Chapter 140: Awakening (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 140: Awakening (3)
Because this skill was just a powerful swing, unlike other skills, there was no need for intense focus.
Voom!
Swing did not even have any common special effects such as light radiating from the weapon or gusts of wind blowing out. This was something I had always been dissatisfied with while playing the game. Skills tended to get fancier and have cooler names as they went up in rank, so why was Swing the only one that was like this? Today, I learned the answer.
Even ogres are efficiency freaks.
In reality, flashy effects were of no help. They only stood out and exposed my abilities to a well-informed enemy. This was much more practical.
[Regal Vagos has cast Blackout Curtain.]
As if to prove my point, the bastard used a defensive skill. Exactly on what basis this decision was made was unknown. Maybe he just thought this would be enough. He might have decided that it made more sense to stick his sword into a vital point while maintaining distance rather than backing down entirely.
Crunch!
The rank-four skill Blackout Curtain shattered as soon as it touched my mace, barely a second after being cast. This was natural. Even though it may not have a grandiose name like Earth Tremor or Incarnation's Fury, Swing was an attack skill that belonged to the upper tiers, even at rank three.
Only then did he realize the situation he was in and make an attempt to twist out of the way.
Oh, if you wanted to do that, you should have dodged it from the start.
Punch!
I had been aiming for the top of his head, but my mace succeeded in landing on his shoulder. Vagos hurriedly widened the distance between us with a bitten-off groan.
Dash.
His dislocated shoulder sagged in its socket to the point of deformity. He quickly held the sword between his teeth and moved his free hand into his pocket. It was probably a subspace, and what he wanted was a potion.
Do I look like a fucking fool?
I had no intention of giving him time to recover. "Dwalkie! Use Voice Control!" First of all, since my opponent was human, I turned on the team's communications and rushed at him. I quickly gave orders. "Hikurod, Rotmiller! You two guard Dwalkie. Missha, you stick right behind me!"
Of course, there was no time to talk at length, so we took up our basic formation again. Then I talked them through the details step-by-step. Fortunately, my teammates accepted their respective missions without further comment. Dwalkie kicked things off.
Voom!
The moment the bastard evaded my mace with the deftness of a high-DEX character, curse magic seeped into his body.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-nine curse spell Slowdown.]
Actually, it was safe to say that Dwalkie had pulled his weight with just this spell. If we were to get into the technical side of things, this bastard had likely specialized in agility.
"You scum...!" He did not hide his anger and showed off the full range of his abilities, from Advanced Acceleration to Afterimage, which was from a rank-five essence. His Agility stat instantaneously increased.
Dash!
Perhaps because of my reduced cognitive abilities, my eyes felt sore just following his movements.
Even with a stat adjustment and Slowdown, he's still like this.
I was once again reminded of what a monster he really was, but I calmly proceeded with what needed to be done.
Seeing that his arm isn't healing, it doesn't seem like he has any regeneration essences or numbered items.
I narrowed down the number of possible outcomes based on this newly acquired information and focused on the role assigned to me. Of course, my role was simple: standing in the middle of the passageway and getting beaten to a pulp.
Slice! Clang, stab!
"Don't think I'll grant you a clean death," he said coldly.
It was impossible to dodge or avoid his attacks with my Agility while his full strength was on display like that. Blocking an arc longsword with a shield was virtually pointless, so I took it with my body instead.
Chhhhhh!
In an instant, my entire body was stabbed through ruthlessly and acidic blood flowed from the opening in my skin. Because the Vampire essence had disappeared, it didn't heal on its own like it used to. However, that wasn't a problem. When had I ever chewed on the enemy with teeth intact?
Shatter!
Rotmiller, who was holding back our opponent with a crossbow from the rear, noticed my condition in real time and threw me a potion from his Treasure Vault.
[Your body is healing due to the effect of Recovery (Medium).]
This was also known as Barbarian Beginner Mode.
It's been a while since I've done this.
Unlike me, who was full of strange mixed feelings, the emotion in Vagos's eyes was disbelief. It seemed that he'd realized from a look at my face that I wasn't incapable of feeling pain. "Crazy bastard," he mumbled incredulously. Even though he must have been going in and out of the labyrinth for a long time, it looked like he hadn't encountered a guy like me yet.
Somehow, I've ended up getting a rave review.
Of course, my response to this was a macing.
Voom!
As he nimbly evaded it, the dwarf's support continued.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Lightning Attack.]
[Hikurod Murad has cast Release.]
