CH.73 The Forest Covered by Snakes (7)
Transition.
The movement of a particular concept or substance to another subject. It usually refers to something that occurs after its manifestation, but the current transition seems to refer only to ‘the phenomenon of discarding the existing body and obtaining a new one’.
The body that the Mountain Serpent had initially appeared with had turned into a rotten tree and reappeared as a new body behind us.
‘It’s not a rune.’
I had no memory of a rune with such a special ability. Moreover, when I compiled the dungeon information displayed on the information screen, I realized that it was an ability related to the dungeon’s special ‘gimmick’.
The ability to change one’s body at will during combat… It was undoubtedly a menace to us, especially in a situation where even measuring the opponent’s combat abilities was impossible.
Kaoooo-!!
There was no time to ponder.
The Mountain Serpent charged towards us without hesitation.
Perhaps it was because he could freely change its body.
It seemed fearless of physical assault.
I quickly raised my shield and positioned myself at the front line.
Kwon Oh-jun and Choi Dong-wook were already quite far away.
Shin Yuna’s [Bullet Defense] wouldn’t be able to withstand the boss’s strength.
I had to block.
‘I must block no matter what.’
The [Goblin’s Bronze Shield] in my left hand was enveloped in magic.
It was a defensive skill that exceeded my limits.
The manifestation of [Iron Wall Defense].
Kang – Kang -!!
Kwaaaah!!
“Kuh, ugh…!!”
“Do Jae-hyun!”
But the opponent was at least an A-grade or higher boss monster.
Blocking just physical attacks was not enough, as I soon found out.
I managed to block the guy’s headbutt, but I couldn’t defend against its magical attack.
‘Earth!’
He used a ground-type magical attack using the earth.
Suddenly, my defensive stance was compromised by the cracks in the ground, and his tail struck my waist with a tremendous force.
As a result, I fell like a ragdoll to those behind me.
Kang Juyeon, who was preparing magic, clenched her lips and looked ahead.
It seemed as if she was about to obliterate the Mountain Serpent.
‘Crazy. It hurts like hell.’
Of course, I wasn’t just lying there.
As soon as the rift occurred, I detected an abnormality and used [Strengthen].
Thanks to that, I could avoid fatal injuries, although I still felt intense pain.
It’s like this, but it’s not to the point of dying anyway.
‘It wasn’t good…’
The situation was far from good, though.
I had already used two of my held skills, and thinking about blocking this kind of attack several more times made my head spin.
Especially the gimmick possessed by the Mountain Serpent.
The ability to change one’s body at will, even if we defeated it, meant we would have to fight it again.
“Juyeon…!!”
“No!”
After completing the preparations for her magic, an impatient Kang Juyeon attempted to use her skill.
I urgently stopped her.
Burn up.
It was clear that she intended to use her ultimate skill, [Inferno].
But now was not the time for that.
“Not now, Kang Ju-yeon.”
“…But.”
“Think rationally. You’re smart, aren’t you?”
The Mountain Serpent had already demonstrated its gimmick once.
The ability to change his body at will, surprising everyone.
Most of the party members, including Kang Juyeon, Kwon Oh-jun, and Choi Dong-wook, would have noticed.
That defeating the boss in front of us wouldn’t be the end.
So, it was necessary to save the most powerful skill we could use.
Jjeojeojeoje-
The Mountain Serpent.
Its body split apart again, making eerie sounds like a tree being torn apart.
It was the result of the combined attack of Kwon Oh-jun and Choi Dong-wook, followed by Min Chae-hwan’s support fire.
Of course, this time, the split body was also a fake corpse.
“Do Jae-hyun. Can you get up?”
A boss monster that could turn into another tree at any moment.
Because of that, after sharply scanning the surroundings,
Kwon Oh-jun asked me.
I quickly got up after organizing my thoughts.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“The Mountain Serpenti. What do you think its grade is?”
His unexpected question surprised me.
