Chapter 117: Dark Clouds (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117: Dark Clouds (1)
It seemed a rank-five monster's Fear ability was impressive. Dwalkie backed away, stuttering. "W-Why is a rank-five monster in the Tower of Heavens?"
It wasn't that I couldn't understand where he was coming from. It was common knowledge that only monsters up to rank six appeared here. But if I were to look at things through the lens of an experienced player, some rank-fives did actually spawn as well, although the odds were very close to impossible. I'd experienced it maybe seven times up to this point in ten years of playing the game. That was how often it happened.
I really didn't expect to see one on the twelfth floor, though.
The difficulty of the Tower of Heavens was fixed from the hundredth floor on. Each time I ran into a rank-five monster, it had been while I was working my butt off on a floor above that. But this, on the twelfth floor?
Goddamn Hans Effect.
Despite how much I wanted to sigh, I instead shouted with all my might. "Everyone, look alive!"
Whether it was Hans, or my goddamned luck, this was not the time to calculate probabilities and think about how miserable we were. The causes were something that we could consider later. If we were already facing the effects, the most important thing to do was act.
"Behelahhh!"
I cast Wild Outburst and charged forward. If I stayed still, they would only come to their senses after someone died.
Voom!
When I charged at it with my increased Threat Level, the Troll immediately threw a punch. It was shocking that such a massive body could be capable of such speed, but what really surprised me was its power.
Bang!
Damn, I almost dropped the shield. It had really been a long time since I'd been overpowered in terms of strength, and I felt myself getting pushed back.
"I-I'll help you!" Hikurod promptly joined in and took the Troll's next blow.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Balance Weight.]
Thanks to the Iron Tusk's active skill, he didn't get pushed back and even got some shock absorption as a bonus.
Kakakak!
However, the dwarf's buckler was immediately turned to scrap metal.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Emergency Restoration.]
He had only received one blow, but had already had to use his equipment repair skill.
I told you to get a new shield, didn't I?
"Gaaah!"
Taking another fist, I hit the troll on the shoulder with my mace.
Whack!
I felt a heavy shock jolt through my hand, but that was all. The Troll bastard didn't have a single broken bone and just threw another punch.
Dang, I guess damage from me won't work.
I licked my lips and dodged the fist. Wounding it was pointless, and it was foolish to compete with a Troll in strength.
Voom!
The moment the Troll's fist began to soar through the air, our damage dealers came to their senses and started to support us. The first shot was from Rotmiller's crossbow.
Whip! Tick!
The arrow was shot with great force, but it bounced off like it had hit a stone wall. An arrow couldn't pierce a Troll's skin. Though one of Mr. Bear's probably would've been a different story.
Slice!
Anyway, Missha's blade, which I had been banking my hopes on, didn't end up pulling through either. It cut through the Troll's thick hide, but the slice wasn't very deep.
Still, I'm glad she's an ice swordsman.
The sight of the frosted-over wound soothed my disappointment. As a rank-five monster, the Troll's resistance stat was too high for it to ever reach Frozen status, but still. Missha's abilities would block its healing factor even just a little bit.
"I-It's done!" Dwalkie finished a chant and fired his enhanced Ice Lance. It was aimed at the head, the monster's weak point.
Crunch!
The Troll jerk, who had monstrous physique stats and high mana resistance, just broke the ice lance with its bare fist. The sight seemed to hurt Dwalkie's morale.
"Gaaah!" Dwalkie began stuttering in fear. "W-We have to run. If we face a Troll unprepared..."
Yeah, it wasn't exactly an easy monster. Usually, you had to make significant preparations to hunt one. But, where were we going to run to? "Shut up and focus on the battle!"
"A-All right!"
Huh, why did he have to be screamed at to listen? Anyway, now that he was done panicking, we needed to regroup.
Bam!
Certain basic specs were required to initiate a battle with a rank-five monster. I was sure rank six had requirements like that, too, but at rank-five, it was completely different.
