Chapter 27
Ding-
[Stage 1 'Lighthouse on the Beach' Boss Battle]
-------------------------------------
The 'Lighthouse on the Beach' boss, 'Guardian of Opal,'
is asleep.
The boss is powerful.
Please challenge it after
you have leveled up sufficiently.
-------------------------------------
Reward: Entry to the stage 'Coral Zone'
Experience 18,000
Gold 5,000,000
-------------------------------------
Accept(Y) Decline(N)
A message window appeared when I stood in front of the lighthouse.
It was a welcome message after two days of grueling effort.
I stared at it and pondered for a moment.
'Let's see, I have ten million gold right now, so if I defeat the boss, I'll have fifteen million...'
Not enough. I might have to clear some of Stage 2 even after defeating the boss.
......Of course, that didn't mean it would be easy.
The swarm of over a hundred mermaids that had charged at me like mad the moment I arrived.
Having suffered several times against the seemingly endless onslaught, I couldn't even imagine how hellish the next stage would be.
If I hadn't been able to come and go from outside whenever I wanted,
and if the ones I'd killed hadn't stayed dead, it would've taken me over a month.
"Let's not get scared. We can just hack down the boss and run away, too!"
I grabbed the wooden doorknob of the lighthouse.
......Thud!
The scenery changed in an instant.
Instead of the beach that had been there moments ago, a round, cylindrical wall surrounded me.
I turned around in surprise and saw the wooden door from before.
"Did it automatically pull me inside?"
I reached for the doorknob again, curious whether touching it would let me leave.
But then,
Rubble pattered down-
'......?'
Along with the falling fragments, the hairs on my body stood on end of their own accord.
-Ssssss...!
Then I began to hear a sound like a snake crawling along the floor.
It seemed to be coming from above, so I raised my head and saw a long silhouette.
'Another mermaid?'
The space was pitch-black, without a single source of light, but I was confident in my night vision by then.
I couldn't tell its color, but I could quickly make out its shape.
It was similar to the things I'd seen until now, yet...
"Kyaaahhh-!!!"
"I knew it! Blade Claws!"
Ding-
[Skill 'Blade Claws LV.3' activates.]
As expected, the monsters in this dungeon gave me no time to think.
The boss threw itself into a vertical dive toward me at an unexpected moment.
With the skill activated, I carefully measured the timing.
'Now...!'
Taat!
I predicted where it would land and swiftly dodged.
The massive mermaid's body slammed down with a heavy thud, making the ground tremble slightly,
and it immediately kicked off with its tail and charged toward me.
"No time to recover or anything?!"
The creature was three times the size of an ordinary mermaid and was charging with a spear and shield held out before it.
I measured the timing again, looking for a chance to counterattack.
...But then,
Its speed was faster than I'd expected.
Whoosh-!! Crash!
"Guh...?!"
Its shield struck me head-on.
I felt myself fly through the air,
then my back slammed into the wall with a bang, sending excruciating pain through me.
"Ah... guh!"
I couldn't even tell what had happened.
I was sure I'd calculated its speed, but suddenly a massive shield had appeared right in front of me.
Even so, having time to think was still a luxury.
It raised its trident and charged at my stunned body, and I barely twisted aside just before being pierced.
Of course, the shield immediately came flying at me again.
Crash!
"Aagh!"
'I have to get a grip...!'
I desperately gathered my dazed wits.
Then I reached a conclusion.
I could never defeat it alone.
While flying through the air, thinking this was my only option, I pressed a ring to my lips.
"Come out!!"
Ding-
[Summoning the stored Pygmy warriors.]
[The Pygmies enter the 'Battlefield Frenzy' state.]
...!
Fortunately, the Pygmies were summoned normally.
The ones I'd put directly inside my body refused to come out, but at least these ones obeyed me.
"Kieeeeee!!!"
"Uaaaaah!!!"
The five summoned Pygmies began charging toward the boss.
They looked even stronger than they had in Egypt before.
I'd wondered whether their growth on its own was closely connected to my own growth, and it seemed I had been right.
They skillfully distracted the boss and kept it from landing additional attacks on me.
'They still can't deal a fatal blow, though.'
Still, fighting with daggers and poisoned needles in areas full of terrain and obstacles was unquestionably their specialty.
Inside the hollow cylinder, all they could do was evade, and even then, they were occasionally stabbed by the spear or struck by the tail and sent flying.
Each time that happened, the message window chimed.
Ding-
[A Pygmy has been damaged.]
[Consuming MP for recovery.]
......My magic power was draining away fast. I had to finish this quickly.
