WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 7: Hallibal Break
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The Imperial Sword, Adeline Windsor.
Her other epithet was Golden Slash.
Ever since Halibal entered the Beast Dungeon to perform the Funeral Rite, she had waited at the entrance for him to finish.
‘What a remarkable child.’
To Adeline, Halibal seemed like a boy who had fallen from the sky.
Talent without end. He even possessed the unique intuition to create Arts of his own.
A boy who bore disfiguring burns across his upper body, yet never showed any sign of pain.
And in his eyes was an emotion rarely seen in people these days.
‘An overwhelming fear of death.’
He even held the conviction that he would gladly wear his own body away to overcome that fear.
Good heavens. Could someone so young truly possess such resolve?
‘What on earth drove you so far?’
Yet above all else, there was another reason Adeline considered Halibal special.
“Knightly honor...”
He always spoke of something as absurd as knightly honor, yet he never lost his goodwill toward others.
Halibal had said he performed the Funeral Rite this way even in the 2341st Unit.
No one had forced him to. Though he had been wounded countless times and swallowed his pain, he had guided the dead to the very end.
Perhaps what Halibal truly feared was not his own death, but the deaths of those left behind.
His characteristic impassive expression was merely a young boy's attempt to hide those feelings.
“...This is infuriating.”
The more Adeline understood that, the less she could stand how pathetic she felt.
Even before she embarked on the path of the sword, she had been certain. She believed she could cut down the Evil God.
But she couldn't.
The Imperial Sword, Adeline Windsor. For some reason, she could not advance beyond the dungeon's entrance.
That was why the Empire had failed to conquer the Dungeons of the Evil God, even after throwing countless soldiers into them for decades.
No one had ever reached the farthest depths of the Dungeons of the Evil God.
As though the world itself had imposed a restriction, it forcibly blocked Adeline and everyone else from advancing.
Though she had the power to end Halibal's suffering, something beyond her will stood in her way, leaving her no choice but to abandon him to his pain.
That reality filled her with unbearable rage.
“Lady Adeline, what are you looking at?”
At the unfamiliar voice, she turned to find a girl with violet hair standing there.
She was an unexpected visitor who had sought out the Gale Raid Party that afternoon, intrigued by the news that a boy her age was performing the Funeral Rite.
“Ah, Saintess.”
Mine, the saintess of the Erandar Church, which served the seven chief gods opposed to the Evil God.
Adeline was certain.
Before long, this little girl would lift the restriction the world had placed upon the dungeon.
She would become the key to the dungeon the Empire so desperately sought. Adeline smiled at her.
“I was waiting for the little one under my care to come out.”
“Yes. I heard about the Funeral Rite. They say he's called the Funeral Sword...”
That was when it happened.
Thud.
“...What is this?”
Black demonic energy began rising from within the dungeon, consuming its entrance.
“?!”
It was the first time anyone had experienced such a thing, and even the soldiers waiting nearby panicked.
But Adeline had conquered other dungeons many times. She understood the meaning of this phenomenon better than anyone.
The dungeon entrance was closing. That meant someone inside had encountered the boss.
Whenever someone encountered the boss, the dungeon forcibly emitted demonic energy and completely sealed off all entry and exit.
“This can't be...!!”
But this had never happened before.
Not even when Halibal had entered and left the Beast Dungeon dozens of times.
‘What happened...? Don't tell me that child encountered the boss inside?’
Why now, at the exact moment Halibal had gone in with others?
What was God thinking, giving that child such a trial?
Adeline's expression hardened.
“Halibal...”
In her eyes, Halibal was still too inexperienced to face the boss.
‘It's too soon!’
Adeline immediately unleashed a powerful blade aura toward the dungeon entrance.
The golden blade aura swept forward like a storm and struck the entrance, but the wall of demonic energy was left completely unscathed.
“...Halibal!!”
She called his name, but no answer came back.
Standing before the entrance, Adeline could only swallow her despair.
⁎⁎⁎
Even with two Black Shards equipped, it was still faster than me.
Since I knew the Beast Dungeon's traits, I could guess what the monster emerging from the darkness was.
The problem was that I hadn't expected it to appear without warning.
Kyaaaah!
The creature that revealed itself with a piercing scream was a flying squirrel-shaped monster wrapped head to toe in lightning.
It was Shukarit, the first boss players encountered in <Academy of the End> and the Beast Dungeon's mid-boss.
Bosses in action RPGs generally fell into two categories.
Bosses whose attacks were slow, but getting hit even once meant instant death.
