𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟒
[Beluin’s Second Apostle uses Blade Dance.]
The apostle, unfazed by the illusions rushing in from all directions, spun his body and scattered dozens of daggers. The illusions struck by the daggers disappeared with an almost anticlimactic ease.
“……”
Wow, so that’s how it works.
Even though he summoned illusions, they weren’t protected by Jayer’s Guardian Shield.
As a result, the daggers thrown by the Second Apostle seemed to inflict piercing damage, causing six illusions to vanish in an instant. Seeing this, I realized I had underestimated this apostle.
‘Should I approach and fight?’
For now, it was clear that his weapon was a throwing dagger.
Moreover, since throwing daggers were considered ranged attacks, I thought it might be easier than expected if I fought him in close quarters. I decided to put this into action immediately.
“Blink, Thunder Strike.”
Pak!━
I swung my shield simultaneously with teleporting using Phantom Shift.
I thought that most people would be helplessly caught off guard by this near surprise attack, but the Second Apostle didn’t seem to be one of those ‘most people’ as he leaped back 4-5 meters and threw another dagger.
Kang!━
[You have received damage! -7,003.]
[You have been afflicted with Black Dragon’s Curse a total of 5 times.]
[All defenses are reduced by 25%.]
Right, so he dodged backwards?
“Giant’s Sprint!”
From our brief exchange, I sensed that the Second Apostle’s agility was higher than mine, but that didn’t mean he could move faster than Giant’s Sprint.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage! 24,837.]
And as expected, I succeeded in crashing into him with my shield before the Second Apostle could react. Seeing him fly backward, I used the same skill once more.
“Giant’s Sprint!”
Honestly, unlike other skills, Giant’s Sprint allowed me to charge forward with tremendous speed, so I thought the Second Apostle wouldn’t be able to avoid it.
However, before I could even finish saying the skill name, the apostle dodged my Giant’s Sprint by leaping to the side, leaving me to charge into empty air. I immediately stopped and used the next skill.
“Soul Shackles!”
Cha-rururuk!━
As I plunged the translucent stake that appeared in my hand into the ground, about ten chains shot out, attempting to bind the Second Apostle’s body. But the apostle was avoiding the chains with incredibly agile movements.
‘Huh, these Soul Shackles are useless.’
They were somewhat useful when Yua and the others were on the quest to hunt 50 Thoughts.
The Thoughts bound by Soul Shackles couldn’t move properly.
However, having confirmed that I couldn’t bind the Second Apostle, a raid boss, with its normal use, I tried to approach again when I suddenly realized I was too focused on this fight.
‘Ah, I almost made a mistake.’
My purpose in coming here wasn’t to defeat the apostle.
It was to retrieve the sacred relic.
Remembering my objective, I realized that I shouldn’t be fighting the Second Apostle like this and immediately opened my item window to pull out the Ust card.
“Summon.”
[Summoning Ust, Swallowing the Bitter Cold.]
[Summoned creature’s level increased by 21……]
I should have done this from the start.
Did I think I could handle it alone after defeating Deshon?
Anyway, Ust, also a raid boss, should be able to hold out until I break the barrier.
“Don’t let him get past you.”
“Groooo!”
Ust roared as if in understanding and immediately swung its branches towards the Second Apostle.
Seeing that, I turned around without hesitation and ran towards where the sacred relic was. I swung my shield at the relic, which was protected by nothing but the barrier.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage! 33,745.]
[Skill Damage……]
‘Seems like its durability is quite high.’
Every time I use Thunder Strike, I’m dealing close to 200,000 damage.
I wasn’t sure how strong the barrier protecting this sacred relic was, but I believed that if I continued to inflict this much damage, it would break soon.
“Rudin-nim! Behind you!”
‘Behind?’
I quickly lowered my upper body as soon as I thought that.
And right above me, I could see a dagger hitting the barrier. It seemed to be a dagger thrown at me while he was fighting Ust.
‘What the hell is Ust doing……’
I checked to see what was happening and saw the Second Apostle easily dodging Ust’s attacks and running towards me.
After all, the Second Apostle’s agility was higher than mine.
Ust’s stats had significantly increased due to the influence of my items, but Ust wasn’t the type to fight by moving around. It also occurred to me that I hadn’t changed my title when summoning Ust.
‘Even so, I thought it would be able to buy me some time.’
It couldn’t even hold him for 10 seconds.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to think about that right now.
I had to deal with the approaching apostle first.
“Soul Shackles!”
Cha-rururuk!━
As expected, when I used Soul Shackles, the Second Apostle retreated again to avoid the translucent chains.
Of course, he didn’t just retreat; he retreated while throwing daggers. But I had anticipated that, so I didn’t mind. Instead, I watched as Ust’s branches flew like whips towards the retreating apostle.
[All defenses are reduced by 30%.]
‘I need something to buy me more time.’
Ust wasn’t enough to hold back the apostle.
I couldn’t keep the Second Apostle in check forever, so I tried to recall if I had any effective skills and immediately used the skill that came to mind.
“Summon Karzen Kingdom Soldiers.”
[Summoning Karzen Kingdom Soldiers.]
[Related stat Summoning (1,418) is applied.]
