𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟕
‘Getting angry.’
Of course, unlike a simple gesture of anger, the flying daggers were incredibly sharp.
Clang!━
However, I had no intention of just taking the hits. I swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon in time with the incoming daggers and managed to deflect two of them with the wide surface of the weapon. But, before I knew it, one had hit my leg.
Three daggers thrown in that short amount of time.
[Curse of the Black Dragon is……]
Thanks to that, the curse stacked, and my defense dropped by a total of 10%. But I thought it was a sacrifice I had to make to fight the Second Apostle, so I went on the counterattack.
“Blink.”
First, I escape the Apostle’s sight using Phantom Shift.
The attack I had launched from the rear a moment ago had been a splendid success, so I thought perhaps his response to attacks from behind would be slow. Therefore, I decided to aim for his back rather than attacking from the front.
[Beluin’s Second Apostle uses Blade Dance.]
‘Blade Dance?’
However, as if he had already anticipated it, the Second Apostle spun his body and scattered daggers in all directions. Seeing this, I chose to charge forward instead of dodging.
“Blink.”
I used Phantom Shift, originally meant for escaping the Apostle’s sight, to move right in front of him, and immediately swung my shield.
“Thunder Strike!”
[Skill Damage! 29,289.]
From the moment I first deflected the daggers to the Thunder Strike attack just now.
I succeeded in another attack in the short span of less than 5 seconds. I continued to attack the staggering Second Apostle, and finally slammed my shield into the ground.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage! 39,094.]
I successfully landed the shockwave attack, but the Apostle, as if unaffected by such an attack, regained his posture and attempted to attack. However, I wasn’t just going to stand by and watch.
“Title Change, Summon!”
[Summoning Ust, Swallowing the Bitter Cold.]
Papapat!━
The daggers flying in simultaneously with the summon naturally hit Ust.
A.K.A. Summoned Beast Shield.
“Grooo!”
Ust also let out a low growl, displeased with the Second Apostle who had attacked him. I gave Ust the chance for revenge.
“Annihilate him!”
“Groooo!”
With my command, Ust began to pressure the Second Apostle by swinging his branches and summoning withered roots.
Actually, I didn’t think Ust’s stats were lower than the Apostle’s.
However, if you asked me if Ust could defeat the Second Apostle, I would have to shake my head.
While his overall stats might be similar or even higher than the Apostle’s, the Second Apostle had agility-based movements and penetration damage. So, if they actually fought, I thought Ust would be pushed back unilaterally.
And as if to prove that, even now, the Second Apostle was dodging Ust’s attacks while unleashing overwhelming attacks of his own. Ust was enduring all those attacks and occasionally counterattacking, but it wasn’t very effective.
‘Well, Ust has a lot of vitality, so he’ll hold out……’
But just holding out won’t be enough.
Thinking that far, I decided to lay a bait to land another Thunder Strike.
“Summon Karzen Kingdom Soldier.”
[Summoning Karzen Kingdom Soldier.]
One way or another, if I could defeat the Second Apostle with just summons like this, it would be convenient and nice.
But knowing that it would never be that easy, I summoned a Karzen Kingdom Soldier to draw out the Second Apostle’s skills. As I intended, the Apostle scattered daggers again.
[Beluin’s Second Apostle uses Blade Dance.]
‘……Now.’
I hid behind Ust, waited until all the daggers were scattered, and then moved immediately after Blade Dance ended.
“Blink, Thunder Strike!”
I strike as soon as I move.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage……]
Since I acted right after the Apostle’s attack ended, he was hit by my shield without a chance to dodge. I continued the momentum and landed all my remaining attacks. Seeing the Apostle, who had fallen back, quickly regaining his posture, I used Phantom Shift again to hide behind Ust.
━Kuh, how dare you toy with me.
‘Toy with you, my foot.’
I just found the most efficient method.
Even like this, every time I successfully landed all four Thunder Strike attacks, it seemed to deal at least 150,000 damage.
Even if his vitality was a generous 2,000,000, I could definitely take him down within the 30-minute duration of the Sacred Relic.
‘The problem is whether Ust can hold out.’
He probably can’t, right?
Even now, each of those daggers that the Second Apostle is recklessly throwing deals a brutal 15,000 damage.
Ust is enduring those with his bare body, so I don’t think he’ll be able to hold out for long.
“Groooo!”
Kuwaaaak!!━
Meanwhile, Ust even shot a dark ray, trying to hit the Second Apostle, but the Apostle dodged it effortlessly and threw a dagger.
It seems like there’s no limit to the number of those daggers.
Besides, I couldn’t just stand by and watch, so I was looking for another chance to attack. I decided to try using the Kingdom Soldier again.
“Summon Karzen Kingdom Soldier.”
At least I should use it until it stops working, right?
With that thought, I summoned another Karzen Kingdom Soldier, but this time, instead of using an attack like Blade Dance, the Apostle simply threw daggers to eliminate the soldier.
‘……As expected, it doesn’t work.’
Did I underestimate him too much?
I thought it would work at least two or three more times.
Anyway, if it doesn’t work, I have to think of another way.
━Are you going to hide forever!?
[Beluin’s Second Apostle uses Rain of Death.]
“Rain of Death?”
At those words, I instinctively looked up at the sky. I saw hundreds of daggers falling towards the ground.
It seemed like he used a skill with a wide area of effect because I kept hiding behind Ust. But unfortunately, the speed at which the daggers were falling wasn’t that fast.
‘This much is enough.’
There’s no need to dodge.
I raised the Roar of the Thunder Dragon and lightly deflected the falling daggers, blocking the few attacks that were falling towards me. But I also felt something was strange.
