STGB Episode 460

Raid(4)

Floor Lord.

A type of field boss that appears on each floor of the labyrinth when certain summoning conditions are met.

Typically, you only attempt them once you have the specs to reliably clear a Tier-7 Rift, which is why they’re categorized as upper tier raids.

At least up until the 5th floor lords.

From Floor-6 and onward, the difficulty spikes dramatically, and those Floor Lords are considered “top-tier raids,” effectively endgame content.

“But to face a Floor Lord as our very first raid…”

Considering that the ‘Doppelganger Forest’ on the fourth floor was the highest tier raid before, this is an absurd situation.

Especially since there are only four of us able to fight.

Not even a full party, let alone a raid group.

However…

‘With a few third-level essences, we might manage to deal the final blow.’

The moment I spotted Riakis from afar, I made up my mind.

This isn’t just about being greedy; not being greedy would be foolish at this point…

It’s a bit chūnibyō-ish, but it was a promise to myself.

If the day ever came when I saw it again—

Grrroooaaaar—!!!!!Grrroooaaaar—!!!!!Grrroooaaaar—!!!!!

—then things would be different this time.

“Jandel, what do we do next?”

“Ah, I’ll hold it off. You just keep hitting it.”

“That’s… all?”

Hearing my concise instructions, Amelia looked at me like I was insane. But there was no helping it.

This is just how Riakis’s Phase 4 works.

There’s no clever trick to the strategy, just pressing it down head-on.

[Chaos Lord Riakis senses the source of life.]

As soon as we entered its range, it stopped galloping on all fours and looked our way.

Then…

[ROOOOOOOOOAR—!]

With a vicious howl, it charged at us.

The sound of its footsteps was different from the first phase.

Tap, tap, tap—!

It’s still heavy, yet much lighter and faster than before.

Of course, that means its speed now is on a different level.

After all, the concept of Phase 4 is “agility.”

“Everyone, fall back!”

I sent my companions behind me and linked Transcendence with Gigantification.

「Your physique grows in proportion to your strength.」

In Phase 1, when it was massive with swollen flesh, matching its size with it would’ve been impossible. But now, with its skin clinging to its bones, I’m roughly on par.

It’s one of the advantages of Gigantification.

「Chaos Lord Riakis feels a great threat to your character」

The “Threat” value skyrocketed, which made aggro management much easier during the raid.

After all, how often does it come across a prey the same size as itself.

“Bethel—RAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

I cast [Wild Burst] and charged, spiking my already high threat level once more.

I will call it the Giant Shield Charge.

BOOOOM!

A giant barbarian with a shield clashed with the monstrous creature, creating a loud crash at the point of impact.

Screech.

Unfortunately, I was the one being overpowered in terms of Strength.

Not that it was surprising.

These floor lords have always had outrageous base stats.

THUMP!

I cast [Swing] and hit it with my hammer, but it literally didn’t even flinch.

You’d think smacking its jaw might cause it to flinch, but it instantly lashed out with its forepaw.

Keeyaaahk!

In Phase 4, its attack speed was terrifying, so there was no way I could dodge.

Well, there wasn’t really a reason to dodge,either.

Thwack—!

I’m tough, too. 

Just like my attack didn’t harm it much, its attack doesn’t really hurt me—

…But why is my vision spinning all of a sudden?

As soon as I confirmed how little damage I was doing, I reconsidered my judgment.

My resistance wasn’t lacking enough for my head to be torn off or to be shredded by its claws.

But…

‘…The head won’t do.’

The shock transmitted to my brain made my body sway.

It didn’t feel this bad when I was smacked full-force by the P.E teacher in middle school…

“Bjorn!!”

Memories of childhood flashed through my mind, but I pushed them out and refocused on the present.

Whoosh—!

The creature swung its paw again.

Kwaang—!

Luckily, this time I blocked it with my shield in time.

Meanwhile, the damage-dealers finished setting up.

