NOVEL WEB Chapter 18
Bzzzt!
Clang!
The sword light sparkled, and the sharp blade struck the statue’s body.
It made a sound like hitting hard metal, and sparks flew. A groove was carved into the statue’s body.
Whoosh!
The statue swung its massive sword in one hand. The sword, as big as my body, surged toward me like it wanted to slice me in half.
But it was slow and cumbersome. With my movements now in ‘Sword Drawing Technique,’ I could easily dodge it without blocking.
Thwack!
Clang!
I flung the new sword to the right. The statue’s massive blade lost its target and got stuck in the floor of the hallway.
Tap tap tap!
Papapapak!
I quickly circled to the statue’s right and unleashed ‘Moonlight Slash’ repeatedly. The rapid and powerful strikes whittled down the statue’s HP.
Whoa!
Can statues make sounds? A bizarre noise, echoing like it was coming from deep within stone, resonated throughout the wide corridor.
I used ‘Backward Evasion’ to create distance from the statue.
Whoa!
Simultaneously, the statue gripped its sword tightly with both hands and slammed it hard into the hallway floor.
Boom!
The shockwave originating from the statue’s sword rapidly spread along the walls to the ceiling.
The whole corridor trembled. Is it going to collapse?
Rumble rumble rumble.
The shockwave surged outward. But since I was already out of the attack range, I took no damage.
The statue, seemingly impervious to the ravages of time, flaunted its health with its HP value.
Yet, its patterns weren’t particularly threatening.
The shockwave pattern that originated from the blade’s tip looked explosive but wasn’t that wide in range. Just an additional couple of steps after ‘Backward Evasion’ would be enough to escape it.
As for the rest of the attacks? They were slow enough that I could easily evade and attack due to the agility boost from ‘Sword Drawing Technique.’ It was a stark contrast to the sharp and fast attacks of wyverns.
So, I should keep my ‘Sword Drawing Technique’ active and continuously deliver ‘Moonlight Slashes’ without needing to ‘Block.’
Attacking while maintaining ‘Sword Drawing Technique’ and chipping away at the Named enemy’s HP with ‘Moonlight Slash’—should I call it the Rain-style ‘Apple Peeling’ technique?
Tap!
As soon as the area shockwave pattern ended, I launched myself toward the statue. Once again, sword strikes kissed the air, illuminated by moonlight.
[Named Enemy Level 2]
[Baron Statue]
[HP 263,510/308,000]
The statue’s HP, that seemed endless, had dropped quite a bit.
Based on my experience with other Named enemies, it wouldn’t be strange to see a special pattern coming soon.
Whoosh!
I didn’t let my guard down as I dodged the massive sword the statue swung at me with force.
How would it reveal itself?
Would it transform into 2nd or 3rd forms like a robot? Maybe it would shoot lasers or something!
But a warning of a special pattern echoed from a direction contrary to my expectations.
Crackle.
I didn’t see it; I heard it.
Tap!
Feeling an ominous sense from the sound of something splitting, I quickly distanced myself from the statue.
What was that noise?
In fact, I’d heard it before.
Right, the first time I encountered this statue.
Hiiik!
I turned my head, trying not to glance back, and looked to the right of the hallway.
Stone figures I thought were just decorations on the wall.
Crackle. Crac-crackle.
One of them was rising from its frozen state.
[Knight Statue]
[HP 84,000/84,000]
Whoosh, whoosh!
Hiiik!
I screamed as I dodged swords coming at me from both sides.
Boom! Boom!
Even low-tier monsters executed the same shockwave pattern as the Named enemy.
I glared with anger at the two statues, swords plunged firmly into the hallway floor.
“Th, this is bad!”
I struggled to find an opening to attack.
Dealing with ‘Baron Statue’ and ‘Knight Statue,’ both with the same pattern, was more troublesome than I’d expected.
Waiting for the shockwave pattern to pass, I recalled my battles against previous Named monsters.
This was the same thing.
If I took out the ‘Knight Statue’ assisting the ‘Baron Statue’ first, I could focus on just one Named enemy again.
Tap tap tap!
As the shockwave pattern ended, I charged at the statues, making the ‘Knight Statue’ my primary target.
The Named enemy, ‘Baron Statue,’ had more HP than the ‘Knight Statue.’ If I took down the ‘Knight Statue’ quickly, I could then deal with the ‘Baron Statue.’
Papapapak!
Clash!
Sword lights sparkled as I struck the ‘Knight Statue’ repeatedly. Rocks and blades collided, sending sparks flying.
Wow, they really do sparkle. What kind of rock are these guys made of?
