Chapter 143: Practical Combat 12
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 143: Practical Combat 12
Title: What’s the deal with this Katsudon guy?
I cleared Baechujeon and was pushing through the story when Katsudon showed up talking some BS about "revenge for Baechujeon" and picked a fight. Is this for real?
I already knew the skeleton patterns were trash from the Baechujeon fight, so I handled that part easily enough.
But after I managed to land a few hits, he suddenly popped this weird protective shield, and now I can't deal any damage no matter how much I hit him. Is this a bug?
Who’s Baechujeon and who’s Katsudon? Isn’t this the Croaka gallery?
Isn’t he talking about Betzdo and Katsudo?
This guy is still calling them that.
FFS, they have actual names. Why call them that?
OP: It’s easier to memorize this way lol.
Does your mom call you that too?
OP: But you guys call Croa Academy "Croaka," isn't that the same thing?
True.
"True" my ass. Is shortening a name the same as completely changing it?
OP: No, the name isn't the point. How do I beat this guy?
You took out the adventurer party, right? They’re the most annoying part after the shield.
OP: No, I didn't?
????? How did you get Katsudo to trigger his shield without taking them out?
OP: I just ignored the skeletons following me, hit Katsudon, and ran away when they got close. Just repeated that infinitely.
Just imagining that is hilarious lol.
This guy’s mechanics are insane. That actually worked?
OP: What, is that not how you're supposed to do it?
Yeah, no. Usually, the standard is to kill the adventurer party first and then take on Katsudo.
Anyway, I need to know your specs to tell you how to beat him.
OP: Do you really need to know my specs?
How am I supposed to tell you if I don't know?
OP: 27 years old. Graduated from a local university, experience working at a Big Three convenience store.
????? What is this?
OP: You asked for my specs.
Not those specs, you dumbass. Your character's stats. Ugh...
LOL
Holy shit, that’s hilarious.
OP: Oh. Here. (OP’s Character Stats)
Hey.
OP: Yeah?
Did you happen to ignore all the sub-stories?
OP: Yeah, honestly I enjoy the combat more than the story, so I skip everything that isn't mandatory.
Sigh...
OP: ??
That’s why you can’t clear it. Katsudo’s shield is tanky as hell, so you need to hit a certain attack threshold by enhancing your gear or something.
You can’t reach that threshold without doing sub-quests.
OP: So it’s impossible to clear with my current stats?
Yup.
OP: But doesn't that shield use mana too? Can't I just wait until he runs out?
Your mana will run out way before Katsudo’s does.
You’re lucky your player character is Lucas; if it were anyone else, you’d never break through.
OP: Wow, so it’s literally impossible. What do I do?
Reroll.
Restart.
Loki: Hmm.. （╹ . ╹）
OP: This guy’s here again. Piss off with that shitty emoticon.
Why are you being like that to Loki? He’s a good guy who gives out info.
OP: I lost all my items because of this guy.
LOL. Okay, fair enough.
Loki: But why can't you beat Katsudo with those specs? It's doable.
* * *
“Watch out. The floor is collapsing.”
Five golems plummeted, landing squarely on Katsudo’s head.
Rumble—!!
The impact of five ten-meter-tall golems falling simultaneously was so massive that the surrounding area was instantly shrouded in a thick veil of dust.
Loki looked toward the obscured front and spoke cheerfully.
“Did we get him?”
However, a moment later, as the dust cleared, Katsudo was revealed—completely unharmed inside a black protective shield, glaring in their direction.
The golems continued to rain fists down upon the barrier, but it didn't even flicker.
Loki grabbed his hair with both hands and wailed with exaggerated despair.
“Aaaah! No! How could a top-tier clown like me make such a basic mistake as reciting a spell that brings the dead back to life?!”
“I never imagined I would have to use this against a brat who hasn't even lived a tenth of my lifespan.”
“And I never imagined an old man who’s lived ten times longer than me would survive that hit.”
As Katsudo deactivated the shield, the golems that had been using it as a platform lost their balance and tumbled.
Katsudo moved with an agility unbelievable for someone centuries old, leaping onto the chest of a fallen golem.
Then came the Bone Spears.
Numerous spears of bone pierced through the golem’s chest, driving straight through its core.
‘The core location is the same for all the golems.’
Another golem swung its fist down at Katsudo, but rather than breaking through the newly formed shield, its fist was repelled.
