Chapter 482: Big Fish (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 482: Big Fish (5)
As soon as Curtain of Betrayal was reactivated, I could no longer see my comrades next to me.
Crack.
The shell surrounding Dreadfear slowly started to crack apart as he reemerged. It was almost like his skin was now covered in wax. His face lacked any recognizable human facial features besides a single large eye smack-dab in the center, and his body was eerily disproportionate. He was holding his bone sword in his hands, and for a moment, it looked the same as it did before he cast Defence Mechanism.
[His feelings of hatred deepen.]
However, his defensive state ended with him gaining a buff. This is where luck played a clear role.
[The memories held in his bones grow more vivid.]
So he got the attack buff.
Scrape.
Dreadfear's sword grew sharper as he dragged it against the rough terrain. Of the five buffs that he could receive during the third phase, this was the one that affected his weapon.
We'll have to be more careful from here on out.
Since he had received a damage-enhancing buff, I decided to adjust our battle strategy a bit.
Clang!
Like before, I focused on using my shield to block his attacks, but I now had to make sure that not a single hit landed on my body. There was a reason his weapon buff was so tricky to deal with.
[A sharp thorn penetrates your body. Your Soul Power will be continuously drained.]
His buffed sword was capable of absorbing MP, and the rate of absorption only grew the more damage you took. Beyond that, however, there was an even more critical effect.
[The Hatred within Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, rises in proportion to the stolen MP.]
Regardless of whether his weapon, armor, or eyeball got buffed, every buff available in the third phase directly increased his Hatred stat. When it maxed out, he then gained a buff that was extremely troublesome.
If his Hatred gets that high, I should just call the raid off.
If things reached that point, failing the raid would be the least of our concerns. We would have to worry about surviving it.
Whoosh!
Since I couldn't block his attacks, I avoided them instead.
Step.
When I stepped back to dodge, I tried to make full use of the wide terrain while also being wary of my unseen comrades in the fog.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Inner Mirror. You suffer damage in proportion to the reduction in your Spirit stat.]
This wasn't an ability I could dodge. All I could do was take the hit with a bloody cough.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Memory of the Dead.]
Thanks to the help of our wizard, Versyl, I at least didn't have to worry about the bombs floating in the air like bubbles.
[Versyl Gowland has cast the rank-six summoning spell Doll of Life.]
By summoning various dummies all over the place, she was able to stop the bombs from reaching us.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
I lost track of how long we poured our blood, sweat, and tears into this fight.
...Any moment now.
[Faith's Light has driven out the terror within. Curtain of Betrayal has been temporarily lifted.]
Just as I was thinking it was about time, a white light burst forth, filling the dark cave as Dreadfear shrieked in pain and hid himself in his shell like before.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Defence Mechanism.]
If we once again failed to break through that shell, he would get another buff, and that would only make this raid all the more difficult. However, I wasn't too worried about that possibility.
"Erwen."
Why should I be, when Erwen was practically on the verge of obtaining her final form?
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]
It was time to move on to the last phase.
***
When you carried out a raid with thirty or so adventurers, the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, didn't give you much of a reward. The boss was generally avoided for that reason and only hunted by clans who wanted to ascend the ranks. However, there was a little-known fact about this raid, though with the way it had spread throughout the city like a heroic tale of old, it was more of an open secret.
"If you managed to beat it with five people, you get an incredible reward."
Of course, there were two things wrong with that rumor. First, you didn't need exactly five people. You simply needed five or fewer.
And the reward isn't actually all that incredible.
The reward wasn't much different from any other reward. Still, there was a reason the rumors had ended up being so exaggerated.
"If you succeed, this will be the tenth time since the era of the Last Great Sage."
Very few parties had succeeded at clearing the boss with five people, and every single one that had managed it was made up of incredible individuals who left their mark on history.
The Abyss Seeker, Limenin.
The King of the Elves, Armella.
The Slayer of Sea Dragons, Myulmarin.
There was one thing that all these people, all of whom were considered great adventurers in their own right, had in common: they sparked a wealth of interest in conquering the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear. Despite that, despite countless adventurers following in their footsteps and summoning him so as to record their own names in the history books, those great few were the last to ever succeed.
I mean, that's a given. How are you supposed to defeat a boss monster on the first try?
