Chapter 273
"It's incredible.""The blast reaches even here."
The bombardment seemed intent on leaving not a single fragment of its body behind. I hadn't expected that using *all* the bombs we made for this battle would result in something like this, with such immense power.
Nell's murmur and Amina's astonishment were hard to hear over the explosions, but my enhanced stats allowed me to pick them up.
"However, even after such an attack, it's still alive," came Claudia's calm voice as she looked down.
The rain of bombs hadn't ceased yet.
We could see the spirit corridors of the spirits who were still continuously dropping bombs from a position lower and outside the blast radius.
The bombardment, which even utilized Class 7 Thunder Dragon magic stones for high potency, was so powerful it felt like it might alter the very terrain of this land.
"It's still moving, even within that explosion," remarked Esmeralda.
Yet, even with that power, there was something writhing within the explosions. The exit of Dark-san's spirit corridor was wide, spacious enough for the entire party to line up and peer down with room to spare. Only Ingrid stood back, while the rest watched the bombardment.
And including me, they all saw the entity enduring this attack, even as it transformed the land.
"Because it can't move, it's focusing entirely on defense to withstand this assault."
The Rainy Devil, as if knowing now was the time to endure, retracted its tentacles into its umbrella, held still, and channeled all its levitation power into defense, weathering the bomb barrage.
"Will we have enough bombs?" Nell wondered.
Having witnessed the blast, the roar, and this spectacle, Nell understood the bombs' tremendous power. But she also grasped the abnormality of it being able to endure such force.
"We still have reserves. We'll continue the bombardment to accumulate damage.""But what if we can't finish it off?""Then we retreat. The spirits have been told that too. The Rainy Devil is a monster that will leave if left alone. We only want to defeat it to gain an advantage in the upcoming battle against Azhdaha. It's not worth risking our lives over."
I shook my head at Amina's implied question about whether we should conserve resources, deciding to continue the full-scale assault.
From Class 5 magic stones, to Class 6 Wind Dragon stones, and even Class 7 Thunder Dragon stones...
"Don't worry. The main event starts now."
No matter how many we prepared, with high-ranking spirits throwing them like grenade launchers, the stockpile would be exhausted in thirty minutes.
A brief gap appeared in the bombardment.
There stood the Rainy Devil, wounded but still maintaining its crimson umbrella.
Furious, it began to rise again, seeming to show no mercy to its attackers.
"Everyone's ears are plugged? And hands over them? Sunglasses on? And magic barriers deployed?"
Above the rising monster, ten ominous objects appeared, describable only as baleful.
What was about to happen was a bomb with power capable of damaging even final bosses back in the FBO era.
"Dark-san, after dropping these, the bombing squad should close their corridors.""The order is already given. All spirits have evacuated."
Before the destruction commenced, I had instructed the whole party to cover their ears and open their mouths. Confirming everyone's defensive postures, I watched as the bombs were tossed out of the spirit corridors, unlike the previous rapid descent. They slowly approached the Rainy Devil.
The damage accumulated from the ballista volleys and the lower-tier bombs was more than even the Rainy Devil's superior regeneration could handle.
Having retracted its tentacles, it would take time to redeploy them. It could only defend with its umbrella.
"Good."
I had been waiting for this development.
The魔力 mana for regeneration, and the魔力 continuously spent to withstand the bombardment. No matter how vast its mana pool, the amount consumed to mitigate this damage was far from small.
"Rainy Devil, you are indeed strong. But because of that, your behavior patterns are fixed, making you easier to counter."
Staring at the soon-to-explode bombs, I stated the Rainy Devil's weakness.
Status ailments via tentacles, securing a safe zone through levitation, high resistance against ranged attacks due to magic resistance, and regeneration ranking among the top of all monsters.
World Monsters are fundamentally unfair. Some even possess boss-specific abilities like three-stage transformations.
The Rainy Devil also has a trump card. A skill that hardens its umbrella, drastically boosting defense, and fully restoring its health during that state—a reset button skill.
We literally called it the "Reset Button." After whittling it down for ages, only to have it use this skill at the final moment when its umbrella remained and it had mana left, made you want to flip the table. Moreover, it gets stronger after regenerating. Players agreed it was a skill to absolutely watch out for, as its use meant victory was nearly impossible.
However, if not activated, it's not a threat.
"Take this! Strategic-grade bombs fully utilizing Class 8 magic stones!"
Damage calculations and timing adjustments were perfect.
These weren't bombs made from a single magic stone.
Each of these ten bombs contained one *hundred* Class 8 magic stones.
The outer casings rapidly unfolded, and mana gushed forth from within. Sealed until the last moment to conceal the mana, timers released it now, hinting at the impending power.
