Originally, the recommended party size for the Black Death dungeon was eight to ten people.
That was counting only those taking on the boss raid, excluding anyone assigned to obtain the hidden piece.
Even Pang Mi-ryeong, before she graduated, had challenged it with two full parties.
Simply defeating the boss was possible with a single party, but dungeon clears usually came with conditions such as doing it safely and without casualties.
That was especially true for a boss like the Black Snake, who relied primarily on poison.
You needed someone capable of curing poison, as well as others who could buy time while the afflicted recovered.
But what if you were immune to poison?
The dungeon’s difficulty would drop dramatically.
After all, there was no way the Black Snake would abandon the poison arts he had spent his entire life cultivating in favor of some other martial art.
As long as the party was strong enough, one party or even fewer people than that would be more than sufficient. Kim Ho had also concluded that the three of them could handle the boss raid on their own.
What matters is how the fight goes.
How easily could they bring him down, and with how little damage?
As Dang Gyu-ri was thinking that, the Black Snake lowered his body ever so slightly before suddenly kicking off the ground and shooting toward them.
Whoooosh—!
As if they had been waiting for that very moment, the Qyu Shadow Undead attacked from both sides in a coordinated assault.
Deep gashes opened across the Black Snake’s shoulder and upper arm.
But it had apparently all been within his calculations.
Ignoring the wounds completely, he continued charging straight ahead.
His target was Hong Yeon-hwa, the Flame Emperor’s successor and the reigning duck stew champion.
Of course, there was no way Dang Gyu-ri was going to let that happen.
She stepped between them and swung her club at the jet-black claws slashing toward her.
Claaang—!
Unable to withstand the impact, the Black Snake was forced back half a step.
A look of surprise spread across his face.
“So I was the one pushed back. As expected of a true master. But—”
Whoooosh!
Moving with movement technique as fluid as a snake, he changed direction and lunged at Seo Ye-in instead.
Once again, Dang Gyu-ri intercepted him, and this time he paid the price for plunging into the middle of the enemy formation.
Slash!
Ratatatatatatata!
Fwoooosh!
The Shadow Commander thrust, the Blood Sword Commander slashed, magic bullets rained into him, and blazing flames engulfed his body.
The Black Snake stiffened for the briefest instant before an explosive surge of pitch-black demonic energy and poisonous energy erupted from him.
Whooooooooosh!
He had begun unleashing his demonic arts in earnest.
At the same time, the wounds covering his body rapidly began to heal.
He laughed, baring his teeth in a grin.
“Hoho… I am immortal.”
For a long time, the Black Death Sect had been performing a grand demonic ritual using the young people of the surrounding region as sacrifices.
They had failed to capture the waiter from the duck stew restaurant, but countless lives had already been offered.
As a result, the Black Snake had obtained a body he could confidently call immortal.
Not that he was truly immortal.
He just has an absurd amount of HP.
That was another reason the recommended party size was so large.
The fight was guaranteed to become a battle of attrition, consuming ever greater amounts of stamina, mana, and other resources.
And the longer the battle dragged on, the longer everyone would remain poisoned.
Which, in turn, would place an even greater burden on the detox specialists.
Dang Gyu-ri found herself thinking the same thing again.
But we have poison immunity, don’t we?
Without poison to worry about, the Black Snake was nothing more than a training dummy with an enormous health pool.
Even so, she wanted to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
After all, it was related to the bet she had made with Kim Ho.
During the strategy meeting, Dang Gyu-ri had suddenly asked,
– But what if we defeat the boss before you guys finish?
– Then the dungeon clears. But that won’t happen.
Kim Ho had answered without the slightest hesitation.
No matter how overwhelming the three girls’ firepower was, defeating the Black Snake in a short amount of time was impossible.
He expected the boss to still be alive even after the infiltration team completed their objective, defeated the White Snake, and regrouped with them.
Dang Gyu-ri had smiled mischievously before asking again,
– But what if we do beat him first?”
– Then I’ll give you one wish ticket. A capital-W Wish Ticket.
In other words, he would grant virtually any request.
It was an unusually generous offer coming from Kim Ho.
Of course, that also showed just how confident he was.
Sometimes it’s our turn to catch him off guard.
If she had been fighting alone, it would have been one thing.
But with Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa fighting alongside her, surpassing even Kim Ho’s expectations seemed entirely possible.
Naturally, the two of them had already heard about the bet.
Dang Gyu-ri flashed them a grin.
“A wish ticket is only as good as how you use it. So work with me here.”
“……!”
If they played their cards right, everyone could end up happy.
Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa clearly felt the same way, their eyes sparkling with renewed fighting spirit.
Each of them already imagining what they would ask for if they won.
“……?”
The Black Snake’s brow twitched.
A strangely pink, lovey-dovey atmosphere had suddenly appeared in the middle of a life-and-death battle.
“It seems you still have the luxury of letting your mind wander.”
“We’ve got too much room to spare. Why don’t you try a little harder?”
“…We’ll see how long you can keep that up!”
Baaang—!
The Black Snake and Dang Gyu-ri clashed once again.
The next moment, his body blurred before he began raking the air with a frenzy of claw strikes.
Jet-black sword energies swept across the battlefield.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—!
They might have been immune to poison, but getting hit by sword energy would still hurt, so everyone evaded the attack in their own way.
The Black Snake watched them closely before his eyes suddenly lit up.
He had spotted the tiniest opening.
Now!
Tap!
Driving his movement technique to its limit, he shot straight toward Seo Ye-in.
His elongated claws slashed diagonally through the air—
Creaaaaaaaak!
—but Hologram Chattering Sloth cut in front of her and raised her pot.
If it had been the Immortal Pot, it would have blocked the attack with ease.
