NOVEL WEB Chapter 26
Ka-kang!
Hu-woong!
I barely blocked the double strike from ‘Lieutenant Craksas’ and swiftly executed a backward evasion.
Craksas’s kick, laced with demonic energy, brushed underneath my chin, sending chills down my spine.
He looked like a martial artist of the Demon Race. The moment the battle began, he rushed at me, launching a flurry of magical attacks with his hands and feet.
Each strike was incredibly quick and threatening, but it wasn’t impossible to counter.
The problem was.
Bang!
“Cough!”
I turned around just in time to block the magical blast coming from behind, then quickly executed a backward evasion.
Hu-woong!
Craksas’s kick swept through the space I had just occupied.
I got back into position and refocused on Craksas’s assault.
This was truly a battle that reminded me of the ‘Orc King’s Cave’ and the ‘Orc Assassin’ at the level 2 named encounter.
Right now, I had to be wary of both Craksas’s attacks and the magical projectiles from the Demon Elite Troopers.
The Demon Elite Troopers weren’t getting any closer. However, they kept launching magical blasts whenever they saw my openings, making it impossible to focus solely on Craksas’s patterns.
Hu-woong!
Craksas performed a large spinning kick pattern.
Once I dodged this pattern, I would switch to my sword-drawing technique.
Shwaak!
As I executed Moonlight Slash, my body transitioned into the sword-drawing stance.
Then, I easily dodged the punch coming from Craksas and quickly moved towards a location.
Tatata-ta!
“Creak-a-cra-cra! Where do you think you’re running?!”
Craksas chased me at a rapid speed.
I kept moving while scanning my surroundings.
The positioning of the Demon Elite Troopers formed a rectangle. Each was located at the corners of the named combat area.
If I engaged Craksas in the center of the combat area, I would also have to pay attention to the magical blasts coming from behind.
Craksas didn’t seem to have the tendency to flank like the Orc Assassin.
So, it might actually be easier than dealing with the Orc Assassin back then.
Tsk.
Arriving at the 7 o’clock position in the named combat area, I found myself in front of a Demon Elite Trooper.
He was startled as I approached and swung his spear.
Hwoong!
Here, a counterattack.
Swish.
I positioned myself behind the Demon Elite Trooper and swiftly blocked Craksas’s assault that followed behind.
Ka-kang!
I smiled through my diagonal sword, held up high.
Here we go.
From this position, I could face the attacks of both Craksas and the four Demon Elite Troopers head-on.
I could take them out one by one while repositioning like I had done against the Orc Assassin.
It was the same situation as before.
And since Craksas didn’t have a backstab pattern, it was even easier.
As I maintained my defense facing forward, I could just unleash Moonlight Slash through the gaps in his attacks.
It was a shame that I couldn’t use ‘Starlight Slash,’ a powerful single-target skill available in sword-drawing stance, but this method would allow me to deal with the four Demon Elite Troopers efficiently.
Once I took down all the elite troopers, I could comfortably focus on Craksas.
Ka-ka-ka-kang! Kaang!
Swish!
Craksas’s ominous attacks filled with demonic energy and the magic blasts from the Demon Elite Troopers collided with my sword repeatedly, yet I calmly focused only on the nearby elite trooper.
With each Moonlight Slash activated in between my defenses, I whittled down the Demon Elite Trooper’s HP.
And then.
“Cough!”
Thud.
Finally, the first Demon Elite Trooper fell.
Tatata-tat!
I shot the next elite trooper immediately.
One by one, I continued…
“Kaaargh!”
Eventually, the last Demon Elite Trooper fell, and I was left face-to-face with Craksas in a 1:1 standoff.
“You dare harm my subordinates?!”
As a violet hue flickered in Craksas’s eyes, his attacks began to pick up in speed and intensity.
Ka-ka-kang! Kaang!
My hands and feet became dizzy as Craksas’s punches and kicks pummeled me faster.
Tsk!
Craksas leaped lightly into the air and raised his fist toward the ground.
It was an indicator of an area attack pattern.
Thud!
