Chapter 481: Big Fish (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 481: Big Fish (4)
There were a total of six people who had been watching our raid from afar like Peeping Toms, and each one of them was scattered around the statue in a separate location, boxing us in.
...So it's begun.
From now on, we had just one goal: obtaining evidence that they tried to sabotage us. The icing on the cake would be any evidence pointing to Count Alminus as the mastermind behind it all.
Shaaaaaa.
The second Erwen tipped me off, a white smoke whooshed in to fill the cave.
[You are within range of the Curtain of Betrayal.]
The way Phase Three's aura worked was simple.
[Your Spirit stat continues to decrease. Your Special Ability stat continues to decrease. Your Physique stat continues to decrease. The rate of stat reduction increases by 50 percent. Dreadfear's Anger increases in proportion to your decrease in stats.]
In addition to the debuffs applied during the second phase, there were also a few more things added to the mix.
[You have gone into hiding.]
All characters within range of the aura were forced into 'hiding,' unable to see each other.
[All communication has been cut off.]
Our ability to talk to each other was disrupted.
[All damage to non-monster targets has increased by 1.5 times regardless of any Resistance stats.]
Finally, you were at an even higher risk of accidentally hurting your own teammates.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
Because of this aura, standard team play was entirely out of the question during the third phase. So then, how was it possible to get through a boss raid without the ability to see or communicate? Any friendly fire would only make things worse.
Step.
As such, the strategy for the third phase was simple.
"Behel—aaaaaah!" Even though no one could hear me, I let out a roar as I ran toward Dreadfear. While the characters were rendered unable to see each other, Dreadfear himself was still entirely visible.
Claaang!
Thus, the standard strategy employed by clans fighting Dreadfear was for the tanks to attack him and hold down the fort while the priests threw out continuous AOE heals until they managed to counter the aura's effects entirely. However, we didn't have any priests, and I was the only tank.
But the best part about being a shield barbarian is that even without a priest or fellow tanks, this is still possible.
In fact, as long as you had the willpower to pull it off, most things were possible. That was one of the best things about being a shield barbarian.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Indulgence. You have been moved to a random location on the map.]
When he forcefully teleported me away without warning, all I had to do was run back toward him. Plus, without any fellow tanks around to get in the way, I had a lower chance of running into anyone or getting tripped up.
The rest of them are doing fine, right...?
I decided to trust that my comrades were doing their jobs. While I dealt with Dreadfear, they would go and deal with those bastards who were trying to interfere. What would be our uninvited guests' plan of action in the third phase? It was impossible to see anyone in the fog, so there was a high chance they would be targeting me since the tank's location was pretty much a given.
I haven't heard anything, so... they're probably doing fine. Right?
Either way, this wasn't the time to be letting my guard down. I'd be able to see for myself how they were doing soon enough, so I turned my attention back to Dreadfear.
Claaang!
In theory, all you needed was determination to get through this fight, but in reality, it wasn't that simple. Although this boss was considered one of the weakest of its kind, he was still a Lord of the Floor. Not only that, but he was a rare evolving-type monster.
[Your Spirit stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Fear is now active.]
Now that I'd been within range of the aura for a prolonged period, I received my first real debuff.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
My heart was racing. As though I'd just come face to face with a natural predator in the wild, I felt a chill run down my spine as a tidal wave of stress endorphins flooded my brain. Even so, aside from Erwen, all of us had pretty high Spirit stats, so I was confident that none of us were going to freak out and run away.
But... will Erwen be okay?
I was a little concerned about her, but I had to set that worry aside. Right now, my biggest issue was the second debuff.
[Your Special Ability stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Lethargy is now active.]
Lethargy was one of the thousands of potential status conditions in the game. Once the debuff came into effect, you were rendered unable to regenerate MP and any skills you were using would be forcefully turned off, including any currently active skills.
[Giantization has been deactivated. Iron Fortress has been deactivated.]
Your active skills getting turned off wasn't the only problem—there was also a forced cooldown time before you could reactivate them. And on top of that, the third debuff was a major pain in the ass.
[Your Physique stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Exhaustion is now active.]
It reduced all physical stats by 30 percent and forced your Stamina to rock bottom. Not only that but while it was active, you consumed MP instead of energy when performing any action.
Boooooom!
As the debuffs piled up, the difficulty of this combat rose as well.
Shriek.
