Chapter 712: Ruins (6)
Right after them, the expedition party and the Hyeseong personnel started appearing one after another.
Their strength looked, roughly speaking, somewhere between third-years and graduates.
Looks like the seniors are the strongest ones there.
If they showed up first, that meant they had received the call for help first.
Well, even back in their third year, they had already been freakishly strong.
And they seemed to have gotten even stronger since then.
On top of that, a faint sacred glow covered their entire bodies.
At the sight, Scrawny Guy and the other evil cultists all twisted their faces in disgust.
“So that foul smell from earlier was them... The Saintess’s lapdogs have arrived.”
“I think hounds would be the more accurate term.”
Oh Sehun answered with a pleasant smile.
So that really was their identity.
Paladins.
I had already suspected as much from the fact that they belonged to the Order among the Four Great Powers, and from how they had reacted to the word “constraints.”
Because [Oracle] is a unique skill of the Saintess or the Saint.
Only one person of the current era could use it.
Which meant that saying they had come under an oracle was basically the same as saying they served under the Saintess.
Meanwhile, the War Demon Commander was staring at me with blazing eyes.
He had put real work into this plan, and half of it had just been torn apart by a single [CAW—!].
“As expected of the one who brought down Ghost Demon. You really did have a move prepared.”
“Thanks for the compliment. You’re not going to start talking your way out of it, right?”
“...Of course not.”
A moment later, two spiritual medicines flew through the air toward me.
[Azure Stalactite Milk(A)]
[Five Elements Divine Pill(A)]
That makes two [Azure Stalactite Milk(A)] for me.
It was the kind of item you normally had trouble seeing even once, but now I had gotten another one after the summer-break quest reward.
The effect would diminish with repeated use, but I had plenty of people to distribute things to anyway.
While I carefully stored the medicines away, the War Demon Commander spoke again.
“Though I’m not sure how much the wager matters. Before long, you’ll be returning that bell as well.”
Meaning he could just kill me and take everything afterward.
So I grinned and handed his own words back to him.
“As expected of the one who brought down Ghost Demon, don’t you think I might have something prepared for that too?”
“...Heh. Fair enough. Then let me see whether you truly have the skill to protect such a treasure.”
At once, the Blood Cult martial artists raised their momentum even higher.
The evil cultists also pulled out long, narrow structures.
They were made from animal bones, with a mountain goat skull fixed at the top.
A curse totem.
The moment they rammed them into the ground, streams of sinister energy poured out and seized control of the room.
Then notification messages rose before my eyes.
[Random status effect applied.]
[[Slow(B)] has been applied.]
Not just me. Every ally here had probably gotten hit with a debuff.
And before long, more would likely be added or stacked on top.
I really need to get anti-debuff measures ready soon.
For me personally, the importance wasn’t overwhelming, since I was effectively immune to the most dangerous mental and poison-type debuffs.
Elemental types could also be blunted to some extent by S-rank resistance.
That doesn’t mean they do nothing, though.
Debuffs outside those categories could still affect me.
Things like marks, slow, or resistance reduction, for example.
And I also had to be ready for the others getting hit, so having a cleansing option would be useful in all kinds of ways.
For now, though, I have to make do without one.
And when you don’t have a debuff cleanse?
You slap stronger debuffs on the enemy.
[[Octopus Arms] activated.]
[[Concussion Mark(B)] inscribed on the target.]
[[Concussion Mark(B)] inscribed on the target...]
[[Concussion Mark(B)] inscribed on the target...]
......
“Wh-what!?”
“...!”
“Ugh!”
A large number of the Blood Cult martial artists charging in immediately lost control of their bodies and staggered.
They had moved after getting marked, so the concussion effect triggered.
Hyeseong’s gunners didn’t miss the opening and instantly concentrated fire on them.
RATATATAT!
The evil cultists were busy casting from one corner and looked like they had no intention of moving until the marking ended.
Then I guess I’ll make them move.
BOOM!
“Ghk!”
Compressed wind exploded, sending them tumbling in a heap.
Not only were their spells interrupted, they also got hit with extra cooldown time.
As a result, every enemy in the room turned to glare at me like they wanted me dead.
Including the War Demon Commander at the front.
“To have this much battlefield influence in so little time... You truly are troublesome.”
“This is just the beginning.”
“Then let’s see how you do in close combat.”
As he unfolded the Asura Blood Demon Art, six crimson force-aura arms sprouted from all over his body.
Some came with fists.
Some with open palms.
Some with rigidly extended fingers.
He launched fist arts, palm arts, and finger arts all at once.
PAPAPAPAT!
For a moment it felt like my entire field of vision had turned red.
I frantically stepped and twisted to dodge them.
Yeah, the debuff’s definitely annoying.
The [Slow] from the totem was making my evasion timing just a little late.
And I haven’t even used amplification yet.
Normally, against powerful enemies at elder-class and above, I would have chained in [Octopus Arms] and pushed my rank as high as possible.
But right now, I couldn’t afford to casually spam long-cooldown skills.
Because there’s no guarantee this fight is the end.
Judging from everything so far, there seemed to be more Blood Cult forces beyond these, and they kept bringing up the Blood Cult Leader too.
Even just scattering [Concussion Mark(B)] around had been a fairly big investment.
PAPAPAPAT!
I snapped my head aside, and a streak of bloody force aura brushed past my cheek.
The next force-aura fist came flying at me, and I barely twisted away from it.
“Come on, spare me.”
“You dodge just fine for someone whining that much.”
