Chapter 64: Return

Before heading from the 30th floor to the 31st floor.

Clara, seeing Rohan’s injuries, finally confessed something she had been holding back.

“Oppa. Actually, I…”

Clara revealed the true weapon she possessed to Rohan and Shion.

Rohan hadn’t mentioned it separately, but he’d known about it from the beginning.

Shion, too, after the short confrontation at the Academy Dormitory, had realized that Clara’s real weapon wasn’t a dagger or a pistol.

Just like Ichinose Yui had Yoru and Noa Frozenheart had Fimbulvetr.

Clara also had a special, exclusive weapon.

“I’m sorry for telling you so late… I wasn’t trying to hide it…”

“I’m happy you told me, Clara. Don’t say that.”

These were not empty words.

Rohan felt gratitude and a sense of her growth as Clara voluntarily opened up to him.

The catalyst for revealing her secret was her concern for him. Who could fault her for that?

“Clara. Is it okay if I listen in too?”

Shion, who had been quietly observing, asked.

Clara shyly smiled and nodded, and Shion, feeling warmth in her chest, smiled back.

The closeness they had developed while struggling together in the dungeon.

It made Rohan even happier.

“Let’s go up.”

“Ah, yes…!”

The reason why she hadn’t used such a powerful weapon earlier, even though she had it, goes without saying. It was the same in Abyss City, in Clara’s story.

That weapon had immense range and attack power, but the amount of Mana consumed to operate it was tremendous.

Therefore, given Clara’s personality, she was surely worried about becoming a burden to the party due to Mana exhaustion.

Besides, it was a situation where the battle continued for a long period. She wouldn’t have felt the need to bring it out.

However, that was the girl’s identity and her prominent advantage and disadvantage.

Clara was a famous dealer known for pulling off bizarre DPS in an instant based on this trait. It was also a problem that could be compensated for depending on the setup and growth.

Can I finally see it firsthand?

Rohan felt a childlike excitement before the battle.

He could even forget the throbbing pain in his chest from the excitement.

··

··

The monster that had successfully protected the Monolith expressed its anger through the television.

The wriggling thorny vines straightened into an offensive posture.

Simultaneously ───Boom! Rohan and Shion kicked down the doors, one each, securing a wider view.

The room containing the boss monster and the Monolith.

There was no option to enter politely.

“Let’s go. Time to go home.”

“Yeah!”

“Good.”

As soon as they entered, Rohan stood at the front and imbued his dagger with a crimson glow.

Heat shimmered from the blade, creating a mirage.

They each knew what they had to do.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Vines swung wildly, rushing towards them.

Taking advantage of the opening created by the lush thorny vines surging forward for the attack.

Click!

Shion aimed her pistol at the television expressing emotions.

The pistol sparked with electricity, tick! tick!, as it fired attribute-imbued bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

If she couldn’t fully charge each bullet with Mana, she could distribute the energy and fire multiple shots.

Shion continued firing, showcasing her skill in imbuing her pistol and bullets with Mana to the brink of explosion.

As if in pain, the monster changed its expression, fragments falling from its hole-ridden display.

“It’s working.”

As if it would stop there. Shion reloaded her pistol while dodging the thorny vines targeting her.

Rohan dodged and parried the vines directed at him with his dagger.

He popped a blue potion into his mouth and reached out, grabbing the thorny vines without hesitation.

Ignoring his hand being pierced, just as he was about to use Weakness Inducement, the boss monster, startled, retracted its vines.

As expected.

Monsters of this level notice anomalies. Just like people.

Rohan shook off his left hand, which was now riddled with holes and gushing blood, and charged forward.

At the opportune moment when Shion resumed firing, causing the vines to recoil, he firmly wrapped a thorny vine around his left side.

Even with Mana reinforcing his body, the pain of his side being torn apart by thorns was intense.

He simultaneously checked his Status Window.

HP is 71%. Status effect is bleeding.

Pain was something he could endure. With the assurance that death was far off, this much was still manageable.

To the monster expressing confusion on the broken television.

Rohan poured in his Mana.

Weakness Induction.

More than 70% of his fully replenished Mana drained in an instant.

Simultaneously, a wave of dizziness and headache hit him, but Rohan clung to his consciousness, savoring the bitter taste of the potion in his mouth.

He flung the thorny vine he was holding from his side and jumped back, creating distance.

This is better than I expected.

He was satisfied with the fact that it was applied, as his consciousness hadn’t flown away like when he tried it on Juyeon.

Perhaps it was a placebo effect, but thanks to the potion, the ground only swayed slightly. It was bearable.

“Clara.”

The girl, who had sliced through thorny vines as thick as elephant legs, landed beside Rohan.

Seeing Rohan’s injury, Clara winced and bit her lip.

“I’m counting on you. Punish it.”

“Yes…! I will!”

Clara’s gentle eyes hardened with anger.