I sighed. I was no longer able to match him in terms of strength anymore, and that wasn't even the cherry on top yet.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has entered a state of maximum rage.]
Dreadfear's level of Anger, which had been steadily increasing since the first phase, finally reached its peak.
[All damage dealt by the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, is doubled.]
Dealing with his attacks was difficult enough already, but now they were on a whole other level. I could feel my bones rattling with each blow, though I was somehow able to take them. Despite the Fear I was under because of the decrease in my Spirit stat, the status effect didn't hinder my movements. Plus, once the cooldown timer on my skills was over, I was able to activate them again. I was even able to recharge my MP, which should have been impossible.
[You have cast Soul Dive. Your Soul Power will regenerate at a rate proportional to the amount of Soul Power you have consumed.]
Yeah, with these specs, I'm more than confident that I'll be able to hold out.
I haven't heard anything, so... they're probably doing fine. Right?
Either way, this wasn't the time to be letting my guard down. I'd be able to see for myself how they were doing soon enough, so I turned my attention back to Dreadfear.
Claaang!
In theory, all you needed was determination to get through this fight, but in reality, it wasn't that simple. Although this boss was considered one of the weakest of its kind, he was still a Lord of the Floor. Not only that, but he was a rare evolving-type monster.
[Your Spirit stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Fear is now active.]
Now that I'd been within range of the aura for a prolonged period, I received my first real debuff.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
My heart was racing. As though I'd just come face to face with a natural predator in the wild, I felt a chill run down my spine as a tidal wave of stress endorphins flooded my brain. Even so, aside from Erwen, all of us had pretty high Spirit stats, so I was confident that none of us were going to freak out and run away.
But... will Erwen be okay?
I was a little concerned about her, but I had to set that worry aside. Right now, my biggest issue was the second debuff.
[Your Special Ability stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Lethargy is now active.]
Lethargy was one of the thousands of potential status conditions in the game. Once the debuff came into effect, you were rendered unable to regenerate MP and any skills you were using would be forcefully turned off, including any currently active skills.
[Giantization has been deactivated. Iron Fortress has been deactivated.]
Your active skills getting turned off wasn't the only problem—there was also a forced cooldown time before you could reactivate them. And on top of that, the third debuff was a major pain in the ass.
[Your Physique stat has hit its lower limit. Status effect Exhaustion is now active.]
It reduced all physical stats by 30 percent and forced your Stamina to rock bottom. Not only that but while it was active, you consumed MP instead of energy when performing any action.
Boooooom!
As the debuffs piled up, the difficulty of this combat rose as well.
Shriek.
I sighed. I was no longer able to match him in terms of strength anymore, and that wasn't even the cherry on top yet.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has entered a state of maximum rage.]
Dreadfear's level of Anger, which had been steadily increasing since the first phase, finally reached its peak.
[All damage dealt by the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, is doubled.]
Dealing with his attacks was difficult enough already, but now they were on a whole other level. I could feel my bones rattling with each blow, though I was somehow able to take them. Despite the Fear I was under because of the decrease in my Spirit stat, the status effect didn't hinder my movements. Plus, once the cooldown timer on my skills was over, I was able to activate them again. I was even able to recharge my MP, which should have been impossible.
[You have cast Soul Dive. Your Soul Power will regenerate at a rate proportional to the amount of Soul Power you have consumed.]
Yeah, with these specs, I'm more than confident that I'll be able to hold out.
"Kyaaaaaak!" Dreadfear shrieked, apparently frustrated by my tenacity. I did my best to keep him in check.
Step.
Suddenly, I sensed movement behind me. I never would have noticed it if I hadn't already been on high alert.
Step.
Like always, my body moved faster than my brain could process it as I quickly dodged to the side.
Stab!
A warm tingling sensation spread across my back. Thanks to the countless injuries I'd received during my time as a tank, I recognized the feeling instantly.
Thankfully, it didn't hit my organs.
In fact, it was hard to call it a proper injury.
[You have been poisoned by Goblin Paralysis Poison. Your Physique stat is over 1000. Your Poison Resistance stat is over 100. The poison's effects have been reduced by 99 percent.]
However, even if the damage they dealt was minor, there was no reason not to punish them for it.
Whoosh!
I immediately swung my hammer through the air. I couldn't hear any screams or cries of pain because of the aura, of course, but—
Smash!
I could still feel my hammer making contact with something on the other end.
[Faith's Light has driven out the terror within. Curtain of Betrayal has been temporarily lifted.]
