‘Memory of the Apocalypse.’
A hidden field accessible through Skull Island.
Originally, this place was just where you killed the “Beast,” the boss of the island I called Apocalypse Island, and that was it. But if you discovered the hidden element, you could enjoy extra content.
For example...
Leave the island and go to Arta’s secret base, and you can do the Sniktura raid.
Then, take the next quest, go back and kill the “Beast” on Apocalypse Island, and you can get an extra reward.
And if you refuse that extra reward, you unlock the real boss — the Mechanical Behemoth Arta raid.
‘I wasn’t planning on doing the Arta raid anyway, so I don’t need to think about it.’
In practice, the only thing left for me on this island was the second stage — killing the Beast and claiming the extra reward.
Well, that’s if this guy weren’t here.
“Hm. At first, I thought it was just a difference in mana density, but now I see the very nature of the mana in the air is unusual. This sort of arrangement usually only forms artificially...”
What the hell is this guy?
Could there have been a hidden chapter beyond the final fight with the Mechanical Behemoth Arta?
My gamer’s intuition told me the odds were high.
And because of that...
“I’ll have to return to the original timeline and find this island at these coordinates to be sure. If the original island has the same arrangement, then it might just be a natural trait of the island itself.”
Since I didn’t know, I made sure to listen carefully to every line that came out of him.
You know how it is — most hidden content in games starts from some throwaway NPC remark.
‘Not that I actually understand a damn thing he’s saying.’
Mana this, arrangement that, density... I’m no mage, so there’s no way I could follow it.
Still, I knew one thing for sure — the right route was to drag him along and clear the Beast raid first.
The reasoning was simple.
“To the center! We have to get to the center! I need to observe it if I’m going to compare the difference when we return—”
Yeah. He kept trying to send us there.
“Don’t be so pushy. Going to the center doesn’t mean it’ll just show up.”
“What?”
“Just—”
Keep that in mind, I was about to say, when—
[GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO——!]
The Beast’s howl rolled over the entire island.
It echoed from every direction, so much so that it was meaningless to even try pinpointing where it came from.
“Your character has entered the radius of [Song of the Apocalypse].”
I quickly stopped moving and shouted.
It was happening sooner than I’d expected.
“Battle stations!!”
It had appeared.
***
The boss of Apocalypse Island — the Beast.
The method to summon it was simple.
Stay in its territory long enough, and it appears naturally.
As far as the game went, there were no other ways to summon it.
“Formation...!!”
Even as we hurried to get into battle formation, doubt crept in.
‘...It’s appearing the moment we step inside?’
Even in the game, that had never happened. No matter how fast it was, you’d have to roam the area for an hour or two before it showed up.
But this time, we stepped in, and boom — summoned.
“Oh...! Don’t tell me it’s actually here?”
So... was it because of him?
Whatever. This wasn’t the time to think about it.
“Yeah. From here on out, stay back there.”
“Yes, understood!”
First, I sent Arta to a safe position in the rear.
Thump—!
My body, heated from the anticipation of battle, surged forward to the vanguard.
And then...
“Hoo...”
As always, I steadied my breathing before the fight.
It was like a ritual athletes do before a match. Exhaling slowly made me feel just a little calmer...
Creak—
And I believed that calm — even if only a little — would raise my odds of victory.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—!
“It’s coming...!”
The ground heaved like waves, and from it burst lava.
From within that blaze, the “Beast” emerged.
Kwoooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhh—!
From now on, every second mattered.
After all, its aura skill, [Song of the Apocalypse], had a very special effect.
“All time is accelerated.”
It’s only a one-line description, but as anyone who’s read a battle manga knows, the simpler the explanation, the more broken the ability.
And [Song of the Apocalypse] was no exception.
“Time remaining until death: 22:50:43.”
From now on, the remaining time on the [Terminal] status would start ticking down several times faster.
“Characters take continuous fire damage, which increases over time.”
The field effect, [Eternal Blaze], worked the same way.
Even the “Orb of Fire” that halved damage wouldn’t hold out for long — the breaking point would come much faster.
That’s why, in my original exploration plan, the raid time for this thing was fixed.
‘Thirty minutes.’
Thirty minutes max. Any longer and we’d call it a failure, turn around, and run without looking back.
‘...Not that it’s likely to come to that.’
The Beast was tough, but it was still easier than the Serpent of the Apocalypse, Sniktura — assuming you knew the strategy.
“Oh... Bjorn!! That’s the one?!”
Ainard’s voice rang out, oddly excited at the sight of the Beast. She’d been pestering me ever since Skull Island, saying she wanted to kill it after seeing its bones. Guess she wasn’t kidding.
