CH 141

/All the beasts have been cleared. You have passed the first objective! Your party has acquired 160 Gem points!/

/The boss monster, Mother, shall appear!/

After several notifications popped up, a massive amount of darkness rolled into the town center.

Roar!

A 100-meter-tall monster comprised of darkness emerged.

“Welcome~!”

Whirl!

From the sky, the Apache helicopter shot a barrage of 2.75-inch rocket bullets and Hellfire missiles. Every single one hit their mark!

Roar!

“Kyak!”

Due to the barrage of bullets and missiles, Mother started writhing around. With the monster’s immense body, it was also a huge target, so Cruze’s attacks heavily injured it.

Roar!

As Mother contorted in pain, more darkness started entering its body. Once the gathered darkness reached a certain point, it shot out like a shockwave into the surroundings.

Boom!

After amplifying five years of internal energy into 40, Merlin used the Great Strength Vajra Hand to counter the shockwave. Meanwhile, Arthur used Bursting Sword Light to slash the shockwave, whereas Cruze used her Hellfire missiles. As for Ilyia, she had hidden beforehand, so Mother’s attack wasn’t directed toward her.

“Eh?! Watch out!”

“Oh, shoot!”

Only one party member was completely defenseless: Lancelot. Moreover, Mother spawned near him, so Lancelot couldn’t avoid the oncoming attack.

Sss.

In this predicament, Lancelot raised his spear, pulling it back before lunging out and stabbing. It was a simple move, yet it was neatly done with tremendous stability. There was nothing to fault or add; it was perfect. In other words, his stab was a [Complete] version.

Whoosh!

His attack didn’t collide with the shockwave. The only effects were the gentle sound of wind created by his stabbing motion and a small hole that was cut into the shockwave, but soon, a considerable hole appeared on Mother.

“Oh! That guy’s pretty good!”

“Outstanding. I guess he has his own signature move.”

As they observed the scene, Cruze and Ilyia reassessed their opinion regarding Lancelot. They still didn’t think highly of his lightness skill or aura, but they had to give Lancelot credit for his signature move. Yet, despite this reevaluation, Arthur and Merlin reacted differently.

“H-huh?”

“That’s….”

Arthur and Merlin were at a loss for words, and they recalled what Lancelot had just done. He’d pulled in his spear and thrust out with an attack; it was a simple move. However, that simple move was seemingly ingrained in their mind.

“Ack! What the hell is going on? Where did you all come from!”

“Huh, it possesses intelligence?”

“Well, it is a boss, after all.”

Bam!

As if to display its resentment, Mother wailed, but Cruze, Ilyia, and Lancelot didn’t pay it any attention and continued their assaults. As Cruze’s missiles, Ilyia’s fireworks, and Lancelot’s stabbings continued, Mother’s body was soon ravaged with holes.

“Stab… stab… I see. His stabs seem to reflect the root source of martial truth.”

“That stab motion itself isn’t of much use to me. Rather….”

Throughout the chaotic battle, Arthur and Merlin didn’t move.

[Arthur! Merlin! What the hell are you two doing?]

While launching attack after attack, Cruze sent a whisper to Arthur and Merlin as she hovered in the sky within her helicopter. However, Arthur and Merlin didn’t respond, as they were both trapped in their thoughts. Soon, they both looked up at the same time.

“I should test it out.”

“I need to test it out.”

Arthur and Merlin used their lightness skills to quickly approach Mother. Of course, this wasn’t a welcoming sight for the boss, so it swung two of its large octopus-like legs to sweep the newcomers away.

“Die!”

Mother’s legs were almost five meters thick. Moreover, when one of the legs was swung, the speed and force generated could easily level an entire modern house. Yet, at that moment, Arthur summoned his Draconic Sword, Dustin.

Rip!

As if it were being disconnected of its own accord, Mother’s leg was cut as it headed toward Arthur, while one of its other legs was met with Merlin’s fist as it headed toward him.

Bam!

Then, the leg was smashed and torn away, almost like it was hit by a huge invisible baseball bat.

“What? Is he using some newfound skill? Why is he using a weak one, though? If he used Thousand Light, Arthur could easily chop off all the monster’s legs with one strike.”

