Splash!
Thud!
I reflexively used backward movement in response to the unidentified object that suddenly flew in. In the place where I had been, a viscous liquid was now dripping down, gradually dyeing the floor green.
“Ugh.”
That’s disgusting.
I looked at that liquid with a tearful expression.
This whole area was just gross overall. The chimeras’ appearances were like that, and their attack methods were filthy beyond compare.
The viscous green liquid. If I get covered in it, I’ll undoubtedly suffer a bad fate. It’s obviously poison or acid or something like that.
Pitter-patter!
I immediately started running in the left direction.
Considering the projectile speed of the flying acidic liquid, I thought I could sufficiently escape out of range by running with the movement speed buff from backward movement.
Splash, splash!
The anglerfish kept spewing acidic liquid while hanging from the ceiling. The acidic liquid was sprayed a total of 4 times at intervals of about 5 seconds.
Judging by the poisonous gas rising from the green liquid, I’d undoubtedly get poisoned if I step on that area of effect.
Do I have any antidotes? I checked my inventory briefly. I had prepared a few antidotes just in case. Of course, the best method is not to get hit.
Anyway, I need to lure that acidic liquid to the edges and find a way to knock that thing down.
Fortunately, the acidic liquid that initially fell faded away as it vaporized. It wasn’t an area of effect that persisted throughout the entire battle.
A rough strategy formed in my head.
I just need to avoid the anglerfish’s acidic liquid attacks while performing the special phase gimmick.
At that moment, the anglerfish hiding its body in the darkness of the ceiling curled its body greatly.
“?!”
And, while stretching its body long.
Kaaaaaaaaaak!!!!
A roar much louder than anything so far spread throughout the entire battle area.
“Area-of-effect pattern.”
It must be a roar that bursts the eardrums of exposed users or shakes their insides.
Of course, my body was unaffected.
I was already prepared for the area-of-effect pattern. As soon as I detected the precursor, I unhesitatingly utilized the invincible during casting judgment of backward movement.
This confirmed it. This one is an enhanced version of the first, named ‘Black Wyvern,’ from the level 25 elite dungeon.
Then there must be a trash mob pattern too.
My premonition was correct. But in a slightly different way.
After the anglerfish’s roar, something started falling all over the named boss battle area.
Splash, splash, splash.
Those were eggs like the ones seen on the lower floor of this tower.
The number of those that fell now was roughly several dozen at a glance.
The 1st named Bloodfang was the mother body of anglerfish-type chimeras.
Thwack thwack thwack!
While avoiding the acidic liquid and breaking eggs one by one, I fell into contemplation.
The eggs’ placement is spread out more widely than I thought. And, their growth speed is quite fast.
The eggs’ colors changed quickly, and they changed form like cocoons. Is this how chimeras grow?
Kaaaaaaaaaak!!!
After avoiding the third roar with backward movement, I could confirm that the eggs’ state changed rapidly during the named boss’s roar.
Rapid growth. That mother body’s roar is making the chimeras grow at a fast rate.
The egg state is easy to deal with. But it seemed impossible for me alone to break all the eggs before they all hatch. I’d be lucky to deal with even a third of them.
If so…
I stopped the act of going around breaking eggs.
There’s no need to struggle avoiding acidic liquid while going around breaking eggs, or urgently resisting the roar.
When all the chimeras hatch, I’ll kill them all at once.
If I rely only on the ‘Moonlight Slash’ skill for area-of-effect dealing, it would be quite difficult, but now I had a technique worth trying.
Before long, the eggs started hatching one by one.
Screech, screech, screech.
“Oh. They’re baby anglerfishes.”
I grinned while looking at the dozens of small anglerfishes rising up all around.
I briefly had a silly worry, like, ‘If the baby anglerfishes are cute, how can I kill them with a heavy heart?’ But they looked no different from their mother’s body. Only their size was small. Still, they were about as big as my body.
Screech, screech, screech.
Those baby anglerfishes quickly approached me. The sight of dozens of anglerfishes rushing in while making strange noises was reminiscent of a scene from a dinosaur movie.
Perhaps due to the side effects of rapid growth, their HP was definitely lower than the chimeras on the lower floor. The problem was the large number of baby anglerfishes and the continuing patterns of the named anglerfish.
Pitter-patter!
I started the work of lining up the baby anglerfishes in a row while quickly avoiding the mother anglerfish’s acidic liquid.
And, at some point I turned my body.
Swish.
I lowered my posture, bent my knees.
I took a stance while firmly gripping the sword handle.
12 meters forward, 4 meters wide left and right.
I had sufficiently grasped the judgment range and damage of this technique by now.
I had also aligned the mother anglerfish’s pattern.
All preparations are complete.
