Before heading from the 30th to the 31st floor, Clara made a heartfelt confession to Rohan, after much internal deliberation.
"Oppa... Actually, I..."
Clara revealed the true weapon she had been keeping hidden from both Rohan and Shion.
Rohan, though he had never mentioned it, had known about this from the beginning.
Shion, too, had suspected as much after the brief standoff they had back in the academy dorms. She’d realized Clara’s real weapon wasn’t a dagger or a pistol.
Just as Ichinose Yui wielded Yoru (Night) and Noah Frozenheart had Fimbulvetr, Clara also possessed a unique, exclusive weapon.
"Sorry for not telling you sooner... I wasn’t trying to hide it..."
"I’m just happy you told us, Clara. Don’t feel bad about it."
Rohan’s words were completely sincere.
He felt both gratitude and pride for Clara, who had decided to open up. After all, the reason she revealed her secret was her concern for him—who could blame her for that?
"Clara, is it okay for me to know this too?"
Shion, who had been quietly observing, asked cautiously.
Clara shyly nodded, a smile on her face, and Shion, feeling warm and fuzzy inside, smiled back.
The time spent fighting together in the dungeon had brought the two girls closer, and that closeness made Rohan all the more pleased.
"Let’s go."
"Ah, okay...!"
Even without Clara explaining why she hadn’t used her weapon earlier, Rohan already understood.
This was consistent with her story in Abyss City. The weapon, while incredibly powerful in range and attack strength, consumed an extraordinary amount of mana to wield.
Knowing Clara’s personality, she must have been worried about becoming a burden to the team due to mana exhaustion.
‘And it’s not like we’ve been in a situation where she really needed to use it. Most of our fights have been prolonged battles.’
But that weapon was not only central to Clara’s identity but also a key to her overwhelming damage-dealing capabilities.
She was a renowned DPS dealer, capable of delivering absurd bursts of damage in an instant. And the downsides of her weapon could be mitigated with the right setup and growth.
‘Am I finally going to see it in action?’
Excitement built within Rohan as the upcoming battle drew near.
The pounding of his heart and the rush of adrenaline even made him forget the dull pain from his injuries.
[⸌⸍] [⸌⸍] [⸌⸍] [⸌⸍]
The monster protecting the Monolith expressed its anger through the televisions displaying emoticons.
The previously undulating vines stiffened and coiled into a combat-ready stance.
With a loud thud, Rohan and Shion simultaneously kicked down the doors, widening the field of vision.
The room that housed the boss monster and the Monolith had no room for politeness or hesitation.
"Let’s go. Time to head home."
"Yes!"
"Understood."
As they entered, Rohan led the charge, his dagger glowing red with heat.
The blade shimmered with a fiery haze, creating a distorted mirage-like effect.
Everyone knew their roles.
Whip! Whip!
The vines lashed out wildly, surging forward in chaos.
Amidst the frenzied assault, a gap appeared as the dense thorny mass pushed forward to attack.
Click!
Shion aimed her pistol at the television-like faces of the monster.
The gun crackled with electricity as she fired enchanted bullets.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! BOOM!
Unable to fully imbue each shot with magic, Shion distributed the mana evenly across her bullets, pushing her gun and ammunition to their limits without causing them to explode.
[ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ]
The monster’s expressions changed, as if in pain, shards of its displays falling to the floor like tears.
"It’s working."
Shion deftly dodged the attacking vines, reloading her gun without missing a beat.
This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.
Rohan dodged the incoming vines, slashing them away with his dagger. Holding a blue potion in his mouth, he reached out and grabbed one of the thorny vines with his bare hand.
Ignoring the searing pain of the thorns piercing his palm, he attempted to use his Grant Weakness skill, but the boss monster recoiled in shock, pulling its vines back.
‘As expected.’
Creatures of this level were sensitive to abnormalities, whether human or monster.
Rohan shook off his bloodied hand, ignoring the pain of the thorn-inflicted wounds, and charged forward.
Timed perfectly, Shion’s continued gunfire forced the vines to retract further, allowing Rohan to trap one massive vine under his arm, pinning it tightly against his side.
Even with his body strengthened by mana, the pain of the thorns slicing into his ribs was excruciating.
He checked his status window.
HP: 71%. Status: Bleeding.
‘Pain can be endured. Death is still far off. This is fine.’
[?] [?] [?] [?]
The monster, displaying confusion on its cracked televisions, suddenly faced Rohan’s concentrated mana.
Grant Weakness.
Over 70% of Rohan’s mana drained in an instant.
A wave of dizziness and a splitting headache hit him, but he steadied himself, savoring the bitter taste of the potion on his lips.
[Target granted a physical weakness.]
Rohan released the vine he’d been holding and leapt backward to create distance.
‘This is better than I expected.’
Unlike when he’d attempted this on the protagonist in the original story, his consciousness didn’t fade. Just applying the weakness was satisfying enough.
The potion’s placebo effect—or maybe it was real—kept him grounded, even if the floor seemed to tilt slightly.
"Clara."
Clara landed beside him, slicing down vines as thick as an elephant’s leg.
Seeing Rohan’s wounds, Clara winced and bit her lip.
"Please... finish this."
"Okay... I will!"
Clara’s gentle eyes sharpened with determination.
She tucked away her pistol and balisong, reaching inside her coat to pull out a black cylindrical object.
It was the item Shion had once mistaken for a silencer.
