Chapter 66
“3rd Floor Raid (2)”:
3.
To be honest, I thought the raid wouldn’t be all that different from a regular fight.
That’s how it had been so far.
No matter how much the Abyss tried to intimidate us, it was all bark, no bite.
A hollow steamed bun — tasty on the outside, but empty inside.
But this raid was different. Definitely different.
[<The Twilight Knights> are charging toward the twilight!]
[<Commander Belmorin> is dominating the twilight!]
Still, I invested some magic into the “mortar.”
About three percent of my current mana?
Saying “three percent” sounds small, but that power was enough to wreck most squads.
Yet my decisive opening only killed a single knight. At the moment of the explosion someone over there generated a dusk-lit shield.
That someone was probably the loud-voiced commander who had cried out,
【Crush those who are unworthy of honor!】
He swung his mana-imbued sword a few times, then once more cloaked his knights in that dusk-lit shield.
The other knights spurred their horses while wearing that shield.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-!
The quiet plain was suddenly filled with the thunder of hooves and shouts.
In an instant the field turned into a battlefield.
The murderous aura from twenty-four knights covered the plain, and some players, shaken by that aura, stepped back.
“Run….”
“We can’t— we can’t win! We can’t win!”
—Why are they like that?
—You don’t know until you try — short and long, test it out.
—Still, this is supposed to be Korea’s rep, seeing them like that’s rough;
—Party leader, do something.
—But didn’t that commander get hit by the Meteor skill just now? Why is he fine?
The chat seemed to mirror the raid’s mood.
I thought I’d try to seize the initiative with a decisive strike, but it didn’t go terribly well.
And as the viewers said,
‘This is odd.’
The commander had clearly been bombarded by my “mortar.” It was almost a precision bombardment — yet he was fine.
It wasn’t that his shield just blocked it; like the lich we’d met before, he completely nullified the attack.
Was Abyss power at work?
“Meteor player! What do we do?” shouted Shiomi Yui toward me from the center of the raid formation, the spare team.
“Give orders!”
Since this was a raid there would be specific mechanics.
I wanted to kill that “commander” outright, but instinct told me that wasn’t possible.
We needed a strategy.
I abandoned my initial goal of going on a solo rampage in the raid.
So many viewers were watching. Wearing the heavy responsibility of raid leader meant minimizing casualties.
What to handle first?
The knights’ charge.
In medieval Earth, in Avalon’s battles — knights were the core of combat.
“Magic-class players. Cast your skills that reduce movement speed simultaneously.”
If we were exposed to the charge with no adequate stopping tools, we’d suffer heavy losses.
Wa-a-a-aah-!
Hiiiiiing-!
The sound of horses and knights had grown closer.
Collision in ten seconds.
I could see several players, shields raised in front, trembling, but they didn’t take a step back.
“Tank players! All fall back!”
Time was short; I barked a hurried order.
Some tank players shouted back without looking:
“We can hold! We will—”
“Shut up and pull back!”
I snapped at them; they awkwardly retreated. Then I lightly tapped Peanut’s rear.
“We can’t break today’s no-death streak on day one.”
Today’s raid? We’d finish it with zero deaths.
First job: deal with those horses.
Drop them off their mounts, then force a straight-up brawl. If they’re more mobile than us, first force their mobility down to our level.
“Peanut.”
『Woof!』
“Turn the ground over.”
To figure out the mechanics, first neutralize that charge.
Charge? Sure. Loud and destructive.
But hey—
“If you don’t have ground to step on, what can you charge with?”
[Unique Trait <Skill Archive – Lebon the Slayer>]
[<Skill: Intermediate Earth Spiritcraft – Earth Liquefaction>]
About twenty percent of my mana leaked out instantly, but it was okay.
Spiritcraft is cost-effective compared to magic.
Spending 20% of my mana meant the effect would be sure.
As soon as I used spiritcraft, the ground in front of the knights melted and slumped.
Hiiiiing-!
Hiiiiing-!
Horses charging at insane speed sank into the ground that had turned into a swamp.
—Why did they suddenly sink?
—It’s a bog.
—Wasn’t this a field a second ago?
—lol
—Wow that was scary
—That charge was brutal, look at it
—Whose skill was that?
—Who else but Meteo, right?
—Nope, it wasn’t Meteo, it was Jjang-kong (Big Peanut) who cast it
—Big Peanut!
But it didn’t end there.
“Hey, do you know knights’ weakness?”
They wore plate armor.
That was common knowledge I’d picked up in Avalon.
“They can’t relieve themselves while wearing armor.”
And that sparked a strategy I’d devised.
I cast magic toward the liquefied ground.
[Unique Trait <Skill Archive – Belua, Mad Towermaster>]
[<Skill: 3rd Circle Magic – Curse of the Plague>]
[Target’s magic resistance is high, but it was significantly lowered by <Intermediate Spiritcraft – Earth Liquefaction>!]
[Curse success!]
Curse of the Plague.
Belua — that crazy mage — had specially crafted this original spell. Its effect was vicious.
Skin rashes, stomach cramps, high fever — and especially the skin itching and abdominal pain.
Even necromancers grudgingly acknowledged its potency.
Your skin itches like crazy and your stomach cramps so badly you need to find a bathroom immediately.
You can’t take off your armor by yourself in that state.
Uuuuuuugh-!
Aaaaah!
“You can’t take off your armor and you’re crawling up and down? You just die like that.”
—Ew
—lol
—ewww lol
—That’s evil
—So that’s the boss monster and they’re the righteous heroes?
