228. True Moon Princess
228. True Moon Princess
***
"Hellfire Cerberus?"
Yena, who was sitting beside Sihyeon and had ended up watching Serin's stream with him, couldn't help speaking the words aloud at the notification filling the screen.
The difficulty had already been brutal from the start, with an Arch Lich at level 80. And as if that weren't enough, to make matters worse, the Arch Lich had summoned the worst possible Demonic Beast.
'Of all things, it had to be a Cerberus.'
The Demonic Beast Cerberus held a type advantage against melee characters.
Because it possessed immense resistance to physical damage, it was a monster that magic-using classes could handle far more easily.
Having hunted the Ancient Temple of the Arch Lich several times before, she knew the difficulty of this hunting ground in considerable detail.
And the same was true of Sihyeon, who was watching the stream with her.
Rin's current situation was no different from the worst-case scenario that might occur once in every ten runs of the Ancient Temple of the Arch Lich.
But even understanding that, Sihyeon voiced something puzzling.
"I'm not sure whether to call this good luck or bad luck."
"Sihyeon. This is just bad luck, isn't it? What's there to call good about it?"
When Yena answered as if asking what he meant, Sihyeon let out a hollow laugh.
An Arch Lich at level 80 plus a Hellfire Cerberus was certainly no ordinary difficulty.
Even with a four-person party, it was close to the worst possible combination, the kind where you'd have to accept one or two people retiring.
He could instantly imagine the Cerberus threatening the players up close while the Arch Lich cast magic from far away in the distance.
And yet, Sihyeon somehow didn't think Rin would lose.
'Because she beat that Daji.'
So even though this was a situation that ought to be considered unlucky, for some reason it didn't look so bad.
"Since it has the special designation 'Hellfire,' the bonus reward is guaranteed, right? So there's definitely some upside to it."
"That's only possible if she can kill it without dying. No, this is clearly a bad situation no matter how you look at it... Sihyeon, aren't you being a little weird too?"
At Yena's negative response, Sihyeon stared quietly at her.
"Yena, do you think Rin can't do it?"
"Well... I don't really know either, but still, with that combination, wouldn't it be hard for Rin?"
"It definitely won't be easy, but I don't know. I just don't get the feeling Rin will lose."
When Sihyeon answered in a calm voice and turned his gaze back to the screen, Yena glared at him.
For some reason, the way Sihyeon looked right then seemed to Yena like he trusted Rin immensely.
That made her feel strange.
She had never even met this streamer called Rin, and they hadn't even had their scrim yet, so she couldn't understand why he thought that highly of her.
Then, in an instant, Yena bit her lip.
'Like an idiot...'
She felt foolish for being jealous of a mere character, but in the end, she too couldn't help but naturally turn her gaze to the screen.
Because the person who was the reason she had stayed behind in the lodging was absorbed in this stream.
Having looked at the screen with such an odd feeling, Yena immediately found herself murmuring a single sentence.
"Sihyeon, what is that appearance...?"
Because Rin on the screen had suddenly changed drastically in appearance.
***
Facing the Cerberus, Serin thought she needed to end this quickly.
A Wizard was always a class you couldn't afford to give time to. And the Cerberus, with its thick hide and exceptional agility, was utterly troublesome to deal with.
There was no condition that favored dragging out the fight.
"I think I'll be focusing on the battle from here on."
Having said that to the viewers as if giving notice, Serin no longer glanced at the chat window.
As if committing herself seriously to the situation, she immediately brought out her full power.
—True Moon Princess.
A cluster of light, brilliant to the point of radiance, began to shimmer over Serin's body.
Immediately after, golden-thread patterns embroidered themselves onto her white light armor, and the white Crescent-Moon Weight she held was also clad in golden-thread patterns, its very appearance beginning to transform strangely.
The Crescent-Moon Weight changed into the shape of a circle interwoven with golden light, as if embodying a massive moon.
At the same time, her silver hair, which had reached her waist, lengthened down to her legs, and her blue eyes were dyed red, taking on a complete crimson hue. Her snow-white skin emitted a mysterious glow, as if it held moonlight within.
Her mysterious transformation seemed to possess a beauty different from Daji's.
"..."
Having changed form in an instant, Serin forcibly suppressed her soaring excitement and observed herself.
The sense of omnipotence was different from using Final Performance, her original Awakening Skill—it was a power both immense and seemingly endless.
It felt as if she had stepped into a vast lake whose bottom was invisible, as if she might sink into the boundless power at any moment.
A new power she had never felt before.
With the feeling of a power on a completely different plane from the one she had grown accustomed to, Serin kept trying to steady herself.
Getting carried away in battle was the same as committing a greater blunder than any other mistake.
THUD!
The moment Serin used the Hidden Class Awakening Skill, the Cerberus kicked off the ground and created a massive tremor.
As its muscular legs, sheathed in jet-black hide, rapidly kicked off the ground, the Cerberus's massive body surged toward Serin at unbelievable speed.
