The Last Statue
I turned to Hakon that day we first stood before the nameless stone slab and asked him, “Hakon, whose foundation is this, exactly?”
Why was this particular slab the only one with nothing carved into it, unlike all the others?
His answer from back then still lingers clearly in my mind, even now, a week later.
“I do not know.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“The people of Lundel… no, not even the chieftain knows. All we have ever been told is that it has existed since time immemorial.”
But then.
Hakon closed his eyes and brought his hands together in a reverent gesture.
His face was usually arrogant and irritating, yet in that moment it was filled with genuine respect for someone.
“I do not know whose slab it is, but whenever I stand before this foundation, something deep in my chest grows fiercely hot.”
I hadn’t understood him at the time. But the instant the statue’s name appeared, I realized exactly who the owner of that slab was.
The Great Warrior Ragna.
The true master of the clothes I was wearing.
The final remaining statue—the Great Warrior Ragna.
Even though there was only one left, no one let their guard down.
Unlike the other statues, where we had been able to infer at least some information, no matter how thoroughly we searched Lundel we had found nothing about Ragna. The only thing we knew was that he used a spear.
And on top of that—
His level went up another stage.
A boss’s level wasn’t all that important in itself, but the pressure it exerted simply by existing was impossible to ignore.
Everyone kept their eyes fixed on the statue, ready to react at any moment.
Then the statue lowered its stance and leveled its spear at the players.
That stance… isn’t that Hakon’s?
How could the statue’s posture be identical to his? There was no time to dwell on the question.
-Swish!
“Huh?”
The statue vanished from sight in an instant.
“Above! It’s above us!”
It had already appeared directly over the players’ heads, driving its spear straight down.
-Aaaargh!
The ground exploded. Screams tore through the air.
Despite being fully prepared, not a single person managed to react to the boss’s movement.
In the meantime, the statue drew its spear far back behind its waist. A crimson glow enveloped the weapon.
Basic spear skill, second form. One-strike sweep—Swing.
The statue’s spear traced a red crescent through the air, and a fountain of blood erupted beneath it.
In the blink of an eye, the formation collapsed into utter chaos. People fleeing, people sent flying from the impact, and people who would never move again.
At the horrific sight, Emily clenched her teeth and shouted.
“Everyone, evasive maneuvers! Shield-bearers, obstruct its movements as much as possible!”
She gave the order, but she held no confidence that they could actually stop it. They were simply throwing themselves forward to slow it down even a little.
As expected, the tanks who collided with the spear were sent bouncing away helplessly. Emily was no exception. No matter how many times she raised her shield, her body was soon left in tatters.
Even so, she tried to block the boss like a zombie, desperate to buy even a little more time.
“It’s too fast!”
“There’s no way to land a hit like that.”
The boss’s blinding speed caused every arrow and spell to miss, failing to score a single valid strike.
“Ugh! The reach is way too long!”
“We can’t get close!”
The long range of the spear kept the melee dealers from approaching recklessly.
Casualties continued to mount. The number of players still charging at the boss had already dropped below half.
Ian panted heavily as she scanned her surroundings.
At this rate, we’re going to lose.
The tide had clearly turned against them. Even if she used Haste again, she wasn’t confident she could keep up with the statue’s movements.
Isn’t there any way?
All that remained were the shattered fragments of the destroyed statues. There was nothing in sight that could serve as a gimmick to stop its movement.
At that moment, the boss’s spear thrust straight toward her. She barely managed to deflect it with the flat of her blade and slipped into the statue’s guard.
She swung her sword. Solid rock blocked the strike.
Seizing the opening, the statue’s spear came rushing at Ian. She rolled across the ground to dodge, but a relentless barrage of attacks poured down on her.
It feels like I’m fighting a giant version of Hakon.
Maybe because they were both great warriors, their attacks were strikingly similar. That was also why she could barely avoid them. Having watched Hakon’s spear for so long, she could predict the trajectories.
But her exhausted body felt as heavy as if weights had been tied to it. The spear’s long reach and devastating power kept piling damage onto everyone around her.
Even so, Ian and the remaining players fought desperately against the statue.
By now, only about ten people were still standing on the foundation. The statue had taken considerable damage as well, yet its movements showed no sign of slowing.
If it would just stop for a second… just one second…
That was all they needed.
If they could pin it down for even a single second, they could bring it down.
Just then, Emily approached Ian’s side.
“I’ll handle the defense. Ian, focus entirely on attacking.”
“But in your current condition, by yourself…”
“No. This is the right call.”
Even putting it kindly, Emily’s condition could not be called fine.
Her shield was on the verge of shattering, one arm was bent at a grotesque angle, and her entire body was drenched in blood.
The question of why the game would implement injuries this realistically wasn’t important right now.
