Chapter 214: Source of Corruption 3
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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If the invincible shield continued indefinitely, yers were bound to suffer losses.
After all, the field was filled with toxic energy, there were no minor mobs to hunt, and the boss monster''s health wouldn''t decrease.
It was natural to incur losses.
{Where do you think you''re going, nyaaak!! You brute!}
"Ah, damn. This is annoying."
Even though Irene''s purification was remarkable, her divine energy wasn''t infinite.
I had to send everyone up, except for me, who could use divine energy.
Smiling at their worried nces, I bid them farewell.
Then, the skeleton necromancer began its rampage, obviously displeased that we were heading up for fresh air after waiting for us to sumb to the poison in the underground.
Like us, unable to kill the creature due to the invincibility gimmick, it had no way to break through and capture mypanions.
Even if it revives due to the invincible gimmick, it takes time to regenerate a crushed skull.
Whats this, even turning it to dust seems useless.
{Do you think the knowledge amassed by the sages of the Skull Tower would crumble under mere brute force? Surrender and yield to death willingly!}
"So, you can''t kill me either, with all your fancy talk of death."
{Khrum... A more toxic being than a rotting corpse.}
The creature, revived in 3 seconds like some liquid metal monster from a movie, even when pulverized to dust.
It felt no pain from mana-infused attacks and only slight difort from divine energy attacks, roughening its voice but remaining otherwise unscathed.
In desperation, I ground not only its skull but every bone in its body into fine powder, even scraping its staff on the ground to dust.
Yet, the boss monster''s invincibility gimmick mockingly resurrected it.
It cackled annoyingly.
Should I just copse the area and drag this creature all the way to the Magic Tower?
{What are you, exactly? Id like to dissect you right now if I could.}
Can you even do that?
It''s just as ridiculous for the boss monster on the other side.
Listening to its rambling, it turns out that most of the barriers he casts are for war, meant to defend against siege weapons andbined magic from high and intermediate-level mages.
Pushing through it with just one buff from the temple was just absurd.
As we red at each other, a hologram window suddenly popped up in front of me.
[Help streamer ''Han Se-ah'' hunt the 40th-floor boss monster 0/1]
[Help streamer ''Han Se-ah'' hunt the 40th-floor boss monster 0/1]
[Help streamer ''Han Se-ah'' nt the 40th-floor boss monster 0/1]
[Help streamer ''Han Se-ah'' fi the 40th-floor boss monster 0/1]
[Help streamer ''Han Se-ah'' find the 40th-floor boss monster 1/1 CLEAR?]
The ck letters floating in the air move like wriggling worms, eventually updating themselves as if to prove that it''s not only Han Se-Ah''s camera that''s watching me in real-time.
Someone dissatisfied with the boring standoff seems to have tampered with the quest.
As I nkly stared into space, the skeleton was making a noisy fuss, but that wasn''t important right now.
What mattered was the message sent to me by someone who could toy with my soul.
[Reward: Fragment of an Unknown Memory Active Skill ''Bloodline of Hector'']
[Bloodline of Hector: Ignores all enhancement effects that reduce damage]
[Barrier. Ignore. Possible]
It looked like a clear message to beat this skull to death right now.
Such a tant order sparked a rebellious spirit in me.
I wanted to wait for the people from the temple or the Magic Tower, but the problem was the card the guy pulled out to control me.
[Defeat the boss monster]
[Quest Nonpliance Debuff: X-KEEPER will be added]
[X-KEEPER: Inte ess time limited to 2 hours out of 24]
It was essentially a ban on inte use.
...Is this a joke?
---
Raei Trantions
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Before I entered the world of Heroes Chronicle, society was in uproar.
The reason was the increase in the number of people choosing suicide over apologizing.
I can''t tell how many times I had scoffed at foolish business owners andpanies who would rather sprint to the edge of a cliff and jump to their deaths than just apologize.
I always believed practicality was more important than petty pride.
So, I''ll do it...!
I''ll obediently follow along...!
Instead of irking a god-like being who could toy with souls, I decided toply with the quest and maintain my 24-hour inte ess.
The boss was right in front of me, and they even gave me a skill to hunt it.
Shouldn''t I be hunting it?
