Chapter 189: Overgeared (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 189: Overgeared (4)
A doppelganger clone was not the same as the original doppelganger body. It could only use the abilities of the individual it was imitating. Plus, monsters that were just summoned in the boss room lacked intelligence. No, should I say skill? Unlike Hans G, who had been able to summon all of his creatures at the start of the battle, the clones lagged as they summoned one creature each.
"One guy for now." Before the clones could even do anything, Mr. Bear's crossbow pierced one in the forehead. The rest soon met a similar fate.
"We destroyed them all!"
Victory came in less than thirty seconds. I had been worried that something shitty might happen since there were four Hanses, but it had gone smoothly—for now.
"Everyone, now!" Before it could summon more clones, we had to hurry up and damage the original body. It wouldn't be easy, though.
"Keeeeeek!" While everyone was dealing damage, the main body began screaming and running amok with Leap, Swing, and Giantization.
[The nameless extorter has cast Flesh Burst.]
It even had the skill I stopped using after losing my healing factor. With my physical ability on top of the average stats of a rank-five monster, this guy truly boasted the grandeur of a boss monster.
"Everyone, get back!" In the end, Raven had to pull the close-range fighters back. It wasn't a bad call. With two mages and one archer, there were more than enough damage dealers. There was no need to take on risk by pushing our close-range fighters to the forefront. Plus, while the Doppelganger was using my form, there wasn't much of a point to dealing damage, anyway. "You three, please protect us!"
Once the three close-range damage dealers—Missha, Ainar, and the blunt-weapon warrior—took defensive positions, the team's back row could fire at ease and thus sent more ranged shots forward.
Where do you think you're going?
As high-powered, long-range damage continued, the monster's main body ignored me and tried to retreat back. Each time it did, I managed my Threat Level with Wild Outburst and drew its attention back onto me. This went on for who knows how long.
Pzzzzzz!
A Thunder Spear sunk into the Doppelganger's head. Its body was tattered from repeated Flesh Bursts, and the monster transformed back into black slime.
Looks like we cleared the first hurdle.
Of course, the first phase of the fight was far from over yet. The first phase only ended once every character who entered the boss room had been cloned in turn.
"Oh! This time it's me!"
Whoever appeared, they wouldn't be as difficult to handle as me. As a matter of fact, Ainar was designated as the next doppelganger, but the battle was over before the clones even got a chance to fight us. Now, there was no reason for the close-range damage dealers to remain in the back.
"Keeeeeek!"
We had just defeated Ainar's doppelganger when...
Ddddddd!
The magic circle drawn on the floor radiated light, and the entire cave began to tremble. Ah, but it wasn't an ultimate finisher move or anything. This just meant the Seal Unlock Percentage had gone up another 10 percent.
[Seal Unlock Percentage: 20%.]
Although only a few minutes had passed since the start of the boss battle, this was an unavoidable part of it. Once the battle began, the speed at which the seal was unlocked increased dramatically.
If I remember correctly, it was about 5 percent per ten summoned clones.
This was the most annoying part of this stage. No matter what you did, it was impossible to stop the Doppelganger from summoning clones, so an increase in the unsealing rate was unavoidable. Well, if there had been a second team outside who could activate the Sealing Stone, that would have made things easier, but that wasn't the case.
We have no choice but to finish this fight before then.
If it reached 100 percent and the seal was fully unlocked, it would be game over for us. From that point on, each clone would become as strong as the main body. The clones would even be able to proliferate through Self-Replication.
"It's me this time."
Next up was Raven. Unexpectedly, it was a close call. Casting time was essential for magic, so I intended to finish this as fast as possible, but the clones summoned during this fight proved to be a problem. Two of the four were me.
"Behelaaah!"
"Behelaaah!"
I didn't know what kind of spell the Doppelganger was trying to cast, but sensing the way the mana was gathering, Raven shouted that we'd all end up dead at this rate. I was sure it would've been a big problem if the spell was completed. I blew off its head before that, though.
Crunch!
Afterward, the doppelganger transformed into Missha, the blunt-weapon warrior, Parteian, and Mr. Bear in that order, and we did our best to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Finally, the first phase was over.
Dddddd!
No sooner had the first phase ended than the magic circle lit up again.
A 40 percent unseal rate in the first phase...
It was the exact number I had predicted. But I still wanted to reduce it as much as possible.
