Chapter 28 Lizard Lair (5)
Gimmick.
It’s a term commonly known as deception or trickery, but when it comes to conquering dungeons or hunting bosses, it refers to a pattern or device wherein before completion of a specific condition set by the monster or dungeon, there is an invulnerability.
Grizzly Drake was a gimmick boss. With overwhelmingly high toughness, it nullifies all physical attacks and effortlessly ignores magical attacks infused with power due to the dungeon’s own buff effect. In other words, its monstrous inherent strength isn’t the only factor. It receives additional power from the structure of the dungeon, surpassing the typical A-grade monsters.
‘How can I do this?’
To overcome a gimmick boss, you need to understand its patterns and strategies. If this creature had appeared in the original work, I would have already known the method to bypass it. I had almost memorized the patterns of dungeon bosses since they appeared frequently.
However, the Academy’s underground dungeon was different. It was designed to enhance the growth of the main characters and only appeared briefly. I barely managed to figure out how to enter the middle part, let alone know how to deal with the boss.
So, how could I find a way to face the gimmick boss Grizzly Drake…? My mind had long become a blank slate.
-Grrr…!!
After nullifying an attack, Grizzly Drake rose to its feet. Anyone could anticipate its next move – it was like a death sentence. The party members’ faces were filled with despair.
Failure. Those two words pierced my heart like a nail. After falling into this world, everything had gone according to plan, and unexpected strokes of luck had come my way. I had been floating, thinking I knew this world better than anyone else and that I could solve the incidents more effectively with the main characters. There would be no crises, and my heart was filled with that arrogant certainty without me even realizing it. And at the end of that arrogance was the overwhelming regret that had become uncontrollable.
I put everyone in danger. That painful reality kept jabbing at me.
-Grrr! Grrr…!!
“Huh… !!”
But I couldn’t just stand there. If I made a mistake, I had to find the right path again. If I messed up, I had to correct it. This was no longer a world like a novel or a game; it was reality. I couldn’t let them die because of my arrogance. I held onto my crumbling resolve, assuming my combat stance again. I squeezed every ounce of strength remaining deep within me and rushed towards Grizzly Drake.
I couldn’t use [Hardening] anymore; the one-hour cooldown hadn’t passed. So, I had to mobilize all my toughness and strength. Though the outcome was predictable, I had to do it.
“Guh, aaargh-!!”
“Jae-hyun!! No…!!”
Together with Kim Chae-eun’s desperate voice, I felt the flesh on my shoulder being ripped off completely. It was because I had charged at Grizzly Drake head-on, and its sharp teeth had dug into my body. Using the sword was no longer possible; the left side of my body felt both pain and numbness, and I couldn’t hold a sword with both hands anymore. I could still wield a sword with one hand, but if my balance faltered, it would be even more dangerous for me.
“Do Jae-hyun! You damned-!!”
I saw Park Jin-woo charging toward us in anger. Perhaps he had developed some affection for me during our battles. That’s why he seemed so angry that I got hurt.
“Quickly, cast your spells…!!”
“….”
And not only him, but also Kim Chae-eun, Kang Juyeon, and Moon Ga-eun. They aimed their attacks at Grizzly Drake despite knowing it was pointless. The magical attacks vanished, nullified by the dungeon’s buff. Only Park Jin-woo and I, along with Moon Ga-eun, could deal effective damage.
‘I’m a nobleman. Even when I charge, I do it with style….’
Even amidst the dizziness and pain from excessive bleeding, I couldn’t help but smile. Grizzly Drake, whose teeth had torn into my left shoulder, opened its mouth again. This time, it aimed at my head. If I didn’t dodge, it would bite my head off. The moment felt like slow motion. But at that moment, a sudden thought flashed in my mind.
‘Its teeth?’
Kwaaang-!!
Grizzly Drake’s teeth smashed against the dungeon’s wall. I had used the [Sturdy Fangs] rune at the right moment, which temporarily granted me the support of [Agile Agility]. That allowed me to dodge the attack on my face. Although my body was still wounded by its claws, at least, I had saved my life.
But more importantly, a new thought had crossed my mind. Its teeth, the sharp teeth that had bitten my shoulder, and the rune I possessed that could enhance it.
‘Sturdy Fangs.’
[Sturdy Fangs] wasn’t merely a rune used to bite opponents like a beast. When I bite the opponent, it also has a special effect of depleting the opponent’s toughness. A rune that supports my toughness while destroying the opponent’s toughness.
Immediately I realized this, I shouted.
“Park Jin-woo! If I bite it with my teeth, attack it at the same place!”
“What? What bullshit is that… ”
“No time to explain! Moon Ga-eun, you too!”
“Okay!”
Because it’s a gimmick boss that received a dungeon buff anyway…The magicians’ attacks had no meaning. All attacks with magic disappear as if nullifying them. Only Park Jin-woo, me, and Moon Ga-eun were the only ones who gave effective hits.
I quickly bit into his shoulder with my sturdy fang.
My [Sturdy Fangs] is currently level 3.
At level 3, I could deplete a total of 20 toughness points.
Grizzly Drake’s toughness value was unknown, but if it was around 20, it was a sufficiently effective value.
