NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65
[Named Enemy]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaurus]
[HP 4,290,056/8,600,000]
Gugugugu!
The entire cube-shaped boss room began to vibrate strongly.
Chris crouched down and shouted.
“Special phase! We can’t miss the red wall this time!”
Clank.
Hooong, hooong, hooong!
The walls in all four directions separated, soon starting to rotate to the right. At the same time the special phase began, the wall that blinked red was the original 12 o’clock, where Bae Merong stood.
Gugugugu!
However, the strong vibrations in the boss room prevented the party members from focusing on the movement of the walls.
“Uwaah! It’s shaking too much!”
“I-I missed it!”
Guhk! No matter how I think about it, it’s just impossible to visually track in this situation!
Even as everyone struggled to keep their balance, they squinted their eyes, but it was no easy task to discern where the original 12 o’clock wall had moved in the shaking field of vision.
Chris bit her lip. She too had missed the wall that was blinking red.
Boom, clank.
Soon, the vibrations in the boss room ceased, and the rotation of the wall came to an end. Inside the boss room that had returned to its cube shape, Chris instructed Deathly Death.
“F-For now, hit the 12 o’clock wall!”
“Got it!”
Tap Tap!
Using Backward Evasion quickly, Deathly Death turned his back to the 12 o’clock wall, and the charging Bull Golem began its charge towards him.
Boom, boom, boom!
Kwaaaang!
The massive horns of the Bull Golem struck the wall, and a strong vibration swept through the boss room.
Paat!
Red light burst from the wall.
It was not the 12 o’clock wall where the Bull struck, but from the 6 o’clock wall where Chris was standing.
“Wh-What!?”
Oooooooh!
The Bull Golem shook its head a couple of times and started attacking Deathly Death, who had grabbed the aggro.
Cherni’s shout echoed through the boss room.
“The damage isn’t getting through! This barrier is definitely stronger than the first phase!”
“It’s at one-fifth of the usual damage, can we keep this up?”
“Let’s keep trying! With our party’s firepower, it might be possible!”
Even if they failed to hit the direction of the red blinking wall, it didn’t mean the damage was completely nullified. After some time, the boss would enter a rage mode, but if they succeeded in the gimmick during the 25% special phase, there was a chance they could defeat it.
The damage the golem received rapidly decreased, and the general phase lengthened. Deathly Death was starting to struggle.
But Chris’s raid party’s firepower was indeed outstanding. They managed to successfully enter the 25% special phase, even while dealing one-fifth of the usual damage.
Oooooooh!
KwaKwaKwaKwa!
A blue light burst out from the center of the Bull Golem, and the 6 o’clock wall began to blink.
“I won’t miss the 6 o’clock this time!”
The entire party, having shifted their area-wide attack to Ice Prison, immediately began to watch the wall.
Gugugugu!
The vibrations from the floor, the wall’s rotation, and soon, the movements in the boss room came to a halt.
“Did you find it!?”
“I missed it!”
“Are we really able to see this?”
Once again, everyone failed to track the movement of the wall. There was no need to mention that Deathly Death had missed it as well.
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore; I’m just going for the one-quarter hit! Deathly, to 3 o’clock!”
At Chris’s shout, Deathly Death immediately responded, and the Bull charged towards the 3 o’clock wall.
Kwaaaang! Kurururu!
Oooooohm!
Red light burst from the wall where the Bull Golem’s horns struck at 3 o’clock. As the barrier shattered, the golem fell into a groggy state.
Cheers spread across the faces of the entire party.
“We did it!”
“We don’t have time to waste! Let’s start the damage immediately!”
Focusing their firepower on the stalled golem, Chris’s raid party attacked.
[Named Enemy]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaurus]
[HP 1,409,581/8,600,000]
Oooooooh!
While Chris’s party smoothly chipped away at the final stretch of HP, a barrier materialized with the bull’s roar.
Chris couldn’t hide her shock.
“A barrier!? The special pattern isn’t over yet?”
“The damage barely gets through! Th-This is—!”
“The barrier has three layers!”
Hooong, Peraak!
Guhk!
After being hit by the Bull’s horn uppercut, Deathly Death was sent flying towards the ceiling. It was truly a fearsome strength.
Chris’s face turned pale.
“Rage mode!”
The attack power, defense, and speed of the golem skyrocketed. They hit a time attack.
In the end, with the current firepower, it was impossible to clear unless they meticulously avoided all the gimmicks.
Thud thud thud thud!
