The [Feathered Serpent Altar] and the [Feathered Serpent Temple] were dungeons connected in their storyline, where the choices I had made in the former greatly impacted the latter.
One of these impacts was the priest’s recognition of me.
To quickly summarize what I had done in the previous dungeon:
I had stormed into the village and turned everything upside down,
– Catch me if you can? You won’t be able to, will you?
I tainted the priest and dodged around until Go Hyeon-woo secured the magic sword.
– You might want to pay some attention to your defense; it seems a bit sloppy, don’t you think?
-…I will not make your end a quick one.
When it seemed that there was no reason to delay any further, I finished the fight with an Inferno Fist.
– Don’t think this is the end. Next time I will definitely—!
– Sure, let’s meet again next time.
– Boom, boom, boom!
Even though such a fiery event happened between us, the priest’s tone when he now faced me was incredibly gentle.
“I’ve been waiting to meet you again. Day and night, you were all I thought about.”
“I’m not very happy to hear this from a man. There was no need for you to wait so desperately for me, you know.”
The priest smiled kindly again.
Everything still seemed peaceful yet his eyes shimmered with a relentless killing intent.
“It seems you’ve come to interfere again, but you’re too late. The ritual has already begun, and even I cannot stop it now. How do you plan to stop it?”
Just like he said, the ritual continued on its own without the priest doing anything.
Invisible energy continually flowed out from the bodies of the lying individuals and was being absorbed by the priest.
His body which had seemed somewhat frail when we last met was now robustly bulked up, and his tattoo which was filled with magical power glowed golden.
Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to have diminished. Impressive ritual.
“If I sacrifice you and your noisy friend outside, I could significantly hasten the summoning. I might as well reclaim the magic sword in the process.”
“You speak as if you’ve already captured everyone.”
The smile on the priest’s lips deepened and he began to reveal more of his killing intent.
“That’s right. None of you will leave this place alive.”
“Didn’t you say the same last time? Yet here I am, safe and sound.”
The priest momentarily shifted his gaze from me to look behind, where the barbarians who had followed me were closing in their circle.
“Feel free to struggle if you think you can.”
“Yes, well. Let’s get started.”
The priest held a golden dagger in one hand and stretched out his empty hand to the side.
Then the staff that had been standing in a corner of the room flew smoothly into his grasp.
When he lifted the staff high and began chanting a spell, several golden balls of magical power started to rise and gradually expand in size.
Whirr—
I mixed Wind Force with Twister, creating a spreading whirlwind.
The barbarians who were approaching me were swept away and toppled over.
Meanwhile, the golden balls that were now significantly larger hurtled towards me.
They floated silently and slid through the air at a rapid pace.
I grabbed one of the barbarians within reach and threw him into the air, where he was crushed upon colliding with an energy ball.
Crunch,
It was an attribute-less magic, and I knew it would crush me too if it hit me.
As I quickly moved away, the stone floor and walls behind me caved in.
The priest was creating more golden balls and the barbarians were chasing after me.
I clenched my fists tightly as I ran away.
And it started blazing with a fiery dark red flame.
[Inferno Fist]
“Try using it if you dare.”
Even though it was the skill that had knocked him out in one blow in the last dungeon, the priest did not seem particularly scared of it.
He must have something he’s relying on.
His first source of confidence was that the room where the fight was unfolding was the central room located in the deepest part of the temple.
If I were to use Inferno Fist recklessly, I would risk bringing down the building itself. I could be trapped under the rubble before I could escape.
Therefore, I first absorbed the fiery energy through Overheat to greatly enhance my physical abilities.
Pop! Pop!
I narrowly dodged the incoming golden balls, kicked off the ground a few times, and quickly closed the distance.
Although the priest tried to move the balls in front of him in defense,
Whiiish!
I was faster as I whisked past.
I left a cut on the nape of the priest’s neck.
A bit shallow.
I held Root in one hand and in the other a sword had somehow appeared.
I had picked up a few from the barbarians I had fought along the way; they were about E-rank in quality though.
They were somewhat inadequate for a D-rank boss but they were still useful enough in a pinch.
“……”
Despite his throat being slashed, the priest’s face still overflowed with confidence.
Moreover, not a single drop of blood flowed from the severed area.
Soon, the body of the barbarian that was barely alive and crushed, began to twitch wildly and rapidly dried up like a mummy.
Meanwhile, the priest’s cut neck healed cleanly in an instant.
This was the priest’s second source of confidence.
As long as the ritual continued, he incessantly absorbed the life force around him to replenish his health.
From the living sacrifices, the barbarians, and even from me if I remained here for too long.
And if we were to add in the buffs he obtained through the ritual, he would have the tenacity to survive two or three hits even if I hit the same spot with Inferno Fist.
If the fight were to move outside the temple, he would then have plenty of health potions (from the barbarian tribe), which would only increase the difficulty.
“Do you see now? Continuing a hopeless fight is foolish. Give up now and I shall grant you a painless death.”
“Give up? I am just getting started.”
“If you insist on suffering.”
The battle resumed.
The barbarians strained to land at least one strike with their spears against me while projectiles flew toward me.
Despite this, I dodged all attacks with superior speed and control and steadily closed in on the priest.
Crack!
I struck the priest in the face with Root in one hand and slashed him with a sword in the other hand.
Slash!
