Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

Thump thump.

I continued down the stairs behind the ‘Baron Statue’ corridor.

After about five minutes of walking, I spotted the end of the stairs.

A faint red light was seeping through from beyond.

“Huh?”

The torches that illuminated this tomb that I had seen along the way all had blue flames. In the overall faint blue light of the ‘Lesser Demon’s Tomb,’ the red light felt quite out of place.

As I exited the long staircase, the ceiling rose significantly.

Soon, a massive dome-shaped chamber revealed itself before me.

And, I came to realize the identity of that red light.

Bubble bubble.

“Holy cow.”

Across the huge dome, I could see a lake of lava.

The magma was bubbling away.

The source of the red light illuminating the dome was magma.

Who would’ve thought there was something like this beneath the desert?

Just how far have I come? Not all the way through the crust, I hope.

I shrank back a bit.

Ever since the Level 1 Named Enemy hunt, I’ve really disliked fire.

But judging by the state of the boss room, I had a feeling the last Named Enemy might attack using fire too.

“I really hate fire.”

Shake shake.

I vigorously shook my head to shake off the waning resolve.

Rain, you’ve come this far, haven’t you?

After clearing this dungeon, I’ll sell my weapon for a ton of cash and drink potions like there’s no tomorrow, buying all the outfits I want while leveling up the Emperor.

Of course, I can have chicken every day. I need to supply nutrition to my real body, right?

I can live lavishly in ‘Astria Online.’

Fortunately, my material desires kept my spirits up.

Thump thump.

With my motivation restored, I confidently stepped into the center of the dome.

Clop clop.

But the closer I got to the center, the more I shrank back involuntarily.

Clop.

Finally, reaching the center of the dome, I timidly said, “I-I’m ready to fight.”

Bubble.

The first droplet burst from the lake of lava before my eyes.

Bubble bubble.

Soon, the previously calm magma began to boil, forming a massive whirlpool.

From the center of the whirlpool, flames erupted, and a gigantic figure slowly emerged.

It was a demon.

A huge demon with a pair of massive horns on its head.

Its size rivaled that of a wyvern.

Thick chains were wrapped tightly around its body.

Perhaps treated with special magic, those chains glowed with a faint blue light and did not melt even in the magma.

Grrr.

Half-submerged in the lake of lava, the demon opened its eyes.

Flash.

Flames burned within its irises.

“Wow.”

I stared in awe, forgetting my fear completely.

The boss introduction scene is unbelievably cool.

I feel like I’ve seen something that looks like this in an old game. It was definitely something from the Blizzard company.

So this is ‘Lesser Demon’s Tomb’? The vibe is almost akin to a Demon Four Lord level, isn’t it?

Of course, it looked quite different overall from whatever it was in that classic game.

For one, its forearms were enormous.

The proportions made it almost resemble an orangutan or a gorilla? It looked like it could stroll on all fours.

My small body would fit snugly in its grip.

Does it actually have a ‘grab’ pattern?

Anyway, those giant arms are worth being cautious around.

And shortly after, the demon began to move.

Thud, thud, thud.

With its massive arms, it trudged toward the dome, parting the lake of magma.

Finally revealing itself fully, the demon let out a loud roar.

ROOOAAAR–!

[Level 3 Named Enemy]

[Level 27 Sealed Demon]

[HP 500,000/500,000]

*

Tap tap!

Bang bang bang!

Maintaining my sword-drawing stance, I executed a Moonlight Slash, leaving a gash on the demon’s body.

Despite being intimidated by its entrance, I finally understood why it was called ‘Sealed Demon’ once the boss battle began.

Overall, its movements were quite slow.

Its basic pattern was just a swing attack using its huge arms, which wasn’t particularly threatening.

Despite being called a ‘Demon,’ it didn’t seem to cast any magic attacks. It only attacked using its hefty body.

Swish swish!

Every time the demon moved significantly, the sound of the chains wrapped around its body clinking was heard. Were those chains sealing its power?

Just like its name, ‘Sealed Demon,’ it didn’t seem to be in perfect condition.

Whoosh!

Roar! Rumble!

“Urgh!”

Blocking the demon’s swinging attack, a bit of HP drained as my body was pushed back a few steps.

Even though it didn’t use magic, the strength emanating from those massive arms was real. Even with my raised Blocking Rank, I still couldn’t absorb all the shock.

When was the last time I had HP drained after blocking an attack?

It even had a very wide range.

With such an area-wide attack, it was impossible to capitalize on the Apple Slicing cut from my sword-drawing technique. I had to respond to every pattern.

In that case, how about the ‘Counterattack’ that can be activated in sword-drawing stance?