[All stats of the Karzen Kingdom Soldiers increased by 709……]
Even if I summoned ten soldiers here, there was no way they could stop the Second Apostle.
As summoned creatures, their stats had increased considerably, but they were only summoned creatures from a B-rank skill at best. I figured they would probably die after one or two daggers from the Second Apostle.
However, the Karzen Kingdom Soldiers were a bit unique.
[Related stat Command (660) is applied.]
“Command: Hold the Line!”
[The Karzen Kingdom Soldiers’ health and defense are doubled.]
Special skills that could be used depending on the Command stat.
When I used Hold the Line, the ten soldiers began taking actions to block the approaching Second Apostle, such as lowering their stances or shooting arrows.
Now that their health and defense had doubled, wouldn’t they be able to hold out for a few seconds?
I turned my back to the soldiers to prepare for any incoming daggers and started hammering at the barrier again.
Kwaaaang!!━
‘Break faster!’
The more time passed, the harder it would be for everyone, not just me.
If it were just fighting a boss monster, it would be one thing, but these guys even used Beluin’s power.
We were managing to hold on for now, but if they used their power, the situation could be reversed in an instant. With a sense of urgency, I continued to strike the barrier.
Chaeng!━
‘Oh!’
It broke!
I quickly reached out and grabbed the statue as the barrier shattered like a piece of transparent glass.
I had obtained the sacred relic, my objective.
I put the relic in my item window to prevent it from being stolen, and after checking my surroundings, I shouted loudly, looking at the guild members who were still fighting and the few remaining Karzen Kingdom Soldiers.
“Retreat now!”
As if waiting for those words, the guild members who were struggling against the apostle shouted back with joy.
“We were waiting for that!”
“Ah, I was wondering how long we’d have to fight!”
“Rear units, fall back first!”
The problem was the worry that the apostles might chase us to the end.
Common sense dictated that if they had invaded the temple and stolen the relic, they would pursue us relentlessly to retrieve it after we took it back.
But that was something to worry about later.
Besides, bosses never left their designated locations, so I dismissed it as an absurd thought and decided to follow the rear units and escape.
“Blink.”
Pat!━
Just in case, I moved in several short bursts even though I could cover the distance in one go.
This way, the illusions would attack the apostles around me, buying us some time. And as I expected, the illusions I created immediately rushed towards the apostles.
And as I exited the stairs and emerged onto the ground, I spotted everyone waiting for me at a distance. I let out a small sigh of relief and approached them.
“Good work, Rudin-nim.”
We managed to finish the job before those guys could use their power.
If they had used their power right away, at least half of us would have died.
Well, I guess it would be fine since Eris could resurrect us then?
“Good work to you too. Now let’s go back……”
Ta-tat!━
━You insolent fools, did you think you could escape!?
“……”
Turning my head, I saw the four apostles who had emerged from the basement stairs glaring at us.
Could those guys leave the basement?
I had hoped they couldn’t, but my belief that such a thing wouldn’t happen due to the game’s mechanics was shattered.
“Let’s run.”
“……Yes.”
No one objected to my suggestion to run.
* * *
“Oh! The sacred relic! You found it. Thank you!”
Contrary to expectations, we were able to shake off the apostles who had emerged from the basement quite easily.
We used illusions as bait and ran away.
Afterward, when we returned the sacred relic to the Church of Light, Bishop Arus expressed his gratitude with a deeply moved expression.
[You have completed the NPC quest.]
[Acquired 50,000 Divine Contribution Points!]
‘Now for the next quest?’
I was wondering how long I would have to continue this tedious quest when I heard Arus’s voice once more.
“Once again, thank you. As expected of the heroes who passed the Trial of Light.”
“Is everything done now?”
We had passed the Trial of Light and retrieved the sacred relic.
So I thought there was nothing left to do except confront Beluin and asked him that. Fortunately, Arus nodded.
‘I asked just in case.’
Was it really over?
After just five quests?
“There is one thing left to do, but it’s as good as done. Now, you need to go to where the defense line is being built and confront Beluin.”
“……And there’s a way to deal with him?”
“We plan to deploy a barrier at the defense line using the sacred relic as a medium. Normally, it would be difficult to stop Beluin with just that, but if you enhance the power of the sacred relic with the light attribute you’ve gathered, it should be possible.”
‘Using the light attribute for the barrier?’
The amount of light attribute that players had gathered so far must be considerable, so I had high hopes for the power of the barrier.
Anyway, after hearing a rough outline of the plan, another question came to mind.
“Ah, but when will Beluin arrive?”
Frankly, if Beluin attacked while I was asleep at dawn, it would be the most unfair thing ever.
“You don’t have to worry about that. There will be signs. We will let you know when the time comes.”
[A new NPC quest has appeared.]
Perhaps Arus thought he had finished his explanation, as a quest message popped up at that moment.
It was probably a quest to go to the defense line construction and confront Beluin, right?
But when I checked, it contained something different from what I expected.
[Defend the Defense Line.]
Description: Most of the preparations for confronting Beluin are complete. Please proceed to the Ronda Kingdom’s defense line and defend it until Beluin appears.
‘Defend the defense line?’
Seeing the content of the quest telling me to defend the defense line until Beluin appeared, I had a bad feeling that something was going to attack.
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