A Floor Lord was a type of boss monster from each floor that appeared when certain summoning conditions were met. They were typically considered high-ranking raid targets, as anyone attempting to defeat one would need, at a minimum, the specifications of an experienced adventurer from the seventh floor of the Rift. However, that only applied to the fifth floor and the lower floors. From the sixth floor onwards, the difficulty of each Floor Lord increased exponentially, to the point of being considered exclusive content for the end of the game.
So why is our first raid against a Floor Lord?
Considering that the tallest Rift we had surpassed was the Double Forest on the fourth floor, it was crazy to try to face a Soil Lord. Not only that, there were only four of us. Not even enough people for an entire group, much less to form an attack squad.
Although we have several rank three essences. I'm sure we can at least deal him the final blow.
As soon as I saw Riakis alone in the distance, I made a decision. Right now, it would be stupid not to be greedy.
I made a promise then.
As a child, I made a promise to myself that the next time I saw that bastard...
¡Guoooooo!
Things would be different.
«Yandel, what are we going to do?»
«Oh, I'll block their attacks, so focus on fighting back».
«...That's all?»
After hearing my simple orders, Amelia looked at me in disbelief. However, that was the closest thing to a plan of attack that anyone could handle when fighting Riakis in his fourth phase. There was no reason to come up with a strategy. The only thing you had to do was hit him and hit him hard.
[Chaos Lord Riakis has perceived a source of life].
As we approached him within a certain radius, he suddenly stopped running madly on all fours and looked towards us.
¡Guoooooo!
With a fierce roar, he charged at us. The sound of their footsteps was noticeably different from that of the first phase.
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
They were still heavy, but now they were much lighter than before, which meant that the speed at which he ran was much higher. After all, Riakis' Phase Four was based on agility.
«Everyone, behind me.»
Once my companions were behind me, I launched Transcendence and Gigantization.
[Your Physique grows in proportion to your Strength.]
If Riakis was still in his first phase, he wouldn't even have been able to reach his chin. However, now that it had shrunk in size and strength, it was at his height. It was one of the many advantages of gigantization.
[Chaos Lord Riakis has sensed a great threat in you].
When your threat level increased during a raid, you naturally attracted the enemy. And when would this guy have encountered a threat like me? His possible prey was now at eye level.
«¡Become-aah!»
My Threat Level had increased even without needing to activate the Wild Burst, but I still let out a fierce roar as I headed straight towards it. This was a form I liked to call Giant Shield Charge.
¡Boom!
There was a powerful crash when my gigantic barbarian shield and the giant monster's body collided. Unfortunately, I was the one who was forced to back down, but I was already expecting it. It would be absurd to think that he had muscular strength and statistics comparable to those of a Soil Lord.
Hit!
I threw Swing and threw my hammer at him, but he didn't even flinch. Shouldn't he at least blink when someone hits his chin? Riakis immediately scratched me with his front paw, causing me to lose my balance.
¡Graaaaaawr!
Riakis' phase four was too agile. He had no chance of dodging the blow, but there was no real reason to dodge it in the first place.
¡Zas!
He wasn't the only one with hard skin. Just like my hammer didn't hurt him, hitting me wouldn't hurt me either.
...But why is my head spinning?
I had to revise that statement as soon as I took stock of my current state. My Physical Stamina was strong enough to prevent my head from flying cleanly off my shoulders, but...
I can't let him hit me on the head anymore.
The shock wave from the blow pierced my skull and ran down my spine. The last time I had suffered such a serious head injury was when my high school physical education teacher hit me.
«¡Bjorn!»
I put aside the childhood memories that clouded my mind and focused on the present.
¡Fwooosh!
He pushed forward once more, swinging his front paw towards me.
¡Clang!
This time I was able to block it with my shield. Plus, the timing was perfect, as my damage could go on the offensive.
[Amelia Rainwales has launched Self-Replication.]
Amelia lunged from both sides with her clones.
Tajo.
With no intention of holding back, he threw Power of the Abyss and slashed at Riakis's ankles and thighs.
[Ainar Fenelin has launched Tajo Repetido].
At the same time, Ainar jumped into the air and stabbed him in the shoulder with his sword. However, unlike before, no explosion occurred. After all, he was no longer fighting weak monsters that died in one hit.
[Ainar Fenelin has launched Control of Savagery].
He brought out an ability of the same essence that I had recommended to him when we received the royal family reward all those years ago. The effect of this ability was quite simple.
[All effects applicable to your next attack will become Cutting Force].
Damage from his three conditional abilities - Explosive Scars, Mandel Oil, and Residual Heat - would be converted to Shear Force.
Tajo.
In other words, he could freely switch between assault and hunting modes. Although it was still not enough to deliver the final blow, he was finally able to tear the boss's thick skin, earning him a few drops of his black blood.
¡Guooooooooo!
He knew that Amelia would be able to deal some damage, but Ainar was also holding up better than he expected. Only Erwen remained.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has launched Concentrated Fire].
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has launched Elemental Synthesis.]
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has released Ruptura.]
Needless to say, he was doing well.
«Lord, depart!»
Since I had already fought alongside Erwen many times, I stepped aside as soon as I heard that. He knew exactly what he was aiming for.
A dextellum.
With a bright burst of light, a plant emerged from the ground.
¡Fwoosh!
The stem shot forward at speeds that broke the sound barrier before crashing into Riakis.
¡Booooome!
The explosion illuminated the entire area.
¡Guoooooo!
As I watched the boss scream in pain, I couldn't help but smile. Erwen's attack was still not enough to finish off Riakis.
