[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 90 – Raid Dungeon (7)
“Ugh!”
Cartman coughed up blood.
If he hadn’t instinctively protected his body, it would have been a fatal wound.
The mercenaries were horrified.
“Cartman!”
“What is this!”
[Kaaaaa.]
Then the mercenaries realized.
The boss they thought they had subdued was mocking them.
[Insignificant.]
It wasn’t speech.
It was a twisted animal cry, forcibly made to sound like human words, with an unnatural quality.
[Vermin.]
Clang, clang, clang…
The chains broke and fell to the ground.
The pillar descended.
The hole in the boss’s chest, created during the attack, slowly closed.
The structure and mechanics of the dungeon began to change.
Cartman’s pupils dilated.
“Mana…”
The mana of the dungeon fluctuated.
The density of the mana had increased to a level where it could fill the entire dungeon.
‘The amount of mana is changing?’
The dungeon’s mana suddenly amplified to more than double its original level.
‘…AAA-grade dungeon!’
[Kaaaaaaa.]
The boss laughed.
It swung its now freed arm lightly.
Crash!
And with that, the mercenaries were instantly swept away.
Those in its path were slammed into walls and floors, and collapsed.
Everything was shattered and overwhelmed in an instant.
“Damn it!”
Cartman barely regained his composure and launched himself at the boss, sprinting at high speed.
The boss smiled as if finding him cute, and moved one arm.
It pulled back a finger and flicked.
Cartman’s sword met the finger.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
With just that, Cartman’s body was thrown back.
The powerful shock reverberated through his entire body.
Cartman swallowed the blood that threatened to spill from his mouth.
‘What strength!’
Cartman was an A-grade mercenary.
He was at a level where he could control his aura with precision, his strength bordering on the superhuman.
Before the dungeon transformed, Cartman could withstand the boss’s attacks without much trouble.
But no longer.
Even with his elite skills, he struggled to fend off the boss’s playful attacks.
Only a superhuman could respond to this threat now.
“Aaaaah!”
While Cartman was reeling from the impact, the other mercenaries were being swept away by the boss.
Cartman grit his teeth and charged again.
The boss waved an arm dismissively.
Though the movement seemed slow, it left afterimages.
Boom!
Cartman narrowly avoided the attack, but the shockwave alone rattled his body.
He bit his lip.
‘Did the dungeon lure us?’
An AAA-grade dungeon disguised as an A-grade to lure people in.
‘Is that even possible?’
It shouldn’t be.
It’s an impossible scenario.
But he couldn’t deny the reality before his eyes.
This is dangerous.
He had to get this information to the outside world.
Cartman gritted his teeth.
At that moment.
[Ka.]
The boss looked at him.
Cartman felt a chill.
It was as if the boss had sensed his intention.
The boss smirked.
In a flash, it was right in front of Cartman.
Cartman hastily raised his sword, but the descending fist broke through all his defenses and struck him.
“Ugh!”
He collapsed, coughing up blood.
It was clear.
This monster had read his intentions and was responding.
‘I must… warn… the outside…’
With that final thought, Cartman lost consciousness.
[Kaaaaaa.]
In the place where countless humans lay fallen, the monster laughed.
* * *
Almost all the mercenaries were sprawled on the ground.
The only conscious party left was the one with Ketal.
They were huddled against the wall, trembling.
They had no special power or tactic; they had simply been fortunate enough to be far from the boss.
That was all.
Thus, they had witnessed the entire massacre.
“What… what is this?”
Suddenly, the dungeon had transformed.
The boss, which they thought they had subdued, gained freedom and became overwhelmingly powerful, knocking down the mercenaries.
“Huff, huff.”
Marcy was gasping for breath as if suffocating.
The dense mana was pressing down on her, a mage.
“Why… why did the dungeon’s difficulty suddenly change!”
“You didn’t know either?”
Ketal murmured with a curious expression.
“Is it a hidden phase?”
“Hidden… what?”
“You don’t know?”
A hidden phase.
A hidden pattern that appears when certain conditions are met or when a high level of difficulty is chosen.
It was a common occurrence with bosses in raid dungeons.
Hearing Ketal’s words, Gainert shouted in a suppressed voice.
“What’s common about this!”
Gainert had never heard of such a hidden phase before.
If there was such a thing, why would anyone attempt a dungeon at the appropriate level? They would just overpower it with overwhelming strength.
No one in their right mind would go into something hidden without preparation.
“Oh. Is that so?”
On second thought, it made sense.
This was not a game but reality.
Hidden phases were a source of fear, not excitement.
Ketal realized another difference between reality and fiction.
He had a satisfied look on his face.
“To encounter something like this in the first raid dungeon, we are quite lucky.”
“…Lucky? Do you want to die!”
Gainert couldn’t hold back his shout.
* * *
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
[Kaaaaa.]
The boss, who had been laughing contentedly, slowly approached them.
They were terrified and pressed against the wall, trembling.
The boss saw their reaction and laughed with pleasure.
The expression on its face was like a child playing with a toy.
