Keeping my eyes fixed on the ultra-massive block of ice, I landed a short distance away.
Then I imdiately thrust my staff forward.
[Pulverize Zone]
A blue circle sprang into existence and rapidly spread outward.
The wider it was, the higher the hit rate beca, but its power dropped in inverse proportion.
So I stopped it when it was just large enough to almost encompass the entire Feathered Serpent.
Set the ti for two minutes.
At the maximum of three minutes, the odds of the thing escaping were far too high.
And anything in the one-minute range wouldn’t deal as much damage as I wanted.
It’s on the sturdier side for a boss.
It wasn’t a grotesque HP pig like the Black Serpent Fang Lord, but it still had more health than the average B -rank boss.
And the energy it had absorbed through the ritual was substantial too.
The anti-air cannon had already landed several direct hits, I’d connected with [Spiral Explosion], and I’d even crushed it with [Magic Scroll - Glacier Summon (S)], but we’d still have to beat on it a lot more to bring it down.
And right now is the perfect chance to force damage through.
The Feathered Serpent was half-disabled from the [Concussion Mark] into glacier combo.
If we shaved off as much of its health as possible now, then [Pulverize Zone] two minutes from now would hit even harder.
It might even beco the finishing blow.
I’d already warned them during the planning stage, so the party moved imdiately.
Dang Gyu-ri charged in with the undead, while Seo Ye-in and [Mirror Image] switched the mana anti-air cannon into ground mode.
WOOOOOOOONG—!
As the charge gauge filled up one bar at a ti,
the Feathered Serpent writhed like an earthworm pinned under a rock, with only its head sticking out of the glacier.
Keeeerrr, keeeerrr!What... what kind of absurdity is this?!“You kept flying around and making things ssy, so I used a paperweight.”
Why had I used that precious S-rank scroll when we still had decent odds in an aerial battle?
The first reason was to increase the power and hit probability of the [Pulverize Zone] I’d just used.
The second was to force exactly this kind of ground battle.
A paperweight...? You dare call a paperweight?!The priest clearly took issue with my word choice, but this wasn’t the ti to be getting angry.
Because we were closing the distance second by second.
The next mont, golden energy gathered in front of its head and took the shape of a sphere, growing rapidly—
FWAaaaa...
And then it scattered apart.
The second effect of [Concussion Mark]: “the next skill/trait cast fails.”
Its cooldown would have been multiplied several tis too, so for the ti being, that move was effectively sealed.
Dang Gyu-ri narrowed their eyes and slid a glance.
“Senior~ what kind of evil skill did you learn this ti?”
“I was simply fulfilling the duties of a support.”
“A support’s duty is helping allies, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing right now?”
I was weakening the enemy and making things easier for my allies, wasn’t I?
At my shaless argunt, Dang Gyu-ri arched an eyebrow.
“...The more I think about it, the more convincing it sounds. I can’t refute that.”
Then they kicked off the ground and shot forward, rcilessly smashing the Feathered Serpent in the head with their club.
KWAAAAANG—!
Right after that, the Gyu shadow undead sward onto it and began pounding it with attacks.
Shadow blades ripped through the body covered in golden feathers, and the Research Director’s heavy fist crashed in.
I linked together [Mystic Sound Jade Demon Finger], [Frost-White Shot], and [Chain Explosion], all amplified to S-rank.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!
[‘Pain Delay’ activates.]
[‘Retrocovery’ activates.]
[Cooldown 2 days 23:59:58]
I kept going until the elental penalty stacked up enough to trigger [Retrocovery].
Then Seo Ye-in’s fully charged mana cannon ca flying in and slamd into it.
BOOOOOOM—!
Keeeerrr, keeeerrr—!As damage piled up on it in real ti, the Feathered Serpent writhed in agony.
Even so, it didn’t retaliate.
It seed to have decided that getting out from under this damned block of ice ca first.
A mont later, its feathers flashed with intense golden light—
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Large and small golden explosions erupted one after another all over its body.
That’s basically self-destruction.
Since it was inside the blast radius too, it would naturally take so damage itself.
Still, it was a fairly efficient way to break out of the glacier.
If it weren’t for the unremovable freeze, that is.
The duration of [Diamond Freeze], amplified to A-rank, was a full fifty seconds.
Until then, the ice wouldn’t just fail to break—it wouldn’t even get a scratch on it.
BOOM-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Only after blowing itself up for quite a while did the Feathered Serpent seem to realize sothing was wrong.
Why... why is it not breaking?Even while continuing my attacks, I egged it on in a casual tone.
“Maybe if you try a little harder? Feels like it might break. Just a little more?”
That mouth of yours truly never closes.“But I an it sincerely. Oh! There, it cracked.”
...What do you an, where did it crack?“Oops~? Guess I saw it wrong~?”
You dare mock ?!At the priest’s fury-filled words, I snapped right back at him instead.
“Anyway, all you have to do is break out, right? Co on, put so effort into it!”
Shut up—!Of course, he had no choice.
Even now, the party’s concentrated attacks were pouring down.
Compared to trying to answer this as a ground battle, forcing its way back into the sky was by far the better option.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
So the Feathered Serpent detonated its whole body and struggled for what felt like an eternity across those fifty seconds.
And finally—
RUMBLE...
The ice began to crack, and its long body slowly started forcing its way out of the glacier.
That won’t do.
From our point of view, the easiest and most efficient thing was to keep the boss pinned in one place and beat it senseless.
If it escaped the glacier, that also ant it would escape the range of [Pulverize Zone].
