Flash!
Clang!
The sword light flashed, and a sharp sword strike hit the statue’s body.
A sound like hitting hard metal rang out, and sparks flew. Along with it, a groove was carved into the statue’s body.
Whoosh!
The statue swung the huge sword it held in one hand. The statue’s sword, as big as my body, rushed in as if to cut me in half.
But it’s slow and the motion is large. With my current movement in ‘Sword Drawing Stance’, I could easily avoid it without blocking.
Thud!
Thwack!
I threw my body to the right. The statue’s huge sword lost its target and was embedded into the corridor floor.
Pitter-patter!
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
I quickly circled to the statue’s right while continuously unleashing ‘Moonlight Slash’. The powerful sword strikes raining down at high speed chipped away at the statue’s HP.
Ooooh!
Can statues make sounds, too? A strange sound that seemed to resonate from inside the stone echoed through the wide corridor.
I used ‘Backward Evasion’ to create distance from the statue.
Ooooh!
At the same time, the statue gripped its sword handle with both hands and strongly thrust it into the corridor floor.
Boom!
The shockwave that started from the tip of the statue’s sword instantly spread its aftermath through the walls to the ceiling.
The entire corridor shook greatly. Won’t it collapse?
Rumble rumble.
The shockwave spread in all directions. But I had already moved out of the attack range, so no damage was inflicted on me.
The robust statue, which seemed to have remained uneroded even after years of weathering, flaunted its resilience with its HP figure.
But the pattern isn’t very threatening.
That shockwave pattern starting from the sword tip looks flashy, but its range isn’t as wide as it seems. It’s enough to escape with one backward evasion plus two more steps.
The rest of the attacks? They were slow enough that I could easily avoid and attack with the increased agility from ‘Sword Drawing Stance’. It was clearly different from the wyvern’s sharp and fast attacks.
Then I don’t even need to use ‘Block’, I can just maintain Sword Drawing Stance and continuously unleash Moonlight Slash.
The technique of chipping away at the named boss’s HP by evading attacks while maintaining Sword Drawing Stance and using Moonlight Slash, should I name it Rain-style ‘Apple Peeling’?
Thud!
As soon as the area-of-effect shockwave pattern ended, I quickly threw my body to dive into the statue. Once again, sword strikes imbued with moonlight flashed around me.
[2nd Named]
[Statue of the Family Head]
[HP 263,510/308,000]
The statue’s HP, which seemed to never end, had dropped quite a bit already.
Judging from the battle experiences with other named bosses I’ve faced so far, it wouldn’t be strange for a special pattern to emerge soon.
Whoosh!
I easily avoided the statue’s colossal sword swung strongly, but I didn’t let my guard down.
I wonder how it will come out?
Will it transform into 2 or 3 stages like a robot? It might shoot lasers from its mouth or something.
But the precursor to the special pattern came from a quite different direction than I expected.
Crack.
It wasn’t seen. Literally, it was heard.
Thud.
With an ominous feeling from the sound of something cracking, I quickly distanced myself from the statue.
What’s that sound?
Actually, I’ve heard it before.
Right when I first encountered this statue.
“Hic.”
I forcibly turned my stiff neck to look at the right side of the corridor where the sound came from.
The statues I thought were just decorative sculptures on the wall.
Crack. Crack crack.
One of them was raising its petrified body.
[Knight’s Statue]
[HP 84,000/84,000]
Whoosh, whoosh!
“Eek!”
I screamed while dodging swords flying in from left and right.
Boom! Boom!
Even the add monster activated the same shockwave pattern as the named boss.
I kept my distance and glared resentfully at the two statues that had thrust their swords into the corridor floor.
“Ee-eek!”
There were fewer opportunities to attack than I thought.
Dealing with two units with the same pattern, the ‘Statue of the Family Head’ and ‘Knight’s Statue’, wasn’t as easy as I thought.
While waiting for the shockwave pattern to pass, I recalled battles with previous named monsters.
This is the same.
If I take down the ‘Knight’s Statue’ assisting the ‘Statue of the Family Head’ first, I can focus on just one named boss again.
Pitter-patter!
As soon as the shockwave pattern ended, I rushed at the statues and made the ‘Knight’s Statue’ my main target.
It has less HP than the named ‘Statue of the Family Head’. I should quickly take down the ‘Knight’s Statue’, then deal with the ‘Statue of the Family Head’.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
Clang clang clang!
Sword light flashed repeatedly, striking the Knight’s Statue. Sparks flew as stone and sword collided.
