WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 56: An Ominous Encounter
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I came up with all kinds of theories about the missing cooldown.
Was the cooldown omitted because this was reality?
Inductively, that theory had already been disproven.
If that were true, why did Enhancement still have a cooldown?
“Enhancement...”
Enhancement in reality was completely different from the game.
Normally, it couldn’t be applied to someone else’s weapon, and a failed attempt wouldn’t destroy the item either.
Enhancement was the main reason I’d made it this far.
That was why I concluded that its altered nature was the system giving me preferential treatment.
Altered Enhancement was system favoritism.
Therefore, altered Dragon Speech was system favoritism too.
That was a pretty flimsy deductive argument.
It was ridiculous, but nothing else came to mind.
“Ah, whatever.”
What mattered was that it was good.
If the world wanted to give me an unfair advantage, I should accept it.
Putting further thought aside, I stood still and checked my status window.
Now that I had Dragon Speech, had my level risen exponentially?
That wasn’t the case either.
The level displayed in my status window remained Lv. 72, without the Holy Sword equipped.
‘Just like the game.’
Absorbing an Ancient Dungeon Core didn’t update my displayed level in the first place.
There was no precise way to measure the power it provided.
In other words, my visible level wouldn’t show everything from now on.
“Leveling will be the key from here on out.”
To use Dragon Speech to its fullest, I needed to raise my own level.
Since each Dragon Speech phrase had a level requirement, raising my level was the only way to use them freely.
Natural Disaster, Heavenly Wrath, Heavenly Thunder, Meteorite.
Those ridiculously broken Dragon Speech phrases required a level above 90.
‘But I’m undead?’
Why was Undead Difficulty considered hell difficulty in <72 Dungeon Strategy Record>?
Because a player who became undead had a level cap of 80.
Other undead had no level limit, but only I was bound by that restriction.
No matter how hard I tried, my physical level could never exceed 80.
‘A trick like the Holy Sword won’t work either.’
Using a weapon to raise my level was out of the question.
The only possible trick was temporarily inflating my level with an elixir.
Since elixirs raised physical stats, temporarily removing the limit would let me use Dragon Speech in the Level 90 range.
If I drank the Mana’s Blessing I had right now.
Would an S+-rank elixir inflate my level to 90?
‘Not a chance.’
My current physical level was 72.
I’d probably need to be at least Level 80 before I could hope to reach 90.
Raising my physical level to 80 was the top priority.
I also needed to collect potent elixirs in advance.
After making my plans, I turned around.
I was about to squeeze myself back into the narrow passage.
Then I remembered my armor scraping against the walls and that horrible grinding noise. Just thinking about it gave me a headache.
At that moment, I remembered a Dragon Speech phrase that suited the situation.
“Dragon Scale.”
According to the game’s setting, Dullahans and Death Knights recognized even their armor as part of their body.
I tried using Dragon Speech just in case, and blue scales really did sprout from my armor.
Oh.
A gasp of admiration slipped out.
Dragon Speech didn’t only have attacks. Some phrases provided buffs as well.
You could also combine related Dragon Speech phrases to maximize their effects.
Because of their cooldowns, this only applied to buff-type Dragon Speech whose effects lasted for a duration.
‘That might be different for me now that I don’t have cooldowns, but still.’
The Dragon Speech currently applied to me was Dragon Scale, which meant a dragon’s scales.
If I added Anti-Magic, which represented magic resistance, it became Anti-Magic Dragon Scale.
Anti-Magic Dragon Scale resisted all incoming damage, especially magic.
Only Dragon Speech phrases with similar properties produced synergy like that.
‘And I know every combination for those buff phrases.’
I hadn’t spent 30,000 hours on the game for nothing.
Still, I might forget them someday, so I should write them down in a notebook and memorize them.
I knew every combination recipe, and now I had Dragon Speech without cooldowns?
‘An absurdly overpowered boss has arrived.’
That would’ve been nice, but it wasn’t quite that easy.
My physical level still mattered, and this corpse body was capped at Level 80.
Damn it.
It was like putting a pearl necklace on a pig.
“Wait.”
A spark of hope suddenly rose in my heart.
If there was no cooldown, maybe there wouldn’t be a level limit either?
“Undying Dragon Scale.”
...
Nothing changed in my body.
Well, asking for that too would’ve been shameless.
If it had actually worked, I might’ve been able to go toe-to-toe with Roxanne.
In other words, I still couldn’t compete with the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
It would’ve been stranger if picking up one hidden piece had made me as strong as an Abyssal Palace boss.
Of course, Fear and Dragon Speech worked even on powerful opponents.
Still, when the gap in strength was overwhelming, they couldn’t have much effect.
I had a chance against Hero-class opponents like Balm Monk and Wilhelm. Mage Tower Masters belonged in that category too.
But against transcendent beings like the Great Sage of the Great Mage Tower, Cecilia at her peak, or the boss monsters of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss, I would be completely destroyed.
It was too early to be disappointed.
There were still plenty of Ancient Dungeons left.
I should be satisfied with reaching Hero-class strength just by obtaining a single Ancient Dungeon Core.
‘I also need to recruit DLC bosses like Balutak.’
My personal strength came first, so leveling up and obtaining Ancient Dungeon Cores were my priorities.
Once I had some room to spare, I decided I would recruit the DLC bosses.
The Rank 5 Abyssal Palace, the Cathedral of the Faithful Apostates.
Its boss was the demon Sara, who had a baptismal name.
The Rank 3 Abyssal Palace, the Forked Path Soaked in Iron Blood.
Its boss was Thousand-Slaughter Asura Black-Toothed Yaksha.
Since both ranked higher than Balutak, they would likely be harder to recruit.