The War Demon Commander laughed as if he were having fun and continued his assault.
Someone else chimed in.
“Kim Ho has always been dramatic.”
FWIRL—!
At the same time, glowing hammers came flying in.
The War Demon Commander swung his force-aura arms to block them, but the impact still made him falter for a moment.
Then he let out a sound of admiration as he watched Oh Sehun and Kang Daesan rush in.
“To have that much skill at your age. What an abundance of talent.”
“Thank you. Still, we don’t compare to our junior.”
CLAAANG—!
The glowing hammers and the force-aura arms crashed together again.
When the remaining arms swung in, Kang Daesan stepped up and jammed his shield forward.
Ahn Jeongmi also slipped in covering fire whenever she found an opening.
TUTUTUTU!
Now the balance feels about right.
No matter how strong the former Discipline Committee captain and member were, they had only just stepped into A-rank, or were brushing right up against it.
Compared to elder- and commander-class opponents in the mid-to-high A-range, they were bound to come up a step or two short.
Still, if they kept up a coordinated assault like that, they could hold him down for a while.
So I flicked a glance at Seo Ye-in as a signal, then pointed at the evil cultists.
“Let’s hit that side.”
“Got it.”
[[Enfeebled(B+)] has been applied.]
The debuffs kept stacking, so we needed to eliminate the source as fast as possible.
That was why we boldly cut straight across the puzzle room and charged into enemy territory.
The Blood Cult martial artists moved to block our path, but—
“You bastard!”
BOOM!
—I casually blasted them off to the side.
The evil cultists also hurled black magic to interfere with us, but we avoided that too.
“Left.”
“Left.”
Left.Lumps of blackness skimmed past us.
Then tentacles lashed out low toward our legs.
“Jump.”
“Jump.”
Hop.We cleared those too.
Then more tentacles whipped at our faces, and we ducked under them.
Thanks to that, we reached the totems in no time.
Scrawny Guy, who had been guarding the area nearby, stretched out a hand toward us, but before his spell could even take shape, a pure-white cloud flew over.
“Fluffy.”
BOOM!
The area was instantly engulfed in dense white cloud.
It blocked magical attacks for a short time, and its rank was A+.
As a result, the power spilling from Scrawny Guy’s hand suddenly looked noticeably weakened.
FWAAAA—
And in the gap where the evil cultists were half-neutralized, Seo Ye-in and Fast-Luckless each created lumps of light in their hands and started hurling them around near the totems.
A combo of [Fickle Trap] and [Trap Toss].
They set down several in an instant, then exchanged a glance with me.
“Sliiide.”
“Sliiide.”
Then they slipped out of place with [Ghost Without Shadow].
Well—Seo Ye-in did.
Fast-Luckless stayed behind.
She spread both arms wide, jumped right on top of the traps, and started moving her feet in a dazzling rhythm.
Tap dance.The next moment, blinding flashes erupted along with bursts of current and fire, while sword slashes tore wildly through the air.
BZZZZZT—!
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
SHRRAK SHRAK SHRAK—!
Then a hologram projected beside us again, and Fast-Luckless was resummoned by herself.
Her eyes shone proudly.
Born dancer.“Dancing Queen of the year.”
“Right. Great work, both of you. Now let’s go back in.”
“Got it.”
Got it.The [Fickle Trap] plus Lucky Charm luck combo was absurdly broken, but against enemies at that level, the odds that it had completely neutralized them were low.
Still, it should have opened a gap.
That meant pressing the attack right now was the best choice.
So we charged back into the explosions that were just starting to clear.
The first thing I saw was the shattered totem fragments scattered across the floor.
That meant the primary objective was done.
And just as expected, the elite evil cultists, Scrawny Guy included, were still standing.
They were glaring at us with murderous hostility.
“How dare you destroy our sacred symbol—”
“Thanks for that.”
It made skill usage easier, after all.
[Diamond Freeze]
[Octopus Arms]
[Mutual-Destruction Eye]
CRRRAACK—
The evil cultists ended up half-trapped inside ice.
And mages who couldn’t move made excellent targets for ranged attackers.
A blue streak drew through the air from behind us and struck Scrawny Guy right in the forehead.
BOOOOM—!
Ahn Jeongmi had fired a support shot.
Right after that, Seo Ye-in opened up on the frozen evil cultists with an assault rifle.
RATATATAT!
For enemies of their caliber, they went down absurdly easily.
Then Scrawny Guy, writhing on the ground, shouted in fury.
“I won’t... go down... like this—!”
At once, countless letters surfaced over his entire body.
He must have engraved some kind of formula onto himself in advance.
Then his skin turned pitch-black, and all vitality drained from his body.
At the same time, an enormous amount of power gathered in his chest—so much that it was incomparable to before—and began to swell.
A self-destruct skill.
And not just any kind.
This one activated at the cost of the caster’s life.
With a price that high, the power would be monstrous.
Enough to blow these ruins away and then some.
“If I am to fail, then with this life—!”
As he spat out his final cry, I aimed the crow tree at him.
[[Octopus Arms] activated.]
[[Grant] activated.]
[[Retrocovery] granted to target.]
[[Retrocovery] granted to target...]
[[Retrocovery] granted to target...]
The next instant, his body was completely restored.
While I was at it, I cleaned up the injured allies too.
An awkward silence fell over the room at that abrupt recovery.
Scrawny Guy himself just blinked in confusion.
The self-destruct that had been on the verge of activation had been canceled outright.
“...Uh.”
CLANG—!
The Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot smashed into the back of his head.