The only reason I knew how to beat it was because I'd played through the game countless times and tested various strategies. Games and reality were fundamentally different. Failing in the game just meant a "Game Over" screen, but failing in reality was a permanent ending. If I hadn't had unlimited attempts to get it right, I would have died alongside those would-be history-makers. How could you learn anything if there was no such thing as a second chance?
...I wonder how those before me were able to defeat it.
What kind of strategy did they use? Was it the same as mine? Or did they just dominate the proverbial playing field with overwhelming specs? I had no way of knowing. Every team that has succeeded before kept silent about their strategy.
I just can't wrap my head around it...
It was the nature of adventurers to monopolize high-level information instead of disclosing it to the public. However, nobles were a different story. Not only were they willing to make a map of the sixth floor and distribute it to adventurers for free, but they even generously released information about the tenth floor, which was previously completely unknown. So why would they keep something like this a secret?
[Faith's Light has driven out the terror within. Curtain of Betrayal has been temporarily lifted.]
Just as I was thinking it was about time, a white light burst forth, filling the dark cave as Dreadfear shrieked in pain and hid himself in his shell like before.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has cast Defence Mechanism.]
If we once again failed to break through that shell, he would get another buff, and that would only make this raid all the more difficult. However, I wasn't too worried about that possibility.
"Erwen."
Why should I be, when Erwen was practically on the verge of obtaining her final form?
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]
It was time to move on to the last phase.
***
When you carried out a raid with thirty or so adventurers, the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, didn't give you much of a reward. The boss was generally avoided for that reason and only hunted by clans who wanted to ascend the ranks. However, there was a little-known fact about this raid, though with the way it had spread throughout the city like a heroic tale of old, it was more of an open secret.
"If you managed to beat it with five people, you get an incredible reward."
Of course, there were two things wrong with that rumor. First, you didn't need exactly five people. You simply needed five or fewer.
And the reward isn't actually all that incredible.
The reward wasn't much different from any other reward. Still, there was a reason the rumors had ended up being so exaggerated.
"If you succeed, this will be the tenth time since the era of the Last Great Sage."
Very few parties had succeeded at clearing the boss with five people, and every single one that had managed it was made up of incredible individuals who left their mark on history.
The Abyss Seeker, Limenin.
The King of the Elves, Armella.
The Slayer of Sea Dragons, Myulmarin.
There was one thing that all these people, all of whom were considered great adventurers in their own right, had in common: they sparked a wealth of interest in conquering the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear. Despite that, despite countless adventurers following in their footsteps and summoning him so as to record their own names in the history books, those great few were the last to ever succeed.
I mean, that's a given. How are you supposed to defeat a boss monster on the first try?
The only reason I knew how to beat it was because I'd played through the game countless times and tested various strategies. Games and reality were fundamentally different. Failing in the game just meant a "Game Over" screen, but failing in reality was a permanent ending. If I hadn't had unlimited attempts to get it right, I would have died alongside those would-be history-makers. How could you learn anything if there was no such thing as a second chance?
...I wonder how those before me were able to defeat it.
What kind of strategy did they use? Was it the same as mine? Or did they just dominate the proverbial playing field with overwhelming specs? I had no way of knowing. Every team that has succeeded before kept silent about their strategy.
I just can't wrap my head around it...
It was the nature of adventurers to monopolize high-level information instead of disclosing it to the public. However, nobles were a different story. Not only were they willing to make a map of the sixth floor and distribute it to adventurers for free, but they even generously released information about the tenth floor, which was previously completely unknown. So why would they keep something like this a secret?
Well, that's not something I need to worry about right now. Or... should I?
A sudden unease crept over me.
Crack, crack!
[The Defence Mechanism cast by Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has crumbled.]
While I was contemplating the strange feeling I was getting, the thick shell surrounding Dreadfear abruptly cracked apart and black fog spilled out.
"Stop!" I hurriedly yelled out to Erwen. It would just be a waste of MP to attack him in this state. We had to save as much of it as we could. "Good work. You must be exhausted."
"Thank you..."
"Everyone, come together!" I waved my comrades over to me as we all got in formation.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
From the black fog, there was a loud screeching noise, like nails on a chalkboard. The fog gradually dissipated as a bright red glow seeped through the cracked shell.
That's a scary look.
I took a deep breath and met his eye.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, senses a great threat in you.]
The fourth phase had begun. This would be the crux of our raid.
Stomp, stomp.
Dreadfear slowly rose from his cracked shell, then stepped forward.