What a headache.
Just look at the vampire in the Bloody Citadel. At that time, Raven, a rank-six wizard, had been there. Since a wizard's ranking could be calculated as +1.5, that meant there was, in effect, a rank-five damage dealer on the team. We also had an overpowered item called Tears of the Goddess, a holy relic strong enough to kill a Death Knight in one shot. Not to mention the sun attribute curse spells being fired off on top of all that. But what were the results?
It still wouldn't die in one blow.
That was the beauty of a rank-five monster. Even though I had endured and endured on potions alone and had poured everything I had into that one shot, it still wouldn't die. And that had been a monster with high regeneration but low defensive power. But a Troll? It excelled in both regeneration and defense. To put it simply, it was similar to the Death Fiend, which served well as a sort of gatekeeper—a type of monster where the possibility of a lucky shot did not exist if you didn't meet the required specs.
Still... we just made it past the cutoff.
I objectively analyzed our combat power, excluding both myself and the tank dwarf, to focus on the damage dealers. Were their attacks really enough to take down a rank-five monster alone? The answer was: they could be, maybe. If all of Dwalkie's mana were channeled into one curse, and as long as the two tanks persisted, it could be possible as long as Missha, who had gotten significantly stronger, continued to deal damage.
The problem is, it wouldn't be strange at all if someone died in the process.
Due to the nature of Trolls, if it was impossible for you to beat it on specs, you had no choice but to resign yourself to a long battle. And the longer the battle, the more mishaps there were.
"Missha! Be careful!" I clenched my teeth as I threw my body forward to block the fist that had been thrown at Missha.
"Ah, th-thank you!"
It was clearly going to be a tough battle where a casualty wouldn't be unheard of. If Missha or Dwalkie got hit at all, it would be game over. However, we had no choice but to try.
Slice!
Anyway, Missha's blade, which I had been banking my hopes on, didn't end up pulling through either. It cut through the Troll's thick hide, but the slice wasn't very deep.
Still, I'm glad she's an ice swordsman.
The sight of the frosted-over wound soothed my disappointment. As a rank-five monster, the Troll's resistance stat was too high for it to ever reach Frozen status, but still. Missha's abilities would block its healing factor even just a little bit.
"I-It's done!" Dwalkie finished a chant and fired his enhanced Ice Lance. It was aimed at the head, the monster's weak point.
Crunch!
The Troll jerk, who had monstrous physique stats and high mana resistance, just broke the ice lance with its bare fist. The sight seemed to hurt Dwalkie's morale.
"Gaaah!" Dwalkie began stuttering in fear. "W-We have to run. If we face a Troll unprepared..."
Yeah, it wasn't exactly an easy monster. Usually, you had to make significant preparations to hunt one. But, where were we going to run to? "Shut up and focus on the battle!"
"A-All right!"
Huh, why did he have to be screamed at to listen? Anyway, now that he was done panicking, we needed to regroup.
Bam!
Certain basic specs were required to initiate a battle with a rank-five monster. I was sure rank six had requirements like that, too, but at rank-five, it was completely different.
What a headache.
Just look at the vampire in the Bloody Citadel. At that time, Raven, a rank-six wizard, had been there. Since a wizard's ranking could be calculated as +1.5, that meant there was, in effect, a rank-five damage dealer on the team. We also had an overpowered item called Tears of the Goddess, a holy relic strong enough to kill a Death Knight in one shot. Not to mention the sun attribute curse spells being fired off on top of all that. But what were the results?
It still wouldn't die in one blow.
That was the beauty of a rank-five monster. Even though I had endured and endured on potions alone and had poured everything I had into that one shot, it still wouldn't die. And that had been a monster with high regeneration but low defensive power. But a Troll? It excelled in both regeneration and defense. To put it simply, it was similar to the Death Fiend, which served well as a sort of gatekeeper—a type of monster where the possibility of a lucky shot did not exist if you didn't meet the required specs.
