𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏𝟔
‘There’s nothing particularly different.’
Aizen’s basic attacks and skill attacks were properly hitting the Apostle.
Simply put, there was no visible difference between him and me.
‘Should I try again?’
Puzzled, I approached the Apostle as before and swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon, but once again its trajectory twisted strangely and missed.
“Vice Guild Master! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Attack quickly!”
“……”
Moreover, the guild members who didn’t know the situation started shouting as if asking why I wasn’t attacking, and I couldn’t even answer because it was difficult to explain.
Who would believe me if I honestly said that my weapon and shield were twisting and missing on their own?
It seemed hard to believe unless you were someone who attacked like me, and moreover, since Aizen was attacking without any problems, I eventually gave up on explaining and focused on the sword Aizen was using.
‘Could it be that it can only be hit with the Holy Sword of Protection?’
That Holy Sword of Protection was a main scenario weapon, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.
“Rudin-nim! Please take over for a moment!”
‘Huh?’
While I was just watching blankly without being able to attack, I heard Aizen’s urgent voice.
It seems like his stamina has run out.
‘What should I do?’
If I, who couldn’t even attack, took Aizen’s place, there was a high chance I would be beaten like a sandbag.
However, there was no one else to block it besides me, and thinking that dozens of guild members would heal me, I headed towards Aizen, and seeing that, Aizen expressed his gratitude and stepped back.
━You’re doing something useless.
Along with that, the Apostle, leaving Aizen who was stepping back, changed his target and swung his sword at me.
Perhaps he was thinking of quickly finishing me off and going after Aizen.
Of course, I had no intention of being hit quietly, so I swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon and blocked the Apostle’s sword.
Chaeng!━
‘Surprisingly, it seems manageable…… Huh?’
After blocking the Apostle’s sword without difficulty, I could see the Apostle’s sword naturally descending to cut off my leg.
Was his intention to cut my leg from the beginning?
Since it was the same whether I got hit in the head or the leg, I quickly tried to dodge by throwing my body back, but the Apostle’s sword had already cut off my leg.
[You have taken damage! -3,371.]
‘He’s faster than I thought.’
Although his movements weren’t invisible like the 26th Apostle, he was definitely faster than me.
However.
Pabat!━
[Player ‘ Roche ‘ has cast Blessing of Strength.]
[Strength increases by 75.]
[Player ‘ Bard On ‘ has cast Song of Battle.]
[Strength and Agility increase by 9%.]
[Player……]
‘Wow.’
As if the guild members’ support had begun, various colored lights flashed on my body, and my depleted health recovered, and vitality surged within my body.
Along with healing magic, buff magic was also cast.
‘With this much……’
I think I can handle it sufficiently?
Receiving dozens of buff magic at once gave me a strange feeling of exhilaration that I had never felt before.
A feeling that I could beat up anything, even Apostles.
Feeling that sensation throughout my body, I saw the approaching Apostle and swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon to stop his attack.
Bang!━
[Hit Damage! 1,116.]
“……?”
The Roar of the Thunder Dragon I swung had power and speed that surprised even me.
As a result, I pushed the Apostle’s sword away and hit his shoulder, and I was once again surprised by the result. The attack that had been missing before had now succeeded.
‘How did this happen?’
The difference between then and now……
My contemplation didn’t last long.
“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
Thinking that I needed to check it properly, I used Phantom Shift to move behind the Apostle and swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon.
Wheek━
‘As expected.’
As expected, the attack from behind missed on its own.
“So rear attacks are nullified?”
━You’ve noticed.
The Apostle’s answer came as if he had heard my muttering.
And having grasped my location, the Apostle leisurely turned around and started to face me, and in turn, I could see all of the Apostle’s attacks aimed at his own back just cutting through the air.
━It’s a blessing I received from Beluin-nim. You can’t kill me with a surprise attack.
“……It doesn’t matter as long as I can beat you from the front.”
Moreover, if the condition for attacking was a head-on fight, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
“Thunder Strike!”
I’ll finish you off!
Kwaang!━
First, I swung my shield to deflect the Apostle’s sword to the side, and then I aimed for the gap created and swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon.
[Hit Damage! 1,772.]
At the same time, a sword that had somehow risen cut off my right arm holding the Roar of the Thunder Dragon, and damage followed.
[You have taken damage! -2,756.]
‘Damn it.’
In the exchange of blows, I was overwhelmingly disadvantaged.
To recover from this damage, there was no other way than to attack with shield skills, but all the shields I swung were missing.
Unlike before, it wasn’t because of the surprise attack nullification, but because he was purely dodging.
‘Is it because the distance is short?’
After his sword was deflected by my shield the first time, the Apostle was completely focused on dodging.
“Rudin-nim, I’m ready!”
Since my shield attacks weren’t working, I was contemplating using various skills when Aizen, who had finished recovering, approached the Apostle’s back and swung his sword, but the sword only cut through the empty air.
“Only attacks from the front work!”
“Understood.”
Aizen immediately changed his position and attacked at my shout.
Although there was a penalty that he could only attack from the front, Aizen was swinging his sword boldly as if it was nothing.
‘But why do I feel so uneasy?’
After Aizen joined in, I felt that the attack itself had become easier.
As I moved in sync with Aizen’s attacks, I was able to land a few attacks, but apart from that, it was true that I had a strange feeling.
