𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟓
‘Hmm.’
After teleporting to the Karzen Kingdom using the Teleportation Device, I arrived at the ‘Forest that Swallows Life’ where Heights was said to be. Getting here wasn’t a problem, but the sight of players roaming the forest in pairs of two or three was quite bothersome.
‘Those guys must be from the Yonggammusang Guild, right?’
Well, it was already a known fact that the Yonggammusang Guild controlled this field. But they were supposed to be at war with the Bulgeun Taeyang Guild, so the number of players deployed here seemed a bit odd.
‘Why are there so many?’
Is the war over?
‘Tsk, the guild is holding me back at a time like this.’
If I were alone, I wouldn’t have cared and just charged in. The Yonggammusang Guild wouldn’t even be in my consideration. However, the reason I hesitated was the worry that this might escalate into a guild war.
Even if a guild war broke out, I wouldn’t die, but wouldn’t the regular guild members die in droves?
But I didn’t want to turn back like this.
‘Let’s try to approach stealthily.’
As long as I’m not attacked, my name won’t be revealed. Holding onto that hope, I climbed up an inconspicuous tree and looked for where Heights might be.
‘Let’s see, I need to find the door……’
The reason the Yonggammusang Guild occupied this area was simple. They had progressed through various quests and finally managed to open the door leading to the raid boss.
However, the Yonggammusang Guild, despite opening the door, failed to defeat Heights.
Moreover, the door wouldn’t close until Heights was defeated, making it accessible to anyone. Therefore, the Yonggammusang Guild occupied this area to prevent anyone else from defeating the raid boss, deploying guild members to block any access.
“Speaking of which, are those Bulgeun Taeyang Guild b*stards still in their hideout?”
“Yeah, those sons of b*tches. If they lost, they should just quietly quit the game.”
“Because of them, we still have to keep people stationed at the hideout. Honestly, it’s a pain in the ass.”
‘Huh?’
At that moment, I overheard a conversation from right below me. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to notice me, so I could quietly listen to their conversation and learn that the Bulgeun Taeyang Guild was still logged in.
‘Are they trapped in their hideout?’
I’m not one to talk, but their tenacity was impressive. An ordinary person would have accepted defeat and quit the game.
“Oh, right. Did you hear that rumor?”
“What? The rumor about our Guild Master? I heard it.”
“Isn’t it amazing? Learning an S-rank skill.”
“How many Random Skillbooks did he snatch from the guild members? He’d be an idiot if he couldn’t learn it after all that.”
‘S-rank?’
Did the Yonggammusang Guild Master also learn an S-rank skill? However, not all S-rank skills are created equal. I knew there was a huge difference between S-rank skills that grant titles and those that don’t.
“But why the secrecy?”
“He’s probably afraid of the Emperor Guild. Didn’t you hear the rumor before? They let go of all the other guilds that challenged them to guild wars, but they hunted down that woman who learned the S-rank skill to the end.”
“Ah, I heard about that too.”
“And our Guild Master hasn’t had much time to prepare since learning the S-rank skill. Well, he had to change all his skills because of that S-rank, so it’s understandable.”
“Is it that good of a skill?”
“I don’t know. From what I heard, he said he’d solo the boss? And because of that, several people are checking the skillbooks that pop up on the Cash Transaction Window.”
“If he’s so confident, he should just go and defeat Heights.”
‘Hmm.’
It would’ve been better if they had told me what kind of skill it was, but they gradually moved away from where I was. I could have followed them, but I thought finding Heights was the priority, so I used Phantom Shift to move to another tree a bit further away.
‘I’m not fond of stealth……’
But right now, I had no other choice. If I were caught, all the Yonggammusang Guild members in this forest would swarm me. Therefore, I had to move in a way that maximized the use of Phantom Shift’s spatial movement and stealth effects.
“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
Whoosh!-
After searching the forest using Elsyke’s Phantom Shift numerous times, I couldn’t help but frown.
‘My Stamina is already depleted?’
I checked my remaining Stamina, and it was at 16.7%. Since Stamina wouldn’t recover without using a shield skill, I had to sit down and rest.
‘Oh, really.’
I felt like grabbing one of the roaming guild members and just asking them. Besides, come to think of it, I didn’t even know what the damn door looked like. I could go through all the trouble of finding it, only to end up in some random dungeon instead of facing the raid boss.
‘Huh?’
Then, I saw four players approaching from a distance.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just sell it for money?”
“You mean the raid boss?”
“What else could it be? Honestly, we can’t even hunt, what’s the point of this?”
“Tell that to the Guild Master. He’ll probably tell you to hunt in this forest.”
“Ha, how many guild members are there in this forest? Even finding monsters is a chore. Besides, we’re on our way to switch shifts, right? Hunting is impossible.”
‘Switch shifts?’
That word gave me an idea. Since they deployed so many guild members in the forest, wouldn’t they have also stationed people at the door? And if these guys were going to switch shifts with those stationed at the door……? Thinking that far, I quietly followed them.
After following them for a few minutes……
‘Oh?’
As expected, I found the door. There were four guild members at the door as well, but they were all sitting on the ground, chatting away, probably bored with their guard duty.
They were neglecting the door they were supposed to be guarding.
“Hey, we’re here to switch.”
“What took you so long?”
“Long? We’re right on time.”
“Really?”
“Time goes by incredibly slowly when you’re just sitting here.”
Anyway, they exchanged trivial conversations, and the guild members who were previously on guard immediately used Return Scrolls and disappeared. And the members who came to switch shifts, just like the previous ones, sat down and started their not-so-serious guard duty.
“Hey, hey, bring out the food.”