What mattered was that if time kept passing like this, she would die.
The only way to save Emily was to defeat the boss and claim the level-up rewards before it was too late.
The same was true for the other players. Emily, who understood that better than anyone, had offered to hold the line herself. Realizing this, Ian gritted her teeth.
“All right. I’ll buy us as much time as I can.”
Ian handed over every last stamina potion she had left to Emily.
Since she was in relatively better shape, she could withstand a couple of the statue’s attacks. To seize this final chance, they needed time to regroup.
Ian stepped directly into the path of the statue as it charged toward the players.
“Sorry, but your opponent is me.”
A half-hearted resolve wouldn’t be enough to block that spear. She swung a skill at the incoming weapon.
“Slash!”
The spear’s trajectory veered off course. The boss’s gaze shifted toward Ian, who had knocked its weapon aside.
[How dare a mere insect.]
The boss had been about to slam its spear down indifferently, but its gaze lingered on Ian for a moment.
[Wait… that attire…]
The design had changed, but it was unmistakably the clothing of the person who had once sealed the master of this land. After confirming Ian’s face once more, the boss burst into laughter.
[Oh-ho. To think the savior of this generation would turn out to be a frail woman.]
Its spear point turned toward Ian, determined to repay the nightmare from that time once and for all.
[Very well. I shall tear you limb from limb myself.]
The spear blade hurtled toward Ian.
-Boom!
It got faster?
She had dodged, but the boss’s spear was sharper than when they had faced it before.
Still—
This is my chance while its attention is on me.
For the first time, Ian felt grateful for the embarrassing outfit she was wearing. Without it, drawing the boss’s focus would have been far more difficult.
She leaped into the air to avoid the spear.
“Sword Rush!”
Then she activated the skill to forcibly twist her trajectory and dodge the follow-up attack.
Her muscles screamed in protest. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she charged toward the statue’s cracked leg.
-Clang!
Damage is still too low.
But there was no better option in the current situation. All she could do was buy time until the others were ready.
She knocked away the persistently pursuing spear with her sword, dodged what she couldn’t block, and swung whenever an opening appeared to chip away even a little damage.
Every single moment felt like walking a tightrope. Once again, Ian’s vision burned hot.
“Slash!”
She struck aside the spear that came crashing down at her.
But she couldn’t keep up this precarious acrobatics forever. The boss, waiting for exactly this moment, suddenly changed direction and slammed the long shaft of its spear into her torso.
“Guh!”
Her body flew like a baseball, slamming into the wall of the foundation.
The impact to her stomach and back forced a rush of blood from her mouth.
[I’ve finally caught you, you annoying little fly.]
The statue raised its spear high, preparing to finish off the defenseless Ian for good.
It was the stance of the charge skill, Drive. A crimson light of finality swirled around the tip of the boss’s spear.
In that instant, Emily’s figure stepped in front of Ian.
“Shield Charge!”
Having recovered some stamina, she rushed straight at the boss.
[Pathetic!]
Spear and shield collided.
As expected, Emily was the one pushed back. The violent charge twisted her arm once again.
“Haaaaah!”
Even so, Emily refused to let go of her shield, screaming with everything she had.
-Crunch!
The shield finally shattered completely. The boss’s spear pierced straight through her body.
“Cough!”
It was a fatal wound. She should have died instantly.
But Emily smiled. And then she shouted.
“Now!”
Her final act of buying time at the cost of her own life.
At the same time, every player who had been waiting for this exact moment—even those who had been rendered unable to fight—unleashed their final attacks at the statue.
[You think such childish tricks will work on me?!]
The enraged boss tried to yank its spear free from Emily’s torso. But she poured out the last of her strength to cling to the weapon, buying the players one precious second.
Just one second. Yet that single second was enough to change everything.
Arrows and spells that had kept missing now struck the boss. Melee dealers’ skills, even simple thrown attacks, hammered against the solid stone.
-Crack!
[N-no!]
The statue that had seemed impossible to topple began to crumble.
Its cracked leg and arm shattered into fragments and fell to the ground.
But—
[Even so, I cannot forgive any of you!]
The arm still holding the unbroken spear. With a roar of fury, the boss drew back the blood-soaked weapon over its shoulder.
The boss—the master of Baltor—had sensed it. With the statue crumbling and the power sealed in the slab, this was its limit.
If so, it would take everyone here with it as companions on the road to death.
The moment crimson light began to swirl around its spear—
A gust of wind blew across the boss’s vision.
“We won.”
[Wh-what?!]
Ian.
She swung her final strike at the stone slab embedded in the statue’s chest.
“Slash!”
A blue trajectory split the slab apart.
Congratulations! You have cleared the boss!
May 26, 2038.
It was the moment their two-week-long raid finally succeeded.