am-books Chapter 811: Hidden Story (3)
Chapter 811: Hidden Story (3)
‘MemoryoftheApocalypse.’
AhiddenfieldaccessiblethroughSkullsland.
riginally,thisplacewasjustwhereyoukilledthe“Beast,”thebossoftheislandcalledApocalypsesland,andthatwasit.Butifyoudiscoveredthehiddenelement,youcouldenjoyextracontent.
Forexample...
eavetheislandandgotoArta’ssecretbase,and◈оvеlіgһт◈(Continuereading)youcandotheSnikturaraid.
hen,takethenextquest,gobackandkillthe“Beast”onApocalypsesland,andyoucangetanextrareward.
Andifyourefusethatextrareward,youunlocktherealboss—theMechanicalBehemothArtaraid.
‘wasn’tplanningondoingtheArtaraidanyway,sodon’tneedtothinkaboutit.’
npractice,theonlythingleftformeonthisislandwasthesecondstage—killingtheBeastandclaimingtheextrareward.
Well,that’sifthisguyweren’there.
“m.Atfirst,thoughtitwasjustadifferenceinmanadensity,butnowseetheverynatureofthemanaintheairisunusual.hissortofarrangementusuallyonlyformsartificially...”
Whatthehellisthisguy?
CouldtherehavebeenahiddenchapterbeyondthefinalfightwiththeMechanicalBehemothArta?
Mygamer’sintuitiontoldmetheoddswerehigh.
Andbecauseofthat...
“’llhavetoreturntotheoriginaltimelineandfindthisislandatthesecoordinatestobesure.ftheoriginalislandhasthesamearrangement,thenitmightjustbeanaturaltraitoftheislanditself.”
Sincedidn’tknow,madesuretolistencarefullytoeverylinethatcameoutofhim.
Youknowhowitis—mosthiddencontentingamesstartsfromsomethrowawayPCremark.
‘otthatactuallyunderstandadamnthinghe’ssaying.’
Manathis,arrangementthat,density...’mnomage,sothere’snowaycouldfollowit.
Still,knewonethingforsure—therightroutewastodraghimalongandcleartheBeastraidfirst.
hereasoningwassimple.
“othecenter!Wehavetogettothecenter!needtoobserveitif’mgoingtocomparethedifferencewhenwereturn—”
Yeah.ekepttryingtosendusthere.
“Don’tbesopushy.oingtothecenterdoesn’tmeanit’lljustshowup.”
“What?”
“Just—”
Keepthatinmind,wasabouttosay,when—
[U——!]
heBeast’showlrolledovertheentireisland.
techoedfromeverydirection,somuchsothatitwasmeaninglesstoeventrypinpointingwhereitcamefrom.
“Yourcharacterhasenteredtheradiusof[SongoftheApocalypse].”
quicklystoppedmovingandshouted.
twashappeningsoonerthan’dexpected.
“Battlestations!!”
thadappeared.
***
hebossofApocalypsesland—theBeast.
hemethodtosummonitwassimple.
Stayinitsterritorylongenough,anditappearsnaturally.
Asfarasthegamewent,therewerenootherwaystosummonit.
“Formation...!!”
venaswehurriedtogetintobattleformation,doubtcreptin.
‘...t’sappearingthemomentwestepinside?’
veninthegame,thathadneverhappened.omatterhowfastitwas,you’dhavetoroamtheareaforanhourortwobeforeitshowedup.
Butthistime,westeppedin,andboom—summoned.
“h...!Don’ttellmeit’sactuallyhere?”
So...wasitbecauseofhim?
Whatever.hiswasn’tthetimetothinkaboutit.
“Yeah.Fromhereonout,staybackthere.”
“Yes,understood!”
First,sentArtatoasafepositionintherear.
hump—!
Mybody,heatedfromtheanticipationofbattle,surgedforwardtothevanguard.
Andthen...
“oo...”
Asalways,steadiedmybreathingbeforethefight.
twaslikearitualathletesdobeforeamatch.xhalingslowlymademefeeljustalittlecalmer...
Creak—
Andbelievedthatcalm—evenifonlyalittle—wouldraisemyoddsofvictory.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—!
“t’scoming...!”
hegroundheavedlikewaves,andfromitburstlava.
Fromwithinthatblaze,the“Beast”emerged.
Kwoooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhh—!
Fromnowon,everysecondmattered.
Afterall,itsauraskill,[SongoftheApocalypse],hadaveryspecialeffect.
“Alltimeisaccelerated.”
t’sonlyaone-linedescription,butasanyonewho’sreadabattlemangaknows,thesimplertheexplanation,themorebrokentheability.
And[SongoftheApocalypse]wasnoexception.
“imeremaininguntildeath:22:50:43.”
Fromnowon,theremainingtimeonthe[erminal]statuswouldstarttickingdownseveraltimesfaster.
“Characterstakecontinuousfiredamage,whichincreasesovertime.”
hefieldeffect,[ternalBlaze],workedthesameway.
venthe“rbofFire”thathalveddamagewouldn’tholdoutforlong—thebreakingpointwouldcomemuchfaster.
hat’swhy,inmyoriginalexplorationplan,theraidtimeforthisthingwasfixed.
‘hirtyminutes.’
hirtyminutesmax.Anylongerandwe’dcallitafailure,turnaround,andrunwithoutlookingback.
‘...otthatit’slikelytocometothat.’
heBeastwastough,butitwasstilleasierthantheSerpentoftheApocalypse,Sniktura—assumingyouknewthestrategy.
“h...Bjorn!!hat’stheone?!”