Wow, sparks even fly. What kind of rock are their bodies made of?
I had a brief, silly thought, but I had that much leeway.
The statues were strong but slow. To the extent that I didn’t even need to block their attacks.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
A smile played on my lips as I moved nimbly, continuously unleashing sword strikes.
It was going smoothly.
The 1st named was much harder.
After defeating the Knight’s Statue and chipping away at the named boss’s HP, a new special pattern might come out, but if it’s the same pattern, there’s no problem.
I just need to defeat another added Knight’s Statue again and focus on the named boss.
But the 2nd named’s special pattern simply betrayed my expectations.
Crack.
This time from the left.
The sound of stone cracking was heard from the left corridor.
“What!?”
Did I chip away too much of the boss’s HP?
Did it enter the next special phase before I could defeat even one Knight’s Statue?
[2nd Named]
[Statue of the Family Head]
[HP 260,041/308,000]
[Knight’s Statue]
[HP 46,989/84,000]
That wasn’t it.
Because I moved as close as possible to the ‘Knight’s Statue’ and made it my main target, the HP of the named ‘Statue of the Family Head’ had barely decreased. Only a small amount of HP had been chipped away when it briefly came into the range of ‘Moonlight Slash’.
There was no time for long doubts. From now on, I have to face three statues.
It wasn’t impossible. But it became very hectic.
Clang!
Avoiding the swords of all three statues was indeed not easy.
I avoided the swords of two and blocked one.
It’s difficult but doable.
If I can defeat all the Knight’s Statues, I can comfortably face the named boss again.
The hope I tried to conjure up while erasing negative thoughts.
Crack.
Was completely shattered by the sound of a fourth statue rising.
Pitter-patter!
I ran away without looking back.
* * *
“Hee, hee.”
I caught my breath while hiding in a corridor corner.
Having lost their target, the statues returned to their places and became motionless as if nothing had happened.
I puffed my cheeks at the sight of the statues, pretending as if they hadn’t moved.
What should I do?
Up to three was okay. Even four might be manageable if I grit my teeth.
But it was clear that it wouldn’t end with four.
Without counting carefully, the number of statues on both sides of the corridor seemed to be over twenty.
No doubt.
As time passes, they will rise one by one, eventually all of them.
It was a kind of time attack pattern.
4-person party recommended. Elite dungeon.
Certainly, if challenged with a 4-person party with excellent firepower, the named boss would probably fall after seeing just three or four additional statues, but alone, I would have to face at least ten.
It will get progressively more challenging as the number of statues increases.
But I have no choice.
I’m alone, and I can’t expect the firepower of party members.
I need to pour in full DPS by myself as much full DPS as possible by myself.
In the end, it’s a matter of adaptation.
I easily grasped the direction of the strategy.
“Ignore the Knight’s Statues; just hit the Statue of the Family Head like crazy.”
Let’s go with the ‘Beat One Guy’ strategy.
[2nd Named]
[Statue of the Family Head]
[HP 22,041/308,000]
Whoosh, whoosh, boom!
Pitter-patter!
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
“Die! Die!”
The total number of statues I’m kiting now is eleven.
After several attempts, I mastered ‘dribbling.’
The ‘Knight’s Statues’ didn’t attack while chasing me. All the statues were ‘melee plodders.’
Then, I just need to kite them and deal with only the ‘Statue of the Family Head.’
It sounded easy, but the process to get here was very difficult.
If I failed in distance control even a little, several statues would activate the shockwave pattern simultaneously.
The sight of multiple statues thrusting their swords into the corridor floor and setting off shockwaves at once was spectacular. I also ran away in a hurry while admiring that brilliant fireworks display.
But I finally got here.
One cycle of Moonlight Slash while closing the distance.
Then, another cycle approaches the Statue of the Family Head while shaking off the pursuing Knight’s Statues.
Repeating that, I finally caught sight of the ‘Statue of the Family Head’ with its HP nearing the bottom, among the Knight’s Statues chasing me.
One hit left.
“Dieeee!”
Ignoring the Knight’s Statues, I dive in to deliver the final blow.
Flash!
The last Moonlight Slash flashes brilliantly and explodes.
Ooooh!
The ‘Statue of the Family Head’ shook greatly, then collapsed.
The light swirling in its eyes disappeared, and as stone fragments scattered, the statue completely lost its strength.
Crack crack.
The heavy swords of the ‘Knight’s Statues’ that had now reached my vicinity also stopped moving.
Plop.
I sat down among the statues.
And with a dumbfounded expression, I said just one thing.
“I-I cleared it.”