I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 88
I never thought I’d find myself chanting it twice in a row.
“Honey Wine.”
Golden droplets saturated the air around us. With Honey Wine stacked twice over, it was as though we stood wrapped in a shimmering amber mist.
‘If I could layer it one more time, that would be incredible.’
If I could dispatch Balrog in ten minutes and then use Honey Wine and Blooming as we entered the Boss Room, there would be nothing to fear.
I let my mind drift to the possibilities.
Clang—!
When Balrog’s axe and shield collided, the shield’s edge shattered.
The Tanker looked momentarily thrown, but instead charged straight at Balrog.
Boom!
The shield drove hard into Balrog’s body, sending him sprawling backward. The force was so great the shield cracked completely.
But the price of sacrificing the shield was well worth it.
While Balrog reeled from the momentum, the Melee DPS rushed in.
They carved deep gashes along both flanks, and a spear fell from above toward his head.
Clang!
Balrog barely managed to raise his axe and block the spear.
Suspended in the air, he shoved the Hunter back with sheer arm strength.
The Hunter spun once through the air before landing and charging at Balrog again.
As the Melee DPS pressed an attack at his exposed legs, Balrog brought his axe down in a vicious strike.
The Melee DPS instinctively raised the spear to block.
The Leader’s urgent shout saved the Melee DPS from disaster.
“Don’t meet the axe head-on! Your weapon will shatter!”
The Melee DPS remembered what he’d forgotten and quickly rolled to the side.
He ate a mouthful of dust, but his weapon and body remained intact.
Balrog snorted like an ox, his breath ragged and violent as he glared at the Hunters.
“Shield replaced.”
The Tanker whose shield had broken now stood at the front with a new one in hand.
Balrog’s axe, though it had struck the shield, remained razor-sharp.
I narrowed my eyes, studying that blade.
“I didn’t realize the weapon-breaking property would apply to shields too.”
“The fact that it didn’t break in one hit is remarkable in itself. It’s probably thanks to the defense boost.”
Depending on how you looked at it, that sounded either good or bad.
With Honey Wine stacked twice, our defense should have increased by 100 percent—and yet the shield still shattered.
I crouched down and pressed my palm against the volcanic soil. It was hot, like the floor of an ondol.
“Flowers, wake up and seize that axe for me, would you?”
But beneath the earth, my whisper stirred nothing.
The Leader, having glimpsed what I was doing, stepped in front of me.
“It would be wise to carry flower or tree seeds with you next time.”
Such a method—!
Before the veteran’s counsel, I felt enlightenment dawn.
There was no need to rely solely on the dungeon’s environment.
If the environment wasn’t there, you could simply create it.
‘But what good does it do to know that now?’
I swallowed my regret and looked up. Thanks to Honey Wine’s effect, the Hunters’ bodies bore no visible wounds.
Balrog seemed to realize the Hunters were no easy prey and began to falter.
But Balrog’s purpose was to guard the door.
He couldn’t retreat far.
The Hunters surged forward toward him.
When the Tankers charged ahead with their shields raised menacingly, Balrog’s options narrowed.
He lifted his axe high and brought it crashing down.
“Watch the shield!”
The Tanker in front didn’t meet the axe head-on. Instead, he tilted his shield at an angle.
Screech—
The axe blade scraped off the shield and buried itself in the ground.
The Tanker pinned the axe handle with his shield.
Ungh—
Balrog tensed his arms, fighting to reclaim his weapon. The force was so great it made not just the shield quiver but the Tanker’s entire body lift.
But the others didn’t stand idle.
Boom, crash—!
The other Tankers overlapped their Shields and pressed down on the Axe handle together. In that opening, the Melee DPS moved.
“Hah!”
With a sharp cry, the blade flashed and finally severed the Balrog’s wrist.
Kuooooh!
The Balrog shrieked and dropped the Axe. With the arm that had lost its wrist thrashing wildly about, a whistling sound cut through the air.
Without the Axe that destroyed weapons, there was nothing to obstruct them.
The Tankers held their Shields frontward and blocked the Balrog’s two arms.
Toward the exposed upper body, the spears and blades of the Melee DPS flew.
Thwack! Slash—
The blades pierced and tore through the Balrog’s upper body, blood streaming down in torrents.
The Balrog staggered and finally collapsed backward.
The Leader turned to me quickly.
“Healer, how much time remains on the Honey Wine?”
“Three minutes left.”
The Leader immediately rallied the Hunters.
“There’s no time to rest! We’re entering the Boss Room immediately!”
Tension settled once more among the Hunters, who had begun to relax after felling the Balrog.
The Hunters reformed their ranks and entered the Boss Room in unison.
