First Instance Dungeon (3): The Altar Guardians

I reflexively clapped a hand over my nose and mouth at once. Kaya must have seen me do it and copied the motion, but fat chance that would work.

Poison, Confusion? This unidentified smoke carried a compound debuff. I watched Kaya just in case, but she was no different from me.

"Kaya! Get the antidote and holy water ready! We need to be prepared to drink them anytime!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The smoke hadn't cleared yet. If we chugged them hastily only to get hit again, we'd just waste good antidote and holy water for nothing.

As long as we don't get ambushed or overwhelmed, I can pop a potion on my turn and shake off the debuffs. My speed was fortunately on the high side, so barring special circumstances, I was confident I could seize the first turn.

Without being able to drink the antidote, time passed and the poison ticked for damage. What pissed me off even more was that our mentality took a hit too.

What a bunch of bullshit... Gritting my teeth, I peered through my blurry vision, and far ahead, a dark, murky shape loomed, blocking the path.

That's it! It looked exactly like the source of the smoke. Of course—this shitty smoke couldn't be a trap or natural phenomenon.

"Kaya."

"Yes. I see it too."

I picked up my pace a bit. The dark shape came into slightly clearer view.

"What the hell is... that?"

"Th-that, th-that."

It was something I'd never seen before—more grotesque and bizarre than the Terror Box from the terror chest room, if I had to compare. A structure radiating pitch-black aura, spewing smoke. My vocabulary was too poor to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠describe it as I felt it. Grotesque, hideous, otherworldly, incomprehensible. A jumble of those concepts that induced thick disgust and nausea just from a glance.

I felt intense revulsion and disgust, while Kaya... her stoic face twisted violently. It was like she was staring at her arch-nemesis. She looked ready to swing her mace and smash that thing to pieces right then.

I feel you on that one.

I told Kaya to drink the antidote and holy water, then followed suit.

The holy water's effect of purifying evil appeared in a message: its second benefit, greatly boosting resistance to mental status ailments. At least it meant debuffs like confusion wouldn't hit us again, which was a small relief.

That's what we'll take. As proof. The client uncle said you'd know it at a glance, though it's hard to describe in words. Fuck, if the proof was that, I'd think twice.

I swallowed hard, suppressed my revulsion, and took one more step forward. The atmosphere shifted instantly.

"Careful!"

The ominous space with only the structure suddenly erupted with three plumes of black smoke, from which three monsters burst out.

"Intruder... you, cannot pass..."

"Those who defile, the altar..."

"Must pay, for their sins."

"-With death."

The unidentified structure is an altar, and those monsters are its guardians—super ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠useful info that defiled my retinas.

Forget that crap. Elite monsters. Three of them qualified as elites, which meant each was weaker than a solo elite. There were multi-elites in Long Terror too. But these multi-unit elites usually had lower individual specs but unique gimmicks that screwed over gamers.

First things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to watch for: links and immortality. Links meant another unit absorbs a portion of damage if one doesn't take it; immortality meant they revive after a set number of turns if not all killed in time.

In this situation, links are better than immortality. By about five hundred times. Three monsters, two of us. If they had immortality, unless we one-shot them all, we'd wither away fighting endless revivals.

This isn't the main dungeon. If they pull immortality here... we'll just die quietly. Fuck this garbage game.

But such resolve proved unnecessary—the visible base stats were pure question marks. Three sharing one elite? Even so, why were all but HP question marks...?

My thoughts cut off there as the speed check happened. Seeing the results, I couldn't help but smirk—their speed was trash, even slower than Kaya's, which was already low. Huge boon. In turn-based, first turn was everything.

"Time you tasted the mark too."

The first raison d'être of my class, Bounty Hunter (Thrower): the mark. An absurd debuff that amps not just my damage but all allies' physical attacks on a single target. As a debuff, it could fail against high resistance or bad luck, wasting the main dealer's turn... but that was a common debuff drawback, nothing special.

Tatata-tat-!

Kwaaang-!

"...Huh?"

"Captain..."

Up until now, Kaya's mace had made sounds like kwajik or kwaduk, but this time it clanged solidly against something. It wasn't just a missed crit. I'd marked it. Her weapon was upgraded too. But... only 8 damage? What the hell was its defense?

"You... cannot pass..."

"Fucking hell..."

Defense +5 and regen 2? At least its shitty attack and speed were the last scraps of mercy for an elite? Were we just that pathetic, or was this instance mismatched for our level? In Long Terror, mismatched hero-dungeon levels could make parties ragequit without even forming up.

Fuck—

Defense 10. That ominous mark and gleaming axe edge looked so pathetic now. But no choice. Its attack was weak, so we had to chip away.

"Fuck!"

"This much... is nothing..."

Even taking Head Crush—25% mark amp plus +4 vs. humanoids—it was just 7 damage. The monster's words sounded like mocking laughter at my worthless attack.

"That fucker... Kaya."

"Yes, Captain."

Without crits popping off, we'd have to brace for a slog. Fortunately, Kaya's other skills contributed to party sustain.

In that sense, it's climax time. Kaya.

"Haaah...?"

Kaya's face flushed, her eyes half-lidded, hot and sickly-sweet air wafting around her—it wasn't my imagination.

Climax isn't that climax, right? Divine ecstasy or something. Yeah. I know. But fuck the dev's tastes...

Climax was an actual skill from Long Terror's Battle Vestal class. Battle Vestals weren't common, and Climax even less so, so I hadn't anticipated this reaction. For real.

"How dare you, before the altar, that hypocrite's light...!"

Did Kaya's holy power (arousal) trigger something? The huddled, porcupine-like monster suddenly surged forward!

"Perish...!"

"Fuck!"

"Caaaaptaaain—!"

I ate a huge something—probably a shield—full-on and tumbled ass-over-end. Standing in the front row, I was forcibly shoved behind Kaya, unable to use consumables or move—or do anything.

Stun was top-tier CC, forcing me to waste my turn pathetically. Not even "skip"—my turn was just deleted against my will. Infuriating, bullshit... and feeling pathetic for getting screwed despite it not being my fault.

For the first time, Kaya stood before me. Whether from Climax or me rolling pathetically, she looked seriously riled up. Go get 'em. We each had only one reliable nuke anyway.

"How dare you, to the Captain!"

Kwoooaaang-!

The shield-clanging impact was at least twice as loud. And if I wasn't seeing things, a chunk of black something flew off. Solid hit.

"Nice!"

Nod.

Unlike my first dungeon run, this instance was Kaya's show. Her silent nod looked far sturdier than those monster shits.

"Defiling the altar, trying to kill us guardians... you will meet ruin."

"Hypocrisy is ugly. It will soon be revealed!"

Without warning, some black something dove right into Kaya.

"Kaya!!"