For the first time since the dispatch began today,
Kwon Oh-jun was asking me for my ‘opinion’.
“Can I answer that?”
“Only you have managed to directly block his attacks. We don’t have time. Quickly.”
Kaoooo-!!
Did he hear our conversation like that?
The Mountain Serpent appeared from the side once again.
There was no time to lose.
After organizing my thoughts as much as possible, I answered quickly.
“It’s definitely a monster that surpasses A-grade. But I think calling it S-grade is a bit ambiguous.”
“Ambiguous?”
“Yes. Its gimmick is too absurd, making it feel almost impenetrable, but I don’t think his innate abilities are at that level. After all, I managed to hold my ground against him. It’s somewhere between A-grade and S-grade, just about that level.”
It was difficult to make an accurate judgment at first glance.
If we had to classify it, perhaps it should be called A+ grade.
That answer was the limit.
The Mountain Serpent approached closely and shook us once again with earth-based magic.
Ku-gwung-
Ku-gu-gu-gu-!!
Instantly, cracks appeared on the ground, and the concentration of those who were preparing magic was shattered. This time, even Min Chae-hwan’s arrow attacks went off target.
Hunting down the guy’s duplicates ultimately fell to Kwon Oh-jun, Choi Dong-wook, and me.
Kwon O-jun’s spear moved again, splitting the it’s head, Choi Dong-wook targeted it’s torso, and I went for the tail.
‘Wave and Water Sword Techniques’
Using [Water Sword Technique] to cut and [Wave Sword Technique] to stab.
Right now, we don’t need to worry about defense. It was solely our turn to attack. I utilized the two sword technique runes appropriately to land blows on it.
Jjeok- Jjeojeojeo-
He crumbled once again.
The third fake corpse of the monster fell to the ground like a rotten tree. After seeing that, the scattered party members regrouped.
Scattering in the current situation was too dangerous.
“Team leader, this can’t continue like this,” Choi Dong-wook said, slightly out of breath.
“No matter how much endurance we have, fighting like this has its limits. We need a plan.”
“The plan is already decided.”
Kwon Oh-jun’s gaze turned to the mage class.
“Kim Seong-cheol and the miss, we need both of your powers. You must use wind magic and fire magic simultaneously to burn down all the trees here so that we can catch the guy. Can you do it, miss?”
The Mountain Serpent. Its gimmick was transitioning through ‘trees’. An enormous number of trees filled the boss room. They all needed to be set on fire. That was the vague plan that most of the party members had sensed.
“…To burn them all, it will take about 10 minutes.”
Kang Juyeon, who was quietly examining the number of trees, spoke. Even she, who was sensitive about being called miss, wasn’t protesting right now. That’s how urgent the situation was.
Kwon Oh-jun nodded. “That should be enough.”
Kaoooo-!!
The roar echoed again. That annoying brat. Because of him, I felt like I’d get PTSD from seeing snakes now.
“Choi Dong-wook, Do Jae-hyun! Come with me to handle his attacks! Mages, keep your focus so that he doesn’t break your concentration!”
“Understood!”
“Shin Yuna, protect the rear with Min Chae-hwan!”
“Yes!”
Ten minutes. Until Kim Seong-cheol and Kang Juyeon could burn down all the trees in the boss room, we had to hold on for ten minutes. And so, the relentless battle with the Mountain Serpent continued.
Kaoooo-!!
Thud, ku-gu-woong!!
Jjeok, jjeojeojeok-
Jjeojeojeok…
Fourth, fifth…
Sixth, seventh, eighth time.
The trees fell to the ground like they were being chopped down. We were constantly hunting down the Mountain Serpent as it transitioned.
And, in return, we were getting worn out.
‘It’s never-ending.’
Fighting nonstop like this for ten minutes felt like hell. Even if it wasn’t an S-grade monster, it was undoubtedly at least A-grade or higher. Moreover, it balanced its physical and magical attacks well. I nearly lost my life several times to its irregularly used earth-based magic, and its powerful physical attacks turned my body into a wreck.
