STGB Episode 535

From Level 1 to Level 9.

Thanks to the rainy season event, monsters of every kind appear on this island. And the village chief had literally spent an eternity here.

In other words, he was able to farm endlessly.

But it’s really unlikely that all of his essences are high-level.

After all, this is the kind of game [Dungeon & Stone] is. You have to build up your character by slowly and steadily collecting low-level essences in order to farm high-level ones.

He probably has essences of all levels because there’s no temple on this island to get rid of them.

The problem is that his best is a level 1 essence, which gives him a massive advantage over us.

From here on out, it depends on the village chief’s capabilities.

If he mindlessly consumed early game essences and later filled up with high-Level ones, he’d just be a crappy character with obvious limits…

And his weakness will be obvious.

Of course, the opposite is also possible.

If, like my [Gigantification], those early low-level essences are still useful in the late game, then maybe…

‘Hmm, but even then, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.’

It just becomes slightly more troublesome to find his weaknesses.

No matter how I think about it, that’s all there is to it.

There’s no such thing as an invincible character in [Dungeon & Stone].

‘Well, except for my Shield Barbarian build.’

Anyway, which strategy did the village chief go with?

I carefully analyzed his every move.

So far, I’ve only identified Tol Rapha’s Cosmic Protection.

Along With a movement skill.

The split second before we clashed, it looked like his body had split in two and was moving in different directions.

It looked like the frames you see when a game glitches.

Tap—!

But since I was watching his movements intently, I was able to quickly synthesize what was going on.

Steam rising from his footsteps.

A body wrapped in electrical currents.

And…

Whoosh—

A burst of yellow light every time he landed.

‘It’s [Lightning God Step].’

A level 2 skill that is hard to classify as a pure movement skill, because unlike Blink, it is characterized by its user’s sharp and quick movements.

Zzzzzzt—!

It also inflicts a Paralyzing effect on anyone in the area where he lands.

Whoooooosh—!

Additionally, it increases the user’s speed as well.

And…

“Ugh…!”

“B-block him… huh?”

Temporarily grants him invulnerability, of course.

Whoosh—!

A nearby melee fighter swung his weapon in panic, but it phased right through the Village Chief’s body.

‘Is he going for Erwin?’

Ugh, this creepy bastard.

He really wants to keep us trapped in this village.

Of course, I had no intention of letting him.

‘There are two conditions to cancel [Lightning God Step]’s invincibility.’

The first was to get him to attack.

Probably why the village chief is ignoring the other explorers and charging straight at Erwin.

The second is…

‘Three seconds.’

Waiting for the three-second duration to end.

Of course, three seconds is more than enough time to drive a blade into Erwin’s throat.

‘It’s pointless’

Even as the village chief charged at Erwin with killing intent, my mind was at peace.

Because she’s in the “focused” state right now.

「While active, all incoming damage is absorbed by soul power.」

In this mode, Erwin is invulnerable.

But considering he knows we’re analyzing his weaknesses.

There must be a reason why he is showing off this skill, especially since it could very well serve as a trump card later.

So…

「The character has cast [Eye of the Storm].」

「The authority of the Transcendent Being unlocks the innate ability of this skill.」

I linked [Transcendence] and [Eye of the Storm] together.

Coincidentally, this can counter that skill.

Because, you see…

‘He’s only immune to damage, not to being grabbed’.

And since [Eye of the Storm] doesn’t deal damage, it didn’t trigger his defense.

Whoooooosh—!

A whirlwind swirled around me. And the chief who was charging at Erwin was pulled in my direction.

At the same time.

Zzzzt—!

His three seconds seemed to have run out, and a wave of electricity exploded around the chief.

Meaning the damage immunity has also ended.

Having already used [Transcendence], I used it once more to cast [Swing].

「Strike range increases by 3x.」

My hammer stretched out like an extended staff, slamming into the body of the village chief.

However, the village chief’s body defied the laws of physics.

Instead of being sent flying, his body clung to the hammer due to the wind blowing toward me.

‘It’s been a while since I used this combo.’

I smoothly adjusted the hammer’s trajectory.

Then, as if I was loading him onto a ride, I spun the hammer in a wide circle with the village chief attached to it…

CRASH—!

Slammed him straight into the ground on the opposite side.

After I grabbed him, he was even further away from Erwin than when he started running towards her.

The chief coughed up blood from his spot in the ground.

His regenerative ability is high, so he’ll probably recover quickly, but for now he’s too shaken to get up easily.

“So, that’s what you had.”

“Oh, did you hear about it from someone? I don’t remember telling you.”

“…”

The village chief didn’t answer.

He just glanced past me to stare at Erwin in the distance.

Tch, still can’t let go, huh?

“Wake up.”

“……”

“You’re never getting over there.”

“Not until I defeat you, you mean?”

“Tha—!”

Just as I was about to say “that,” the village chief’s figure disappeared from my sight.

By the time my lacking agility caught up, the village chief was already in close range, ready to swing his sword.

CRASH—!

I barely managed to raise my shield in time to block his attack.

Thanks to fighting with a shield every day, I could tell right away.

The damage to the shield was much greater.

Earlier, it was just tiny chips or dents, but now…

‘This feels like it’s nearly cracked.’

Of course, it didn’t take me long to figure out why. It’s not that the chief had whipped out another skill; it’s just that I got weaker.

[You have one minute left before [Transcendence] can be activated again]

The passive [Evolviving Shell] grants 50% resistance to bladed weapons.