Still... we just made it past the cutoff.
I objectively analyzed our combat power, excluding both myself and the tank dwarf, to focus on the damage dealers. Were their attacks really enough to take down a rank-five monster alone? The answer was: they could be, maybe. If all of Dwalkie's mana were channeled into one curse, and as long as the two tanks persisted, it could be possible as long as Missha, who had gotten significantly stronger, continued to deal damage.
The problem is, it wouldn't be strange at all if someone died in the process.
Due to the nature of Trolls, if it was impossible for you to beat it on specs, you had no choice but to resign yourself to a long battle. And the longer the battle, the more mishaps there were.
"Missha! Be careful!" I clenched my teeth as I threw my body forward to block the fist that had been thrown at Missha.
"Ah, th-thank you!"
It was clearly going to be a tough battle where a casualty wouldn't be unheard of. If Missha or Dwalkie got hit at all, it would be game over. However, we had no choice but to try.
"Behelahhh!"
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Through dripping sweat, the battle waged on. Every minute, every second, went by with each of us focusing on our roles and pouring everything we had into achieving one goal.
Bam!
First, Hikurod and I took turns taking blows and conserving our stamina as much as possible.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight curse spell Aggravate.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-nine curse spell Slowdown.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-seven curse spell Weakening.]
Dwalkie devoted himself to the support role, casting curse magic instead of offensive magic. The Troll's regeneration ability was reduced, its movements slowed, and its physical resistance somewhat decreased.
Slice!
Through it all, Missha continued stabbing it. Under my orders, she aimed solely at one spot.
Slice!
With her repeated slices, its right arm was left half-dangling.
"Gaaah!"
Rotmiller didn't just sit around, either. Because the monster was running rampant, he couldn't put an arrow in its eye as I had requested, but the attempt itself was helpful from a tank's point of view because it divided the monster's attention.
"Dwalkie, hold on to me!" Also, it was Rotmiller's job to run away with Dwalkie when the Troll's aggro honed in on him. Jeez, this whole fight was like walking on thin ice.
Bam!
I quickly wiped the sweat from my brow as I returned the Troll to its normal state using Wild Outburst, which had just happened to finish cooling down. It seemed like everything was going well, but every moment was a crisis, and all of it consumed resources.
I'm going to be breaking the bank for repairs again.
The lithinum shield and breastplate, which I had used a lot of money to fortify, were already dented in some places. It was only natural since I'd taken countless punches from the Troll at this point. Plus, lithinum was a second-grade material, not third-grade. I'd be a fool if I really expected it to remain intact after being attacked by a rank-five monster. Plus, repair costs weren't the important thing in this situation.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Emergency Restoration.]
The dwarf, who was using one of his skills to repair his buckler after every attack, was now almost out of MP. Missha was in the same boat. After having maintained Cold Condensation to prevent the Troll from healing even a bit more, her MP had quickly been consumed. However, the most serious issue was Dwalkie.
"Huff... Huff!"
Trolls had high mana resistance. To keep the curses on it active, Dwalkie chanted spells without stopping and was becoming a corpse without even noticing. That meant it was time for a final check-in.
"How much mana do you have left?" I asked him.
"Two minutes... No, I can do three more minutes."
"What if you drop Slowdown?"
"...Seven minutes should be possible."
"I see. Skip Slowdown from now on."
Without Slowdown, the Troll's movements would become even more intense, but we'd have to deal with it. I didn't know about the rest of it, but if Aggravation went away, its cut-off arm would heal, at best, within seconds.
"Behelahhh!"
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Through dripping sweat, the battle waged on. Every minute, every second, went by with each of us focusing on our roles and pouring everything we had into achieving one goal.
Bam!
First, Hikurod and I took turns taking blows and conserving our stamina as much as possible.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight curse spell Aggravate.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-nine curse spell Slowdown.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-seven curse spell Weakening.]