[Amelia Rainwhales has cast Self−Replication]

Amelia charged in from both sides with her clones.

Slice—

Not sparing any resources, she activated [Power of the Abyss] from the start and began targeting Riakis’s ankles and thighs.

Simultaneously.

「Aynar Pheneline casts [Repeated Slashing].」

Aynar leapt high into the air and brought her greatsword down onto Riakis’s shoulder.

There was no explosive sound like usual.

Well, that’s because we’re not fighting small fry here.

「Aynar Pheneline has cast [Wild Control]」

It was the Essence I recommended to Aynar when she was debating which royal reward to take.

The effect of this skill is very simple…

[All conditional activation effects of the next attack are converted into cutting damage]

[Explosive Scar], [Mendel Oil], [Residual Heat].

The damage of these three conditional skills is converted to cutting damage.

Simply put…

Sssk!

It means that the modes between raid and hunting can freely swap.

Of course, this doesn’t mean it automatically leads to critical hits.

It’s just enough to cut through its thick skin, letting out a few drops of inky, oily blood to flow.

[ROOOOOOOOOAR!]

I knew Amelia would be able to deal some damage, but Aynar is also holding up better than expected.

That leaves only Erwin…

[Erwin Fornaci di Tercia has cast FocusedFire]
[Erwin Fornaci di Tercia has cast ElementalSynthesis]
[Erwin Fornaci di Tercia has cast Rupture]

Needless to say.

“Mister, dodge!”

Having teamed up with Erwin more than once, as soon as I heard those words, I immediately stepped aside and gave her the angle she needed.

And at that exact moment—

Flash.

A beam of light shoots out.

Zwoosh!

Then came the compressed shockwave of air.

BOOOOM—!

Beyond the scattering flares of light…

[ROOOOOOOOOAR!!!]

I smirked as I watched the creature wail in pain.

While Erwin’s attack was far from being fatal.

‘Wow, it cracked its forehead in one hit.’

The damage was sufficient.

So, in other words…

「Chaos Lord Riakis has cast [Corrupted Horn].」

The real raid starts now.

***

Chaos Lord Riakis.

The first phase of this creature is straightforward.

With the passive aura [Rain of Despair] and the erosion of the field by chaos spirits, it continuously damages players. Periodically, orbs appear from the eroded ground, healing Riakis.

There is only one thing to be careful of:

[Gap of Malice]

This is an instant-kill move it uses after devouring a certain number of those orbs.

The solution is simple.

Just run out of the affected area.

However, the issue is that escaping the area causes the designated “prey” to become incapacitated.

During this time, Riaxis’ aggro will be drawn to its “prey”, and if it successfully kills that target, its base stats will increase and the next phase will become more difficult.

‘Well, aside from that, it’s easy enough since it’s basically just a battle of brute force.’

The real fight begins in Phase 2.

Once its HP falls below a certain level, Riakis feels threatened and opens a Gate of Chaos, sucking everyone inside.

There the ground is permanently corroded away.

High-level mental corruption.

Players must track Riakis down in this nightmarish field, where it’s juiced up with all sorts of combat buffs, and face it head-on.

Strictly in terms of phases, this is the most difficult point.

However, if you have the “Torch of Purification,” the story changes.

You can simply light the torches and wait it out.

If you manage to hold on to the torches, the Gate of Chaos will reopen, and you return to the original field.

‘Though it’s tricky to gather enough Purification Torches for everyone, but it’s the easier way to go’

Of course, there are drawbacks to this strategy.

If you skip straight to Phase 3 by “cheesing” it with torches, Riakis not only fully recovers its HP but also becomes even stronger.

Still, using the torches is far more beneficial, and I typically used them in most of my runs too.

Anyway—

Once Phase 3 begins, Chaos Spirits no longer spawn on the third floor.

Instead, Rain of Despair gets powered up.

