Chapter 144: Verdure (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: Verdure (2)
The Watcher blinked, then lowered its gaze.
“It’s telling us to look down!”
Yernil hurriedly poked her head over the edge of the mushroom cap.
CRASH!
Verdure rammed the stalk again.
Richard struggled to keep his balance, but Yernil maintained her footing perfectly, even at the very edge.
“Can you see anything?” Aimus asked, stumbling and landing on his butt just as Richard had.
“Huh?”
Yernil’s eyes narrowed.
Thump!
The Watcher bumped against the underside of the giant mushroom’s cap, as if attacking it.
Its physical strength was about as threatening as a balloon’s, so it did almost no damage.
“…”
But Yernil understood what it meant.
“Spores.”
“What?”
“Remember when we fell through the trap on the 5th floor?” she shouted to Back Attack and Aimus. “We crashed into a giant mushroom and a ton of spores came pouring out!”
“What about it?” Richard frowned. “Mushroom spores won’t do anything to Verdure. Its resistance is too high.”
“…That… is true, isn’t it?” Yernil tilted her head, looking puzzled.
Whoosh!
This time, the Watcher flew over and circled Aimus once.
“What the?”
Then, the Watcher floated gently into the air before dropping down forcefully, as if jumping and stomping on the ground.
“It’s telling me to jump!”
“No, brother! Look again, carefully,” Back Attack shouted.
Now that he looked closer, the Watcher had circled Aimus’s iron staff once before demonstrating the jumping motion.
“It wants you to use Smashing Gaia!”
“Ah!”
“If you slam the mushroom with that, the spores will rain down!” Yernil clapped her hands.
“I’ve got it!” Back Attack exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “The Watcher headbutted the mushroom stalk earlier. It’s telling you to use Smashing Gaia right when Verdure breaks the stalk.”
“To make the spores fall!”
“That’s it!”
“You guys are starting to sound crazy,” Richard muttered.
Their trust in their party’s wizard was bordering on religious faith.
How was this possible?
Richard had heard stories about how this party had overcome all sorts of adversities. He’d thought of them as a ‘skilled party,’ but perhaps a significant portion of the credit belonged to that wizard.
Fine. To be honest, Caleb might have a plan.
He might be observing through the Watcher, trying to give them instructions.
“But,” Richard remained skeptical, “even if you do what you just said, it solves nothing.”
“…”
“Verdure’s resistance is too high. Getting covered in spores won’t do any damage.”
CRACK!
The stalk was beginning to break.
The giant mushroom’s cap slowly started to tilt downward.
“Let’s just do as he says for now,” Aimus said, hoisting his iron staff high.
The cap fell.
Right over Verdure’s head.
And atop it, Aimus channeled power into his iron staff.
Smashing Gaia!
*
[Your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
I was worried they wouldn’t understand, but seeing Smashing Gaia activate, it seems they got the message.
As long as they’ve gotten this far, we’re good.
The mushroom cap is large enough to hide all the adventurers behind it.
Of course, even so, Verdure would be able to pinpoint each of their locations.
Because it has magical sight.
It’s the ability to detect objects imbued with magic power. It’s like how a thermal camera can see through a visible-light-based appearance to capture the heat energy within.
It would detect everything: Yernil’s Sentry Relocation Bracers, Back Attack’s Flame Dagger, the Hood of Flank Necrosis, and Aimus’s Parasol Cuirass.
But magical sight, in other words, sees ‘objects,’ not ‘people.’ While the cuirass is large, things like daggers, bracers, and hoods are quite small.
How small?
About the same size as the clumps of falling spores.
From micrometer-sized particles to large clumps like dust bunnies, the spores of various sizes randomly inflict one of four status effects: sleep, confusion, laughter, or despair.
Naturally, they are imbued with magic.
Therefore, the scene currently entering Verdure’s field of vision is…
An overwhelming number of magical objects.
It would be difficult to distinguish anything.
For a moment, Verdure was bound to lose track of the adventurers behind the mushroom cap.
But this wasn’t enough.
Because of Verdure’s monstrous resistance, it wouldn’t suffer any status effects even if it were completely covered in spores.