Black-Toothed Yaksha, in particular, was a complete go-my-own-way bastard, just as the name suggested.
Honestly, I didn’t even want to meet them.
As I passed through the narrow passage, I saw silhouettes waiting in the distance.
Maybe she was bored, because Isabella was kicking a stone around like a soccer ball.
In contrast, Charlotte stood with her back straight, without moving at all. She really was like a machine.
The moment our eyes met, Charlotte hurried over.
“You have returned. Are you injured anywhere?”
“Oh! You’re back?”
Isabella rushed over as well.
“It was nothing. Let’s head back.”
“Oh! Are we going home now?”
“Yeah. You both did well.”
“Yay!”
“You worked hard, Boss.”
Before returning through the portal, I should stop by the Witch’s hut.
They probably wouldn’t come with us, but I wouldn’t know until I went. Charlotte seemed to want that too.
* * *
At the center of the Land of Extinction, even one’s sense of smell should have frozen in the bitter cold.
And yet...
Each time the Margrave inhaled, the thick scent of blood and burning clung to his nose.
The Great Sage clicked his tongue atop the ashes.
The one responsible for all this casually strolled around with his hands clasped behind his back.
“It’ll be peaceful for a while.”
“...”
The Margrave stood there in a daze.
Zero casualties. Every monster had been wiped out.
Only ten minutes ago, thousands of monsters had rushed forward all at once like a wave.
Ten minutes. One person. One large-scale ninth-circle spell.
That was all it had taken to erase every one of those lives.
At the time, dozens of magic circles as large as houses had appeared in the air. Whenever the patterns on them meshed together like gears, monsters kept dying.
The Monster Wave that had made an army of 100,000 tremble in fear had been reduced to moths flying into a blazing fire.
‘He truly is a monster.’
To the Great Sage, this hadn’t been an expedition or an extermination.
It had only been a massacre.
The Margrave briefly wondered why the Great Sage had mobilized the army when he could have handled it alone, but he quickly found the answer.
The Empire had recently been shaken by Faith’s Tomb.
The Great Sage had used the Extermination Expedition as an example.
His purpose had been to raise humanity’s morale.
To show that the Empire remained strong while he was here.
The Margrave slightly turned his head and glanced behind him.
At this moment, all 100,000 soldiers likely shared the same feeling.
“Waaaaah!”
Hope filled their admiring gazes.
They embraced one another and shouted in celebration, while the endless cheers became news of victory.
Even the Margrave himself was drunk on excitement.
His body was so hot that he could feel warmth rising even in the freezing cold of the Land of Extinction.
The Great Sage’s achievement today would surely be remembered forever as an unprecedented tale of heroism in the Empire.
‘If it’s him, he could even take on Faith’s Tomb alone...’
Two Heroes had died there, but the Great Sage was different.
Those Four Heroes couldn’t compare to the Empire’s ultimate weapon.
Crunch, crunch.
The Great Sage walked over with his hands behind his back. His every step sank into the snow, leaving footprints behind.
As he passed the Margrave, he patted him on the shoulder.
“Astoria. Keep your promise.”
“Yes!”
“Let’s return.”
When they had set out, everyone had looked like sickly patients.
In complete contrast, the soldiers returning now were full of life and energy.
They looked like soldiers marching toward a victory celebration.
The Margrave couldn’t take his eyes off the Great Sage walking beside him.
He had thought his admiration for the strong had faded long ago.
‘...I feel like I’ve returned to my youth.’
Just walking shoulder to shoulder with him was an honor.
“I’m hungry. I’d like a meal once we return.”
“Of course. I will prepare the finest feast.”
Even his stiff military tone made him feel as though he had returned to his days as an officer.
Then the Great Sage, who had been walking with his hands behind his back, stopped.
The Margrave looked at him questioningly.
“I have something to take care of. Go on ahead.”
“Something to take care of?”
“It’s nothing. It seems someone has been playing a little trick.”
The Margrave had no idea what he meant.
Whether the Margrave understood or not, the Great Sage left the returning march.
Startled, the Margrave quickly followed behind him.
“Your Excellency! Where are you going?”
“Once you arrive, have the soldiers rest and feed them! I’m going with the Great Sage!”
The chief of staff looked confused, but soon nodded and led the march onward.
Before long, the Margrave had caught up beside the Great Sage.
The Great Sage glanced at him, then continued walking without a word, only patting his waist.
The footprints of the two men remained across the empty plain.
At least, there was no worry of getting lost. The tracks in the snow served as signposts.
The Great Sage stopped short.
He suddenly stretched a hand into the air.
The Margrave watched with a puzzled expression.
Crackle!
Sparks burst from the empty air.
A mana backlash.
“Quite a lot of preparation went into this.”
His palm tore through the air.
As if pulling aside a curtain, a hut appeared where there had been nothing.
The Margrave could only move his chapped lips, his face blank with shock.
“As expected. I knew some would be hiding in the Land of Extinction.”
“What in the world is this...?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a Witch’s residence. They hid it well with a barrier.”
Witches?
“I thought someone might be living in seclusion in the Land of Extinction. They haven’t strayed from my expectations even once.”
Shing!
The Margrave, whose hand had been resting on his sword hilt, drew his blade.
These were Witches hiding in the Land of Extinction to escape the Empire’s extermination order.
The only answer was to slaughter them without question.
Before taking a step forward, he looked to the Great Sage.
“What will you do, Great Sage?”
As far as he knew, the Great Sage was an old-fashioned man who valued conservative traditions.
The answer was obvious, but he asked anyway.
The Great Sage straightened his back as if stretching.
Crack, crack.
After the sound of bones popping, he opened his mouth.
“What else would I do? They’re Witches. We should burn them all alive.”
The Great Sage smiled, exposing his yellow teeth.
Footnotes:
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