Ch.182Demon Awakened from the Seal

# 182. Demon Awakened from the Seal

To get straight to the point, our persuasion attempt failed.

“The head of the Mage Corps will personally organize a reconnaissance team to scout once more, and then make a judgment afterward.”

“Wasn’t the decision already made because they observed the holy barrier breaking? Not because they listened to us.”

“Well, that’s true.”

But it wasn’t a complete failure either.

“Regardless of the reconnaissance results, they said they’ll raise the fortress defense to the highest level for now. It’s difficult to maintain an explicitly heightened defense posture for long, but well, they’ll figure that out themselves.”

Since our persuasion wasn’t a complete failure, and assuming the Mage Corps leader’s head wasn’t just for decoration, we only needed to focus on defeating that demon.

“But doesn’t that leave us with some awkward downtime?”

“I suppose so.”

“Is this part of the mission’s intention? Or just a side effect?”

“I remember this part being heavily discussed in the game too. Some complained that it artificially extended playtime and added unnecessary burdens to an already difficult raid, while others praised it for increasing raid pattern diversity and strengthening the connection between the raid and the story.”

“So what you’re trying to say is that this is just how it was originally?”

“Yeah. Nothing special about it.”

*Kuung-*

“Except for that unpleasant vibration that’s so diligent about announcing itself.”

Sunghyun had returned from the Vice Commander’s quarters, washed up, shared the meeting’s outcome, and promptly collapsed.

Since the meeting had gone on longer than expected, the rest of the raid members who had gotten plenty of rest before his return were now whispering quietly to avoid waking him.

“By the way, what was that boss’s name again?”

“Don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not that I can’t remember—I genuinely don’t know. Don’t you all remember? That boss didn’t have a name.”

“Ah…?”

“It was just ‘Demon Awakened from the Seal.'”

The raid members’ trust in Subin’s memory and information was nearly 100%. Everyone either belatedly recalled or simply accepted what she said.

“Honestly, I don’t remember many details about the boss or its name very well. I never had particularly good memory to begin with, and everything we’ve been through here has been quite overwhelming.”

“There’s nothing strange about not remembering. I don’t recall much either. But we have Sunghyun and Subin with us.”

“Subin-wiki!”

“Shh.”

“Oops.”

Yuri, who had exaggeratedly covered her mouth with both hands, asked again.

“So compared to Iseratio, will this boss be much harder?”

“If we have to compare, yes, it’s harder. Directly comparing the two demons, well… Iseratio might be stronger, but this boss is harder to deal damage to. Plus, we need to worry about the fortress forces, so our attention is divided.”

“Ugh, there’s not a single easy floor, is there? But sis, if we really did wake it up earlier than originally intended, and that affects the boss, would the difficulty be easier?”

Subin twirled her side hair as she answered.

“That feels backward. We went through all that trouble hoping it would be easier. Whether the boss’s power is weakened, its gimmicks are reduced or broken, or the monsters protecting it become fewer or weaker… whether there’s any impact at all, and how much—nobody knows.”

“Aah~ I hate this. Do we have to stay tense the whole time not knowing when it’ll appear?”

Yuri’s complaint marked the end of the conversation. Soon, only the sounds of breathing and occasional rustling filled the barracks.

**

「[Review+Guide] Sealed Demon Clear (66%)」

Before I start, my writing style might be inconsistent. Please bear with me.

First, proof of clearing the Sealed Demon:

(Screenshot)

Honestly, I don’t think clearing the Sealed Demon is impossibly difficult. There are already quite a few clear verification posts besides mine.

But since I don’t see many clears above 60% at this point, I’m writing this guide along with my verification.

Factors affecting clear rate:

– Raid completion time

– Raid gimmick solutions (presumed)

– Percentage of Paelm Fortress NPCs lost

– Extent of Paelm Fortress damage

I need to address this first.

As the first raid with a clear rate system, rewards vary according to your clear rate. Even with a rock-bottom clear score, you can still progress the story as long as you clear it, but after it was revealed that rewards differ significantly, complaints erupted everywhere.