Cruze grumbled as she failed to comprehend what Arthur was doing. It wasn’t that she had a poor ability to properly assess what she saw, but rather, Cruze wasn’t well-versed in martial arts. Though Cruze trained a bit in physical, weaponless martial arts, what she saw just now was in an entirely different realm. However, Lancelot instantly recognized the origin of the skills just used.

“Oh, my god!”

Arthur was trapped in his thoughts.

He was fathoming the true meaning of Slash.

Merlin was also trapped in his thoughts.

He was fathoming the true meaning of Hitting.

Yet, Arthur soon shook his head, and Merlin’s expression wasn’t happy either.

“It’s… not working out.”

“Very difficult.”

The ‘root source of martial truth,’ as Arthur called it, was the connective step taken before launching an attack or defending. This wasn’t something that these two geniuses could instantly obtain, although….

“I think I’ll get it in a few tries.”

“Hmm. If I practice just a bit….”

Of course, the root source of martial truth wasn’t something that could be obtained so easily. Even these two geniuses couldn’t do it. However, in the end, it seemed to be an inevitability rather than an impossibility for them.

“Those… those two are crazy.”

In disbelief, Lancelot couldn’t help but scoff unconsciously. How could this be? Why… how… how could there be such an unfair difference between him and those two geniuses? He’d spent countless hours training and reiterating the same move to combine epiphanies and inspirations just to glimpse the martial truth of his move. How could Arthur and Merlin realize it with such ease?

“Cover all. Thousand Light.”

Flash!

With a burst of light, Mother’s body was riddled with hundreds of cuts.

“This is the Shaolin’s most powerful hand strike. If used to push, it can move ten thousand stone boulders, and if it is used to break something, it can break any known metal….”

Bam!

As he amplified ten years of internal energy into 80 years, Merlin’s physically-imposing hand strike landed on Mother’s body. Actually, when it came to pure overall force, Merlin’s hand strike was more powerful than Arthur’s previous Thousand Light attack.

“Kyak! Humans! Lowly humans….”

Arthur and Merlin’s attacks were so devastating that Mother instantly entered a critical state. Its life wasn’t merely threatened; it was truly on the cusp of dying. Once Mother understood this fact, its eyes were filled with a sense of malice and spite.

“Die! All of you, die!”

“Huh?!”

“What the hell!”

“Everyone, be careful!”

Suddenly a burst of Dark Light occurred in Mother’s body before it shot towards the five users. Though they flinched, the players couldn’t avoid the Dark Light attack, which was closer to a streak of light than a bundle of energy. This skill literally moved at the speed of light.

Ting!

However, an invisible aura appeared around Arthur’s body and deflected the Dark Light attack. With his astounding magic resistance stat, Arthur had blocked the oncoming attack.

“As if!”

Cruze also succeeded in blocking the attack. Since she always had an extensive reservoir of aura power around her, she wasn’t easily susceptible to such attacks.

“Hmph!”

Lancelot remained uninjured as well. His immense training in mental fortitude allowed him to constantly maintain a substantial defense around his body with aura power.

“Dang, that surprised me!”

Ilyia wasn’t at a level where she could defend against such an attack, but fortunately, she overcame this hurdle. This was only due to the Rank 1 unique item, the Moon Rock of Protection, that was hanging around her neck. Since the Moon Rock of Protection gave substantial magic resistance stats, it could resist virtually every type of spell. In the end, only one user succumbed to Mother’s attack.

“Ugh! Ack!”

Merlin cried out while lying on the ground. His vision was getting dark, and his body refused to listen. He had been hit by a powerful curse, and he didn’t have any resistance to it.

“Oh, my! Wake up and get it together!”

Since she didn’t have any offensive capabilities compared to the others, Ilyia approached Merlin, who was already entering a death phase.

“Ugh! I’m not a mage, so I’m not versed in recharging magic power… but I guess there’s no other option. Wake up!”

Bang!

Once she shouted, the Moon Rock of Protection around her neck burst out with white light, forcefully pushing the dark light within Merlin’s body out.