“Dieee…!!”
The bite on its shoulder inflicted by me, along with Park Jin-woo’s sword and Moon Ga-eun’s shots, hit Grizzly Drake accurately.
-Grrrraaahhh…!!!
Grizzly Drake, taken aback by the unexpected pain, went on a rampage. However, the effect wasn’t as significant as I had hoped. Compared to earlier, we managed to deal some damage, but it still fell short for a successful attack.
“Opps… !!”
“Fuck!! This bastard is way too fast, really.”
The creature was not a monster with special abilities like the Sizzling Salamander or Poisonous Iguana. However, it had significantly higher strength, speed, and toughness compared to them. Extreme physical enhancement was its true ability, as if it had upgraded all the physical advantages of monsters in this dungeon. Consequently, failing to land an attack meant we had to endure an equal counterattack.
“Do Jae-hyun, is this right?”
“Let’s try one more time. If not, we’re all dead anyway.”
“…That’s true.”
I regained my balance and rushed towards Grizzly Drake once more. This time, I received support from [Quadruped Combat] one of the runes I gained by hunting several Sizzling Salamanders in the middle section of the dungeon. As a human, I had never imagined I would receive assistance from such a rune, but it quickly found a useful situation.
“Park Jin-woo, Moon Ga-eun! Now!”
I rushed towards Grizzly Drake again, this time aiming for its legs. The subsequent attacks from my party members followed, but their effects were still minimal. Park Jin-woo and I were thrown to the dungeon floor once more due to the recoil.
‘Crazy… its toughness is too high.’
I involuntarily cursed. Considering it was an A-grade monster, Grizzly Drake’s toughness was excessively high. Maybe that was because it had excluded special abilities and instead received rune support in physical aspects. Finding a way to attack it was nearly impossible.
Is there no way to defeat it? Is there no way?
I kept questioning myself amidst the confusion in my mind.
‘How to defeat it, how to defeat it.’
There’s a way to defeat it…
-… Consequently, no matter how powerful a monster is with its defenses and toughness, the spot where the Magic Stone is located will always be its weakness. That’s the conclusion we can reach. Alright, class is dismissed for today.
…There it was.
The day I went to propose a party to Kang Juyeon.
The professor mentioned it during the class on <The History and Information of Monsters>.
The weakness of monsters is where the Magic Stone is located.
In truth, this was common knowledge among the Holders, but it had little practical effect. Firstly, finding the exact position of the Magic Stone during combat was a challenging task, and monsters with such high toughness to discover their complicated weaknesses were rare.
‘But Grizzly Drake is different.’
It was a special boss monster, protected all over by overwhelmingly high toughness and specific runes. Finding its vulnerability would be significant, and if we could attack it, the effect would be substantial. Moreover, the toughness reduction effect of [Sturdy Fangs].
If I could use that on the spot where the Magic Stone was, subsequent attacks would show an exponentially increased efficiency.
“Park Jin-woo! Your sword…!!”
I urgently called out to Park Jin-woo, who had fallen to the ground.
My body was in tatters, and I didn’t even have a weapon to hold.
“Son… of a… I’m never going into a dungeon with you again.”
Despite swearing, Park Jin-woo reluctantly threw his sword to me.
I gathered all my remaining strength.
I received potions from Kim Chae-eun and Kang Juyeon, who had approached me, and partially recovered as I prepared for another attack.
“Die…!!”
I rushed towards Grizzly Drake again.
Adrenaline pumping to the extreme, I moved my body.
Its mouth opened once more, but I quickly ducked and attacked the planned location.
The spot where the Magic Stone was located was near its collarbone.
I bit down on it directly.
Then, using my only moving right arm, I thrust the sword into it.
‘And…’
The last weapon I had kept until now.
A technique I hadn’t dared to try yet because I had never succeeded.
For that technique to be realized, I poured the remaining bit of Magic into the sword.
Ts, tsupaat-!!
As magic flowed into the sword., the energy created a single strike.
It exploded, erupting from the center of the monster’s body.
It penetrated its sturdy toughness and the dungeon’s buff.
Though it was a hasty situation with no time to activate the condition ‘Whispers’, luckily, the heavens favored me.
-Gr, grrraaahhh…!! Aaahhh…!!!
And it filled the dungeon.
Grizzly Drake’s roar, seeming like it was in agony.
A sound unheard of since entering the boss room.
A disturbing and chilling sound.
“Ha… I love hearing that.”
But for me, more than anything else, it couldn’t be a more pleasant sound.
It was a cry that contained the end of the ruthless lizard that had pushed us to the brink of death.
[Successfully conquered the unconquered dungeon! All Holder’s attributes increase by 2.]
[The resting room, locked firmly in the boss room, is revealed. The ominous aura of the dungeon disappears temporarily.]
[The relentless wave of your sword, never missing a single strike, will continue to pierce the enemies’ vital points. Your understanding of the Sword rune increases dramatically.]
[Your rune’s level has increased.]
[You have gained the ultimate skill of the Sword rune, ‘Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword.’ Usage of the skill is restricted due to an abnormal acquisition beyond the limits.]
And then, I collapsed to the floor.
I lost complete consciousness.
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