Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Fallen Priestess Lucia
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If you asked which boss from the Bloodborne series had the trickiest grabs, the top pick would be one whose concept and patterns completely changed with every phase.
You'd die dozens of times clawing your way through Phase 1, only to get wrecked just as many times in Phase 2 because you couldn't adapt to the totally revamped concept. And just when you thought you'd gotten the hang of Phase 2, you'd forget Phase 1 all over again, trapped in an endless loop.
The World Devourer, the de facto final boss of Bloodborne 4, was a prime example. With four phases, each shifting patterns and concepts, adapting perfectly was a nightmare.
'Fallen Priestess Lucia,' or 'Sun Priestess Lucia,' fell into that same category.
In Phase 1, she fought like a mindless monster with her grotesquely mutated body. In Phase 2, she ripped off her own transformed right arm and battled like a human.
As the Bloodborne series reached its fourth installment, the number of phase-shifting bosses naturally grew, but Lucia stood out the most thanks to her touching story.
It was the tale of a priestess consumed by the abyss, losing her sanity—only to reclaim her mind through faith and meet a dignified end as a human.
A process worthy of being called an ode to humanity, so it was no surprise that many loved it.
Of course, those moved only by the story—and who'd ejected dozens or hundreds of figurines because they couldn't beat her—were tearing their hair out.
—Kwaaang!
The vertically swung blade of light unleashed a massive shockwave. The golden glow forming the holy sword stemmed from the sacred catalyst in Lucia's left hand.
The plunging sword dissolved into a burst of radiant light and vanished, holy power gathering once more in the catalyst. I considered closing the distance but held back, unsure what the next pattern would bring.
The light coalesced into a massive spear. Lucia raised her arm into a javelin thrower's stance. This was a pattern I could approach safely. I darted forward.
Circling her clockwise like a clock hand, I rolled inward deeply just as a clear, tinkling bell rang out and her left arm hurled the spear.
The holy spear speared exactly where I'd stood a moment ago before exploding. Already clear of the blast radius, I ignored it and swung my crimson blade, coagulated with blood, at Lucia.
No need to waste the sacred catalyst on a blessing enchantment anymore—it was time to leverage the bloodstained sword's attack power buff.
I'd been chugging potions steadily since Phase 1, so my health regen was tapped out. This buff was my last one.
"Urk!"
Lucia staggered hard with a grunt as the bloodstained sword connected.
In Phase 2, Lucia's resistances dropped to normal human boss levels across the board—except for holy attacks, where she gained insane resistance. The total opposite of Phase 1.
Cleric characters could breeze through Phase 1, but Phase 2 forced them to prepare alternative damage sources or suffer.
Lucia could barely fight back, grunting and reeling with every hit I landed. Her incredibly low poise was to blame.
But I couldn't just wail on her until she dropped. After exactly four solid strikes, I rolled backward out of range. Right on cue, a golden holy explosion erupted around her.
It was a pattern designed to punish players who hugged the boss and mashed left-click, assuming low poise meant safety.
Vanilla had a tiny bit of startup time, but Darkla mod made it near-instant cast, practically impossible to react to.
It was the game's way of saying, "Hit a few times and back off."
"The sun watches over me..."
A prayer spilled from Lucia's lips.
Her knees buckled to the floor in worship, head bowed as if offering something, left palm turned upward.
The sacred catalyst before her kneeling form glowed brilliantly. Overflowing holy power blocked my approach, and a golden orb formed on the boss room's ceiling.
A miniature sun floated high above. Lucia rose in sync. Somehow she'd grabbed it again—her left hand's catalyst still shone.
The light morphed into a flail. Thud. Lucia took a step forward. Simultaneously, the orb she'd split into multiple fragments rocketed toward me.
'...Too late to circle counterclockwise.'
I glanced up at the blazing sun, rapidly calculating my dodge path. It was like the Human Butcher's final desperation from the tutorial boss—same evasion method.
Assuming no Lucia charging right at me, that is.
She closed the gap in an instant. Unlike Phase 1 where she never dashed, Phase 2 saw her leaping, teleporting, and sprinting freely to kill the player.
I ignored the sun plummeting to my right, sprinted to widen the gap from Lucia, then rolled forward just before the tiny sun hit. A vicious explosion roared behind me.