And bosses whose attacks wouldn't kill you after a few hits, but were fast and relentlessly overwhelming.
Of course, later on, it was standard for some bastard to show up who could kill players with a single chip attack.
Anyway, Shukarit was a typical example of the latter.
A chip-damage boss that embodied the phrase, ‘Hey, now this is an action game!’ People called it Teacher Shu.
Newbies facing Shukarit for the first time often got wiped out one after another before they could adapt to Teacher Shu's damned speed.
Even veteran players sometimes let their guard down, never expecting such an annoying boss to appear so early, and got wiped out too.
The reason I had been so obsessed with Black Shards was largely to prepare for this guy.
But as far as I knew, Shukarit normally never left the boss room. Why had it come all the way here?
What could I do, though?
I'd already encountered it.
“Everyone, stay close to the entrance.”
The moment everyone trembled and crowded against the wall, Shukarit charged at me.
Bang!
“Urgh.”
“Sir Knight!! Are you all right?!”
“H-He protected us from the attack...!!”
The impact of its straight-line body slam shoved me backward.
...Huh? That was more manageable than I expected.
It hurt, but it wasn't as bad as an Elite Kobold's claws.
A blue gem appeared over my head.
My turn had come back without me taking as much damage as expected.
Still, it was a mid-boss. It was probably weaker than an elite monster because I was turn-based.
If I weren't turn-based, I would've been beaten senseless by its nonstop attacks by now.
But because I was the only one bound by turn-based rules, Shukarit received only one turn.
I couldn't dodge, but I wouldn't get hit repeatedly either.
Besides, my attacks always landed.
Then I had no confidence.
In losing, that is.
“Carving Sword.”
Clang!
Shukarit spread its wings and instantly retreated after being struck by the blade aura.
It was probably an instinctive move to avoid my next attack.
[Weak!]
But my turn wasn't over yet.
I stepped forward and gathered energy into my blade.
Ashen Light.
Ash-gray blade aura surged like a whirlpool.
Kwakwa-kwaang!!
Kyaaaah!
Shukarit screamed as the flash of light tore through the ground and slammed it into the dungeon's outer wall.
Only after landing did it barely manage to regain its stance. The lightning faintly crackling around its body scattered for an instant.
Seeing that, I became certain.
‘This is doable.’
This wasn't like the Elite Kobold.
Shukarit's speed was meaningless.
This was turn-based.
Its attacks were powerful, but with all my training and eight Yellow Shards, I could endure somehow.
Above all, it couldn't counterattack during my turn.
“Woooo...!! Sir Knight cut down that monster in an instant!”
“Is that the famous Ashen Wind?!”
“I couldn't even see that attack just now!”
That was when Shukarit suddenly curled up and began puffing up the fur all over its body.
Crackle.
Lightning started creeping between its swollen fur.
‘...Don't tell me it's already phase two?’
Come to think of it, Shukarit was fast, but it had always been a boss with low endurance.
Still, I hadn't expected two Arts to take away half its health.
When Shukarit's health fell below half, it transformed like this.
From a nimble, speed-focused form into one specialized in defense and counterattacks, with the fur across its body standing on end.
From then on, Shukarit's patterns changed completely.
Its usual chip attacks disappeared, and each hit became as heavy as a mace.
Its speed dropped, but getting hit meant taking both impact and lightning damage at once. Teacher Shu's real newbie-slaughter lesson was about to begin.
Lightning flashed before my eyes.
“...Ah, fuck.”
Bang!!
A massive forepaw swung like a mace and struck me square in the stomach.
Right. This was a boss. The impact resonated deep in my bones, nothing like the earlier body slam.
Crackle!!
“...!!”
Lightning followed the impact.
Agony tore through my entire body. My muscles spasmed, and pain surged through me as though my nerves were being ripped apart.
‘This is insane...!!’
Even the scream that burst from my mouth was swallowed by the roaring electricity.
“Sir Knight! Are you all right?!”
“What the hell is that? It suddenly changed shape!”
“Weren't we supposed to be safe as long as we stayed here? Don't tell me... are we going to die?!”
Voices full of fear, confusion, and concern for me struck my ears all at once.
Fuck.
But it was fine.
Entering phase two meant the Carving Sword-Ashen Light combo had taken half its health in one go.
One more Carving Sword-Ashen Light combo, and it would be over.
The aftereffects of the lightning still lingered in my body, but before I could even shake them off, a blue gem appeared over my head.
My turn.
I immediately raised my sword and charged at Shukarit.
