Chapter 37 - Castle in the Sand, The Shifting Throne - Part 1
The boss of the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern], the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust], was a colossal monster easily exceeding thirty meters in length.
Its smaller cousin, the [Desert Serpent], was also enormous, but comparing the two would be like comparing an adult to a child—no, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was like comparing an adult to an infant.
Though its name contained the word serpent, its majestic, blue-green form was worthy of the name dragon. Its long, limbless torso was as thick as a great tree in its widest parts. Even the tip of its tail was an avatar of pure mass, capable of crushing a person with a mere nudge.
As long as it had an HP bar, even a tiny human could damage it. However, one could only imagine the staggering toughness that came with such a staggering body.
Its most distinct feature was its head. In place of eyes, it possessed a massive crest, like a rooster's comb made a hundred times more intimidating. There were only remnants of what looked like eye sockets, suggesting that perhaps eyeballs had once rested there.
Then there was its body. From its neck to the tip of its tail, large, spiraling scales formed a sharp 'edge,' making the whole thing look like a ridiculously malevolent drill.
Needless to say, a light touch wouldn't just bore a hole in you; it would turn you to dust. Source: yours truly.
Finally, the tail. The scales forming the blade's edge were particularly developed, like jagged splinters. A single swing of its tail would unleash them like a vicious barrage of shrapnel.
And yes, even a graze would reduce you to dust. Source: yours truly.
All in all, its design made you want to ask, "What final boss is this from?" It was definitely not a visual you'd expect to see in a beginner's area. And true to its final-boss face, its stats were the very personification of unreasonable.
During combat, its HP bar appeared as a terrifying stack of five layers. For the record, when I landed a clean hit on its dome with my [Distorted Iron Lump Hammer] in a suicide attack, I successfully managed to shave off about one percent of its first bar. Hilarious.
When something's that absurdly powerful, even an idiot can figure it out. The [Great Serpent of Dust] wasn't designed for a straightforward fight—it was the first gimmick boss.
Having quickly given up on a solo clear, I made several kamikaze runs to figure out its mechanics, all in preparation for the day I would challenge it with Sora.
After grasping the basics of the strategy, my assessment was something along the lines of, "With the two of us, it's probably not impossible." And so—
"—Hh… ah, uh…"
Having finally geared up for the boss fight, we had passed through the rising and falling walls of flowing sand, getting covered in it along the way, and were now confronting the beast.
This wasn't Sora's first time facing a creature of breathtaking size. Compared to the 'White' one we'd faced in the great crater, the majesty of the [Dusty Worm] was perhaps a bit less… but then again, when a tiny human, a mere 'one,' looks up at a 'thousand' or a 'ten thousand,' how much of a difference is there, really?
No one could blame the girl for freezing up, a faint gasp escaping her lips. The hand that reached for my sleeve—was it conscious or not?
"It's okay."
Before her fingers could clutch my sleeve, I grabbed her small hand. I gave it a firm squeeze, and Sora, who had been completely overwhelmed, jumped with a start.
"S-Sorry! I just…!"
"Don't worry about it. I was freaked out the first time, too."
I stared at it dumbfounded for a good minute and, naturally, got pulverized. Hahaha.
"You haven't forgotten the plan, have you?"
"...! Yes!"
"Then we're good. I've got your back, and you've got mine. Let's turn the tables and make this behemoth scared of us, what do you say?"
Still holding Sora's hand, I spoke as if to challenge the [Great Serpent of Dust], which was watching us quietly, thrusting our joined fists toward it.
The girl stared blankly for a moment—then, a somewhat relieved smile graced her lips.
"…You really are amazing, Haru-san."
"Right? I'm trying my best to look cool, so praise me more."
My joking reply banished the last of the tension from Sora's face as she let out a small laugh. We released our hands at the same time and drew our weapons in unison.
"You ready?"
"I am."
"Prepared?"
"Anytime!"
"Alright—let's do this!"
"Yes!"
Just as the great serpent's patience was about to wear thin, we, having steeled our resolve, took the first step. Taking the lead was not me, but Sora.
The serpent reacted to her sudden dash, sensing the sound of her footsteps and shifting into a combat stance. Seeing it coil its massive body and raise its head, it was easy to imagine it lunging forward in the next instant, but—
"Your opponent is over here…—now!"
My weapon, which I had been raising high without moving from my spot—the [White-Flawed Straight Sword]—transformed mid-swing.
Quick Change—the [Distorted Iron Lump Hammer], swung at a speed that should have been impossible, struck the ground with a deafening roar that belied the sandy terrain, blasting the area at my feet apart. In that moment…
"Took the bait…!"
The serpent, which had been targeting Sora, instantly switched its prey and charged toward the epicenter of the sound. Combined with the fact that it had no eyes, it was easy to deduce that, like the other Serpents and Suckers, it tracked us by sound.
Passing Sora, the colossal body closed in on me—
"—Heh, too slow."
Effortlessly leaping into the air, I looked down at the great serpent, unable to suppress a smirk.
――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Name：Haru
Lv：44⇒62
STR(Strength)：30
AGI(Agility)：280⇒420(+10)
DEX(Dexterity)：150⇒200(+10)
VIT(Vitality)：5
MID(Mind)：5
LUC(Luck)：10
◇Skill◇
・All Weapon Aptitude
[Quick Change]
[Piercing Dart]
・[Quit Counter] New!
・Embodied Protection
・Heavy Attack Manipulator
・Accel Tempo
・Boar's Heart
・Acrobatics ⇒ Idaten Up!
・Jumble Step
・Carry Running
――――――――――――――――――
My reckless train-and-grind strategy paid off, and my stats, significantly higher since my last challenge against the [Great Serpent of Dust], had improved by leaps and bounds.
It being a serpent, it had a surprising burst of speed for its size that had given me trouble before, but—I was confident I could handle it with ease now.
My dramatically increased stats were a factor, of course, but the biggest change was without a doubt the evolution of [Acrobatics], the very cornerstone of my build.
The skill, newly named [Idaten], had completely changed from its predecessor's effect of "adds a fixed value of 100 to DEX when assisting AGI."
Its new property was a doubling boost to my DEX value that decayed in proportion to the duration of my high-speed maneuvering. To put it simply, my DEX value is doubled, but only at the very start of a high-speed movement.
The boost decreases as long as I keep moving above a certain speed, but with my current stats, I can maintain body control at the maximum speed my AGI allows for about five seconds.
Furthermore, [Idaten] is a constantly active passive skill, so there's no cooldown. That means if I interrupt my high-speed movement for even a moment, I can get the maximum effect again on the next start-up. The downside is practically nonexistent. It's a god-tier skill!
What's more, upon hitting level 60, I casually crossed the threshold of the fastest players. In terms of foot speed alone, I can now match—or frankly, surpass—max-level veterans.
It might be a cheat boss with absurd stats, but I've got my own absurdly excessive AGI! Running circles around it will be a piece of cake… probably!
"Yeah, I'll take you on as long as you want—come and get me, you big lummox!"
I plan to post again today. I'm exhausted from proofreading, so I'll continue after I wake up. Please bear with me.