Chapter 796
Chapter 796: Skull Island (3)
The moment the cave door closed, cutting us off from the outside.
Fwoosh-!
The candlesticks affixed to the walls lit up simultaneously, expanding our field of vision. Ah, not that the entire space brightened. It was still pitch dark about 10 meters ahead……
“Liette.”
Raven cast a sphere of light into the darkness and made a curious expression.
“Oh, it really won’t light up. The magic power is still working though, so magic isn’t being nullified.”
While Raven seemed quite curious about the mechanics behind it, I couldn’t care less. After all, I’m a player, not a scholar. It’s ridiculous to try finding logic in field effects, isn’t it?
[You have entered a special area.]
[Field Effect – Katakoma is applied.]
[Wound Aggravation (Advanced) is granted.]
[When you slay a monster in this area, a random stat will be decreased by 1.]
[Countdown has been removed.]
[Only the light of the dead can banish the darkness.]
In this cave, no light source—whether it be light magic or torches—can illuminate the darkness. I’ve tried using black magic and similar items because of the keyword ‘light of the dead,’ but they all failed. So the only light sources are the wall-mounted torches. Of course, those torches didn’t extend very far, but that wasn’t an issue. Because monsters were beginning to appear.
“Ooh! There’s a skull over there!”
“Wait! Hold on, Ainar.”
I quickly stopped Ainar who was about to rush toward the monster the moment it appeared.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Bjorn?”
“From now on, all monsters that appear will be dealt with by Illya Adnus.”
While Ainar looked confused, the Guild Master, who was the person in question, was different. With just those words alone, he grasped the entire situation and gave a slight smirk.
“So you’re using me as the sacrifice.”
“What sacrifice? It’s not like you’re going to die.”
“Very well. I’ll gladly be the sacrifice.”
Geez, we all understand the situation perfectly well here. Is he trying to gain more credit by repeatedly mentioning sacrifice? Whatever the case, Illya Adnus drew his sword.
“A sword……? Wasn’t he an archer?”
Well, he does use a bow too. More precisely, he’s a hybrid. His skills aren’t heavily reliant on any particular weapon type.
Slash-!
The Guild Master approached the monsters emerging from the darkness and took down four of them in one sweep. It wasn’t particularly impressive. The average rank of the trash mobs here is around 7. The hunting itself isn’t difficult. It’s just that there’s a cost afterward.
[Illya Adnus’ Natural Regeneration decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Strength decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Flexibility decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Fire Resistance decreases by 1……]
In this place, the more trash mobs you kill, the more your stats decrease. But that doesn’t mean you can just ignore them and move on.
Fwoosh-!
“Oh! More lights just turned on over there!”
Katakoma is a space designed so that you can only progress by continuously defeating monsters.
I’m not too sure about the others, but I can definitely feel it with this one. To think that my strength would decrease right from the beginning.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
It was Raven who answered Ainar’s question.
“Here, every time you kill a monster, one of your detailed abilities is randomly decreased.”
“Detailed abilities……? What’s that?”
“The ones you gain through essences or Arrangements of Gabrielius. Things like strength, agility and resistance values.”
“……Eek? Those decrease?”
As Ainar, who was initially eager to rush into combat, made a look of horror. The Guild Master smiled bitterly.
“Still, someone has to be the sacrifice.”
“……I respect you, Adnus……! To endure such a thing for your comrades! You are a warrior we can trust!”
“……Haha, thank you.”
To me, it looked like a farce.
‘What sacrifice? It’s not even permanent anyway.’
The moment you leave this area, all the accumulated penalties vanish instantly. Not that it makes this a completely free ride.
“Even if it feels fine now, prepare yourselves mentally. From what I’ve heard from people who’ve been here, they all say it was a horrific experience they never want to go through again.”
“Well, I suppose losing your abilities and becoming practically a normal person would make you feel incredibly empty.”
“Yes. Though us wizards wouldn’t really know how that feels.”
“Wait, then why not just have the wizards deal with the monsters?”
When Missha, who was listening to their conversation, raised this question, Raven averted her gaze.
“……I heard wizard lose their magic power instead.”
