Before heading from the 30th floor to the 31st.
Clara who saw Rohan wounded made a firm decision and confessed something.
“O-Oppa. The truth is…”
Clara revealed the true weapon she possessed to both Rohan and Sion.
Although Rohan had never brought it up, he had known about it all along.
Sion too had realized during their brief standoff at the academy dorm that Clara’s real weapon was neither a dagger nor a pistol.
Just as Ichinose Yui has Yoru and Noah Frozenheart has Fimbulvetr,
Clara also has a special, dedicated weapon of her own.
“Sorry for telling you so late… It’s not like I wanted to hide it…”
“I’m happy you told us, Clara. Don’t apologize for that.”
Those words were no mere empty words.
Rohan felt both her growth and his gratitude toward Clara, who had volunteered this information.
After all, the reason she opened up was because she was worried about him. Who could possibly blame her for that?
“Clara. Is it okay if I hear this too?”
That was Sion’s question as she quietly watched them.
In response, Clara nodded shyly with a smile, and Sion returned the smile as she felt a warm contentment rising in her chest.
Surviving in a dungeon, sharing life and death, had brought the two girls closer.
That in turn made Rohan feel even happier.
“Let’s go up.”
“Ah, mhmm…!”
Rohan knew without saying why Clara, despite having a remarkable weapon, hadn’t used it sooner. The same went for her story in Abyss City.
That weapon had a tremendous range and attack power, but operating it consumes a monstrous amount of magical power.
Given Clara’s personality, she had surely been worried about becoming a burden to the party if she ended up having man exhaustion.
We were in long, drawn-out combat situations from the start. She probably never felt the need to bring it out.
But that weapon is also part of the girl’s identity, highlighting both her strengths and weaknesses.
Clara was known as a damage dealer who could unleash absurd DPS in an instant. And with the right setup and growth, her shortcomings could be compensated for.
So I finally get to see it in action?
On the verge of battle, Rohan felt a childish excitement welling up inside him.
Even the pain pulsing in his chest from his racing heart was momentarily forgotten.
··
··
[⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍]
The monster, having successfully protected the monolith, displayed its anger through the television screens.
The writhing thorny vines suddenly straightened, assuming an attack stance.
Then—Boom! Rohan and Sion kicked down a door each to secure a wide field of vision.
A room housing the boss monster and the monolith.
Entering politely was not an option.
“Let’s go. We’ve got a home to return to.”
“Okay!”
“Sounds good.”
The moment they stepped inside, Rohan took the lead and infused his dagger with a crimson color.
Heat flickered along the blade, forming a shimmering mirage.
They each knew exactly what they had to do.
Crackle! The vines whipped violently through the air, rushing forward.
Seizing the moment when the dense thorns lunged to attack—
Click!
Sion aimed her gun at the television displaying the monster’s emotions.
Her pistol crackled with electricity—Crackle! Crackle!—as it fired bullets charged with her elemental power.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Baaang!
If she couldn’t fully imbue a single bullet with mana, she would distribute it across multiple shots.
Sion demonstrated her gift for packing mana just short of the bullet’s explosion threshold as she continued to fire.
[ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ] [ㅜ_ㅜ]
The monster changed its expression as if in pain. Pieces fell off its display, now riddled with holes.
“It’s working.”
Clearly, it wasn’t going to stop there. Sion dodged the vines targeting her and reloaded her magazine.
Rohan dodged the vines flying at him, cut them down with his dagger, then bit down on a blue potion bottle and reached out his hand. He gripped the vine without hesitation.
He ignored the thorns piercing his hand and was about to use the Inflict Weakness skill when the boss monster grew startled and withdrew its vine.
As expected.
Creatures of this level noticed anomalies quickly.
Rohan shook off his bloody left hand that was punctured by thorns and charged forward.
Sion seized the moment to resume firing, causing the vines to recoil. In that split second, Rohan pinned one of the vines against his left flank, making escape impossible.
Despite focusing his mana on physical reinforcement, the pain of his side being sliced by the sharpened vine was excruciating.
He checked his status at the same time.
Health: 71%. Status ailment: Bleeding.
Pain can be endured. He was confident that actual death was still far off, so this much was manageable.
[?] [?] [?] [?]
The monster who expressed confusion through its shattered television screens—
Rohan poured his mana into it.
Inflict Weakness.
Over seventy percent of the mana he had replenished during their rest vanished in the blink of an eye.
A wave of headache and dizziness hit him, but Rohan savored the bitter taste of the potion still in his mouth and kept his focus.
[Physical attribute weakness has been applied to the target.]
He flung aside the vine ensnaring his flank and leaped backward to gain distance.
This is going better than expected.
Unlike the time he used it on Joo Yeon, he hadn’t lost consciousness this time. The effect was applied, and that alone was enough.
Whether it was a simulated effect or not, he felt only a faint discomfort thanks to the potion. He could handle it.
“Clara.”
The girl who had just sliced through a vine as thick as an elephant’s leg landed next to Rohan.
Seeing his wound, Clara bit her lip. Her eyes were filled with concern.
“Please… punish it for me.”
“Y-Yes… I’ll make it pay!”
Fierce anger flickered in Clara’s usually gentle gaze.
She stowed the pistol and butterfly knife she was holding inside her clothes, then pulled out a cylindrical black object.
It was the item Sion had initially mistaken for a gun silencer.
Although it was just about as thick as two fingers combined, once it absorbed Clara’s mana, the object began to reveal its true form.
“…Arachne.”
Rather than a silencer, it was actually a black spool of thread.
