The [Feathered Serpent Altar] and the [Feathered Serpent Temple] were dungeons connected in their storyline, where the choices I had made in the forr greatly impacted the latter.
One of these impacts was the priests recognition of .
To quickly summarize what I had done in the previous dungeon:
I had stord into the village and turned everything upside down,
Catch if you can? You wont be able to, will you?
I tainted the priest and dodged around until Go Hyeon-woo secured the magic sword.
You might want to pay so attention to your defense; it seems a bit sloppy, dont you think?
-I will not make your end a quick one.
When it seed that there was no reason to delay any further, I finished the fight with an Inferno Fist.
Dont think this is the end. Next ti I will definitely!
Sure, lets et again next ti.
Boom, boom, boom!
Even though such a fiery event happened between us, the priests tone when he now faced was incredibly gentle.
Ive been waiting to et you again. Day and night, you were all I thought about.
Im not very happy to hear this from a man. There was no need for you to wait so desperately for , you know.
The priest smiled kindly again.
Everything still seed peaceful yet his eyes shimred with a relentless killing intent.
It seems youve co to interfere again, but youre too late. The ritual has already begun, and even I cannot stop it now. How do you plan to stop it?
Just like he said, the ritual continued on its own without the priest doing anything.
Invisible energy continually flowed out from the bodies of the lying individuals and was being absorbed by the priest.
His body which had seed sowhat frail when we last t was now robustly bulked up, and his tattoo which was filled with magical power glowed golden.
Even the wrinkles on his face seed to have diminished. Impressive ritual.
If I sacrifice you and your noisy friend outside, I could significantly hasten the summoning. I might as well reclaim the magic sword in the process.
You speak as if youve already captured everyone.
The smile on the priests lips deepened and he began to reveal more of his killing intent.
Thats right. None of you will leave this place alive.
Didnt you say the sa last ti? Yet here I am, safe and sound.
The priest montarily shifted his gaze from to look behind, where the barbarians who had followed were closing in their circle.
Feel free to struggle if you think you can.
Yes, well. Lets get started.
The priest held a golden dagger in one hand and stretched out his empty hand to the side.
Then the staff that had been standing in a corner of the room flew smoothly into his grasp.
When he lifted the staff high and began chanting a spell, several golden balls of magical power started to rise and gradually expand in size.
Whirr
I mixed Wind Force with Twister, creating a spreading whirlwind.
The barbarians who were approaching were swept away and toppled over.
anwhile, the golden balls that were now significantly larger hurtled towards .
They floated silently and slid through the air at a rapid pace.
I grabbed one of the barbarians within reach and threw him into the air, where he was crushed upon colliding with an energy ball.
Crunch,
It was an attribute-less magic, and I knew it would crush too if it hit .
As I quickly moved away, the stone floor and walls behind caved in.
The priest was creating more golden balls and the barbarians were chasing after .
I clenched my fists tightly as I ran away.
And it started blazing with a fiery dark red fla.
[Inferno Fist]
Try using it if you dare.
Even though it was the skill that had knocked him out in one blow in the last dungeon, the priest did not seem particularly scared of it.
He must have sothing hes relying on.
His first source of confidence was that the room where the fight was unfolding was the central room located in the deepest part of the temple.
If I were to use Inferno Fist recklessly, I would risk bringing down the building itself. I could be trapped under the rubble before I could escape.
Therefore, I first absorbed the fiery energy through Overheat to greatly enhance my physical abilities.
Pop! Pop!
I narrowly dodged the incoming golden balls, kicked off the ground a few tis, and quickly closed the distance.
Although the priest tried to move the balls in front of him in defense,
Whiiish!
I was faster as I whisked past.
I left a cut on the nape of the priests neck.
A bit shallow.
I held Root in one hand and in the other a sword had sohow appeared.
I had picked up a few from the barbarians I had fought along the way; they were about E-rank in quality though.
They were sowhat inadequate for a D-rank boss but they were still useful enough in a pinch.
Despite his throat being slashed, the priests face still overflowed with confidence.
Moreover, not a single drop of blood flowed from the severed area.
Soon, the body of the barbarian that was barely alive and crushed, began to twitch wildly and rapidly dried up like a mummy.
anwhile, the priests cut neck healed cleanly in an instant.
This was the priests second source of confidence.
As long as the ritual continued, he incessantly absorbed the life force around him to replenish his health.
From the living sacrifices, the barbarians, and even from if I remained here for too long.
And if we were to add in the buffs he obtained through the ritual, he would have the tenacity to survive two or three hits even if I hit the sa spot with Inferno Fist.
If the fight were to move outside the temple, he would then have plenty of health potions (from the barbarian tribe), which would only increase the difficulty.
Do you see now? Continuing a hopeless fight is foolish. Give up now and I shall grant you a painless death.
Give up? I am just getting started.
If you insist on suffering.
The battle resud.
The barbarians strained to land at least one strike with their spears against while projectiles flew toward .
Despite this, I dodged all attacks with superior speed and control and steadily closed in on the priest.
Crack!
I struck the priest in the face with Root in one hand and slashed him with a sword in the other hand.
Slash!
