Chapter 558: First Clear (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 558: First Clear (3)
Each member of the group was currently standing in the formation that we'd devised during our long, arduous meeting. We'd stationed a few melee warriors with the long-range damage dealers, and we also had a strike team made up exclusively of knights in the back as well. This wasn't a regular formation, where long-rangers stayed as far back as they could and melee dealers stuck solely to the front. Everyone was situated in a way that minimized risk and would allow us to react strategically no matter what might happen next.
I, of course, was no exception. I was standing right in front of the stone gate, all alone.
In other words, I was going to have to hold back this monster by myself, without anyone else to back me up. Of course, I wasn't complaining. I had agreed that this was the best plan...
Grrr... The beast of legend that emerged from beyond the stone gates let out a low growl, then looked down as if inspecting me.
Well, it was probably a bit surprising to see a single guy standing under it, holding nothing but a shield.
Don't stare at me like that.
I couldn't help but tense up a little, maybe because this was the first rank-one monster I was facing in the flesh. Even so, the more formidable the opponent, the more fighting spirit we barbarians showed—that was our whole thing.
I tightened my grip on my shield and looked up at the beast.
The wolf was double my height even with Giantization active. Considering it was a quadruped, I'd wager that its total length was even more than double that. On top of how huge it was, it had red fur and eyes on each of its three tails, like something straight out of an ancient myth. It also emanated a dark red fog around itself that made it look even more otherworldly.
But so what?
"What? Is this your first time seeing a barbarian?"
Like a dog listening to its human, the huge wolf tilted its head a little. This was the best time to kick things off.
"Behel—ahhh!" I let out a battle cry and put all my power behind a Swing.
Boom!
Even though I whacked its nose at full force, the wolf didn't so much as flinch, like my attack didn't even tickle. However, it seemed I'd made the right call dealing the first blow.
The wolf must have moved, but it was impossible for me to track it with my naked eye. All I knew was that the next time I blinked, its huge maw was closed around my shield in an attempt to tear it to shreds with its teeth.
Despite my surprise, I couldn't help but laugh. Any normal shield would've turned into scrap metal the moment it entered the wolf's mouth, but this shield was different.
This one's indestructible, you bastard.
Even a rank-one monster couldn't break an unbreakable, single-digit Numbered Item. The problem here was that I was still losing to it in terms of strength.
Wha—Huh? This little...!
A moment later, the wolf lifted me by the shield and swung its head around in a frenzy. Nausea swept over me, but letting go now would be the equivalent of accepting my death, so I held on as best I could.
Thankfully, supporting fire soon flew in.
[Gahuin Versilus has cast the rank-one attack spell Orb of the New World.]
It was a rank-one attack spell cast by channeling the mana of the dozens of elite wizards in the expedition group.
A flash of light later, I opened my eyes to find I was on the ground without anything on top of me anymore. I sprang to my feet and turned to see the wolf had taken a lot of damage.
Graaah!
It seemed to have gotten hit on its hind leg as the fur there was incinerated and it had a visible limp. I, however, was perfectly fine. While the spell had fired pretty close to me, I hadn't been turned into minced meat like back in the Bloody Citadel.
[You are taking damage from an ally you are Bound to. The Light of Trust protects you from the damage.]
Before the battle began, the old man and I set up a Binding spell.
This was the reason Trust was No. 12. Not getting hit by friendly fire was an incredible advantage in this world.
Since he'll have to gather mana again before casting, the next shot will be in three minutes.
Until then, the rest of us would have to pick up the slack. Three minutes was by no means a short amount of time when facing a rank-one monster.
[Kashan has cast Three Eyes of Beauty.]
Its three tails fanned out behind it, and the eyes on the tips opened up.
Fwoong! Fwoong! Fwoong!
Then, like those railguns you see in movies, rays of light rocketed at us.
The left tail does magical damage and inflicts a curse on the target, the right tail does physical damage and shreds Resistance stats, and the middle tail deals mixed damage and summons token monsters.
I recalled the effects of each tail as I blocked the rays as best I could.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
Usually, this skill chose targets at random, but since my Threat Level was so high, all of the beams were aimed at me instead.
[You have lost your balance and are now prone.]
However, even while successfully blocking them, I ended up tripping over my own feet, my stance breaking. A ray of light took the opening and slammed into me, though thankfully, I didn't take too much damage.
[All damage dealt to you increases by 10%.]
