Flap, flap.
Whoooo!
With the rough flapping of the wyvern’s wings, a gust swept through the cavern.
My small body wobbled as if it would be blown away by the wind.
“Ugh!”
I lowered my stance to resist the gust.
Caaaaa!
Before long, the wyvern’s massive body soared to a dizzying height.
Flap, flap.
From there, it arrogantly flapped its wings, glaring down at me with disdain.
Receiving that gaze, I quickly raised my sword.
“I-Ick!”
It was frustrating, but my attack couldn’t reach that far.
Twenty meters? Thirty meters?
At that height, even long-range class attacks wouldn’t make it.
If I could unleash some sort of sword energy like back in the day, I could have shot it down.
I bit my lip and could only wait for the wyvern’s next move.
Kiiik.
“……?”
Kiiik, kiiik, kiiik.
What was that?
It wasn’t the roar of the wyvern I was facing.
It was a bit smaller but sharper cry.
Before long, I realized the identity of that sound.
Kiiik, kiiik, kiiik.
Holes were drilled into the cavern walls.
From there, smaller wyverns began to crawl out.
[Level 25 Baby Wyvern]
[HP 11,000/11,000]
Clang!
To make matters worse, I was surrounded.
While fending off the baby wyverns crashing into me, those words came to mind.
Monsters were emerging that couldn’t take damage from the named enemy.
Still, if I could deal with all of these, the named enemy might come down.
Wouldn’t it be a relief not to have to face the named and its minions simultaneously like last time in the Elite Dungeon?
But I soon realized that thought was merely wishful thinking.
Flap.
CAAAAH!
Rumble, rumble!
The gigantic wyvern soared into the air, flapping its wings fiercely and roaring.
Thud!
At the sound of its wing-beat echoing, I quickly activated my Backward Evasion skill.
Rumble, rumble!
The wyvern’s scales came crashing down into the spot where I had just been.
“I-What?!”
Kiiik. Kiiik. Kiiik.
The baby wyverns rushed at me again, having created some distance.
Clang!
I was blocking the attacks from the baby wyverns crashing into me from all sides, keeping my eyes on the sky.
Right now, I had to be aware of both the baby wyvern’s attacks and the named wyvern’s scales.
Flap.
Rumble, rumble!
The second scale attack came crashing down.
Kiiik, kiiik, kiiik.
It was difficult but I managed to avoid it.
I just had to keep my eyes on the named wyvern while dealing with the baby wyverns.
The interval between the named wyvern’s scale attacks was about 10 seconds.
The cooldown of my Backward Evasion skill was 8 seconds.
I had a 2-second buffer.
As soon as I activated the Backward Evasion skill, I switched to the Sword Drawing Technique with ‘Moonlight Slash.’
Swish, swish, swish!
The consecutive attacks of ‘Moonlight Slash’ from the Sword Drawing Technique swiftly chipped away at the baby wyverns’ HP.
Kiiik! Kiiik!
Then came the third scale attack.
Thud!
With a quick maneuver, I dodged to the side as the third scale attack landed where I had just been.
Ten seconds left.
For the next 10 seconds, I had to focus on chipping away at the baby wyverns’ HP again.
As I thought this and adjusted my stance…
Glitter.
In the air, a flash of red appeared.
Chill.
A cold sweat dripped down my forehead as I could predict what kind of attack the named wyvern would unleash.
Fwoosh!
In a flash, the flames ignited the air and gathered in front of the wyvern’s mouth.
Kiiiik!
With a roar, it burst forth, engulfing the entire cavern.
The gap between the last scale attack and this was barely 5 seconds.
The cooldown for my evasion skill still had 3 seconds left.
I couldn’t avoid it.
I was engulfed in flames, helplessly.
“Ahhhhh!”
Hiiick. Hiiick.
Thud. Thud.
Tears streamed down my face continuously.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
What should I do? What can I do?
The burning pain in my body was beyond anything I could imagine, even if it was just for a moment.
Fortunately, the pain didn’t last long.
I was hit by one breath attack and my HP was completely drained, leading me to face death immediately.
This time, I didn’t get kicked out of the game.
But having to feel this kind of pain every time I died…
[Synchronization Rate 100%]
Huff. Huuuff.
I hugged my shoulders, trembling from the lingering pain I still felt.
I didn’t want to give up on ‘Astria Online.’
Now, I could only feel alive here.
Should I just skip attempting the Elite Dungeon?
Traveling leisurely across the Continent of Astria while safely hunting on the field sounded nice.