Let’s season it first.
[You use 'Octopus Arms'.]
[You use 'Mutual-Destruction Eye'.] x30
[The target is afflicted with the 'Poisoned(S)' status ailnt.]
[The target is afflicted with the 'Weathered(S)' status ailnt.]
[The target is afflicted with the 'Frozen(S)' status ailnt.]
......
[Cooldown 14:59:58]
FWIIIIISH—
CRRRRACK,
When I used it all the way up to the maximum of thirty tis, wind wrapped around its entire body and ice spread over it.
It was now weakened against wind magic, and its body had stiffened.
Seizing that instant, I cast [Wind Force] again—
BOOM!
And shoved the thing trying to crawl out right back in.
At the sa ti, the other party mbers’ attacks slamd into it as well, and the glacier cracked and ca crashing down.
RUMBLE...
And crushed it a second ti.
Having a glacier around makes this way too easy.
That S-rank scroll was really earning its keep.
Wearing a satisfied smile, I offered the Feathered Serpent another few words of encouragent.
“Co on, break out again! You can do it! Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!”
......Maybe its rage had reached the limit, because no reply ca back.
It just kept silently focusing on breaking the ice.
Though whether it could actually get out was another matter.
BOOM!
The mont it seed like it was about to wriggle free, I shoved it back in.
BOOM!
When it started to co out again, I shoved it back in again.
After that repeated a few tis, the priest finally opened his now-heavy mouth again.
In a tone that said he was sick of this to the core.
...Enough. Please, just stop now.“It’s almost over anyway.”
...What do you an by that?“10, 9, 8...”
Wait. Wait, stop.Instead of answering, I abruptly started counting down, and the priest imdiately turned visibly uneasy.
And only then did he seem to realize it.
That for quite so ti now, a blue circle had been covering him.
And that once the countdown ended, sothing terrible was obviously going to happen.
“7, 6, 5...”
This cannot be... it cannot be!“Heh. Take care on your way out, O great being.”
Keeeerrr—!This can—!Before the priest could even finish speaking, an enormous invisible pressure dropped from above.
KWAAAAAAAAANG—!
And turned the Feathered Serpent into a flat snake.
Of course, I’d adjusted the range carefully, so the very end of it remained relatively intact.
We still need to take the shadow, after all.
That had been one of the main goals.
But if we hesitated, we might lose even that chance, so I gestured to Dang Gyu-ri.
“Sis, hurry.”
“Mm-hm.”
As if they’d been thinking the sa thing, Dang Gyu-ri darted forward at once.
Then they stretched out a hand, and a huge shadow was smoothly sucked in and absorbed beneath their feet.
▷[Shadow Extraction] [4/5]
Research Director (A)Dark-Shadow Commander (A)Blood Sword Commander (A )Ghost Demon (A)Feathered Serpent (B )Dang Gyu-ri shared the skill window with us and smiled in satisfaction.
“Nice. We got one.”
“From here on out, it’s Flying Gyu-Gyu.”
“Seriously. Good work. Ye-in too.”
Seo Ye-in looked quietly pleased as well.
As she cleaned up the mana cannon and walked over, she gave a small nod and replied,
“It was fun.”
“Because you got to test-drive the new weapon?”
“Yes.”
Then she looked at Dang Gyu-ri, her eyes lighting up even more.
“Flying Gyu-Gyu.”
“Heh-heh, want to give you a ride?”
“Yes.”
Apparently the desire to fly was universal.
Dang Gyu-ri also looked like they wanted to test out their new Gyu shadow, but—
RUMBLE...
We felt a tremor and the sound of sothing collapsing sowhere.
Which ant the dungeon had started to break down, so the best move was to get out fast.
So we headed toward the newly opened exit, grabbing the boxes laid out in front of it first.
[Descent of the Feathered Serpent Random Box (B )] x6
The way out was the sa as it had been in Black Serpent Fang.
Dang Gyu-ri went out first and activated the stealth skills, then received us as we followed afterward with [Shadow Pouch].
Fortunately, everything went according to plan again, and we quietly slipped out of the deep layers and headed for the upper floors.
On the way up, I caught sight of Song Cheonhye too.
It looked like she was still on patrol.
She wandered around with a sullen face, constantly glancing into empty space.
Looks like she’s checking her ssages.
More precisely, she was probably opening them and closing them again.
Since I still hadn’t replied, she probably felt like she was being ignored, and was suspicious too.
I’ll just send it once I get back.
I had the excuse that it was the middle of the night, after all.
With that thought behind , I kept moving, and before long we reached Floor E, then Floor F, and at last erged onto the surface.
“......”
Even then, Dang Gyu-ri carefully scanned the surroundings to the very end.
By now, word that the dungeon had collapsed would have spread throughout the underground floors, and there was always the chance that the Discipline Committee or faculty had already co up first and were lying in wait.
Once they saw nothing especially suspicious, they finally relaxed.
Then I asked,
“Should we split up for now?”
“I’d like to stay together a bit longer.”
“You want to open the boxes?”
“You’re the one who’s good at that.”
“Then what?”
“I was thinking maybe we could just take a walk together.”
“I’m all for it. Let’s go.”
Seo Ye-in also chose to stay with us rather than head back first, and the three of us decided to take a light stroll along the walking path.
But near the entrance, I spotted the silhouette of soone standing there.
As if he had been waiting for us, he walked toward us and greeted us.
“Long ti no see.”
The man was none other than this year’s Discipline Committee president, Gwak Seungjae.
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