The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 228

Aditya resented Vikram.

From the start, this raid was absurd.

A dungeon without any level indicator.

Attempting to tackle such a dangerous dungeon while relying solely on one Legendary Detection Skill.

“A human!”

As soon as they entered, a monster charged at them.

[Lv.450 Serpentid]

The creature’s level was 450.

Facing an opponent with such an insanely high level, they felt their fighting spirit vanish.

Vikram felt the same.

‘This is ridiculous!’

A dungeon without a displayed level, the kind that screams danger upon entry.

Vikram had encountered such dungeons a few times before.

Initially, he too had hesitated, but he trusted in his Legendary Detection Skill and entered.

Those times, it worked out brilliantly.

So he assumed this one was similar—who could’ve predicted a level 450 boss would be lurking inside?

“Argh!”

Suddenly, a scorching pain surged through his arm.

Turning his head, Vikram realized his right arm was missing.

‘I didn’t even see it get close!’

That wasn’t the only issue.

By the time he registered that his right arm was torn off, his left leg was already gone, causing him to lose balance and collapse.

“Ahhhhh!”

Vikram let out a scream.

“Guild Leader!”

“Damn it!”

The guild members scrambled into battle stance.

They couldn’t defeat this creature, but they couldn’t just surrender, either.

But no matter what they tried, they couldn’t even scratch the Serpentid.

“Gah!”

“Aaargh!”

Five of them died in an instant.

Some had their throats ripped out, others had their bodies torn apart from torso to waist.

All devoured by the Serpentid’s maw.

“No!”

Vikram, who had lost an arm and a leg, let out a desperate cry.

In an instant, the Serpentid lunged forward and tore out his throat.

“Guh... agh!”

The guild members watching from behind scattered in terror.

Fighting that thing was impossible.

Aditya quickly activated his stealth and hid in a corner, trembling uncontrollably.

“Aaaah!”

“Gahhhh!”

With his eyes shut and ears covered, he frantically called out to the gods.

Begging to be saved from this hopeless situation.

Promising he would do anything, if only they’d spare his life.

Then, his strength gave out, and the hand covering his right ear fell away.

As his hand dropped, an indescribable pain surged through his arm.

“G-gah…ugh…”

He slowly turned his head.

Where his right arm should have been, there was nothing but a stream of blood pouring out.

His severed right arm lay on the ground.

He thought he was finished.

At that moment, someone entered through the portal.

Aditya struggled to cry out for help, though his voice barely made a sound.

The person noticed him, approached, and healed his wounds instantly.

‘A priest…?’

The pain vanished in an instant.

That meant this person was a high-level priest.

Which also meant he’d be severely lacking in combat ability.

His level was only 160.

Aditya couldn’t fathom how someone at level 160 could have such healing power, but the situation was still hopeless.

At least, that’s what he thought.

“Graaaah!”

The Serpentid, charging toward them, suddenly let out a piercing scream.

“Huh?”

Aditya made a startled sound.

‘The level 450 boss… in pain?’

Looking closer, he saw what looked like a harpoon lodged in the Serpentid’s head.

“Didn’t I tell you to move back?”

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

Finally snapping back to his senses, Aditya retreated.

* * *

Poseidon’s Harpoon

It was the first item Jeong-hoon had prepared.

The harpoon, which could be purchased for 50,000 points, was a one-use item that vanished after a set time once thrown.

[One of Serpentid’s abilities will be forcibly sealed.]

Poseidon’s Harpoon had an effect that sealed one of the creature’s abilities.

‘My Extreme Archer class alone wouldn’t work for this.’

The Serpentid’s high level wasn’t the only problem; his skill set had no means of sealing its abilities.

Thus, Jeong-hoon’s Extreme Archer abilities were ineffective against the Serpentid’s actions and skills.

But Poseidon’s Harpoon was different.

No matter what, it could forcibly seal one of the creature’s abilities.

Of course, the effect lasted only about five minutes.

‘That should be enough time.’

The ability he sealed was “Targeting.”

This ability allowed the Serpentid to mark a target and forcibly tear apart specific body parts, even from a distance.

This targeting ability was the first attack pattern and the reason why the team had been decimated all at once.

‘The first pattern has been neutralized.’

The James Marcus Expedition, which had previously hunted the Serpentid, mentioned that there were a total of four patterns for countering it.

The second pattern would only emerge once the creature's health fell below 70%.

[Black Field has been activated.]

[All stats are enhanced by 1.5 times.]

[Under the influence of Black Field, all stats of monsters within the area decrease by 10%.]

Jeong-hoon activated Black Field.

[All stats increase by 15%.]

[Damage received is reduced by 20%.]

[Duration: 1 hour.]

In addition, the stat-boosting ring took effect.

[Activation probability of ‘Poison Attack’ increases by an additional 4% for 1 hour.]

Although he wanted to use it for annihilation, the level gap between him and the Serpentid was more than 60, leaving him no choice.

[Special ability of Dominator’s Grip is activated.]

[All stats increase by 10%.]

[Attack power and proficiency with all weapon types increase by 10%.]

Dominator’s Grip.

[Special ability of the Head Ornament infused with Divine Beast’s Soul is activated.]

[Attack power and defense increase by 40%.]

Head Ornament infused with the Divine Beast’s Soul.

[Using Celestial Aura.]

A radiant, starlit aura surrounded Jeong-hoon, enveloping him in a gentle glow.

[Attack power and defense increase by 20%.]

[Serpentid’s attack power and defense decrease by 10%.]

With all these buffs in place, Jeong-hoon drew Anima’s bowstring. Although he was underwater, the arrows were unaffected by water resistance in this dungeon.

‘I’ll aim for the weak spot.’

