Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 43

43. Manners Maketh Man (6)

Thud!

Batora slowly rose as the recoil subsided. Though he had wasted a golden opportunity, the party members who had successfully stolen the boss didn’t seem to care much.

“Alright, focus up, everyone. Drink what you’ve prepared.”

At Beken’s words, the party members took out potions from their inventories.

They were using six different kinds of buff potions, designed to temporarily boost stats for a smoother boss fight.

These were quite expensive, and using them for regular hunting could lead to losses. However, if they succeeded in taking down the boss monster Batora, this level of expenditure was nothing.

“Keeeeeek!”

Batora, having regained his strength, began to move again.

A long arm swung wildly, reaching out towards them.

Thump!

The one who blocked the attack was a man with a shield.

The tank, responsible for the front line, took the brunt of the attack head-on, and in that gap, the archer quickly retreated to secure his position and drew his bow.

With such a large target standing there, there was no need to spend much time aiming.

Arrows began to hit Batora’s body one by one, and Beken, who had 미리 크게 우회한 [ 미리 크게 우회한 is a Korean phrase that means ‘greatly detoured in advance’] to the side in advance while the tank bought time in front, revealed himself.

Thwack!

His sword pierced Batora’s flank, and black blood spurted out.

It was a successful strike.

However, it didn’t significantly reduce the monster’s health.

As expected of Batora, known for his naturally high defense and health stats, making him incredibly resilient.

Without budging from his spot, Batora momentarily shifted his gaze from the tank to Beken.

Beken, not expecting to draw aggro [aggro is a gaming term that refers to a monster’s focus of attack] so quickly, was momentarily taken aback and froze, but soon moved his legs and rolled to the side.

Thwack!

The mark of Batora’s arm slamming down was clearly imprinted on the ground, deeply gouged.

If he had been just a little slower, he could have been left in a near-death state or even killed.

“Hmm?”

Beken raised his eyebrows.

It wasn’t a difference large enough to be immediately noticeable, but he could feel that the boss’s movements were subtly slower than before.

“This… it seems that the earlier guy not only reduced his health but also inflicted a slow? Hahahaha!”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, if we ever meet him again, let’s throw him some 잡템 [Japtem refers to useless or low-value items], even if it’s just 잡템.”

Beken, in high spirits, chuckled as he spoke, and smiles spread across the faces of the other party members.

They didn’t know how long the slow effect would last, but it was clear that it would be helpful while they learned the patterns of the boss they were facing for the first time.

“As expected, anything is best when it’s free.”

* * *

“Ah, seriously! I’m late again.”

The man clutched his head and burst into frustration.

They had rushed over with their party members after hearing the loud battle sounds from somewhere, but as expected, others were already in the middle of fighting Batora.

This meant they had missed the boss monster again this respawn time.

The teammate next to him sighed deeply and opened his mouth 힘없이 [powerlessly].

“This is the third time already… let’s just go somewhere else.”

“Don’t say that, let’s try a little more. If we just catch Batora here once, we won’t have to worry about equipment for a while, you know?”

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

At that moment, Beken, sensing their presence, turned around and said.

Then Beken’s party members, who were attacking the boss, also stepped forward, each saying something.

“Don’t interfere and go somewhere else!”

“Let’s not cause problems with each other.”

“What…….”

The party members who were suddenly being told off couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

“Yes, yes. We’re leaving anyway. I didn’t even say anything, why are they overreacting like that. Seriously.”

The man, muttering as if he was dumbfounded, turned away first.

However, Beken, still not letting go of his suspicion, glared sharply at them until they disappeared.

Since he himself was a 날치기범 [Nalchigibeom refers to a thief or someone who steals] who had stolen someone else’s share, he naturally had a base suspicion that others might be doing the same.

“Tch, annoying, you just interrupted the flow.”

“Hey, hey, it’s a recovery pattern! Cut it off quickly!”

While they were distracted, Batora had already crouched down and was recovering his health.

As a monster created from a mass of thoughts, he had a pattern of absorbing the thoughts filling the forest into his body to recover.

To prevent him from recovering the health they had worked so hard to reduce, they had to deal a certain amount of damage to him or inflict a powerful status ailment.

However, they were unlikely to have a skill at their current level that could cancel his pattern, so they had no choice but to attack like crazy.

“Damn it, at this rate, we might even end up at a loss.”

Beken, having poured out a round of skills, muttered as he drank a mana potion.

