Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Headless Armored Knight Cleared
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-KABOOM!
With the sound of the bomb exploding and flames spreading, the armored horse reared up on its hind legs. That had been my last one.
While it was stunned and couldn't get its bearings, I backed off a good distance, caught my breath, and reduced my Combat Fatigue gauge, which had filled to the brim. As the fatigue dropped, my limbs felt noticeably lighter.
'It's pretty intense in practice.'
I rolled my shoulders to loosen up. This was all because of the Combat Fatigue debuff.
When the Combat Fatigue gauge fills to the max, it applies a debuff that reduces the character's attack speed and movement speed by 20% each.
In the game, it didn't matter much whether the debuff hit or not, but now that I was personally moving my own body, the reduction felt way more significant than I'd imagined.
'It'll be a bit risky, but once the rune slots unlock, I need to head straight for a rune that ignores the Combat Fatigue debuff.'
No helping it. Stamina was basically a meaningless stat in hardcore mode, so I'd been skipping it to start. That meant from mid-game onward, Combat Fatigue would max out after blocking just a couple of enemy attacks.
If the debuff was easy to trigger and felt this brutal, it only made sense to figure out a way to deal with it.
While I was recalling the strategy for the dungeon with the debuff-ignoring rune, the horse—having taken five bombs straight to the head—thrashed around wildly, letting out a piercing neigh that echoed for a good while.
Soon after, the armor encasing its head and neck began to shatter piece by piece.
Thick steel plates, easily thicker than one of my finger joints, broke off in chunks, thudding into the dirt floor.
Finally, all the armor fell away, revealing its gray body. It neighed again, *prrrrng*, and kicked powerfully at the ground with its hooves.
But that was just delaying the inevitable—it'd be ground-up horse meat soon enough. With the armor smashed, this was just a standard boss fight: parry spears, smack it around wherever.
'Alright, let's get started.'
I gripped the bloodied sword in reverse, extending the handle forward so the blade tip pointed at my abdomen.
After one deep breath, I plunged the sword into my own stomach.
*Schluck*. The sensation of the blade piercing my gut made the hilt tremble. The exposed part of the blade glowed an even deeper red.
This was the bloodied sword's special ability: it drained the user's stamina, amplifying attack power in proportion to the amount absorbed.
The amplification was 0.5% per 1% stamina drained—not a flat value, but percentage-based, so it favored builds with lower stamina investment.
For someone like me, with stamina at a measly 1, it was a no-brainer.
'That'll do it.'
The draining sensation stopped. My stamina had hit its limit at 1%. I pulled the sword from my gut. *Splurt*! Drops of unabsorbed blood pattered to the ground.
The hole in my abdomen healed in an instant. The bloodied sword now gleamed with a fierce red hue—the color of maximum attack boost.
Sure, I only had 1% stamina left, but that was fine. Whether I had 100% or 1%, a graze from that thing would kill me either way.
-KIIIHIIING!
The horse charged at me faster than before. Without its iron plating, it didn't shake the ground with the same intimidation.
I spotted the rider's right shoulder twitch as he pulled his spear back long, and got ready to parry. Starting off with a telegraphed attack? Luckier than I thought.
The rider thrust his spear with arm fully extended. I deflected the tip, and a sharp clash of metal rang out as he lost his balance, his body swaying wildly.
I slashed my sword three times into its flank and retreated. Blood sprayed from the cuts. The horse reared, slamming its front hoof down where I'd just been.
I rolled under the front leg and slashed its limb. Of course, no tendons snapped or anything dramatic—the horse just trotted off with a light scratch, unfazed.
I had to deal as much damage as possible before the attack buff expired. This time, I charged at the rider head-on. Facing each other, the distance closed in a flash.
The rider reversed his grip on the spear, raising it overhead. The horse's speed visibly ramped up. Full-speed charge with an overhead spear slam pattern.
'Can't parry this—gotta roll.'
My mind calculated it instantly. The horse leaped forward like clearing an obstacle, closing the gap. The rider added his weight to the horse's momentum, swinging the spear down.
I rolled forward just before it hit. A massive rupture echoed behind me.
If I'd foolishly swung my sword to parry, the recoil would've pushed me back, leaving me helpless against the follow-up grab attack. After that? Instant death, no question.
The classic "don't know, don't survive" pattern.
'Roll to dodge, though, and it's free damage time.'
I rolled to its side and swung freely. Both horse and rider were busy regaining posture. The bloodied sword's special ability rang out with crisp hits in succession.
Only after I'd landed about seven strikes did the rider steady himself and gallop off into the distance.
Things went smoothly after that.
Parry the basic attacks, roll through the heavy ones, smack during the openings in between—and gradually, the red glow around the bloodied sword began to fade.
Less than 30 seconds left on the duration. Seeing that made me anxious.
'If I hadn't invested in Holy Power, this buff would've ended already. Has it been over three minutes?'
Among the stats players could choose, 'Holy Power' didn't just boost holy attack power—it also extended the duration of all buffs.
Especially notable since it started at 1 for everyone except priests, its early-game gains were insanely high compared to other stats.
Holy Power at 10 could extend all buffs by nearly 50% compared to 1. Each early point made a huge difference.
The bloodied sword's base duration was three minutes, so my measly three-point investment extended the 49.5% attack boost by almost 30 extra seconds.
At 10 points, it'd be pushing five minutes just from duration alone.
'It's about time to wrap this up...!'
I rolled under an attack, slashing the horse's hind leg. I parried a mid-pattern back kick, swung once more, and it galloped ahead.
But its speed was noticeably slower than before.
The buff timing was tight, but we'd made it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Victory was all but assured.
The special attack Parrying—unlocked at full Combat Fatigue—worked fine on humanoid enemies, practically.
Beast or monster types drained fatigue in real-time no matter what, so you couldn't ignore stamina and fill fatigue first. Except for this headless armored knight.
That's why I'd bothered parrying its attacks. Parrying fillable moves built fatigue for Parrying, slashing clear time dramatically.
Note: with armor intact, fatigue doesn't build at all.
'Next attack... perfect. Parrying range.'
I held a small buckler in my left hand. I'd never used it before, but the controls popped into my head naturally.
I waited until it closed in, then at the spear's thrust, swept my shield arm forward like fanning flames.
-CLANG!
A crisp sound rang out, the horse lost balance and crumpled to the ground. The rider tumbled off unceremoniously.
Parrying.
A advanced parry usable only at max Combat Fatigue. The same technique Lize had prepped as a counter in the entry exam.
Attacking a parry-staggered foe triggered weapon-class unique animations, dealing massive damage—50% of max HP plus weapon damage, ignoring all resistances. Factoring in prior chip damage from the buildup? Effectively instant death.
I approached the horse, slumped and heaving on the ground. Common misconception: the real body wasn't the rider, but the horse.
The bloodied sword's ability was about to expire. Before it did, I targeted the head and thrust with all my might. It couldn't even scream, just jerked its neck.
As the horse collapsed, the rider—who'd been flailing to rise—faded away like mist. His spear rolled across the ground.
The massive gray body toppled sideways. *Thud*. Dust billowed. It never got up, never moved again.
"Got it."
Headless Armored Knight cleared.