Attribute Rune Dungeon (3)
《You have cleared the 1st floor of the Dark Attribute Rune Dungeon (Rare).》
《An unbelievable record!》
⁝
《You have cleared the 5th floor of the Dark Attribute Rune Dungeon (Rare).》
《An unbelievable record!》
《Time Taken: 1 minute 34 seconds》
Look at this.
After going down through the fissure, I had cleared the 5th floor in the blink of an eye.
《Would you like to proceed to the 6th floor?》
《YES or NO》
Of course I would proceed.
From the 6th floor onward, it was even easier.
Ordinarily, it would have been a troublesome stage where I had to deal with dark spirits that attacked without warning while maintaining my balance on unstable footholds above a poisonous swamp.
“Now, please take my hand and cross.”
“Thank you.”
But since Hertia had her skill, it was practically no different from a picnic.
The structure remained similar after that, so it took about 1 minute and 20 seconds to break through to the 9th floor.
Including the time spent laying the groundwork on the 1st floor, it had taken 2 minutes and 50 seconds in total.
And finally, I arrived on the 10th floor. The boss room.
‘If there is a variable, it is here.’
When I opened the black door and entered, I felt the air settle heavily around me.
The boss room was shaped like a large circle.
At its center stood a giant golem possessed by a dark spirit.
‘Wow, is it about five meters tall?’
This thing’s main skill was ‘Smog Field’.
Once the battle began, it would start spewing sticky smoke from the two exhaust vents on its shoulders.
If the smoke filled the room, it was game over.
That was because the golem, which had been quietly spewing smoke until then, would begin to move.
The smoke filling the field would grant the golem an enormous buff, making it invincible against both damage and debuffs.
Before that happened, the adventurer had to find and eliminate the ‘dark spirit’ hiding somewhere in this boss room.
The trick of catching it with an area-of-effect skill would not work either.
The smoke spewed by the golem was extremely sensitive to mana, so the moment an attack spell was activated, it would explode.
‘The most dangerous moment is when the smoke rises to the ankles.’
The dark spirit in the boss room was weaker than other individuals, but it was small and quick.
It hid itself in the smoke spread across the floor and toyed with the adventurer.
That was why this dungeon was usually tackled by obstructing the opponent’s movements with a priest- or archer-type summon, or by using a speed-specialized setup to fight a battle of speed, but...
I personally took the clay slime beside me into my arms.
At that moment, Hertia reacted.
“What do you intend to do?”
“Watch for a moment.”
I had three clay slimes left in total.
Of the three I had placed in the main party, one had been reverse-summoned when it widened the fissure, so I had deployed a replacement. Now, there were no spares left.
‘After seeing how Hertia’s skill is applied in reality, I kept thinking about how I should make use of it.’
When this was a game, there had been no room for a summoner to intervene beyond the range allowed by the system.
But things were different now.
My limbs were intact, and I could run around with my own feet.
In other words, I could design a strategy far more flexibly.
I stopped in front of the golem.
Since Hertia’s skill was active, the battle had not started yet.
However, the moment I attacked it, the dark spirit would spring out of its chest and hide somewhere.
Then the smoke would immediately start spewing out.
Before that could happen, I attached the clay slimes to three places.
To both shoulders, where the smoke would be spewed from, and to the chest, where the spirit would leap out.
“Hert.”
“Yes, Noble One.”
“Attack.”
“I have been waiting only for those words.”
FWOOSH—FLASH!
The purple flames Hertia conjured engulfed the golem.
At the same time, an unpleasant laugh began to ring out.
—Hee-hee! Hee hee hee! Foolish humans. Glubuph—!
At that instant, the slime attached to the golem’s chest bounced up dramatically, then restored itself through elasticity.
It had swollen up in a strangely noticeable way compared to before, and a form resembling a shrunken version of the ‘dark spirits’ I had seen while coming down was revealed in full detail.
—Pffft, guhph! What in the world is this?!
That thing’s true identity was the target of the boss battle, the dark spirit.
Originally, it should have sprung out and run away the moment I attacked, but it had failed to overcome the viscosity of the clay slime and ended up trapped.
At the same time, the slimes attached to the exhaust vents on both shoulders began to swell little by little as well.
They were trapping the smoke spewed by the golem.
“No matter how many times I see it, that face is truly pathetic. Pathetic enough to make me want to crush it this instant.”
Upon seeing the clearly exposed face of the dark spirit, Hertia spat out an insult.
Then she looked toward me and opened her mouth.
“Then, shall I crush that worthless being now?”
Of course, that alone would complete the dungeon strategy.
However, even if I obtained the reward for breaking the clear-time record, the grade reward would be pitiful.
After all, we had skipped most of the battles, so we still lacked points.
But I could not be satisfied with such a boring reward.
“Wait a little. I will show you something even more interesting.”
“Maiden that I am, if it is the Noble One’s command, I can wait even until the end of the world.”
...Every single thing she said was so exaggerated that it made my chest itch.
But if I criticized her for this, my own end would probably arrive before the end of the world, right?
