Ch. 51 Clear
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 51 – Clear
“Hiyaaaaaap!”
I squeezed every last ounce of strength from my body, wailing as I endured the clash with the Boss. Belly Cover and Arm Length were also gritting their teeth, holding firm.
As if displeased by the stalemate, a new arm sprouted from the Boss’s body, naturally wielding a sword.
“——–!!!”
The Boss roared, attempting to bring down the massive Greatsword. I quickly assessed the situation.
The Boss’s remaining HP was low. This was a chance to reliably deal damage. The Gimmick was the Clash.
This was undoubtedly the moment to finish the Boss.
The problem was that everyone except me, Belly Cover, and Arm Length needed to deal damage to secure the kill. However, blocking the incoming attack seemed impossible in our current state.
‘I just need a little more time…!’
The three of us were barely holding off the Boss’s attacks, gradually being pushed back. If the next attack landed in this precarious situation, we’d be swept away instantly.
In that case!
While locked in the clash, I twisted my body and the Taseom Sword. It wasn’t a perfect stance, but a black aura emanated from the blade.
I met the minimum requirements to activate [Annihilation Strike], the Sword Master’s highest-damage skill, and shouted, “Parrying!!!”
Kaaaaaang!!!
Belly Cover and Arm Length, understanding my intent, activated their respective skills, summoning every bit of strength to deflect the Boss’s sword and scythe alongside me.
“——-!?”
The greatly flustered Boss stumbled backward, then combined all its weapons into one and raised them high above its head.
“…Prepare!”
I raised the Taseom Sword over my right shoulder, bracing myself.
The three of us launched off the ground, charging at the Boss simultaneously.
In that brief moment, all the Raid Group Members’ buffs were applied to us.
The massive Greatsword that seemed capable of cleaving anything, my one-handed sword, Belly Cover’s daggers, and Arm Length’s shield collided.
Kwaaaaaaaang!!!
A deafening sound shook the ground, and a violent storm erupted.
The second clash.
Even with all the buffs, 90% of my HP vanished instantly. The Healers frantically poured heals into me.
I checked the Boss’s HP.
[Abyss Artamin]
[■□□□□□□□□□]
We had reduced the Boss’s HP to a level we had never reached before. Because the Boss went berserk during the Crazy Flailing Pattern, dealing proper damage had been impossible.
However, during the Clash Pattern, everyone except those directly involved could stand still and deal damage, resulting in the Boss’s HP plummeting at an overwhelmingly faster rate than usual.
‘I have to finish it this time.’
This was the best opportunity. If we missed it, it would be a long time before another chance like this presented itself.
The condition that the person receiving the first attack when the Boss initiated the Crazy Flailing Pattern had to parry without fail.
It was a considerably difficult condition. Parrying itself was already challenging, but we couldn’t endure it alone with our current gear, requiring at least three people to parry.
It was quite fortunate that we had even made it this far. Among the many Raid Group Members, the Boss attacked me first.
And Belly Cover and Arm Length, who had bought time with Soonchu’s help, assisted me in successfully parrying.
The Clash that began that way had led to this situation.
“We’re being pushed back…!”
As Arm Length pointed out, my, Belly Cover’s, and Arm Length’s HP were visibly dropping despite all three Healers focusing their heals on us.
On top of that, the Healers’ mana was draining rapidly as they unleashed powerful heals.
However, the Boss’s HP was rapidly dwindling.
In a situation where it was certain that the Boss would die before the Healers ran out of mana and we perished, an unexpected event occurred.
The moment the Boss’s HP reached 3%, a massive pouch emitting a brilliant yellow light began to emerge from the giant cave that served as our battlefield.
Then, tentacles erupted from the Boss’s body and lunged towards the pouch.
“Soonchu Unnie, block it!!!”
As soon as I saw the Boss’s movements, I instinctively knew that it intended to consume the pouch and recover its HP.
Soonchu ceased attacking the Boss and immediately ran towards the pouch, engaging the Boss’s tentacles in a clash.
“Forced Clash System! I can only endure!”
Soonchu immediately communicated her situation.
‘Ah, this is bad. Could it be…’
As I feared, the Boss didn’t stop at just one tentacle.
As another tentacle emerged, I shouted, “Block the tentacles in order of lowest DPS!!!”
After Soonchu, the next Tank with the lowest DPS blocked the tentacles.
Thus began the Boss’s Gimmick.
Tentacles emerged one after another, and the Raid Group Members began to block them in sequence.
The problem was that the damage output decreased with each blocked tentacle.
Only one person was dealing damage now.
The Boss’s remaining HP was just 1%.
Each time the Boss extended a tentacle, its attack power decreased, and there was no HP reduction during the clash.
The problem was that all the Healers had already gone to block the tentacles, leaving only the Pure Dealer Mozza Whopper to unleash damage like crazy.
