Dungeon (3): The Solar Bloom
The party members all slumped to the ground as they stared at the fallen Venus flytrap. No one was exempt.
“We… we won….”
Right up until the sunlight poured down over their heads once more, the word defeat had flashed before their eyes.
With relief that came too late, everyone let out a deep sigh.
Among them, Veronica—a fellow swordswoman who had watched Ian’s blade up close—looked puzzled.
“What was that just now? How did you do it?”
The skill Ian had used was the basic sword form Slash. No matter how strong she might be, it was common knowledge that a single-strike skill carried less damage than a double strike.
Yet Ian’s attack had dealt far greater damage than the wound Veronica herself had opened.
To her question, Ian answered indifferently.
“Nothing special. I just put the stats I’d been saving into the right place.”
“Huh? Stats?”
“I kept them in reserve just in case.”
Right before swinging the final blow, Ian had dumped all six of her unallocated stat points into Strength.
Her Strength had jumped from its original 20 to 26, causing the previously insufficient damage to surge dramatically. That was why she could sever the Venus flytrap’s stem in a single cut even with a basic skill.
Still, Ian smiled bitterly.
I won’t be able to invest in Strength for a while.
She had originally thought it would be smarter to raise her Magic stat. In this third zone she had benefited far more from magic than from swordplay.
But in that decisive moment, pouring everything into Strength had been the best choice. Even if she had used magic, the plant would have regenerated faster than it could be burned to ash.
Nevertheless, a faint regret lingered. She shook her head sharply to chase the distracting thoughts about stats from her mind.
“Anyway, let’s rest a little before we move on.”
The sun was still high in the sky. There was no need to exhaust themselves by rushing.
After their short break, Ian’s party set out once more. This time a colorful array of carnivorous flowers burst from the ground to block their path.
Once again the floral ambush failed to threaten the players. On top of that, Veronica and Aya had risen from level 16 to 17 after the previous fight, so the battles ended even more smoothly than before.
Before long Ian’s party stood before the second gatekeeper, the Blood Rose.
[Lv 19. Blood Rose]
It was an annoying creature that recovered health every time it was pierced by its own thorns. Yet Ian’s party—composed entirely of evasion-type dealers—defeated the bloodsucking rose even more easily than they had the Venus flytrap.
As a reward, Lily, Zola, and Naira each gained a level. After that, the monster waves were no longer an obstacle. Ian’s party advanced quickly toward the place where Solar Bloom awaited.
And at last—
“Is that the Solar Bloom?”
“Isn’t that just a giant sunflower?”
“Whoa… it’s enormous.”
Even from far away they could see the colossal golden flower greedily drinking in both ley-line energy and sunlight.
[Lv 20. Solar Bloom]
The Destroyer of the Sun—one of Durigarda’s four elite monsters alongside the Alraune.
Confronted with its overwhelming majesty, Ian spoke calmly.
“Let’s wait until night falls.”
The sun had already drawn close to the horizon.
Meanwhile, in the dungeon north of the outpost, the group attacking the ruined temple encountered a monster that trailed thorny vines like roots.
[Lv 20. Juggernaut]
It was the guardian tree that had once protected Durigarda in ancient times. Now a corrupted executor, it swung its vines at the players.
Emily blocked the vine with her shield and shouted to the rear line.
“Fire magic—launch!”
At her command, spheres of flame appeared from behind and streaked toward the Juggernaut.
-BOOM!
The players’ fire magic slammed into the creature’s body. Embers flew as the massive frame staggered.
The Juggernaut’s eyes turned toward the mages in the players’ rear. A long thorny vine whipped forward like a lash.
-CLANG!
But the shield users guarding the mages moved at exactly the right moment. In the opening they created, the finished fire spells flew at the Juggernaut once again.
The pattern repeated. Block the vines, fire the magic, block the vines again. The harmony of offense and defense brought a small smile to Emily’s lips.
This combination really is perfect.
A total of seven people were participating in the Juggernaut raid: three shield users including Emily and four mages including Mugi.
At first even Emily had been half skeptical. Concentrating all the mages in one place would inevitably burden the other parties.
Yet after listening to Kalinia’s advice and choosing this formation, she became certain. This was the right answer.