It’s a good skill when dealing with multiple opponents, but why did he use a skill that’s not very effective in a 1:1 fight with me?
“Grooo!”
Suddenly, I heard a different tone in Ust’s voice and immediately turned my head.
Then I saw the Second Apostle to my side. It seemed like he had intentionally drawn my attention upwards and then made his move.
[Beluin’s Second Apostle uses Guidance of Death.]
‘He’s going to attack me, isn’t he?’
Anyway, the Apostle, who used a skill called Guidance of Death or something, threw a single dagger. I was preparing to dodge when I suddenly felt a headache.
‘Ugh.’
What’s this all of a sudden?
And along with the headache, the world seemed to slow down.
If it were just that, it wouldn’t have mattered. But realizing that I couldn’t dodge or block the dagger the Apostle had just thrown, I knew that this was my Intuition activating.
And one piece of information that Intuition told me.
‘If I get hit, I die.’
Did Intuition activate because I would definitely die if I got hit by the dagger he just threw?
The sudden situation was perplexing, but fortunately, there was a way to block it.
“Absolute Recovery.”
Pabbat!━
The ultimate skill that keeps my health and magic power at 100% for 30 seconds.
With a cooldown of 12 hours, considering my connection time, I could use this ultimate skill once a day. As I activated this skill, the dagger thrown by the Apostle also pierced my body.
[Damage received! -29,830.]
‘Crazy, the damage……’
It was a guaranteed penetration damage.
Moreover, the attack didn’t end there.
[The Power of Death claims your life.]
[Due to the Power of Death, you lose 5,000 health per second.]
‘5,000?’
Apart from this message, the world that had been perceived slowly returned to its normal speed as soon as I was hit by the dagger. But I didn’t have time to pay attention to that and immediately rushed towards the Second Apostle.
‘Damn it, I have to kill him within 30 seconds.’
Thanks to Absolute Recovery, I wouldn’t die for 30 seconds.
No, even if I died, I would be resurrected as a demon, so I wasn’t worried about that. But if I turned into a demon, this quest would be as good as failed.
“Giant’s Sprint!”
So I tried to charge with all my might using Giant’s Sprint, but the Apostle, as if he had already prepared to dodge, barely avoided my attack. As a result, I immediately stopped and reflexively swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon.
Whizz━
━You’re slow.
‘Damn it.’
It was time for an area-of-effect attack.
Since I couldn’t land a direct attack, I had to somehow deal damage with an area-of-effect attack. What came to mind was the shockwave attack of Thunder Strike.
But I soon shook my head.
To use the shockwave attack, I had to land three attacks first, which wasn’t ideal in the current situation.
‘Approach and attack using Phantom Shift……’
Then, whether it was because of Intuition or not, a decent attack method came to mind. I decided to act on the thought rather than just thinking about it.
“Blink.”
Is there about 25 seconds left?
With that thought, I approached the Second Apostle using Phantom Shift. Seeing the Apostle running forward, I slammed the Roar of the Thunder Dragon into the ground.
[Roar of the Thunder Dragon Activated!]
[All magic power will be consumed.]
Kooooooooo!!━
The Roar of the Thunder Dragon, an attack that consumes all my magic power.
My current magic power is around 30,000.
In other words, the Roar of the Thunder Dragon attack was also 30,000, which was more than enough for an attack. The Apostle, who had run forward, was swept away by the lightning that erupted from the ground and took damage.
[Skill Damage! 17,856.]
━Kuh!
Finally got him.
“Thunder Strike!”
I quickly approached the Second Apostle, who was momentarily stunned by the lightning, and struck him with my strongest attack skill, Thunder Strike.
Kwaaaang!!━
[Skill Damage……]
“Blink!”
Starting with the first attack, I launched the Apostle away with the final shockwave attack and chased after him with Phantom Shift.
The Apostle, launched by the shockwave, regained his posture in mid-air and tried to move again. But I had anticipated that and slammed the Roar of the Thunder Dragon into the ground once more, activating the lightning. The Apostle couldn’t avoid the lightning this time.
Kooooooooo!!━
━Kuh, how dare you, such a……
“Thunder Strike!”
The situation was as good as over.
No matter how much the Apostle attacked, if he couldn’t kill me in one blow, it was useless.
Moreover, the additional attack using the Roar of the Thunder Dragon was working better than expected. I believed that if I continued the attack like this, I could eliminate the Second Apostle within the remaining time. As I expected, the Apostle couldn’t withstand the continuous Thunder Strike attacks and collapsed.
Kwaaaang!!━
━Keuh, ugh……
[The Power of Death disappears.]
‘That was a little close.’
My health was still being replenished to its maximum, so it seemed like the duration of Absolute Recovery hadn’t ended yet, but it felt like it would disappear soon.
[Raid Boss Monster, Beluin’s Second Apostle has been defeated.]
[Rewards will vary based on contribution……]
‘Come to think of it, I defeated both the First and Second Apostles.’
I wonder if I’ll end up defeating the remaining Third to Sixth Apostles as well?
I briefly entertained such pointless thoughts and decided to first use the skill enhancement I received as the 1st place reward in the raid to level up Jayer’s Guardian Shield.
[Ding!~ The level of S+ Rank Skill ‘Jayer’s Guardian Shield’ has increased.]
[Stats Strength 10, Stamina 10 increased.]
‘Now it’s level 23.’
It seemed like I could reach the Transcendence stage after just 7 raids, without having to struggle to level it up like Equipment Crafting.
‘Anyway, should I go help now?’
I was curious about what items dropped from the Second Apostle, who was designated as a raid boss. But right now, I thought helping the players who were fighting hard against the remaining Apostles was the priority, so I headed towards them.
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