She hid the pistol and balisong she was holding inside her clothes. Then, she took out something that resembled a black cylinder.

The object Shion had initially mistaken for a silencer for the pistol.

Though it was called a cylinder, its thickness was only about the width of two fingers combined, but the object began to take shape as it absorbed Clara’s Mana.

“…Arachne.”

The object’s true identity was not a silencer, but a spool of jet-black thread.

The thread, imbued with Clara’s Mana, stretched out like a spiderweb in all directions.

Fwoosh!

Dozens of vines were severed at once and fell to the ground. It was a spectacular sight.

Thud! Shion reloaded, landing beside Rohan and Clara.

“That’s an amazing power.”

“Right? Our Clara is this capable.”

When Rohan spoke with pride, Shion chuckled and retorted that he should stop the bleeding first.

Clara blushed at Rohan’s words and moved her fingers.

“…Oppa. Take a potion and wait a bit.”

The completely unwound spool was connected to Clara’s finger like a ring.

The girl’s slender fingers and Mana delicately controlled the threads.

Once again, the thorny vines surged forward like waves and whipped around like whips.

As Clara moved her hand, they were severed and fell to the ground.

No matter how thick the vines were, the weakness had been applied.

They weren’t at a level to withstand Clara’s attacks in the first place, and now with the added weakness, it would feel like cutting through tofu for Clara.

Tap!

Clara kicked off the ground and landed on a thread she had connected in mid-air.

It looked as if she was floating in the air.

Looking up, Rohan caught sight of Clara’s thighs pressed against the thread.

“…”

The girl, sitting on the thread, surveyed the overall situation and moved her hand.

As she moved her fingers gracefully, like playing a piano.

Threads here and there began to flash and connect.

“Shion. The Monolith will be exposed soon. Get ready.”

“…Understood.”

Rohan roused Shion, who had been staring blankly at Clara’s movements, and started to grasp the situation.

The threads Clara manipulated had particularly prominent qualities.

Sharpness and cutting power that rivaled any renowned sword, and elasticity that couldn’t be broken with brute force.

Furthermore, Clara’s Arachne consumed the user’s Mana and even generated various toxins on its own.

“Spider Silk.”

Clara connected the threads to her hands and feet.

Then, she leaned back and dropped from the thread she had been sitting on.

The falling girl, imbued with Mana, acted as a weight, and…

The spread threads tightened around the monster all at once.

Crack!!!

Hundreds of layers of thorny vines were simultaneously cut by the thin threads as they were bound. It was a magnificent sight.

The expression on the television changed. The plant drooped, withering.

Shion, guessing that the boss had died like the other monsters they had encountered,

Pulled the trigger, aiming through the gap where the Monolith was now visible.

Bang!

Would one shot be enough?

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Shion emptied her magazine in an instant.

“It’s broken.”

Rohan’s voice confirmed the achievement. Shion stopped firing.

The Monolith cracked and shattered cleanly.

“Phew, is it really over?”

Shion exhaled and holstered her pistol, but…

“Wait…!”

Rohan’s eyes widened, and he moved.

It was too late to speak. So, he acted on instinct.

The boss monster hadn’t given him any Points yet.

Whoosh!

The boss’s final thorn. A last-ditch effort before death.

A thorn, no different from a harpoon, was silently launched toward Shion.

Rohan rushed to deflect the thorn, but his lack of Mana and desperation prevented him from assuming a proper stance. This created an unexpected outcome.

Thud!

Rohan’s right arm was severed, falling to the ground along with his dagger.

“Ah, was that unnecessary?”

Rohan smiled as he saw Shion, holding her telescopic baton, as if she was about to counterattack belatedly.

Her skills were truly impressive.

“You…!”

Shion held her breath, staring at Rohan’s severed shoulder.

It was the first time he had seen Shion’s face filled with such shock.

Clara, staggering from Mana exhaustion, landed beside them.

Seeing Rohan’s severed arm, Clara froze.

Only then did the Points for defeating the boss arrive, oblivious to the situation.

Simultaneously.

Traces of defeating a plant-type boss for the first time.

Unlocked achievements poured down before Rohan’s eyes.

The world began to crumble.

A crack appeared in the sky ── Crack! The fake sun, which had been constantly emitting heat, shattered.

There was no reason to fear this mysterious and inexplicable situation.

Rohan’s party subconsciously knew that they would return to their original place through this process.

What frightened Shion and Clara was Rohan’s condition.

“Rohan! This is my fault…! I’ll take you to the hospital as soon as we arrive…!”

“Oppa…! Don’t lose consciousness! Okay?!”

Rohan, trying to reassure the two panicked girls, collapsed as his legs gave way.

He wanted to calm them down and tell them he was alright, but his body wouldn’t move as he intended. The accumulated blood loss from the battle made his head foggy.

It hurts.

He had experienced the pain of amputation a few times in the past, but it was definitely not something he could get used to.

The broken world swirled.

And collapsed.