This was... the resistance shredding tail, right? If this effect stacked too many times, I'd be in trouble.
That damn Luck stat.
I never would've made that kind of rookie mistake under normal circumstances. However, I made sure not to be too hard on myself. In truth, rather than a mistake, it was simply the effect of one of its skills.
Ominous Prophecy set everyone's Luck to -200. If you were within its aura while fighting against the beast, things like this were bound to happen.
Like so.
[Dodge unsuccessful.]
Attacks that I thought I dodged landed on my body...
[Critical hit. You have taken significant damage.]
And an attack that would've otherwise left me a little tingly dislocated my joint.
[Kashan has cast Life Steal.]
And in the middle of all this, what looked like translucent red threads extended out from every single person in the library and connected themselves to the wolf. This was the monster's sole way of healing itself. Since there were over two hundred people around it, it was recovering from the damage it sustained reasonably quickly, but that wasn't as big a problem as you'd think since we had taught the soldiers exactly how to handle this.
Graaah!
It seemed to have gotten hit on its hind leg as the fur there was incinerated and it had a visible limp. I, however, was perfectly fine. While the spell had fired pretty close to me, I hadn't been turned into minced meat like back in the Bloody Citadel.
[You are taking damage from an ally you are Bound to. The Light of Trust protects you from the damage.]
Before the battle began, the old man and I set up a Binding spell.
This was the reason Trust was No. 12. Not getting hit by friendly fire was an incredible advantage in this world.
Since he'll have to gather mana again before casting, the next shot will be in three minutes.
Until then, the rest of us would have to pick up the slack. Three minutes was by no means a short amount of time when facing a rank-one monster.
[Kashan has cast Three Eyes of Beauty.]
Its three tails fanned out behind it, and the eyes on the tips opened up.
Fwoong! Fwoong! Fwoong!
Then, like those railguns you see in movies, rays of light rocketed at us.
The left tail does magical damage and inflicts a curse on the target, the right tail does physical damage and shreds Resistance stats, and the middle tail deals mixed damage and summons token monsters.
I recalled the effects of each tail as I blocked the rays as best I could.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
Usually, this skill chose targets at random, but since my Threat Level was so high, all of the beams were aimed at me instead.
[You have lost your balance and are now prone.]
However, even while successfully blocking them, I ended up tripping over my own feet, my stance breaking. A ray of light took the opening and slammed into me, though thankfully, I didn't take too much damage.
[All damage dealt to you increases by 10%.]
This was... the resistance shredding tail, right? If this effect stacked too many times, I'd be in trouble.
That damn Luck stat.
I never would've made that kind of rookie mistake under normal circumstances. However, I made sure not to be too hard on myself. In truth, rather than a mistake, it was simply the effect of one of its skills.
Ominous Prophecy set everyone's Luck to -200. If you were within its aura while fighting against the beast, things like this were bound to happen.
Like so.
[Dodge unsuccessful.]
Attacks that I thought I dodged landed on my body...
[Critical hit. You have taken significant damage.]
And an attack that would've otherwise left me a little tingly dislocated my joint.
[Kashan has cast Life Steal.]
And in the middle of all this, what looked like translucent red threads extended out from every single person in the library and connected themselves to the wolf. This was the monster's sole way of healing itself. Since there were over two hundred people around it, it was recovering from the damage it sustained reasonably quickly, but that wasn't as big a problem as you'd think since we had taught the soldiers exactly how to handle this.
It just so happened that 80 percent of our melee damage dealers were knights.
"Cut the threads!"
"Aura! Use your aura!"
The moment the threads appeared, the knights we had stationed evenly throughout our formation sliced through them to stop the wolf from healing. The threads usually took around six hits to destroy, but they were instantly cut away by aura, which ignored 90 percent of all Physical and Mana Resistance.
All right, we've stopped it from recovering.
Since Life Steal had a cooldown, we had about two minutes until it tried healing itself again.
"Charge!"
On their commander's orders, dozens of knights drew their swords and charged at the wolf.
Maybe it was because we had been fighting side by side for over a week now, but even though I was still worried that these people could end up becoming my enemies in the future, I couldn't help the hope I held close to my chest.
"Nia Rafdonia...!"
I hoped that most of them survived.
***
Slash, stab! Clang!
The aura used by the knights was excellent at dealing damage and coupled with the long-ranged attacks from the handpicked members of this expedition group, Kashan's pelt fell away in short order.