The priest didnt care even though a long diagonal scar appeared on his chest and tried to hit by manipulating an energy ball.
After dodging it at close range, I continued to swing the sword and Root in rapid succession.
Clang!
Until the mont ca when the sword snapped.
I clicked my tongue and casually threw away the handle that remained.
This is why cheap things just dont work.
Indeed, a weapon should at least last a lifeti.
Moreover, since I lacked swordsman class skills and traits, I couldnt deal significant damage.
The deficiencies had to be compensated for by vigorously twisting my body.
After creating so distance, I checked on the priests condition,
Ugh
His body was covered in nurous sword wounds.
The relaxed deanor he had just monts before was gone and was replaced by a grotesquely twisted face as he looked at .
However, he soon absorbed the life force of a few living sacrifices and several barbarians sprawled on the ground before healing his injuries and relaxing his expression once more.
Do you still not understand? No matter how many tis you try, its all futile.
It doesnt seem quite so futile to . Your food supply seems to be dwindling.
Your situation doesnt look too good either. Youve been dodging well, but how long can that last?
It was a battle of whether the priest would run out of living sacrifices to absorb first, or whether I would allow even a single attack to get through before that.
And it seed the priest believed that if he prolonged the fight, I would eventually make a mistake.
If I make a mistake here, Id better bite my tongue.
A mistake I hadnt made even in A-rank or S-rank dungeons. Would I really make one in a D-rank dungeon?
That would be like handing back my stagnant water title.
Of course, there was no need to blurt out such thoughts out loud, so I just silently adjusted my stance and surged forward.
As I rapidly approached him, the priest fired a prepared ball of energy at , but it missed of course.
Just as I reached him and was ready to swing Root and the E-rank sword I had picked up,
The priest smiled triumphantly.
Youve fallen right into my trap.
Flash!
The dagger he held in one hand emitted a light and then large energy balls shot out.
Until just monts ago, this was a spell that required considerable ti and focus to cast, but now it had manifested without any prior indication.
However, before the energy balls even reached and before the dagger even began to glow, I had already put a good distance between us.
When his critical strike turned to nothing, the priests face hardened.
How did you dodge that?
Just watch it and dodge it.
To be honest, it wasnt sothing you could just watch and dodge; it was more like psychological warfare.
I had known about the true nature of that dagger from the beginning and had pushed him to the point where I guessed he would use it.
The priests third source of confidence was the magic dagger.
It was also the hidden piece I intended to take from this dungeon.
The magic it carried was [morize].
It was a utility-type magic that allowed you to store a spell that would normally take ti to cast and manifest it instantly.
Just like the priest himself demonstrated a mont ago, it was often used as a hidden ace.
To drop the magic dagger, the priest must be defeated in the central room after he used up all the living sacrifices.
The priest must not leave the central room under any circumstances, nor should the sacrifices be attacked prematurely.
Moreover, it was necessary to completely isolate the temple from the outside to ensure no more living sacrifices were added.
And right now, the barrier was fulfilling this role but once it was lifted,
It will be up to Go Hyeon-woo to hold them off.
Thats the reason why I left him outside the barrier.
At the sa ti, it was a chance for him to test his skills against the mid-bosses.
Pop!
I compressed space again and rushed towards the priest.
The priest, perhaps deciding to try a different tactic, made the energy balls orbit around him and pointed his staff directly at .
A golden pillar of magical power shot out like a beam.
This is even easier.
It was the main magic he used in the last dungeon, so it was just as easy to dodge.
Leaning back and forth to avoid the energy balls, I swung Root and the sword wildly and accumulated damage on the priest.
Then I quickly retreated to regroup.
Before I surged forward again and launched a flurry of attacks then withdrawing to maintain distance.
How many tis did I employ this hit-and-run strategy?
This, this cant be
Gradually, the number of surrounding barbarians and living sacrifices had dwindled to the point where I could count them all at a glance.
And contrary to the priests expectations, I had not made even a tiny mistake.
You seem to be getting nervous.
. Shut up.
The priest gritted his teeth.
He raised his dagger and muttered an incantation and all of a sudden the oppressive atmosphere that had been bearing down on us seed to lighten.
At last, the protective barrier surrounding the temple had been deactivated.
This ant that the barbarians who were previously unable to enter would now flood into the temple like a tidal wave.
It also ant that the number of living sacrifices available for life force absorption had significantly increased.
The priest regained his composure and let out a low chuckle.
Heh Didnt I tell you it was all futile? Its too late to give up now. I will grant you a most painful death.
Well, Im not so sure about that. Lets just finish what we started.
As you wish.
The battle resud.
Wounds were carved and healed here and there on the priests body and the number of sacrifices dwindled.
Perhaps since he was thinking that a huge supply of living sacrifices was close at hand, his defense seed to slacken.
However
How can this be?!
Despite the number of remaining sacrifices dropping to single digits, the temple remained eerily silent.
No one seed to be entering the central room, nor was there any sign of movent throughout the temple.
The priest urgently shouted outside the door.
Why Why arent they coming?!
Why arent they, huh?
Seems like Go Hyeon-woo is doing a good job.
User Comments
0 comments from readers