Areas exposed to the rain quickly become corrupted zones, which disable all equipment.

Until the labyrinth closes, Numbers items completely lose their effect, and adamantium armor is reduced to the level of ordinary steel equipment.

‘I’m guessing that’s probably where those Gear Fang guys started to fail’

You can’t rely on mental immunity from the torches anymore.

And you have to fight a stronger Riakis under those conditions.

My guess is that the Gerarfang Clan tried a battle-of-attrition approach. They probably juggled aggro while steadily shaving away its HP.

‘Otherwise, Riakis wouldn’t be wandering around six hours after Phase 3 started.’

I’m not particularly curious about the exact details of how their raid failed.

Surely something went wrong somewhere along the line.

That’s just how Dungeon & Stone is.

A single small slipup can lead to irreparable consequences.

‘Still, they must’ve made a decent effort if they managed to push it into Phase 4…’

In the end, it just worked out in my favor.

The most challenging aspect of phase four is that you can’t rely on equipment buffs, but we don’t have such penalties.

“How could I just pass this up?”

It’s almost like it’s being handed to us on a platter.

Even if it causes stomach problems later, I have to eat first.

It’s uncertain whether an essence will appear.

But if it does, it will make things insanely easier from then on.

Kwaaang!

We’ve been locked in bloody combat for over 30 minutes now.

Erwin’s arrow burrowed deep into Riakis’s left eyeball.

‘Lord of Chaos Riakis has cast [Corrupted Left Eyeball].’

All right, so both eyeballs are gone now?

Fwoooosh—!

Ominous black smoke poured out from the torn eyelid, and beyond it glimmered a sinister light.

………………

It no longer groaned even when its flesh was pierced and its eyeballs popped out.

As if it’s becoming less and less of a living creature.

We’ve already cut off quite a few of its claws…. I think that makes seven parts that have been corrupted?

Phase 4’s concept is simple.

If we keep pounding Riakis, it summons “corrupted body parts” to heal itself, each time becoming a bit stronger than before.

And…

“That makes eleven so far.”

We only need one more solid blow.

Of the possible 36 body parts that can be corrupted, once 12 are corrupted, the raid is over.

“Everyone, get back!”

I barely finished shouting when it started its last desperate thrashing.

[Corrupted Power runs amok]

As befits a boss, it has at least one berserk pattern.

Now it’s a race against time.

[Pilgrim’s Blessing]

[A hidden aura within the chaos begins purifying the Corrupted Power]

Riakis needs about five minutes to cleanse its corrupted body parts and return them to normal.
We have to corrupt at least one more within that time—

“Ah, Mister!”

Just then, Erwin called out to me in a panic.

At this point, there shouldn’t be any threats coming from behind us, so what is it…?

“Th-there are dozens of people heading this way! And they’re coming really fast!”

“What?”

Dozens of people? Who could they possibly be?

Could it be my fellow Barbarians from the shelter who came looking for me, worried?

That was the first possibility that came to mind.

But…

“…I think it’s the Gearfang Clan!”

Right—no way the world would be that kind.

“What?! I thought those bastards were wiped out!”

Aynar couldn’t hide her surprise.

I felt the same.

“Seriously… What’s going on here?”

I can’t make heads or tails of it.

If they still had dozens of people, why was Riakis wandering around on its own? Were they not completely wiped out?

All sorts of questions swirl through your mind.

But one thing was clear.

‘They’re coming here…….’

This is a very negative variable for us.

Put yourself in their shoes:

“Right when it only needs one last hit…”

They’re not going to stand by and let us land the finishing blow.

So…

“…Nothing changes.”

[Purification: 1%.]

About ten minutes remain until Riakis is fully restored—maybe less.

In the straightforward, fearless way of a Barbarian—

“Bet—hellraaaaaa!”

“Uh, Mister?”

“What are you all doing?! Hurry up and finish it off!!”

We’ll worry about the aftermath later.