An intense ball of electricity shot out into the air. Vagos stepped on the wall and jumped again to avoid it. However, that wasn't too much of a letdown. This was not Hikurod's true role, anyway.
"What do you think a bunch of scum like you can do?" Vagos yelled.
There were only three things I had asked the dwarf to do: provide support from a distance using Lightning Release, protect Dwalkie in case things went sideways, and use items in a timely fashion.
[Regal Vagos has cast Fear Imprint.]
[Hikurod Murad has used Guardian's Wrist Guard. All enemies are knocked back by a powerful blow and all allies temporarily become immune to all harmful effects.]
The rank-four monster Nightmare's ability, Fear Imprint, temporarily instilled a strong sense of fear in its targets, and the user received a physique buff equal to that amount. But before the skill could properly activate, a gust of wind blew through and cleared my mind. As I suspected, Guardian of Balance wasn't deactivated by the wrist guard because it wasn't a harmful effect.
Even with a stat adjustment and Slowdown, he's still like this.
I was once again reminded of what a monster he really was, but I calmly proceeded with what needed to be done.
Seeing that his arm isn't healing, it doesn't seem like he has any regeneration essences or numbered items.
I narrowed down the number of possible outcomes based on this newly acquired information and focused on the role assigned to me. Of course, my role was simple: standing in the middle of the passageway and getting beaten to a pulp.
Slice! Clang, stab!
"Don't think I'll grant you a clean death," he said coldly.
It was impossible to dodge or avoid his attacks with my Agility while his full strength was on display like that. Blocking an arc longsword with a shield was virtually pointless, so I took it with my body instead.
Chhhhhh!
In an instant, my entire body was stabbed through ruthlessly and acidic blood flowed from the opening in my skin. Because the Vampire essence had disappeared, it didn't heal on its own like it used to. However, that wasn't a problem. When had I ever chewed on the enemy with teeth intact?
Shatter!
Rotmiller, who was holding back our opponent with a crossbow from the rear, noticed my condition in real time and threw me a potion from his Treasure Vault.
[Your body is healing due to the effect of Recovery (Medium).]
This was also known as Barbarian Beginner Mode.
It's been a while since I've done this.
Unlike me, who was full of strange mixed feelings, the emotion in Vagos's eyes was disbelief. It seemed that he'd realized from a look at my face that I wasn't incapable of feeling pain. "Crazy bastard," he mumbled incredulously. Even though he must have been going in and out of the labyrinth for a long time, it looked like he hadn't encountered a guy like me yet.
Somehow, I've ended up getting a rave review.
Of course, my response to this was a macing.
Voom!
As he nimbly evaded it, the dwarf's support continued.
[Hikurod Murad has cast Lightning Attack.]
[Hikurod Murad has cast Release.]
An intense ball of electricity shot out into the air. Vagos stepped on the wall and jumped again to avoid it. However, that wasn't too much of a letdown. This was not Hikurod's true role, anyway.
"What do you think a bunch of scum like you can do?" Vagos yelled.
There were only three things I had asked the dwarf to do: provide support from a distance using Lightning Release, protect Dwalkie in case things went sideways, and use items in a timely fashion.
[Regal Vagos has cast Fear Imprint.]
[Hikurod Murad has used Guardian's Wrist Guard. All enemies are knocked back by a powerful blow and all allies temporarily become immune to all harmful effects.]
The rank-four monster Nightmare's ability, Fear Imprint, temporarily instilled a strong sense of fear in its targets, and the user received a physique buff equal to that amount. But before the skill could properly activate, a gust of wind blew through and cleared my mind. As I suspected, Guardian of Balance wasn't deactivated by the wrist guard because it wasn't a harmful effect.
"Behelahhh!" As my opponent had been pushed back, I quickly ran toward him—even using Wild Outburst—and slammed my mace down.
Voom!
I didn't use Swing because it was clear that he would avoid the hit anyway.
Dash!
Vagos twisted his body sideways and swung his sword at me. Then Missha, who was close behind me, aimed for his side.
Stab!
The blade of the sword dug shallowly but surely into his skin. He flinched and immediately retaliated, but Missha quickly moved behind me.
Nice.
She had moved just the way I wanted.
Vagos gritted his teeth. "Acting up, I see."
Seeing as another rave review had come in, it seemed there wasn't a problem with my strategy. Therefore, we maintained the status quo.
[Your body is healing due to the effect Recovery (Medium).]
I took on the role of meat shield. Dwalkie, Rotmiller, and Hikurod provided ranged support. When he was electrocuted or avoided my attacks—basically whenever there was an opportunity—Missha jumped forward and stabbed him with her sword.
