Chapter 168
Chapter 168
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Behemoth - 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*Paang!*
The whip tore through the spot where my body had been just a moment ago. A sharp bursting sound echoed throughout the room.
I steadied my stance and observed Behemoth, who hadn't moved a single step from her position.
‘Her temperament's the same as always.’
In the game, Behemoth was a boss who always tried to keep maximum distance from the player. Maybe because it had been so long since she'd entered the human world, she was holding back to avoid getting killed carelessly.
That's why she was practically a freebie for priests who mainly used ranged holy spells. Just keep your distance and spam holy spells, and she'd die on her own.
On the flip side, melee classes that were forced into close quarters had a rough time.
Even in Nightmare Mode, she faithfully stuck to her concept of thoroughly playing it safe while attacking, so there were no patterns where she'd suddenly charge at the player or cling to them.
In other words, as long as I kept my distance, I'd have plenty of time to observe her patterns.
"Keep running around like a little rat? You trying to make it hurt more?"
Since I'd only been maintaining distance to observe her patterns so far, her voice and expression were gradually regaining composure. A sly smile returned to her hot pink pupils as she looked at me.
A red aura was creeping around the whip in her hand. That was the weapon that inflicted 'Bleeding' among the status effects in Brutal 4.
Bleeding was a status ailment that could be applied using dedicated enchants, weapons imbued with bleeding attributes, or specific spells.
Once afflicted with Bleeding, the player would take damage every time they performed actions like running, swinging a weapon, or rolling during its 15-second duration.
In other words, no damage if you just stood still. In theory, you could wait out the full 15 seconds without taking any damage by doing absolutely nothing.
Of course, that was purely theoretical.
Unless the bleeding gauge burst from the last enemy dying, the enemies would come at you bloodthirsty to kill you—how could you just stand there? You'd get hit and die.
Especially since drinking a potion counted as an action and inflicted damage, chugging a health potion while Bleeding would give you the full experience of blood pouring out nonstop.
‘Doesn't matter to me anyway.’
Same as the other status effects. I'd drop dead before the gauge even filled from getting hit by a bleeding attack, so why bother worrying.
"Scared 'cause I'm holding a whip? Don't worry, baby! Look at this! Doesn't hurt at all, see?"
Behemoth shortened the whip to the length of her forearm and started whipping her own body. Her breasts, hips, and thighs wrapped around the whip with sharp smacking sounds.
Along with that came moans that were downright erotic—Aang, ang—like something straight out of an adult video.
The flesh where the whip struck burst open, blood flowing out, only to heal in the blink of an eye as new flesh regenerated. Apparently, her own attacks triggered her recovery too.
"What're you doing? You wouldn't just stand there gawking with a woman like this in front of you, would you?"
Seeing me still rooted to the spot like my feet were nailed down, Behemoth twisted her body in a pose that emphasized her breasts and hips.
Surprisingly, even facing that violent figure head-on, I felt no stir of lust. Probably because her proportions were too extreme. Excess is as bad as shortfall—every old saying holds true.
By ratio alone, her bust was even more exaggerated than Nix's, where her torso seemed to hang off her chest. That said it all.
"I hate guys who tease a girl when she's all heated up!"
Behemoth moved first. Her right hand whipped out. The black SM whip, back to its full length, shot toward me like an arrow.
I deflected it with Wingless Nightmare. Right after the deflection, the next attack came. The black whip and Wingless Nightmare clashed, sticking together with a distinct sound.
I focused on my arms and shoulders. Since this boss only lashed out with her whip from range, there were hardly any patterns worth calling that once you created distance.
The demon never bothered closing in on the player; she just whipped from afar. So all I had to do was concentrate on deflecting the whip. Easy.
‘On-beat, off-beat, one beat late, on-beat, on-beat, off-beat, off-beat, off-beat, on-beat, and the last one's on-beat too.’
Of course, that assumed I'd memorized the garbage pattern where on-beats and off-beats came randomly mixed, including ones delayed by a full beat instead of a half.
The only way to learn something like that was to get hit, die repeatedly, and memorize the timings. Don't know it? You'd get faked out by the off-beat feints or try deflecting an on-beat like an off-beat and get launched like a statue.
"Gonna keep this up the whole time, baby? Huh?"
When I deflected every attack without flinching, excitement overflowed in Behemoth's eyes. The whip split into two strands and flew at me slightly slower than before.
I raised my guard to reduce combat fatigue, then rolled sideways at the right timing to escape. The whip twisted in loops through the empty air.
That had been a grab pattern. If you'd thought "slow attack, easy" and tried to deflect, you'd get your weapon and arm caught one by one, dragged in, and buried headfirst between those breasts.
And your spine would snap.
In the game, you'd stand right back up fine as long as your HP held, but not here. You'd either die or end up worse than dead.