At first, it was maggots, then it was black fog. Then he looked more like a regular person who was covered in a layer of wax.
Stomp.
But during the fourth phase, you could see red veins through his white skin. His body was frail and bony, exposing his ribs, arms, and legs. Long gray hair tumbled from his head, and his face now sported two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Unfortunately, they weren't in their normal positions. Rather, it looked as if they had been randomly placed on his face. This guy definitely wasn't human. He was just a humanoid monster.
Squish.
The eyeball underneath his chin started to roll around.
Glug.
Blood poured out from the hole where his right eye should have been.
Screech.
The bone sword he held in his hands scraped across the floor with a hair-raising wail.
Stomp, stomp.
A mysterious, sticky liquid squished under his feet as he walked slowly toward us before coming to a stop. His misplaced eyes bored into us.
"Kyeeeeee!"
Suddenly, his mouth dropped open with a shriek that came from where his nose should have been.
[There are five or fewer characters in the surrounding area.]
[Special Condition – Old Memories has been met.]
[The terror within the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has revived.]
We met the conditions for attempting to clear the raid with five or fewer people.
[The fragmented memories have scattered. They begin to twist around the surrounding area.]
Now, all we had to do was go to a special map that only parties with five or fewer players could enter. Once we cleared the raid there, then we would—
Flash!
A sudden burst of light blinded me. When I finally opened my eyes, I froze. "...What is this? Where are we?"
Well, that's not something I need to worry about right now. Or... should I?
A sudden unease crept over me.
Crack, crack!
[The Defence Mechanism cast by Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has crumbled.]
While I was contemplating the strange feeling I was getting, the thick shell surrounding Dreadfear abruptly cracked apart and black fog spilled out.
"Stop!" I hurriedly yelled out to Erwen. It would just be a waste of MP to attack him in this state. We had to save as much of it as we could. "Good work. You must be exhausted."
"Thank you..."
"Everyone, come together!" I waved my comrades over to me as we all got in formation.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
From the black fog, there was a loud screeching noise, like nails on a chalkboard. The fog gradually dissipated as a bright red glow seeped through the cracked shell.
That's a scary look.
I took a deep breath and met his eye.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, senses a great threat in you.]
The fourth phase had begun. This would be the crux of our raid.
Stomp, stomp.
Dreadfear slowly rose from his cracked shell, then stepped forward.
At first, it was maggots, then it was black fog. Then he looked more like a regular person who was covered in a layer of wax.
Stomp.
But during the fourth phase, you could see red veins through his white skin. His body was frail and bony, exposing his ribs, arms, and legs. Long gray hair tumbled from his head, and his face now sported two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Unfortunately, they weren't in their normal positions. Rather, it looked as if they had been randomly placed on his face. This guy definitely wasn't human. He was just a humanoid monster.
Squish.
The eyeball underneath his chin started to roll around.
Glug.
Blood poured out from the hole where his right eye should have been.
Screech.
The bone sword he held in his hands scraped across the floor with a hair-raising wail.
Stomp, stomp.
A mysterious, sticky liquid squished under his feet as he walked slowly toward us before coming to a stop. His misplaced eyes bored into us.
"Kyeeeeee!"
Suddenly, his mouth dropped open with a shriek that came from where his nose should have been.
[There are five or fewer characters in the surrounding area.]
[Special Condition – Old Memories has been met.]
[The terror within the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has revived.]
We met the conditions for attempting to clear the raid with five or fewer people.
[The fragmented memories have scattered. They begin to twist around the surrounding area.]
Now, all we had to do was go to a special map that only parties with five or fewer players could enter. Once we cleared the raid there, then we would—
Flash!
A sudden burst of light blinded me. When I finally opened my eyes, I froze. "...What is this? Where are we?"
We were in a map I had never seen before.
***
[You have been affected by Goblin Paralysis Poison.]
[Special Condition – Distorted Memories has been met.]
[You are now being transported to Pilgrim's Cave.]
***
Hans... Hans Delvein...
The name rendered Amelia mute, worry and wariness creeping up her spine. She didn't let it linger for long, though.
...This isn't a big deal.
He had confidently told her that there was nothing to worry about with this raid.
I should just focus on my job.
So she shook off her concerns and concentrated on the interrogation. It would be a pain if he decided to stop talking right after she managed to pry his mouth open.
"Where do you live?"
"...District Nine."
