Chapter 207: True Warrior 2
Chapter 207: True Warrior 2
Chapter 207: True Warrior 2
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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Manaashi, eager to deal with the source of the corruption, tries to leave the heavy lifting to me, but I have other plans.
It's true that we could handle it by invoking 'Help me, Rolandemon', but this time it's different.
If we're facing a giant monster at the threshold of high-level, then it should be attacked in a combined effort by several who are just entering the high-level.
Just because a creature is large doesn't mean it's slow; it signifies strength, sturdiness, and speed.
However, Roland's body is extraordinary, almost like a small giant itself.
Even an Ogre, a typical giant monster, can be brought to its knees with just a few blows from my warhammer.
"It's only reached the high-level. This giant, unexperienced, will only flail its power about as a creature created by the Demon King and lacks intelligence."
-Like the ones above.
"So, let's use this opportunity for you guys to face it."
If I just swept it away, it would cause problems with experience.
Not the kind of experience that fills up the EXP bar and levels you up, but the battle experience our party needs to gain as adventurers.
A wide, flat clearing without any obstacles, and the giant monster standing alone without any teammmates, children, or subordinate monsters.
In other words, isn't this field perfect to use the giant as a tutorial boss?
Being high-level, and a giant at that, it probably won't die pathetically from reflective damage.
Attacking me will surely deplete its mana, but if even an Orc warrior can withstand a hit, maybe this one will manage too?
Being sturdy means it can be a sandbag for longer...!
"We, us? I do have enough piercing arrows."
"Right, we can't always rely on Roland. My sword can pierce its scales... But if its lower body is a snake, how do we cut its ankles? How do we fight a Naga giant?"
Grace and Katie, too, seemed to understand the need to face a giant monster, nodding without hesitation.
They already have the experience of fighting a giant snake on the 30th floor, albeit with a mounted golem.
They know most high-level monsters are huge, hence the need for this experience.
Setting aside game system knowledge, the higher you go in the tower, the stronger the enemies.
If one thinks even a little, it's predictable that more high-level monsters would appear higher up.
"Phew, so Roland will only use his shield?"
"I'll focus mainly on defense, and if necessary, knock aside weapons. From dealing damage to finishing it off, you guys try handling it."
-Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver! Bus driver!
-Teacher Roland is telling them to get off because they've been freeloading too much.
-If you eat uncooked, you get sick, right? Should have cooked it slowly and eaten it
-Just jump in whenever there's a chance
['Paladin-Scratching Han' donated 10,000 won!]
Will you be mooching still when you reach around the 70th floor?
"Why are you mad at me? Even when he teaches us nicely, look at how they maliciously slander me, really?"
While the three of them were sizing up the giant Naga, Han Se-ah was busy chatting with the viewers.
Thinking about it, it's unclear what Han Se-ah could do with the magic she had learned so far.
The only offensive magic she had learned was the beginner-level Magic Missile and the intermediate wind magic used against the cave bats.
Besides that, she only had protective spells like Shield, Light for illumination, Spark for campfires, Water for drinking, and Earth Control for clearing paths.
...Even in a world where mages are not just damage dealers but all-round problem solvers, this seems a bit too imbalanced.
After the 40th floor boss event ends and a strengthening event comes, I should make sure she learns an advanced boss-level damage skill.
"...But how do I deal with that giant using my magic? Even if I try Spark, it won't even scratch its eyelids, and it's too big to suffocate with Water, and my wind-type offensive spells are too weak to make a dent."
-Damage? Maybe go in?
-I think I've developed precognition, I can see what I'm thinking in the chat.
-It's not actually precognition, but mind reading.
-But isn't Han Se-ah really just dead weight? She can't do anything against the boss.
-But is that really a boss? Isn't it just an event monster before the boss?
Han Se-ah, having similar thoughts, was discussing her skills with the viewers.
They teased her as a 'brilliant mage' for her shining performance, but as they quickly ascended to the 40th floor, problems started to emerge.
Other players might have repeated quests for equipment and increased their number of skills, but our party moved up too quickly, causing problems for our mage, Han Se-ah.
Ordinary mages naturally learn more and more magic.
Just as a baker who learns to make salt bread doesn't forget how to bake macarons, you don't have to forget how to bake bread to learn how to make salt bread.
-There is a, weakness, in it...
Manaashi, trying to encourage the worried party, opens his mouth.
As expected from a tutorial for a high-level monster that requires cooperation, Manaashi begins to reveal the weaknesses of the Naga family giant.
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Raei Translations
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(Reverse Scale)
Originally refers to one of the 81 scales of a dragon, which is reversed and located under its neck.
It's not so much a weak spot that can kill a dragon, but rather a spot that, if touched, will definitely cause the dragon to kill the person who touched it.
