The Wall of Lamentation
I told you not to underestimate it. Pertonva was basically just a slightly faster golem. Sure, it looked intimidating with a body one and a half times larger than a regular golem and made of red stone, but once you knew how to deal with it, Pertonva was one of the more manageable Named monsters.
Its weakness was obvious.
The faster a giant moved, the more mana it burned through its joints. Every time it swung those massive arms, Pertonva had to constantly pump enormous amounts of mana into its joints just to keep them from flying off. That was why its greatest weakness was time itself. The longer the fight dragged on, the more mana it consumed, and that inevitably put a heavy burden on its core.
The reason Pertonva charged in right from the start and went berserk was exactly because of that.
Gwoooooooo!
Unlike regular golems, this one even let out a battle cry as it closed the distance in an instant. Its arm was pulled back far like it was loading up a punch, clearly planning to swing the moment it got close. The way it expressed every detail through a body that looked like multiple shipping containers welded together… yeah, a Named was still a Named, even among golems.
Just a little closer.
If one person couldn’t take it down, two could.
Gwoooooooo!
The instant Pertonva got perfectly within range and tried to swing its fist at me, I quickly yanked on the spider web attached to the regular golem I’d been fighting and changed my position. Since Pertonva was capable of flexible movement adjustments unlike regular golems, it immediately redirected its punch.
Boom!
A meteor-like fist slammed straight into the regular golem. The impact was enough to shatter its core. The golem, already on the verge of total demolition, gradually lost the mana glow in its eyes.
One hit. Even the golem that had kept moving after taking Aquaku’s best mana-charged shot froze instantly from Pertonva’s attack.
If aggro bounces, we’re dead.
Tatakum had endured regular golem attacks, but if he took a direct hit from Pertonva, he’d be retired on the spot. In that case, it was best for me—the one who focused on evasion rather than traditional tanking—to take the lead. Tatakum could endure one blow but couldn’t dodge. Hyunsoo could dodge but would suffer fatal damage if he got hit. So I had to handle the tanking alone.
“Aquaku! What’s your maximum magic range?”
“Ten meters! Anything more is impossible!”
“Get ready to fire mana from max range! Tatakum, focus on knocking away any flying rock shards! Pepi, prepare to heal me the moment I take a direct hit!”
But I wasn’t hunting alone.
“The second Pepi heals, she’ll draw aggro, so the moment she casts, Hyunsoo, carry her and run without looking back!”
This was the ultimate combination of talent from Mirinae Academy’s S-class, said to be the best of the best. With this lineup, hunting Pertonva wasn’t impossible.
Creak. Creak.
The moment Pertonva destroyed what it thought was an enemy but was actually an ally, its head spun around like an owl, as if a brief error had occurred. It was a temporary freeze pattern caused by error checking and situation assessment. In reality, this was the so-called deal time—the perfect window to pour on damage.
The problem is we don’t have any real damage dealers.
It would’ve been nice to have a defense-penetration skill that could strike the inside rather than the outside. Unfortunately, there was no way to get one right now, so Aquaku’s magic was our only means of attack.
The silver lining was that because I’d eaten Woongbak’s inner core and registered as a beast, aggro pulled extremely well. Normally, the more mana gathered in one place, the more monsters would sense the attack’s precursor and shift aggro to Aquaku. But since they recognized a beast right in front of them, aggro didn’t bounce.
It was a lesser version of a tank’s provocation skill, but since it was always active, it was incredibly useful.
“Tatakum! Drop a few totems near me!”
“Tatakum!!!”
Tatakum shouted his own name energetically as he dropped totems around me. As the eldest son of the Vainar tribe’s chieftain, he could use basic shamanic arts even though he was a tank. The totems he could currently use were the Totem of Vitality and the Totem of Courage. They were generally helpful for tanks, and I was grateful to have even that much support.
Boom!
It was a minor buff, but just feeling a little lighter dramatically improved my evasion ability.
Gwooooo!
No matter how many spider webs I wrapped around Pertonva’s joints, they snapped quickly due to its durability. The scorching mana heat radiating from the joints was too much for the webs to handle.
I could probably dodge this thing all day.
Since we had a dedicated damage dealer, if I focused solely on evasion, we’d naturally clear it. After taking this one down, we’d head to the temple, defeat the last remaining golem, and the dungeon raid would be a huge success.