And since I exceeded 60%, the rewards I received were of a better tier than usual.

Anyway, among those factors, NPC loss rate and completion time are considered the most important.

And between those two, I think the NPC factor weighs more heavily. Here’s my evidence:

(Screenshot)

(Excel image)

This is data I’ve compiled from my clear screenshots and verification posts. Since I collected it alone, the sample size isn’t huge, but I’ve gathered and organized several dozen entries, so I think it’s significant.

First, no matter what crazy stunts you pull, you can’t reduce the NPC loss rate below 30%. That’s inevitable. This automatically cuts your clear rate by almost 30%.

There’s nothing we can do about this. A significant number of NPCs start dying as soon as the boss raid begins, and even if you approach the boss and kill it in minimum time, that’s still the result.

If all seven members were top-tier rankers, you might reduce the loss rate further, but probably not dramatically—maybe 2-3% at most.

Second, killing the raid boss quickly also reduces the NPC loss rate (linked condition).

This damn Sealed Demon is a boss where reaching the main body is harder than actually damaging it. The longer it takes to damage the main body, the more elite mobs appear from somewhere and divide the fortress troops.

So strategies diverge based on the raid leader’s preference:

Ignore the NPCs getting divided and focus solely on the main body.

Assign one or two people to handle NPCs and clear surrounding mobs.

My conclusion:

With equal skill and specs,

The second strategy yields slightly higher clear rates (with similar clear times).

This holds true regardless of class combinations, ranged/mid/close placement, tank/DPS/healer balance, burst/sustained damage balance, etc.

Now I’ll describe what I consider the ideal composition, positioning, and boss strategy.

First, the ideal composition is…

**

Time passed.

The reconnaissance team led by the Mage Corps leader had departed for the seal site, and the fortress interior had raised its alert level within reasonable bounds.

What our raid team could do in the meantime was…

“Ugh, my head hurts. Did raid leaders always have to memorize all this and give orders too?”

“Not all of them, but the top-tier ones did. That’s what made Sunghyun amazing, and why Veritas could keep doing PvE content.”

“I appreciate the praise, but let’s focus.”

All we could do was memorize and simulate the upcoming raid scenario.

There weren’t many entertainment facilities, it wasn’t the right situation for that anyway, and there was hardly anywhere to purchase items. Since we couldn’t just rest and do nothing, our only option was to run imaginary raids in our heads or with simple movements to practice coordination.

While memory capacity varied among individuals, we were all former top-ranked players in our respective classes.

The raid members had no trouble quickly memorizing and internalizing the plan I had developed and Subin had reviewed.

And so, after an anxious yet somehow peaceful period, the moment that would determine this floor’s fate naturally arrived.

The Mage Corps leader’s reconnaissance team had returned.

“The Vice Commander has summoned you.”

“Understood.”

Not everyone needed to go. The Vice Commander had probably only called for me as the representative. I nodded to my raid members and followed the soldier.

The Vice Commander’s quarters, which I was visiting again after several days, was filled with a suffocating silence.

I instinctively shrank back as I broke that silence, and the Vice Commander, without even looking at me, gestured toward my seat.

‘This is… not good.’

The atmosphere was incomparably more serious than last time.

From the circumstances, it seemed the meeting hadn’t even started yet, but the haggard-looking Mage Corps leader had probably already shared a few brief words before I arrived.

Eventually, a few more people arrived and the entrance to the quarters was completely closed, but the Vice Commander, who should have started the meeting, maintained a heavy silence for a while longer.

It was only after several minutes that he finally spoke.

“I waited until everyone gathered because repeating myself would be troublesome. Besides, finding the right words has been… quite difficult.”

The Vice Commander, unusually for him, sighed openly and spoke in a voice heavy with fatigue.

“Mage Corps Leader, begin your report.”

“…Very well.”

The Mage Corps leader, looking several times more exhausted and haggard than the Vice Commander, raised his arm that had been hidden by the desk and his long robe.

And slowly rolled up his sleeve.

“My goodness…!”

“Gasp!”

His revealed hand had turned completely black.

And it was withered.