Unfortunately, the hologram version’s defensive power was considerably weaker.
It was shredded to pieces in an instant, and the follow-up strike carved a long gash across Chattering Sloth’s body as well.
“…….”
Chattering Sloth’s figure grew faint before disappearing entirely.
Having landed his first successful attack, the Black Snake’s lips curled into a smile.
Got one.
Then—
A short distance away, light gathered with a flash.
Flaaash—!
Chattering Sloth reappeared.
And, as always, she delivered a familiar line.
– I am immortal.
“……!”
Her figure blurred and vanished again.
A moment later—
Flaaash!
She reappeared somewhere else.
Spreading both arms wide, she declared once more,
– Immortal.
“…….!”
A thick vein bulged across the Black Snake’s forehead.
Meanwhile, looking noticeably more exhausted than before, Seo Ye-in turned to Chattering Sloth.
“…My mana.”
Please stop using it.
***
Rumble…
A thunderous crash echoed from the distance.
The Qyu Party was probably still locked in fierce combat at the main gate against the Black Snake and his followers.
Judging by how sharply the number of guards stationed inside had dwindled, they seemed to be doing even better than expected.
Meanwhile, our group continued making its way through the maze-like corridors.
Some passages were rigged with trap formations, while others were guarded by elite martial artists.
It would’ve been a lot easier if Trap Master Shin Byeong-cheol was here.
But since he wasn’t, all we could do was avoid the trap formations whenever we came across them.
Even though we took a wide detour, our pace was actually faster.
Slash!
That was because the swordsman couple cut down every enemy they came across.
After eliminating yet another witness, Han So-mi declared,
“Perfect crime!”
She had clearly been deeply influenced by my philosophy.
As expected, people naturally grow closer the more they talk.
Before long, we arrived at the Leader’s storage vault.
After swiftly taking down the elite martial artists guarding the area, we took the key and unlocked the door.
Before stepping inside, I spoke to the two of them.
“Go wait farther away. Over there.”
“So be it.”
Go Hyeon-woo nodded without objection.
Then he led Han So-mi farther down the corridor.
Watching them leave, I finally stepped into the vault.
Inside, all kinds of valuable and priceless treasures were neatly stacked.
However, every last one of them was covered with black talismans. They were Lower Poison Talismans, crafted using the Black Death Sect Leader’s martial arts.
The moment anyone touched them, the entire room would be engulfed in poisonous smoke.
So what.
The instant I grabbed a nearby porcelain vase, black smoke began billowing out from every direction.
Shhhhhhh….
That’s exactly why I told them to stay back.
The two of them still didn’t have poison immunity.
Casually fanning the air in front of me, I looked around.
Now that the Lower Poison Talismans had been rendered useless, what had once been a deadly trap was nothing more than an ordinary storage room.
The number of items I could take had increased dramatically.
Unfortunately, only a portion of them were recognized as actual items.
Still, I’ll take it.
As far as bonus rewards went, this was a generous haul.
I stored every item I could into my inventory, including the [Leader’s Black Chest], which had been hidden away in a corner.
Feeling thoroughly satisfied, I left the vault.
Go Hyeon-woo immediately approached and asked,
“Are you finished?”
“Yeah. Now it’s your turn.”
“……!”
Tension spread across Go Hyeon-woo’s face.
The time had finally come for him to reunite with the White Snake.
At the same time, a tangle of emotions flickered across his expression.
The excitement of finally meeting the person he had long awaited,
And the anxiety of not knowing whether he would emerge victorious,
Along with the guilt of using the sacred relic as he pleased, all those emotions seemed to be swirling together.
Even Han So-mi’s usual bright expression had turned serious with concern.
But Go Hyeon-woo quickly regained his composure and said,
“I am ready. Let us go.”
“That’s more like it.”
I grinned and took the lead, with the other two following behind.
Not long afterward, we found a suitably spacious area.
More than enough room for two master swordsmen to settle their duel.
Next, I need to meet the White Snake.
He was, after all, the hidden boss and the only real variable in the Black Death raid.
He wandered the area aimlessly, and only if you were “truly unlucky” would you run into him.
Back then, Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol had been those truly unlucky people.
But my luck seems pretty good today.
So far, there wasn’t even a single strand of white hair in sight.
Of course, this was all within my expectations.
I already knew how to find him.
And I had an even better method.
I can just call him over.
I reached into my inventory and pulled out an artifact adorned with several small bells.
It was the Soul-Summoning Bell.
Then I turned to the other two.
“Cover your ears.”
It was an A+ Rank artifact saturated with malicious energy. Simply hearing it could inflict damage on the mind.
Covering their ears wouldn’t completely protect them, but it was certainly better than doing nothing.
As for me, I was safely protected by the Monarch’s formidable mental barrier.
After confirming that both of them had covered their ears, I vigorously shook the Soul-Summoning Bell toward the empty air.
Jingle… Jingle… Jingle-jingle….
“.……?”
Han So-mi’s eyes quickly grew unfocused.
Maybe it was because she was an idiot that she was more susceptible to the Soul-Summoning Bell’s effects.
Seeing Go Hyeon-woo holding out reasonably well only made that theory seem more convincing.
As I entertained the ridiculous thought, I sensed a presence approaching from the distance.
A moment later, an elderly man dressed entirely in white emerged.
His clothes were white, his skin was deathly pale, and even the irises of his eyes were completely white.
It was none other than the hidden boss and elder of the Demonic Cult—
The White Snake.
His gaze settled squarely on me before shifting to my hand.
“…So the Soul-Summoning Bell of our sacred cult has ultimately fallen into the hands of an outsider. A truly lamentable state of affairs.”
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