“Eh? Then wouldn’t wizards experience the same feeling……?”
“……”
Raven had no response to Missha’s logic. It was an incredibly rare sight. Missha had managed to render Raven speechless with logic.
“Enough chatting, let’s move.”
Though it was an amusing scene, as the leader, I couldn’t let them waste more time, so I cut the conversation short and pressed forward.
[Illya Adnus’ Fire Resistance decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Fighting Spirit decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Soul Power decreases by 1.]
[Illya Adnus’ Soul Power decreases by 1……]
[……]
[……]
As we progressed and the Guild Master’s kill count rose, his condition visibly deteriorated. The Guild Master, who had been taking down four monsters at once earlier, was now killing them one at a time and with much greater difficulty. This was also why we couldn’t assign this role to Auyen. You needed a certain level of baseline stats for this strategy.
“Bjorn, shouldn’t we help him out a bit……? He looks like he’s struggling. Can’t we just let the Guild Master land the finishing blows?”
When Ainar made this suggestion, I firmly shook my head.
“Just watch.”
It’s better to avoid variables. If someone accidentally gets the killing blow while trying to help, it would negate half the reason we came here. Therefore, this was all I could do for the struggling Guild Master.
“Phew……”
“Good work. Let’s keep moving.”
Choosing the correct path and minimizing our route as much as possible.
“This way.”
Katakoma isn’t a straight passage. It’s a maze similar to the Crystal Cave, and if you wander aimlessly around here, your stats will be ruined before you can face the boss. Well, that wouldn’t matter for a large expedition group that can afford multiple sacrifices.
“There’s a door over there!”
“Oh! We finally arrived!”
“What’s that thing in front of it?”
In any case, we continued the dungeon crawl and finally arrived at the boss chamber.
‘317 monsters……’
The total number of monsters the Guild Master had killed up to this point was 317.
“Okay, it’s over 300 so the condition has been met……”
Without hesitation, I immediately initiated the battle with the gatekeeper.
***
Defeating the mid-boss turned out to be a rather tedious process. Sure, if all we wanted was to kill it, one fully charged arrow from Erwen would have done the job…… But that would’ve caused issues in the next stage. Therefore……
“Adnus! Finish it quickly!”
“Ugh…! I’m trying! But because of all these curses…..”
“I get it, just hurry!”
We carefully whittled it down until it only had a sliver of its HP remaining, then held back so the Guild Master could land the finishing blow. And as a result.
[You have defeated the Gravekeeper Aleton. EXP +6]
[Elite Variant defeat bonus. EXP +1]
The Guild Master managed to deliver the final hit, and the mid-boss dissolved into light and disappeared. Incidentally, there was a hidden mechanic tied to this encounter.
[The Cursed One has defeated the Gravekeeper.]
[The Curse of Vengeful Spirits will not spread.]
Ordinarily, defeating the Gravekeeper causes the debuffs of the character with the most debuffs would be spread to everyone else. So, the standard strategy is to take turns killing monsters until reaching the mid-boss to minimize curse stacks and it’s what I told that woman when I sold her this information in the past. Well, that woman didn’t even know about the existence of the ‘hidden boss.’ There was no reason to tell her that if one person takes all the curse stacks, they’ll receive the ‘Cursed One’ status and the curse wouldn’t spread.
“No essence dropped.”
“That’s disappointing”
“Not really. It’s a trash essence anyway.”
“Still, it would’ve sold for something. It’s rare. It might even have research value.”
Ah, come to think of it, she’s always had a thing for stuff like this.
“Forget it, let’s just go in.”
Soon we entered the space beyond the door that opened after defeating the gatekeeper.
“There’s nothing here?”
“That’s because twelve people have entered.”
The design of the cave was similar to that of the island. The walls, ceiling, floor—everything was made of skulls. Even the wall-mounted candlesticks were skulls, with candles lit inside them. The boss room had a similar terrain design. The only notable difference was that the front wall was decorated with an even larger monster skull than the one we saw at the cave entrance……
“Ooh! Raven, what kind of monster is that over there? It looks really strong!”
“Well, I’m not sure. There aren’t many monsters of that size even in the labyrinth…… Maybe it isn’t a monster?”