For the first time, the interior of the Boss Room came into full view.
“Ugh……!”
Even for Hunters accustomed to blood and flesh, the sight within the Boss Room turned their stomachs.
I too covered my nose and mouth with one hand.
Corpses of Satyrs and Nixies lay strewn in all directions. Not merely strewn—they had been ripped apart.
The surviving Satyrs were wringing those corpses with both hands, collecting the blood.
The pooled blood gathered in the center of the Boss Room.
We forgot our situation for a moment, staring blankly at the sight.
“Why on earth would they do this to each other…….”
The Leader muttered as if unable to believe it. But I knew the answer.
In the center of the Boss Room stood a Stone Slate like a monument, drinking in the blood.
Splash.
From the river of lava crossing the center of the Boss Room, a sound of water rose. That sound jolted everyone awake.
“Healer! Stack the Honey Wine! When the boss appears, we’ll deploy Blooming right away——!”
Whoooosh!
The sound of lava pouring down erupted.
Boom!
The Tankers quickly overlapped their Shields in a line and blocked the incoming lava.
“Ngh!”
Their skin contorted from the heat and pressure, then healed repeatedly under the influence of Honey Wine.
I hurried to activate my skill.
“Honey Wine.”
Third stack.
An Je-hwan’s skill uses were exhausted.
With Honey Wine stacked three times, a sweet fragrance now perfumed the air around us.
The endless cascade of lava ceased, and we could finally see the Demon Beast that had attacked us.
Clang— Clang—
The thing rising from the lava, stretching out two arms, seemed to be fire compacted and shaped into a human form.
In one hand it held a sword, and in the other, the head of a Nixie.
The creature of fire, that which held the Nixie’s head, swallowed it into what might have been its mouth.
A sound that was neither crunch nor crackle—impossible to distinguish—rang out.
Because of the tension, we could not move recklessly.
We had not yet crossed weapons, yet we could tell.
‘That is the Sudden Boss of an S-rank Dungeon.’
Did we truly stand any chance of victory?
Sweat ran down, not from the heat but from the tension.
‘Even so.’
We had to move anyway.
“Blooming!”
I lifted my hands toward the sky. In the Volcanic Region where no plants grew, flowers bloomed in a riot of color.
The scent of flowers and honey pushed back the tension and enveloped the Hunters.
The Hunters snapped back to attention.
The Leader drew his sword and charged forward.
“Attack!”
“Go!”
The Tankers rushed behind the Leader, shields raised before them.
The Satyr moved to block the Hunters’ advance, but it was futile.
The Satyr flew backward off the shields like a small animal struck by a dump truck.
At last, the Sudden Boss stirred.
It charged at the Tankers with flames erupting in its wake.
Three stacked defensive buffs and healing spells shielded the Tankers from the worst of it.
Sizzzzle—
Flesh burning and mending happened simultaneously, again and again.
Both the Sudden Boss and I poured Mana into our skills.
Whoever ran out of Mana first would lose. But there was a difference between us and it.
I had allies. It had none.
A boss without allies had to conserve its strength.
Finally, the Sudden Boss cut off its flames and drew a sword.
Whoosh, whoosh.
With each step the boss took, the sound of raging fire followed.
In an instant, the boss reached the shield and swung its blade.
CRASH—!!
It sounded less like a shield and sword colliding than like a bomb detonating.
The Tanker gripped the shield firmly with both hands and held fast.
The Melee DPS fighters circled around the Tanker and assaulted the Sudden Boss from behind.
Whoosh!
The Sudden Boss evaded their strikes by crouching low, then erupted with flames.
The Melee DPS fighters’ lower bodies seemed to be engulfed and sent flying, yet they sealed over in an instant.
“Once more!”
And though there must have been pain, the Hunters pressed their attack without hesitation.
Clang—!
As the Melee DPS fighters brought their blades down, the boss raised its sword to parry.
Its body was exposed while defending against the descending blades.
“Mage!”
Before the Leader’s command was even finished, the Mage was already extending her hands.
“Rain Falls.”
The Mage’s incantation rang out sharply, and a thin stream of water shot forth. The attack, like a high-pressure water jet cutter, pierced through the boss’s neck and head.
‘Will that kill it?’
It wore human form, but its composition was far too different from a person’s.
This Demon Beast was nothing but a shape held by flame itself.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who harbored such doubt.
“Keep attacking!”
The Melee DPS fighters didn’t pause, swinging their weapons relentlessly at the boss Demon Beast.
In that rare spectacle of fire being hacked to pieces, something shimmered blue.
I reflexively poured every last bit of Mana remaining in Blooming into it.
A tremendous explosion followed in its wake.
KABOOM—!!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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