"Everyone, get in the formation we discussed!" I let go of my disappointment and doled out orders. Now that the first phase was over, the Doppelganger was once again transforming, repeatedly contracting and expanding in the center of the cave.
"If it is... a lie... no one knows..." The Doppelganger's voice echoed through the entire cave, signaling the start of the next phase. "Is that... not the truth?" Soon, the doppelganger completed its transformation.
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
It was time to begin the second phase.
Substitution was one of the Doppelganger's special abilities. Its effectiveness was truly intuitive. This skill swapped the location of the main body with the location of a clone created with Self-Replication. However, that was only if you obtained the skill through an essence.
"...Why is it starting with me?"
"...Why is it starting with me?"
Raven doubled. Their faces were the same, and there were no differences in their tones of voice or expressions. And it was now impossible to distinguish between them by location.
This is how the wizard I had trained so hard to get died way back when.
I remembered the first wizard I had ever successfully recruited while playing Dungeon and Stone. My shock had been immense back then.
Slide.
I shifted my gaze and scanned the Stones of Truth rolling around the ground like toys. Usually, the standard strategy was to use these to distinguish whether someone was a doppelganger or not. But if we did, the Seal Unlock Percentage would go up. Without the external support of a Sealing Stone team, we could not use these. So, how would we distinguish the real from the fake?
If I remember correctly, it was about 5 percent per ten summoned clones.
This was the most annoying part of this stage. No matter what you did, it was impossible to stop the Doppelganger from summoning clones, so an increase in the unsealing rate was unavoidable. Well, if there had been a second team outside who could activate the Sealing Stone, that would have made things easier, but that wasn't the case.
We have no choice but to finish this fight before then.
If it reached 100 percent and the seal was fully unlocked, it would be game over for us. From that point on, each clone would become as strong as the main body. The clones would even be able to proliferate through Self-Replication.
"It's me this time."
Next up was Raven. Unexpectedly, it was a close call. Casting time was essential for magic, so I intended to finish this as fast as possible, but the clones summoned during this fight proved to be a problem. Two of the four were me.
"Behelaaah!"
"Behelaaah!"
I didn't know what kind of spell the Doppelganger was trying to cast, but sensing the way the mana was gathering, Raven shouted that we'd all end up dead at this rate. I was sure it would've been a big problem if the spell was completed. I blew off its head before that, though.
Crunch!
Afterward, the doppelganger transformed into Missha, the blunt-weapon warrior, Parteian, and Mr. Bear in that order, and we did our best to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Finally, the first phase was over.
Dddddd!
No sooner had the first phase ended than the magic circle lit up again.
A 40 percent unseal rate in the first phase...
It was the exact number I had predicted. But I still wanted to reduce it as much as possible.
"Everyone, get in the formation we discussed!" I let go of my disappointment and doled out orders. Now that the first phase was over, the Doppelganger was once again transforming, repeatedly contracting and expanding in the center of the cave.
"If it is... a lie... no one knows..." The Doppelganger's voice echoed through the entire cave, signaling the start of the next phase. "Is that... not the truth?" Soon, the doppelganger completed its transformation.
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
It was time to begin the second phase.
Substitution was one of the Doppelganger's special abilities. Its effectiveness was truly intuitive. This skill swapped the location of the main body with the location of a clone created with Self-Replication. However, that was only if you obtained the skill through an essence.
"...Why is it starting with me?"
"...Why is it starting with me?"
Raven doubled. Their faces were the same, and there were no differences in their tones of voice or expressions. And it was now impossible to distinguish between them by location.
This is how the wizard I had trained so hard to get died way back when.
I remembered the first wizard I had ever successfully recruited while playing Dungeon and Stone. My shock had been immense back then.
Slide.
I shifted my gaze and scanned the Stones of Truth rolling around the ground like toys. Usually, the standard strategy was to use these to distinguish whether someone was a doppelganger or not. But if we did, the Seal Unlock Percentage would go up. Without the external support of a Sealing Stone team, we could not use these. So, how would we distinguish the real from the fake?
Smirk.
I smiled and stared at the two Ravens. Although their first lines matched up, their words and actions differed from there.
"D-Don't shoot!"
"What are you all doing? She's the fake one!"
One said defensive lines, and the other defended herself with a rather aggressive stance.
"What are you doing?" I said curtly. "Shoot it."