Every player present felt the same. Each spell cast and each vine blocked turned doubt into conviction.
At this pace victory was only a matter of time. The tanks held on with grim tenacity while the mages hurled flame magic with desperate focus.
And finally—
-THUD…
The corrupted guardian tree burned and collapsed at the center of the temple.
Having successfully cleared the dungeon, Emily savored the joy of victory and gazed toward the other dungeon where the rest of the players had gone.
“I hope they succeed too.”
She prayed for the victory of those still fighting there.
In the eastern dungeon at the outpost—the Hill of Winds—Adrian’s group was locked in combat with an elite monster.
[Lv 20. Silent Orchid]
Durigarda’s silent assassin.
The orchid swung its leaves, sending blades of wind flying at the players.
“Naser!”
“Iron Wall!”
Naser, the team’s only shield user, raised his shield and stopped the barrage of blades.
In the opening he created, Adrian, the other axe warrior Nate, and the lone swordsman Kai sliced down the orchid leaves sprouting beneath their feet.
“We can’t let them grow!”
“On it!”
“These things are growing faster than I expected, though?”
Yet far more orchids were sprouting than they could cut away.
That was why it was called the silent assassin: the orchids would grow unnoticed beneath their feet and take their lives. Even at a distance they could generate fresh gusts of wind.
With too few shields to guard the front, ignoring the growing orchids was a direct path to defeat. So the players with bladed weapons desperately hacked them down.
As a result, the three remaining spearmen had to handle all attacks on the main body.
“Drive!”
“Twin Spear!”
“Swing!”
Their spears, longer than the orchid’s leaves, easily stabbed and struck the white flower that formed its core.
The problem was the ever-increasing wind. Adrian’s brow furrowed.
If we only had one more swordsman or axeman…
They could have dealt with the growing orchids.
But Ian and Veronica had already left for the Solar Bloom dungeon. No more swordsmen or axemen remained. They had to win with the people they had.
Yet the orchids kept multiplying, and the wind swirling toward the players grew fiercer than before.
What now?
Then Kalinia’s earlier advice rose in Adrian’s mind.
When facing the Silent Orchid, time will not be on your side.
He hadn’t understood the meaning then, but now he did. They could not win with their current method.
In that case—
“Forget defense! Everyone charge!”
The only remaining option was to finish the fight before the orchids could multiply any further.
The sudden order left the players stunned.
“Adrian! Are you crazy—”
“We’ll be strangled to death at this rate! We have to end it here.”
Though anxiety gripped their hearts, their heads understood Adrian’s judgment.
“Ugh, screw it! All or nothing!”
“Yeah, what’s worse than dying?”
“I’ll still block with everything I’ve got until the end!”
Besides, everyone gathered here favored Strength over Agility. When it came to burst damage, they were confident they wouldn’t lose to anyone.
Intense light swirled around the players’ weapons. Then they all began a ferocious charge toward the main body.
Countless wind blades appeared in the air and rushed at them. Even though Naser used his charge skill to block as many as possible, small cuts multiplied across the players’ bodies.
Yet their charge never stopped.
“Stampede!”
“Drive!”
“Sword Rush!”
All at once their attacks exploded against the main body. Ignoring their wounds, they poured every powerful skill they possessed into the assault.
And at last—
-SLICE!
Adrian’s axe severed the Silent Orchid’s flower.
“We… we won….”
Everyone sank to the ground with sighs of relief, finally realizing they had survived.
“Anyone badly hurt?”
“No. It stings, but… if we’d been any slower I wouldn’t have been so sure.”
“Yeah. That was a good call.”
While they savored the afterglow of battle, the sky slowly turned the color of sunset.
Gazing at the sinking sun, Adrian muttered.
“I wonder how things are going over there.”
His eyes turned south—toward the Sun’s Garden, where the decisive battle against Solar Bloom would soon take place.
Everyone present was hoping for the girls’ victory.
But.
In the Sun’s Garden that had fallen into night—
-KABOOM!
“N-no… I… I…”
“Ian! What are you doing?! Snap out of it! Hey!”
The heavy shadow of defeat hung thick in the air.