Episode 280: No. 50 Transference Maze (6)
“You got me. An exquisite move.”
The Oubleck Knight spoke in a flat, mechanical monotone. It sounded completely detached, as though it were not the one stricken by the Mystic Yin Jade Demonic Finger.
I sorely wanted to toss in a bit of trash talk, but I held my tongue. I couldn't blow my cover this far into the game. A dedicated roleplayer, after all, must always stay in character.
Cr-crack, crackle...
Even in that brief lull, the frigid chill of the Mystic Yin Jade Demonic Finger was rapidly spreading through its frame. The Oubleck seemed to be struggling to suppress it, but a mere dungeon mob had no hope of overcoming what even an elder of the Blood Cult couldn't withstand. Soon, the creature retracted all its sprouting limbs and reverted to its standard humanoid form, clearly attempting to reassert tighter control over its body. While that allowed it to rein in the worst of the frost, faint, persistent crackles continued to echo from within.
Crack, crackle...
With the monster's movements dulled, Tang Gyu-young relocated Jeong Chong-myeong and the support faculty member to the far side of the chamber before rejoining our front line. Using Shadow Leap, she surged up directly from the shadow beneath my feet. Meanwhile, Zhuge Soso and Kim Gab-du were closing in from behind at ferocious speed.
Deciding they posed the more immediate threat, the Oubleck spun around and charged to intercept them, colliding head-on with Kim Gab-du's lunging punch.
Boom!
At the concussive roar of the impact, Kim Gab-du was knocked back two steps while the Oubleck Knight yielded only one. Despite coming out worse in the exchange, Kim Gab-du didn't flinch in the slightest; if anything, he drove back in with even fiercer momentum. Zhuge Soso flanked him seamlessly, thrusting and slashing with her blade in tight coordination.
The Oubleck's hands liquified for an instant before remolding—one into a longsword, the other into a heavy shield. Parrying Soso's strikes with its sword and absorbing Gab-du's brutal punches against its shield, it spoke:
“So it comes down to a frontal battle in the end.”
“Did you really think it would be easy to out-coward a human?”
“Indeed, it seems not.”
The Oubleck shot a subtle glance toward me as it said this. Look at him delivering backhanded snark. He's practically human at this point.
Of course, I could hardly blame the creature for feeling cheated.
Crack, snap...
Frost was still crackling violently inside its very core. Every time the cold surged, the knight's limbs hitched and stuttered, exposing openings that Kim Gab-du and Zhuge Soso relentlessly punished. Such was the vicious tenacity of the Mystic Yin Jade Demonic Finger.
On top of that, the others poured into the fray to tighten the noose. Fluttering shadow butterflies converged one after another, and fist-sized spheres of concentrated mana slammed into the knight before detonating.
Bang!
Naturally, Jeong Chong-myeong was the one slinging the spells. While dumping overwhelming burst damage was the optimal tactic against Dark Oublecks, the current tactical situation didn't allow for it.
We never know when the front line might collapse again.
If he rooted himself like a stationary artillery turret and the vanguard was breached, his life would be forfeit—and even if he managed to dodge, his channeled casting would be interrupted. Thus, he chose to retain his mobility and fight as a nimble all-rounder.
Bang, boom!
Once again, mana spheres struck the Oubleck in rapid succession.
Explosive magic. Sharp call. Against slime-type monsters, explosive concussive force dealt far more consequential damage than piercing or slashing attacks. As expected of a third-year club president, he knew how to handle business without being told.
Then again, that leaves me with nothing to do.
I couldn't go around blinding everyone just to whip out forbidden arts, and slinging wind magic would instantly blow my identity. The only spell free from those constraints was Ice Wall, and that wasn't going to turn the tide in direct combat. It had shattered from a single blow just moments ago, after all.
Might as well set up an insurance policy. Given that we were dealing with an Oubleck, preparing for every conceivable variable was essential. With that in mind, I began erecting thick ice walls at strategic points across the chamber.
Meanwhile, the tide of battle steadily tilted in our favor.
Crack, snap...
The frost raged ceaselessly within the Oubleck Knight, while Zhuge Soso and Kim Gab-du hammered it in tandem from the front. On the perimeter, Tang Gyu-young and Jeong Chong-myeong kept chipping away, steadily accumulating damage with shadow butterflies and mana bursts.
Still, it certainly lives up to its A-rank designation.
Despite taking a prolonged beating, the monster showed virtually no signs of exhaustion or faltering. In fact, its fierce counterattacks occasionally blasted Zhuge Soso or Kim Gab-du off their feet. Yet even if it didn't show on the surface, the damage was quietly piling up.
After another flurry of frantic clashes, the Oubleck Knight suddenly froze in place and spoke:
“It appears I have lost.”
“...It was a good match.”
Kim Gab-du answered with a slight furrow of his brow. The Oubleck Knight's torso began twisting violently like a wringing coil as it continued:
Cre-e-eak...
“Though it defiles the honor of our duel, I must fulfill my duty to the end. I pray you understan—”
“Take cover!”
Cutting the creature off, I roared at the top of my lungs. Jolted to their senses, everyone instantly threw themselves toward the nearest ice walls. Tang Gyu-young happened to be right beside me, so I grabbed her arm and yanked her behind my barrier.
And in the very next instant—
Spla-a-ash!
The twisted Oubleck snapped open like an uncoiled spring, erupting in a violent spray of pitch-black liquid. Thick, corrosive fluid pelted the outside of our ice wall in rapid, heavy slaps.
Self-destruct. Right on cue.
Its overarching mission was to bleed the subjugation squad dry by whatever means necessary. Knowing full well it would detonate the moment defeat was imminent, I had erected those ice barriers specifically to serve as blast shields.