—Spear of Judgment.
At the same time, as the Arch Lich cast magic, a gigantic jet-black spear materialized in the air and shot toward her like light.
A hair-trigger situation: on the ground, the Cerberus surged like light, while from the air, the Arch Lich's massive magic came crashing down.
With her completely reddened eyes taking all of it in, Serin slowly twisted the corner of her lips.
'Not bad.'
As if she liked the situation itself, she was actually smiling brightly.
In that instant, she, who had been emitting a faint glow, moved lightly.
Not twisting her body away to dodge the attack that had already reached right in front of her, but stepping straight forward.
She was about to show off a special skill usable only in the True Moon Princess state.
—Moonlight Step.
WHOOOOSH!
Light burst from Serin's form as if exploding outward, illuminating the interior of the darkness-shrouded temple so brightly it seemed to dye it in light, and riding that erupting massive light, Serin moved toward the Cerberus like a beam.
She reached it in a single breath with movement that was truly like light.
BOOOOM!
The moment she flung herself forward, the jet-black spear slammed into the innocent temple floor and caused massive destruction.
The Cerberus, which had been bearing down on Serin, suddenly bared its ferocious fangs at her as she appeared right in front of it.
As expected of a Demonic Beast with extreme agility, it reacted instinctively. In response, Serin quickly raised her hand.
—New Moon.
Following her hand gesture, as if striking upward from below, the Crescent-Moon Weight traced a trajectory of moonlight. Unlike before, when it had drawn a small arc of moonlight, it now drew a massive one.
SLASH!
A huge fountain of blood erupted from the Cerberus's left side, dyeing the air red.
The left head was floating high in the air.
SKREEEEEEEK!
The Cerberus's horrifying shriek echoed through the space, and Serin, who had been about to chain her next skill, had no choice but to throw herself aside as a massive front paw came down at her.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The decapitated Cerberus thrashed in a frenzy of agony, trying to catch Serin somehow, but Serin moved lightly, as if dancing, and dodged every attack.
THUD!
The moment its legs, filled with ferocious power, slammed into the ground again, Serin, who had thrown herself aside to avoid the aftershock, felt a peculiar regret.
'If only I could cut off those legs too, it would be much easier.'
Compared to its vital-point heads, the Cerberus's hide boasted a body so tough it couldn't be sliced through in a single stroke.
Even using a skill, she would need to land at least three hits to cut off a leg. If this were a one-on-one with the Cerberus, she might have gambled on such a bold move, but reality wasn't so accommodating.
When she glanced over, she saw the Arch Lich floating far away in the air, gathering immense magical power into its ruby staff.
Still, she had to deal with the Cerberus first.
Even so, there was no option in her mind to target the Arch Lich.
The Life Force Vessel had to be somewhere in the temple she could see, but she couldn't search for it while leaving the Cerberus alone.
THUD! THUD!
While the Cerberus rampaged, continuing to spew blood—
SLASH!
A large section of the distant Arch Lich's robe hem was suddenly sliced away.
When the Cerberus was wounded, the Arch Lich indirectly took damage as well.
Through the contract of Demonkin Summoning, one could command Demonkin or Demonic Beasts as servants, but it was not a one-sided contract.
『Insolent...!』
The fact that it had been threatened enraged the Arch Lich.
Massive power condensed in the ruby staff it held, and it unleashed magic toward the very space where Serin stood.
Two spheres of light suddenly materialized right in front of her.
HUMMMM!
As the bizarre sight of the light spheres fiercely interlocking and an ominous sound rang out, Serin's eyes flew open.
"...Shit!"
Realizing what kind of magic it was, Serin cursed in alarm and deployed a skill.
—Moonlight Flowing Cloud.
The massive moonlight pouring from the Crescent-Moon Weight spread through the space, scattering a faint glow, and Serin's form vanished like an illusion, as if swallowed by the moonlight. Immediately after, the Arch Lich's magic rapidly completed.
—Nova.
The fiercely interlocking light soon condensed into a single point, as if fusing countless times. And then it created a massive explosion, as if forming one gigantic sphere of light.
The enormous sphere of light illuminated the temple as if swallowing the entire interior.
The ground, pillars, and obstacles touched by the light simply turned to nothing and vanished, without making even the smallest sound.
Serin, who had barely escaped the aftermath, stared blankly at the area of space that had completely disappeared.
The temple interior was utterly devastated.
The space touched by the magic's aftermath had been completely erased.
The moment she took in the space where the light had faded—
SKREEEEEEEK!
The Cerberus, shrieking from right nearby, immediately surged at her, and Serin shook her head without realizing it and let out a hollow laugh.
She liked this tension that closed in without giving her room to breathe, but at the same time, she was reminded anew that this was a party hunting ground.
Her crimson lips curled bewitchingly.
"Everyone... please make sure to party up."