𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟏
‘Ignore it.’
I could block the swinging Sword of Ruin if I wanted to.
However, I was more desperate to attack at least once, so I ignored the Sword of Ruin that was aiming for my face and swung the Infinite Sword, dealing damage and receiving the consequences.
[Damage Received! -27,471.]
[Damage Dealt! 6,848.]
‘Tsk.’
Looking at the damage alone, I was at an overwhelming disadvantage.
About a four-fold difference?
Also, since there was more than a ten-fold difference in health, exchanging attacks like this would only put me at a disadvantage, but fortunately, I wasn’t the only one attacking.
Kwaaang!- Kwakwakwang!!━
“Keep firing!”
“Judging by its health, it’ll be over soon!”
‘Health?’
Based on my Intuition, it seemed like it still had around 700,000 to 800,000 left.
If I used Divine Manifestation on my shield and then used Thunder Strike, I might be able to finish it off quickly, but since I was currently attacking with a weapon, the comment about it ending soon must have been meant to boost morale.
━Kraaaa!
[Beluin’s Specter invokes the Power of Destruction.]
‘Power of Destruction, that means……’
I remember.
It was an absurd power that caused a massive explosion with every attack.
And as soon as I realized that, the Sword of Ruin flew towards me again, and upon seeing it, I immediately lowered my stance, unlike before, and dodged the incoming sword.
Kwaaang!!━
‘As expected.’
As anticipated, a huge explosion erupted from the swung sword, engulfing the area behind me.
‘Right, I thought it would end too easily.’
I knew that Beluin’s Specter could use powers, but I unknowingly only focused on the Sword of Ruin.
The problem was that another effect of the Power of Destruction, Berserk, seemed to be active as well. The Specter swung its sword at random locations instead of where I was, causing the players attacking nearby to be swept up in the explosions and turn gray.
Kwaaang!!━
“Damn it, when will it die!?”
“Get away! You’ll get caught in the explosion!”
“Stop talking nonsense and attack!”
‘Now!’
Although it was unfortunate for the Anis Kingdom players, the Specter’s indiscriminate attacks were an opportunity for me.
“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
Pat━
First, I created a Phantom as a decoy and moved behind the Specter, continuing to attack as many times as possible. The Specter, preoccupied with killing the surrounding players, didn’t notice my attacks.
Chwachwak!━
[Damage Dealt……]
[Damage Dealt……]
Thanks to this, I was able to deal damage freely. Meanwhile, the Specter, causing explosions everywhere, finally spotted the Phantom I created and swung the Sword of Ruin. The Phantom naturally blocked it, but it couldn’t withstand the explosion.
Kwaaang!!━
‘It’s holding up well.’
Perhaps due to its significantly increased health, the Phantom was enduring the explosions.
However, it couldn’t hold out indefinitely. The Phantom disappeared after withstanding about four explosions, but I was satisfied with the result, having been able to attack dozens of times during that period.
“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
So, I created another Phantom and continued my attacks as before. Through this combined assault with the Anis Kingdom players, we were able to shave off a considerable amount of the Specter’s health.
Kwakwakwang!!━
‘Now the remaining health is……’
About 50%? It seemed like half was left.
One might think it wasn’t much, but considering that Absolute Recovery wasn’t over yet, it was a tremendous pace.
[Beluin’s Fifth Apostle uses Inferno.]
However, I frowned at the message that popped up.
‘Does that b*stard have no conscience?’
It had already used a skill capable of wiping out most players in one hit several times.
“Inferno!”
“Everyone, run!”
Moreover, everyone seemed to know the power of Inferno and desperately tried to escape, but it was nearly impossible to avoid it once the message appeared.
Kwaaang!!━
[Damage Received……]
Since Absolute Recovery was still active on me, the health I lost from Inferno was restored, but the Anis Kingdom players who weren’t under the same effect were undoubtedly wiped out without needing confirmation.
━Kraaaa!
‘Well, it actually worked out well.’
Although the players were wiped out, the Specter was in a Berserk state.
And with only 50% of its health remaining, I decided to take advantage of this. I retreated towards where the players were, luring Beluin’s Specter, and the enraged Specter simply roared and chased after me.
“Uh, uh? What’s going on?”
“It’s the Specter!”
“Why did you suddenly bring it here!?”
They were bewildered by my sudden action, but they quickly regained their composure and started attacking the Specter.
However, there weren’t enough people attacking.
“Everyone, attack the Specter!”
And although I thought they might ignore my shout, fortunately, more people switched their targets and attacked the Specter.
“Damn it, what happened!?”
“It’s hard enough dealing with the Apostle and the Thoughts!”
━Kraaaa!
Naturally, their situation wasn’t good either.
They were dealing with two Apostles and thousands of Thoughts.
And on top of that, I brought Beluin’s Specter and the raid boss, the Fifth Apostle, so things were becoming increasingly chaotic.
Kwang!- Kwaang!!━
Explosions erupted from the Specter’s sword swings, and the Fifth Apostle, who had followed, also unleashed various area-of-effect magic, sweeping away the players.
However, I ignored the players being swept away and aimed for the back of the Specter, whose attack target had changed, aiming for continuous damage.
[Damage Dealt……]
‘But what if it uses Inferno here as well?’
It was a place with a particularly high concentration of players, so it wouldn’t be strange at all if it used Inferno.
In fact, it would be stranger if it didn’t.
Moreover, since Absolute Recovery had now ended, I was inwardly cautious while attacking the Specter, but strangely, it showed no signs of using Inferno.
‘Is there a reason it’s not using it?’
Kwakwakwang!━
Anyway, I continued to deal damage using the Anis Kingdom players as bait, and I could tell that the Specter’s health was down to about 20%.