This was a strategy that could never be attempted under normal circumstances, not when the Threat Level required to hold a rank-one monster's attention was exponentially higher than other ranks.
But with Wall of Aegis, so long as my Threat Level is over five hundred, all monsters will prioritize attacking me first.
If not for this effect, the knights fighting on the ground with me would've been getting shredded by teeth and claws right now.
Still, with how much damage they're doing, I guess they could've defeated it even without me here.
Though about one hundred people would've died in the process.
Just how many soldiers were going to survive thanks to me? I hoped that the commander would notice my contribution—
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
At that moment, red shadows appeared on the ground. While preparing for this fight, this was the attack we'd identified as the second most dangerous one we'd have to face.
"Dodge!" the deputy commander shouted, playing his role as a support coordinator in this fight.
Boom!
The areas where the shadows had flickered to life all erupted with pillars of fire a second later. Not even a second, actually—the AOE attack was practically instantaneous.
Raven was in that direction...
The moment I turned my head, just to check, I spotted Ainar dragging Raven out of danger by the scruff of her neck in the middle of the crowd of panicked wizards.
Hah... she's safe.
Well, in truth, it was too early to be sure of that, since Flames of the End was a skill with additional effects.
"Wizards, form the barrier!"
As the deputy commander barked out another order, the wizards each did their part to create a protective barrier. Unlike the initial bombardment, the follow-up attacks were weak enough that we could block them with a wall of mana.
It just so happened that 80 percent of our melee damage dealers were knights.
"Cut the threads!"
"Aura! Use your aura!"
The moment the threads appeared, the knights we had stationed evenly throughout our formation sliced through them to stop the wolf from healing. The threads usually took around six hits to destroy, but they were instantly cut away by aura, which ignored 90 percent of all Physical and Mana Resistance.
All right, we've stopped it from recovering.
Since Life Steal had a cooldown, we had about two minutes until it tried healing itself again.
"Charge!"
On their commander's orders, dozens of knights drew their swords and charged at the wolf.
Maybe it was because we had been fighting side by side for over a week now, but even though I was still worried that these people could end up becoming my enemies in the future, I couldn't help the hope I held close to my chest.
"Nia Rafdonia...!"
I hoped that most of them survived.
***
Slash, stab! Clang!
The aura used by the knights was excellent at dealing damage and coupled with the long-ranged attacks from the handpicked members of this expedition group, Kashan's pelt fell away in short order.
This was a strategy that could never be attempted under normal circumstances, not when the Threat Level required to hold a rank-one monster's attention was exponentially higher than other ranks.
But with Wall of Aegis, so long as my Threat Level is over five hundred, all monsters will prioritize attacking me first.
If not for this effect, the knights fighting on the ground with me would've been getting shredded by teeth and claws right now.
Still, with how much damage they're doing, I guess they could've defeated it even without me here.
Though about one hundred people would've died in the process.
Just how many soldiers were going to survive thanks to me? I hoped that the commander would notice my contribution—
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
At that moment, red shadows appeared on the ground. While preparing for this fight, this was the attack we'd identified as the second most dangerous one we'd have to face.
"Dodge!" the deputy commander shouted, playing his role as a support coordinator in this fight.
Boom!
The areas where the shadows had flickered to life all erupted with pillars of fire a second later. Not even a second, actually—the AOE attack was practically instantaneous.
Raven was in that direction...
The moment I turned my head, just to check, I spotted Ainar dragging Raven out of danger by the scruff of her neck in the middle of the crowd of panicked wizards.
Hah... she's safe.
Well, in truth, it was too early to be sure of that, since Flames of the End was a skill with additional effects.
"Wizards, form the barrier!"
As the deputy commander barked out another order, the wizards each did their part to create a protective barrier. Unlike the initial bombardment, the follow-up attacks were weak enough that we could block them with a wall of mana.
Fwoosh!
A massive barrier covered the ground where the pillars erupted.
Drip, drip, drip.
The soldiers quickly ran inside the barrier just as a rain of fire began to pour. Unfortunately, however, there were a few who failed to get to safety.
"N-No...!"
"...Ack!"
The cries came from a wizard and an archer who was trying to help him get out of the line of fire. The two were promptly swept away by the flames and disappeared into the downpour. A nearby knight who witnessed the death of his allies gritted his teeth and shouted, "Elton Pashire of Squad Two, Quilcan Bertlern of Squad Three—killed in action!"