Swish.

As I used ‘Counterattack,’ my body left an afterimage as I positioned myself behind the demon.

I could likely get in some free damage before the demon turned away to re-target me.

But.

Whoosh!

Clash!

“Whoa!?”

I had to hastily cancel the sword-drawing stance and couldn’t do anything but block the demon’s attack.

The demon swung its arm back without even turning its body.

“Yikes, that scared me!”

I steadied my racing heart and had to face the demon again as it turned back.

Its general patterns consisted of two types: forward and backward swings.

Both could be blocked, and there were no other significant mechanics to watch for.

Even if I took damage from blocking, it wasn’t at a level that I couldn’t handle. If the damage from blocking accumulated, I could just chug a potion.

Bang bang bang!

The shining blade of my sword repeatedly cut into the demon’s massive body.

Due to the range of the swinging arms, I couldn’t maintain my sword-drawing stance, but there were plenty of openings to hit without any problem.

Roar!

After blocking the arm swing and retreating a couple of steps, I checked the demon’s HP.

[Level 3 Named Enemy]

[Level 25 Sealed Demon]

[HP 391,005/500,000]

Just like the Nameds I had faced before, this one wasn’t particularly troublesome with its regular patterns.

Basically, anyone who understood ‘Astria Online’ would be able to fight back against it.

The problem was the special patterns that occur when a Named’s HP drops below a certain threshold.

The ‘Sealed Demon’ would also likely have its unique special pattern.

How to get through that would be the key to clearing the dungeon. It was time to focus on its movements.

As expected, after a while, the demon’s movements changed drastically.

Whoosh!

“Yikes!”

Contrary to its previous slow attacks, the demon moved swiftly and opened its gigantic claws to grab me.

But having been watchfully observing for the pattern change, I perfectly responded.

Tap.

Reacting, I used ‘Backward Evasion’ to swiftly dart back, while the demon’s hand grasped at thin air.

Now distanced from the demon, I broke into a cold sweat.

Wow, that was really close. That was super dangerous, wasn’t it?

What would happen if I got caught by that claw? Would all my bones shatter? Would I be flung into the lava lake?

In any case, it was clear that I wouldn’t come out unscathed.

But this wouldn’t be the end.

I tightened my grip on the sword, watching for the demon’s next move.

ROOOAAAAH-!

With that initial roar during its entrance.

Whooooosh.

A purple glow gathered in the demon’s enormous claw.

Before long, it took the shape of a sphere.

“That, that thing!”

I gaped in shock.

I had seen that purple orb before.

The identity of that purple orb was undoubtedly an energy sphere that contained the power of the dark magic used by the Demon Race on the Continent of Astria.

That powerful orb of energy quickly shot toward me.

“Weren’t you unable to use magic!?”

‘Sealed Demon,’ you say!

BOOM! BOOM!

*

Thump thump.

“Whoa, so that was a ranged magic pattern.”

I sat down on the stairs leading to the dome’s entrance, calming my startled heart.

It was fortunate I had prepared to dash toward the stairs with my back turned right when the special pattern kicked in because if I got hit by that terrifying thing directly, I would have been done for.

I couldn’t afford to just take a hit and think, “Oh, I’ll just do this next time.”

Unlike others, I feel immense pain even in the game.

I really don’t like pain.

There’s no point in trying to use ‘Blocking.’ Judging by the hit registration, it’s likely similar to the scale attack from the Level 1 Named Enemy ‘Black Wyvern.’

Bam, bam!

Kicking the stairs in a fit of frustration, I yelled, “Why don’t I have any ranged protection as a swordsman?”

If I had a Wizard’s ‘Mana Barrier’ or an Onmyoji’s ‘Protection Talisman,’ I could block it.

Of course, if my swordsmanship level went higher, maybe I’d get some ranged protection too, but for now, I had no way to counter that.

I rested my chin on my hand, deep in thought.

[Backward Evasion (E)]

[Quickly darts back 8m, evading attacks from the front (Invulnerable while casting)]

[Cooldown 8 seconds]

[(After the activation of E-Rank skill, movement speed increases for 5 seconds)]

With its cheat-level invulnerability during casting that even negated the wyvern’s area breath attacks, I wouldn’t take any damage from all patterns in ‘Astria Online.’

Should I save the Backward Evasion?

But, how could I avoid that swift grab pattern?

The interval between the demon’s grab pattern and the magical orb attack is about 5 seconds.

If I used Backward Evasion for the grab pattern, I’d only have 3 seconds left on cooldown.

“Hmm…”

There has to be something. It just isn’t coming to mind right now.

But there is one more way to evade the ‘grab’ pattern.

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