Slice, stab!
Damage steadily accumulated as the battle dragged on.
"Don't think you guys will get out of here alive!"
In the end, the bastard used essences and numbered items no one in the city had heard of, but it changed nothing. The frequency of our having to use potions increased, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide. He was all talk.
Anyway, it seems he really was level nine.
He had shown off all nine of his essences except a rank-three essence. Well, rank-threes weren't easy to obtain even on the ninth floor, so I guess that was only natural.
"Bjorrrn! That shiny blade is coming again!"
I soon sensed that the time had come for the battle to end. After about thirty minutes of fighting, I had clocked all the cards he had up his sleeve. There was also the possibility that he'd retreat for a while and come back with the priest.
Now.
Now that the battle had dragged on for a while and we had gotten used to it, I dashed forward with all my might and reached out my hand. He backed away a bit to put some distance between us. It wasn't much different from that other deranged bitch. Whenever they reacted to anything, they only ever moved as much as needed. Was this a habit of the strong or something?
Thank you very much.
[You have cast Giantization.]
My body grew and my arms lengthened accordingly. Not passing up this opportunity, I grabbed his neck.
For the first time, a flicker of panic appeared on his face. He probably hadn't known I had Giantization, since I'd deliberately been saving it this entire time. It felt like all my hard work was paying off.
The light is red.
The jewel on his traffic light ring glowed red. I raised my mace and shouted without hesitation: "Behelaaaah!"
The finishing blow I had been waiting patiently for, this one golden opportunity, was the thing that would be my ultimate finisher from today on. With Giantization active and my stats inflated by Wild Outburst, I drove my mace down on my opponent's head with all my might.
"Behelahhh!" As my opponent had been pushed back, I quickly ran toward him—even using Wild Outburst—and slammed my mace down.
Voom!
I didn't use Swing because it was clear that he would avoid the hit anyway.
Dash!
Vagos twisted his body sideways and swung his sword at me. Then Missha, who was close behind me, aimed for his side.
Stab!
The blade of the sword dug shallowly but surely into his skin. He flinched and immediately retaliated, but Missha quickly moved behind me.
Nice.
She had moved just the way I wanted.
Vagos gritted his teeth. "Acting up, I see."
Seeing as another rave review had come in, it seemed there wasn't a problem with my strategy. Therefore, we maintained the status quo.
[Your body is healing due to the effect Recovery (Medium).]
I took on the role of meat shield. Dwalkie, Rotmiller, and Hikurod provided ranged support. When he was electrocuted or avoided my attacks—basically whenever there was an opportunity—Missha jumped forward and stabbed him with her sword.
Slice, stab!
Damage steadily accumulated as the battle dragged on.
"Don't think you guys will get out of here alive!"
In the end, the bastard used essences and numbered items no one in the city had heard of, but it changed nothing. The frequency of our having to use potions increased, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide. He was all talk.
Anyway, it seems he really was level nine.
He had shown off all nine of his essences except a rank-three essence. Well, rank-threes weren't easy to obtain even on the ninth floor, so I guess that was only natural.
"Bjorrrn! That shiny blade is coming again!"
I soon sensed that the time had come for the battle to end. After about thirty minutes of fighting, I had clocked all the cards he had up his sleeve. There was also the possibility that he'd retreat for a while and come back with the priest.
Now.
Now that the battle had dragged on for a while and we had gotten used to it, I dashed forward with all my might and reached out my hand. He backed away a bit to put some distance between us. It wasn't much different from that other deranged bitch. Whenever they reacted to anything, they only ever moved as much as needed. Was this a habit of the strong or something?
Thank you very much.
[You have cast Giantization.]
My body grew and my arms lengthened accordingly. Not passing up this opportunity, I grabbed his neck.
For the first time, a flicker of panic appeared on his face. He probably hadn't known I had Giantization, since I'd deliberately been saving it this entire time. It felt like all my hard work was paying off.
The light is red.
The jewel on his traffic light ring glowed red. I raised my mace and shouted without hesitation: "Behelaaaah!"
The finishing blow I had been waiting patiently for, this one golden opportunity, was the thing that would be my ultimate finisher from today on. With Giantization active and my stats inflated by Wild Outburst, I drove my mace down on my opponent's head with all my might.
Swing.
I had the conviction that if this one blow landed right, it would all be over.
"Naundez Aunzo."
That was why I could see every single change that occurred the moment his lips opened.