“Phew… ugh… I almost died. Thanks for saving me.”

“Well, you did help me become a Stealth Master… oh, it seems like things are over.”

Mid-sentence, Ilyia looked over at Arthur. He was holding a ten-meter-long sword made of sword qi, which shimmered and shone brightly.

“Deep slash. Ten Deaths.”

Ting!

It was the Third Step of Arthur’s Bursting Sword Light. Along with the sound of a sword being ground on a whetstone, ten light beams shot out and sliced through Mother’s body. Unable to sustain the attack, Mother started collapsing. As he watched this scene unfold, Merlin slowly stood. Luckily, Merlin didn’t seem to have suffered any lingering damage.

/You have defeated the boss, Mother! You have cleared the second objective! Your party has gained another 140 Gem points!/

/You will be given ten minutes before progressing to the next mission area./

“Dang, why is the rest time so short?”

Merlin grumbled. Though none of them knew the value of 300 Gem points, they had to gather as many as possible to obtain a flying shuttle.

“Rest up. I didn’t expend too much, so I’m fine.”

“Thanks.”

Merlin gave Ilyia a respectful bow before taking a cross-legged meditative form and gathering his breath. He had to regain his energy and focus for the next fight.

“Good job, everyone.”

“Good job.”

The party completed two more missions after the first one. Due to their previous experience, the following two missions took less time to complete, and more human lives were saved. In the end, each of the party members was able to obtain 1,100 Gem points.

“Uhm, hey, Ilyia.”

“Yeah?”

Though they had a somewhat strained initial meeting, Ilyia and Merlin became fairly close after completing a few party missions together. Since the party was about to disband soon, Ilyia wondered why Merlin was calling her.

“That necklace that you’re wearing, what is it called?”

“Oh, this? It’s called the Moon Rock of Protection. It’s a unique-rated item that protects me from all skill-based attacks. I got it as a drop after the Forest Worm raid. Actually, this necklace is the only reason a Level 9 user like me could defeat a Level 12 enemy during the assessment test.”

Ilyia pointed towards the thumb-sized rock on her necklace as she explained. Usually, one would think of hiding and guarding such a treasure against others’ peering eyes. So, contrary to her cold and patient demeanor, Ilyia seemed to be an outgoing extrovert, at least in Merlin’s eyes.

Merlin spoke up. “Sell it to me.”

“All I have to do is wear this and- what?”

Her bright eyes soon became sharp and narrowed. Clearly, she wasn’t going to sell her item. The Moon Rock of Protection’s effectiveness was greater than all her other gear combined. Why would she sell such a valuable item? Of course, the Moon Rock of Protection didn’t have any sentimental value, so if she was forced to put a price on it, she could, but a unique Rank 1 item in DIO was a universally valuable item. As such, it would fetch a substantial fee. Since large companies and nation-states in real life were trying to build their presence and influence in the game, this item was easily worth a building in a prime location or multiple acres of prized land.

“Ha! I’m thankful that you helped me become a Stealth Master, but you just aided in unlocking the possibility. You didn’t teach me any particular skill, and you also benefitted from the exchange, so to ask for such a thing-”

“Before you get angry, look at this.”

As he spoke, Merlin took out a pair of shoes. To be specific, it was a pair of leather boots. The tall boots had a military feel to them; moreover, the boots were black, making them virtually invisible in the dark. It was the unique rated drop item Merlin obtained after defeating the south gate’s lich boss during the tail end of the beta period. However, Ilyia didn’t know this, so she still kept her guard up and gave a frigid response.

“Wait, are you asking for a straight-up trade? I’m sorry, but the Moon Rock of Protection-”

“Use the Appraisal function on the boots.”

“Ugh, I don’t know what you’re up to, but….”

Grumbling, Ilyia used the appraisal function that every DIO user possessed.

[Item: Night Walker

Rank 1

Unique

Description: Boots that allow the user to walk in the dark, remove the wearer’s aura during movement, and make it possible to move from one shadow to another. In the beginning, the user can only move in connected shadows, but after growing accustomed to the boots, shadows can be utilized in various ways.