Dwalkie devoted himself to the support role, casting curse magic instead of offensive magic. The Troll's regeneration ability was reduced, its movements slowed, and its physical resistance somewhat decreased.
Slice!
Through it all, Missha continued stabbing it. Under my orders, she aimed solely at one spot.
Slice!
With her repeated slices, its right arm was left half-dangling.
"Gaaah!"
Rotmiller didn't just sit around, either. Because the monster was running rampant, he couldn't put an arrow in its eye as I had requested, but the attempt itself was helpful from a tank's point of view because it divided the monster's attention.
"Dwalkie, hold on to me!" Also, it was Rotmiller's job to run away with Dwalkie when the Troll's aggro honed in on him. Jeez, this whole fight was like walking on thin ice.
Bam!
I quickly wiped the sweat from my brow as I returned the Troll to its normal state using Wild Outburst, which had just happened to finish cooling down. It seemed like everything was going well, but every moment was a crisis, and all of it consumed resources.
I'm going to be breaking the bank for repairs again.
The lithinum shield and breastplate, which I had used a lot of money to fortify, were already dented in some places. It was only natural since I'd taken countless punches from the Troll at this point. Plus, lithinum was a second-grade material, not third-grade. I'd be a fool if I really expected it to remain intact after being attacked by a rank-five monster. Plus, repair costs weren't the important thing in this situation.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Emergency Restoration.]
The dwarf, who was using one of his skills to repair his buckler after every attack, was now almost out of MP. Missha was in the same boat. After having maintained Cold Condensation to prevent the Troll from healing even a bit more, her MP had quickly been consumed. However, the most serious issue was Dwalkie.
"Huff... Huff!"
Trolls had high mana resistance. To keep the curses on it active, Dwalkie chanted spells without stopping and was becoming a corpse without even noticing. That meant it was time for a final check-in.
"How much mana do you have left?" I asked him.
"Two minutes... No, I can do three more minutes."
"What if you drop Slowdown?"
"...Seven minutes should be possible."
"I see. Skip Slowdown from now on."
Without Slowdown, the Troll's movements would become even more intense, but we'd have to deal with it. I didn't know about the rest of it, but if Aggravation went away, its cut-off arm would heal, at best, within seconds.
Seven minutes...
A time limit had been set. If we couldn't kill the troll in seven minutes, we'd be beaten. So, it was time to see this match through to the end.
"Missha, how much longer?"
"Ugh, even if you say that, I can't saw it off!"
I could admit that there were problems with my plan. It was impossible to cut off a Troll's arm with Missha's sword. The Aggravation curse, Frostbite, and the acid blood that lay in the Serpent's Fang cut through the muscle and managed to stop the wound from healing. But the problem was the bone, which had the same durability as a third-grade material. I guess that wasn't exactly inaccurate since troll bones were third-grade materials. Anyway, that wasn't a big problem. It wasn't like anything in my life ever went according to plan.
Time to switch to Plan B.
Abandoning Plan A, I came up with a new one. I just made it up on the fly, but anyway. "Hikurod! From now on, you're in charge!"
"All right! But what are you going to do?"
Instead of answering, I lifted my mace. Every round hole had a round peg to go with it. A knife wasn't a good weapon for breaking bones in the first place, especially not when compared to a reliable blunt weapon.
Khak!
When I swung the mace down, a good vibration ran up my arms, real damage that could not be absorbed with leather or muscle.
[Troll has cast Frenzy. Its pain temporarily disappears, and its physical stats increase significantly.]
The Troll bastard stopped screaming in pain and began rampaging in earnest, even using its skills.
"H-How much longer!" The dwarf, who somehow managed to stop him, shouted more urgently than ever.
I didn't answer. How was I supposed to know? I was just a barbarian who kept on going until it was over.
"Behelahhh!" Instilling the spirit of a barbarian into my heart, I swung down my mace without pause.
Khak!
The piece of shit Troll tried to push me off with its good arm, but the dwarf somehow stopped it.