I joined up with the Pygmies and began fighting alongside them, then started to think.
Blade Claws worked, but every time, I received an even bigger counterattack in return.
I was clearly losing more than I gained.
"If only the terrain were a jungle, at least...!"
Huh?
......A jungle?
An idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
I immediately opened the shop and began buying 'Eternal Trees' in bulk.
During all the carving I'd done, I had discovered that when I infused them with magic power incorrectly, leaves sprouted from them.
'Even if they look like dead logs on the outside...'
they're unquestionably alive.
"Grow, grow, head of hair!!!"
I left the boss to the Pygmies for a moment and poured magic power into the trees piled across the floor.
The trees immediately responded, sending branches shooting out in every direction as leaves and vines began to grow as well.
The enormous cylindrical space transformed into a dense forest.
"Kyaaahhhhh!!!"
The boss roared.
When the wide-open battlefield turned into a field of obstacles, it seemed confused.
Crash! Bang!
It smashed every tree in its way, but each one recovered as soon as it was broken.
In the meantime, the Pygmies repeatedly scratched the boss's body and hid.
The damage gradually accumulated, and the boss soon went berserk, becoming obsessed with catching the Pygmies.
'This is my chance!'
The trees were holding out without me needing to pour in any more magic power.
Now that the boss was agitated and had lost its reason, it was the perfect time to launch a surprise attack.
I spread my hand wide, straightened my claws, and charged at the boss.
At the same time, all the Pygmies jumped out and distracted it, allowing my sharp claws to slice straight through the boss's fin.
Slaaash-!!!
"K-Kieeeee!!!!"
"Now! Kill it!!!"
Fwish- Thwack!
The Pygmies struck the cut surface with their poisoned needles.
With a vital part severed and deadly poison injected, the boss rapidly slowed down, and I swung my claws at both of its arms once more.
Slash!
"Kieee-!!!"
'As expected, one strike wasn't enough to sever them...!'
Even so, time was on my side.
I evaded the boss's wild attacks as I continued striking it.
In the end, I managed to cut off both arms,
and the boss, having lost its arms, thrashed desperately, striking the surrounding trees with its tail.
......Thud!
At last, I managed to bring down the boss.
The magic wave had disappeared, so it was definitely dead.
Ding-
[Congratulations!]
[You have defeated the mid-boss 'Guardian of Opal'!]
[You have cleared the stage 'Lighthouse on the Beach'!]
[You may now enter 'Coral Zone'.]
"Wow... It's finally over. Give me a break already!"
Exhausted, I lay down flat on my back.
As far as magic power was concerned, it had been as strong as Vincent.
I was completely drained, with no energy left even to inspect anything else.
Ding-
[Claim the loot from the boss's corpse.]
"Huh...? Loot?"
The message appeared just when I was about to rest for a moment.
Still, I figured I ought to claim the reward and approached the corpse.
A trident that had shrunk to a suitable size lay atop its chest.
"Let's see how good it is-"
Spot-
[Opal-Bearing Command Trident]
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A weapon used by the chieftain of the Sea People.
An ancient jewel of the sea has been melted into it.
Water-element magic and attack power bonus.
Can use the skill 'Summon Mermaid Horde' when equipped.
(3400 MP consumed)
※The mermaid horde automatically disappears after 5 minutes.
Attack Power: 210 (3x in water)
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Shop purchase price: 35 million G
Shop selling price: 6 million G
-------------------------------------
......
I froze for a moment after looking at the weapon's specs.
The weapons I'd made for the Pygmies didn't even have 30 attack power, but this had 210 on its own.
'And on top of that...'
It even has a skill attached.
Though its price was absurdly high, its special effect would make it exceptionally powerful underwater.
Since it seemed I could name my price for it, I decided to put it in my inventory for now.
Although I could buy the pendant by selling it right away, this was clearly an S-rank item.
It was obviously foolish to hand it over to the shop.
"Oh, that's right."
'Essence Absorption.'
Fwing-
As usual, a jewel rose from the corpse.
Its color seemed even more radiant and varied than usual.
The moment it was absorbed into my chest, I opened my inventory.
I instinctively knew it wasn't an ordinary essence.
"Is this it?"
Rather than being stacked by quantity in one slot, a single essence icon sat separately.
When I clicked it, a description window appeared.
Spot-
[Special Essence: Guardian of Opal]
-------------------------------------
A special essence containing a powerful will.
It can be obtained from the Sea People
chieftain matching the item's epithet.
(Grade: A+)
Possessing it allows you to dive indefinitely.
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How to use: Carve it into a form
similar to the form it had in life.
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Shop selling price: 10 million G