[Your Soul Power is insufficient. Giantization has ended.]
The strength left my entire body. In addition, my eye level dropped in an instant and my field of view narrowed.
Kwang!
The mace swung down in a regular blow and hit the floor.
Wheeze.
The bastard escaped my grip at some point and vomited up blood. As I watched this all happen, I could only think one thing:
Why, you damned prick? What did you just do?
The answer quickly came to me.
Goddamn it.
This was a unique skill that all dragonians were born with—something he shouldn't ever be able to use because of the dragon's curse on him.
[Regal Vagos has cast Dragon: Silence of the Soul.]
It was Dragon Speech.
The field effect Guardian of Balance evenly distributed our basic stats, and on top of that, he had to fight one-on-five. One of his rank-four essences was even sealed. Thanks to the ogre essence, I had devised a strategy to deal with the arc longsword, which had been our biggest problem. We generously used the various consumable items we had obtained from the hidden room, and even a special move with decisive timing. Even if our opponent was a ninth-floor adventurer, I thought this would be enough to defeat him.
The miserable truth was that misfortune could befall anyone at any time. Getting diagnosed with a rare disease in full swing at a young age; being involved in a tragic accident on a day out and losing a loved one; a big fire breaking out at the home of a relative I had been taken to and forced to live at; or my mother, who said she would be with me tomorrow, suddenly disappearing—all of these things happened in real life without any notice, whether rain or shine. Misfortune had a way of following someone, just like right now.
Spit.
The man spat out bloody mucus on the floor and picked up the arc sword that had fallen on the ground.
Pzzzzz!
Sparks flew from the sword, almost as if it was rejecting his touch. Vagos frowned and forcibly grabbed the sword, put it into his subspace, and slowly walked toward us.
I struggled to lift the mace. The weapon, which had felt as light as a feather a moment ago, was as heavy as an iron bar now.
Step.
Information on what was going on popped into my head without me needing to wrack my brain.
[You have fallen into a state of Soul Exhaustion.]
Soul Exhaustion was an abnormal condition that occurred when a character's Soul Power dropped to zero. I could count on my hands the number of times this had happened to me in the game. Even if you used your skills willy-nilly, your Soul Power should never drop to zero.
[All of your stats have temporarily decreased by 70 percent.]
I realized it right then. New Plan A was a failure.
"Why's everyone so quiet all of a sudden?"
The consequences? Well, we were about to find out.
Punch!
He kicked me and I went flying. Although I blocked it with both arms, the impact reverberated through my bones.
"Bjorn!" Missha hurriedly brandished a knife and rushed at him, but it was too short to reach him. "Aaagh!"
Like a martial arts master, he wrapped his arm around Missha's wrist and stole the sword. "Garbage bitch." He kicked Missha in the stomach and sent her flying too.
The crossbow bolt that Rotmiller shot right on time was cut in two before it even touched him.
"Because of these pieces of trash..." He murmured coldly, staring at us. That one sentence sent shivers down my spine and my heart began to pound wildly like it was broken. However, even in the midst of all this, as usual, my mind combined the clues it was being provided. "None of you will ever know how much time I just threw out the window."
Vagos wasn't in good shape, either. Whether he was vomiting blood or not, if he were at 100 percent, my arms would've been broken by now. From what I could tell, he couldn't even use a sword right now. There were many encouraging indicators. However, none of them were enough to balance out our current situation.
"M-Miss Karlstein! Wake up!" cried a voice behind us.
Vagos took one more step toward me. "Barbarian, don't expect eternal rest. Even death won't be able to save you."
This was not just a comment made to scare me. I now knew what the sole rank-three essence he possessed was.
Step.
The situation was, in fact, hopeless. What should I do? At this rate, even escaping would be almost impossible. And it was right at that moment, when my head was filled with thoughts like that—
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Ice Lance.]
An ice spear with the same strength as before fired. Two, actually, complete with Trajectory Adjustment.
Shooot!
Vagos hurriedly twisted to dodge one and barely blocked the other with his blade. Usually, he would've blocked it with Blackout Curtain or easily hacked it to pieces with the sword, but he struggled to handle it with magic.
It was then that I realized something. I didn't know why I hadn't thought of this right away, but wizards didn't use Soul Power. In other words, the debuff caused by Soul Exhaustion did not apply to them.
"Yes, I will have to kill you first."
That meant, if we wanted to live, we had to protect Dwalkie.
"Everyone, look alive!"
Swing.
I had the conviction that if this one blow landed right, it would all be over.