Clunk.
I threw away the shield in my other hand, since swinging my mace with both hands gave me more power.
Kak-kak-kak!
When I wrapped both fists around the mace and hit it, a slightly stronger jolt ran through my hands. This was a feeling I had gotten while fighting the vampire, like just a few more hits would do it.
"Behelaaah!" Using Wild Outburst, I raised my physique stat a little more. Even the dwarf couldn't stop a frenzying Troll, but I was confident in my durability.
Whack!
I concentrated on my macing while taking the troll's hits head-on. Once, twice, three times.
Crunch!
After the third hit, its bone was slightly shattered. Four, five, six times.
Crunch!
After the sixth, the bones fractured, and its arm bent at a weird angle.
"Gaaah!"
At this point, you'd think it would back down, but the prideful Troll kept on attacking.
Smack!
Even though I was getting my ass kicked, I swung the mace with pleasure.
Crunch!
Finally, on the tenth swing, its bone completely shattered. Its arm now dangled, relying only on a few tendons.
"Missha!"
Before I even finished shouting, Missha sped over and swung her sword to cut the tendons.
Boom!
The muscled arm fell to the ground with a heavy thud. This was the first win we'd had after twenty minutes of this shit.
And this is just the beginning.
I was a barbarian who couldn't be satisfied with just that. Without even taking a moment to catch our breaths, we waited for the next opportunity. From now on, it really was a race against time.
[Troll has cast Super Regeneration.]
The Troll only used its active skill when its body was seriously injured or its life was in danger due to a brain injury.
Fuck, of course it's using that.
After the skill activated, bone began to grow from the open wound, and flesh and muscles began to emerge a beat later. Even with the Wound Exacerbation curse on it and the Frostbite state on top of that, the Troll still hadn't reached Frozen status. What an overpowered healing ability.
It will take at least two minutes for its arm to grow back completely.
For at least the next two minutes, it wouldn't be able to use Super Regeneration again. It wasn't that the ability just dramatically increased the user's healing factor—the skill could only be used on one designated area at a time. In other words, even if its brain exploded or its heart shattered in the next two minutes, none of that could be fixed until that arm completely regenerated.
Clunk.
I threw off my armor and helmet. Hikurod looked at me like I was crazy. "W-Why are you taking off your armor all of a sudden?"
Why do you think? This guy sure is slow.
[You have cast Giantization.]
My body grew rapidly. It was still small compared to the Troll's thirteen feet, but this was enough for a fight.
Clunk!
Throwing away my mace and shield, I grabbed the Troll by the neck and hung on it. Then I wrapped my feet around the Troll's other hand.
"Grrrrrg!"
I guess it had never imagined an adventurer would dare to wrestle with it. The Troll bastard was incredibly confused and began to struggle, trying to get its hand out of my grip. Of course, that didn't change anything, no matter how much stronger it was than me.
Looks like he has a problem with his head, too.
After all, what could a one-armed bastard really do in a situation like this?
"Missha, stab the eyes first!"
The stage had been set. Now it was time to watch this play out.
Seven minutes...
A time limit had been set. If we couldn't kill the troll in seven minutes, we'd be beaten. So, it was time to see this match through to the end.
"Missha, how much longer?"
"Ugh, even if you say that, I can't saw it off!"
I could admit that there were problems with my plan. It was impossible to cut off a Troll's arm with Missha's sword. The Aggravation curse, Frostbite, and the acid blood that lay in the Serpent's Fang cut through the muscle and managed to stop the wound from healing. But the problem was the bone, which had the same durability as a third-grade material. I guess that wasn't exactly inaccurate since troll bones were third-grade materials. Anyway, that wasn't a big problem. It wasn't like anything in my life ever went according to plan.
Time to switch to Plan B.
Abandoning Plan A, I came up with a new one. I just made it up on the fly, but anyway. "Hikurod! From now on, you're in charge!"
"All right! But what are you going to do?"