Soaked in Clara’s mana, the thread spread out in all directions like a spiderweb.
Rip—rip—rip—!
Dozens of vines were instantly severed and fell to the floor.
Fwoosh! Sion who had just reloaded, landed beside Rohan and Clara.
“That’s an impressive power.”
“Right? Our Clara’s got it in her.”
Rohan spoke as if he were proud, but Sion smirked and bluntly told him to focus on stopping the bleeding first.
At Rohan’s words, Clara’s face flushed as she moved her fingers.
“…Oppa. Take a potion and wait just a little longer.”
The fully unraveled thread was connected to Clara’s fingers like a ring.
With her slender fingers and mana, she controlled the thread with delicate precision.
Once again, thorny vines surged like waves and lashed like whips.
As Clara moved her hand, they were instantly severed, tumbling to the ground.
No matter how thick the vines were, they had already been weakened.
Even under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have been strong enough to withstand Clara’s attacks. But now that their weaknesses were exposed, cutting through them must have felt as effortless as cutting through tofu.
Tak!
Clara kicked off the ground and leaped into the air, before perching herself on a thread she had anchored in the air.
She appeared to be floating.
From below, Rohan’s eyes landed on the sight of Clara’s thighs pressing into the thread.
“…….”
She sat on the thread and took in the whole situation. Then she started moving her hands with practiced grace.
Her fingers danced elegantly, like a pianist playing the keys, and with each movement, the threads flashed and began to interconnect.
“Sion, the monolith will be exposed soon. Get ready.”
“…Understood.”
Rohan snapped Sion out of her daze as she stared blankly at Clara’s movements.
Then, he began analyzing the situation.
The threads Clara controlled had a uniquely sharp quality.
They carried the lethal edge and cutting power of a master-crafted blade. Their elasticity made them nearly impossible to sever with brute force.
On top of that, Clara’s Arachne absorbed the user’s mana and even generated various toxins on its own.
“Spider’s Thread.”
Clara attached the connected strands to her hands and feet.
Then, letting herself fall backward, she dropped from the thread she had been sitting on.
The mana-infused girl’s descent acted as a counterweight.
The spread-out threads constricted the monster in one swift motion.
Crunch!!!
Hundreds of layers of thorny vines, tied down by the thin threads, were severed all at once. It was a spectacular sight.
[X_X] [X_X] [X_X] [X_X]
The expression on the television screens changed. The plant wilted and drooped limply.
Assuming that the boss was dead, just like the other monsters they had seen so far, Sion pulled the trigger through the opening where the monolith became visible.
Bang!
Would one shot be enough?
Bang-bang-bang-bang!
Sion emptied the magazine in an instant.
[Monolith Legally Demolished! – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 50P as an achievement reward.]
“It’s destroyed.”
It was Rohan’s voice after he confirmed the achievement. Sion stopped firing.
Crack! A fissure ran through the monolith, and it shattered cleanly.
“Phew, is it really over?”
Sion exhaled and holstered her pistol. But—
“Wait…!”
Rohan’s eyes flew open as he moved.
It was too late to speak, so he acted on pure instinct.
Because the boss monster hadn’t given him any points yet.
Fwip—!
The boss’s final thorn. One last desperate strike before death.
A thorn, no different from a harpoon, shot silently toward Sion.
Rohan charged in to deflect it, but due to his lack of mana and his urgency, he couldn’t assume a proper stance. That led to disaster.
Thwack!
Rohan’s right arm was severed and fell to the ground along with his dagger.
“Ah, was that a pointless move?”
Perhaps Sion had intended to counterattack even if it was late. Rohan saw her holding a baton and let out a faint laugh.
Her skills really are impressive.
“You…!”
Sion held her breath as she looked at Rohan’s shoulder stump where his arm had been.
He felt it was the first time he’d seen such a horrified look on Sion’s face.
Right then, Clara landed beside them, staggering from mana exhaustion.
She froze at the sight of Rohan’s severed arm.
[+10P]
Only then did the boss-kill points come through.
At the same time—
[Gardener’s Final Pruning – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 50P as an achievement reward.]
[Pulling Out Troublesome Weeds – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 30P as an achievement reward.]
It was the first time he defeated a plant-type boss. A flood of newly unlocked achievements poured before Rohan’s eyes.
[We Are All Bound by Fate – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 30P as an achievement reward.]
[Perfect Survival – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 30P as an achievement reward.]
[A Lost Tourist’s First Success Story – Achievement Unlocked.]
[You have received 10P as an achievement reward.]
…
…
The world began to crumble.
Crack! A rift tore through midair, and the fake sun that had emitted only heat all this time shattered.
There was no reason to fear this mysterious and inexplicable situation.
Somehow, Rohan and the girls unconsciously knew they would return to their original place through this process.
What truly frightened Sion and Clara was Rohan’s condition.
“Rohan! This is my fault for being careless…! I’ll take you straight to a hospital the moment we arrive…!”
“Oppa…! Don’t lose consciousness, no matter what! Okay?!”
Rohan tried to reassure the two panicked girls, but his legs gave out and he collapsed.
He wanted to tell them he was fine, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished. His head felt fuzzy from the blood loss accumulated during the battle.
It hurts.
He’d experienced severed limbs a few times in the past, but it was never something he could get used to.
The broken world swirled into a vortex—
And then collapsed entirely.
[The quest has been complete.]
[You have received your reward.]
[Clear rewards will be distributed according to contributions.]
[Initiating full party recovery.]
Leave a Reply