In the end, I had no choice but to nod with a solemn expression.
—Let me go! Let me go this instant!!
The dark spirit thrashed about like mad, but due to its traits, it could not break through the slime’s viscosity.
【Flimsy Afterimage】
Description: Fast enough to leave afterimages behind, but all abilities are invested into movement speed, making it extremely frail.
Its attack power was so low that it could not even break through the slime’s viscosity.
Since the demerit was so great, its speed alone was truly a work of art.
In other words, once it got out, it would be extremely difficult to catch.
But since it would not be able to escape, the next thing to focus on was the two slimes attached to the exhaust vents.
They gradually increased in size, and now they had swollen to a precarious volume that looked as though they would burst if touched.
《The volume of Clay Slime (Brown) has expanded to its limit! If this state is maintained, its vitality will gradually be consumed.》
《The volume of Clay Slime (Gray) has expanded to its limit! If this state is maintained, its vitality will gradually be consumed.》
“This should be enough.”
Do you remember?
The smoke emitted by the golem was extremely sensitive to mana.
Utility skills such as detection were fine, but if it reacted to powerful mana on the level of attack magic, it would immediately cause an explosion.
And right now, that dangerous smoke was packed inside those slimes.
“Fall back, Hert.”
“Yes, Master.”
Together with Hertia, I withdrew to a corner of the boss room and checked the clay slimes’ health.
Their remaining health was around 20%. It was about time to act.
“Attack the slimes on its shoulders on my signal.”
At my command, Hertia conjured dark purple flames in both hands.
After confirming that she had finished preparing, I gave the slimes their final order.
“Clay Slime! Use Hard Carapace!”
CRRRRUNCH—!
At the same time as my command, the clay slimes instantly spat the gas they had been holding to the bursting point back into the exhaust vents.
—Hrrrrk!
I could see the dark spirit suffering due to the suddenly increased air pressure.
1st Skill
A skill that rapidly hardens the slime’s surface and releases the collected elements all at once.
It had no aggro function for a tanking skill, and it came with a function of releasing absorbed substances, the meaning of which was difficult to understand.
‘Any summon depends on how its user uses it.’
Right now, the golem’s body was filled beyond its limit with ‘easily explosive gas’.
What would happen if I placed ‘the slightest spark’ on that huge time bomb?
—No, no! What are you doing?! I do not want to die like this!
“Fire.”
“Haaah!”
FWOOSH!
Two streams of fire shot out from Hertia’s hands.
They struck the surface of the hardened slimes.
And then,
KABOOOOM!
An intense explosion that was enough to deafen me for a moment echoed through the boss room.
When I slowly opened my eyes, what appeared before me was...
《Clay Slime (Brown) has taken fatal damage and has been reverse-summoned.》
《Clay Slime (Gray) x2 have taken fatal damage and have been reverse-summoned.》
The notifications informing me of the clay slimes’ reverse-summoning.
RUMBLE—
The remains of the golem, which had collapsed after failing to withstand the explosion from inside.
And...
—...
The remains of the dark spirit, shattered so thoroughly that its original shape could no longer be recognized.
Along with that, messages shimmered.
《You have cleared the Dark Attribute Rune Dungeon (Rare).》
《Level up! Your adventurer level becomes ‘2’.》
《Level up! Your adventurer level becomes ‘3’.》
...
《Level up! Your adventurer level becomes ‘5’.》
《You have cleared the 10th floor of the Dark Attribute Rune Dungeon (Rare).》
《An unbelievable record!》
《Time Taken: 04 minutes 34 seconds》
《Clear Grade: ‘SSS’》
《You have received the highest clear grade.》
Easy. Too easy.
I have no idea why everyone took more than ten minutes to clear something this easy.
Well then... what will I get as a reward?
***
When Hertia saw Lucifer standing beside her with a bright smile, she found herself smiling as well.
‘This is truly the first time I have ever seen him smile like that.’
Through this battle, Hertia became certain.
The wisdom to overcome an overwhelming difference in combat power.
The strong heart that calmly issued commands in any situation.
Above all, that intense desire that always sought more than mere ordinariness.
Even if his appearance was different, the human before her, Oh Hyunwoo, was undoubtedly the Lucifer she had served.
‘Even his acting is so perfect. To think that he continues pretending to be a weak human even here, where no one but me can see him.’
At first, she had not understood why Lucifer was engaging in such clownish play, but since it was an act carried out by a great being, she had believed there must be some meaning behind it.
And at last, she had realized it.
‘He must be paying careful attention to his behavior in everyday life so that he does not reveal any openings.’
For ‘that Lucifer’ to focus on her every movement and flinch in surprise from time to time.
If she told the other members of the Seven Deadly Sins about this, none of them would believe it.
The fact that she alone knew this side of him made her feel a strange thrill that sent a tingling sensation down her spine.
‘What a meticulous person. And precisely because of that, what a frightening person.’
For the time being, Hertia decided to play along with Lucifer’s game of being human.
Until the day he recovered his power, she would enjoy the joy of serving a great being.