Then, another Bone Spear.
In an instant, two of the ten summoned golems vanished.
Though the golems were strong, they lacked the ability to learn, and the same pattern repeated.
Three more golems disappeared.
All the golems Loki had sneakily summoned above Katsudo’s head had been dealt with.
At that moment, one of the skeletons—the one holding a dagger that had been facing off against the first five golems—sprinted through the gap between the giants and lunged at Loki.
The skeleton swung its dagger, aiming for Loki’s throat.
But the blade passed right through his neck.
A simple illusion.
It was easy to decapitate the skeleton in the opening that followed.
Of course, the headless skeleton simply rose again, but it gave Loki enough time to put some distance between them.
“Mr. Golems, please focus on keeping those bags of calcium away from me rather than attacking.”
Loki gave the command to his golems.
At the same time, Katsudo issued a similar order to his skeletons.
With that, the battle naturally split: five golems against five skeletons, and Loki against Katsudo.
Katsudo fired a Bone Spear at Loki.
“Did you really think you could defeat me just because the skeletons are occupied?”
Loki used Shadow Step to dodge the incoming bone spears by a hair’s breadth, then swung his cane at Katsudo.
“Didn't you leave them alone because you thought you could beat me easily without the golems?!”
Clang!!
However, Loki’s blade could not pierce the shield Katsudo had summoned once again.
The distance between them was short. Katsudo deactivated the shield and counterattacked.
But Loki used illusions and Shadow Step perfectly, dodging every attack launched from point-blank range.
“I guess you really can’t use the shield while you’re attacking, huh?”
“Knowing that changes nothing.”
As Loki noted, Katsudo could not perform other attacks while maintaining the shield.
And as Katsudo said, knowing that didn't change the outcome for Loki.
Loki would attack, only to be blocked by the shield.
Katsudo would counterattack the moment Loki’s strike failed.
And Loki would use Shadow Step to create distance while dodging a barrage of bones.
The only thing that changed was that as time passed, Katsudo’s attacks began to graze Loki’s body.
* * *
Loki glanced back. The golems and skeletons were still locked in combat.
No matter how much the golems focused on defense, it was impossible to hold out forever against the skeletons of what was once a veteran adventurer party.
‘If it were Lucas or Clara, they’d probably break through that shield eventually, even if it took time.’
Loki knew.
He didn't have the kind of powerful single-hit move they possessed to shatter Katsudo’s shield.
However, Lucas and Clara couldn't kill Katsudo.
But he could.
Well then, now that he’d tested the golems' performance and realized his own strength was still lacking...
“It’s about time I killed you.”
Loki lunged at Katsudo once more, swinging his cane.
And just like before, he was blocked by the shield.
Katsudo deactivated the shield and fired a Bone Spear.
Loki dodged almost all of them, but one he couldn't quite avoid grazed his leg.
Ignoring the blood trickling down his leg, Loki threw a dagger, prompting Katsudo to bring the shield back up.
“No matter how many times you repeat this, the result is the same. You cannot pierce me—”
“Hey, shut up, you corpse-fucker. Let me give you a quiz. See if you can get it right.”
Inside the shield, Katsudo thought to himself.
It’s a bluff.
If this continued, the boy’s wounds would only pile up.
Soon, a spear would find a vital organ, and he would die.
“Alright! Here’s the question. It’s similar to the one before. Look at the floor. Then you’ll know what the question is.”
Judging that he was safe inside his shield anyway, Katsudo looked down.
And there they were. Five blue beads inside the shield.
Being as intelligent as he was, Katsudo understood the situation instantly.
He was inside the shield with the blue beads.
The blue beads expand instantly. The golems cannot break through the shield from the outside.
Which meant?
“Do you get the situation now?!”
Before Katsudo could even think to deactivate the shield in a panic, the golems inside the shield expanded instantly.
“The golems keep growing inside the shield! And you’re getting crushed by the very shield you created!”
A gruesome sound echoed from within the barrier.
The sound of five blue beads transforming into golems in an instant and grinding against each other.
And a scream, buried beneath that noise.
Creeeeeak! Screee!
Katsudo was no longer visible inside the shield; there was only solid stone.
A moment later, with the sound of something bursting, the shield vanished.
On the ground lay a mess of blood and several unidentifiable chunks of flesh.