Sister Chris seems to like me, so maybe I could occasionally receive items too.
There was no need to tackle the Elite Dungeon while suffering.
As I lowered my head and gazed at the ruins’ ground, a peculiar brick caught my eye.
“……?”
Swipe.
I brushed off the sand covering the brick.
What came into view was…
“Ah.”
A family crest engraved on the brick.
A crest featuring an eagle, belonging to a certain noble house.
I remembered seeing that emblem on someone’s sword sheath.
‘…So our ancestor sealed a demon somewhere in the desert!’
‘Melissa’s family is quite prestigious!’
‘Being a knightly house, they must be a proud lineage worthy of the Hero’s companions!’
That knightess, Melissa.
She was a strong ally from the Hero party who took care of me.
She sacrificed her life to send me before the Demon Lord.
Her traces were here.
I gently stroked the brick, momentarily speechless.
If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have had the chance to see something like this.
It wasn’t just the scenery that resembled ‘Astria Online’ and the Continent of Astria.
There were traces of my companions left behind.
Swipe, swipe.
I wiped away the tears I had shed like a child.
I lifted my body.
And then, towards the massive cavern once more, I set my feet forward.
Not for some grand mission.
Just to feel that I was alive here.
*
[Level 1 Named Enemy]
[Level 27 Black Wyvern]
[HP 157,000/210,000]
The wyvern soared to a height where even ranged dealers could not attack.
Caaaaah!
Rumble, rumble!
With the wyvern’s roar, scales began to rain down from the sky.
Entering the special pattern, the second scale attack approached.
Thud!
I used my Backward Evasion to dodge the scale and faced the baby wyverns once again.
Kiiik, kiiik, kiiik.
If I could deal with them all, the named wyvern would surely come back down to ground level.
Whatever happened, it must have allowed for that.
I geared up to face the baby wyverns while mentally counting the time.
7 seconds, 8 seconds, 9 seconds, 10 seconds.
Caaaaah!
Rumble, rumble!
With the wyvern’s wingbeat, the third scale flew towards me.
After this pattern, a potentially fatal breath attack would come in 5 seconds.
The cooldown of my Backward Evasion was 8 seconds.
So…
Boom!
I did not evade the third scale.
The wyvern’s scales pierced my body, dropping my HP below half.
“Ugh!”
I gritted my teeth.
It hurt a lot, but I wouldn’t die from this.
Fwoosh!
Flames flickered around the named wyvern’s mouth.
3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds.
WHOOSH!
It erupted forth toward the cavern.
I smiled at the breath that filled my vision.
[Backward Evasion (E)]
[Quickly dodges 8m backward to evade frontal attacks (Invulnerable while casting)]
[Cooldown 8 seconds]
[(After activating the skill, movement speed increases for 5 seconds)]
As the breath approached, I activated my ‘Backward Evasion’ skill, the cooldown already refreshed.
Thud!
WHOOSH!
The flames swept over my body in an instant.
But this time, I didn’t die.
It wasn’t even hot.
Invulnerable while casting.
Just as I thought.
Despite how formidable the wyvern’s breath appeared, it was under the control of the game system.
Spin.
Swish, swish, swish!
Kiiik! Kiiik!
Moonlight enveloped my sword tip, and the baby wyverns began to fall one by one.
Caaaaah!
The wyvern, now wounded all over, let out its final roar.
Thud.
The massive creature’s body collapsed onto the ground of the cavern.
Thud.
At the same time, I slumped down to the ground.
As expected.
Once I dealt with all the baby wyverns, the named wyvern came down to ground level.
But it had flown up three times.
Level 1 Named Enemy, ‘Black Wyvern’ had flown three times at 75%, 50%, and 25% health respectively.
The scale pattern came down three times at 10-second intervals, followed by a breath attack after 5 seconds.
If I took one scale attack on the body to save cooldown for dodging, I could avoid the breath.
I let out a sigh.
“Hah.”
They really went all out with this design.
A dungeon structured with party play in mind.
If I had been with my party, the scale patterns would have been dispersed among targets, and the wizard’s ‘Mana Barrier’ or the Onmyoji’s ‘Protection Talisman’ would have shielded us.
To clear a party play dungeon solo meant being ready to sacrifice some health for the reward.
Since potion cooldown was 30 seconds, I could cover the damage taken from one scale attack with a potion.
But I used up to 10 potions just to clear this Level 1 Named Enemy.
This wasn’t worth the investment.
I opened my inventory and checked the remaining potions, feeling close to tears.
“I’ve used up too many potions.”
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