The time limit for this destructive attack pattern was ten minutes, and after those ten minutes, Riakis would fully recover, negating any damage the player had dealt him so far. Considering the countless ridiculous conditions that Dungeon and Stone forced its players to deal with, this one was quite reasonable.
[Purification rate: 3%]
If you could deliver one last blow in those ten minutes, the battle would be over. And in the meantime, there would be no surprise attack patterns or new phases.
I tried to focus on being as calm, collected, and cautious as possible without getting too restless.
¡Fwooosh!
Erwen shot an arrow at him at full power. However, as she sailed through the air, Riakis seemed to see her with his corrupt eyes and dodged her.
Please, can't you die at once? I don't have time to deal with you.
[Purification rate: 7%]
The more Riakis evaded and defended himself from our attacks, the more anxious and impatient I became. On top of that, I wasn't the only one who was losing patience.
«Erwen! Don't you know how to shoot an arrow?!»
«Why don't you try shooting it, then?!»
«Behel-aaaaaah!» ainar bellowed, jumping into the air as he always did when trying to deliver a final blow. When Riakis was within reach, he stabbed the sword into his shoulder blade.
Slash!
However, the cut was not deep enough. Maybe that's why Ainar was also getting more frustrated than usual.
Dagger!
He leaned on his shoulder as he drew his sword and stabbed it again. However, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't cause any harm.
«Argh!» Suddenly, a tail surrounded Ainar's waist like a tentacle and lifted her into the air effortlessly. Fortunately, Amelia, who was nearby, managed to run forward and rescue Ainar by piercing the tail with her dagger.
«Thanks!»
«Calm down, barbarian. At least while we're in battle».
«Y-Yes... I'm sorry!»
«Apologize to that girl too. She has been the one who has contributed the most to this fight after Yandel.»
«Erwen! Sorry! I'm sorry I yelled at you for missing!»
«...I didn't care anyway.»
The sight of Amelia scolding Ainar and Erwen awkwardly accepting the apology warmed my heart. I couldn't be more proud as your captain. However, this was neither the time nor the place for all that, especially when we were on a time limit.
«Hey! We just need one more attack!» I screamed irritably as everyone quickly ended their conversations and focused on the battle.
¡Bum!
Riakis swung his front paw once more. Instead of trying to contain the attack with my shield, I decided to retreat to nullify some of the impact.
We can still get it.
I controlled my growing frustration before it took hold of me.
[Purification rate: 9%]
We weren't in bad condition at the time, although after thirty minutes of non-stop battle, the PM of our DPS was slowly bottoming out. However, that was the worst. This type of boss monster became easier to deal with the longer you were able to contain it.
¡Guoooooo!
The next scream told me that his purification rate should be 10%.
Not that that mattered. Who cared about the Purification Rate when the Sawtooth Clan came here?
«Erwen, how long until your next attack?»
«About seventy-five seconds!»
Damn. So this would really be our last chance.
«Raaah!» I let out a war cry and ran towards Riakis. I periodically had to use Wild Burst to increase my threat level so that its attack would not fall on anyone but me.
Hit!
My job was to block Riakis' attacks before he hit my damage dealers.
[Purification rate: 15%]
A few good blows from Riakis's paw would tear even someone as tough as Ainar to pieces. He was so powerful that if we were in phase three, even I would have had no choice but to get out of the way and run away from him. Luckily, the fact that we were in Phase Four allowed me to face him even without the help of a priest or wizard.
«Sir!»
Um? Have you finished loading your next attack yet? Although there should still be sixty-two seconds left.
«Here!» It was a clause without a subject, but I immediately understood what he was saying.
How lucky I am.
It had been less than three minutes since we first saw them. How had they arrived so quickly?
Erwen continued with her instructions as I focused on containing Riakis' attacks. «On the right!»
I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see dozens of people in the distance quickly approaching.
Hit!
I dropped the shield and hammer to the ground.
Amelia looked at me and opened her eyes wide as soon as she understood what I had done. To be fair, seeing me drop my weapons and head straight towards Riakis would surprise anyone. Where else would I have seen something so wild?
I wrapped my arms around the giant monster's neck, as if I wanted to drag it to the ground.
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
My strong grip on him didn't give way even when he tried to forcibly shake me. Instead, I strangled him with all the strength I had in my arms.
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
I called this move the Strangulation of the Giant Barbarian. It was similar to the one I used when I fought that Troll on the fourth floor, but there were two key differences. One was that both I and the monster I was strangling were several times bigger.
What strength...
The second was that I couldn't grip his neck perfectly like with the Troll.
¡Guoooooo!
Before it was difficult for me to even defend myself from his attacks, so of course now it would be difficult for me to grab him. Just because we were in a similar weight class didn't mean we shared the same strength.
«¡B-Bjorn!»
Rising on his hind legs, he stood bipedally, using his front legs to grab my arms as they continued to grab his neck in a choke.
Seventy y of the seconds.
The monster struggled to push me aside while I tried to strangle him.
Seventy-three seconds.
I struggled to hold on with all the strength I had left, but it wasn't enough.
Crujido.
The wristbands of my already half-destroyed lithinum armor bent in his grip like cans of preserves, and the arms around his neck loosened their grip.
Seventy-four seconds.
¿Y que?
«It's too late, bastard».
It was seventy-five seconds. Finally, Erwen had finished charging. I couldn't wait to see this doll-crushing bastard blown to pieces.
Seventy-six seconds…
That? Why didn't he shoot him? My confused gaze drifted to where Erwen was tightening her bowstring.
Thank goodness I didn't take the wrong time.
«Shoot!»
The instant the scream left my lips, a giant flash filled the area.
¡Fwoosh!
From this angle, it really looked like lightning.