"Have you ever met Count Alminus?"
"...I haven't."
She kept asking questions, and whenever she felt he was lying to her, she quietly tortured him more. They cycled through this pattern several times before he finally cracked.
"I-I'm not lying... I was just offered the job through the black market. I-I don't know anything else... I-I don't know who made the request, either..."
She instinctively realized that he was telling the truth. Interrogating him any further wouldn't provide any more information.
...So I didn't manage to find a connection with Count Alminus in the end.
She sighed. Yandel would definitely be disappointed to hear about this. Depression hung over her like a cloud for a moment, but she was an expert at reining in her emotions. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped. Rather than wasting any more time on these useless feelings, she decided to do something productive.
Amelia headed back over to her prisoners' belongings to double-check whether she had missed anything earlier. And as she was searching through them, she came across something peculiar.
...A paralyzing poison?
The weapon he used to stab Bjorn had been poisoned. From the taste of it, it seemed to be a low-level Goblin poison.
But why...?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Such a low-level poison wouldn't do anything to someone with such high resistance. So then, why would they even bother using it to begin with? Especially when there were so many better alternatives they could have used instead?
"Why did you use the Goblin Paralysis Poison?"
"Paralysis Poison...?" The obvious confusion in the man's voice only made her more uneasy. "I... never used that... I don't... I don't understand what you're asking."
Amelia whipped around to face the other man. He had maintained his silence for the entire interrogation, not saying a single word. The sight of him staring out into space with resignation in his eyes immediately raised red flags in her mind. She rushed over to check his weapons only to find the poison coating their blades.
Flash!
There was a sudden burst of light from the area where the battle was taking place, and a moment later, the cave went dead silent. That meant that her comrades had moved on to the next stage. She quickly summoned a duplicate of herself to check the empty cave and the four corpses lying inside. A quick examination of their weapons revealed that they were also coated with the same Goblin poison.
Is it a coincidence?
Impossible.
Something is going on...
Upon instinctively realizing that something sinister was at work here, Amelia grabbed the silent man by the collar. "Answer me. Why did you use Goblin poison on your weapons?"
He hadn't so much as groaned during the horrific torture she put him through, and he certainly wasn't answering her now either.
Shink!
Amelia pulled out her dagger and held it flush to the man's neck.
Drip.
Blood dripped down his throat, yet still, he didn't flinch in the slightest. However, his expression had shifted ever so subtly away from his previous resignation.
"You..." Amelia sneered. "Who are you?"
The man finally opened his mouth for the first time. "I wonder," he chirped carefreely.
Amelia went to press her dagger even harder against his neck when—
Fling!
Her dagger was sent flying back by an unknown force.
Step.
The man stood up from where he had been lying on the ground. "I see that he has good comrades around him. I can't believe you were willing to go that far to interrogate me. But more than that, I can't believe you actually started to catch on. That attitude will be of great help to him on the rest of his journey."
Amelia couldn't even begin to comprehend the implications of that response. Her mouth went dry as she swallowed. "...Who are you? What is your goal?"
"Seeing as you're worried about him even in a situation like this, I guess that means you're not likely to betray him," the man judged, giving Amelia an evaluating look. A smirk lit his face as he added, "Don't look at me like that. I'm just helping his fate move in the right direction."
She didn't respond.
"Did you know? Bjorn Yandel has a rather interesting fate ahead of him. It seems he's someone who becomes stronger by experiencing hardship." The man patted Amelia on the shoulder. "For example, what if that wizard didn't die in the labyrinth that day? Do you think he would have ever become such a great hero? Someone like him, whose top priority is his own survival?"
No, it couldn't be...
The man laughed. "So don't worry. I'm sure he'll come back completely fine this time as well."
Amelia tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand, ready to attack him the moment she felt she could catch him by surprise. "Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked, still searching for that perfect opening.
"The reason I'm being so generous is simple."
But she would never find that opening.
"Amelia Rainwales."
His clear voice rang in her ears.
"You've fallen for Illusion magic in the past, haven't you? Sleep well."
The man's fingertips gently poked her forehead.
We were in a map I had never seen before.
***
[You have been affected by Goblin Paralysis Poison.]
[Special Condition – Distorted Memories has been met.]
[You are now being transported to Pilgrim's Cave.]
***
Hans... Hans Delvein...
The name rendered Amelia mute, worry and wariness creeping up her spine. She didn't let it linger for long, though.