Seizing the gap as the whip retracted, I kicked off the ground and charged. Like all such combo patterns, deflecting or dodging them all perfectly opened up a solid damage window.
Behemoth panicked at my sudden approach and raised her whip, but I closed the distance faster. Wingless Nightmare, glowing with faint moonlight, sliced across her side.
"Kyaaaaaaaak!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted. Behemoth staggered out of my sight, reappearing by the opposite wall. Instant teleport.
It'd be a headache if used offensively, but fortunately, there was no pattern where she did. She didn't seem inclined to use it that way now either.
"It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!"
Clutching the slashed spot, Behemoth thrashed about. Tears streamed down her face as she mumbled, bringing her left hand to her chin and hawking up a thick glob of saliva—*pthbbt*.
She slathered her sloppy, saliva-covered palm frantically over her side.
"You...!"
"Just a scratch and you're making a fuss? Such a drama queen."
It wasn't mockery; it was genuine. Compared to her total HP, a basic attack like that was negligible, yet she was sniffling like an arm had been severed.
Behemoth glared at me with tear-filled eyes.
"Drama queen?"
"The judgment is complete, Inquisitor."
Confirming that her battle nuns under her command had finished 'heretic judgments' on the last one, Stella slammed her flanged mace into the ground. *Thud*. Red blood, brains, and chunks of flesh splattered nearby.
In front of her stood the living and the headless corpses in about a 2:1 ratio.
More precisely, not just 'living,' but those whose souls hadn't been seized by the demon yet. If they prayed fervently to the Sun and Moon for salvation, at least they wouldn't be dragged to hell after death.
But for those with burst heads, it was too late, so she'd given them a clean end.
Stella released the mace, now caked in fluids and lumps, and turned to Selene. Selene was at a tree a short distance away, busily fidgeting with her arms.
"Begin the prayer."
"Yes, Inquisitor."
The battle nuns bowed their heads to Stella, set down their flanged maces and shields—*thud, thud*—and drew holy catalysts from their belts in unison.
Kneeling on the ground, they clasped the catalysts in prayer. Brilliant golden sunlight poured out, enveloping the dazed, seated people.
Stella approached Selene's position after confirming it.
"Any results?"
"I obtained the information I wanted."
Selene, who had been listening to the mutterings by pressing her ear to the thing's mouth, straightened up. Before her writhed a massive lump of blood.
Skin peeled from head to toe, eyes gouged out, nose and ears sliced off, teeth pulled, gums mashed, mouth torn to the ears, and most muscle tissue severed.
Compared to when they'd first captured it, the demon worshiper's body had shrunk to half size.
Even more astonishing was that its consciousness remained intact despite the state. It simply lacked the means to express itself properly anymore.
"Good to hear we got results. What'd it say?"
"Behemoth has been resurrected."
"...Tch. Should've moved faster. With a demon resurrected, do we declare this a purification zone?"
Stella furrowed her brow, eyeing the city interior.
It was an enormously large city. Even bringing all the battle nuns under the Inquisitor and Interrogator, it wasn't nearly enough to seal the whole place.
She wanted to request reinforcements from the Holy Kingdom, but... whether regular battle nuns would help much against demons, unlike their elite ones under her and Selene, was questionable.
If His Holiness the Pope, now freed from that filthy monster, came personally, that'd be different.
Selene slowly shook her head.
"No need for that, Inquisitor. According to it, the resurrection is likely still incomplete."
"True enough. If the demon had fully resurrected, no one whose soul wasn't taken would remain here. We might be enough then?"
Her green eyes turned toward the people collapsed amid the golden glow. So many souls unclaimed meant the demon's power was that much weaker.
"So, will you go ahead and 'judge' the people inside first, Inquisitor?"
"Of course. And you?"
Selene's purple eyes gestured to the 'interrogation tools' in her battle nuns' hands. Stella got it immediately. She still had business with the demon worshiper.
This one would suffer to its last breath, then be tossed into hell as the dregs of its soul's dregs.
Stella prided herself on knowing human torture methods well, but compared to Selene's techniques, hers were like a toddler's first steps.
Even her own battle nuns were awed by how brutal and vicious Selene's heretic interrogations were.
"Leave one to erect a holy barrier over these people. The rest, follow me. We're entering."
Stella shouldered her flanged mace again and strode through the castle gate into the city. The battle nuns, minus a few, followed in unison.
"Group in threes to judge everyone in the city. That leaves two—follow me."
At the command, the battle nuns raised their rapiers vertically before their faces or banged their maces on shields—*clang clang*—to psych themselves up. Then they split into threes and headed to various parts of the city.
Only the two following right behind remained. Stella turned.
"Come on, hurry. We have a separate destination."
"Where to, ma'am?"
One battle nun asked. Stella replied as if it were obvious.
"The lord's manor here, naturally."