kscans

Chapter 37 - Castle in the Sand, The Shifting Throne - Part 1

The boss enemy of the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern], the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust], is an ultra-gargantuan monster with a total length of over thirty meters.

The [Desert Serpent], a large monster of the same type, also boasted an extraordinary size, but compared to this even greater outlier, the difference is like an adult and a child—no, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's like an infant.

Although it's called a 'serpent,' its majestic, azure-dyed form is more than worthy of being called a 'dragon.' Its long, limbless torso is like a great tree in its thickest parts. Even the tip of its tail is a mass of flesh that could crush a person with a mere touch.

Since it has HP, even a frail human body can inflict damage. However, it's easy to imagine its extraordinary toughness, which matches its extraordinary size.

A characteristic feature is, first of all, its head. It has a giant crest like that of a chicken, but a hundred times more intimidating, and in its place, it has no eyes. Perhaps there were once eyeballs in what seems to be the remnants of eye sockets, but now there is nothing.

Next, its torso. Large scales that have developed in a spiral from its neck to the tip of its tail form a 'blade line,' making the whole thing look like a ridiculously vicious drill.

Needless to say, if it touches you, you'll not just get a hole in you, you'll be turned to dust. Source: me.

Finally, its tail. The scales that form the blade line are particularly developed, and when the great serpent swings its tail once, those frayed scales become a vicious barrage of shrapnel.

Also, if it grazes you, you'll be turned to dust. Source: me.

All in all, it has the visuals of a final boss, making you want to ask, "Which final boss are you from?" And true to its final boss face, its stats are also the epitome of unreasonable.

During combat, the displayed HP bar is a terrifying five layers deep. By the way, when I gave its head a clean hit with the [Distorted Iron Lump Hammer] at the cost of a mutual kill, I succeeded in shaving off about one-hundredth of that first layer. Hilarious.

Even an idiot can tell when something is that ridiculously strong. In other words, this [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust] is not designed for a frontal assault—it's the first gimmick boss.

Having quickly given up on a solo clear, I repeated several suicide runs to find a strategy for the day I would challenge it with Sora.

After grasping a few clues to its strategy, my impression was, "With two people, it's probably not impossible"—

"—————————...ah, uh..."

And so, we, who were challenging the boss battle with full preparation, passed through the wall of flowing sand, which fell and then climbed, covered in sand—and we were facing it.

It's not the first time Sora has faced a breathtakingly huge creature. Compared to the 'White' one we faced in the great basin, the majesty of the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust] is inferior... but between a 'thousand' and a 'ten thousand' viewed from the frail human body of a 'one,' how much of a difference is there really?

No one could blame the girl for freezing up with a hoarse voice—the hand that reached for my sleeve, was it conscious or not?

"It's okay."

Before she could cling to my sleeve, I grabbed her small hand. When I squeezed it, Sora, who had been swallowed by the atmosphere, jumped in surprise.

"S-Sorry! I..."

"Don't worry about it, I was scared my first time too."

I was so dazed for a full minute that I was, of course, crushed to a pulp, hahaha.

"You haven't forgotten the plan?"

"...Yes!"

"Then it's okay—I've got your back, and you've got mine. Let's turn the tables and scare that big lug, shall we?"

Still holding Sora's hand, I said, thrusting our joined fists towards the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust], which was watching us quietly, as if to throw down the gauntlet.

The girl was momentarily stunned—and then, a somewhat relieved smile appeared on her face.

"...You really are amazing, Haru-san."

"Right? I'm trying my best to look cool, so praise me more, will you?"

When I said it in a playful tone, Sora's expression relaxed into a chuckle, all tension gone. We released our joined hands without a word and both raised our weapons.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready."

"Set?"

"Anytime!"

"Alright—then let's do this!!"

"Yes!!"

Just before the great serpent, which had been watching us, lost its patience. We, who had steeled our resolve first, took a step forward—it was not me, but Sora, who took the lead.

Reacting to her who had burst forward with great force, the great serpent, which had detected the sound of her moving footsteps, took a battle stance. Seeing it raise its neck and coil its giant body, it was easy to imagine the sight of the giant body lunging forward in the next moment—

"Your opponent is over here... —now!!"

The weapon I had been raising without moving from my spot—the [White-Flawed Straight Sword]—changed its form in the middle of its downswing.

《Quick Change》—the [Distorted Iron Lump Hammer], swung through at a speed that should not have been possible, shattered the ground beneath my feet with a roar that didn't sound like it had hit sand—in that instant,

"You took the bait...!"

The great serpent, which had been targeting Sora, instantly switched its prey and charged towards the epicenter of the sound. Coupled with the fact that it has no eyes, it was easy to deduce that it, like the serpents and suckers, uses sound to locate us.

As if to cross paths with Sora, the extraordinary giant body approached me—

"—Hah, too slow."

I leisurely dodged into the air, looked down at the great serpent, and couldn't help but grin.

――――――――――――――――――
◇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 -> Godspeed Up!
・Jumble Step
・Carry Running
――――――――――――――――――
My reckless train hunting paid off, and my stats, which have been significantly boosted by my level-ups, have improved dramatically since the last time I challenged the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust].

Perhaps because it's a serpent, it exhibits an instantaneous power that belies its giant body, which gave me a hard time—but now I was confident that I could handle it with ease.

My dramatically increased stats are a big factor, of course, but the biggest change is undoubtedly the evolution of 《Acrobatics》, the cornerstone of my build.

The new skill, now named 《Godspeed》, has completely changed its nature from its predecessor, which "adds a fixed value of 100 to DEX when assisting AGI."

Its new nature is a doubling boost to the DEX value that decays in proportion to the duration of high-speed movement—simply put, the DEX value doubles only at the start of high-speed movement.

As long as I keep moving at a speed above a certain level, the increase will continue to decrease, but with my current stats, I can control my body at the maximum speed allowed by my AGI for about five seconds.

Furthermore, 《Godspeed》 is a passive skill that is always active, and there is no cooldown. In other words, if I interrupt my high-speed movement even for a moment, I can exert the maximum effect again from the next start—it's a god-tier skill with virtually noデメリット!

What's more, at level 60, I casually crossed the border of the fastest, and my legs alone are on par with—or rather, frankly surpass—the pioneer players at the level cap.

Even if it's a cheating boss with ridiculous stats, I have ridiculous, excessive AGI!! Running away is no longer a problem... it should be!!!

"Oh, I'll take you on as much as you like—come at me, you blockhead!!"