In simple terms, it's not a 'weakness that a mighty enemy must target to defeat' but a 'part that must never be touched lest you want to die'.
But that's when the opponent is a real dragon.
-The scales have, turned black, and with its, enlarged body, it's now, clearly visible.
"...Indeed, I can see several scales flipped on its arms, back, and the waist where the human upper body and snake lower body meet."
It's a high-level monster at the beginning stage, with snake scales, not even close to a dragon.
The 'Reverse Scale' Manaashi spoke of isn't a metaphorical weakness, but literally scales that grew in reverse.
As befitting of a snake, it was said that the lower half of the body, which sheds its skin, had scales that grew incorrectly in reverse, resulting in a weaker defense.
Just hearing about it makes one feel like a villain attacking the ingrown toenail of a giant.
-Its, size is, abnormally large, if it grew, any bigger, there would be, more weaknesses.
"The power of the Demon King forcibly increased its size and took away its sanity, which means the scales that should be hard have softened. We can take it down if we know its weaknesses."
"Whether it was the undead or this time, it seems a class that suits an axe more than a sword."
Boosted by the realization of a visible weakness, the party drew their weapons, strung alchemical arrowheads, and stepped into the clearing as the camera soared up.
Like an RPG boss monster, as soon as they stepped into the clearing, the creature, previously quiet during their strategy meeting, rose threateningly, slamming its heavy trident into the ground like a building's main beam.
-Krrr, shaaaaa-!
"Don't let your guard down!"
Perhaps due to its size, even the whistling of the wind sounded like a roar.
But there was no reason to be scared.
I moved forward with shield and warhammer in hand.
Filled with confidence that they wouldn't be overpowered even by a 6-meter giant, their bodies, swirling with divine energy and mana, were ready to physically overwhelm the creature.
The giant trident, as if being sucked into the extended shield, crashed down.
Kwooooom-
-Sha, shaaaaak?!
The trident, thicker than a human's torso and filled with dark energy, struck down with full force but didn't even scratch the magically reinforced game skin shield.
Despite the significant height difference, resembling that of an adult and a kindergarten child, there was no problem in holding the line, and it seemed like I even managed to chip away at its aura with reflective damage.
As it attacked me, the black aura of the giant Naga form flickered like a candle in the wind.
Indeed, at a higher level, it seems there's no dying from reflective damage like this.
Is the mana filling their bodies used like some sort of MP shield?
Even so, the more it attacks, the more its mana is depleted, and once all the mana is gone, its health starts to diminish.
And accelerating this depletion were my party members standing behind me.
"I'll target the lower body first! Here I go-!"
Katie dashed forward, kicking up a cloud of dust as she charged.
Her target was the giant snake's lower body, heavily pressing down on the clearing.
Perhaps she planned to tear off all the reversed scales on the lower body, which seemed more vulnerable than the towering upper body.
No way a mere wriggling snake's tail could match Katie, naturally a 4 'Sword Princess'.
And with three people covering her, even less so.
"There are no scales on the eyes, after all!"
As Katie leaped over the tail, whipping like a whip on the ground, she turned her head just in time to catch an arrow flying towards its cheek.
The giant Naga, underestimating the situation, raised its retrieved trident, aiming at Katie, who was now even closer
Boom-!
The thing that struck its cheek was an alchemical arrowhead.
Apparently not intending to deal damage, a small explosion followed by a cloud of brown gas briefly obscured the giant's vision.
"May the Goddess, bless us!"
Seizing that moment, Manaashi charged in like a ghost with his sharp trident.
Unlike the black aura of the giant Naga form, his aura, still maintaining its blueness, aimed straight for the reversed scale below the waist.
Simultaneously, a white shield of divine energy spread above Katie's head.
Kaaaang-!
The heavy strike was blocked with a resonating boom, creating cracks in the shield.
The fact that a crack appeared in the shield of the born 5 'Saint Candidate,' who had never wavered before, showed just how powerful the aura-filled strike of the boss was.
But the fact that the strike was blocked again didn't change.
The brown gas blinded the giant Naga, Katie struck the reversed scale on the tail once more, and Manaashi's dark blue aura repeatedly struck and tore off the scale under the waist.
-Kyaa, shaaaaaaak-!
As sticky, black blood like tar oozed out from the broken scales, the creature screamed in rage.
But that was all the resistance it could muster.
After the roar dispersed the gas and it regained its sight, what the creature saw was Katie, who had been striking the scales on the tail, and Manaashi, who had ripped off the scales under the waist, quickly hiding behind me.
"How many arrows do we have left?"
"Fourteen for distracting!"
So, all the creature could do was desperately hope my shield would break as it hurled its trident again.
Of course, it was a given that my shield wouldn't be penetrated on just the 40th floor.