Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented – Chapter 120

I carefully made my way through Area 2 of the ‘Tree of the Abyss’.

As Chris informed, there was no intermediate boss. There’s just a path leading towards the center of the tree.

’12-person raid dungeon’.

Indeed, befitting that difficulty, there were many mobs with high HP. But it’s not a big problem. Like in Area 1 of the Ice Palace of the Frozen Land, I just need to deal with the gatekeeper mobs in front of the black stems dividing each area. For 12 people, they could clear everything as they go.

And before long, I reached the front of the 2nd Named boss combat area.

Whoosh!

A being revealing itself from demonic energy.

Dark luster armor, a greatsword as huge as my torso, ominous purple light shining from inside a Viking helmet.

That guy is the 2nd Named boss.

“Death Knight Jakam.”

With such a big body, there should be plenty of places to hit.

I encountered them a few times in hero times too, but Death Knights, a type of undead, are quite powerful beings. They absolutely obey the commands of the one who raised them from death, and know how to utilize some of their abilities from when they were alive.

In terms of strength alone, they’re above Demon Generals.

If they have intelligence, they’re even more troublesome.

The Tree of the Abyss 2nd Named boss, Death Knight Jakam was a Death Knight with intelligence.

Jakam, facing me, let out a bizarre voice from inside his helmet.

—To come here alone. Do you trust your own strength, or are you fearless?

“I wonder? Maybe both.”

I chattered as if mocking.

It’s been quite a while since I responded informally.

There’s no need for courtesy to a half-dead being.

Master.

A title given to those who have reached the pinnacle.

Even in Astria, the continent of sword and magic, there was only about one per era. Their abilities are worthy of respect. It’s different from me who had power injected through a holy sword. It’s a realm achieved through bone-grinding training.

But what’s in front of my eyes is a corrupted soul, a being that succumbed to demons.

Though immature, as a comrade who walked the path of the sword, I couldn’t look at it favorably at all.

—Indeed, I feel the mighty power contained in that small body. You are not lacking as my opponent.

As the saying goes “even rotten croaker is still a fish”, he seems to have felt something inside me.

Whoosh!

Jakam’s huge greatsword swung once, cutting through the air.

Swish.

I drew Astaroth emitting silver light and stretched it straight out, aiming at him.

I felt fighting spirit boiling at the soul level.

A battle between swords.

But there’s a considerable difference in power.

Of course, there are means to fill that gap.

Tap.

No need for words.

There’s no information to gain from him.

“Bring it on.”

I immediately rushed towards Jakam.

Flash!

[2nd Named Boss]

[Level 53]

[Death Knight Jakam]

[HP 500,000,000 / 500,000,000 (100%)]

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The huge greatsword in Jakam’s hand kept slamming down towards me. I narrowly escaped the attack range while pounding on the armor.

It’s certainly fast. Slower than my past self who had a holy sword, but.

Did he enhance his body by replacing the mana he used when alive with demonic energy?

Above all, what’s nasty is his attack method.

Crash! Clang!

The sound of the huge greatsword smashing the floor, the rupturing sound between metal and metal hitting armor. Jakam with his enormous HP. Is effective damage even going in?

I twisted my waist to escape the greatsword’s attack range, slashed his waist and took his back.

Whoosh!

He swung the greatsword horizontally without even looking back. Feeling a chill down my spine, I lowered my head deeply. Swish, a few strands of silver fluttered. That greatsword just cut two or three strands of my long hair.

My hair that Chris unnie likes!

I swung my sword fiercely while getting angry inside.

Clang clang! Crack! Whoosh, crash! As Jakam turned his body next, I narrowly dodged the greatsword coming down immediately and complained inwardly.

This is the biggest problem. The attack area is wide. Just slightly turning the body isn’t enough. You need to clearly escape the attack radius.

Undead swordsman, Death Knight Jakam.

I don’t know what combat method he used when alive, but now he trusts his sturdy armor and attacks by slamming down his greatsword while disregarding defense.

Rather than cutting with the edge, he pressed down with the blade surface.

It’s a quite unique attack method.

If it were a normal conquest with 12 people together, the melee dealers dealing damage alongside the tank around would also be in danger of being included in that range. Is it because he’s a Named boss of a raid dungeon that he has such patterns?

Swish.

My sword cut through the air.

His huge body turned into demonic energy and disappeared, then soon appeared 8 meters behind.

Whoosh!

The greatsword in Jakam’s hand swung horizontally.

Swish, crash!

A crescent-shaped sword energy containing fierce demonic energy swept through the entire front.

Backward evasion, then sword energy release pattern.