With [Iron Fortress], it becomes 75%.

With [Transcendence] boosting passive effects by 1.5x, it’s practically immunity…

But unfortunately, there’s a limit to how immune I could get.

The maximum bladed weapon resistance any character can have is 85%.

Meaning, for the next minute, my 85% drops to 75%.

‘In other words, what was 15% incoming damage becomes 25%.’

While numerically it’s just a 10% difference, the actual perceived damage increase is almost double.

CRASH—!

As I blocked the village chief’s fierce sword swings, reinforcements arrived from behind.

“I’ll help you.”

“Ah! Ah! Me too…!”

“…Me too! Me too!”

Amelia, Misha, and Aynar—our clan’s melee trio.

“Be careful. He’s not an easy opponent.”

I was a little worried about how this would turn out, but I continued to fight alongside them.

After all, there were things you couldn’t learn just by taking hits.

「Amelia Rainwales has cast [Power of the Abyss].」

「Misha Karlstein has cast [Glacial Spirit].」

「Aynar Pheneline has cast [Beast Control].」

I acted as the main tank, while the melee trio used me as a wall and swung their weapons at him.

In the process, I discovered another of the chief’s abilities.

Rumble

A dark mist spread around the village chief, releasing electric currents.

[Thundercloud]

A Grade 2 skill that deals lightning damage around the caster, with cooldown reduction proportional to the number of targets it managed to hit.

“…Ugh!”

But since only four of us were hit by the lightning, the cooldown reduction shouldn’t be significant.

Still…

‘ The [Lightning God Step]’s cooldown must be up by now.’

“Everyone, get as far back as possible!”

The moment I finished analyzing, I quickly pulled the melee trio back as quickly as possible.

Tap—!

The village chief dashed forward once, electricity wrapping around his body as he entered damage immunity.

And this bastard’s target this time is…

“Aynar!!”

Due to the short distance, it was impossible to intercept him with a grab.

But…

「Aynar Pheneline has cast [Crouch].」

「All resistance increases by 20x for 3 minutes.」

「Natural regeneration increased by 20x for 3 minutes.」

She has this skill.

The glowing blade struck Aynar’s upper body, cutting deep enough to expose bone.

But as long as it’s not an instant kill, it’s fine.

「Natural regeneration increases by 20x for 3 minutes.」

The true value of [Crouch] lies in its regeneration.

So one member is out of the fight for now…

Aynar was forced out of combat after just a few seconds of fighting.

But I gained something.

‘Now I roughly get his concept.’

The village chief is a lightning swordsman.

Aside from [Lightning God Step], the [Thundercloud] he just used confirms it. While [Thundercloud] can be passed as any old skill, the passive he was using in conjunction with it couldn’t.

[Conductor].

A passive that builds stacks whenever you use Lightning-based skills and gives additional bonuses to all your Lightning-based attacks.

Anyway, figuring this out was important.

If the village chief is a lightning swordsman, then I can make a reasonable guess about that glowing sword.

‘It’s probably [Polar Charge].’

A transformation-type ability classified as a weapon enchantment skill, like [Power of the Abyss].

Its unique feature is that while it deals physical damage, it can get a boost from other Lightning skills you have.

“If he has[Polar Charge], he must have that passive too…”

Basically, I’ve identified four of his essences in one fell swoop.

‘He has four Level 2 or higher essences.’

Was there some way to erase essences here?

His average level is much higher than I expected.

If I were to give him an overall rating.

“5 points.”

Ah, out of 10, of course.

While he’s built around a lightning theme, the synergies don’t seem particularly impressive.

‘I mean, just look at [Thundercloud]—there are so many skills that can combo with it.’

Of course, the raw value of having so many high-level essences is huge. But in a way, I hope the rest of his essences are also high-level.

An unbalanced character has just as many weaknesses.

‘Okay, let’s call it here for today…’

I hit the final second of my countdown and…

Whoom

The world was bathed in a white light with a deafening roar.

At the same time, Versil, positioned at the back, announced the good news.

“…It’s, it’s done! The entrance is open!”

It was time to leave this wretched village.

***

The burning village and its shattered entrance.

As the explorers rushed out, leaving the field empty the village chief stood watching. Behind him, the village warriors appeared.

[Chief, the fires in the village have all been extinguished.]

The warriors reported the scale of the damage and casualties, but the village chief’s expression remained unchanged.

Of course.

Nothing changes just because a few of these monsters die.

Only one thing mattered to the village chief now.

“I don’t understand how he noticed.”

Bjorn Jandel.

The most famous explorer of this era, chief of the Barbarian race – one of the Six Great Races.

And a baron of the kingdom.

“…Just a little more time was all I needed.”

Like a massive boulder eroded by years of wind, the chief’s emotions, dulled by time, started to emerge through the cracks.

It was regret.

But he shook off this rare, human feeling.

[Chief, we’ll assemble a pursuit team.]

[Forget it.]

[…Huh? But…]

[Right now, restoring the village comes first. That thing is unharmed, right?]

[Yes. As you confirmed earlier, it’s safe.]

Good. Then that’s all that matters.

Things have gotten a little messy, but that’s about it.

The village chief closed his eyes, recalling the fierce battle he’d just had with the barbarian.

‘Bjorn Jandel…’

He was a beast of a man in many ways—perhaps even more so than the monsters in this village.

‘When we meet again, he’ll be even stronger.’

Yet as the chief murmured those words, a faint emotion glimmered in his eyes.

It was joy.

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