Chris predicted, upon reaching 90% HP, the Lesser Demon entered its special pattern.
Grrrrr!
Whoosh! Slam!
After a roar, the demon stomped its foot, leaped, and landed with its back to the door leading to the third area.
Woooo, fwoosh!
In the demon's massive palm, red demonic energy began to gather. Simultaneously, the demon's body was engulfed in powerful flames. Even the seemingly eternal ice on the floor of the Frozen Palace began to melt.
Death of Death, who had been about to close in on the demon, frowned and backed away.
"Ugh, I can't get any closer! I'm taking fire damage from the aura!"
"A pattern that prevents us from approaching?"
Thwip, thwip! Fwoosh.
"It's immune to ranged projectiles!"
The flames radiating from the demon's body swallowed even the ranged dealers' projectiles.
Chris's order came down.
"Ignore the demon for now! Scan the combat area!"
This was the kind of pattern that prevented you from dealing damage during a special phase. You had to perform the mechanic. And if you failed? The demonic energy the demon was gathering would take the form of a party-wipe skill and overwhelm them.
Wooo.
Chris's prediction was spot on.
With a resonant hum, three 'Illusions of the Lesser Demon' appeared from three directions in the combat area.
If the named demon was at the 12 o'clock position, they were at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock, respectively.
Chris made a split-second decision.
"Death, take 9 o'clock! I'll take the demon at 6! Cherni, send your spirit Gnome to the demon at 3! Beimerung, watch the whole area from the center!"
Thump, thump, thump!
With the exception of Beimerung, Chris's party moved with perfect coordination, each taking on one of the adds.
Boom, boom, boom!
The illusions' patterns were very simple. Just like the mid-boss. They only fired a continuous stream of demonic energy projectiles. Chris's party had no trouble tanking them.
However.
"They have 20 million HP! Same as the mid-boss!"
"I don't think we're supposed to kill this one with raw damage either, are we?"
Hearing Cherni and Beimerung's shouts, Chris tried using a downing skill on the illusion in front of her.
Like the first named boss they just fought, this one might perform a special gesture if afflicted with a status effect.
It might vanish on the spot, or spit out an object used for the mechanic.
Thwip, thwip, thwip. Talismans flew out, embedding themselves around the illusion to form a magic circle, while her Yin-Yang Orb spun once and aimed for its lower body. She used two skills simultaneously to induce a 'status effect combo' and down it.
Boom! The talismans exploded, and the Yin-Yang Orb swept past the illusion's legs.
The demon illusion remained standing firm.
"Immune to status effects!"
"Stun doesn't work either! What do we do?"
Chris gritted her teeth and looked toward Death of Death.
"For now, Cherni and Beimerung, focus your damage on the illusion Death is handling! Keep the spirit on it!"
Boom-boom-boom!
While the party's damage was focused on one illusion, Chris scanned the battlefield.
No special objects were visible. Status effects didn't work.
Was the standard strategy really to kill them with raw damage?
Of course not.
Gwoooooooh!
The named demon, which had been gathering demonic energy while radiating flames, began to act before Chris's party could even finish off one illusion.
Fwaaaash!
The massive red sphere of light that had formed in the demon's palm began to glow. Soon, imbued with immense power, it fell into the center of the combat area.
KRA-BOOOOOOM!
In an instant, the entire combat area was engulfed in the fires of hell.
The relentless flames swallowed even their party protection skills.
Special phase, time over. Party wipe.
"Ugh."
"This is hopeless."
"Rain beat it on her first try, so why can't we?"
Having revived at the entrance to the second area, Chris's party members began to complain.
"Actually, this is normal. We have to keep trying and untangle the knots one by one."
Chris nodded.
It was only because Rain had displayed such monstrous, godlike skill that the bar had been raised so high; Chris's party was by no means making slow progress. In fact, as far as Chris knew, her attack squad and Rain were the only ones who had cleared the first named boss.
"Even if Rain's stream has revealed the answer sheet, we still need repetition and practice to adapt to the patterns and break through the boss."
"Reminds me of that guy who'd paint pictures and say, 'See? It's easy!' It's not easy at all. Ke-ke."
Beimerung's good-natured joke brought a slight smile to Chris's face.
Cherni glanced at Chris before opening the streaming site.
"I wonder how Rain is doing?"
"Hmm..."
Truthfully, Chris was also very curious.
Even with a legendary weapon, this time wouldn't be easy.
Rain's strengths: her insane adaptation speed, allowing her to deal full damage on her first encounter with a boss; her godlike movements, letting her dodge every irregular pattern from multiple named bosses while putting out overwhelming damage.
However, the 'Lesser Demon' was a single-entity boss with patterns familiar to players.