It approached slowly, deliberately trying to instill fear.
They tried to retreat further, but there was nowhere else to go.
As the boss watched them with amusement, it noticed something strange.
One of the larger humans was not afraid.
Instead, he looked at the approaching boss with curiosity.
“You’re really big.”
Ketal was looking at the boss’s body with interest.
‘Its tail is not that of a fish but a snake. Is this what they call a chimera?’
Everything about it was fascinating: the single eye, the four arms, the snake tail.
And the boss didn’t like it.
Humans should fear it.
They should be terrified, filled with dread, and flee.
They shouldn’t look up at it so calmly.
[Kaaa.]
The boss decided.
It would play with this human, instill fear in that calm expression.
First, it would start by breaking his limbs.
The boss reached out and grabbed Ketal.
Its massive body was hidden in its grip.
The party members behind him closed their eyes tightly.
The boss lightly squeezed its hand.
It needed to control its strength carefully to avoid breaking him too quickly.
The boss expected to hear the satisfying sound of breaking bones and a scream of pain.
[Kaa?]
But no sound was heard.
Is his strength lacking?
The boss thought and increased its grip.
But nothing changed.
Panicked, it squeezed harder.
At some point, it was using almost its full strength, but still, nothing happened.
[Kaaaa!]
Just as the boss, irritated, was about to slam its hand down.
Its body flew through the air.
[Kaa?]
For a moment, the boss couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
What just happened?
Why is he flying through the air?
That thought vanished when it crashed into the ceiling.
Boom!
[Kaaaaa!]
The boss fell to the floor, screaming in pain from the impact.
And Ketal stood there.
Without a scratch.
“…Huh?”
The party members, expecting a gruesome scene, opened their eyes wide.
“W-what?”
“What’s happening?”
“…Ketal, didn’t you say you didn’t know any mysteries?”
“I don’t know any mysteries.”
“Oh…”
Gainert realized something.
Ketal had said he didn’t know any mysteries.
But he never said he was weak.
“Please move the unconscious mercenaries. It would be regrettable if they were crushed by that giant.”
“O-okay.”
Gainert nodded without realizing it.
[Kaaaaa!]
The boss got up roughly.
Its large single eye was filled with confusion, not understanding what had happened.
That human threw him?
[Kaaaa….]
A sense of wariness crept into the boss’s eye.
This human was unusual.
With that realization, the boss quickly swung its fist.
Boom!
The only passageway in the dungeon collapsed.
A pile of rocks created an isolated space. Ketal whistled.
“Smart.”
In the previous battles, the boss hadn’t destroyed the passageway.
The reason was simple: it could easily subdue anyone trying to escape.
But this time, it had collapsed the passage.
It had judged that if Ketal tried to escape, it wouldn’t be able to catch him.
‘It has proper intelligence.’
Ketal hadn’t moved while the mercenaries were falling.
The reason was simple.
None of the mercenaries had died.
“It seems to need living beings. Is it trying to strengthen something?”
Ketal laughed joyfully.
Understanding the boss’s goal was another strategy.
The boss roared, displeased with Ketal’s laughter.
[Kaaaaa!]
The boss flicked its tail.
Its massive body accelerated, rushing toward Ketal.
Watching it, Ketal muttered.
“The pattern hasn’t changed, has it?”
Crunch.
The boss’s body was crushed and thrown again.
[Kaa, Kaaa!]
The monster charged again.
Ketal easily dodged and moved his feet.
A scream echoed.
“Physical attacks don’t harm it. Was it always like this, or is it a newly added gimmick?”
Ketal laughed cheerfully.
The boss staggered and stood up again.
[Kaa.]
The boss acknowledged it.
This human was strong.
Much stronger than itself.
But it was the master of the dungeon.
Unless attacked in a specific way, it couldn’t be killed.
It wouldn’t be wounded.
It was designed that way.
It wouldn’t lose.
The boss roared with determination.
It flicked its tail, flew, and swung its four fists simultaneously.
It was using all its strength.
Its full power was blocked by a single palm.
“Oops.”
Ketal grabbed and threw the boss again.
The boss, enduring the pain, got up once more.
He won’t be defeated!
It moved its tail.
It wrapped around Ketal’s body and tried to lift and throw him.
[Kaa?]
At that moment, the boss was confused.
The tail wouldn’t move.
Even with all its strength, it didn’t budge, as if caught on something.
Then the boss’s body flew through the air.
Ketal had grabbed and thrown the tail.
[Kaaa!]
The boss got up hurriedly and charged again.
Seeing this, Ketal smiled with satisfaction.
“Yes. It shouldn’t be defeated by mere physical force.”
What he wanted wasn’t a fight.
It was to figure out the gimmick.
‘It’s nice to be part of a group strategy, but I want to personally conquer the dungeon boss.’
Facing the dungeon boss with no prior information.
Observing its abilities and patterns and gradually overcoming them.
Isn’t that incredibly fun?
“Let’s see what I can do.”
Ketal muttered.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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