Like the soldier he was, he deemed that delivering a status report was of the utmost importance, no matter the situation.
I should focus too.
Truthfully, we needed to treat every single skill a rank-one monster might cast as instant death. Even the rays of Three Eyes of Beauty could kill someone in one hit.
I needed to do my job properly to keep everyone alive.
"Behel—ahhh!"
I cast Wild Outburst to raise my Threat Level again and planted myself right in the wolf's personal space.
"We've finished casting!"
"Melee unit! Move back!"
When we got the call sometime later that the spell was ready to go, the knights who were around me quickly retreated from the front lines.
And then, once more, the rank-one spell Orb of the New World fired and hit the monster head-on. But this time, it seemed to have landed a more critical blow.
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
This time when it used its AOE attack again...
[Kashan has cast Death Sentence.]
It also threw in a new skill.
This was the skill that we had deemed to be the most dangerous when running our battle simulations: Death Sentence. Going by the name, you might assume it was a one-hit-kill skill, but it actually wasn't. It just functionally behaved like one when Kashan used it.
[The damage dealt by Kashan's next attack will significantly increase relative to its Luck stat.]
In reality, it was a damage amplifier based on the user's Luck stat.
For every ten points of Luck, Death Sentence increases the damage dealt by 200 percent.
Exactly the kind of buff you'd expect from a rank-one.
However, the real problem here was Kashan's base Luck stat. After hours and hours of research, I'd determined Kashan's Luck stat had to be around five hundred.
In other words, 10000 percent.
Meaning that any attack that followed Death Sentence was essentially instant death.
Even a regular attack from a rank-one monster could kill a high-ranking knight in one or two hits. I had raised my Physical Resistance by leaps and bounds, but even my bones would break from one of those hits if I didn't block with my shield. That said, if I managed to pull off a proper guard with Wall of Aegis, I wouldn't take any damage at all.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
The problem was that this was all a matter of luck.
Fwoosh!
A massive barrier covered the ground where the pillars erupted.
Drip, drip, drip.
The soldiers quickly ran inside the barrier just as a rain of fire began to pour. Unfortunately, however, there were a few who failed to get to safety.
"N-No...!"
"...Ack!"
The cries came from a wizard and an archer who was trying to help him get out of the line of fire. The two were promptly swept away by the flames and disappeared into the downpour. A nearby knight who witnessed the death of his allies gritted his teeth and shouted, "Elton Pashire of Squad Two, Quilcan Bertlern of Squad Three—killed in action!"
Like the soldier he was, he deemed that delivering a status report was of the utmost importance, no matter the situation.
I should focus too.
Truthfully, we needed to treat every single skill a rank-one monster might cast as instant death. Even the rays of Three Eyes of Beauty could kill someone in one hit.
I needed to do my job properly to keep everyone alive.
"Behel—ahhh!"
I cast Wild Outburst to raise my Threat Level again and planted myself right in the wolf's personal space.
"We've finished casting!"
"Melee unit! Move back!"
When we got the call sometime later that the spell was ready to go, the knights who were around me quickly retreated from the front lines.
And then, once more, the rank-one spell Orb of the New World fired and hit the monster head-on. But this time, it seemed to have landed a more critical blow.
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
This time when it used its AOE attack again...
[Kashan has cast Death Sentence.]
It also threw in a new skill.
This was the skill that we had deemed to be the most dangerous when running our battle simulations: Death Sentence. Going by the name, you might assume it was a one-hit-kill skill, but it actually wasn't. It just functionally behaved like one when Kashan used it.
[The damage dealt by Kashan's next attack will significantly increase relative to its Luck stat.]
In reality, it was a damage amplifier based on the user's Luck stat.
For every ten points of Luck, Death Sentence increases the damage dealt by 200 percent.
Exactly the kind of buff you'd expect from a rank-one.
However, the real problem here was Kashan's base Luck stat. After hours and hours of research, I'd determined Kashan's Luck stat had to be around five hundred.
In other words, 10000 percent.
Meaning that any attack that followed Death Sentence was essentially instant death.
Even a regular attack from a rank-one monster could kill a high-ranking knight in one or two hits. I had raised my Physical Resistance by leaps and bounds, but even my bones would break from one of those hits if I didn't block with my shield. That said, if I managed to pull off a proper guard with Wall of Aegis, I wouldn't take any damage at all.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
The problem was that this was all a matter of luck.