Click.
I could hear Mr. Bear pull his trigger behind me.
Pop!
A large arrow, no different from a siege weapon, was fired, shattering Raven's small skull.
Slump.
The body collapsed lifelessly. Everyone, including Missha, froze. "W-Was it... the real Aruru...?"
"Murderer! You killed Aruru!"
"Of course not. Calm down, everyone."
Before long, Raven's body turned into black slime and floated up from the ground. That meant I had been right. For reference, the aggressive Raven had been the real one. "Okay, you go to the empty spot now."
I sent Raven to the wall, as her position had been swapped with the Doppelganger, and approached the slime in the middle of its transformation. "So it's you this time."
As I waited with my mace held up, the Doppelganger finished transforming. "Eek! P-Put that down, you boneheaded barrrbarian!"
You wish.
Smack!
Without further ado, I clocked it over the head with my mace. Once again, it was the right answer. A doppelganger couldn't copy a numbered item, and the real Missha had No. 5991: Serpent's Fang.
"Uh, shouldn't you still take a second to think about it firrrst? I mean, it was me..."
"Oh, Miss Karlstein, what do you expect from a barbarian?" Raven, who had received the used-up Misplaced Trust from Parteian and had been holding it in her hand for the entire boss battle, said.
"It's finally my turn. I will handle it." Mr. Bear had the Deceit of the Necromancer.
"Behelahhh!" Ainar was wearing the Fox Flame Knot from the elven archer. It wasn't a useful item, so it'd be sold once we got outside.
Crunch!
As such, we could breeze through the second phase with the power of items. Did it just realize that now?
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
The Doppelganger transformed into the blunt-weapon warrior and immediately started attacking. The target was the wizard with the lowest Defense stat. If we had been standing in a dense formation like before, this attack would have been difficult to avoid.
"I will stop it!"
However, as soon as we entered the second phase, we distanced ourselves and stayed close to the wall. As a result, we had more than enough time to react to a surprise attack.
Bang!
Ainar's greatsword clashed with the Doppelganger's warhammer and exploded. Taking advantage of the opening, Missha slid in from behind and thrust her sword forward. Afterward, Mr. Bear and Raven swept in and finished it off.
"Everyone to their positions!"
After each round, the team members who had already been imitated were all sent to one place to gather in a dense formation.
Smirk.
I smiled and stared at the two Ravens. Although their first lines matched up, their words and actions differed from there.
"D-Don't shoot!"
"What are you all doing? She's the fake one!"
One said defensive lines, and the other defended herself with a rather aggressive stance.
"What are you doing?" I said curtly. "Shoot it."
Click.
I could hear Mr. Bear pull his trigger behind me.
Pop!
A large arrow, no different from a siege weapon, was fired, shattering Raven's small skull.
Slump.
The body collapsed lifelessly. Everyone, including Missha, froze. "W-Was it... the real Aruru...?"
"Murderer! You killed Aruru!"
"Of course not. Calm down, everyone."
Before long, Raven's body turned into black slime and floated up from the ground. That meant I had been right. For reference, the aggressive Raven had been the real one. "Okay, you go to the empty spot now."
I sent Raven to the wall, as her position had been swapped with the Doppelganger, and approached the slime in the middle of its transformation. "So it's you this time."
As I waited with my mace held up, the Doppelganger finished transforming. "Eek! P-Put that down, you boneheaded barrrbarian!"
You wish.
Smack!
Without further ado, I clocked it over the head with my mace. Once again, it was the right answer. A doppelganger couldn't copy a numbered item, and the real Missha had No. 5991: Serpent's Fang.
"Uh, shouldn't you still take a second to think about it firrrst? I mean, it was me..."
"Oh, Miss Karlstein, what do you expect from a barbarian?" Raven, who had received the used-up Misplaced Trust from Parteian and had been holding it in her hand for the entire boss battle, said.
"It's finally my turn. I will handle it." Mr. Bear had the Deceit of the Necromancer.
"Behelahhh!" Ainar was wearing the Fox Flame Knot from the elven archer. It wasn't a useful item, so it'd be sold once we got outside.
Crunch!
As such, we could breeze through the second phase with the power of items. Did it just realize that now?
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
The Doppelganger transformed into the blunt-weapon warrior and immediately started attacking. The target was the wizard with the lowest Defense stat. If we had been standing in a dense formation like before, this attack would have been difficult to avoid.
