I kept my eyes fixed on the enormous mass of ice as I landed a short distance away.
Then I immediately thrust my staff forward.
[Pulverize Zone]
A blue circle appeared and rapidly expanded its range.
The wider the area, the higher the accuracy, but its power decreased in inverse proportion.
So I stopped once it was large enough to encompass almost the entire Feathered Serpent.
Set the timer to two minutes.
At the maximum of three minutes, there was a very high chance it would escape.
Anything in the one-minute range, on the other hand, wouldn’t deal as much damage as I wanted.
It’s pretty tanky for a boss, after all.
It wasn’t an absurd HP sponge like the Black Snake, but it still had more health than the average B+ rank.
And it had absorbed a considerable amount of power through the ritual as well.
It had already taken several direct hits from the anti-aircraft cannon, gotten nailed by Spiral Explosion, and even been crushed under a summoned glacier, but we’d still have to beat on it quite a bit more before it went down.
And right now is the perfect chance to pile on the damage.
The Feathered Serpent was half-incapacitated by the Concussion and glacier combo.
If we shaved off as much of its health as possible now, the Pulverize Zone would be that much more devastating when it activated two minutes later.
It might even be the finishing blow.
Since I’d already given the party a heads-up during our strategy meeting, everyone immediately sprang into action.
Dang Gyu-ri led her undead in a headlong charge, while Seo Ye-in and her mirror version switched the mana anti-aircraft cannon to ground mode.
Vmmmmmmmm—!
As the charge gauge began filling one segment at a time,
The Feathered Serpent thrashed around with only its head sticking out from beneath the glacier, like a worm pinned under a rock.
– Krrruk, krrruk!
– Just… just what manner of sorcery is this?!
“You kept flying around so much it was making me dizzy. I figured I’d weigh you down a little.”
Why had I gone out of my way to use a precious S-rank scroll when we already had a decent enough chance of winning if we simply continued the aerial battle?
The first reason was to increase the power and hit rate of the [Pulverize Zone] I’d cast earlier.
The second was to force it into a ground battle, just like this.
– A… weight? You dare call it a mere weight?!”
The priest seemed deeply offended by my choice of words, but now wasn’t the time for him to throw a fit.
We were rapidly closing the distance.
The next moment, golden energy gathered in front of the creature’s head, taking the shape of a sphere and rapidly swelling in size, only to—
Fwoooosh…
Disperse into thin air.
The second effect of [Mark of Concussion], “The next skill/trait cast will fail”, had kicked in.
Its cooldown should have been multiplied several times over as well, so that skill was effectively sealed for the time being.
Dang Gyu-ri narrowed her eyes and shot me a sidelong glance.
“Senior~ What kind of evil skill did you go and learn this time?”
“I merely sought to fulfill my duty as a support.”
“Isn’t a support’s duty to support their allies?”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
I was weakening the enemy to make things easier for my allies, wasn’t I?
At my shameless argument, Dang Gyu-ri raised an eyebrow.
“…Now that you put it that way, it actually sounds convincing. I can’t argue with that.”
Then she kicked off the ground and shot forward, mercilessly smashing her club into the Feathered Serpent’s head.
Kwoooom—!
The Qyu-Shadow undead followed right behind her, swarming the creature and unleashing a barrage of attacks.
Shadow blades tore into its golden-feathered body while the Lab Director’s large fists hammered into it.
I joined in as well, chaining together the S-rank-amplified Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger, Frozen Spirit Shot, and Chain Explosion.
Boom! Boom, boom!
[‘Delayed Pain’ has been activated.]
[‘Retrocovery’ has been activated.]
[Cooldown 2 days 23:59:58]
The elemental penalties kept stacking until Retrocovery finally triggered.
Next, Seo Ye-in’s fully charged mana cannon fired and slammed into the creature.
Booooom—!
Krrruk, krrruk—!
The Feathered Serpent writhed in agony as damage piled up on it by the second.
Even so, it didn’t counterattack, apparently deciding that getting out from under this huge chunk of ice took priority.
A moment later, its feathers flashed with an intense golden light.
Boom-boom-boom-boom—!
Golden explosions of various sizes erupted all across its body in rapid succession.
That’s practically a self-destruct attack.
Since it was caught within the blasts itself, it was bound to take some damage as well.
Of course, it was a fairly effective way to break free of the glacier.
If it weren’t unbreakable, that is.
The A-rank-amplified [Diamond Freeze] lasted a full fifty seconds.
Until then, the glacier wouldn’t so much as get scratched, let alone break.
Boom, boom! Boom-boom-boom—!
Only after blowing itself up for quite some time did the Feathered Serpent seem to realize something was wrong.
– Why… Why will it not break?
I kept attacking while subtly egging it on.
“Maybe if you keep at it? Looks like it might break. Just a little more?”
– That mouth of yours truly never knows when to stay shut.
“But I sincerely mean it. Oh! There’s a crack over there.”
– …Where do you see a crack?
“Hmm~? Maybe I saw wrong~?”
– You dare mock me?!
At the priest’s furious outburst, I snapped back even more indignantly.
“Either way, all you have to do is break out, right? Come on, put some muscle into it!”
– Silence—!
Of course, he didn’t really have a choice.
Even at that very moment, the party’s concentrated attacks continued raining down.
Trying to deal with us on the ground would be far worse than finding some way to get airborne again.
Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
And so the Feathered Serpent continued setting off explosions all across its body, struggling for what must have felt like an eternity over those fifty seconds.
And finally,
Crack, c-crack…
The ice began to break apart, and its long body slowly started forcing its way out of the glacier.
Can’t have that.
From our perspective, the easiest and most efficient option was to keep the boss pinned in one place and beat the hell out of it.