I sighed. Thankfully, I'd been able to block the first Death Sentence successfully. But in the aftermath, I could feel my heart pounding furiously and my knees wobble a bit, maybe because I knew that there was no way to know when the next attack would come.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
I forced my legs to still and calculated the amount of hits I would need to take.
Between three or four.
If we could defeat the wolf quickly, only three. If we were a little slower, four. That was the number of Death Sentences that I'd need to take.
Will I be able to block all of them?
I smirked at the thought. This wasn't a matter of whether I could or not. If I couldn't block it, I'd just have to push through it. If my legs and arms were torn off, if my organs burst, I'd just have to stay on my feet and keep fighting.
Then the problem would solve itself.
[Kashan has cast Life Steal.]
And with that, my first-ever large-scale raid continued. Everyone stuck to their positions and gave their all to their respective roles.
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
Yet the pillars of fire still erupted and news of more deaths was still relayed. My only solace was that none of my companions were among the names mentioned.
[Gahuin Versilus has cast the rank-one attack spell Orb of the New World.]
We had managed to pull off our third successful spell, this one a headshot. But like the rank-one monster it was, it didn't falter in the slightest and continued gunning for me.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
I was luckily able to block the second Death Sentence.
[Kashan has cast Crossed Fate.]
Then, when its HP fell below 50 percent, it whipped out a new skill.
Fwoong! Fwoong! Fwoong!
All the while, the rays from its tails continued to fire at me, and a few failed attempts at guarding on my part meant some of its attacks landed.
The damage I took increased, and the curses on me began to stack up.
[The Plague Wolves charge toward the most populous area on the battlefield.]
Token monsters popped into existence as well.
And in the middle of all the chaos, I barely managed to catch sight of a red shadow beneath my feet right before Flames of the End exploded upward. With the big wolf charging me, it was impossible for me to dodge the blast.
[Your HP has fallen below 20%. All of your Resistance and Resilience stats have maxed out due to the passive skill Path of Heroes.]
My entire body melted away, but not really. My flesh was charred and sloughed off, and it felt like my organs were cooked given how hard it was to breathe, But thankfully, my Mana Resistance kept me from dying instantly.
And since I wasn't dead, that meant I wasn't down yet.
Sparkle!
As heals from the priests flowed into me, I lifted my shield and limped forward.
[Kashan has cast Death Sentence.]
In that critical moment, the third Death Sentence was cast. It felt almost like time around me slowed down, my mind's processing power accelerating as Kashan reared up. In that split-second, my only thought was this:
In my current state...will I be able to survive?
The answer was simple: no. It was as obvious as one plus one equaling two. The moment I realized that, my vision went white.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
The wolf's front claw slammed down...onto my shield.
I'd managed to keep my feet under me and, almost as if by accident, instinctively blocked the attack. I couldn't believe it.
Did I... Did I really survive?
I gulped air through my gaping mouth. It seemed that I had forgotten to breathe for the past few seconds. The deep gasp scorched through me, as my lungs still weren't healed all the way.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
Of course, all the while, my stubborn heart continued to race.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]
Familiar black orbs began to rain down on the wolf. Support arrived at the perfect time as every member of the expedition group doubled down to take advantage of the opening and end this fight.
Yeah, with this, we'll be able to kill this thing before the fourth—
But accidents were called accidents because you could never see them coming.
"Huh...?"
The moment I stepped forward, my foot landed on something slippery and slid out from under me.
[You have tripped.]
When I blinked the stars out of my vision, now flat on my back, all I could see was one thing. It wasn't the library's high ceiling, but the maw of a beast that had been trying to snap me up in its jaws this entire fight.
Crunch, crunch.
Distantly, I registered the sound of the wolf chomping down on my head, its massive teeth scraping against my skull.
As I listened to it eat me, I had a thought.
Wasn't expecting that.
Even though I could feel everything, it strangely didn't hurt.
[Your brain has suffered significant damage.]
[You have fainted.]
That was the last thing I remembered.
***
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has cast Concentrated Fire.]
[You have killed a Kashan. EXP +9]
[Achievement Unlocked]
[Condition: Defeat a rank-one monster for the first time.]
[Reward: Your Soul Power has permanently increased by +10.]
[The top contributor will have the authority to browse the records.]
[The hidden First Records Archives reveals itself to you.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are...]