However, even at 1% HP, the Boss’s remaining health was significantly higher than that of other monsters.
The damn Boss pulled out another tentacle.
“Are you fucking kidding me? It keeps going!”
Mozza Whopper screamed in frustration.
The tentacles were becoming thinner and weaker, but Mozza Whopper knew that if even one of them reached the brilliantly yellow pouch, the Boss would recover. He crammed in damage from end to end, applied all the DoT effects, and blocked the tentacle.
Now, only me, Belly Cover, and Arm Length remained to block the Boss.
“Kwararaaaa!!!”
The Boss, weaker than before, broke free from the Clash and, as if using its last ounce of strength, sent two feeble tentacles surging towards the pouch.
Having seen the tentacle pattern enough times, Arm Length and Belly Cover ran to block them.
[Abyss Artamin]
[■□□□□□□□□□] (0.3%)
The Boss’s body began to crack. Unable to sustain itself, it started collapsing, and its gaze turned to me.
No, to the largest pouch behind me.
I didn’t know if this situation was intended by LEORE or just a coincidence.
It really made this Raid fun.
The Boss could no longer maintain its massive form and began to shrink. But it wasn’t just shrinking…
It shrank to look exactly like me, mirroring my Character Customization.
“Wow! Two cute Arangs!?”
Ignoring Belly Cover’s comment, I prepared for the final battle with the remaining Boss.
It now wielded the Taseom Sword, a one-handed sword, just like me.
LEORE probably designed the patterns for the last remaining user’s class to match that class.
In this case, it would use the Sword Master’s skills. The same skills. The same height as me.
In that case, I would never lose.
The Boss and I, with completely identical movements, raised our swords to our right shoulders.
The blades of the two Taseom Swords emitted a purple light.
The skill that had to be used first after the Sword Master’s skills were revamped: the 5-hit attack that immediately stacked 5 Chain Attack stacks, [Pentagon].
The [Pentagon] that the Boss cast and the [Pentagon] that I cast.
The trajectories of the Boss’s and my [Pentagon] were completely identical. Purple light erupted in the cave, with the same attacks, the same timing, the same trajectory, and the same effects.
There wasn’t a single difference between the best [Pentagon] that the system AI could produce and my own.
The sound of two swords colliding rang out cheerfully.
The Boss’s and my [Pentagon] clashed, and our swords were greatly deflected.
Again, the Boss and I moved in the same way: the Sword Master’s dash skill with green light, [We Hap].
Our swords collided, and instead of being repelled, they interlocked and crossed.
In a situation where anyone would die the moment their strength faltered, the impact of each other’s skills faded away.
The moment the effect of [We Hap] that had been enveloping the two interlocked Taseom Swords disappeared, the Boss stopped due to the skill’s after-delay.
I naturally overlapped the after-delay of [We Hap] and the pre-delay of [Square Quadler] and thrust the Taseom Sword into the Boss’s body—!
Kaang!
“Kuaaaaaaa!!!”
The Boss screamed and blocked all of my [Square Quadler] with the same [Square Quadler].
‘Are you kidding me!?’
Even though it was the final Boss of the season, the situation was truly insane.
My [Square Quadler] was cast about 1 second earlier than the Boss’s, but it forcibly blocked all of my attacks.
It wasn’t a human movement.
Ah, the Boss isn’t human… or so you thought!? Who would win if the Boss did that in a 1v1 situation!?
I had to stay calm.
The Boss was copying my skills exactly.
In that case, I would rely not on skills but solely on Chain Attacks.
Without skills, Combat Assistance, forms, or techniques, the Boss received it through system AI in a purely barbaric Chain Attack.
‘It’s seriously fucking OP…!’
Our swords began to graze each other’s bodies.
More perfectly, more surely!
The scenery in front of me gradually slowed down.
The trajectory of the sword began to appear in detail.
I frowned at the headache and focused even more to end it for sure.
The moment the Boss’s Taseom Sword was about to hit my head, I blocked the attack with the crossguard on the hand side of the sword’s blade and deflected it while twisting my hand.
The Boss’s Taseom Sword barely missed my right head and was embedded in the ground, and I stepped on it with my right foot.
There was a slight delay in the Boss retrieving the sword, and I used that to slash its neck with my Taseom Sword.
[Abyss Artamin]
[■□□□□□□□□□] (0.1%)
[Abyss Artamin]
[□□□□□□□□□□] (0.0%)
The Boss’s body collapsed, and [Abyss Artamin] Complete appeared, indicating that the Raid had been cleared.
==
I later found out that the last 1v1 Gimmick was actually designed so the Boss’s HP gradually disappeared, so all you had to do was have a Tank or Healer remain and endure. I was so dumbfounded…
Az09xo
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