As the second light plunged, Lucia swung the flail conjured from her catalyst. Holy sword, spear—now a flail.
Vanilla stuck faithfully to the lore with just flails, but Darkla mod turned her into a weapon master conjuring all sorts for some reason.
'This game cheats hard.'
I inwardly praised Lucia, then parried the flail crashing down to smash my skull. The moveset overlapped with Stella's, so it wasn't too tough.
—Pung!
Light exploded right beside me, but safely outside the radius—I ignored it, focusing on parrying the flail.
After deflecting the three-hit combo's final blow, I halted my slide, checked the incoming orb's landing spot, and rolled away in the opposite direction.
Those sun-like orbs were spells; parries didn't block them properly. Even a perfect parry let the magic damage pierce through.
If unlucky, combat fatigue from parrying could fill my roll meter, leaving me helpless—and dead.
Ideally, dodging her weapon swings by rolling was safer than parrying. But the situation forced my hand.
'Wonder how much stagger gauge I've built. Can't parry the next one.'
Rough guess: one more, two at most, and I'd stagger. To avoid status ailments completely, I needed a shield with 100% resistance.
Without the attack buff, I could just kite through stagger. But with the buff still active, no dice.
The miniature sun, drained of power, flickered and faded. Thick darkness flooded the boss room. Only Lucia's catalyst provided light.
At that moment, the blood coating my blade flickered unsteadily. The attack buff's duration was ending.
'Already?'
I glanced at Lucia. Her gait was steady, no major wounds visible—I had no clue how much HP she had left.
'Isn't it about time she drops?'
Damn HUD, always missed when needed.
I'd optimized my DPS the whole buff—except when patterns forced otherwise—but no way to check her health.
Phase 2 Lucia couldn't be dragged into a war of attrition. Her holy spells included heals that restored percentage-based HP.
Without a way to interrupt via stagger, she'd go from low to full routinely. And right now, once my buff dropped, I had zero means to stagger her.
'Tch. No choice.'
By my math, a few more combos should down her before the buff expired. This was my last shot.
I charged Lucia, eyes locked on her catalyst. Parried the flail, dodged the spear, closed in tight. Basic attack, basic, basic.
'...Now.'
Spotting the holy explosion windup, I rolled aside.
Emerging unscathed from the erupting holy power, I stuck to Lucia and swung again. She grunted and staggered with every hit, too busy to counter.
High-risk play—I'd avoided it if possible—but bad DPS math forced this timed rush.
'If not for this, I wouldn't even glance at it.'
I grumbled inwardly even while dodging.
As the "near-instant cast" phrasing implied, it wasn't completely impossible to roll-dodge with good reaction speed.
Just that 95% prediction-based tech had insane difficulty, even pros hesitated.
Anyway, first attempt succeeded. Now, pray I kept this focus until I cleared her.
"Aaaah...!"
Lucia let out her death cry. The golden light in her catalyst slowly dimmed.
'Whew, couldn't do that twice.'
She really was low—crumpled soon after I went all-in. Heart skipped when she tried healing at the end.
Lucky the startup let me finish her first, or I'd be stuck forever.
A wet thud echoed as her human body collapsed. Or what was left of it—hardly human anymore. Her whole form rotted and melted into sludge.
With the holy power suppressing her mutation gone, the flames on her right shoulder extinguished. Something squirmed unnaturally from the stump. Her arm regenerating.
Black ichor oozed from every facial orifice as Lucia rasped labored breaths. Wheezing, half-sobbing gasps leaked out nonstop.
Lucia boss cleared. Tension drained from me all at once; I slumped to the floor.
What was this, some world-best-undead tournament? Why was I, at this level, tackling a DLC boss? Self-loathing hit.
If this were still a game, fine—but nope.
'Damn Holy Kingdom.'
What was with that pope spouting DLC story bait at such a tense moment?
As if proving my victory, black sludge washed away, revealing the rune stele embedded in the wall. Faint green light emanated from its inscriptions.
I could learn the rune and head topside, but first—unfinished business. I stood and approached Lucia, her body melting as she gasped.
I'd used the acquired catalyst three-plus times—event conditions met. No real reward anyway, and I wasn't doing it for one.
Hearing my footsteps, her softening head turned effortfully toward me. Eyes blinded by ichor, yet she nailed the direction perfectly.
"...Someone... is by my side?"
Her lips moved.