‘I’m in so much pain.’
My whole body felt like it was going to tear apart. It was amazing that [Goblin’s Bronze Shield] hadn’t been completely destroyed yet.
Kwon Oh-jun and Choi Dong-wook, who were sharing the front line with me, were not in good shape either. Everyone looked visibly exhausted.
Thud, ta-da da da-.
Hwarr-rururuk-.
“We’ve burned almost all of them…!!”
But this battle was far from meaningless. During the time they bought, Kang Juyeon and Kim Seong-cheol had cast magic with determination, and now they were burning down all the trees in the boss room. Fire and wind, the synergistic magic of these two created a massive blaze that heated up the entire boss room.
‘It looks like a forest fire.’
Inside the boss room that had looked like a forest or woods. Now all of that trees were burning…
It felt like watching a forest fire.
“Te- Team leader!!”
In the midst of all this, Min Chae-hwan, who was providing cover from the rear, shouted. It was a voice that indicated he had spotted something very dangerous. An uneasy feeling lingered in the air.
Our attention immediately turned to the front.
Ssssss-
Sssssssss-!!
“What… is that?”
The mage team’s forest fire operation had been a success, and thanks to it, the Mountain Serpent was cornered. If all the trees in the boss room burned down, its battle would become significantly less favorable for it.
It had stopped transitioning after that. It seemed like it was pointless to change its form further. Up to this point, it had gone according to plan. The plan was to reveal its true form.
‘But now, it’s… transforming the remaining trees?’
However, he continued to astonish us. At the end of the massive fire, there were a few trees left. He began shaping all those trees into a grotesque ability to transform them into ‘wooden snakes’. Dozens? No, perhaps hundreds of them? Although there were only a few trees left, there were countless small wooden snakes created from them.
And those wooden snakes…
In an instant, they flew toward us with some kind of magical attack.
“Ugh…!!”
I immediately utilized [Sprint] and dashed to the rear. My body may not have had any strength left, but I had to move somehow. It wasn’t just about escaping this attack. Every party member was likely in danger due to these aberrant magical attacks.
However, there was one member who was most vulnerable—those party members in the rear who were casting spells to burn down the trees in the boss room. It was Kang Juyeon and Kim Seong-cheol.
‘I have to protect the rear.’
They likely wouldn’t have the luxury to activate [Magic Barrier] for defense. Whether it would be effective against these wooden snakes was also in doubt. Nevertheless, I had to protect them. With this one thought, I kept running.
This relentless [Sprint]…
Led me to the rear where the party members were casting spells just before the wooden snake attacks reached them.
‘But how can I protect them?’
I had rushed here with only the thought of protecting them, but there was no apparent way to do so. My entire body felt like it was about to be torn apart… And my shield was on the brink of breaking.
All that was left for me was to attack. Any further defense was impossible.
Ssssss-
Sssssssss-!!
The grotesque wooden snakes approached, seemingly mocking us, and they swarmed us with their magical attacks.
‘Am I just going to take this?’
That thought was the only one that entered my mind. It was a dire situation.
“……!”
Within that dire moment, I received not death but the appearance of five information panels.
[A sword that shines even brighter in the toughest battles! Your sword and water have reached a level of unity where they are unshakable. Your understanding of Water and Wave has significantly increased.]
[The rune level of ‘Wave Sword Technique’ has increased.]
[The rune level of ‘Water Sword Technique’ has increased.]
[The usage restriction of the ultimate skill ‘Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword’ has been lifted.]
[The usage restriction of the ultimate skill ‘Water Sword Dance’ has been lifted.]
I didn’t have time to read all of it. Just one sentence was enough.
The rune level of [Water Sword Technique] has increased.
That one sentence was sufficient. I poured strength into my tightly gripped sword and, as if my lips were about to burst, I chanted with all my might.
“Flow.”
From that moment on…
The dozens of wooden snakes were no longer my adversaries.