I used backward evasion.
Bang! Bang!
Each time Craksas’s fists slammed into the ground, shockwaves erupted, creating craters.
Just one backward evasion was enough. The second shockwave didn’t reach my body.
As I quickly approached, I transitioned into the sword-drawing stance and calmly began to whittle down Craksas’s HP.
[1 Named]
[Level 33 Forward Base Lieutenant Craksas]
[HP 2,104,103/3,000,000]
Craksas’s immense HP had been significantly reduced.
But I’d been on high alert since earlier.
Unique special patterns that Named enemies had, which they used at certain HP intervals.
When would Craksas enter his special phase?
He had passed the 75% and 70% thresholds without any pattern changes, so the 2/3 point seemed the most likely.
Swish!
Dodging his spinning kick, I moved right while launching Starlight Slashes, rapidly bringing Craksas’s HP close to the 2/3 mark.
Shwaak!
After delivering the final Starlight Slash, I confirmed that Craksas’s HP had indeed reached the 2/3 point.
I stepped back a bit, raising my sword to watch for any changes in Craksas’s movements.
“Cough, annoying little rat…!”
Uuuul…
Immense energy began to gather around Craksas’s body.
This was surely a special pattern.
I widened my eyes, focusing on Craksas’s movements.
Gururu…
The ground trembled under the tremendous magical energy, and finally, Craksas’s body began to rise into the air…?
“This…! No way!”
I started to pace nervously.
Another airborne special pattern!?
But there was nothing I could do.
I could only wait, fidgeting, for Craksas’s special pattern.
As Craksas hovered above, looking down at me with a smile, he raised one hand.
Go-go-go-go-go.
A powerful purple orb began to form from the concentrated magical energy above him.
I bit my lip upon seeing this.
This was bound to be similar to the Black Wyvern’s breath attack.
A pattern that unleashes powerful area-wide attacks across the battlefield.
Then all I had to do was respond the same way.
Kwaaahhh!
The magic, twice the size of my body, charged right at me.
The moment the orb reached near me…
Pat!
[Backward Evasion (C)]
[Quickly propel yourself 8m backward to evade an attack from the front (Invulnerable while casting)]
[Cooldown: 8 seconds]
[(E-Rank) Movement speed increases for 5 seconds after activating the skill]
Using backward evasion, my body remained safe amidst the massive explosion.
The ‘Invulnerable while casting’ effect had activated.
As the dust from the explosion cleared, I could still see Craksas hovering in mid-air.
Wow, scary.
But if that’s all, this is too easy.
Uuuuu-uuung.
“Eek!?”
Wait, what’s happening?
It wasn’t over yet?
Craksas had already created a second magical orb and wore a deep smile.
Kwaaahhh!
It immediately charged at me.
The interval between the attacks was only 3 seconds.
There were still 5 seconds left on the cooldown for backward evasion.
Kwaaaaaaa!
“AAAAHH!?”
Hack, hack.
My body, engulfed by the explosion, rolled across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.
Every part of me screamed in pain.
HP was running low.
I hadn’t been killed in a single hit, but my condition was grave.
“Cough!”
Spitting out blood, I shakily pulled out a potion and drank it.
Thanks to the potion that gradually restored my HP over 10 seconds, I felt some of the pain ease.
However, the battle wasn’t over yet.
Ignoring the remaining pain, I hastily got back on my feet.
Tsk.
Craksas landed on the ground.
“To survive that and not die—you’re not just some nobody.”
I bit my lip at Craksas’s mocking ridicule.
I hadn’t managed to evade his attack.
It would take more time to recover my HP to a stable range.
In this state, even the minor damage from blocking an attack might take me out.
Tatata-ta!
“Creak-a-cra-cra!”
But it seemed Craksas had no intention of waiting for me to recover. He rushed toward me, his hands and feet enveloped in demonic energy.
And then.
Tatatata-ta!
From another barrack, four elite troopers re-emerged to join Craksas.
I clenched my teeth.
“This is too much.”
Without looking back, I dashed out of the named combat area.