—Uh… this is a bit;
—Professor;;; class is moving too fast ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
—Breaking news) Satan unemployed
—Now who’s the bad guy?
—lol their personalities are nuts
This was fair enough.
I looked at the “commander” with a wicked grin.
He grew angrier and bellowed:
【You are an evil black mage! Do you think this pitiful scheme will work on us?】
[Successfully stopped the knights’ charge!]
[<Commander Belmorin> liberates one level of <Twilight Power>!]
[Special pattern <Twilight Glory> begins.]
[<Commander Belmorin> is drowned in twilight!]
Oh — that was Phase 1?
As I skimmed that message and nodded, someone shouted,
“The enemies are coming up!”
“They’re going… their eyes are all rolled back! Raid leader! Orders!”
The knights stuck in the swamp started trudging their way out one by one.
Of course they were not in normal condition.
Those vigorous knights were gone; every single one was wobbling.
Good — Phase 2 start!
Anyone who’s played raid content will empathize.
How brutal the vanguard is.
The so-called “perclear run.”
The reason the run toward the first clear is brutal is because you have to verify mechanics directly and figure out how to counter them.
The Abyss was no different.
“Those who can apply debuffs, put them on! Take them down one by one!”
“Lead shield team! Push them back into the sewer with the shield!”
“Push push push!”
Our raid members started referring to Peanut’s liquefied ground as “the sewer.”
Quite an apt name.
In the previous charge phase — Phase 1 — the commander had only spoken and not moved. Phase 2 was different.
【Vile. If you cast aside honor to seize victory, nothing will remain.】
Though his subordinates had fallen from their horses and were stuck in the sewer, the commander was different.
His warhorse was massive — twice the size of the other mounts.
He took up a spear and aimed it at us.
【All you will take away is a miserable defeat.】
Vroom-!
The commander finished his line and launched a charge.
The dusk-lit knight galloped toward us. Unlike his subordinates, the dusk glow around him intensified the closer he got.
—He’s coming
—How do we stop that?
—oh noooo
—We’ll cut him off at the sewer line for sure
—Isn’t that too complacent? Do something!
I wasn’t going to stand idly by.
I drew my bow at the charging commander and used a skill.
“Giant Slayer.”
[Unique Trait <Skill Archive – Lebon the Slayer>]
[Skill: Lebon-Style Archery No.3 – Giant Slayer]
A mana arrow the size of something you couldn’t call an arrow formed and flew straight toward the commander.
Whether firing a mortar, a column, or arrow, Lebon’s teaching that archery is archery still held.
Paaang-!
With an awesome sonic boom the huge arrow shot toward the commander.
Its power could crush a real tank in one hit.
A normal mind would dodge it or deflect it with a spear.
Actually, fully dodging would be the correct move.
But the commander stubbornly plowed straight through. As if he didn’t care about the arrow.
【Pathetic!】
Kwaaaaaaang-!
He was more like a charging tank than anything.
The commander rammed through the ‘arrow.’ There was a massive explosion, but the arrow did no damage to him.
[<Commander Belmorin>’s <Twilight Veil> nullifies your attack!]
—Is he a monster?
—Didn’t that just sound like a missile exploding? Why’s he fine?
—Is this balance right?
—So what are we supposed to do?
We couldn’t spare time for spectators’ fussing.
After the arrow, the commander reached the sewer line and pulled back his reins without hesitation.
Then —
Hiiiiing-!
The horse screamed like a beast and leaped up.
Danger.
If that speed hit our tanks, they’d die instantly.
No need to overthink it.
“Annoying,” I muttered.
I leapt forward without hesitation.
In just a few seconds, the commander ran across the ground turned into a swamp and reached our formation.
Hiiiiing-!
The monstrous horse roared. The tanks who had been barely holding the other knights white-faced in terror.
【Die.】
The commander attempted a lance charge with that speed and force.
Swoooore-!
Just as the lance tried to impale our raid members, I luckily timed myself and stepped in front.
[Unique Trait <Skill Archive – Lebon the Slayer>]
[Skill: Intermediate Spiritcraft – Earth Shield]
I formed a solid shield with spiritcraft right before impact.
I thought I could block it easily, but —
Kwaaaaaaang-!
Kwaaaang-!
When I came to my senses, I was flying backward.
Wow, what the hell.
Was this guy spicier than anything I’d faced back on Earth?
—????
—We’re doomed
—Why did that happen? Why did that happen?
—I’m not staying to watch, I’m heading to Gangwon-do first
—Start prepping evacuation, folks
—This is legit over
I checked the chat as I somersaulted twice in the air, then landed lightly.
A perfect landing.
“Pft.”
I casually spat blood onto the ground and wiped my mouth.
People overreact too much.
Sometimes spitting blood is good for circulation.
Still, one thing good came out of this.
Thanks to that lance charge, I found a way to break the invulnerability pattern.
[Unique Trait <Skill Archive – Lebon the Slayer>]
[Skill: Eye of the World Tree]
A guiding eye.
Through that eye I saw a thin string-like thread on the commander’s back.
That thread was still connected to the knights floundering in the sewer.
When he had pulled massive mana to attempt the lance charge, I saw via that thread a lump of mana stream along it from his underlings into him.
Hmm.
A few deducible facts.
The thread connects to his subordinates and supplies him massive mana.
A likely conclusion?
The invincible pattern is related to his subordinates.
I spoke to the raid through my earpiece.
“I’ve figured out the mechanic.”
I stretched lazily and told the raid cheerfully.
“Phase 2 strategy begins.”
Now it’s time to break the invulnerability.