“What food? More importantly, how long do we have to keep doing this pointless thing?”
“Until our Guild Master defeats Heights?”
“It’ll probably take half a year.”
“……Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
Now that I found the door, there was no need to hesitate any longer. I used Elsyke’s Phantom Shift to move right in front of the door and went straight inside.
‘Where did I teleport to?’
After entering the door, I saw a space similar to the clearing where I fought Beksha before. A clearing surrounded by trees. And in front, I found Heights, just like I saw on the internet.
[Ding!~ You have entered the domain of ‘Heights, Cultivating Death’.]
[Warning! Heights extremely dislikes others intruding upon his domain. If you retreat now, you might avoid his wrath, but as time passes, even that might become impossible.]
“Well, it seems I came to the right place.”
And my next choice was obvious.
“Title Change. Soul Contract. Summon.”
[Summoning Ust, Swallowing the Bitter Cold.]
[Summon’s level increases by 11.]
[Related stat Summon (120) is……]
After summoning Ust, I changed my title to Shield of Protection to increase the damage of Thunder Strike and finished preparing to face Heights.
Step-
‘He looks ordinary.’
Wearing a worn-out gray robe, covered in dirt here and there. Various pouches and potions could be seen hanging from the belt around his waist. And as I was observing his appearance, another message window popped up.
[Heights shows hostility towards you for not leaving his domain.]
“Just one person. Your courage is commendable.”
[Battle begins with the Raid Boss Monster, Heights, Cultivating Death.]
“I’ll turn you into fertilizer.”
“Ust! Kill him with all your might!”
With the battle start message, I quickly gave the attack command and decided to immediately attack to recover my Stamina.
“Giant’s Sprint!”
Of course, I wasn’t the only one who initiated the battle.
Clang!-
[Heights, Cultivating Death summons a Death Eater Plant.]
Summon?
Heights took out a potion from his belt and threw it in front of him. The potion shattered as soon as it hit the ground, and the contents seeped into the ground. The ground where the liquid seeped in started to shake, and then a strange-looking large flower sprouted.
“Kieeeeek!”
A strange flower with a red bud split into four parts. And each of the split parts had sharp teeth. I, who was sprinting with all my might using Giant’s Sprint, inevitably collided with the Death Eater Plant that appeared in front of Heights.
Kwaaaang!!-
[Skill Damage! 7,082.]
[Health recovered by 686……]
‘Is this a pattern where he summons plants?’
I didn’t like attacking the summoned creature instead of the raid boss, but I had to recover my Stamina, so I continued my attack without hesitation.
“Thunder Strike!”
[Skill Damage! 6,445.]
[Skill Damage……]
‘Huh? What?’
Even after using Giant’s Sprint and Thunder Strike, the Death Eater Plant didn’t die. How much Health does it have? Anyway, while dodging the plant’s vines reaching out to me, I saw Ust’s attack following up.
Kwakwak!-
[Summon Skill Damage! 4,394.]
‘Why not just use Dark Ray?’
What Ust used this time was Ice Storm. However, since it had a wide range, it attacked both the Death Eater Plant and Heights, but it didn’t seem like this attack would be the finishing blow.
Anyway, as I was about to attempt another attack, Heights made the motion of throwing another potion.
[Heights, Cultivating Death summons a Death Eater Plant.]
‘That b*stard?’
How many is he planning to summon?!
If the number of Death Eater Plants increased, it would become more difficult to attack Heights. Recognizing this, I decided to eliminate the Death Eater Plant I was attacking first to reduce their numbers.
“Thunder Strike!”
[Combat Experience 15,000 acquired!]
‘So its Health is around 50,000?’
It seemed like I needed to use Thunder Strike twice to kill it. Still, I thought this wasn’t a big deal, but this damn Death Eater Plant wasn’t just going to take it lying down either.
[Death Eater Plant uses Poisonous Fog.]
Fwoosh-
At that moment, a disgusting, grayish-green smoke erupted from the Death Eater Plant’s body.
[Related stat Fighting Spirit (100) is applied.]
[Losing 90 Health per second.]
‘Huh, he’s pulling all sorts of tricks.’
The Health loss per second wasn’t a big deal, but as the fog gradually spread, my vision became obscured. A raid boss resorting to such dirty tactics. And while I momentarily hesitated due to the obscured vision, a vine from the Death Eater Plant shot out from somewhere and pierced my body.
Thud!-
[Damage received! -1,400.]
[Death Eater Plant is absorbing your Health.]
[Losing 100 Health per second.]
“This crazy plant!”
Crackle!-
I swung Roar of the Thunder Dragon towards the vine that pierced my left arm. After cutting off the vine with three precise strikes, I retreated backward, thinking of escaping this fog, but soon realized my mistake.
[Heights, Cultivating Death summons a Death Eater Plant.]
“Wow……”
Was this a boss that had to be dealt with using ranged magic? There were a few raid bosses that were disadvantageous to melee classes. For example, the Ust I summoned was also a boss that was disadvantageous to melee classes, and it seemed like this Heights belonged to that category as well.
‘Is there no way to get rid of this fog?’
Since it was called Poisonous Fog, there should be a way to blow it away with wind or burn it with fire. The problem was that I couldn’t use either of those methods.
“Ah, Ust. Ice Storm!”
Ust, who was summoning the Tree of Death, heard my command and used Ice Storm again.
Kwakwak!-
‘As expected.’
When Ice Storm was used, I could see the Poisonous Fog created by the Death Eater Plant being dispersed upwards. Thanks to that, I got rid of the Poisonous Fog and let out a small sigh as I saw the two Death Eater Plants again.
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