¡Kaboooooom!
The huge explosion was enough to knock me unconscious, and when I came to my senses a moment later, I was lying on the hard ground. My ears were ringing, but at this point, I didn't care.
[Chaos Lord Riakis has cast Corrupted Heart].
I stood up and watched him from a safe distance.
His entire body was black as coal and he screamed in pain, although no sound could be heard.
[The corrupt power within Riakis has begun to overflow].
Like a squeezing water balloon, Riakis's body distorted, growing and shrinking randomly. Ainar and Erwen kept their weapons ready, still on guard, but it was not necessary. Everything was over.
[The former Pilgrim has rejected corrupt power].
With an unstable snap, the beast's body finally burst into a violent flash of light, like a nuclear explosion. The dazzling rays eventually faded and my vision slowly returned. Changes throughout the soil were immediately evident.
The maze no longer glowed red.
[You have killed the Lord of Chaos, Riakis. EXP +100]
[Bonus for killing the Lord of the Soil. EXP +15]
Where Riakis lay were tens of thousands of light particles scattering through the air.
[Achievement unlocked]
[Condition: Defeat your first Floor Lord.]
[Reward: Your Soul Power has permanently increased by +50.]
With this, the hunt was finally over.
[Achievement Unlocked]
[Condition: Defeat Chaos Lord Riakis.]
[Reward: ???]
It was a strange feeling. Although we had only dealt the final blow, he had managed to defeat a monster from which he had had to flee, helpless, a few years ago. However, there was no time to gloat over our victory. With the battle over, it was time to collect the rewards.
Shaaaaaa.
I stared at the thousands of light particles fluttering away like cherry blossoms in spring. What ended up falling?
Ba-dum.
My heart raced in my chest.
There were three rewards that a Ground Lord could drop. The first was a Soil Treasure, which was even more valuable than a Numbered Item. The second was a Soil Stone, which could forcibly open a crack in the ground.
Please, please, please make it an essence...!
Last but not least, a Soil Essence, which in some ways was even more valuable than that of a rank one monster.
A Soil Treasure would be great, but please make it an essence!
As I waited patiently and prayed, the light particles vanished and our reward materialized.
[No. 9999: Beginner's Luck has been activated.]
...It was an essence. No Soil Treasure or Soil Stone was seen.
«Bjorn... there...! It is...!»
An essence had fallen, but now the problem was...
...look them in the face.
The Sawtooth Clan had gotten close enough that even I could see their naked desperation and shock. I assumed they were yelling at me urgently, but unfortunately, I couldn't hear them.
What should we do? There was no need to waste any more precious time. As soon as I saw the essence fall, I moved.
«¡Erwen!»
Erwen said something to me, but I couldn't tell it from the ringing in my ears either. Therefore, I had no choice.
«¿El... yo? Pero... ¡tú...!»
«I'll explain it to you later».
I will give Erwen to fear the delicate waist and lancé.
«... Week!»
I heard her let out a strangled scream as she slowly regained her hearing, but I didn't give it any importance. I already had enough experience with this kind of thing.
What is this feeling of nostalgia about?
Maybe it was because I gave him the Goblin Archer essence in the same way.
***
[The Essence of Chaos has sunk deep into the soul of Erwen Fornacci di Tersia.]
***
«Uhhh...»
After absorbing the Chaos Essence, that was the first noise that came out of Erwen's mouth.
«W-Why did you give it to me...? You should have been the one to take it, sir».
So that's what I was trying to say before. I appreciated the gesture, but there was no need for him to worry about something like that.
«It was an essence that I planned to give you one day».
More precisely, I had wanted her to have that essence the moment I learned that she had signed a contract with each of the Four Great Spirits. Only after a character did it did the true value of this essence shine through, although I never expected that she would be able to obtain it so soon.
«Still, he is an essence of the Lord of the Soil, so...».
«Because? Are you planning to abandon me like you did after I gave you the Goblin Archer essence?»
«No! Never! I would never do that!»
Okay, so it's okay.
To begin with, the Essence of Chaos was not going well for a barbarian. Well, aside from the inherent value of possessing such a unique essence, of course. This was even stronger than a rank three essence... However, there was a limit of one Ground Essence per character.
And it's impossible to get rid of one, once you take it, even if you go to the temple.
The one I planned to take for myself was upstairs.
«Yandel».
Anyway, I needed to focus on the present. Those bastards arrived at the perfect time.
«Baron Yandel, what the hell have you done?!» Dagas, who was leading the group, launched a diatribe as soon as he arrived. «I'm sure I told you to stop what you were doing!»
Oh, now he didn't even bother to be respectful?
«Ah, about that. I did not hear you».
«That's ridiculous!»
«But even if I had heard you, I wouldn't have stopped anyway.»
As soon as I backed away, Daggers fell silent and looked at me with contempt.
Then Amelia spoke from close range. «Yandel».
«Lo sé».
The other members of the Sawtooth Clan soon surrounded us. Judging by how easily they got into position, I had a feeling it wasn't their first time. Maybe Daggers had given them some kind of sign beforehand? Or maybe they had done it so often that it practically came naturally to them? In any case, I didn't back down.
«Malid Kevron, the vice captain of the Sawtooth Clan.»
«...Speak.»
«Do you realize what you are doing?»
He looked at me like a dagger. «What are you talking about? I'm just asking you a question. Why did you suddenly choose to rob us when we were in the middle of our raid on Riakis? As a former adventurer, I'm sure you know that in the maze adventurers have no mercy on looters».
I sighed. I had expected them to face us the moment we took the essence before them, but still.
«Although fighting against you will not benefit us at all», he grumbled, almost like an afterthought.
These guys really needed someone to put things in their place.