After leaving the warehouse building area of the 2nd section, I reached the 3rd section of the Demon King’s Army Outpost.
From the 3rd section, tents and warehouses were no longer visible.
Elite soldiers, regular soldiers, and demonic beasts had also disappeared at some point.
There was only a wide training ground in the center of the area.
A training place for martial arts demons?
Do demons born with strong bodies from the start also train?
Thump thump.
I walked confidently into the training ground and stood in its center.
This must surely be the battle area for the last named boss.
It wasn’t hard to guess that the named boss would be inside the wooden building in front, overlooking the entire training ground.
Hero Rain, who splendidly defeated Kraxas and Galovan. My chest was full of confidence. I felt like I could face any being that appeared before me.
I announce my arrival here in a confident voice.
Taking a deep breath, and from my small throat, a lion’s roar bursting forth.
“…I’m here.”
Instead of a lion’s roar, a sound like a kitten mewing flowed from the timid hero’s throat.
Ah, no. Rain. If you make such a shrinking voice, you’ll be looked down upon.
Whether it was a lion’s roar or a kitten’s mew, it seems to have been clearly conveyed to the boss of the Demon King’s Army Outpost anyway.
Crash!
The sound of the roof of the wooden building in front of the training ground being smashed was heard, and a being in human form jumped out from there.
Thud.
The being that lightly landed on the floor of the training ground looked straight at me.
That body covered in robust muscles reminded me of the 1st named Kraxas. While Galovan was properly wearing upper and lower clothing, both Kraxas and the demon man in front of me were shirtless.
I puffed my cheeks.
Is not wearing a top the default state for demons, or is it the pride of martial arts demons, or are they showing off because their bodies are good and want to be looked at with envious eyes?
As if not caring what I was thinking, that demon spoke to me.
“I heard Kraxas and Galovan fell, and wondered what kind of being it was, but it’s just a tiny human brat.”
Sorry for being small. You must be happy with your solid body, mister.
“Martial arts demons pursue strength. Although you’re an opponent I must kill, I’ll pay respect for coming this far.”
Rumble rumble rumble.
Purple energy swirled around his body, and soon the entire training ground started shaking.
I stepped back one step and quickly raised my sword. Is the boss battle starting right away?
“That power that took down Kraxas and Galovan, show it to me too!”
[3rd Named]
[Level 33 Outpost Commander Zarkan]
[HP 3,300,000/3,300,000]
* * *
Not long after the battle with Zarkan started, I felt that it was flowing clearly differently from the named battles so far.
Thwack!
My Starlight Slash, launched taking advantage of the gap in his big kick motion, cut through the air.
Zarkan had lightly twisted his body to avoid it.
“What!”
Clang! Rattle.
I raised my sword to block Zarkan’s uppercut attack that came rushing in without time to be surprised. My body was pushed back quite a bit.
Cold sweat flowed. It had been a while since I was pushed back after blocking an attack. If I get hit by that attack swinging up from below, I’ll surely be lifted into the air. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen after that. There must be combo attacks prepared for when hit.
More than that, the problem is Zarkan’s movements.
Until now, named bosses with huge bodies naturally took all attacks. In the case of human-form named bosses, their agility stats were quite high, but still, they showed no signs of avoiding attacks.
Here, I encountered a named boss who knows how to dodge attacks for the first time.
Small body customization gives a bonus to agility stats. My agility stat should be high even compared to other Swordsman classes of the same level.
Yet the fact that a ‘dodge’ judgment came out means that this named boss has not only strength but also agility stats that are beyond imagination.
The thought wasn’t long. The response method was simple.
Just don’t rely only on agility stats and skills. Follow Zarkan’s movements with instinct and make attacks hit.
Slash!
A strange light flashed in Zarkan’s eyes. It was because he was wounded by my sword strike that followed his movements.
And soon, he lightly rolled his feet and jumped into the air.
“!?”
Zarkan lightly jumped over me and showered demonic energy bullets right above my head.
Just before the demonic energy bullets hit my body, I barely managed to use backward evasion to escape from that spot.
Boom boom boom boom!
Without time to feel the chilling sensation down my spine, Zarkan, who landed on the ground, instantly rushed in front of me.
Clang! Rattle.