A boss that negated Rain's advantages, on top of a brand-new special pattern. Could Rain really figure it out in one go?
Chris's feelings were complicated.
She was a little worried, but her pride also made her want to clear it herself before watching.
But in the end, she sighed and turned on Rain's stream.
"Alright, let's take a look at the answer sheet Professor Rain is filling out."
"Ahem. I am certainly curious."
The party members huddled together, pulling up the stream around Chris.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
What came into view on the screen, which showed the entire second boss's combat area, was: the named demon radiating flames and gathering demonic energy, the demon illusions that had appeared from three directions, and a silver figure darting across the battlefield at high speed.
The named 'Lesser Demon's' HP was at 30%.
Chris let out a groan.
"It's the 30% special phase...!"
"Our party wiped on the first special phase! How did she get past the previous ones?"
"We're about to find out."
Death of Death's sharp eyes followed the silver figure on the screen—Rain.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Dodging the demonic energy projectiles flying at her from the illusions, Rain moved swiftly and arrived in front of the first one. She immediately ducked, kicked the illusion's legs, and swung her sword to slash its lower body.
Whack! Thud.
Afflicted with the 'down' status effect, the demon illusion emitted a bright light and vanished.
Chris was shocked.
"W-Why?! When I tried it, it was immune to being downed!"
"Wait, Chris. Do you see? The three illusions look slightly different."
"Ah...!"
The demon illusion now sprawled on the floor and disappearing... Its legs were thinner than the others.
Cherni and Beimerung were dumbfounded.
"Insane...!"
"Th-Their appearances really are slightly different!"
Thump.
After destroying the illusion at 3 o'clock, Rain immediately turned and executed a backstep. In an instant, her body traversed the space and arrived before the illusion at 6 o'clock.
Rain gripped the silvery 'Astaroth' with both hands and swung it upward with force. At the same time, she ducked, placed a hand on the ground, and kicked up powerfully with both feet.
Thwack!
The illusion's body, now airborne, also emitted a bright light and vanished.
"This illusion is a bit smaller. It seems to be a light one, the minimum requirement to be launched into the air."
Flash!
Before Death of Death could even finish his sentence, Rain's body became a streak of light and arrived before the illusion at 9 o'clock. She had closed the distance with Flash Strike.
"She's using Backstep and Flash Strike as movement skills."
"That's because she's soloing. In a party, each class would just take one according to their respective status effect skills."
Gwoooooooh!
Solo play. Time was definitely tight.
While Rain dealt with two illusions, the named demon was gathering its demonic energy to the absolute limit.
Any further delay, and the skill that had wiped Chris's party would be unleashed.
The last illusion had a slightly larger head. It probably required a 'stun'.
To make the illusion disappear, you needed to land two consecutive stun skills.
Two stun skills were required, but a Swordsman only possessed one: 'Pommel Strike'.
What would she do?
"Rain...!"
Chris watched the figure of Rain standing before the final illusion, her palms sweating.
Thump.
Without hesitation, Rain closed the distance to the illusion and struck its abdomen with her hilt. Thwack! Pommel Strike landed. The illusion staggered once, then raised its hand to throw its demonic energy. Wooo!
Thump. Rain's body leaped slightly into the air. Whoosh! She spun around powerfully and extended her leg. Thwack! Struck in the temple by Rain's kick, the illusion stopped moving and vanished.
"She seems to kick better than a Fighter."
Death of Death clicked his tongue in amazement.
The virtual reality game, 'Astria Online'.
In theory, it was possible to induce status effects not just with skills, but also by striking vital points with direct physical movements.
But theory was just theory. Freely aiming for vital points in actual combat was no easy task, even for Death of Death, who had boxing experience.
But Rain? She struck the vital point with ease.
As if it were the most natural technique in the world.
Gwoooooooh!
The named demon's red sphere of demonic energy took its complete form.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
At the same time, a giant ice mirror appeared in the center of the combat area.
All illusions destroyed, object spawned.
Rain hid behind the ice mirror.
KWOOOOSH!
The sphere of demonic energy that flew out was immediately absorbed by the mirror, converted into a form of cold energy, and shot back at the demon.
Fwaaaaaash! Crack!
Grrrrrr-!?
By the absolute-zero cold that extinguished even the flames of hell, parts of the demon's giant body froze over. The demon's HP began to decrease steadily.
Toward the demon, now afflicted with 'Frostbite,' Rain's starlight poured down.
The demon could no longer resist.
Sssk.
Turning her back on her speechless companions, Chris stood up.
Then, she looked back at her dumbfounded party members and grinned.
"What are you doing? Professor Rain just gave us the answer sheet. Time to go solve the problem, right?"