NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47
At the one-third point, there was a sudden change in the explosion pattern, but Chris and her party members got through safely. And they succeeded in depleting Aspero’s HP entirely.
[Level 40 Demon Commander Aspero]
[HP 1/6,000,000]
But Aspero wasn’t falling!
Sensing something amiss, Chris shouted to her party members, “It’s not over! There’s something more!”
Boom!
Wuuuuuuuung.
Aspero slammed the chimera’s arm into the ground.
At that moment, numerous orbs began filling the entire combat area.
“All-direction Explosion! Bae Merong! What’s the cooldown on Ice Prison?!”
“2 seconds, 1 second. It’s ready to use now!”
“Use Ice Prison first!”
Shrrrraaa.
The party members’ bodies froze. Soon, the magical orbs exploded in unison.
Kaboom!
“Ugh, this pattern has no safe zone! We have to use all our invincibility skills and party protection!”
“Why isn’t it ending!?”
Wuuuuuuuung.
Without any break, countless orbs were generated again.
Second explosion pattern.
“Undine!”
Fwhoosh!
With Cherni’s shout, a giant water droplet surrounded the party members.
Kaboom!
The second explosion was avoided thanks to the Spirit Mage’s ‘Water Shield’ skill.
“Prepare for the third explosion! There’s definitely going to be one! We have to survive individually!”
Wuuuuuuuung.
As soon as Chris finished her sentence, purple orbs filled the combat area, a precursor to the third explosion.
Tap tap.
Kaboom!
This time, all four members successfully used Backstep to evade the pattern.
But the explosions were not over yet.
Wuuuuuuuung.
“What!? No way!”
An unexpected fourth area-wide attack, but the skilled Chris’s raid party reacted without hesitation.
Kaboom!
Swoosh.
The fighter Deathly Death used the ‘Counterattack’ skill in response to the explosion resistance.
Fortunately, at this point, all ranged classes had their own invincibility skills other than Backward Evasion.
Dozens of talismans generated around Chris’s body prevented the explosion, shredding to pieces. The flames surrounding Bae Merong dissipated, and the rocks surrounding Cherni crumbled.
They got through the fourth explosion safely. Was it truly over?
But ‘Demon Commander Aspero’ simply betrayed the party’s expectations.
Wuuuuuuuung.
Fifth explosion. This time, there was no escape. All invincibility skills were on cooldown.
The faces of the entire party turned pale.
Kaboom!
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh!”
The party members swept away by the fifth explosion flew in all directions. Each of their HP was hitting rock bottom.
And then, the sixth explosion.
“Can we Backstep!?”
“Can we? Ah, I don’t think so!”
Just barely, they were a bit short on cooldown.
If they did not evade the third explosion at the exact right timing, the cooldown for Backstep wouldn’t return.
Chris screamed, “This, this is cheating! How are we supposed to clear this!”
Kaboom!
Amidst the explosions covering everywhere, the roar of Deathly Death echoed.
Woooaaah!
The last thing the party members saw in the explosion was the figure of the fighter, now transformed into a dragon, Deathly Death.
Tatatahat!
Revived at the entrance of the stairs leading to Area 3, Chris’s raid party hurriedly climbed the stairs.
Deathly Death had not revived. It meant he was still alive.
If the battle continued, the barrier preventing outside access would remain. It was impossible to intrude after resurrection. But they needed to check the situation.
And when the party members reached the battle area with Aspero again, they saw Deathly Death with his fist extended, frozen still, and Aspero’s body slowly disintegrating into dust.
The party members cheered.
“Y-Yeah! We did it!”
“How did we do it!? Deathly, how did you live?”
“Sigh.”
Relaxing his posture and lightly exhaling, Deathly Death shared his skill interface with the party members.
[Dragon Fist]
[Invincible while casting]
[Cooldown 1 minute]
Chris gasped in awe. “A new skill from the Training Tower…!”
“Was the invincibility tied to the new skill intended for use? It was so short it felt almost nonexistent?”
“A skill that pierces straight through enemies with a fist infused with the dragon’s power. It has invincibility for a fleeting moment until it meets the enemy. It was a gamble, but thankfully, it seems to have worked out.”
Chris patted Deathly Death on the back, bursting into laughter. “Hahaha! Alright, alright! Deathly, I’ll lift the restriction on the company’s test room for you!”
“Mhm!”
Deathly Death tightly closed his eyes and clenched his fist.
“So, we cleared this time, but do we have to get through six area-wide explosions every time? The difficulty seems too high.”
In response to Cherni’s grumbling, Chris shook her head.
“No. Just use the invincibility cooldown calculation properly. Just now, since it was the first time seeing this pattern, we activated the safest party protection skill first, right?”
Bae Merong instantly grasped Chris’s point. “Ah…! If we use the invincibility skills with shorter cooldowns first!”