Though he had countered the first pattern, it wasn’t foolproof. To end this quickly, he needed to take down the creature within the five-minute limit.

Jeong-hoon released the bowstring.

Whoosh!

‘Ultimate Arrow.’

The arrow struck the Serpentid’s forehead dead-on, piercing the crystal embedded in one of its vital points.

“Kieeeeek!”

The Serpentid screamed as the arrow hit its weak spot.

But it wasn’t over yet.

[Heavenly Strike has been activated.]

Heavenly Strike triggered, unleashing a storm of arrows. The Serpentid’s health started depleting rapidly, bolstered by Jeong-hoon’s layered stat increases from his buffs.

Then, the creature’s body began to glow, and its eyes turned blood-red.

It was about to activate its second pattern.

‘Now!’

Jeong-hoon released the bowstring again.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew and struck precisely at the Serpentid’s tail.

At that moment, the crystal orb attached to the arrow’s tip exploded.

It was the second item Jeong-hoon had prepared in advance:

‘Latte’s Crystal Orb.’

When the crystal orb exploded, the creature was rendered immobile for 15 seconds, effectively disabling its second pattern.

This crystal orb was a costly purchase, bought for a massive 100,000 points. Although it only worked on monsters and immobilized them for a mere 15 seconds, making it a rarely sold item, its true value lay elsewhere.

When used as the creature activated a skill, it would automatically cancel that skill. This meant that even after the 15 seconds of stun elapsed, the creature’s attempted ability would not take effect.

‘The Serpentid's second ability is Petrification.’

As light began to emanate from the creature's body, exposure would cause one's body to harden. The petrification lasted about a minute, and being swallowed whole by the Serpentid would be inevitable.

However, the petrification was canceled thanks to Latte's Crystal Orb.

Jeong-hoon drew and released his bowstring once more.

Whoosh!

The arrow struck the creature’s forehead again.

“Kieeeek!”

The Serpentid’s health rapidly diminished, leaving only 30%.

The third pattern was also disabled due to Latte’s Crystal Orb, preventing it from activating. Jeong-hoon continued to unleash arrows relentlessly.

[Remaining Health: 17%]

[Remaining Health: 14%]

[Remaining Health: 10%]

The health dwindled at an astonishing rate, leaving only 10%.

At that moment, the Serpentid’s paralysis wore off, and it began thrashing violently.

It now planned to activate its final special ability.

[Serpentid regenerates health.]

[Remaining Health: 30%]

The creature’s health shot up from 10% to 30% in an instant. Jeong-hoon lowered Anima, the bow he was holding.

[Huh…? What’s going on? Why’d you stop?]

‘Keep firing! What are you doing?!’ Mukho and Anima exclaimed in confusion.

Jeong-hoon smirked. “I want to finish this easily.”

At that moment, the Serpentid opened its mouth wide.

[Serpentid uses ‘Ice Breath.’]

A dragon’s breath attack—the Serpentid’s final pattern was this breath attack.

The breath shot out toward Jeong-hoon, who didn’t make any attempt to dodge.

“No!” Aditya, who had been watching from a distance, cried out in despair. Just moments before, he’d been watching with hopeful eyes, but seeing the creature’s health regenerate and Jeong-hoon willingly taking the breath attack left him feeling crushed.

There was no one who could survive that kind of attack.

The spot where the breath struck instantly froze over.

“You’re next,” the Serpentid hissed, its bloodshot eyes locking onto Aditya.

His legs trembled, and he found himself unable to move.

“P-please…”

Oh, God…

Bang!

At that moment, the ice shattered, and Jeong-hoon swam out unscathed.

“How…?!”

Serpentid looked at Jeong-hoon with eyes filled with disbelief.

“Any way I can.”

Jeong-hoon smirked.

[The Counterattack Rune is activated.]

[You can return the absorbed attack.]

With the Counterattack Rune, he could absorb all incoming attacks for 15 seconds and return them.

Jeong-hoon redirected the breath he had just absorbed back at Serpentid.

Zzaaaaak!

With a deafening sound, the breath shot forth, engulfing Serpentid.

The creature didn’t even have time to scream before it was obliterated.

[Serpentid’s den has been cleared.]

[Rewards are given for clearing the den.]

[No penalties are applied for this dungeon.]

It’s done.

With that, the penalty from Serpentid's den was completely erased.

But that wasn’t all.

[You have achieved an amazing accomplishment!]

[You have defeated the North Sea Sentinel ‘Serpentid’.]

[You receive 100,000 achievement points.]

[You receive 300,000 points.]

[You gain 5,000,000,000 experience!]

[Your level has increased.]

[All stats have increased by +1.]

[You receive +1 bonus stat.]

With the defeat of Serpentid, Jeong-hoon earned achievement points, points, and experience.

[A new special dungeon has been created as a result of defeating the North Sea Sentinel.]

[You can now enter a new episode.]

Furthermore, a new episode was unlocked.

‘It’s open.’

An episode included in the collection.

Like during the Märchen, the difficulty would be high, but it was an episode that had to be completed to finish the game.

<What a remarkable fellow.>

Then Baal revealed himself before Jeong-hoon.

“Yikes! What is that?!”

Aditya exclaimed in surprise.

<What a noisy brat.>

Baal frowned.

At that, Aditya fell backward and fainted.

<Now it’s finally a little quieter.>

Baal turned his attention back to Jeong-hoon.

“I cleared it alone, just as I said.”

<…Ha, I never expected you to take down that Serpentid by yourself.>

“He was indeed a tricky one, just as you said. It would have been much harder without the help of items.”

This statement was sincere.

If he hadn’t known how to counter the patterns, it would have been a tough battle.

<Then I’ll tell you about the next dungeon right away.>

“Really? Where is it?”

<The currently opened special dungeon. Close that dungeon.>

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]