Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Headless Armored Knight
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‘This is the right place, isn’t it?’
I inwardly sighed in relief at finally seeing the familiar scenery I’d grown sick of staring at in the game. I’d worried midway that I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere, but arriving properly was a godsend.
I’d literally pulled two all-nighters running nonstop to barely reach the boss field of the Headless Armored Knight. In the game, it only took about ten minutes on horseback.
After two straight days of running—looking fresher than me, somehow—I tied the horse to a nearby tree and pulled out the items needed for the boss fight from my saddlebag.
‘One, two, three, four, five… Good. Got them all.’
I checked the count and tucked them into the pouch at my waist. These were the key items for taking down the Headless Armored Knight. To avoid any misses, I’d even practiced throwing with rocks of similar weight and size.
If even one missed and the gimmick failed, clearing the Headless Armored Knight was practically impossible.
Not physically impossible, of course—just assuming zero mistakes, you could manage it with a bit over twenty hours of pure focus.
Possible in theory, sure. But no human should have to endure that.
—Kweeeek!
Hearing a guttural squeal like a pig being slaughtered nearby, I drew my bloodstained sword. It was the sound of the trash mobs wandering the boss field perimeter.
Pushing forward along the path, I spotted monsters up ahead—withered, twisted boars shrunk to the size of medium dogs, shambling about.
There were eight trash mobs total on the way to the Armored Knight boss fight. All the same type, and true to their name, their patterns were simple: charge and body slam, or bite. That was it.
If you kept your head straight, dodging their attacks was easier than taking them.
I closed the distance slowly, adjusting my pace. After six more steps, I stopped. The nearest one spotted me and flinched.
The others lined up behind it were busy with their own business. Even though I was well within visual range, they ignored me—proof the game’s aggro system was intact.
‘Works in my favor.’
I knew exactly how close to get to lure just one at a time.
In Brutal 4’s combat system, fighting multiple street trash mobs was way tougher than one-on-one with most bosses. Darkla Mode made both a nightmare.
The key was aiming for one-on-ones as much as possible. One at a time. An unchanging truth across the entire Brutal series.
The withered boar monster that spotted me charged without regard for direction. A few steps away, it leaped, jaws wide with fangs bared. Bite pattern.
I swung my bloodstained sword at its teeth. Clang! Its body recoiled slightly. Seizing the gap, I thrust into its lower jaw.
I felt the blade sink into the desiccated flesh, the tip bursting out through its skull. Its struggles ceased in an instant.
I yanked the sword free, but no fluids spilled. In the game, the HUD would’ve shown the XP gained. Without that, I second-guessed if I’d done it right.
Well, skull pierced and no movement—it was dead. Same as in-game: one parry into a regular attack finished it.
“Next.”
I advanced a few more steps. Another withered boar farther off reacted, thundering toward me.
If you asked for the core of Brutal series combat, ‘Combat Fatigue’—basically a second health bar—topped the list.
Combat Fatigue built up from blocking attacks, parrying, taking hits, and rolling, a fixed amount each time. Managing it was often more crucial than health.
If you got hit or failed a parry with a full gauge, it reset—and the character entered a 2-second incapacitated state.
Incapacitated, you couldn’t act until recovery, and took 1.5x damage. Even in vanilla, a gauge burst in a boss fight meant preparing to die.
Darkla Mode upped it to 4 seconds incapacitated and 2x damage. Basically a death sentence.
That’s why parries mattered: a perfect parry kept the gauge full without bursting, no matter how stacked.
Of course, enemies had Combat Fatigue too. Filling theirs was the prerequisite for landing a ‘Parry’ special attack.
And this Headless Armored Knight was the only monster-type boss that could attempt a parry.
—Prrrrk!
The horse, wrapped head to toe in iron plating like full battle armor, snorted at me. Its rider—an armored headless knight—twirled his lance threateningly atop it.
A perfect illustration of why it was called the Headless Armored Knight.
Already twice the shoulder height of a normal horse, clad in absurdly thick iron plate, its presence was overwhelming.
No exaggeration: just trotting around shook the ground massively.
—Hiihihihihihiing!!!!!!
The horse reared on its forelegs with a piercing neigh. Here we go. I gripped my bloodstained sword two-handed, firm.
As the distance closed, the ground rumbled—not a cute trot, but a grinding drrrrumble.
‘Left to right, then right to left. Then overhead smash.’
Patterns I’d blabbered about in front of the knight captains. Parry the horizontal sweeps left-to-right and right-to-left, roll the downward smash.
The knight yanked the lance from the ground with his right hand, spun it overhead to shake off dirt, then swept forward wide. He spurred the horse and vanished into the distance.
Circling in a wide arc, the knight charged back, thrusting the lance. I parried—chaeng! A heavy ring echoed, recoil shuddering through me.
The next attack followed. Horse reared forelegs; knight readied an overhead smash. I reached for my waist pouch.
‘DPS window.’
DPS window meant time for the armor gimmick. As the horse slammed its forelegs down, the knight smashed with both hands full force.
But I’d already rolled away. The lance tip plunged into empty dirt, kicking up dust. As he recovered it, I pulled the key boss item.
A small bomb that exploded on impact—the only thing that could crack that armor.
‘Now!’
Right as he freed the lance, I armed the bomb’s fuse, aimed for the horse’s head, and hurled it.
It flew true, detonating on the armor in a spectacular burst of roiling flames.
—Hiihihihihihiing!!!!!!
Startled by fire and blast, the horse neighed and bucked. The knight wobbled atop. I considered a second, but opted safe over greedy.
In vanilla, one solid hit stunned long enough to methodically shatter the armor. Darkla Mode? Stun too short—timing had to be pixel-perfect.
‘No greed. Play it safe. Safe.’
Five hits to the horse’s head like that, and the armor shattered, exposing flesh. Then, hit anywhere for full damage.
Vanilla had a vendor right there selling unlimited bombs cheap. Lore-wise, the inventor.
Talk and buy, or just chat—he outright hinted: ‘Hit weak spots repeatedly; even thick iron armor breaks.’
Of course, only for this boss’s gimmick. Useless on other armored foes.
But vanilla’s infinite retries via vendor? Darkla Mode was vicious: no vendor, player-scavenged bombs only. Exactly five, matching the five hits needed.
Miss one? Game over.
—Prrrrk!
The horse snorted furiously, glaring with eyes glowing solid red menace.
I mocked it, beckoning with a finger. Come at me—if it even understood.
The Armored Knight charged, shaking the earth.