As soon as he threw Ace of course those beams of grey energy became visible shooting at him at a speed he couldn’t follow with his naked eye Once twice three times five times Randidly used Phantom Half Step to throw himself backward
But immediately after spamming the Skill it became clear that it wasn’t enough The Stagbat threw itself forward so Randidly wouldn’t be able to avoid it by simply retreating Feeling so close to his limit that his hands were trembling Randidly reached upwards and grabbed at Rose off to the side Half Stepping towards her
Insufficient Stamina
Randidly didn’t even have time for a reaction as his normal connection to Neveah didn’t yield him Stamina even as he had none he just blinked and the beams arrived
He was knocked to the side and then hit the ground Instantly his touch to the ground filled him with energy as his Golden Roots of Yggdrasil kicked into high gear As he looked up he saw Annie streaking in from the side two arrows held in her hands like daggers Before the Stagbat could react she had landed on its back and stabbed downward cutting into the bat’s face
The Stagbat whirled screaming but Thea was there from the front dodging perilously close to a grey beam and had the Stagbat been looking in her direction she would have likely died to it Instead the Stagbat probably was still thinking of the vicious vengeance it would have on Annie while Thea’s hammer crushed the skull of the stag driving the light from its eyes
It swayed then fell to the ground disintegrating into a pool of green liquids and stained fur From that pile the Wild Rider’s Helmet and the Sword of the Skeleton Knight emerged from the antlers and the eye of the bat respectively
Slowly Randidly felt himself standing Then he turned to his left
Chrysanthemum lay there her tongue lolling out of her mouth amusement and teasing clear in her intelligent eyes Her huge body lay on the ground The beam had struck her in her hindquarters when she had bodied Randidly to the side knocking him out of harm’s way in the same way that Randidly had saved Ace
Immediately the hair around the spot where she was hit began to go grey In the second that this had spread to cover all of Chrysanthemum the hair at the initial spot turned white and fell out revealing wrinkled and withering flesh It was somewhat like watching someone pop the bubbles on crust in a pizza shop Randidly thought with a strange impartiality
There was a snap and the skin over the back part of Chrysanthemum’s body just spread away ripped by the passage of time Her huge mass about the size of a van rapidly decreased reducing her to the size of a St Bernard while still being draped in the skin of a van sized bear The front half of her body seemed simply misshapen while the back half seemed to have degenerated like a rotten tomato
Her eyes closing the bear’s head slumped to the ground
Chrysanthemum Thea bellowed realizing almost immediately after the blow landed that something was wrong She sprinted back over towards the bear her eyes wide her breathing ragged even before the Stagbat collapsed to the ground
Randidly stood looking down at Chrysanthemum remembering the good natured amusement that she looked at him right afterward when their eyes met It was as if she was saying No no this is how you protect boy Sometimes strength isn’t enough Sometimes triumph demands sacrifice
Weeping Thea collapsed next to Chrysanthemum It took several seconds but everyone else seemed to free themselves from the strange stasis that they were locked in from Thea’s scream
Ptolemy took two steps towards Thea’s back but then hesitated glanced at Randidly then went to Ace Within 5 seconds Ace sat up shaking his head and then vomited to the side Only then did Ptolemy hurry over to Chrysanthemum
Is she Annie asked the concern in her voice very real
Alive Thea managed to choke out around sobs But
At that point Ptolemy arrived placing his hands on Chrysanthemum’s side hairs falling out and skin flaking away immediately Randidly shook his head and moved to stand next to them peering closely with Aether detection
To Lucretia he asked Do you think an Aether Donation
There is more to life than Aether I suspect Lucretia said Then after a pause she said When you finish here I have news Big news about the Creature No immediate danger
Randidly had the sudden impulsive urge to lash out at Lucretia then for seeming to imply that Chrysanthemum would soon die but he reigned that in barely Instead he watched carefully as Ptolemy used his Skills to examine her feeding Aether to them both even though Lucretia seemed to think it wouldn’t help
Ptolemy opened his eyes his face solemn But before he could speak he was interrupted by a notification
Congratulations You have defeated 9)( )32092(warning unexpected error) the Boss of this Raid Dungeon As such you have freed your Zone from the Tyranny of the Raid Dungeon and Aether shall be abundant in your Zone In addition another rare natural occurrence shall be created within the new expanded confines of your Zone
As you have defeated the Boss all of its treasure behind its throne room is yours In addition you may use the Key of Death to clear the Dungeon from any point You need not be at a Cathedral to use it
Everyone examined the notification mutely and then Randidly said Before I came up I found the treasures I think it is talking about it We can handle that after
Randidly’s gaze turned to Ptolemy and everyone else mimicked him gazing at their healer wondering if a miracle was possible But at the same time everyone knew based on the sad solemn look on Ptolemy’s face no salvation was coming
As Ptolemy opened his mouth Randidly remembered scant months ago meeting Chrysanthemum in that field while he was traveling with Simon She was only a normal size for a bear at that point and she had come into their field of view shyly perhaps long used to rather fearful reactions from people
When he saw the bear in a very human way raising its emotional defenses by acting standoffish Randidly felt a profound sadness and empathy for the creature And instead of being afraid he grinned and stepped forward lowering himself into a sparring stance She gazed at him curiously still aloof
He ran forward and forcibly bowled her over using his superior Strength
Then they had just played Cautiously at first then rougher and more freely Chrysanthemum had crashed into him and swiped playfully at his head After proving his toughness she was more than willing to rough house with him losing herself and just being a bear for the first time in a while
Now Randidly watched as Ptolemy confirmed his fears There There aren’t any wounds It’s just like the body is giving up on itself Like it has lived too long
Let’s take her out of this place Randidly said warily pulling the Key of Death out of his spatial ring No one said anything and the group congregated around Thea so he activated it The group disappeared and a wave spread outwards eradicating any stragglers remaining This Dungeon was just a tool and the monsters grown here meant nothing to the System
When they had outlived their usefulness they would be replaced
Chapter 467
Simon held his hand up to his eyes shading some of the sun’s harsh rays It had been over an hour now since the group had gone into the Raid Dungeon and Simon was a nervous wreck Because even with his Class of the Dreamer there was nothing that he could do to penetrate through the temporal differences to see what was going on within the Raid Dungeon
In fact it was only through a supreme act of will that Simon was able to tear his focus away from the Raid Dungeon But based on what the difference in time was it was possible that the group would take a day or two of real world time to finish the Dungeon Even that was dependent on the performance of the Dungeon divers which Simon didn’t doubt but they had no way of knowing how difficult it would be how many challenges would be arrayed before them