As I entered Celestial Basin through the valley, a different scenery from the outside unfolded.
Although it's just a basin surrounded by rocky mountains, the feeling is completely different from the outside. The air felt strange from the start. If I had to define this feeling in one word.
Unpleasantness.
And I knew the identity of this unpleasantness.
"Dense magic."
This place was thicker with magic than natural life force.
Some being is emitting thick magic.
The difference from other elite dungeons in dungeon form might be that the sky is wide open. However, the sky looks hazy due to the murky air.
Instead of trees, there were piles of stones and large rocks here and there, and monsters wandering around them were noticeable. Griffons, ogres, goblin groups, etc., the types of monsters were very diverse. Individuals strengthened by the influence of the magic lingering here. They won't be easily taken down.
In a way, it's more of a field than a dungeon.
The attack strategy is different from dungeons where areas are divided and you meet named bosses one by one according to progress.
Still, I know how to proceed based on the information I heard when I received the first clear quest.
Before the seal on Celestial Basin was completely removed, elite knights of the Roeide Duchy infiltrated this place and did some preparatory work.
-We buried Divine Marks in three places in Celestial Basin. They're currently deactivated because there's a risk the master of this basin will notice if they start emitting holy power. Adventurers need to activate them.
Activity in areas thick with magic is very dangerous. It can be seen as a small demon realm descended to the mortal world. It's something that can be done without burden because 'adventurers from the stars' can challenge dozens or hundreds of times.
When the Divine Marks are activated by adventurers, magic purification will begin centered on those places. If all three Divine Marks are successfully activated, from the boss's perspective the air will start to become rapidly murky, only then will it reveal itself to deal with the uninvited guests.
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[???]
[Celestial Basin Overall Progress 0/1]
First priority is meeting the activation conditions for the Divine Marks at each location.
The locations are southeast, southwest, and north. Three places.
And the overall dungeon progress condition is 1 time.
Usually, overall progress is updated each time a named boss is cleared.
"Is there only one named boss?"
For the first time in an elite dungeon, there's a possibility of a dungeon with only one named boss.
If so, the Divine Mark activation process will be as difficult as a named boss battle.
And there was one more hidden condition.
[???]
"What could this be?"
I tilted my head looking at the hidden condition that appeared on the quest interface.
I was very curious about that question mark, but for now I need to focus on activating the Divine Marks.
Tap tap, tap.
I moved quickly between rocks.
Towards the place where the Divine Mark is buried, closest to the entrance.
Tap.
Before long, I arrived at the place where the southwest Divine Mark was buried.
One artificial trace in a wide open space. Judging by the pile of stones in the center, the Divine Mark is most likely buried underneath.
Various monsters were wandering around, but the most noticeable individual was.
Hiss hiss.
[Level 55 Lamia]
[HP 10,000,000 / 10,000,000 (100%)]
A monster with a snake's lower body and a naked woman's upper body, a lamia.
They flicked their tongues like snakes, crawled between rocks, and made eerie sounds.
I covered my face slightly with my hand for no reason.
"Wow, how lewd."
I'm okay with cruelty, but this is a bit burdensome.
I never thought I'd miss the safety filter. With the filter, wouldn't they be wearing something like swimsuits?
First, deal with the surrounding monsters.
Tap tap tap tap!
I sprang out from behind a rock with Astaroth drawn and started running at high speed.
Slash, slash!
Screech--!
The surrounding goblins, one with each strike.
And soon, the lamias detected me.
Hiss hiss--!!
The snake women made eerie sounds and lunged at me, writhing their snake lower bodies as if to coil around me.
There are many individuals. Their HP is not insignificant. These snake women seemed to be the main force of Celestial Basin.
Too many to deal with one by one. I decided to use an area skill for the first time in a while.
[Moonlight Slash(S)]
-Delivers a strong 360-degree slashing attack. (Cast time 2 seconds)
-(Instant activation) On successful block
-(D rank) After skill cast, enters Drawing Stance (Drawing Stance re-entry cooldown 30 seconds)
-(B rank) Cast time reduced by 1 second
-(S rank) Cast time reduced by 0.5 seconds
Slash slash slash!