The priest didn’t care even though a long diagonal scar appeared on his chest and tried to hit me by manipulating an energy ball.
After dodging it at close range, I continued to swing the sword and Root in rapid succession.
Clang!
Until the moment came when the sword snapped.
I clicked my tongue and casually threw away the handle that remained.
This is why cheap things just don’t work.
Indeed, a weapon should at least last a lifetime.
Moreover, since I lacked swordsman class skills and traits, I couldn’t deal significant damage.
The deficiencies had to be compensated for by vigorously twisting my body.
After creating some distance, I checked on the priest’s condition,
“Ugh……”
His body was covered in numerous sword wounds.
The relaxed demeanor he had just moments before was gone and was replaced by a grotesquely twisted face as he looked at me.
However, he soon absorbed the life force of a few living sacrifices and several barbarians sprawled on the ground before healing his injuries and relaxing his expression once more.
“Do you still not understand? No matter how many times you try, it’s all futile.”
“It doesn’t seem quite so futile to me. Your food supply seems to be dwindling.”
“Your situation doesn’t look too good either. You’ve been dodging well, but how long can that last?”
It was a battle of whether the priest would run out of living sacrifices to absorb first, or whether I would allow even a single attack to get through before that.
And it seemed the priest believed that if he prolonged the fight, I would eventually make a mistake.
“If I make a mistake here, I’d better bite my tongue.”
A mistake I hadn’t made even in A-rank or S-rank dungeons. Would I really make one in a D-rank dungeon?
That would be like handing back my stagnant water title.
Of course, there was no need to blurt out such thoughts out loud, so I just silently adjusted my stance and surged forward.
As I rapidly approached him, the priest fired a prepared ball of energy at me, but it missed of course.
Just as I reached him and was ready to swing Root and the E-rank sword I had picked up,
The priest smiled triumphantly.
“You’ve fallen right into my trap.”
Flash!
The dagger he held in one hand emitted a light and then large energy balls shot out.
Until just moments ago, this was a spell that required considerable time and focus to cast, but now it had manifested without any prior indication.
However, before the energy balls even reached me and before the dagger even began to glow, I had already put a good distance between us.
When his critical strike turned to nothing, the priest’s face hardened.
“How did you dodge that?”
“Just watch it and dodge it.”
To be honest, it wasn’t something you could just watch and dodge; it was more like psychological warfare.
I had known about the true nature of that dagger from the beginning and had pushed him to the point where I guessed he would use it.
The priest’s third source of confidence was the magic dagger.
It was also the hidden piece I intended to take from this dungeon.
The magic it carried was [Memorize].
It was a utility-type magic that allowed you to store a spell that would normally take time to cast and manifest it instantly.
Just like the priest himself demonstrated a moment ago, it was often used as a “hidden ace”.
To drop the magic dagger, the priest must be defeated in the “central room” after “he used up all the living sacrifices”.
The priest must not leave the central room under any circumstances, nor should the sacrifices be attacked prematurely.
Moreover, it was necessary to completely isolate the temple from the outside to ensure no more living sacrifices were added.
And right now, the barrier was fulfilling this role but once it was lifted,
It will be up to Go Hyeon-woo to hold them off.
That’s the reason why I left him outside the barrier.
At the same time, it was a chance for him to test his skills against the mid-bosses.
Pop!
I compressed space again and rushed towards the priest.
The priest, perhaps deciding to try a different tactic, made the energy balls orbit around him and pointed his staff directly at me.
A golden pillar of magical power shot out like a beam.
This is even easier.
It was the main magic he used in the last dungeon, so it was just as easy to dodge.
Leaning back and forth to avoid the energy balls, I swung Root and the sword wildly and accumulated damage on the priest.
Then I quickly retreated to regroup.
Before I surged forward again and launched a flurry of attacks then withdrawing to maintain distance.
How many times did I employ this hit-and-run strategy?
“This, this can’t be…”
Gradually, the number of surrounding barbarians and living sacrifices had dwindled to the point where I could count them all at a glance.
And contrary to the priest’s expectations, I had not made even a tiny mistake.
“You seem to be getting nervous.”
“…. Shut up.”
The priest gritted his teeth.
He raised his dagger and muttered an incantation and all of a sudden the oppressive atmosphere that had been bearing down on us seemed to lighten.
At last, the protective barrier surrounding the temple had been deactivated.
This meant that the barbarians who were previously unable to enter would now flood into the temple like a tidal wave.
It also meant that the number of living sacrifices available for life force absorption had significantly increased.
The priest regained his composure and let out a low chuckle.
“Heh… Didn’t I tell you it was all futile? It’s too late to give up now. I will grant you a most painful death.”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that. Let’s just finish what we started.”
“… As you wish.”
The battle resumed.
Wounds were carved and healed here and there on the priest’s body and the number of sacrifices dwindled.
Perhaps since he was thinking that a huge supply of living sacrifices was close at hand, his defense seemed to slacken.
However…
“How can this be…?!”
Despite the number of remaining sacrifices dropping to single digits, the temple remained eerily silent.
No one seemed to be entering the central room, nor was there any sign of movement throughout the temple.
The priest urgently shouted outside the door.
“Why… Why aren’t they coming?!”
“Why aren’t they, huh?”
Seems like Go Hyeon-woo is doing a good job.
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