But why is my mouth suddenly moving on its own?
"I am Rnd, one of the nine heroes, the first knight of humanity, descended from the blood of Hector, Rnd of Lombardo-"
{Are you starting a one-man show now, barbarian?}
But damn, it''s so embarrassing for an incantation to be this long for a skill.
My body moved on its own, differently from when I received therge scale temple buff.
Unlike being intoxicated with immense power and losing control, this felt like switching from a first-person to a third-person game, watching someone else y my character, Rnd, as if I was Lee Haneul looking down on him.
Despite feeling embarrassed by the endless, cringeworthy incantation, my mouth, Rnd''s mouth, kept moving.
Could it be that the skill event cutscenes from characters 5 and above have been adapted to Heroes Chronicles?
In many geeky games, there''s usually a skill cutscene where the character uses a skill with a special line and arge illustration of them appears on part of the screen "Shaa"!
It was nice when it showed up close views of pretty female characters, but it felt really... strange to personally reenact those cutscenes.
"In the name of the great hero who deserves to be loved, wielding the sword Durandal bestowed by angels, I step forward."
The skeleton kept mocking me.
I wanted to curl up in embarrassment, but the control over my body had long been relinquished.
My hammer and shield, held in my hand, shone with a blue light, indicating this wasn''t just a simple enhancement but a transformation-type skill.
Wouldn''t it be better if the skill was simply named ''Summon Durandal''?
Instead of muttering like some poetic bard, how great would it be to just say, ''Appear, Durandal!'' and end it there?
It would be less embarrassing.
Even Han Se-ah reciting her spell names was dignifiedpared to this.
{What a noisy way to do things. From the superfluous expressions to the inefficiency of power, it''s barbaric.}
"."
Ignoring the mocking words of the skeleton, I assessed the situation.
Frankly, I was too embarrassed to retort, and there wasn''t much point in arguing verbally with someone smarter when you''re more about brawn.
I couldn''t even confidently say that I was smart, even as a joke.
But my body was strong, incredibly so.
While it might seem odd to bring up Hector from Greek and Roman mythology in the story of Rnd, what''s important is the sword that appeared in my hand.
The line that automatically slipped from my mouth seemed like some sort of event cutscene, and my indestructible hammer and shield from thest ten years had nowbined into a huge two-handed sword.
"Huhuh-!"
{What, what is this?!}
From a heavily armored knight with a shield and hammer, I had transformed into a lightly armored knight wielding a great sword.
Along with this, my divine energy was suppressed but mana surged violently.
I thought this was a form change due to the different effects of the two energies, and it seems I was right.
A tank character with dealer-level raw attack power has a separate offensive form?
No wonder the users screamed that the bnce team''s mothers flew above the clouds.
"Oh, oh wow, damn! It works!"
After the blue light faded, the great sword in my handcked mboyance but showcased a neatness that thrilled a man''s heart.
Almost as tall as Irene, the de, white and spotless, radiated a ruthless energy, capable of smashing everything.
It felt more like a bludgeon than a sharp legendary sword.
And most importantly, aura was bursting and flickering outwards.
{Haven''t you been at the higher levels for some time? Why are you so happy to see aura at that stage?}
The skeleton muttered incredulously.
But what can I do, Rnd was clearly a defensive character.
Although infusing mana into my body and armor made it gleam with a brilliant blue light, the mana had never burst out wildly before.
But now it''s different.
Thanks to the form change skill ''Bloodline of Hector,'' when I infused mana, it wasn''t just glowing blue the aura was expanding.
A 1.6m sword enveloped in a 2m aura growing to 3m, 4m, 5m
{Such a brutish disy of mana!}
Aura that I couldn''t unleash inside and outside the tower for ten years now moves at my will.
Although it was my first time handling it, it felt as natural as using the inte window.
Perhaps due to the effect of the burning blue mes, or out of fear, the skeleton''s voice crackled and sizzled like a broken radio.
Given that only the skeleton and I remained in this vast open space, it''s obvious where this Durandal was destined to strike.
"I know you won''t understand, but since there''s no camera, I''ll speak my mind."
{Uh, what?}
"This thing deals armor-piercing damage."
The giant sword of light cleaved through the open field.