The Rainy Devil tried to react to this threat, but its mistake was assuming these were the same bombs. And to block this, you have no choice but to use your trump card skill, but you've consumed too much mana on regeneration and defense.
Did you think I had you endure attacks calibrated to be unblockable by your base defense, only mitigable with skill defense, for no reason?
It was all to drain your mana and prevent you from using your trump card.
The moment they struck, the world's sounds merged into one, color vanished, and heat dominated existence.
"Guh!! If it weren't for the Class 8 magic stone defense barrier we asked Dark-san and the others to make, this would be bad!!"
The destructive force was beyond anything but laughter.
The brief gap in bombing was partly to confirm soundproofing measures, but also because we followed procedures to detonate these bombs. The idea that bombs of this power were managed with simple pins was a joke.
A pillar of light? No, in this case, a pillar of heat?
A normal detonation would have wiped the ancient ruins without a trace.
To avoid that, we deployed a cylindrical barrier around the Rainy Devil after throwing the bombs, centered on it. To maximize effect, containing the Rainy Devil *with* the bomb would be ideal, but creating a barrier device or skill capable of withstanding that power was impossible. So, we left the top open to vent the destruction upward and maintain the barrier. Well, the cylindrical shape also gave the explosion directionality, meaning the Rainy Devil, trying to jump up, got sandwiched between the ground and the bomb, probably taking insane damage.
We've been leveling up to Class 8.
We haven't hit the level cap due to dungeon boss constraints, but we've reached level 100, a quarter of the way.
Moreover, after reaching Class 8, you can only level up on bosses, and the boss rush dungeon only goes up to Class 7.
So, what did we do? We repeatedly challenged dungeons with Class 7 monsters and hunted Class 8 bosses. It took considerable time just for one cycle, but we leveled up to 100.
During that time, we used the acquired Class 7 magic stones to process Class 8 stones, creating the bombs and barrier devices.
If I hadn't known about a dungeon with a Class 8 boss that allowed the shortest clearing path and optimal EXBP gain, we'd have far fewer bombs.
The explosion lasted an instant; it took minutes for the heat to subside.
During that time, we could only stare intently into the barrier.
"It's alive!?""After an explosion like that!?"
Having witnessed such destruction, Nell and Amina probably thought it was defeated, but they were aghast as the Rainy Devil writhed into view from the smoke. Not saying "Did we do it?!" was prudent enough.
"But its umbrella is broken!!" Esmeralda exclaimed."Liberta! What do we do!?" Claudia asked, leaning forward.
Beyond the smoke, more than half of the Rainy Devil's umbrella was gone. Exposed was its heart, its core.
Seizing the once-in-a-lifetime chance, Esmeralda cried out, while Claudia urgently questioned me.
"Dark-san! Order the spirits for covering fire!""Understood! Good luck! We'll protect your backs!!"
The decision was already made.
I gripped the scythe-spear on my back.
"Everyone! Let's go!!""Yes!""Uh-huh!""I'm coming!!""That's more like it!!""I will accompany you as far as needed."
I leaped from the spirit corridor, and the others followed.
"Amina!!""Okay! Golem Summon!!"
I threw myself into the air. In our current state, we could land safely.
My instruction to Amina wasn't for rescue.
"Now! This is my new stage!!!"
What appeared was a glass spherical golem with a ring like Saturn's: a Sphere Golem.
Its performance depends on the materials, but one made from Thunder Dragon materials was more than adequate for this fight. The ring's purpose was to serve as a stage for spirit musicians.
This was a music-specialized golem to further amplify the effect of Amina's songs.
Amina entered it and was secured in the center.
"Everyone, here we go!!"
We had practiced for this day. The three spirits contracted with Amina controlled the Sphere Golem, while spirits carrying instruments emerged from spirit corridors to enhance Amina's performance.
"I'm the center!!"
Amina's center spotlight made the Sphere Golem shine. That radiance poured down upon the wounded, core-exposed Rainy Devil.
*'Don't let a single fing er—no, a single tentacle—touch Amina-chan!! It's time to show the pride of the Amina-chan Fan Club!! All units!! Full attack!!'**"OOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!"*
The moment attention focused on Amina, and the Rainy Devil tried to extend its bomb-reduced tentacles towards her, spirit corridors appeared everywhere, bringing ballistae and muscle spirits.
The muscle spirits threw themselves as shields against the tentacles, while the ballista units aimed at the main body with the fervor of using their last arrows. This time, they were buffed by Amina's song.
The power was incomparable to before.
*"WE'RE PUMPED UPPPPPP!!!!"*
Spirits, receiving Amina's song as the ultimate support, blocked the annoying tentacles and hindered its ascent.
In that state, we landed right before the Rainy Devil's exposed weak point.