‘Still, I thought she’d be a little intimidated seeing it in person.’
I activated [Giant Form], raised my shield to cover my upper body, and looked at the creature beyond.
It stood around nine meters tall — enough to qualify as “ultra-large” by monster classification.
Its build was a bit like the Chaos Lord Liakis — bipedal, with a massive tail.
From a modern human perspective, it looked almost like a dinosaur.
[GUOOOOOOOOOOOO——!]
It hunched its torso and roared.
The vibration in the air was strong enough to feel on my skin. This wasn’t just a roar — it was a skill in its own right.
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Ultimatum].”
“For five minutes, all physical stats of characters within range will steadily decrease.”
On its own, the wide-area debuff wasn’t that threatening — the stat reduction was small, and the five-minute limit kept it manageable.
But when combined with the “all time is accelerated” effect of [Song of the Apocalypse]...
“Urgh...! My strength’s draining...! And I keep hearing weird sounds...!”
What would normally take five minutes to max out now took barely one. And with no cooldown, it could keep the effect going for the entire fight.
Not that I came unprepared.
“Urgh... we have to fight like this?”
This guy again. I’d explained all this in the briefing.
“Raven!”
At my call, Arua Raven cast her prepared magic.
“Arua Raven casts Rank 5 Curse Magic [White Tone].”
“Characters’ hearing is temporarily paralyzed.”
The moment it took effect, it was like putting in earplugs in a silent room — total stillness.
Not even the rustle of my clothes or the sound of my own breathing remained.
And the reason for using it was simple.
“[Ultimatum] has been dispelled.”
This magic could clear the debuff — something no magic item, consumable, holy spell, or purification ability could do.
As for why it worked...
“...”
I had no idea.
Gamers don’t care about the why — only the efficiency. If it works, you use it.
‘And it works in reality too.’
In the game, I’d discovered it by accident and thought it was a bug. But after countless explorations in Lafdonia, I learned — there were no bugs in that game.
‘Still, feels good to see it confirmed.’
If it hadn’t worked, I would’ve aborted the raid immediately.
Slide.
With the magic active, we switched to hand signals as agreed.
Like this:
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Knot of Ruin].”
“Damage taken is greatly reduced for a set duration; when it ends, stats increase in proportion to damage taken...”
Clench fist and raise it — stop DPS.
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Devour].”
Open hand, wave forward and back — everyone but me evades.
“Beleg Shusia di Tersia casts [Horn of Souls].”
“Summons deal bonus damage when hitting the same target.”
Raise index finger — ranged only attack.
“Ainard Prnelin casts [Single Target Focus].”
“Elwen Fornaci di Tersia casts [Rend]...”
Raise index and middle fingers together — both melee and ranged attack.
And then...
Slide middle finger upward —
———————————————!!!!
———!! ———!! ———!!
————————!!
Everyone unleashed their strongest finishers at once.
Though...
‘Feels a bit underwhelming without the sound.’
Still, the raid progressed smoothly.
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Tremor].”
Phase 1 ended.
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Horn of the Apocalypse].”
Phase 2, where it summoned a horde like an army, passed without incident.
“The Ancient Beast has cast [Ghost Return].”
Even Phase 3 went fine — the only close call was Ainard getting stunned by lightning.
‘Eighteen minutes to here — we’re fine.’
Eighteen minutes in, we reached the final Phase 4.
“The Ancient Beast’s HP is below 20%.”
“Gradually regaining lost Authority.”
The phase had two key traits: first, it slowly regained sealed powers over time; second...
“The Ancient Beast casts ‘Authority of Annihilation.’”
The first Authority it used was always fixed on the “Cursed One.”
‘...Wow, starting with Annihilation?’
The strongest Authority, right off the bat. No cast time, unavoidable, targeted instant kill.
———————!
A shapeless mist rose from the Beast’s body and drifted silently toward its target.
And as I’d said — the target was predetermined.
On Skull Island, the one who got the last hit on the boss and earned the “Cursed One” title was... Guildmaster Ilia Adnus.
I hadn’t planned the raid just to sacrifice the Guildmaster — I’m not that kind of barbarian.
Besides, in its weakened state, the first Authority wasn’t lethal. It just erased something from the target.
What that “something” was... varied.
“......?”
What would it be this time? Regenerable body part? Equipment? Maybe some essence?
I turned quickly to check — and couldn’t help but let out a soundless gasp.
‘Ah...’
With the lava, meteors, and lightning providing plenty of light, the reflection was obvious.
‘So that can happen too...’
His hair had been annihilated.