"I will stop it!"
However, as soon as we entered the second phase, we distanced ourselves and stayed close to the wall. As a result, we had more than enough time to react to a surprise attack.
Bang!
Ainar's greatsword clashed with the Doppelganger's warhammer and exploded. Taking advantage of the opening, Missha slid in from behind and thrust her sword forward. Afterward, Mr. Bear and Raven swept in and finished it off.
"Everyone to their positions!"
After each round, the team members who had already been imitated were all sent to one place to gather in a dense formation.
"Why aren't you going?"
The blunt-weapon warrior came to his senses at my words and hurriedly moved to his position. A dim light shone from his shoes. This was an inexpensive Numbered Item in the nine-thousands range called the Footsteps of Abundance. It was rather useful for a warrior. It hadn't been loaned to him from the loot, either—the shoes were his. Apparently, he had worked hard to save up for them.
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
Anyway, next was the middle-aged wizard Parteian. He had lent his Misplaced Trust to Raven, but this wasn't particularly a problem. After all, this guy's magic wand was a numbered item too.
Crunch!
Since the imitated individual was a wizard, it didn't take long to defeat it. Now all that was left was me.
"Mr. Parteian."
"Are you talking about that? I will prepare it straight away." Having suffered greatly at the hands of my doppelganger in the past, the wizards had already prepared their strongest spells.
"Behelahhh!" As soon as the Doppelganger finished transforming, I shoved him back with my shield.
"The one in the back is fake!" In an instant, the wizards made their call and aimed the spells they had prepared. Of course, a tank wouldn't die in one blow, but since there were no summons in the second phase, they were able to cast uninterrupted.
Pzzz! Bang! Shwooop!
The high-powered attack spells literally rained down. Soon, the Doppelganger couldn't take any more damage and collapsed. The sight was kind of bittersweet.
I should fix up my Mana Resistance soon.
I still had a long way to go as a tank.
We finally reached the third phase, aka the last phase of the doppelganger fight.
"Everyone, come over here!" Without needing any orders from me, Raven commanded everyone into a new formation. Right at that moment, the labyrinth began to shake with what felt like an earthquake.
Dddddd!
The ceiling made a crumbling sound and grains of dust fell to the ground.
"Ki-hee-hee, hi-hee, ki-hee-hee, ki-hee-hee!" The Doppelganger had returned to its slime-like form and let out a strange peal of laughter. Honestly, it wasn't even creepy anymore. All I wondered was how the hell it was speaking without a mouth.
"Be careful! Mr. Yandel, if you go down—"
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
Raven's worries were summarily dismissed. It wasn't because I was confident in our ability to win. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't nervous. Assuming the worst and being wary of unforeseen circumstances was my go-to, after all. But a leader had to lead the team with confidence from time to time too.
Squeeze.
Only maintaining enough tension to keep my body on its toes, I gripped my mace tighter. The final phase was a sort of frenzy. From now on, every minute and second was critical because the summons would appear on a scale that far outstripped the first phase.
Pop!
As the slime expanded to the point that any onlookers would assume it had reached its limit, it exploded. Black balls of sludge covered the cave. On cue, the two wizards shot fire to eradicate them, but they couldn't even get rid of half of them. Meanwhile, the explosions continued.
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
The balls clumped together to form shapes and soon mimicked our forms. Even at a glance, there were dozens. From Hans G to the elven archer, the dwarf, and more, people we'd never see again after today began to appear from all over. The wide cavern was filled in an instant.
"Don't be afraid. The clones in this phase are not as strong as before!"
As per Raven's words, these guys were much weaker than the ones we saw earlier. If I hit them one or two times they'd probably explode and disappear into dust. However, the Frenzy phase was scary for another reason.
[Seal Unlock Percentage: 50%.]
[Seal Unlock Percentage: 60%.]
The magic circle on the ground continued to glow, updating us on the status of the seal. If things kept going like this, the seal would unlock in just a few minutes and the Doppelganger would regain its full power. And so, it was time to take that out.
[You have used Outlaw of the Wilderness. The Physical damage you deal in close combat temporarily increases in proportion to the number of humanoid monsters present.]
This was the item that had planted the confidence in me that we could beat the shit out of this Doppelganger, and the thing that had made it possible for me to predict a whopping 90 percent probability of success.