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the dark cave.
"...Ugh."
It was time to check what kind of fish had swum into my net.
***
The basic strategy for dealing with the third phase relied on tanks and priests. As long as the people in those roles held out, the Curtain of Betrayal would eventually be lifted and an opportunity to attack would come. This was our opportunity.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Defense Mechanism.]
The moment Curtain of Betrayal was lifted, Dreadfear surrounded himself in a thick shell. Normally, you tried to deal as much damage as you could while he was in this state. Instead, the moment he cast Defence Mechanism, I turned to look at my comrades.
Erwen, Amelia, Versyl, Ainar... Looks like they're all doing fine, and... three, and two...
There were three mutilated bodies near Erwen. By Amelia, there was one captive and one corpse. Shit, I thought the plan was to capture as many of them alive as possible.
...Erwen killed all the people who were near her.
Judging by their wounds, it didn't seem like she had made any attempt at capturing them alive, but I decided to hold my tongue. Now wasn't the time to scold her, and even at a glance, I could tell she wasn't her usual self. She was staring off blankly into space like she had lost all sense of rationality.
...That's probably because of Fear.
At least everyone else seemed relatively fine.
"Barbarian, how could you miss one of them?" Amelia, having also taken stock of the situation, swiftly scolded Ainar.
"...I-I'm sorry! I tried to hold him off as much as I could, but..." Ainar had been charged with guarding one of the three passageways yet had failed to fulfill her role, resulting in a sincere apology and repentant tone.
"Kyaaaaaak!" Dreadfear shrieked, apparently frustrated by my tenacity. I did my best to keep him in check.
Step.
Suddenly, I sensed movement behind me. I never would have noticed it if I hadn't already been on high alert.
Step.
Like always, my body moved faster than my brain could process it as I quickly dodged to the side.
Stab!
A warm tingling sensation spread across my back. Thanks to the countless injuries I'd received during my time as a tank, I recognized the feeling instantly.
Thankfully, it didn't hit my organs.
In fact, it was hard to call it a proper injury.
[You have been poisoned by Goblin Paralysis Poison. Your Physique stat is over 1000. Your Poison Resistance stat is over 100. The poison's effects have been reduced by 99 percent.]
However, even if the damage they dealt was minor, there was no reason not to punish them for it.
Whoosh!
I immediately swung my hammer through the air. I couldn't hear any screams or cries of pain because of the aura, of course, but—
Smash!
I could still feel my hammer making contact with something on the other end.
[Faith's Light has driven out the terror within. Curtain of Betrayal has been temporarily lifted.]
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the dark cave.
"...Ugh."
It was time to check what kind of fish had swum into my net.
***
The basic strategy for dealing with the third phase relied on tanks and priests. As long as the people in those roles held out, the Curtain of Betrayal would eventually be lifted and an opportunity to attack would come. This was our opportunity.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Defense Mechanism.]
The moment Curtain of Betrayal was lifted, Dreadfear surrounded himself in a thick shell. Normally, you tried to deal as much damage as you could while he was in this state. Instead, the moment he cast Defence Mechanism, I turned to look at my comrades.
Erwen, Amelia, Versyl, Ainar... Looks like they're all doing fine, and... three, and two...
There were three mutilated bodies near Erwen. By Amelia, there was one captive and one corpse. Shit, I thought the plan was to capture as many of them alive as possible.
...Erwen killed all the people who were near her.
Judging by their wounds, it didn't seem like she had made any attempt at capturing them alive, but I decided to hold my tongue. Now wasn't the time to scold her, and even at a glance, I could tell she wasn't her usual self. She was staring off blankly into space like she had lost all sense of rationality.
...That's probably because of Fear.
At least everyone else seemed relatively fine.
"Barbarian, how could you miss one of them?" Amelia, having also taken stock of the situation, swiftly scolded Ainar.
"...I-I'm sorry! I tried to hold him off as much as I could, but..." Ainar had been charged with guarding one of the three passageways yet had failed to fulfill her role, resulting in a sincere apology and repentant tone.
However, Amelia apparently had no intention of forgiving her. "Ha, it must be nice being a barbarian," she snapped, refusing to let up. "You can just say sorry and all is forgiven, huh?"
"...Huh?" Ainar, who had lived as a barbarian her whole life and was used to her apologies being accepted, was taken aback, and I was equally stunned. I had no idea Amelia would get so mad about a slip-up.