I opened my eyes wide and calmly waited for the baby anglerfishes to enter range.
2 seconds to go, 1 second.
The moment the mother anglerfish curled its body and stretched it long for the area-of-effect sound wave attack.
Simultaneously, all the baby anglerfishes entered range.
Kaaaaaaaaaak!!!!
In an instant, my body shot out like an arrow.
[Flash Strike]
[Cooldown 1 minute]
[Invincible during casting]
[???]
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Thud thud thud thud.
The corpses of baby anglerfishes that were cut and torn filled my surroundings.
Thud.
At the same time, the named anglerfish came down from the ceiling.
Kaaaaaaaaaak!
The anglerfish, seemingly very angry, rushed towards me while roaring loudly.
I smiled at the anglerfish over my sword.
“Now you’re dead.”
* * *
“Okay, the 2nd area seems to have a similar structure. Like the 1st area, we need to identify the recognition range of the chimera cocoons and advance between them. I’ll take the lead, so follow carefully in a single file.”
“The trash mob section is easy. Is it because Chris unnie measures the recognition distance well? Other parties would probably advance while struggling to kill hundreds of chimeras from the entrance, right?”
At Bae Merong’s excited voice, Chris shook her head.
“Not necessarily. Excellent parties would have grasped the structure of the trash mob section, right? Think of the outpost.”
“Hmm, surely a party like No Name wouldn’t have gone through unnecessary prolonged battles.”
Cherni, following behind Deathly Death, agreed with his words.
“Yes. The Rain I know wouldn’t waste time in a place like this.”
“Rain’s party probably took down the 1st named quickly too, right?”
The 1st named ‘Bloodfang’.
As befitting an enhanced version of the wyvern, there was no gimmick to quickly take down the boss. They had to stubbornly break all the eggs.
But for Chris’s party, who had experience taking down the wyvern without relying on gimmicks, it wasn’t such a difficult structure.
They resisted the area-of-effect skill with party protection skills, Bae Merong and Cherni lured the acidic liquid to the sides. Then the four moved in perfect unison to deal with all the eggs before they hatched.
There’s also a method of killing the hatched chimeras, but it’s quite difficult to kill numerous chimeras while responding to area-of-effect patterns. The egg state was easiest to deal with.
“Indeed, the party we should be wary of is probably just the No Name party.”
The No Name party possessing Rain, a Swordsman with overwhelming skills. Since Chris’s party took down the 1st named in a short time, the No Name party would have broken through the 1st named without much difficulty too.
“Come on, why is everyone talking about the No Name party? Let’s go at our own pace!”
Chris refocused her party members’ attention. But Bae Merong, following right behind her, snickered.
“Ahem~? Isn’t Chris unnie actually the one most concerned?”
“Wh-what are you saying?”
“Chris unnie who’s head over heels for Rain. You want Rain to do well, but at the same time you want to win too, right?”
“…”
Chris walked silently for a while with her face turned red.
Rain, like a stray cat that doesn’t let people touch her, full of wariness. How much effort did it take to lower her guard and develop a relationship where they could hold hands.
At first, Chris was interested in her cute appearance. But the more she got to know Rain, the deeper she fell for her mysterious charm.
Chris became happy at the small smiles Rain occasionally showed.
But her heart sank every time she saw the empty obsidian eyes that appeared just as rarely.
“It’s like… I find it hard to leave her alone? She sometimes looks precarious too.”
“…”
The playful laughter coming from behind stopped abruptly for a moment. When Chris turned around in confusion, Bae Merong had already started snickering again.
“Right, right, our Chris unnie thinks a lot about Rain. Anyway, you have no intention of giving up the first clear, right?”
“Of course not. That and this are different! It’s friendly competition.”
While chatting, Chris’s Raid Party members arrived at the upper floor of the 2nd area and soon could see the chimera in the center of the battle area.
“Oh. The 2nd named is blatantly out in the open.”
As if looking at a lion’s mane, a ferocious beast’s head with hair stretching out in all directions.
The huge body covered in muscles looked just like what ‘Orc King’ would be if he bulked up.
Chris stroked her chin and gave her impression of its appearance.
“A lion and, hmm… a fusion with a rather large demon?”
“Ch-Chris. Did you check the named boss interface?”
“Huh?”
Seeing Deathly Death’s very surprised expression, Chris checked the named boss’s status window.
Soon Chris couldn’t help but make a similar expression to Deathly Death.
“Wh-what is this?”
The HP of the named bosses in the ‘Demon King’s Army Outpost’ was around 3 million.
The HP of the 1st named Bloodfang in ‘Aspero’s Fortress’ was 4 million.
And the 2nd named’s HP is.
[2nd Named]
[Level 40 Lion Balgar]
[HP 20,000,000/20,000,000]