Ch.1616. The Only Case

“In normal situations, Lizardman Mages were weak in direct combat.

They could only cast instant magic like ‘Mana Bullet,’ a 1-star spell easily blocked by shields.

Even their somewhat useful time bomb magic required waiting 10 seconds after placement and would only activate when an opponent stepped on the red spot.

But now, this was no normal situation.

“Kigeeeek!”

Dozens of mages surrounded us, watching from a distance.

Lizardman Warriors gathered in front of us to protect their ranged units, and the fortress ground was covered with time bombs.

“I’ll take the lead.”

-KWANG!

I stomped the floor with my shield, detonating the time bombs.

Using that momentum, I struck the head of a nearby Lizardman before landing on the ground.

This wasn’t a system implemented in the game, but my theory was correct.

“Shiro! Step on the corpses!”

The time bombs only reacted to something human-related.

If we moved by stepping on Lizardman corpses, the bombs wouldn’t activate.

“Hup-!”

I blocked incoming mana bullets with my shield while sweeping away surrounding Lizardmen.

Though they had a slight physical advantage, with the bracers on both arms, my combat power was overwhelming.

These 4th-grade lower mobs from the early 3rd floor couldn’t kill me.

I ignored minor scratches. They could be treated after the battle was completely over.

As the number of Lizardman Warriors decreased,

-WHOOSH!

A spear of flame appeared in the air, piercing through a mage.

2-star magic, Fire Pierce.

It was Shiro’s magic.

She once mentioned her ice magic proficiency was highest, but her fire magic was impressively powerful too.

‘She handles her role well without being told.’

While Shiro dealt with the mages, I broke through the warriors. After I cleared the warriors, she killed more mages.

Repeating this process, we advanced toward the boss’s location.

“Seems like we’ve cleared most of the Lizardmen nearby. The mages have disappeared too.”

With some breathing room, we stripped Lizardman skin and attached it to our boots, allowing us to move forward without relying on corpses.

Unpleasant, but it was the most reliable method.

-BOOM!

In a corner of the fortress we reached after hurrying, there was a red creature resembling a mix between a dragon and a snake.

A Basilisk.

The Lizard King’s corpse was nowhere to be seen, likely already devoured.

‘A 3rd-grade mob has never appeared like this before.’

In the game, 3rd-grade monsters only existed as field bosses, far away from dungeon bosses.

Yet, this creature had come to kill the boss.

The dungeon hadn’t been cleared despite the Lizard King’s defeat, probably because the Basilisk had only paralyzed it before eating it.

Escaping from this creature in this narrow dungeon until the boss was digested would be impossible.

“…”

Though the situation before me felt bizarre, this was now reality.

I couldn’t be flustered just because it differed from what I’d seen in the game.

‘Trust and judge only this situation.’

And what I needed to do now?

“Shiro, I’m charging in.”

“Got it.”

Hunt this creature down.

-PATTER!

I ran quickly to close the distance.

When I approached within about 50 meters, the Basilisk noticed us.

It appeared to be about 10 meters long, and it was astonishing that this wasn’t even a fully grown specimen.

‘Fortunately, it’s not an ordinary 3rd-grade monster.’

The baby Basilisk had lower specs than its appearance suggested.

However, its strength was poison.

‘Without magic resistance, no one would dare challenge it.’

Fortunately, we had scrolls.

“I’m tearing the poison resistance scroll! We’ll have 3 minutes!”

As I tore the scroll, a yellow circle formed around me.

From now on, I could grant poison resistance to anyone within this circle by my will.

“I’ll draw its attention as much as possible! Shiro, target its neck with ice magic!”

The point connecting the Basilisk’s head and its long body was its only weakness.

Hitting the weak point precisely would double the damage. Plus, using ice magic, which countered its element, would apply a 1.5x multiplier.

‘That’s a 3x multiplier.’

In this battle, I wasn’t the damage dealer. I was just the tank, blocking the front line.

Holding my shield and watching the Basilisk’s movements, it struck the ground with its tail.

-RUMBLE!

Black liquid bubbled up from the dirt floor, and within seconds, all the ground turned black.

The creature’s passive ability, “Acidic Domain.” Enemies standing on it would have their poison resistance reduced by 30 percent.

‘Even with the scroll, it still hurts a bit.’

A fully grown Basilisk was a field boss on the 7th floor, after all.

I watched its movements, and,

‘Here it comes.’

It swung its tail across the domain.

I quickly raised my shield to block the impact.

-CLANG!

My body was pushed back several meters.

Though my equipment prevented direct wounds, the shock reverberated through my entire body.

My joints seemed to creak, but there was no time to panic. If I stood still, such attacks would hit Shiro.

“Shiro! Attack now!”

I shouted while rushing to close the distance with the creature.

As if she already knew, she fired dozens of ice crystals at the Basilisk.

-CRACK!

The connecting part serving as its neck suffered slight damage.

It seemed to indicate that a few hits wouldn’t be nearly enough.

Simultaneously, the spine-like scales on the Basilisk’s back began to glow.

“Move further back! It seems to be preparing something!”

I approached the creature while stopping Shiro, who was about to launch additional attacks. Now the distance was 15 meters.

Meanwhile, about five spots on the black floor began to bubble intensely, and,

-BOOM!

Black liquid erupted like pillars.

‘Disgusting.’

The creature’s first pattern, spine pillars.