For a moment, that useless thought crossed my mind, but I had enough focus.
The statues were strong but slow. There was no need to bother blocking their attacks.
Papapapak!
I moved nimbly, raining down strikes, a smile creeping onto my face.
It was going smoothly.
The 1st Named enemy was way harder.
As I battered the ‘Knight Statue’ and chipped away at the Named enemy’s HP, a new special pattern might emerge, but if it was the same, I’d manage just fine.
I could take out the additional Knight Statue and then focus strictly on the Named enemy.
However, the special pattern of the 2nd Named enemy easily betrayed my expectations.
Crackle.
This time it came from the left.
From the left hallway, I heard stones splitting once more.
“What!? Did I lower its HP too much?”
Before I could even finish off the ‘Knight Statue,’ was I entering the next special phase already?
[Named Enemy Level 2]
[Baron Statue]
[HP 260,041/308,000]
[Knight Statue]
[HP 46,989/84,000]
It wasn’t that.
Since I’d been primarily targeting the ‘Knight Statue,’ its health declined significantly; the ‘Baron Statue’ had hardly taken any hits at all. When I got close to it, I’d only managed to hit it with ‘Moonlight Slash’ a couple of times and barely scrape off its HP.
I didn’t have time to dwell on my questions. From now on, I had to deal with three statues.
It wasn’t impossible. But it got very chaotic.
Kaang!
Dodging all three statues’ swords was no easy feat.
I evaded two swords and blocked one.
Challenging, but doable.
If I could take down all the ‘Knight Statues,’ I could face the Named enemy comfortably again.
I tried to sweep away the negative thoughts and focused on the hope.
Crackle.
But the fourth sound of a statue rising shattered any remaining optimism.
Whoosh!
Without looking back, I ran away.
*
Hii, hii.
I hid around the corner of the hallway, catching my breath.
The statues, having lost their targets, returned to their spots as if nothing had happened.
Watching the statues pretend like they hadn’t moved, I puffed up my cheeks.
What to do?
Three were manageable. Four could be done with gritted teeth.
But it was clear that it wouldn’t stop at four.
Without even counting carefully, I estimated there were over twenty statues on either side of the hallway.
No doubt about it.
As time passed, they’d rise one by one, and eventually, all of them would get up.
It was a sort of timed attack pattern.
Recommended for a 4-person party. Elite Dungeon.
Surely, if I tackled it with a high-damage 4-person party, it would be an easy Named enemy to take down with only a few additional statues showing up, but alone, I’d have to face at least ten.
The more statues there were, the harder it would become.
But there was no turning back now.
I was alone, and I couldn’t rely on my party members’ firepower.
I had to deal maximum damage on my own.
In the end, this was a matter of adaptation.
The direction of my strategy was straightforward.
“I should ignore the Knight Statues and just beat down the Baron Statue.”
Let’s go with the “Take down one at a time” strategy.
[Named Enemy Level 2]
[Baron Statue]
[HP 22,041/308,000]
Whoosh, whoosh, BOOM!
Tap tap tap!
Papapapak!
“Die! Just die already!”
Right now, there were a total of eleven statues chasing me.
After numerous attempts, I had mastered the ‘Dribble’ technique.
While the ‘Knight Statue’ moved to pursue me, it didn’t attack. They were all ‘Melee Statues.’
In that case, I just had to run around and deal with only the ‘Baron Statue.’
Easier said than done; the journey to get here was incredibly tough.
If I ever failed to control the distance, multiple statues would execute their shockwave patterns at once.
The sight of multiple statues plunging their swords into the floor and erupting shockwaves was spectacular. I took off running to escape that fiery display.
But I had finally come this far.
Closing the distance, I executed a cycle of ‘Moonlight Slash.’
Then dodging the following ‘Knight Statues’ pursuit, I approached the ‘Baron Statue’ for another cycle.
As I kept repeating this, I finally spotted the ‘Baron Statue,’ which was running low on HP, amidst the ‘Knight Statues’ chasing me.
Just one hit left.
“Dieee!”
Ignoring the statues, I surged forward and delivered the final blow.
Whoosh!
The last ‘Moonlight Slash’ exploded in a flash of brilliance.
Whoa!
The ‘Baron Statue’ swayed violently before collapsing.
The light shimmering in its eyes faded, and the stone fragments scattered, leaving the statue completely powerless.
Crackle.
The ‘Knight Statues’ that had almost reached me froze their heavy swords in motion.
Thud.
I slumped amid the statues.
And with a dazed expression, I muttered just one thing.
“I… I did it.”