...This isn't a big deal.
He had confidently told her that there was nothing to worry about with this raid.
I should just focus on my job.
So she shook off her concerns and concentrated on the interrogation. It would be a pain if he decided to stop talking right after she managed to pry his mouth open.
"Where do you live?"
"...District Nine."
"Have you ever met Count Alminus?"
"...I haven't."
She kept asking questions, and whenever she felt he was lying to her, she quietly tortured him more. They cycled through this pattern several times before he finally cracked.
"I-I'm not lying... I was just offered the job through the black market. I-I don't know anything else... I-I don't know who made the request, either..."
She instinctively realized that he was telling the truth. Interrogating him any further wouldn't provide any more information.
...So I didn't manage to find a connection with Count Alminus in the end.
She sighed. Yandel would definitely be disappointed to hear about this. Depression hung over her like a cloud for a moment, but she was an expert at reining in her emotions. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped. Rather than wasting any more time on these useless feelings, she decided to do something productive.
Amelia headed back over to her prisoners' belongings to double-check whether she had missed anything earlier. And as she was searching through them, she came across something peculiar.
...A paralyzing poison?
The weapon he used to stab Bjorn had been poisoned. From the taste of it, it seemed to be a low-level Goblin poison.
But why...?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Such a low-level poison wouldn't do anything to someone with such high resistance. So then, why would they even bother using it to begin with? Especially when there were so many better alternatives they could have used instead?
"Why did you use the Goblin Paralysis Poison?"
"Paralysis Poison...?" The obvious confusion in the man's voice only made her more uneasy. "I... never used that... I don't... I don't understand what you're asking."
Amelia whipped around to face the other man. He had maintained his silence for the entire interrogation, not saying a single word. The sight of him staring out into space with resignation in his eyes immediately raised red flags in her mind. She rushed over to check his weapons only to find the poison coating their blades.
Flash!
There was a sudden burst of light from the area where the battle was taking place, and a moment later, the cave went dead silent. That meant that her comrades had moved on to the next stage. She quickly summoned a duplicate of herself to check the empty cave and the four corpses lying inside. A quick examination of their weapons revealed that they were also coated with the same Goblin poison.
Is it a coincidence?
Impossible.
Something is going on...
Upon instinctively realizing that something sinister was at work here, Amelia grabbed the silent man by the collar. "Answer me. Why did you use Goblin poison on your weapons?"
He hadn't so much as groaned during the horrific torture she put him through, and he certainly wasn't answering her now either.
Shink!
Amelia pulled out her dagger and held it flush to the man's neck.
Drip.
Blood dripped down his throat, yet still, he didn't flinch in the slightest. However, his expression had shifted ever so subtly away from his previous resignation.
"You..." Amelia sneered. "Who are you?"
The man finally opened his mouth for the first time. "I wonder," he chirped carefreely.
Amelia went to press her dagger even harder against his neck when—
Fling!
Her dagger was sent flying back by an unknown force.
Step.
The man stood up from where he had been lying on the ground. "I see that he has good comrades around him. I can't believe you were willing to go that far to interrogate me. But more than that, I can't believe you actually started to catch on. That attitude will be of great help to him on the rest of his journey."
Amelia couldn't even begin to comprehend the implications of that response. Her mouth went dry as she swallowed. "...Who are you? What is your goal?"
"Seeing as you're worried about him even in a situation like this, I guess that means you're not likely to betray him," the man judged, giving Amelia an evaluating look. A smirk lit his face as he added, "Don't look at me like that. I'm just helping his fate move in the right direction."
She didn't respond.
"Did you know? Bjorn Yandel has a rather interesting fate ahead of him. It seems he's someone who becomes stronger by experiencing hardship." The man patted Amelia on the shoulder. "For example, what if that wizard didn't die in the labyrinth that day? Do you think he would have ever become such a great hero? Someone like him, whose top priority is his own survival?"
No, it couldn't be...
The man laughed. "So don't worry. I'm sure he'll come back completely fine this time as well."
Amelia tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand, ready to attack him the moment she felt she could catch him by surprise. "Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked, still searching for that perfect opening.
"The reason I'm being so generous is simple."
But she would never find that opening.
"Amelia Rainwales."
His clear voice rang in her ears.
"You've fallen for Illusion magic in the past, haven't you? Sleep well."
The man's fingertips gently poked her forehead.