Zarkan waved his hand towards me, who was pushed back after blocking the uppercut.
Boom!
The second demonic energy bullet attack. But this time it came from the front, so I could barely block it. But soon I had to face Zarkan’s attack again as he jumped in front of me.
I racked my brains while blocking his attacks that were pouring down relentlessly.
A pattern that rushes in without giving a break, even more than Galovan. This guy’s attacks were diverse and sharp. As expected of the outpost commander, even his normal patterns were incomparable to other named bosses.
I could block the demonic energy bullets shot from the spot after the uppercut. But I wouldn’t be able to block the shower of demonic energy bullets poured down from above my head when he jumps into the air.
Right now, I was barely managing to respond to the patterns pouring down without a break. Even though I solved the dodge judgment by adding my movements to the skills, there was absolutely no chance to attack.
Then, solve it one by one, step by step.
Thud.
Zarkan lightly rolls his body and jumps up. He will soon shower demonic energy bullets above my head. Here, use backward evasion first. This is a one-way sequence.
Boom boom boom boom!
Zarkan, who landed on the ground, immediately launched an uppercut.
Clang! Rattle.
After blocking the uppercut and being pushed back, I used an approach skill to stick to Zarkan.
Demonic energy bullets created above Zarkan’s hand before I knew it. They will soon fly in from the front.
Here, Counterattack.
Swish.
I launched a sword strike while taking Zarkan’s rear. I could pour in attacks during the action delay of launching demonic energy bullets.
“Ugh!”
Zarkan’s fierce attacks started again as he turned around in surprise at the sword strike flying in from behind.
I didn’t release Sword Drawing Stance. Attacks other than the uppercut weren’t very threatening.
Endure with the body attacks at a level that can be covered with potions. Just do the same as with the 2nd named Galovan.
I smiled while continuously launching sword strikes imbued with starlight at Galovan.
I can respond to normal patterns like this.
The problem now is the special pattern.
[3rd Named]
[Level 33 Outpost Commander Zarkan]
[HP 2,970,557/3,300,000]
“Indeed, you have the strength to come this far!”
A precursor to the special pattern? Too fast.
Zarkan’s HP is about 90%. If he uses a special pattern here, it could be seen that it will come out at least eight more times.
Thud.
I broke out in cold sweat seeing Zarkan who had moved to the center of the training ground before I knew it.
Do I have to do it many times? Then it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Demonic energy gathered around his body, and soon the entire training ground started shaking.
As expected, it feels like an area-of-effect pattern. How will it come out?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Demonic energy burst out from the floor of the training ground, and consecutive demonic energy explosions occurred.
Following the initial explosion that occurred around Zarkan’s body, it expanded its range while exploding several times.
Concentric demonic energy explosions. Like a donut shape. It didn’t explode again where an explosion had already passed.
Then.
Boom!
As the explosion finally reached my feet, I immediately used an approach skill to stick to Zarkan.
Boom!
The next explosion soon swept over where I had been. But it didn’t explode again near Zarkan where an explosion had occurred once.
What, I didn’t even need to use an evasion skill?
I smiled brightly and excitedly launched sword strikes towards Zarkan who had stopped moving.
But the explosions weren’t over yet.
Boom, boom, boom!
The explosions that reached the edge of the training ground after bursting out one by one started exploding back towards here.
“Eek.”
I sweated profusely while gauging the timing of the explosions reaching here.
And finally, the last explosion occurred at my feet that were stuck to Zarkan’s body.
Swish.
Boom!
I could get through the last explosion with the invincibility judgment of Counterattack.
A donut-shaped concentric explosion starting from Zarkan’s body. A special pattern that reaches the edge of the training ground and then comes back.
Solve the first concentric explosion with an approach skill.
For the second returning explosion, you can use either backward evasion or Counterattack. It wasn’t as threatening as I thought and there were many ways to respond.
But it might not be over yet.
Just as I was preparing to respond to the next pattern while carefully stepping back.
Thud.
Zarkan lifted his body into the air.
Boom boom boom boom!
He returned to the pattern of showering demonic energy bullets above my head.
I avoided the demonic energy bullets with backward evasion and responded to the next uppercut.
Huh, this is a normal pattern. Is the special phase over with just that?
If it continues like this, it might be easier than I thought.