If it escaped the glacier, it would also be outside the range of Pulverize Zone.
First, let’s soften it up a little.
[Activated ‘Octopus Limbs’.]
[Activated ‘Mutual Destruction Eye’.] *30
[‘Poison (S)’ has been inflicted on the target.]
[‘Weathering (S)’…]
[‘Freeze (S)’…]
…
[Cooldown 14:59:58]
Whoooooosh—
Crack-crack-crack—
After using it the maximum thirty times, wind wrapped around the creature’s entire body while ice spread over it.
It was now vulnerable to wind magic, and its body had stiffened up.
Taking advantage of that brief opening, I cast Wind Force again.
Boom!
The creature, which had been trying to wriggle its way out, was shoved right back in.
At the same time, the rest of the party’s attacks landed, shattering the glacier and sending it crashing down.
Rrrrrrumble…
And crushing the creature for a second time.
Having a glacier around sure makes things easy.
That S-rank scroll was certainly earning its keep.
With a satisfied smile, I offered the Feathered Serpent another word of encouragement.
“Come on, let’s break out again! You can do it! Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!”
“…….”
Perhaps its rage had reached such heights that it couldn’t even bring itself to answer.
It simply focused in silence on breaking through the ice.
Though whether it would actually manage to escape was another question.
Boom!
Whenever it started to wriggle out, I shoved it back in.
Boom-boom!
And whenever it tried again, I shoved it back in again.
After this happened several times, the priest finally broke his heavy silence.
His voice sounded utterly sick and tired of the whole ordeal.
– …Enough. Please, just stop already.
“We’re almost done anyway.”
– …What do you mean?
“Ten, nine, eight…”
– Wait. Wait just a moment.
When the countdown suddenly began instead of an answer, the priest grew visibly uneasy.
Only then did he seem to realize it.
A strange blue circle had been covering him for quite some time now.
And it was obvious that something ominous would happen once the countdown reached zero.
“Seven, six, five…”
– This cannot be… This cannot be happening!
“Well then, take care on your way out, O Great One.”
– Krrruuuuk—!
– This can’t…!
Before the priest could even finish speaking, an immense, invisible pressure came crashing down.
Kwoooooooom—!
And flattened the Feathered Serpent into a Feathered Pancake.
Of course, I’d carefully adjusted the area so the very ends of its body remained relatively intact.
I still need its shadow, after all.
That was one of our main objectives.
But if we dragged our feet, we might lose even that opportunity, so I gestured to Dang Gyu-ri.
“Noona, hurry.”
“Mhmm.”
Apparently thinking the same thing, Dang Gyu-ri quickly stepped forward.
As she reached out her hand, a huge shadow was slowly drawn toward her before being absorbed beneath her feet.
▷Shadow Extraction [5/5]
1. Lab Director (A)
2. Shadow Commander (A)
3. Blood Sword Commander (A+)
4. Ghost Demon (A)
5. Feathered Serpent (B+)
Dang Gyu-ri shared her skill window with me with a satisfied smile on her face.
“We got something good out of this.”
“Now you’ve got a flying Qyu-Qyu.”
“Looks like it. Nice work. You too, Ye-in~”
Seo Ye-in looked quietly pleased as well.
After putting away her mana cannon, Seo Ye-in walked over and answered with a small nod.
“That was fun.”
“Because you got to test out your new weapon?”
“Mhmm.”
Then she turned to Dang Gyu-ri, her eyes sparkling even more brightly.
“Flying Qyu-Qyu.”
“Hehehe, want me to give you a ride too?”
“Mhmm.”
Apparently, everyone wanted to know what it felt like to fly.
Dang Gyu-ri also seemed eager to test out her new Qyu-shadow, but—
Rrrrrumble…….
The sound and vibrations of something collapsing came from somewhere nearby.
That meant the dungeon had begun to collapse, so our best bet was to get out as quickly as possible.
We headed toward the newly opened exit, first collecting the boxes lying in front of it.
[Decent of the Feathered Serpent Random Box (B+)]*6
We left the same way we had back at the Black Death Dungeon.
Dang Gyu-ri went out first and activated her stealth skills, then used [Shadow Pouch] to conceal us as we followed her out.
Fortunately, everything went according to plan this time as well, and we leisurely left the depths behind and headed upstairs.
On the way up, I spotted Song Cheon-hye, who still seemed to be making her rounds.
She paced around with a sullen look on her face, repeatedly glancing at the empty air.
She must be checking her messages.
More precisely, she was probably opening and closing them over and over.
Since I still hadn’t replied, she probably felt like I was ignoring her and was starting to get suspicious.
I can just reply once we get back.
I had the fact that it was the middle of the night as an excuse, too.
Putting that thought aside, we continued on our way and soon passed through Floors E and F before finally making it back to the surface.
“…….”
Dang Gyu-ri continued to scan our surroundings carefully until the very end.
By now, word that the dungeon had collapsed would have spread throughout the underground floors, so there was a chance that members of the Disciplinary Committee or faculty had come out ahead of us and were lying in wait.
Only after finding nothing particularly suspicious did she finally relax.
I asked her,
“Should we call it a night for now?”
“I’d like to spend a little more time together.”
“To open the boxes?”
“You’re perfectly capable of handling that on your own.”
“Then what?”
“I was thinking we could just take a walk together.”
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”
Seo Ye-in also chose to stick around rather than head back first, so we decided to take a leisurely stroll along the walking trail.
But near the entrance, we spotted the silhouette of someone standing there.
As if he had been waiting for us, he walked over and greeted us.
“Long time no see.”
It was none other than Kwak Seung-jae, this year’s Disciplinary Committee president.
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