Ainard’svoicerangout,oddlyexcitedatthesightoftheBeast.She’dbeenpesteringmeeversinceSkullsland,sayingshewantedtokillitafterseeingitsbones.uessshewasn’tkidding.
‘Still,thoughtshe’dbealittleintimidatedseeingitinperson.’
activated[iantForm],raisedmyshieldtocovermyupperbody,andlookedatthecreaturebeyond.
tstoodaroundninemeterstall—enoughtoqualifyas“ultra-large”bymonsterclassification.
tsbuildwasabitliketheChaosordiakis—bipedal,withamassivetail.
Fromamodernhumanperspective,itlookedalmostlikeadinosaur.
[U——!]
thuncheditstorsoandroared.
hevibrationintheairwasstrongenoughtofeelonmyskin.hiswasn’tjustaroar—itwasaskillinitsownright.
“heAncientBeasthascast[Ultimatum].”
“Forfiveminutes,allphysicalstatsofcharacterswithinrangewillsteadilydecrease.”
nitsown,thewide-areadebuffwasn’tthatthreatening—thestatreductionwassmall,andthefive-minutelimitkeptitmanageable.
Butwhencombinedwiththe“alltimeisaccelerated”effectof[SongoftheApocalypse]...
“Urgh...!Mystrength’sdraining...!Andkeephearingweirdsounds...!”
Whatwouldnormallytakefiveminutestomaxoutnowtookbarelyone.Andwithnocooldown,itcouldkeeptheeffectgoingfortheentirefight.
otthatcameunprepared.
“Urgh...wehavetofightlikethis?”
hisguyagain.’dexplainedallthisinthebriefing.
“Raven!”
Atmycall,AruaRavencastherpreparedmagic.
“AruaRavencastsRank5CurseMagic[Whiteone].”
“Characters’hearingistemporarilyparalyzed.”
hemomentittookeffect,itwaslikeputtinginearplugsinasilentroom—totalstillness.
oteventherustleofmyclothesorthesoundofmyownbreathingremained.
Andthereasonforusingitwassimple.
“[Ultimatum]hasbeendispelled.”
hismagiccouldclearthedebuff—somethingnomagicitem,consumable,holyspell,orpurificationabilitycoulddo.
Asforwhyitworked...
“...”
hadnoidea.
amersdon’tcareaboutthewhy—onlytheefficiency.fitworks,youuseit.
‘Anditworksinrealitytoo.’
nthegame,’ddiscovereditbyaccidentandthoughtitwasabug.Butaftercountlessexplorationsinafdonia,learned—therewerenobugsinthatgame.
‘Still,feelsgoodtoseeitconfirmed.’
fithadn’tworked,would’veabortedtheraidimmediately.
Slide.
Withthemagicactive,weswitchedtohandsignalsasagreed.
ikethis:
“heAncientBeasthascast[KnotofRuin].”
“Damagetakenisgreatlyreducedforasetduration;whenitends,statsincreaseinproportiontodamagetaken...”
Clenchfistandraiseit—stopDPS.
“heAncientBeasthascast[Devour].”
penhand,waveforwardandback—everyonebutmeevades.
“BelegShusiadiersiacasts[ornofSouls].”
“Summonsdealbonusdamagewhenhittingthesametarget.”
Raiseindexfinger—rangedonlyattack.
“AinardPrnelincasts[SingleargetFocus].”
“lwenFornacidiersiacasts[Rend]...”
Raiseindexandmiddlefingerstogether—bothmeleeandrangedattack.
Andthen...
Slidemiddlefingerupward—
———————————————!!!!
———!!———!!———!!
————————!!
veryoneunleashedtheirstrongestfinishersatonce.
hough...
‘Feelsabitunderwhelmingwithoutthesound.’
Still,theraidprogressedsmoothly.
“heAncientBeasthascast[remor].”
Phase1ended.
“heAncientBeasthascast[ornoftheApocalypse].”
Phase2,whereitsummonedahordelikeanarmy,passedwithoutincident.
“heAncientBeasthascast[hostReturn].”
venPhase3wentfine—theonlyclosecallwasAinardgettingstunnedbylightning.
‘ighteenminutestohere—we’refine.’
ighteenminutesin,wereachedthefinalPhase4.
“heAncientBeast’sPisbelow20%.”
“raduallyregaininglostAuthority.”
hephasehadtwokeytraits:first,itslowlyregainedsealedpowersovertime;second...
“heAncientBeastcasts‘AuthorityofAnnihilation.’”
hefirstAuthorityitusedwasalwaysfixedonthe“Cursedne.”
‘...Wow,startingwithAnnihilation?’
hestrongestAuthority,rightoffthebat.ocasttime,unavoidable,targetedinstantkill.
———————!
AshapelessmistrosefromtheBeast’sbodyanddriftedsilentlytowarditstarget.
Andas’dsaid—thetargetwaspredetermined.
nSkullsland,theonewhogotthelasthitonthebossandearnedthe“Cursedne”titlewas...uildmasterliaAdnus.
hadn’tplannedtheraidjusttosacrificetheuildmaster—’mnotthatkindofbarbarian.
Besides,initsweakenedstate,thefirstAuthoritywasn’tlethal.tjusterasedsomethingfromthetarget.
Whatthat“something”was...varied.
“......?”
Whatwoulditbethistime?Regenerablebodypart?quipment?Maybesomeessence?
turnedquicklytocheck—andcouldn’thelpbutletoutasoundlessgasp.
‘Ah...’
Withthelava,meteors,andlightningprovidingplentyoflight,thereflectionwasobvious.
‘Sothatcanhappentoo...’
ishairhadbeenannihilated.