NOVEL WEB Chapter 164
[Activate Southeast Divine Mark 0/1]
[Activate Southwest Divine Mark 0/1]
[Activate North Divine Mark 1/1]
“Is this a Defense Dungeon?”
“Yep. The activation levels of the Divine Marks in the other areas we’ve passed through have been reset, right?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
Chris’s party quickly dealt with all the Lamias and successfully activated the Divine Marks.
But.
Ssssssss-!
“Chris, another Lamia!”
“Ugh, there’s no end in sight!”
Whoosh!
Kaboom!
The wizard Bae Merong activated ‘Aerial’ to limit the movement of the Lamias. At the same time, Arcane Burst was prepared. The Onmyoji Cherni expertly buried the Lamias halfway into the ground using the earth spirit, ‘Gnome’.
As the second wave of Lamias ended, Chris made a decision.
“Let’s split up.”
“Split up?”
“Yeah. Staying in one place won’t do us any good. Even if the Divine Mark here gets fully activated, we don’t know what will happen the moment we leave. Looking at the dungeon progression conditions, all locations’ Divine Marks need to be fully activated for this crazy wave of Lamias to end.”
“You expect to handle this wave of Lamias alone? That’s not going to be easy. Especially since I’m a Fighter. I’d rather not be compared to a wizard with tons of area-wide attacks or an Onmyoji who can use spirits.”
Indeed, with limited area-of-effect skills, the Fighter of Deathly Death would find defense difficult due to the close-combat nature.
“But this is the only way, right? And there are three locations buried with Divine Marks, while we have four members. Deadly Death, you take care of this already activated area. I’ll help you.”
Chris smirked and patted Deathly Death’s back.
Following Chris’s orders, Bae Merong and Cherni headed to the locations with the Southeast and Southwest Divine Marks.
“If we had a bit more time, we might have been able to conquer the Tomb of the Sword. If we got a new skill there, it might have been easier… Has Rain gained a new skill?”
“Hehe.”
At Deathly Death’s question, Chris smiled proudly.
“…Really? Did he conquer it on the very first day? How on earth did he break through that Ancient Master? I figured out how to counter the Azure Dragon Sword Technique, but the time attack was awfully tight. But sure, if it’s Rain…”
“What’s with all the interest in our boy? Are you…?”
Chris’s eyes narrowed. Deathly Death sweatdropped and feigned innocence.
“Ahem, just pure curiosity and admiration. I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
Pow, boom!
Nevertheless, Chris was blasting the bodies of the monsters before the sporadically approaching Lamias could get close, using the Demon Sealing Technique.
Equipped with legendary weapons and fully enhanced high-grade magic stones, Chris’s skill damage was indeed overwhelming. Her skills, despite being those of an Onmyoji specializing in party enhancements, showcased firepower rivaling that of a pure damage dealer wizard.
While exchanging trivial conversation with Deathly Death and facing the Lamia monster wave, Chris’s mind began to fill with worry about Rain.
“This dungeon is impossible to solo.”
Physically impossible.
No matter how powerful Rain might be, her body isn’t threefold. There’s no way to manage the defenses in all three areas at once.
What did Rain have in mind?
[Activate Southeast Divine Mark 1/1]
[Activate Southwest Divine Mark 1/1]
[Activate North Divine Mark 1/1]
(All Divine Marks Activated)
(1st purification completed, 8%)
[???]
[Heaven-Descended Basin overall progress 0/1]
Before long, the activation requirements for the Southeast and Southwest Divine Marks were satisfied. Bae Merong and Cherni had reactivated the Divine Marks. Since the 1st purification percent began to rise, it was expected that if this gauge reached 100%, the final named enemy would appear.
“Hmm?”
As Chris yawned at the pause in the activation point of the North Divine Mark, new chat messages began to appear in the party chat.
[Cherni: Southwest point, unusual entity appears!]
[Cherni: It’s a red giant Lamia!]
[Cherni: Its HP is insane!]
Cherni’s urgency was palpable through the chat.
“An unusual entity!?”
Chris checked the chat and immediately prepared to head southwest.
“Deadly Death, can you handle this place alone?”
“I’ll try.”
Leaving Deathly Death behind, Chris swiftly moved towards the southwest area.
Just as Chris arrived, the announcement of the Onmyoji Cherni’s demise displayed on the screen. It seemed he had fallen victim to the attack of the unusual entity.