[Current rate of increase: 112%.]
[Current rate of increase: 157%.]
[Current rate of increase: 278%.]
[Current rate of increase: 342%.]
"Behelahhh!"
Items were a skillset too.
"Why aren't you going?"
The blunt-weapon warrior came to his senses at my words and hurriedly moved to his position. A dim light shone from his shoes. This was an inexpensive Numbered Item in the nine-thousands range called the Footsteps of Abundance. It was rather useful for a warrior. It hadn't been loaned to him from the loot, either—the shoes were his. Apparently, he had worked hard to save up for them.
[The nameless extorter has cast Substitution.]
Anyway, next was the middle-aged wizard Parteian. He had lent his Misplaced Trust to Raven, but this wasn't particularly a problem. After all, this guy's magic wand was a numbered item too.
Crunch!
Since the imitated individual was a wizard, it didn't take long to defeat it. Now all that was left was me.
"Mr. Parteian."
"Are you talking about that? I will prepare it straight away." Having suffered greatly at the hands of my doppelganger in the past, the wizards had already prepared their strongest spells.
"Behelahhh!" As soon as the Doppelganger finished transforming, I shoved him back with my shield.
"The one in the back is fake!" In an instant, the wizards made their call and aimed the spells they had prepared. Of course, a tank wouldn't die in one blow, but since there were no summons in the second phase, they were able to cast uninterrupted.
Pzzz! Bang! Shwooop!
The high-powered attack spells literally rained down. Soon, the Doppelganger couldn't take any more damage and collapsed. The sight was kind of bittersweet.
I should fix up my Mana Resistance soon.
I still had a long way to go as a tank.
We finally reached the third phase, aka the last phase of the doppelganger fight.
"Everyone, come over here!" Without needing any orders from me, Raven commanded everyone into a new formation. Right at that moment, the labyrinth began to shake with what felt like an earthquake.
Dddddd!
The ceiling made a crumbling sound and grains of dust fell to the ground.
"Ki-hee-hee, hi-hee, ki-hee-hee, ki-hee-hee!" The Doppelganger had returned to its slime-like form and let out a strange peal of laughter. Honestly, it wasn't even creepy anymore. All I wondered was how the hell it was speaking without a mouth.
"Be careful! Mr. Yandel, if you go down—"
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
Raven's worries were summarily dismissed. It wasn't because I was confident in our ability to win. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't nervous. Assuming the worst and being wary of unforeseen circumstances was my go-to, after all. But a leader had to lead the team with confidence from time to time too.
Squeeze.
Only maintaining enough tension to keep my body on its toes, I gripped my mace tighter. The final phase was a sort of frenzy. From now on, every minute and second was critical because the summons would appear on a scale that far outstripped the first phase.
Pop!
As the slime expanded to the point that any onlookers would assume it had reached its limit, it exploded. Black balls of sludge covered the cave. On cue, the two wizards shot fire to eradicate them, but they couldn't even get rid of half of them. Meanwhile, the explosions continued.
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
[The nameless extorter has cast Self-Replication.]
The balls clumped together to form shapes and soon mimicked our forms. Even at a glance, there were dozens. From Hans G to the elven archer, the dwarf, and more, people we'd never see again after today began to appear from all over. The wide cavern was filled in an instant.
"Don't be afraid. The clones in this phase are not as strong as before!"
As per Raven's words, these guys were much weaker than the ones we saw earlier. If I hit them one or two times they'd probably explode and disappear into dust. However, the Frenzy phase was scary for another reason.
[Seal Unlock Percentage: 50%.]
[Seal Unlock Percentage: 60%.]
The magic circle on the ground continued to glow, updating us on the status of the seal. If things kept going like this, the seal would unlock in just a few minutes and the Doppelganger would regain its full power. And so, it was time to take that out.
[You have used Outlaw of the Wilderness. The Physical damage you deal in close combat temporarily increases in proportion to the number of humanoid monsters present.]
This was the item that had planted the confidence in me that we could beat the shit out of this Doppelganger, and the thing that had made it possible for me to predict a whopping 90 percent probability of success.
[Current rate of increase: 112%.]
[Current rate of increase: 157%.]
[Current rate of increase: 278%.]
[Current rate of increase: 342%.]
"Behelahhh!"
Items were a skillset too.