If the wearer’s darkness attribute points are above 30, the only condition to use the boots is to be Level 3 or above.]

“How is it? To start, it’s a unique Rank 1 item. Moreover, if the user has the right attribute affinity, they can utilize this boot for its intended purpose-”

Before Merlin could finish his sentence, Ilyia spoke with a trembling voice.

“… Wait. H-hand it over to me for a sec.”

“Sure.”

Merlin gave her the boots. Obviously, if Ilyia ran off with the boots, it would be extremely troublesome, but in Merlin’s eyes, Ilyia wasn’t that sort of person. Ilyia, for her part, never thought of this possibility either.

Swap!

After carelessly throwing her shoes to the side, Ilyia put on the Night Walker. While wearing the boots, she closed her eyes and seemed to be momentarily trapped in thought….

Then, she disappeared.

“Oho?”

Soon, Ilyia reappeared near a tree’s shadow. She had jumped from one shadow to another, an ability known as Shadow Jump. This was an essential characteristic of Night Walker, but even if someone was wearing the boots, it wasn’t guaranteed that they could use the skill. Actually, it should have been impossible to Shadow Jump immediately after putting the boots on for the first time; moreover, Ilyia had entirely skipped the connected shadow phase and went straight to the jump function.

‘I guess it’s because she possesses the darkness attribute affinity?’

Though surprised, Merlin felt that this was a good sign. He couldn’t use the boots anyway, so the boots could now go to someone who could unlock their full potential.

“Ilyia, you seem to specialize in spiritual power, so your natural magic resistance should be pretty high even without the necklace, no? Though the Moon Rock of Protection is a great treasure, I think the boots are a better fit for you-”

“Trade!”

Before Merlin could finish his sentence, Ilyia shouted. Dumbstruck, Merlin stammered, “Uh… huh?”

“Trade! Trade! Hahaha! You, I like you! Ha!”

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Ilyia disappeared once more before reappearing in another shadow… and promptly disappeared and reappeared again… Having seen this for a second time, Merlin was able to see her movements. Once she hid her aura, Ilyia blended into a shadow and moved five to ten meters into another shadow. As a Stealth Master with the Night Walker, Ilyia possessed the ability to essentially become a godly assassin or bandit.

Poof!

“Hmm?”

Seeing something shoot out from the dark shadows, Merlin extended his arm to catch the object. It was the necklace that had just recently been around Ilyia’s neck.

Merlin used the Appraisal function on the necklace.

[Item: Moon Rock of Protection

Rank 1

Unique

Description: A treasure created after processing a Forest Worm’s iris, it resists all skill-based attacks targeting the wearer on a 24-hour basis. It will deflect any low-level spells without requiring any particular action by the wearer.

Additionally, if magic power is used to recharge the Moon Rock of Protection, that magic power will be controlled to deflect or weaken mid and upper-level spells. If the wearer can properly manage their flow of magic power, it is possible to take magic power out of the Moon Rock of Protection or even nullify the protective properties of this item.

A Class 5 or above mage may use this item once they reach Level 3 or above.]

Merlin put the Moon Rock of Protection necklace around his neck. Soon, he felt a gentle spiritual power barrier form around him.

‘Fortunately, the system considers the Seven Jewel school’s Level 5 to be at least a Class 5 mage. Well, I’m probably recognized as a Class 5 mage, if not higher.”

Currently, Merlin’s jewel transformed from a Jade, Crystal, Emerald, and Spinel to a Sapphire. In other words, his jewel had reached its fifth stage. Considering that there was an entry step and an ultimate step, the Unknown and Zero Shining, respectively, amongst the nine total steps in the Seven Jewels school, Merlin was on the sixth.

“Anyway, thanks! Then, Return!”

Ilyia had stayed back because of Merlin, so she was the last party member to leave the waiting room outside of Merlin. No one had waited to go back with Merlin, but as someone who lived a solitary life, Merlin was used to this and felt that it was normal.

“To walk alone, oh, that is life.”

While mumbling useless gibberish, Merlin returned to Starting. Since he had spent some time in the city and had participated in the first mission event, he didn’t have much time left before the start of the next event.