With his body still suspended in the air, Deathly Death became the decoration on the Bull’s horn. The Bull, having hung him there, swiftly charged at Cherni.
“W-Whoaah!”
Cherni screamed as she used her invulnerability skill, but the horn attacks swinging left and right tore through her.
The Bull’s charge never ceased until everyone in the party was wiped out.
“Seriously, for a Named Enemy, this isn’t a joke. If we could control the aggro and switch Deathly to a momentary ranged tank, we might reduce the time spent leading the charge, right?”
“Hmm, that’s worth considering. But it won’t be easy. We need to adjust the damage finely. And if we can’t direct the red light on the wall, we’ll have to retry anyway.”
“Simply put, if we try 16 times, can’t we pass at least once? The probability would be 6.25%, since we just need to hit a quarter twice.”
“If even slightly off-angle, no red light bursts. Response to patterns is difficult, and the time attack is tight. Even if we leave it to chance, the clear probability is likely below 6%.”
“We can’t leave things to chance from a Named Enemy onwards. There has to be a gimmick we’re missing.”
Chris gazed at the walls of the boss room, lost in thought.
No matter how much she focused, it was impossible to track the movement of the walls within her violently shaking vision.
Could Rain do it? Had Rain cleared the Named Enemy?
Chris briefly opened her messenger window.
[Knight ‘Drizzle Rain’ (Online, Do Not Disturb)]
“Should I go check the room?”
Muttering softly, Chris shut the messenger window and shook her head.
What are you thinking, Chris.
Are you really considering asking Rain for help since the strategy has hit a wall? It’s just friendly competition, right?
If outside contact reaches Rain’s capsule, it could disrupt the strategy.
Plus, if Rain really is soloing, it might make her feel even worse.
“……?”
Lost in self-doubt while blankly staring at the wall, Chris soon felt a sense of unease.
The faintly glowing blue light from the patterns engraved on the wall.
Wait, was the wall pattern like this before?
Urgently turning her head, Chris glanced at the walls in all four directions.
They were different.
The patterns etched into the walls each had distinct differences.
At first glance, they seemed similar, but in this stable state, the differences became quite apparent.
“Ah-ha.”
Confidence returned to Chris’s face.
*
[Named Enemy]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaurus]
[HP 316,819/8,600,000]
At some point, the attacks from the Minotaur soldiers became fast and strong again. The barrier they had broken was reformed. The remaining small amount of HP barely decreased.
It was a must-face process that I inevitably encounter depending on the type of boss, the rage mode pattern. As time passes, the boss has become so strong that it can hardly be tackled normally.
However, this type of rage mode isn’t a major issue for me. Even if the incoming damage significantly decreases, it will eventually fall if I keep hitting steadily over time. In fact, the 2nd Named Enemy Galroban, which had directly restricted the combat area, had been far more threatening.
Stronger attacks? I just won’t get hit. Just use patterns that I can block.
Increased speed? Compared to the ‘Ancient Hero’, it’s not that fast either.
Hooong!
Kaang!
I blocked the horn uppercut at the exact timing, but my light frame shot high into the air.
He raised his sharp horns, ready to impale my airborne body.
Swish.
In mid-air, I twisted my body, glaring at the Minotaur soldier, and shifted my sword to my waist.
I aimed for only one spot. The effort of continuously attacking has paid off.
The Bull’s sharp horns were already cracked in many places.
Using the force of my drop from the air, I shoved my ‘One Flash’ into the cracked horn of the Bull.
Flash!
Pakang!
United with the sword and shining like a ray, my body plunged into the weakened Minotaur’s left horn.
Oooooooh!
The Minotaur twisted in anguish.
Even with the barrier, my One Flash utilizing positional energy couldn’t be completely countered.
It’s a part destruction, you beast!
But the right horn remained intact. The Minotaur twisted its body, trying to strike me once again.
Hooong!
Kaang!
I reestablished my stance, still floating in the air.
Paat!
In that moment, light burst forth from my body, resetting all skill cooldowns.
[Bracelet of Hammer and Anvil]
[Elite]
[Power +35, Agility +35, Intelligence +35]
[Unique Ability: Resets all skill cooldowns (Reuse Waiting Time 10 Minutes)]
The unique ability of the bracelet activated. I could use One Flash again.
I’ll finish off this annoying remaining horn too.
What do I even call a Bull with all its horns gone?
Anyway, it’ll hurt, but…
“Hang in there, Minotaur.”
Flash!