My happy circuit was slowly activating as I imagined a hopeful future.
Gwoooooooo!
Then, as if determined to shatter that hope into pieces, the cry of another golem echoed from afar.
Thud!Thud!Thud!Thud!Thud!
God damn it.
Of course. There was no way Final Destiny would just sit back and let us clear a dungeon so easily. It was as natural as adding another order of pork belly at a barbecue restaurant. Another Pertonva came charging in.
Things had been going too smoothly, and I’d forgotten. Final Destiny was an extremely high-difficulty roguelike game. A crazy, broken game that was desperate to kill the player no matter what.
Gwoooooooo!
The good news in all this was that because I’d already pulled a ton of aggro from the original Pertonva 1, the newly added Pertonva 2 didn’t charge at Aquaku. It came straight for me instead.
“Seokhyun!”
“Don’t worry, just focus on what you were doing! Keep an eye on Aquaku!”
The bad news was that I now had to handle two Pertonvas by myself.
Two could still be manageable. If I could get them to hit each other and kill one another.
But if I die before that, it’s game over.
I repeated to myself that I could do this and steadied my mind.
With two, I might actually pull it off.
A clue had appeared.
Boom!
The moment Pertonva 1’s fist slammed into the ground, rock fragments and dirt clouds blinded my vision. If I panicked and retreated here, I’d get crushed by Pertonva 2’s fist. The best choice was to push forward.
Tap tap tap tap.
I ran up Pertonva 1’s arm and reached its shoulder. The instant a palm came crashing down like swatting a mosquito off its body, I shot a spider web at Pertonva 2 and pulled myself over, landing on its body to dodge the attack.
Just as I tried to leap again to avoid the next consecutive strike—
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Shit!
Hot steam erupted from Pertonva 2’s body. It was one of the patterns I’d completely forgotten about because it hadn’t used it yet.
Steam emission using mana from the joints.
Some might say it’s just steam, but the overall body temperature rose dramatically, making it extremely difficult to stay on its body. The heat was so intense that skin would peel off on contact and cause severe burns. It was far better to take a direct hit than suffer continuous damage like this. I had to get away immediately.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Seeing Pertonva 2’s response, Pertonva 1 also began emitting steam. The way it looked like it had realized the tick clinging to its body was weak to heat was incredibly annoying.
Still manageable.
Pertonva’s steam emission wasn’t purely a beneficial skill. It overheated its mana to release it as steam, putting strain on the core, and moisture seeping into its body gradually weakened its durability. It was similar to how a berserker lowered defense to increase attack power.
Since both used it, the real show is about to start.
The special pattern that appeared when two or more Pertonvas were present and both used steam emission. It was called the Newbie Guillotine—an infamous, vicious attack technique said to be impossible for beginners to avoid.
The Wall of Lamentation.
Chuk chuk chuk chuk chuk.
The two Pertonvas suddenly stopped their attacks, stepped back, and thrust their shoulders forward. Like steam locomotives that had forgotten their destination, they charged forward wrapped in insanely hot steam all over their bodies.
Running away here was meaningless. The charge had partial homing properties, so the moment you tried to twist your body even slightly, the ground’s vibration would destroy your balance and you’d likely eat the attack head-on.
Here it comes.
The reason I was confident I could handle two was precisely because of this pattern. Rather than relying on Aquaku’s magic, our odds of winning were actually higher right now. I had been waiting for this moment.
Thud thud thud thud thud.
The ground shook violently as if an earthquake had struck, completely negating any distance we’d gained. The two Pertonvas came barreling toward me. Every time I blinked, the distance closed. It felt like watching a horror movie.
Gwoooooooo!
Along with a roar that threatened to burst my eardrums, fists came flying from both sides—top and bottom—aiming to crush my entire body.
I wrapped the spider webs that were about to snap around each of the two Pertonvas’ arms, then instantly crossed their arms.
Thanks to my weight exceeding 270 kilograms, I wasn’t thrown off by the Pertonvas’ mass and maintained my position.
Ssssssssssk.
Just before the two Pertonvas’ cannonball-like fists reached my body, they changed direction.
Boldly. Dramatically.
Boom!
Fists the size of cars grazed my skin and slammed directly into each other.
Gwoooooooo!
Cross counter—complete success.