Before long, the barrage of black sludge dwindled into silence. I moved to step out from behind the wall, but Tang Gyu-young quietly extended her arm toward me, her cheeks tinged with a faint, flustered pink.
“...”
“What's with the arm?”
“Pull it again. Hard.”
“You've developed another weird kink.”
“Just once, come on~”
This was hardly the time or place for such antics, so I brushed past her and walked into the open. Tang Gyu-young pouted sulkily for a second, then fell into step right behind me. As we emerged, the rest of the party crept out one by one from behind their respective barricades.
Zhuge Soso glanced around the room and asked:
“Is everyone alright?”
“We're fine,” Jeong Chong-myeong and the support faculty member replied in unison, both shooting grateful nods in my direction. With no time to cast defensive barriers, they could easily have suffered catastrophic injuries had it not been for my ice walls.
“Urgh...”
Kim Gab-du, however, seemed to have taken some damage, having stood nearest ground zero. Only a few drops of sludge had splashed onto his bare skin, yet the flesh beneath was already blackening with rapid necrosis.
“A truly vile venom...”
The faculty healer immediately showered him with detoxification and recovery spells, while Gab-du pulled an elixir pill from his inventory and popped it into his mouth. His expression relaxed as the symptoms subsided, and he sighed:
“I forgot these creatures detonate upon death. Careless of me.”
Up until now, high-tier firepower had erased the Oublecks before they ever had the chance to self-destruct. This time, however, Jeong Chong-myeong couldn't afford to plant his feet as artillery, forcing him to whittle down its vitality with lighter spells—which in turn granted the fiend window enough to trigger its explosion.
Zhuge Soso offered comforting words in a gentle tone:
“I only caught on at the very last second myself. We just need to stay vigilant moving forward.”
“We'll need to keep antidotes at the ready as well.”
“Agreed.”
Once our regrouping was complete, Jeong Chong-myeong activated the transference circle. Radiant light surged up, engulfing our party—
Fwoooosh!
“Welcome.”
“Welcome.”
Dry, hollow voices greeted us. Looking forward, we found the exact spitting image of the Oubleck Knight from the previous room waiting for us. And not just one, but two.
Kim Gab-du spat a curse under his breath:
“Bloody hell...”
The entire party tensed, every muscle wound tight, as the two Oubleck Knights took turns speaking:
“Having experienced the previous chamber, we trust further introductions are unnecessary.”
“However, our Master extends a proposal.”
“...What kind of proposal?” Zhuge Soso inquired warily.
At her question, one of them released a broad wave of mana across the floor. Hidden circles illuminated across the flagstones, but in one solitary corner, a single circle pulsed with a sinister crimson radiance. One glance was all it took to know where it led.
The boss room.
Yet it was tiny—scarcely large enough for a single occupant. And once used, it would almost certainly burn out.
The Oubleck Knight continued:
“Our Master instructed us not to obstruct anyone who wishes to enter ahead of the rest.”
“And the remainder of us?”
“Naturally, you must cut us down and proceed through the subsequent chambers.”
A teleportation circle massive enough to transport the entire raid wouldn't appear in the very next room—it was scheduled several chambers further down the line. Clearing those rooms would consume a substantial amount of time, and the odds of a lone scout surviving against the boss until reinforcements arrived were vanishingly slim. Under normal circumstances, the proposal was completely worthless. Advancing methodically room by room and breaching the sanctum together was the only rational path.
Or at least, that was what anyone in their right mind would conclude.
Actually, this isn't bad at all.
For me, it was practically an engraved invitation. My foremost objective was slashing our clear time. To achieve that, setting foot in the boss room as swiftly as possible was paramount—and here they were, promising free passage to a solo entrant. A handful of hazard scenarios flickered across my mind, but I was fully confident in handling them.
Having made my choice, I stepped forward.
“I will go.”
“...!”
“...!”
Every single pair of eyes snapped toward me. Why on earth is this quiet fellow stepping up all of a sudden? their gazes screamed. And of all things, why volunteer for what amounted to outright suicide?
Brushing aside their incredulous stares, I kept walking, only for Tang Gyu-young to rush in and plant herself directly in my path.
“You can't go... sir!”
Only after the blurted words slipped out did she remember she had to preserve my cover, hastily tacking on a polite honorific at the very tail end. Even so, she desperately tried to plead with me:
“We just need to clear a few more rooms together... sir.”
I stepped a fraction closer to her. Meeting her gaze dead-on, I murmured:
“It's fine.”
“...”
Whether she read the ironclad conviction in my eyes or simply realized I was beyond dissuasion, Tang Gyu-young slowly stepped aside. As I brushed past, she grumbled in a voice barely above a breath:
“...Just you wait until this is over. I'm going to rip your cheeks clean off.”
Yet despite her fierce grumbling, her eyes remained brimming with anxious worry.
True to their word, the Oubleck Knights parted to let me through. As I stepped onto the glyph, they bowed with formal courtesy. The crimson circle flared with blinding intensity, saturating my field of view in scarlet light.
Flash!
An instant later, I was standing in an expanse dozens of times larger than any room we had traversed so far. Yet the interior of this boss chamber differed markedly from what I remembered. It was an utterly cavernous void—floor, walls, and towering ceiling all clad in unbroken, pitch-black darkness. And judging by the sporadic ripples squirming across the surfaces—
She went ahead and wallpapered the entire place.
Every square inch of that black coating was composed of living Oublecks. While I silently appraised just how much preparation had gone into this trap, a refined, melodious voice suddenly tickled my ears.
“Welcome.”
Turning toward the sound, I saw a woman draped in robes as pitch-black as the chamber itself. The architect behind this entire incident, and the boss of the second Main Quest.
The Witch of Rot.