Though it was no thicker than two fingers, the object began to transform as it absorbed Clara’s mana, revealing its true form.
"...Arachne."
The object was not a silencer but a spool of black thread.
The mana-infused threads unfurled like spiderwebs, spreading out in every direction.
Slash!
Dozens of vines were severed at once, crashing to the floor.
Clink! Shion reloaded her pistol and landed beside Rohan and Clara.
"Impressive power."
"Isn’t it? That’s our Clara for you."
Rohan beamed with pride, while Shion smirked and told him to stop bleeding all over the place.
Clara, flustered by Rohan’s praise, blushed deeply, fidgeting with her fingers.
"...Oppa, drink a potion and wait just a little bit."
The fully unraveled thread was now linked to Clara's fingers like a ring.
The girl’s slender fingers, infused with mana, controlled the threads with incredible precision.
Once more, the thorny vines surged forward like a wave, cracking through the air like whips.
With a mere motion of Clara’s hand, the vines were severed cleanly, crashing to the ground.
No matter how thick the vines were, with Grant Weakness applied, they stood no chance.
Even without the added weakness, Clara’s attacks were overwhelming. With it, cutting through them must have felt as easy as slicing through tofu.
Thud!
Clara pushed off the ground, leaping onto a thread anchored mid-air.
She sat on it gracefully, appearing as though she was floating.
From Rohan’s perspective below, the scene before him included the sight of Clara’s thighs pressing against the thread.
"..."
Clara, seated on her web-like perch, surveyed the battlefield with a calm expression.
Her fingers danced elegantly, like playing a piano, as threads began to shimmer and weave across the room.
"Shion. The Monolith will be exposed soon. Get ready."
"...Understood."
Rohan, snapping Shion out of her trance, redirected her focus to the situation.
The threads Clara controlled possessed extraordinary properties:
They were razor-sharp, with a cutting edge that rivaled legendary swords, and had an elasticity that brute force alone couldn’t break.
On top of that, Clara’s Arachne consumed the user’s mana to generate various potent toxins within the threads.
"Spider Silk."
Clara attached the threads to her hands and feet before leaning backward, falling from her perch.
Her mana-infused descent acted like a counterweight, pulling the spread-out threads taut.
CRRRACK!
Hundreds of layers of thorny vines were bound by the thin threads, then severed simultaneously.
The sight was breathtaking.
[X_X] [X_X] [X_X] [X_X]
The emoticons displayed on the televisions shifted to expressions of defeat. The once-writhing vines wilted and sagged lifelessly.
Shion, assuming the boss was dead like the other monsters they had encountered, aimed her pistol at the now-exposed Monolith and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
One shot wouldn’t suffice.
Ratatatat!
She emptied her magazine in an instant.
[Monolith Legally Demolished! – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 50P.]
"It’s broken."
Rohan confirmed the achievement, his voice steady. Shion stopped firing as the Monolith cracked with a loud shatter, breaking cleanly apart.
"Phew... is it really over?"
Shion exhaled deeply, holstering her pistol.
"Wait...!"
Rohan’s eyes widened, his body moving instinctively.
Words were too slow; he acted on pure reflex.
The boss monster hadn’t awarded any points yet—it wasn’t over.
Swish!
The boss unleashed its final attack, a massive thorn—the last desperate strike of a dying creature.
The harpoon-like thorn was fired silently, aimed directly at Shion.
Rohan rushed to intercept it, but with his mana depleted and his stance rushed, he couldn’t position himself properly.
Thunk!
The thorn severed Rohan’s right arm, sending both his limb and dagger tumbling to the ground.
"Was that... unnecessary?"
Rohan, spotting Shion holding her baton as though prepared to counterattack, chuckled weakly.
‘Her skills are impressive as always.’
"You...!"
Shion froze, staring in horror at Rohan’s severed shoulder.
Rohan noted it was the first time he’d ever seen such shock on Shion’s face.
Clara, staggering from mana exhaustion, landed beside them.
When her eyes fell on Rohan’s severed arm, she froze, her expression blank with disbelief.
[+10P]
Finally, the boss defeat points arrived, almost mockingly late.
Simultaneously:
[Gardener’s Final Pruning – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 50P.]
[Pesky Weeds Pulled – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 30P.]
These achievements marked the first defeat of a plant-type boss, and more notifications flooded Rohan’s vision.
[We Are One Fate – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 30P.]
[Complete Survival – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 30P.]
[The First Success of a Lost Tourist – Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Reward: 10P.]
The world began to collapse.
Crack! Fissures spread through the air itself, and the false sun that had been radiating heat shattered into pieces.
There was no reason to fear this surreal, mysterious scene.
Rohan’s group instinctively understood that this process would return them to their original place.
What frightened Shion and Clara wasn’t the crumbling world—it was Rohan’s condition.
"Rohan! This is my fault for being careless...! I’ll take you to the hospital the moment we arrive!"
"Oppa...! Don’t you dare lose consciousness! Promise me!"
Rohan tried to calm the two panicked girls, but his legs gave out, and he collapsed.
He wanted to reassure them, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. The accumulated blood loss and exhaustion muddled his mind.
‘It hurts.’
The pain of amputation wasn’t new to him, but it was something he could never get used to.
The shattered world swirled into a vortex.
And then, it collapsed entirely.
[Quest Complete.]
[Rewards Acquired.]
[Clear rewards distributed based on contribution.]
[Party restoration initiated.]