It randomly fires spines in all directions, inflicting poison on enemies upon hit.

If the spines hit the Basilisk itself, it would gain a healing effect.

“Shiro, prepare your magic while watching out for the pillars! I’ll draw its attention and destroy the pillars!”

“Understood!”

She moved to a spot as far from the pillars as possible.

Preparing magic requires intense concentration.

Usually, frontliners protect mages during battle, but right now, we needed to defeat this creature before the scroll’s effect ended.

In other words, she needed to become a frontline mage, moving and dealing damage simultaneously.

‘I keep giving her heavy burdens, but…’

I had no time to worry about her now.

A 10-meter giant snake was staring down at me.

‘Here it comes again.’

I was too close to see its tail, but I raised my shield upon hearing the sound.

-CLANG!

Once again, I was pushed back several meters.

“Sh-it!”

Despite being poison-focused, its physical attacks were brutally strong.

My arms trembled so much I could have dropped my shield. The pain felt like my nerves were being pulled out and hammered.

Before I could walk forward again, spines shot out from the pillars.

-BOOM!

Countless spines soared high into the sky like missiles.

Originally, they would target all enemies within the acidic domain, but if there was a target in extreme close proximity to the Basilisk, the spines would target only that person.

I crouched down, pointing my shield upward,

And extended one arm outward.

-THUNK!

All those spines flew like guided missiles, piercing only my arm.

‘I’ll sacrifice my arm.’

When facing an overwhelmingly stronger opponent whose weakness you know, you typically sacrifice something to inflict critical damage.

‘But will it work?’

Knowing the weakness didn’t guarantee inflicting critical damage.

If I was weaker than my opponent, I’d have to give bones and even carve out flesh.

So I gave my arm to the creature,

“Shiro!”

“Already prepared!”

And bought time for Shiro to prepare her magic.

A massive spear made of ice rushed forward.

3-star magic, Prison Spear.

-BOOM!

The spear struck precisely at the neck, knocking down the Basilisk that had been holding its head high.

I moved forward, pouring mid-grade potion on my arm.

Despite my terrible physical condition from accumulated shock and the poison from the spines, I absolutely couldn’t stop here.

‘The aggro will go to Shiro.’

She had inflicted significant damage on the Basilisk.

If I didn’t approach quickly, she would become the next target.

‘This hurts like hell.’

All I could see were red lines, black liquid, and the form of a giant snake.

I walked forward, preparing for the next pattern.

-BOOM!

Though my vision was blurry, I heard what sounded like the creature striking the domain with its tail.

‘Damn it.’

It was an attack that didn’t even give me time to destroy the pillars.

-HISS.

Rain began to fall in the fortress.

Red, blood-like rain poured down on our heads.

As the streams grew thicker, making my mind hazy, I regained my senses and shouted as loudly as I could.

“Shiro! Attack it quickly!”

Poison Rain.

When this activates, all patterns stop and the Basilisk becomes invincible for up to one minute.

During this time, a certain amount of cumulative damage must be dealt to stop the pattern.

If the damage is insufficient, spines that ignore all poison resistance will pour down from the sky.

‘Damn it.’

I drew my sword and approached the creature.

-CLANG!

I struck its metal-like scales.

Again and again.

With each swing of my arm, my nerves screamed.

My body was in this state after enduring against the Basilisk for just about a minute.

Unlike Shiro, who was freely bombarding with magic, I was too-

‘Pathetic.’

Swinging my sword in an ugly manner.

I felt pathetic. This level of damage was meaningless.

If I could have unleashed powerful magic like Shiro, or if I could have withstood the creature’s attacks a few more times, it wouldn’t have been like this.

‘Utterly insufficient.’

Despite attacking with all my might for dozens of seconds, it wasn’t enough.

Now I would face death as spines rained down, piercing my entire body.

All the struggles I’d made to survive as a burden carrier for the past three years felt meaningless.

‘How pathetic.’

I looked at Shiro in the distance, pouring all her strength into her magic.

If I had been as strong as her, if I hadn’t brought her to this hidden dungeon in the first place, she wouldn’t have been in this situation.

‘Am I really… an idiot?’

I’m probably going to die here.

If things continue like this, Shiro will die too.

‘I need to move.’

Damn it, my limbs won’t move.

What a garbage body.

I somehow managed to take one step forward. I kept moving.

Slipping several times, sometimes crawling on the ground.

It was a filthy and ugly sight, but this was how I had always lived.

“…!”

In the midst of this, I met Shiro’s eyes.

I felt indescribable shame at being caught in such an ugly state, but I didn’t give up on moving.

-CRACK!

Spines began to fall around us, perhaps because a minute had passed.

Still, I moved forward.

Because Shiro was ahead of me.

‘It hurts like hell.’

The initial spines were at a level that could be avoided, but my body couldn’t even block those.

For the next three minutes, these spines would continue to fall without stopping.

Sacrificing an arm was impossible, and even the shield was meaningless. The spines targeted people specifically, as if tracking them.

The spines would fly in any way necessary to pierce a person.

“Get down!”

Just before reaching Shiro, I squeezed out my last remaining strength and knocked her down.

“Adel, what are you-“

“-Please, stay… still…!”

I climbed on top of Shiro and covered her body as much as possible with my entire body and shield.

This was the only way to avoid the spines, and,

‘Only I will die here.’

This was the only way to save her.”