But wow. With that single shot, he broke his skull.
[Lord of Chaos Riakis has cast Corrupted Horns.]
Now, the real raid would begin.
***
The first phase of the Chaos Lord attack pattern was quite simple. Due to his passive Rain of Despair aura and his Chaos Spirits, the entire ground gradually corroded. From the deteriorated land, marbles began to appear from time to time that could restore their health. During this phase, there was only one thing to worry about: Evil Hiatus.
It was an instant death ability that was activated after Riakis ate a certain number of marbles, but it was possible to avoid, since all you had to do was run away. The problem was that once you left a certain radius, someone was marked as Prey and fell into a state of incapacitation. Riakis concentrated his aggressiveness on the designated prey and once he devoured it, his basic stats increased, further increasing the difficulty of the next phase.
After the first phase, things become quite simple as you enter pure combat.
The real battle began in the second phase.
Once his health fell below a certain threshold, Riakis felt threatened and opened the Gate of Chaos, which sucked everyone nearby. There, the ground would gradually and permanently corrode, and each adventurer would be subjected to an effect that would significantly reduce their mental state. The player had to find Riakis in the worst possible conditions, and by the time he found him, Riakis would have already been upgraded with countless combat modifiers, making him even more difficult to combat. It was the most difficult phase by far.
However, if you had a purification torch, things changed. If you managed to keep the torch for two days, the Gate of Chaos would close and you would return to your original location.
Getting a torch for each of your clan members is the tricky part, but if you do, phase two will be much easier.
Of course, this strategy also has a big drawback. If you used that gift to reach the third phase, Riakis would not only be healthy, but he would also be much stronger than before. In any case, it was still better than not using the torch, and that is why I used it myself in the past.
In the third phase, the Chaos Spirits disappeared from the third floor. Instead, the Rain of Despair began to intensify. Areas exposed to rain eroded quickly, and so did your equipment. Until the maze closed, your Numbered Items would lose all their effectiveness, and the defensive ability of even adamantium-level armor would be drastically reduced, down to the level of ordinary iron equipment.
The third phase... It was probably when the Sawtooth Clan ended up failing.
At that time, the torches were no longer able to protect you. They were simply forced to fight an even stronger Riakis. If I had to guess, I would say that the sawtooth clan had planned to defeat Riakis with just their numbers, making sure to carefully manage the attack and the damage dealt.
Otherwise, his battle against him would not have dragged on for so many hours in the third phase.
He didn't know for sure where the raid had failed. Something unexpected must have happened. Dungeon and Stone had always been that kind of game, where the smallest mistakes could cause irreversible damage.
Still, they must have done a good job of preparation. They even managed to get it to the fourth phase, somehow...
Thanks to that, his stroke of misfortune was my stroke of luck. The hardest thing about the fourth phase was having all your equipment ruined before the fight even started. Luckily for us, we didn't have to worry about that.
How could I pass up something as delicious as this?
It was like they handed me the entire cake for free. Even if my stomach hurt later, it was only fair that I indulge now. Who knew, an essence might even fall. And if he did, that would make things much easier for us in the future.
¡Boom!
The bloodbath lasted more than thirty minutes. Erwen shot an arrow that plunged deep into Riakis's left eye.
[Lord of Chaos Riakis has launched Corrupt Left Eye.]
Well then, there was the second eye.
¡Whooosh!
Ominous black smoke billowed from his eye socket. Beyond the smoke came a faint, eerie glow.
Even as we tore his flesh and shot his eyes, he no longer moaned. It was as if he was becoming more and more lifeless at times.
We have already cut off enough of its claws... I think there are already seven parts that have been corrupted.
The theme of the fourth phase was simple. As Riakis continued to take damage, he began to corrupt parts of his body to recover, becoming slightly stronger each time.
There is his ounce.
All we needed was one more. If you corrupted twelve of his thirty-six body parts, the battle would end.
«All back!»
The moment my companions stood behind me, Riakis began to pounce on us in one last attack.
[Riakis' corrupt power has begun to overflow].
It was only natural for a boss to have an explosive final move. Now, it was a race against time.
[Blessing to the pilgrims: a mysterious energy hidden in Chaos has begun to purify Riakis' corruption].
It would only take Riakis about ten minutes to completely purify his corrupted body. Before that happened, we needed to land one last-
«Sir!» Erwen shouted.
What was the problem? There shouldn't be any curveballs to worry about at this point.
«There are a few dozen people heading this way! And very quickly».
«What?» Dozens? Who the hell was he? Were they the barbarians we left in the camp? Did they come because they were worried about us? That was the first possibility that came to mind.
«...I think it's the Sawtooth Clan!»
Well, nothing in the world is easy, huh?
«What?! Didn't they fail?» ainar shouted, unable to hide his confusion. I felt the same.
What... Why do they come back suddenly?
I didn't understand it at all. Not only that, but they came in a group of dozens. If there were so many of them alive, why was Riakis wandering around alone? Hadn't they failed?
He had countless unanswered questions. However, right now, there was one thing he knew for sure.
They come...
This was the worst scenario for us. There was no way they had changed their minds.
That they came back just when we were about to deliver the final blow...
They wouldn't sit around watching us kill him.
Yes, but despite everything...
This doesn't change anything.
[Purification Rate: 1%]
It was about ten minutes before Riakis fully recovered. And our safest bet was to assume that real time was even less than that.
Therefore, I acted like the simple and fearless barbarian I now was.
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
«Sir?»
«What are you doing?! Hurry up and kill him!»
We might worry about the future later.