Instead of answering, I lifted my mace. Every round hole had a round peg to go with it. A knife wasn't a good weapon for breaking bones in the first place, especially not when compared to a reliable blunt weapon.
Khak!
When I swung the mace down, a good vibration ran up my arms, real damage that could not be absorbed with leather or muscle.
[Troll has cast Frenzy. Its pain temporarily disappears, and its physical stats increase significantly.]
The Troll bastard stopped screaming in pain and began rampaging in earnest, even using its skills.
"H-How much longer!" The dwarf, who somehow managed to stop him, shouted more urgently than ever.
I didn't answer. How was I supposed to know? I was just a barbarian who kept on going until it was over.
"Behelahhh!" Instilling the spirit of a barbarian into my heart, I swung down my mace without pause.
Khak!
The piece of shit Troll tried to push me off with its good arm, but the dwarf somehow stopped it.
Clunk.
I threw away the shield in my other hand, since swinging my mace with both hands gave me more power.
Kak-kak-kak!
When I wrapped both fists around the mace and hit it, a slightly stronger jolt ran through my hands. This was a feeling I had gotten while fighting the vampire, like just a few more hits would do it.
"Behelaaah!" Using Wild Outburst, I raised my physique stat a little more. Even the dwarf couldn't stop a frenzying Troll, but I was confident in my durability.
Whack!
I concentrated on my macing while taking the troll's hits head-on. Once, twice, three times.
Crunch!
After the third hit, its bone was slightly shattered. Four, five, six times.
Crunch!
After the sixth, the bones fractured, and its arm bent at a weird angle.
"Gaaah!"
At this point, you'd think it would back down, but the prideful Troll kept on attacking.
Smack!
Even though I was getting my ass kicked, I swung the mace with pleasure.
Crunch!
Finally, on the tenth swing, its bone completely shattered. Its arm now dangled, relying only on a few tendons.
"Missha!"
Before I even finished shouting, Missha sped over and swung her sword to cut the tendons.
Boom!
The muscled arm fell to the ground with a heavy thud. This was the first win we'd had after twenty minutes of this shit.
And this is just the beginning.
I was a barbarian who couldn't be satisfied with just that. Without even taking a moment to catch our breaths, we waited for the next opportunity. From now on, it really was a race against time.
[Troll has cast Super Regeneration.]
The Troll only used its active skill when its body was seriously injured or its life was in danger due to a brain injury.
Fuck, of course it's using that.
After the skill activated, bone began to grow from the open wound, and flesh and muscles began to emerge a beat later. Even with the Wound Exacerbation curse on it and the Frostbite state on top of that, the Troll still hadn't reached Frozen status. What an overpowered healing ability.
It will take at least two minutes for its arm to grow back completely.
For at least the next two minutes, it wouldn't be able to use Super Regeneration again. It wasn't that the ability just dramatically increased the user's healing factor—the skill could only be used on one designated area at a time. In other words, even if its brain exploded or its heart shattered in the next two minutes, none of that could be fixed until that arm completely regenerated.
Clunk.
I threw off my armor and helmet. Hikurod looked at me like I was crazy. "W-Why are you taking off your armor all of a sudden?"
Why do you think? This guy sure is slow.
[You have cast Giantization.]
My body grew rapidly. It was still small compared to the Troll's thirteen feet, but this was enough for a fight.
Clunk!
Throwing away my mace and shield, I grabbed the Troll by the neck and hung on it. Then I wrapped my feet around the Troll's other hand.
"Grrrrrg!"
I guess it had never imagined an adventurer would dare to wrestle with it. The Troll bastard was incredibly confused and began to struggle, trying to get its hand out of my grip. Of course, that didn't change anything, no matter how much stronger it was than me.
Looks like he has a problem with his head, too.
After all, what could a one-armed bastard really do in a situation like this?
"Missha, stab the eyes first!"
The stage had been set. Now it was time to watch this play out.