"Naundez Aunzo."
That was why I could see every single change that occurred the moment his lips opened.
[Your Soul Power is insufficient. Giantization has ended.]
The strength left my entire body. In addition, my eye level dropped in an instant and my field of view narrowed.
Kwang!
The mace swung down in a regular blow and hit the floor.
Wheeze.
The bastard escaped my grip at some point and vomited up blood. As I watched this all happen, I could only think one thing:
Why, you damned prick? What did you just do?
The answer quickly came to me.
Goddamn it.
This was a unique skill that all dragonians were born with—something he shouldn't ever be able to use because of the dragon's curse on him.
[Regal Vagos has cast Dragon: Silence of the Soul.]
It was Dragon Speech.
The field effect Guardian of Balance evenly distributed our basic stats, and on top of that, he had to fight one-on-five. One of his rank-four essences was even sealed. Thanks to the ogre essence, I had devised a strategy to deal with the arc longsword, which had been our biggest problem. We generously used the various consumable items we had obtained from the hidden room, and even a special move with decisive timing. Even if our opponent was a ninth-floor adventurer, I thought this would be enough to defeat him.
The miserable truth was that misfortune could befall anyone at any time. Getting diagnosed with a rare disease in full swing at a young age; being involved in a tragic accident on a day out and losing a loved one; a big fire breaking out at the home of a relative I had been taken to and forced to live at; or my mother, who said she would be with me tomorrow, suddenly disappearing—all of these things happened in real life without any notice, whether rain or shine. Misfortune had a way of following someone, just like right now.
Spit.
The man spat out bloody mucus on the floor and picked up the arc sword that had fallen on the ground.
Pzzzzz!
Sparks flew from the sword, almost as if it was rejecting his touch. Vagos frowned and forcibly grabbed the sword, put it into his subspace, and slowly walked toward us.
I struggled to lift the mace. The weapon, which had felt as light as a feather a moment ago, was as heavy as an iron bar now.
Step.
Information on what was going on popped into my head without me needing to wrack my brain.
[You have fallen into a state of Soul Exhaustion.]
Soul Exhaustion was an abnormal condition that occurred when a character's Soul Power dropped to zero. I could count on my hands the number of times this had happened to me in the game. Even if you used your skills willy-nilly, your Soul Power should never drop to zero.
[All of your stats have temporarily decreased by 70 percent.]
I realized it right then. New Plan A was a failure.
"Why's everyone so quiet all of a sudden?"
The consequences? Well, we were about to find out.
Punch!
He kicked me and I went flying. Although I blocked it with both arms, the impact reverberated through my bones.
"Bjorn!" Missha hurriedly brandished a knife and rushed at him, but it was too short to reach him. "Aaagh!"
Like a martial arts master, he wrapped his arm around Missha's wrist and stole the sword. "Garbage bitch." He kicked Missha in the stomach and sent her flying too.
The crossbow bolt that Rotmiller shot right on time was cut in two before it even touched him.
"Because of these pieces of trash..." He murmured coldly, staring at us. That one sentence sent shivers down my spine and my heart began to pound wildly like it was broken. However, even in the midst of all this, as usual, my mind combined the clues it was being provided. "None of you will ever know how much time I just threw out the window."
Vagos wasn't in good shape, either. Whether he was vomiting blood or not, if he were at 100 percent, my arms would've been broken by now. From what I could tell, he couldn't even use a sword right now. There were many encouraging indicators. However, none of them were enough to balance out our current situation.
"M-Miss Karlstein! Wake up!" cried a voice behind us.
Vagos took one more step toward me. "Barbarian, don't expect eternal rest. Even death won't be able to save you."
This was not just a comment made to scare me. I now knew what the sole rank-three essence he possessed was.
Step.
The situation was, in fact, hopeless. What should I do? At this rate, even escaping would be almost impossible. And it was right at that moment, when my head was filled with thoughts like that—
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Ice Lance.]
An ice spear with the same strength as before fired. Two, actually, complete with Trajectory Adjustment.
Shooot!
Vagos hurriedly twisted to dodge one and barely blocked the other with his blade. Usually, he would've blocked it with Blackout Curtain or easily hacked it to pieces with the sword, but he struggled to handle it with magic.
It was then that I realized something. I didn't know why I hadn't thought of this right away, but wizards didn't use Soul Power. In other words, the debuff caused by Soul Exhaustion did not apply to them.
"Yes, I will have to kill you first."
That meant, if we wanted to live, we had to protect Dwalkie.
"Everyone, look alive!"