STGB Episode 536

Rainbow (2)

It’s been five days since the rainy season event started.

We managed to escaped the village on our own and made it to the surface.

[Grooooooaaaaah—!]

[Kreeeeeeeeek!]

[…Cough! Ugh! Hack!]

As expected, “chaos” doesn’t even begin to describe the scene here.

Monsters are swarming in every direction, fighting each other and spraying blood and pieces of flesh everywhere.

But there was one clear difference from the first day of the rainy season.

BOOM—!

Monsters were still falling from the sky, but…

“…The numbers has decreased quite a bit.”

Honestly, “decreased” was an understatement.

Compared to the first day, it was practically nothing.

Like the difference between 100 mm of rainfall and just 1mm.

“That village chief bastard.”

There was no way he didn’t know.

He must’ve known and deliberately kept it from me.

‘If the rainy season seems dangerous, we’d have to keep relying on the village, and he could keep us trapped there longer.’

The thought of that slimy bastard made my skin crawl, but I pushed it aside.

Right now I had more urgent things to focus on.

Thankfully… the village chief didn’t follow us. He might have more tricks up his sleeve, but I didn’t have to worry about him for now.

“Formation – move out!”

“From here on out, we’re leaving this island!”

I gave the orders quickly – and then…

“BETHEL-RAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

I blocked a monster’s fangs with my shield and smashed its jaw with my hammer, clearing a path forward.

At the same time.

“Mages, gather as many mana stones as you can!”

Because why waste them?

With so many mana stones scattered all over the place, what kind of explorer would I be if I just left them behind?

Before, we had to be cautious because of that village chief bastard…

‘But now, there’s no need.’

Honestly, hammering things really does help in social life.

Especially in terms of making clear changes in any relationship.

Whoosh—!

The mages continuously cast looting spells, piling up mountains of mana stones. Their combat contribution, but it wasn’t a big problem.

Thanks to the significant reduction in monsters falling from the sky, we had a lot more breathing room.

‘At this rate… it might be possible for everyone to escape from here without anyone dying.’

For someone who had prepared for the worst, this was an incredibly welcome situation.

I continued to wrestle with the most dangerous monsters at the front.

And after about ten minutes had passed

[You have defeated the Steel Spirit. EXP +6]

[You have defeated Baphomet.]

[You have defeated Ainicorn. EXP +6]

[You have defeated the Mud Golem.]

[You have defeated the Heavenly Tree. EXP +5]

[You have defeated Daki—]

[…]

As we indiscriminately slaughtered the endless waves of monsters, Aynar delivered a good news.

“OOOH!! My soul! My soul is filling up!!”

Just when I thought it was about time, Aynar finally ranked up.

“I’ve become stronger!!”

Thanks to the significant reduction in monsters falling from the sky, we had more room to spare.

‘At this rate, it might be possible for everyone to escape without anyone dying’

“I’ve become stronger once again!!”

Well, I wouldn’t say she became stronger in the usual sense; she felt ‘stronger’ only because her soul power had increased. But it was still good news, since she now had a free essence slot after absorbing the Hipramagent essence.

‘The Hex Clan and Armin Expedition Team are ranking up in real-time too.’

Overall, our group’s essence slots seem to have increased by one or two.

“Uh… Baron! A Level 4 essence has dropped—”

I decided to take a special measure.

“From now on, anyone can consume the essences! I won’t bother with anything below Level 3!”

It was a shame to disregard the distribution rules, but it wasn’t a loss.

We didn’t have time to store them in test tubes anyway.

And any increase in combat power was welcome.

“Wooooooah!!”

The decision also boosted the morale of the explorers.

It’s like a half-full glass of water: how you choose to see it can change everything.

Pushing through all these monsters falling from the sky, they started seeing this situation not as a crisis but as an opportunity…

Not bad.

The overall mood wasn’t half bad. But pure morale alone can’t overcome every hardship.

[Kiiyaaaa—!]

In the distance, a massive bird let out a piercing cry and blocked our path.

Well, calling it a bird might be incorrect.

Boom—!

I knew things were going too smoothly.

‘…The weren’t just gonna let us leave, huh?’

I took a deep breath and opened and closed my eyes.

Unfortunately, nothing had changed.

I had hoped I was seeing things, but no.

Pure white feathers and wings spread wide.

A body resembling a drake with a long neck sticking out like a giraffe’s.

And at the end of that neck, a face with human-like features.

It was such a famous monster that, despite its disgusting appearance, fear was the dominant emotion.

“I-It’s the Man-Faced Bird…!”

A Level 2 flying-type monster—the Man-Faced Bird.

The first major obstacle in our escape from this island.

***

After descending from the sky, the monster emotionlessly scanned us before its eyes curved into an eerie, exaggerated grin.

[Kee-hee-hee-hee-hee.]

Ugh, why does Dungeon & Stone have so many horrifying-looking monsters?

This was a different kind of disgust compared to the Corpse Golem.

If I hadn’t built up resistance by fighting all sorts of monsters, I’d have gotten goosebumps just seeing that face, unable to give out a single order…

“Mages! Erect a barrier!”

Very few explorers in Raphdonia have direct combat experience with Level 2 monsters.

But I’ve defeated countless such monsters. Even if it was within the game.

So I was able to calmly assess the situation the moment I saw one.

Fwoooong—!

As the mages deployed a translucent shield above us, the white of the Man-Faced Bird’s eyes turned black.

And then—

[The Man-Faced Bird has cast [Song of the End].]

Beams of golden light rained from the sky. Too many to count.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM—!

Like the heavens were angry, the beams continued to fall for about 10 seconds, devastating the surroundings.

Despite the impressive effect, the actual damage wasn’t enough to break through the barrier.

However…

[Kihihihihihi-!]