It would have been difficult for me alone, but since about 200 to 300 players were unleashing Light attribute attacks, the Specter’s health was depleting faster than expected.
However, the number of attackers was also decreasing in real time.
Every time the Specter swung its sword, almost 10 players died, so the number naturally dwindled, but I could solve that by luring it back towards the players.
‘By the way, they won’t say anything about this, right?’
There would definitely be complaints.
Because of me, they suffered damage they wouldn’t have otherwise. Of course, there would be complaints, but I wasn’t entirely without justification, so I decided to let it slide.
‘Now 15%.’
Apart from attacking, one thing I had in mind was a skill that could apply the Light attribute to my shield.
I thought that if I ever managed to catch the Specter again, I would have to go to the Church of Light and learn that skill. With that in mind, I continued my attacks, and after sacrificing at least 2,000 to 3,000 players, I was finally able to achieve the result I desired.
‘This is the end!’
Chwaak!━
[Damage Dealt! 6,843.]
━Kureeee!
Beluin’s Specter let out a different kind of roar than before.
However, knowing instinctively that this was the end, I watched, and soon I saw Beluin’s Specter, which had been roaring, slowly disappear.
[Boss Monster ‘Beluin’s Specter’ has been defeated!]
[Combat Experience 4,874,184 acquired!]
[Level has increased……]
[Ding!~ You have acquired ‘Fragment of the Dark Specter’.]
[Ding!~ You have acquired ‘Book of Divine Power’.]
“Phew.”
It was a rather difficult battle for a mere boss monster.
Frankly, aside from its low health, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if it was a raid boss.
“Uwaaa! We defeated Beluin’s Specter!”
“We won!”
Nevertheless, I focused on the fact that we had defeated it and ignored the few players who were shouting. I checked on the remaining Apostles, but they were still slaughtering players as if the Specter’s death meant nothing to them.
‘Shouldn’t they be retreating now that the Specter is gone?’
If they weren’t related to Beluin’s Specter, the players might have to retreat.
Whatever the reason, they hadn’t defeated the Specter.
Kangjin had initially said he wanted to prevent Beluin’s Specter from merging, so I considered that objective accomplished. I decided to leave, leaving the players who were still fiercely fighting.
‘Well, I’ve kept my promise by doing this much.’
Thinking that, I used Phantom Shift to escape the battlefield and waited for the time when I could use the Return Scroll, deciding to check the items I had obtained.
Although I had worked hard to defeat Beluin’s Specter, it was only a normal boss, so I didn’t have high expectations. But who knows?
And as I examined the items obtained from defeating Beluin’s Specter, I discovered an unexpected item.
[Fragment of the Dark Specter] (Unique)
Description: A fragment of Beluin, also known as the God of Deep Darkness. In other words, it’s a fragment of a god, but due to the aftermath of the sealing, it was obtained in an unstable state after being divided into several pieces, resulting in a downgraded rank.
*Material Value: 120.
‘Unique?’
Beluin’s Specter was just a normal boss, but a Unique item dropped?
Moreover, its Material Value was 120.
Considering that even Mithril, the Rare material with the highest Material Value, was only 50, this material was on a whole different level, but since it was a fragment, I couldn’t even guess what kind of material it was.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter to me.’
After reaching level 30 in Crafting, I could craft items even without a recipe, as long as I had the appropriate materials.
So, I could just throw this material in and create a corresponding piece of equipment, but with just one piece of material, I couldn’t create an item of the corresponding rank.
‘Rather than that, if I could obtain this fragment every time I defeat Beluin’s Specter……’
I would be able to craft Unique items.
However, my name would be clearly attached to the item, so no one except me or someone close to me would be able to use it.
Because of that, I pondered over the material for a moment, but the thought of fighting the Specter again made me sigh.
“This is tricky.”
I didn’t want to fight Beluin’s Specter again, but I coveted the Unique material.
Well, if I added the Light attribute to my shield and fought, I might be able to defeat it more easily, but I was somewhat reluctant after the tough battle I had just endured.
[Book of Divine Power] (Rare)
Description: A book containing the divine power of a god. Although it can only be used once and requires a price, it’s undoubtedly a valuable book as it allows the user to wield divine power. However, since it’s written in the language of the gods, it’s unknown what power will be activated.
━Upon use, Level decreases by 5.
━Randomly activates a divine power.
━One-time use consumable.
“Divine power?”
So, if I use this book, I can use a power like Beluin’s?
There was no need to explain how powerful Beluin’s powers were.
If it just happened to activate the Sword of Ruin or the Power of Destruction, it would be a tremendous help in battle. And if it activated the Mark of Death, the battle would be as good as won.
The Mark of Death tripled damage.
If the right power activated, even someone other than me could defeat a raid boss alone, so it almost felt like the Rare rank was insufficient.
“But a Level decrease of 5?”
First of all…… I wouldn’t be able to use it, right?
The moment I used this power, it would be the same as not being able to equip the Legendary ring.
It was an item I couldn’t use unless I reached at least level 125. Realizing that, I briefly considered where I could use the Book of Divine Power, but ultimately decided to put it back in my inventory.
I thought it would be better to keep it in my inventory for now, just in case I might need it later.
‘Anyway, I should open the Luxury Shop Boxes first when I get back.’
I had five boxes, so if I wanted to upgrade them all to Unique rank, it might not be enough even if I spent the whole day doing it.
Kwang!━
‘……But how long are they going to keep fighting?’
Having thought about what to do when I returned, I looked at the Anis Kingdom players who were still fighting with a puzzled expression, but thinking that I had done my part, I took out the Return Scroll from my inventory.
‘Well, they’ll retreat after fighting for a while.’
[Using Return Scroll.]
Of course, I didn’t think the players would win in the end.
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