"Barbarian, because of your mistake, Yandel could have been seriously injured. You should have known that and—"
"Enough!" I quickly intervened to calm Amelia down. "She knows she messed up, so drop it."
"...We'll discuss this again later." Amelia, well aware that this wasn't the time, stopped being stubborn and dropped the issue.
Now, it was time for me to check what we'd caught in our net.
"Versyl, please look after Erwen."
"Ah, okay...!"
I first had Versyl take care of Erwen while I took stock of things. We ended up capturing two people alive. The first was the one Amelia had caught. I honestly had no idea how she was able to subdue him so perfectly despite not being able to see what was in front of her.
A groan came from our second catch. It was the one Ainar had missed, allowing them to slip past and attack me. The lower half of his mask was broken into pieces like it had borne the brunt of a blow from a hammer, and blood flowed out from under it.
So that's why I felt such a satisfying crack.
"Ugh..." As soon as he made eye contact with me, he fell backward like a bug. Was he trying to run away or something?
Step, step, step.
In three large steps, I closed the distance with the terrified man and then swung my hammer down exactly four times. He didn't need his limbs to have a friendly conversation, right?
Crack, crack, crack, crack.
All right, that should do. I'll hand the interrogation over to Amelia now...
As for the other one, he seemed to have already been fully subdued, so I figured I didn't need to break his bones. For now, all the necessary measures had been taken.
"Emily, take those two and move them somewhere else."
"...Are you really going to keep fighting that thing?"
"What other choice do we have?"
It was impossible to escape from the Lord of Terror. Plus, if those two were here with us when we defeated him, the special condition wouldn't trigger. This was the best call.
Still... the probability of us succeeding is low.
I would say it was around 5 percent, give or take. Well, something around that ballpark. Not only did the boss get four buffs during the second phase, but we still hadn't done any damage to it during this phase.
We've practically already failed.
Our survival was guaranteed either way, though, so I wasn't particularly concerned. If we were able to pull off the raid, that would be great. But even if we couldn't, as long as Amelia's interrogation went well, we would achieve our main goal.
"Yandel, be careful."
"Yeah, see you later."
Before the Curtain of Betrayal fell again, Amelia left the battlefield. Shortly after, the bright light filling the cave disappeared.
[The terror within has driven out the light. Curtain of Betrayal has been reactivated.]
It was time to continue the raid.
***
Down a pathway a short distance away from the monument, where the raid first began, Amelia lit a torch and hung it up on the wall, ready to begin her interrogation in earnest. She slowly pulled on her white gloves and organized the tools she prepared beforehand. She then rifled through her prisoners' belongings to see if they were holding onto anything that would be helpful for the interrogation.
Once upon a time, she had hated doing such tasks. However, today, it felt different for some reason.
...It's better this way.
Bjorn Yandel was surprisingly soft about things like this. And in life, you always needed at least one person who did these jobs.
"You... won't get anything... out of me," the incapacitated man hissed, his eyes alight with determination. Amelia didn't bother responding. There was no point in having a conversation with someone like him.
...He must be terrified.
She knew from experience that people like him were usually the first to squeal.
Sure enough, the other guy didn't even let out a groan during his interrogation, while this one screamed as loud as he could. However, despite interrogating them for however long, she didn't ask them any questions.
"...K-Kill me."
At long last, he uttered those words, signaling that he had reached his breaking point and wanted to be freed. Amelia took that as her sign to finally launch into her questions.
Are you married? Do you have children? What was the last meal you had before entering the labyrinth?
The questions were all minor ones unrelated to his identity. The man slowly let his guard down as he answered each of them one by one. If nothing else, he wasn't being tortured so long as he was responding. Amelia then slowly and patiently increased the difficulty level of the questions. She finally asked him for his name.
"Tell me... what is your name?"
However, upon hearing the answer, she unconsciously flinched.
"Delvein... Hans Delvein..."
Hans?
Wait a minute, that name is...
That was the same name Yandel was so afraid of.
The name he treated like the plague.
The name of people who should always be killed on the spot.
She had never believed in his superstitions. In fact, she always thought that side of him was rather cute, but still.
...Will things really be okay?
For reasons she couldn't explain, she suddenly felt uneasy.
However, Amelia apparently had no intention of forgiving her. "Ha, it must be nice being a barbarian," she snapped, refusing to let up. "You can just say sorry and all is forgiven, huh?"