“Hmm… That’s too bad! I really wanted to fight it someday!”
Inside the vast cavern, we slowly moved forward while maintaining formation.
“Erwen, begin.”
“Yes.”
At my command, Erwen closed her eyes and began concentrating, while I kept my eyes fixed on her.
And……
[All resources have been exhausted.]
[A mysterious energy makes itself known following the exhaustion of all resources.]
The moment [Chaos Circuit] activated.
“Now. Everyone, get out.”
At my words, everyone except the pre-selected members quickly exited the boss room. Me, Amelia, Ainar, Missha, Erwen, and the Guild Master. These were the members who will join for this boss fight…… Though honestly, I chose them not because they were the best, but because I wanted them to gain the experience points. This wouldn’t be much of a fight anyway.
Thoom—! Ddddddddddd—!
The moment the rest of the team members left the room, the door closed and the entire room shook as if there was an earthquake.
And……
[Groooooooooarrrrr-!!!]
The same howl we heard upon first entering the cave reverberated throughout the room.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!
The boss with a rather intimidating appearance rose up, pushing aside the sea of skulls covering the floor. And also, at the same time.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has cast Concentrated Fire.]
[Grooo……uh…?]
A total of three phases were skipped.
***
The standard strategy for defeating the Skull King is quite tricky. If you slowly progress through the raid, you’ll notice that the soul orb he carries gradually depletes…… That orb represents the Skull King’s life force.
when its life force reaches 80%, he casts a wide-area curse. when it reaches 60%, he summons minions. When it reaches 40%, he activates an instant-death skill.
And when it reaches 20%, he uses an invulnerability skill that prevents his life force from dropping any further below that threshold, enters a recovery state, and gains an even more powerful buff……
[The Skull King’s soul energy is below 20%.]
[The Skull King has cast Soul Absorption.]
Three phases were skipped and the fourth phase began immediately. Ah, of course, just because it was the fourth phase, that didn’t mean it would be difficult. After all, Erwen in her infinite MP state had more than just [Concentrated Fire].
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]
Boom-boom-boom-boom-! Boooooom-!
As Erwen concentrated all her firepower on the Skull King, draining its soul orb faster than it could replenish. As a result……
[The Skull King has absorbed all the souls.]
[All of the Skull King’s powers are greatly amplified.]
[The Skull King’s soul energy is below 20%.]
[There are no souls available to absorb.]
The moment [Soul Absorption] ended, its life force hit 20%, starting the final phase.
[The Skull King has cast Eternal Liberation.]
It’s a kind of ‘enrage mode’ that every boss monster tends to have. The strategy for this pattern is quite simple.
[The Skull King gains immunity to all damage.]
[The Skull King’s soul orb is rapidly depleting.]
You just need to endure, and that’s my specialty.
[The Skull King’s soul orb is empty.]
After rampaging wildly for a minute, the Skull King finally stopped moving. Though technically it wasn’t defeated yet, the raid was essentially over. Even a normal person could approach motionless monster and break a glass orb.
‘It’s been just over two minutes since it was summoned……’
In reality, with the fourth phase’s recovery taking one minute and then another minute for the enrage mode, you could say it was defeated in just seconds……
“Good work. As we discussed, Adnus, you finish it off.”
“Understood.”
The Guild Master approached the immobilized Skull King and shattered its soul orb, marking the raid’s conclusion.
[The Skull King has been defeated. EXP +7]
[Elite Variant defeat bonus. EXP +1]
Although no essence dropped, I didn’t particularly care. The main attraction lay elsewhere.
[The Cursed One has defeated the Skull King.]
[A piece of the ancient tale has been completed.]
As the Skull King’s bone fragments transformed into scattering particles of light, the entire cavern began to tremble again.
Ddddddddd-!
“Uh… What’s going on? Wasn’t it over?”
At Ainar’s muttering, I answered with a smirk.
“Congratulations, Ainar.”
“Huh? For what?”
Instead of answering, I turned my gaze to the massive skeletal head hanging like a decoration up ahead.
“Didn’t you say earlier you wanted to fight it someday?”
It was time to hunt the hidden boss.