“Ugh…!”
Chris bit her lip.
The appearance of a clearly named-grade Lamia.
The wave of Lamias wasn’t just regular ones. If it was a named-grade entity from an Elite Dungeon, it would be difficult to handle alone.
She needed to reactivate the Divine Mark in the southwest area that Cherni had left.
Chris, already heated, momentarily paused as she headed to the southwest. Then, deep in thought.
She was so angry she could storm into the southwest region immediately, but if the red giant Lamia was indeed a named-grade entity, it would be tough to deal with alone. She could be taken down in an instant, just like Cherni.
“First, I need to wait for Cherni to regroup.”
A few minutes later, Chris spotted Cherni, revived at the entrance of the Heaven-Descended Basin, scrambling from between rocks.
Chris shot him a fierce glare.
“You’re late! Why didn’t you hurry up?”
“Huff, huff, I’m sorry!”
“What happened? Give me a detailed explanation.”
“So, I was dealing with the Lamias in the clearing, activated the Divine Mark, then faced the additional wave, when suddenly a giant Lamia with red scales burst up from the solid rock floor. Its HP is ridiculous. It’s at 70 million.”
“70 million!? That’s a high-tier named entity.”
Getting used to the hundreds of millions HP of named entities from their last raid dungeon with the Abyssal Tree, it was clear that 70 million would be a burden even for the currently enhanced users with legendary gear. As a named entity, its defense would also be higher than that of the regular Lamias.
“Also, it has a red magic shield that reflects attacks. I used a big skill not involving spirits, and it sent it right back to me.”
“A reflective shield…?”
Very tricky pattern. Is there a gimmick to disable the shield?
“Can we handle this with two people?”
“Wouldn’t be easy. But we can’t gather all four of us here right now.”
Bae Merong in the southeast and Deathly Death in the north had to guard their respective Divine Marks. While it was possible to think about gathering all four to deal with the red giant Lamia first, that would leave the north and southeast unguarded. In that case, they would have to reactivate the marks from scratch again.
“Let’s try it with just the two of us first, and if we both die, then we can all regroup and tackle the giant Lamia again. Since it’s a named-grade unusual entity, it’s likely a one-off monster. It shouldn’t keep swelling in numbers like regular Lamias.”
While conversing, Chris and Cherni quickly made their way to the clearing.
The pile of stones that had hidden the Divine Mark was dug out, and the Divine Mark that had been inside lay discarded, losing its light.
And surrounding them were the monsters.
Just normal Lamias.
Chris and Cherni wore blank expressions.
“What? Where did the giant Lamia go!?”
“Huh? It, it was definitely…”
Chris gave a suspicious look to Cherni, who was dripping in sweat.
“You didn’t get killed by regular Lamia waves while slacking off, did you?”
“No, I didn’t! Look over there! That’s the hole where the giant Lamia popped out!”
“…Hmm? There is definitely a hole. Just kidding.”
Chris chuckled and patted Cherni’s back. Before Cherni could voice any complaints, Chris’s expression hardened again.
“The giant Lamia has disappeared. Do you understand what this means?”
“Huh? Didn’t it just finish its shift and go home?”
“No! It means there’s danger beyond here! You reactivate this spot. I think I need to head somewhere else.”
There was danger elsewhere.
Chris’s judgment was accurate. And swift.
However, the giant Lamia’s movements were even faster.
Before Chris could leave the southwest area, chat messages from Bae Merong began to fill the party chat.
[Bae Merong: Chris, sister! Southwest!]
[Bae Merong: Giant Lamia, red!]
[Chris: It has a reflect-damage gimmick! Try to avoid using big attacks until I arrive!]
Bae Merong was an excellent wizard. While she might not be able to take it down alone, she could likely hold out for quite some time by aggroing and dribbling.
Chris swiftly moved, analyzing the strategy for this dungeon.
Defense Dungeon, Heaven-Descended Basin.
Three Defense Points.
Four party members.
Unusual entities, the giant Lamia, appearing randomly.
Chris began to understand the role of the fourth party member.
“Out of the four of us, three should defend at their respective locations, while the remaining one should lazily roam around and support against the red giant Lamia.”
But immediately after that, the additional party chat that appeared shattered Chris’s predictions.
There wasn’t just one unusual entity—the red giant Lamia.
[Deathly Death: North, blue giant Lamia appearing]
[Deathly Death: Urgent, need support]