If I didn’t have Chris’s information, I would have certainly been flustered.

As soon as he disappeared from in front of me, I turned my body without hesitation.

[Backward Evasion(A)]

[Quickly propels body 8m backwards to avoid frontal attacks (Invincible during casting)]

[Cooldown 8 seconds]

[(E Rank) Movement speed increases for 5 seconds after skill activation]

[(B Rank) Switches to ‘Sword Drawing Stance’ after skill use]

[(A Rank) 0.5 seconds additional invincibility time after skill use]

Tap tap.

My body moving through the gap in space passed through the sword energy and instantly reached right in front of Jakam.

Clang!

It’s a raid dungeon where each pattern is dangerous. Normally I would have approached more carefully, but Chris’s information gave me great help.

So normal patterns are like this.

At a glance it might feel irregular, but I could find repetitiveness in the big picture.

This guy has set patterns too. It’s just that the cycle is long and there are patterns that branch.

It seems there’s even sword energy targeting ranged dealers in between. Because I’m alone it all focuses on me, but I could feel subtle differences in the way sword energy is released.

Chris said there’s no regularity in Jakam’s patterns. But it clearly existed. I could find the reason Chris felt that way while chewing on Jakam’s patterns one by one.

If other bosses have five or six normal patterns and repeat them, this guy repeats about twelve patterns.

The number of pattern types is overwhelmingly large.

Moreover, if the distance from the tank is far and ranged target sword energy activates, it returns to pattern 1. If raid members die and patterns get tangled, it returns to 1. That’s why it can’t help but feel irregular.

Of course it’s not a big problem for me, but some analysis is needed for the Red-White raid party.

I sneered.

“You’re just a monster after all.”

—To compare me to a monster! I am the loyal servant of the great Northern Army Commander!

Whoosh!

Jakam swung his sword angrily.

Swish, crash!

I lightly floated my body and stood on the greatsword he swung down.

—What!?

He swung his sword in confusion, trying to shake me off. I jumped while stepping on the greatsword and made a precise cut between the eyes of the helmet.

Crack!

I’ve seen enough.

Even if he was a master when alive, in the end he’s just an undead.

Now I’ll see the special phase too, check the enrage time, and then use my strength properly.

I smiled brightly.

“How many minutes until you get pissed off?”

* * *

“Mmm.”

Chris got up.

And blankly looked around.

This is the living room area where Rain’s room is.

Chris sighed lightly.

“I fell asleep here again.”

Outside the living room balcony window was as bright as midday. No, it was actually midday. The time was already approaching noon.

It was unusually long sleep for Chris. Her body must have been tired from staying up two full nights.

But Chris is the raid leader of the Red-White raid party. She couldn’t sleep comfortably on weekends. She had to organize strategies and prepare for today’s attempts.

The moment she scratched her head and got up.

Swish.

What was covering Chris’s body slid down.

“Oh.”

A white blanket was covering Chris’s body.

This is Rain’s blanket.

Why is it covering her body?

Chris urgently looked at Rain’s room door.

There’s a paper attached.

But.

“The paper is different.”

It wasn’t the paper with writing saying not to enter that was there yesterday.

Chris read the dense writing.

[Death Knight Jakam]

[Normal Pattern Repetition]

[Pattern 5 – Rear sword energy or Front sword energy]

[Pattern 7 – Upward swing or Downward strike]

[Returns to pattern 1 if aggro changes]

[Always sword energy for ranged targets]

.

.

.

[Special Phase – Time based]

[Appears after 4 minutes of combat time]

[20% HP instantly evaporates through gimmick]

[Low damage requirement]

[Key is enduring in normal patterns]

[Demonic energy injection->12 stacks->Demonic energy overflow]

[Demonic energy absorption target is 1 person]

[Don’t know for 12 people]

[Might need a special method?]

[Enrage time 15 minutes]

.

.

.

.

[Cleared thanks to unnie]

[Thank you]

[Good luck with today’s attempts!]

“Uhuhuheung!”

Chris grabbed the door and wailed loudly.

Tenderness welled up in her chest.

It’s different from messages via messenger.

Feelings of caring for each other, consideration of not wanting to disturb each other’s time. In this classic written conversation, those were felt even more strongly.

Chris kept touching the paper attached to the door without pause.

She wanted to open this door right away, hug Rain and shower her with kisses.

But she shouldn’t. Rain must have fallen asleep exhausted after finishing a difficult attempt.

And, she is the raid leader.

Rub rub.

Chris roughly wiped her reddened eyes, barely calmed her intense emotions, and her eyes shone.

“Raid members, you’re really dead today.”