“Yep. You can use it one more time. Similarly, by using other invincibility skills in order of their cooldowns, the party protection will reset in the middle. If you just grasp the explosion intervals and the number of times in the Desperation Pattern, there’s no need to pull off monkey tricks like Deathly did.”
“Cough. Monkey tricks, huh? I am the top contributor to this strategy’s success. I hope I get the recognition I deserve.”
“Still, the difficulty remains. There are still many people who haven’t utilized Backward Evasion; the physical demands keep rising.”
“In the end, it’s a matter of repeated practice. Even with synchronization limiters, if you trial it dozens of times until the timing becomes muscle memory, you’ll get it.”
Chris smiled triumphantly.
They had cleared the first encounter with the named boss’s Desperation Pattern on the first try. This time, she would surely beat the Noname party.
“So, is Chris’s raid party the one who beat the record? Who turned on the area announcement?”
“…Huh!”
Bae Merong, checking the area announcement, gasped.
“T-This is from five minutes ago. So it popped up while we were trying.”
“What!?”
[‘Noname’ party has succeeded in the first defeat of the Elite Dungeon, ‘Aspero’s Fortress!’]
*
Cough, cough. Phew.
After the battle ended and, upon consuming a potion, my previously depleted HP slowly began to rise.
I wrapped my arms around myself, waiting for the terrible pain to fade.
A moment later, when the pain completely subsided, I reflected on this battle.
“So that’s the 0% Desperation Pattern.”
Orb explosions filled the entire combat area. A total of six times.
Backward Evasion, Counterattack, One Flash in order to resist three times.
And for the fourth time, with the cooldown for Backward Evasion returning, and for the fifth time the Counterattack. It was all okay up to here.
However, there was no way to dodge the sixth explosion.
Of course, as long as you weren’t right next to the orb, it wouldn’t be an instant kill. You could eat one hit and still clear.
But…
“It hurts. It really hurts.”
I whined.
If Bae Merong or Cherni were there, I would’ve at least had a party shield for one hit.
“Sigh.”
I let out a light sigh.
This was a solo play I took upon myself. Complaining is useless.
As long as there’s no way to dodge the sixth magical explosion, I’d have to endure terrible pain every time I run it, but as long as I don’t die, I just need to hang in there for a bit.
Anyway, Rain! You cleared it excellently this time too!
I forced a smile, clenched my fist, and raised it triumphantly.
Finally, it was time to check the reward items.
Doo bang doo bang.
Confidently striding toward the item chest left by Aspero, I was ready to seize my victory rights.
[Demon Commander Aspero’s Yin-Yang Jewel]
[Elite Grade]
[Attack Power 270]
[Increased damage for ‘Demon Sealing Technique’ by 40%]
[Socket 1: EMPTY]
[Socket 2: EMPTY]
(Bound upon equipping)
“Hah…!”
The attack power and skill multiplier were exactly what I expected.
But the most crucial fact was that starting with this weapon, I now had two Echo Stone slots.
Considering Zarkan’s weapon had only one slot, this was a significant upgrade.
I could now create various combinations of Echo Stones.
Stat boost, lifesteal combos. Or perhaps, attack power and lifesteal would work well.
I checked how many ‘Zarkan Tokens’ I had to see.
After completing Zarkan farming, I had mostly just been running for easy rides, so I hadn’t accumulated many tokens from upgrading accessories.
But I had been steadily doing my daily quests. With just a little more, I could buy one Echo Stone at full price to equip it.
And then, checking another item, I screamed in delight. “Whoa! An Echo Stone!”
[Purple Echo Stone]
[Weapon Socket Item]
[Power +30]
(Bound upon equipping)
A tradeable Echo Stone still holding a high price!
Each class’s main stat affects attack power, but it’s level lower than attack power Echo Stones. However, the stat increase can provide additional benefits in combat.
Especially for ‘projectiles’ that have holding skills tying the enemies down, they preferred the power stat Echo Stone over attack power Echo Stones.
The issue was that initial clearing users were gradually collecting all their Zarkan tokens and buying an Echo Stone at full price.
Zarkan weapons only had one slot; users who bought full-price wouldn’t need to buy expensive tradeable Echo Stones.
“But.”
Once I finished calculating, a mischievous grin spread across my face, and I tucked the Echo Stone carefully into my pocket.
This weapon has two slots.
To utilize both slots right away, I would need to buy one tradeable Echo Stone.
I had already collected one during my first Zarkan run.
“When Aspero weapons become common in the market, the price of tradeable Echo Stones will shoot up.”
I smiled widely and opened the auction house.
It was a pity that I hadn’t gotten my hands on a Zarkan weapon, but if I kept circling around the Black Rock, it would eventually drop.
The Yin-Yang Jewel I just acquired would also fetch a good price.
Pause.
Just as I was about to place the Yin-Yang Jewel in the auction house, someone’s face flashed through my mind.
I put the Yin-Yang Jewel back in my inventory and sat back down, groaning.
“Ugh…”