And Verdure was no fool.
It must have anticipated that it would lose sight of the adventurers when the spores fell.
Right?
Still, it must be confident.
Because even with the spores raining down, there was really only one thing it needed to worry about.
You’ll be focused on Yernil. Because her Marking Arrow is a threat.
You’re confident you’ll win as long as you defend against that one thing, right?
Well, I’m confident too.
Now, Verdure. Watch closely, because my two little geniuses are about to pull off a ridiculously awesome combination.
“Back Attack.”
I issue three commands to each of them, spending a total of six Action Points.
“Cast Invisibility on Yernil. And…”
*
The giant mushroom’s stalk snapped.
CRASH!
The cap plummeted.
Along with Smashing Gaia, an immense cloud of spores rained down on Verdure’s head.
From Richard’s perspective as an adventurer well-versed in the 6th floor, this development was entirely expected.
And he knew it wouldn’t cause much damage.
The only hope was for the elf archer to fire a Marking Arrow.
But could she land the shot?
Invisibility!
Back Attack cast the invisibility skill on Yernil.
It was a strategy that had already failed once.
Could it be that amidst the countless spores, Verdure might actually lose track of Yernil?
Is this the strategy Caleb intended?
For a second, Richard felt a flicker of hope, but it vanished the moment he saw the look in Verdure’s eyes through the mushroom fibers.
That monster was no pushover.
It knew.
It knew the Marking Arrow was a threat.
Verdure was tracking Yernil and Yernil alone.
Thwang!
Richard couldn’t see her invisible form, but he felt the vibration as she kicked off the mushroom.
A parabola drawn by following Verdure’s gaze.
From the middle of that empty space, a Marking Arrow was fired.
It failed.
In an anticlimactic instant, the Marking Arrow was spotted by Verdure the moment it materialized.
Ting!
The monster’s horn deflected the arrow with perfect accuracy.
But in that very same moment.
Huh?
Yernil had another Marking Arrow in her hand.
Arrow Retrieval!
The 2nd-tier archer skill brought the just-fired arrow back to her grasp.
Yernil’s arrow was nocked on her bowstring again.
Twang!
But the newly fired arrow wasn’t a Marking Arrow, but a normal one.
Even Richard, watching from above, couldn’t comprehend what was happening, so Verdure must have been completely lost.
It didn’t even notice Back Attack flying in behind its neck.
Leaping Ambush.
The rogue’s skill wasn’t meant to stab Verdure.
As the normal arrow flying from the front was deflected by Verdure’s horn, Back Attack reached out his hand toward Yernil.
Plunder!
To snatch the retrieved Marking Arrow.
CRUNCH!
The arrowhead sank into the back of Verdure’s neck.
*
“Gaaaaaaahk!”
The exit boss’s body twisted at a bizarre angle.
The Hood of Flank Necrosis that Back Attack wore added necrosis magic to bladed weapons when attacking from the side.
A fatal tissue collapse began to spread from its nape.
That wasn’t all.
The massive cloud of spores pouring down from above took root in the wound.
From the small mark on its neck where its resistance had been nullified, mushrooms began to sprout.
The status effect inflicted was ‘Laughter.’
“Kihihit!”
Verdure’s body shook as it burst into laughter.
“Kihihihit! Kihit!”
Rotten flesh fell from its decaying neck.
Pus and blood oozed out.
And the sound of its laughter echoed all around.
Amidst the insane scene, Back Attack clamped a hand over his mouth.
If Verdure was exposed to the spores, what did that mean?
It meant that Back Attack, who had run right up to its neck to plant the arrow, was also exposed.
Aimus, who had used the mushroom cap as a shield, was relatively safe, but Back Attack was bound to fall victim to a fatal status effect…
Magic-Tipped Arrow!
Yernil fired another arrow.
The scroll, exuding a blue chill, was a Rapid Freezing Tube.
CRACK!
The arrow struck Back Attack, trapping him as if he were in a coffin of ice.
The frozen block of Back Attack fell to the floor.
The spores couldn’t penetrate the ice. The status effect was halted.
What did I just see?
Richard’s thought process momentarily froze as well.