“Carving Sword.”
My sword carved an X across the monster's chest.
If I used Ashen Light on the extra turn that followed, I could secure the win.
Kyaaaah!!
But Shukarit thrashed violently and flung me away.
‘What's going on? It should still be my turn.’
The gem over my head had disappeared, while a red gem floated above the monster's head.
[Weak!] hadn't appeared.
The weakness hadn't been engraved.
That meant...
‘...There isn't an extra turn.’
Bang!!
The second mace-like blow struck me squarely in the side.
My armor and weights shattered in one blow, and I clearly heard my bones crack beneath them.
Crackle!!
My knees buckled from the lightning that followed, and I collapsed to the ground.
As I gripped my sword and looked up at Shukarit, it was already letting its puffed-up fur settle back down.
Fur. Right, the fur had blocked it.
Its densely puffed fur had kept my sword from reaching the body where the weakness needed to be engraved.
In other words, I had dealt damage but failed to engrave a weakness.
While I readjusted my stance, its fur began to puff up again.
I couldn't win unless I could get through that fur.
No, my body wouldn't hold out that long.
Break.
I had no choice but to use it somehow, break through Shukarit's defense, and create an opening.
But there was a condition.
The minimum requirement to activate Break was using Arts three times in succession.
Carving Sword → Ashen Light was possible, but after that, my turn always ended. I could never reach Break.
‘How... am I supposed to do this?’
I could manage twice somehow.
But three times. To reach Break, I needed to land one more Art without an extra turn.
‘...It's not like there aren't any options.’
The first was to create a new Art on the spot that could grant me another turn.
‘That's impossible.’
Even Carving Sword and Ashen Light had been close to lucky accidents. Besides, my head wasn't working properly through the pain of the lightning.
That left only one option. Push the efficiency of my existing Arts to the absolute limit.
That was the answer.
No, it was the only way.
I slowly steadied my breathing and raised my sword.
Shukarit watched me from afar, growling.
The agony from the earlier mace blow still pressed down on my stomach, but if I didn't do it now, I never could.
Now, before it puffed up its fur again.
I condensed blade aura into the edge and desperately pushed it through the fur.
Kyaaaah!
The moment my sword touched its flesh, I used Carving Sword.
The slash pushed aside the puffed-up fur, and the tip of my sword barely reached its body.
Right after, an X-shaped wound appeared across the monster's shoulder.
[Weak!]
Thank goodness.
This time, the weakness had been engraved.
Normally, I should have driven Ashen Light into it immediately, but Shukarit's fur was already beginning to cover the weakness.
I gave up the extra turn here.
I drove my sword partway into its torso, then immediately retreated and prepared to take the attack.
Shukarit's turn.
It roared and launched its balloon-like body into the air.
Kyaaaah!!
The lightning-infused mace came flying at me without warning.
Bang!!
The impact struck my stomach again.
My breath caught, and pain rushed through me.
But this time, I endured without falling.
I'd been prepared to take the hit from the start.
“Sir Knight!!”
“I'm... fine.”
Looking down at my hand through the lightning, I could feel that the heat in the hand gripping my sword hadn't faded yet.
A blue gem appeared over my head.
My turn.
Yeah. This would work.
“...Carving Sword.”
A way to use three Arts consecutively over two turns without interruption.
Come to think of it, the answer was simple.
‘Use the previous turn.’
I had deliberately left the weakness from the Carving Sword I used on the previous turn without triggering it.
Carving Sword's effect was to deal some damage and engrave a weakness on the opponent.
In other words, if I didn't trigger the weakness engraved on the previous turn, it was as though the Art I had already used was still continuing.
And now, I drove another Carving Sword into the spot where the X was clearly visible.
[Weak!]
The first Carving Sword.
The second Carving Sword layered over it.
Then I activated the third Art.
“Ashen Light.”
I raised my sword high and drew up ash-gray blade aura.
A strike of Ashen Light surged forth like a whirlwind.
Kwakwa-kwaang!!
Shukarit's body twisted wildly through the air as it flew toward the wall.
At that very moment.
Flash!
The conditions for Break were fulfilled.
My blade trembled amid a stillness that made time seem to stop.
Ash-gray flames spread from my fingertips and blazed across my entire body.
Click. Click.
In the fleeting moment when the blue gem above my head flickered and was about to turn red, the Break that erupted created a new turn between turns just before the turn passed to the opponent.
One slash.
Two.
Three.
And then...
“Halibal Break.”
Footnotes:
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