I sighed. Thankfully, I'd been able to block the first Death Sentence successfully. But in the aftermath, I could feel my heart pounding furiously and my knees wobble a bit, maybe because I knew that there was no way to know when the next attack would come.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
I forced my legs to still and calculated the amount of hits I would need to take.
Between three or four.
If we could defeat the wolf quickly, only three. If we were a little slower, four. That was the number of Death Sentences that I'd need to take.
Will I be able to block all of them?
I smirked at the thought. This wasn't a matter of whether I could or not. If I couldn't block it, I'd just have to push through it. If my legs and arms were torn off, if my organs burst, I'd just have to stay on my feet and keep fighting.
Then the problem would solve itself.
[Kashan has cast Life Steal.]
And with that, my first-ever large-scale raid continued. Everyone stuck to their positions and gave their all to their respective roles.
[Kashan has cast Flames of the End.]
Yet the pillars of fire still erupted and news of more deaths was still relayed. My only solace was that none of my companions were among the names mentioned.
[Gahuin Versilus has cast the rank-one attack spell Orb of the New World.]
We had managed to pull off our third successful spell, this one a headshot. But like the rank-one monster it was, it didn't falter in the slightest and continued gunning for me.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
I was luckily able to block the second Death Sentence.
[Kashan has cast Crossed Fate.]
Then, when its HP fell below 50 percent, it whipped out a new skill.
Fwoong! Fwoong! Fwoong!
All the while, the rays from its tails continued to fire at me, and a few failed attempts at guarding on my part meant some of its attacks landed.
The damage I took increased, and the curses on me began to stack up.
[The Plague Wolves charge toward the most populous area on the battlefield.]
Token monsters popped into existence as well.
And in the middle of all the chaos, I barely managed to catch sight of a red shadow beneath my feet right before Flames of the End exploded upward. With the big wolf charging me, it was impossible for me to dodge the blast.
[Your HP has fallen below 20%. All of your Resistance and Resilience stats have maxed out due to the passive skill Path of Heroes.]
My entire body melted away, but not really. My flesh was charred and sloughed off, and it felt like my organs were cooked given how hard it was to breathe, But thankfully, my Mana Resistance kept me from dying instantly.
And since I wasn't dead, that meant I wasn't down yet.
Sparkle!
As heals from the priests flowed into me, I lifted my shield and limped forward.
[Kashan has cast Death Sentence.]
In that critical moment, the third Death Sentence was cast. It felt almost like time around me slowed down, my mind's processing power accelerating as Kashan reared up. In that split-second, my only thought was this:
In my current state...will I be able to survive?
The answer was simple: no. It was as obvious as one plus one equaling two. The moment I realized that, my vision went white.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis has absorbed all damage.]
The wolf's front claw slammed down...onto my shield.
I'd managed to keep my feet under me and, almost as if by accident, instinctively blocked the attack. I couldn't believe it.
Did I... Did I really survive?
I gulped air through my gaping mouth. It seemed that I had forgotten to breathe for the past few seconds. The deep gasp scorched through me, as my lungs still weren't healed all the way.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
Of course, all the while, my stubborn heart continued to race.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]
Familiar black orbs began to rain down on the wolf. Support arrived at the perfect time as every member of the expedition group doubled down to take advantage of the opening and end this fight.
Yeah, with this, we'll be able to kill this thing before the fourth—
But accidents were called accidents because you could never see them coming.
"Huh...?"
The moment I stepped forward, my foot landed on something slippery and slid out from under me.
[You have tripped.]
When I blinked the stars out of my vision, now flat on my back, all I could see was one thing. It wasn't the library's high ceiling, but the maw of a beast that had been trying to snap me up in its jaws this entire fight.
Crunch, crunch.
Distantly, I registered the sound of the wolf chomping down on my head, its massive teeth scraping against my skull.
As I listened to it eat me, I had a thought.
Wasn't expecting that.
Even though I could feel everything, it strangely didn't hurt.
[Your brain has suffered significant damage.]
[You have fainted.]
That was the last thing I remembered.
***
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has cast Concentrated Fire.]
[You have killed a Kashan. EXP +9]
[Achievement Unlocked]
[Condition: Defeat a rank-one monster for the first time.]
[Reward: Your Soul Power has permanently increased by +10.]
[The top contributor will have the authority to browse the records.]
[The hidden First Records Archives reveals itself to you.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are being healed.]
[You are...]