From the places where the light beams had fallen, baby man-faced birds began to stand up.

They were kind of token-summon monsters…

“Everyone! Take them out first!”

This was now a race against time.

If those chicks grew for even a minute, they’d mature and start using skills.

Theoretically, they could infinitely reproduce—

If they started spamming [Song of the End], we’d be screwed—

“Jandel, give us orders!”

Ah, right, no time to get lost in thought.

“Erwin—”

I almost called out for Erwin out of habit before stopping myself.

Because she’s currently out of commission.

She used up all her MP helping us escape the village, so she can’t participate in combat at the moment.

But—

…when did I start relying on Erwin so much?

If you lose your gums, use your jawbone to chew. That’s the Barbarian spirit.

“Emily, Misha! Follow me! Aynar, guard the main force! Versil, you handle rear support—judge and act on your own!”

As I dashed forward, Amelia and Misha followed closely behind—Amelia on my right, Misha on my left.

‘Huh, wait.’

This positioning…?

“Jandel, I’m warning you now.”

“…Huh?”

“If you try that again… I’ll kill you.”

Tch, so that’s a no.

“I wasn’t going to”

“I-I don’t mind…”

Even if Misha allowed it, since Amelia had vehemently refused, forcing a fusion was off the table.

With [Transcendence] and [Gigantification] active, I was roughly at eye-level with it.

Since it was staring at me as if captivated, it seemed I had successfully caught its attention.

“BETHEL—RAAAAAAAAH!”

I charged in with a shield bash.

[Kyaaaaah—!]

The Man-Faced Bird staggered, and Amelia and Misha immediately flanked it, aiming for its legs.

At the same time—

Flash—!

Light burst from the monster’s blackened eyes.

[The Human-Faced Bird has cast [Mark of Ruin].]

Yeah, figured it’d target me.

Whooosh—!

A flame-like pain surged through my heart.

[Your HP decreases by 1% per second.]

So, in theory, I’d die in 100 seconds?

‘Even now, this skill is so stupid.’

[Mark of Ruin].

A single-target curse-type skill that couldn’t be dodged or blocked.

And it had no duration.

Meaning, once hit, the curse lasted until either the monster or I died.

The solution was simple—

“Grrraaaaaah!!”

Endure with natural regeneration and a priest’s healing.

“Jandel! Are you okay?!”

“Don’t worry about me—just keep swinging!”

The Man-Faced Bird was designed to be unbeatable in prolonged fights.

So I focused on tanking while letting the damage dealers do their job.

Soon, our ranged attackers also joined in, to help keep it in check.

[Kee-hee-hee-hee…!]

As the battle dragged on, the Man-Faced Bird started spamming more skills.

[The Man-Faced Bird has cast [Mimicry].]

The huge human face on its body turned into someone else’s.

Although it was much bigger, it was still unmistakable.

“Whoa! It’s Emily! The monster turned into Emily!”

[Mimicry].

It randomly uses one of the skills from among the nearby target.

[The Man-Faced Bird has cast [Self-Replication].]

Oh, you’ve gotta be—

‘Of all skills, it had to be this one.’

“Ooh! Now there are two Emilíes… wait, three!!!”

Suddenly, we had two boss monsters.

And in the midst of that chaos, the clone used a new skill.

[The Man Faced Bird has cast [Song of the End]

More pillars of light rained down.

[The Man Faced Bird has cast [Mark of Ruin].”

[Your character’s HP will now decrease by 2% per second]

Whew, now it’s stacked twice.

I wonder if the priest can keep up…

Well, there’s no use dwelling on it.

Why does bad news always come in waves?

One of the matured chicks used the skill.

[The Man-Faced Bird has cast [Mark of Ruin].]

[Your HP decreases by 3% per second.]

Triple-stacked.

At this rate, the priests wouldn’t be able keep up.

But with [Mark of Ruin], retreat was impossible.

So there was only one answer.

“Die already, you damn bastard!!”

Embodying the proud K-Barbarian spirit, I charged in, fully prepared to stake my life.

[Your character’s HP is below 50%]

[Due to the passive skill [Path of the Hero], all resistances and immunities have increased]

With little time left, I fought even more fiercely.

[The Man Faced-Bird has cast [Guide]

[The Man Faced-Bird has cast [Guardian Spirit]

As the battle intensified, the Man-Faced Bird went berserk.

And who knows how much time had passed?

[Your HP has fallen below 20%.]

[Passive skill [Path of the Hero] has reached maximum effectiveness.]

Just as I felt, the battle was nearing its end.

Thud—!

I received four pieces of news.

To summarize—two good news and two bad news.

First, the good news:

[You have defeated the Man-Faced Bird. EXP +8.]

The Man-Faced Bird was finally dead.

And—

[No. 9999 Beginner’s Luck has activated.]

It has dropped an essence.

A white one.

‘[Mimicry], huh?’

Unlike [Song of the End], it couldn’t be used as a core essence, but its adaptability made it a decent drop.

But the bad news was—

“W-What the?!”

“A spear…? Why’s there a spear—”

—we weren’t the ones who landed the killing blow.

Something emerged from the darkness and impaled the man-faced bird’s skull with a massive spear, pinning it to the ground.

Well, it wasn’t hard to identify.

A roughly 3-meter-tall figure.

Smooth, stone-colored skin like a statue, humanoid in shape.

“Titanus…! A Titanus!”

Another Level 2 monster had appeared.

That was the first piece of bad news.

And the second—

‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’

The red spear the Titanus was holding.

[No.7 Milayel’s Divine Spear]

‘Why is it in that bastard’s hand?’

It made no sense, but I calmly accepted reality.

[The Celestial Spear Guardian, Milayel, has found mortals and is enraged.]

This guy is a rift guardian.

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com