Could it be that something was wrong?
As I was thinking this, I suddenly saw the chat window that I had pushed to one side.
━Wow, at this rate, we can definitely win, right?
━Is it because of the buff effects? They’re fighting really well.
━No, but why is the main scenario boss so weak?
‘Weak?’
That comment made me realize the identity of the strange feeling.
The Apostle we were fighting was too weak for a main scenario final boss.
To exaggerate a little, the 26th Apostle felt more difficult.
Having realized that, I thought about what was going on.
‘Could it be that he’s going easy on us?’
But there was no reason for the Apostle to go easy on us.
“Aizen, please take over for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Therefore, thinking that there might be another purpose, I stepped back and looked around, but there was nothing particularly special……
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, I could see one of the five red stones that had lost their light due to Ukron’s attack returning to its original color.
‘Come to think of it……’
I hadn’t noticed it at all because I was busy dealing with the Apostle, but three of the five stones had already regained their light.
What happens when all those stones regain their light?
A sense of foreboding washed over me, and I immediately headed towards the stones.
I thought I should try turning off the light again, just in case.
Kwaang!━
With that thought, I struck the stone, but some kind of transparent barrier blocked my attack, and seeing that, I decided to hit it harder.
“Thunder Strike!”
Kwaang!!━
“……”
It’s no use even with Thunder Strike.
In other words, it meant that it wasn’t something that could be broken by force.
In addition, when Ukron attacked, he didn’t attack this place, but the abandoned castle.
‘Thinking simply, it means that somewhere in the abandoned castle, there’s something that can turn off these stones.’
Was I thinking too complicatedly?
Forget the stones, maybe we were just able to easily handle the Apostle because of the buff magic effects?
“Rudin-nim. Did something happen?”
Heron, perhaps puzzled by me contemplating alone, approached and asked.
And thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to hear other people’s opinions rather than worrying alone here, I brought up the story that was still just a guess.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? He’s too weak for a raid boss.”
“He’s not weak. If you call a boss who deals 7-8 thousand damage per hit weak, then almost all bosses are weak.”
“7-8 thousand?”
“Yes, the Guild Master is taking that much damage right now, so I’m guessing the Apostle’s attack power is around 12,000-13,000.”
“……”
After hearing Heron’s words, the First Apostle didn’t feel so weak anymore.
An attack power exceeding 10,000 and a strange blessing that nullifies rear attacks.
The thought that I was the strange one for thinking he was weak, when he was someone who had to be steadily attacked from the front like Aizen was fighting now, briefly crossed my mind.
“But what does that have to do with the stones?”
“Ah, at first, there were five stones that lost their light. But now there are only two left.”
“That’s certainly true.”
It seemed that the story of the red stones regaining their light sounded more plausible to Heron than the story of the raid boss being weak.
Moreover, it seemed that several executives were approaching, curious about my conversation with Heron.
“What are you talking about?”
“Rudin-nim said that the light of this stone is returning to its original state, so we were talking about that.”
“It’s true that the light is returning…… but isn’t it just a barrier?”
‘Barrier?’
Since the light of this stone went out and the barrier disappeared at first, it didn’t seem wrong.
‘But I feel like there’s definitely something.’
As soon as I had this thought, another stone regained its light.
The time it took for the light to return was faster than I thought.
Also, it seemed that Heron and some of the executives saw that scene, but they seemed to be brushing it off as nothing.
“Still, it might be a problem if it becomes difficult to escape once the barrier is activated.”
“What’s the problem? It’ll be over once we catch the Apostle.”
Listening to the executives’ conversation, I realized that there were two options.
Ignore the red stones and beat the Apostle, or escape from here now and look for a place related to the red stones.
‘And there’s no time.’
There’s only one stone left.
I had to make a decision before the light returned to that one.
“Or there’s a way to choose both.”
“……?”
Suddenly, turning my head at those words, I saw Heron looking at me with a meaningful expression.
“It seems like you’re struggling, so I thought I’d say something. I don’t know what you’re struggling with, but wouldn’t it be okay to choose both?”
“How?”
“It’s simple. Rudin-nim can deal with the Apostle here, and you can give the other idle executives and guild members the task you want to do.”
‘……That’s right?’
There are quite a few executives waiting just in case the Apostle attacks the guild members.
Thinking that it wouldn’t make much difference in the current situation even if those executives and a few guild members left, I nodded and said.
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, but since we don’t have much time, please explain your plan quickly.”
Heron also seemed to have noticed that it would be too late once the barrier was activated.
Since it was true that we didn’t have much time, I explained as briefly as possible.
At first, Ukron attacked the abandoned castle, which turned off the light of the red stones here, so there’s probably a place related to the stones somewhere in the abandoned castle. So please find that place and turn off the stones.
If I explained in detail, it could take a long time, but since I didn’t know when the last stone’s light would return, I finished my explanation like that, and I could see Heron nodding.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll take the idle executives and guild members and go.”
“But is it okay to leave during the raid?”
“It’s okay. Aren’t you the Vice Guild Master of our guild?”
I felt both grateful and sorry that he thought of me that way, even though I had never done anything worthy of being a Vice Guild Master.
Anyway, Heron quickly gathered the executives and guild members and left this space, and after confirming that, I was about to move to help Aizen when I saw the light return to the last red stone.
Leave a Reply