Is that really how Plunder and the Freezing Tube are supposed to be used?
CRASH! BANG!
The monster had gone completely insane and was now ramming its head into the wall.
Verdure could no longer even distinguish between enemies and objects. Perhaps the infecting spores had triggered not only ‘Laughter’ but also despair or confusion.
How did this happen?
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't quite believe the scene that had just unfolded.
In the one or two seconds it took for the giant mushroom cap to fall, in that fleeting moment, two 5th-floor adventurers had passed something back and forth like a ping-pong ball and completely neutralized an exit boss.
How is this possible?
As he was still reeling from the shock,
“Aimus! Richard!”
Yernil, having landed on the ground, yelled.
“Let’s go!”
Aimus was the first to leap forcefully in Yernil’s direction.
The mushroom was still quite high even after crashing to the ground, but he had a way to land safely.
Steel Parasol.
He opened the magical parasol in mid-air, using the air resistance to slow his descent.
CRASH! BANG! BOOM!
Verdure continued to slam into the wall.
In the meantime, Richard jumped down from the mushroom.
Having already received spore resistance treatment from Dorothy before entering the 6th floor, Richard had no fear of being in the middle of the mushroom spores.
And now, he no longer feared Verdure either.
Not a beast that had been neutralized to this extent.
“Kihihihihit!”
Verdure’s neck, which it couldn’t stop ramming into the wall as it laughed uncontrollably.
Richard raised his sword, aiming for the spot that was severely necrotized and had its defense lowered.
Spinal Severing Strike.
The 6th-floor warrior’s attack, like the blade of a guillotine, cleanly severed Verdure’s neck.
*
The ice melted.
The Rapid Freezing Tube had a very high chance of inflicting a status effect and was perfect for incapacitation, but it didn’t deal much damage.
Back Attack groaned and came to his senses.
“Back Attack! Are you okay?!”
Aimus grabbed his shoulders and shook him vigorously.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. What happened to the deer bastard?”
“Richard got it.”
Aimus gave the credit to the orc warrior, but Richard felt extremely uncomfortable.
To be honest, the three 5th-floor adventurers had done practically everything in this fight.
“I just landed the last hit…”
“But seriously, Yernil, are you crazy?!” Back Attack suddenly grabbed Yernil and yelled.
“You shot me with a magic arrow! I almost froze to death!”
“What?” Yernil shouted back, dumbfounded. “You would’ve been infected by the spores otherwise! You should be thanking me!”
“Thank you? Whose fault do you think it is that I jumped in there in the first place?!”
“Huh? Whose fault was it?”
“It’s your fault, you idiot! You couldn’t hit your shot, so I had to jump in myself!”
“Who told you to jump in?! If you hadn’t snatched it with Plunder, I would’ve hit it!”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“That’s terrifying. Who else were you planning to hit besides me? Aimus?”
“Verdure! I was going to hit Verdure!”
“Both of you, calm down,” Aimus soothed them. “You showed incredible teamwork, why are you fighting? Let’s find the way out.”
Richard led the party toward the iron door.
Surprisingly, without them doing anything, the door opened on its own.
“Richard!”
Beyond it stood Clorence and Kudrum.
“Where’s Dorothy?”
“Still trapped.”
“Did you take care of Verdure, Richard?”
“…Hmm. No.”
Richard shook his head and looked over at the 5th-floor party.
They were also reuniting with Caleb.
“Caleb!” Yernil bounced with excitement.
“Brother, you have no idea what an awesome play I just made in there.”
“You all did well.”
Caleb had his party back.
“But the door opened by itself?” Aimus asked.
“We pretended to be struggling at the door here instead of helping with the fight,” Caleb said, pointing toward the Gardener.
The mushrooms were annihilated.
The Blowgun Nymph, in its Fungal Army state, was left with only its lower half. For reference, its upper half…
“Chomp.”
…was being eaten by the Glutton.
The Gardener was crawling on the floor with one leg blown off. It had reached out to open this iron door before turning its head.
“Everyone, this way!”
Caleb led the group, running toward Bearhim’s corpse.
To feed everyone the Aether Mushrooms.