Slash!
Moonlight flashed repeatedly around me. Long wounds were carved into the bodies of the snake women rushing at me.
I haven't used this skill often because I've been focusing on named boss battles or fighting strong single individuals, but there's no better skill for dealing with monsters rushing in from all directions. In fact, I used it quite a bit in low-level areas where there were many weak monsters.
And now I have powerful area skills, Flash Slash and Starlight Sword Energy.
Flash, slash slash slash!
Before being surrounded by the lamia group, I escaped through them with Flash Slash and immediately turned to spray sword energy. But the elite individuals strengthened by magic, the lamias, didn't fall easily even after taking both Flash Slash and sword energy.
Swish.
I straightened my posture and raised my sword.
Shall I use the newly acquired skill too?
The sword in my hand began to dance. Starlight gathered around my body.
[Sword Curtain]
[Invincible while casting (Cooldown 1 minute)]
Thud thud thud!
I could hear vividly the sound of lamias rushing at me with their whole bodies being deflected by the protection of the Sword Curtain.
After stopping my dance for a few seconds, I strongly scattered the starlight gathered around me.
[Sword Curtain. Release]
[Combo after Sword Curtain]
[Delivers a powerful slash to the entire circular area within 30m centered on the caster]
Woong!
Slash slash slash!
Screech--!!
Starlight swept the surroundings. The weakened magic protection no longer protected the snake women. The lamias were swept up in the fierce storm of starlight, cut into pieces and scattered green blood on the basin floor.
I exclaimed with wide eyes at the sight created by my Sword Curtain.
"Wow."
I've been a bit envious of mages' area skills, but now I don't need to be anymore.
Rustle rustle.
After dealing with the surrounding monsters, I crouched down and drew around the pile of stones where the Divine Mark was buried.
As I engraved a simple activation magic circle I received from Elenoa on the ground, soon a faint white light began to emit from the pile of stones.
Woong.
"Holy power."
It's been a while since I've seen this.
This is the light I always saw in Saintess Elena's hands when she healed me.
Sister Elena's holy power was much more amazing than what comes from such an old sacred object.
After being lost in old memories for a moment, I shook my head vigorously and moved southwest for the next Divine Mark activation.
Tap tap tap!
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 1/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
Slash!
Thud thud thud.
Leaving behind the bodies of lamia groups cut to pieces and scattered, I immediately began the second Divine Mark activation work.
Woong!
The Divine Mark activated by the magic circle, holy power began to emit from the pile of stones.
The second one was also successful without problems.
I tilted my head.
"This is too easy."
Certainly, the lamias here are numerous and very strong monsters.
But, even alone, I can catch them sufficiently if I pour out powerful skills consecutively.
It was an easy difficulty that didn't match the name '4-person recommended elite dungeon'.
Have I become too strong?
Feeling somewhat disappointed at the unexpectedly average difficulty of the dungeon, when I opened the dungeon progress interface to check the location of the last buried Divine Mark.
[Southeast Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
[Southwest Divine Mark Activation 1/1]
[North Divine Mark Activation 0/1]
"Huh?"
The progress of the southeast Divine Mark activation was reset.
Currently, the only place with the condition met is the southwest I just activated.
I stomped my feet.
"Why!?"
Did I draw the magic circle wrong? That can't be. I clearly confirmed that the activation condition was satisfied before leaving the southeast.
Soon, while I was momentarily confused, an eerie sound reached my ears.
Hiss hiss.
The sound of lamias.
I looked around.
Lamias everywhere, lamias, lamias.
More lamias than were in this open space just now, with their eyes dyed bright red, began to rush towards the place where the Divine Mark was activated.
I gritted my teeth.
It doesn't end just by activating the Divine Mark.
The situation in the southeast will be similar. After I left, lamias that gathered again must have dug up and removed the Divine Mark emitting holy power.
We need to protect each location until all Divine Marks are fully activated.
This form is a kind of.
"Defense dungeon...!"