Clearly, the repeating pattern itself was simple.

However, the boss’s difficulty was more challenging than they had thought, and the three of them, being new to this, had no choice but to struggle.

In addition, the number of potions they consumed during the prolonged fight was also very high.

It was unavoidable since there was no healer in the party, but they hadn’t expected the fight to drag on this long.

“Just stop already and die!”

Thwack!

Just as they were feeling 축축 처지고 [feeling dispirited and exhausted], Beken’s strike hit Batora, and at the same time, his recovery was canceled.

The monster’s health, as confirmed by the status window, was now only about 4 percent.

Successfully stopping the recovery when the boss’s health was so low was clearly a stroke of good luck.

At that moment, Batora, who had stood up, slammed both arms down with all his might, and a huge shockwave occurred.

Kooong!

The shockwave that swept through the surroundings blew away the party members who were nearby.

The tank, who was blocking Batora’s front and was closest, was blown the furthest away, and the archer, who was shooting arrows from the furthest distance, ended up falling closest to the boss.

The positions they had carefully secured were reversed.

“It feels so dirty every time I get blown away, damn it!”

Beken, who had rolled across the floor for a while, cursed and got up.

Then, he ran to rescue the archer that Batora was targeting.

Beken, who had the 검사직 [swordsman] class with relatively fast movements, rescued the archer first and bought time, and in the meantime, the 기사 [knight] class tank arrived.

Having safely overcome the crisis in that way, they returned to their normal positions.

The sturdy tank in the front draws the boss monster’s attention, the swordsman, focused on quick movements and damage, disrupts and deals damage, and the archer in the rear constantly shoots arrows to reduce health.

“3 percent!”

The health of the boss monster Batora, as indicated in the status window, had entered the 3 percent range.

It was truly a series of hardships just to reduce it by 1 percent.

And then, one piece of good news came to them as they were gradually getting tired.

“Kieeeeeek!”

“It’s a charge!”

Batora’s next choice at the end was a charge.

It was certain, judging from the unique motion he was taking.

And if it was a charge, it was a pattern that inevitably followed with recoil after the 시전 [initiation].

With the remaining health in the 3 percent range, it was a figure that could be sufficiently dealt with while the stun from the recoil was maintained, and if they could just avoid this well, they could end it without wasting any more time.

Beken carefully watched the wriggling appearance of the mass of thoughts that was crouching down.

If he didn’t miss the signs, he could read in advance the direction the monster would head.

“Evade now!”

Beken shouted loudly when the direction of the charge was determined.

If they predicted the path in advance, they could avoid it sufficiently, and his comrades moved their bodies in accordance with his shout.

But at that very moment.

Thwack!

A stone flying from somewhere struck the archer’s head from behind.

The damage itself was minimal, but the archer, who was about to fly away, momentarily lost her balance and fell forward.

And she momentarily exchanged glances with the other party members who had successfully avoided it, unlike herself.

Although it was a very brief moment, many emotions flashed by.

“Ah…….”

Kwaddeudeuk!

The archer, who was crushed by the charging Batora and disappeared from sight, naturally died instantly without being able to do anything.

The other party members momentarily failed to understand this situation, but they were able to come to their senses only after seeing the archer’s appearance, which was messed up and crushed in one corner.

“Wh-what?”

“What kind of crazy bastard is it! Come out right now!”

Beken shouted when a party member suddenly died due to an absurd interference.

If it hadn’t been for the stone that had just flown, they would have finished the boss attack cleanly without anyone dying, so it was natural that he would be furious.

“Come out! XXX!”

After a moment’s pause, Beken shouted again at the top of his lungs.

Then a man jumped down from a large tree that was standing right next to them.

They were startled and looked at him, not having noticed at all when he had been up there.

“You… this bastard……!”

Beken’s face turned red as he recognized Aile.

It was clear that he had returned, harboring resentment for having Batora stolen from him.

“You XX, so your pride was hurt, huh? Do you think you can handle the aftermath of this? How dare you stab us in the back like this? If I contact the guild and put you on the assassination list, you’ll never be able to set foot in this game again……!”

“You are heretics.”

“What……?”

Beken reacted, momentarily stunned by Aile’s action of suddenly pointing his finger forward and pointing at himself.

When the other party didn’t understand properly, Aile burst into laughter and drew his longsword.

Then, kindly, he told them again, clearly and distinctly. “You are heretics.”

Paching!

A chilling mark of heresy was created above the party members’ heads.