"...Huh?" Ainar, who had lived as a barbarian her whole life and was used to her apologies being accepted, was taken aback, and I was equally stunned. I had no idea Amelia would get so mad about a slip-up.
"Barbarian, because of your mistake, Yandel could have been seriously injured. You should have known that and—"
"Enough!" I quickly intervened to calm Amelia down. "She knows she messed up, so drop it."
"...We'll discuss this again later." Amelia, well aware that this wasn't the time, stopped being stubborn and dropped the issue.
Now, it was time for me to check what we'd caught in our net.
"Versyl, please look after Erwen."
"Ah, okay...!"
I first had Versyl take care of Erwen while I took stock of things. We ended up capturing two people alive. The first was the one Amelia had caught. I honestly had no idea how she was able to subdue him so perfectly despite not being able to see what was in front of her.
A groan came from our second catch. It was the one Ainar had missed, allowing them to slip past and attack me. The lower half of his mask was broken into pieces like it had borne the brunt of a blow from a hammer, and blood flowed out from under it.
So that's why I felt such a satisfying crack.
"Ugh..." As soon as he made eye contact with me, he fell backward like a bug. Was he trying to run away or something?
Step, step, step.
In three large steps, I closed the distance with the terrified man and then swung my hammer down exactly four times. He didn't need his limbs to have a friendly conversation, right?
Crack, crack, crack, crack.
All right, that should do. I'll hand the interrogation over to Amelia now...
As for the other one, he seemed to have already been fully subdued, so I figured I didn't need to break his bones. For now, all the necessary measures had been taken.
"Emily, take those two and move them somewhere else."
"...Are you really going to keep fighting that thing?"
"What other choice do we have?"
It was impossible to escape from the Lord of Terror. Plus, if those two were here with us when we defeated him, the special condition wouldn't trigger. This was the best call.
Still... the probability of us succeeding is low.
I would say it was around 5 percent, give or take. Well, something around that ballpark. Not only did the boss get four buffs during the second phase, but we still hadn't done any damage to it during this phase.
We've practically already failed.
Our survival was guaranteed either way, though, so I wasn't particularly concerned. If we were able to pull off the raid, that would be great. But even if we couldn't, as long as Amelia's interrogation went well, we would achieve our main goal.
"Yandel, be careful."
"Yeah, see you later."
Before the Curtain of Betrayal fell again, Amelia left the battlefield. Shortly after, the bright light filling the cave disappeared.
[The terror within has driven out the light. Curtain of Betrayal has been reactivated.]
It was time to continue the raid.
***
Down a pathway a short distance away from the monument, where the raid first began, Amelia lit a torch and hung it up on the wall, ready to begin her interrogation in earnest. She slowly pulled on her white gloves and organized the tools she prepared beforehand. She then rifled through her prisoners' belongings to see if they were holding onto anything that would be helpful for the interrogation.
Once upon a time, she had hated doing such tasks. However, today, it felt different for some reason.
...It's better this way.
Bjorn Yandel was surprisingly soft about things like this. And in life, you always needed at least one person who did these jobs.
"You... won't get anything... out of me," the incapacitated man hissed, his eyes alight with determination. Amelia didn't bother responding. There was no point in having a conversation with someone like him.
...He must be terrified.
She knew from experience that people like him were usually the first to squeal.
Sure enough, the other guy didn't even let out a groan during his interrogation, while this one screamed as loud as he could. However, despite interrogating them for however long, she didn't ask them any questions.
"...K-Kill me."
At long last, he uttered those words, signaling that he had reached his breaking point and wanted to be freed. Amelia took that as her sign to finally launch into her questions.
Are you married? Do you have children? What was the last meal you had before entering the labyrinth?
The questions were all minor ones unrelated to his identity. The man slowly let his guard down as he answered each of them one by one. If nothing else, he wasn't being tortured so long as he was responding. Amelia then slowly and patiently increased the difficulty level of the questions. She finally asked him for his name.
"Tell me... what is your name?"
However, upon hearing the answer, she unconsciously flinched.
"Delvein... Hans Delvein..."
Hans?
Wait a minute, that name is...
That was the same name Yandel was so afraid of.
The name he treated like the plague.
The name of people who should always be killed on the spot.
She had never believed in his superstitions. In fact, she always thought that side of him was rather cute, but still.
...Will things really be okay?
For reasons she couldn't explain, she suddenly felt uneasy.