Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 29

Whoosh!

Eile retreated quickly, skidding to a halt.

He’d landed the initial attack and managed a temporary stun, but that was all he could manage for now.

He wanted to follow up with more hits, but he didn’t want to overextend.

‘Whew, the mana consumption is huge, just like it said.’

Eile checked his remaining mana and tilted his head. He’d only used one evasion skill, but his mana, which had been at maximum, had already dropped by about a quarter.

This was partly because he hadn’t invested any points in magic power stats, and partly because the skill itself demanded a lot of mana.

“This is…”

Alisa, who had witnessed the exchange, stared blankly for a moment.

The skill Eile had just used was clearly the rare-grade skill, Mimic. It was a skill she recognized.

To obtain a rare-grade skill as the first skill learned at level 10 wasn’t just luck; it was practically impossible.

Groaaaaar!

Gahhar roared, its skeletal mouth wide open.

There was no time for admiration or conversation. Eile, dodging the monster’s greatsword, struck at the creature’s outstretched leg.

Since the opponent was all bones, cutting was impossible; he had to focus on delivering concussive force.

However, while worrying about the chains Gahhar was flailing, he overlooked one crucial detail.

The monster was wielding that massive greatsword with only one hand.

Gahhar’s free left arm shot out.

Pow!

Eile was struck by the heavy fist and sent flying.

Even mid-air, Eile reacted instantly, twisting his body, but his leg caught at the last moment, resulting in a fracture that left him unable to move.

But that wasn’t the end.

Tzzzz!

A white light enveloped him, and strength returned to his leg.

Alisa’s healing skill. The healing, timed almost perfectly with the hit, allowed him to move before Gahhar could close in.

Alisa was constantly monitoring the situation. Facing a dangerous enemy capable of ending the fight with a single critical hit, she was casting healing spells to keep Eile’s health at 100 percent.

Kiiiirik!

The chains lashed out.

Gahhar, initially uninterested in Alisa, seemed annoyed by her healing and targeted her directly.

Kwaaaang!

The thick chains lived up to their reputation, smashing the area.

A healer in flimsy robes, with minimal investment in health stats, would have been instantly killed if caught in that attack.

But the chains didn’t hit Alisa. She had simply taken a single step, dodging every strand.

Alisa stood calmly on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack, as if she had calculated the chain’s trajectory in advance.

Flash!

In that opening, Eile, who had jumped up from behind, swung his sword.

This time, a direct hit. The monster staggered forward, struck in the back.

It was a significant reaction from a monster of this size.

‘…What is it?’

But something felt off. When he checked Gahhar’s remaining health, it was barely different from before.

It was an excessively small amount, considering he’d landed three successful blows.

The level difference wasn’t that significant, and the longsword he’d purchased was above average.

The fact that the health had barely dropped meant something was wrong.

‘Could it be… physical attack resistance?’

Eile frowned. If his hunch was correct, this boss was his worst possible matchup.

Monsters resistant to physical attacks generally required a mage to defeat, a rare trait even among bosses.

Especially for Eile, who had no other means of attack besides his longsword, it was a fatal disadvantage.

Even with Alisa’s healing, there was no way to deal damage other than physical attacks. A dedicated healer could learn auxiliary attack magic later, but it was impossible at their current level.

Clang!

Eile attacked Gahhar again.

As expected, the health barely dropped.

With this level of damage, physical resistance was certain.

Alisa, who had been vaguely suspicious, seemed to have fully realized Gahhar’s characteristics and looked at him.

“It seems to have physical resistance. Can we even beat this?”

“Yes, we have to try.”

Eile gripped his longsword tightly.

This wasn’t just any situation; he couldn’t give up after coming this far.

Kwaaa kwaaa kwaaa!

The monster’s attacks, unconcerned with their situation, grew increasingly fierce.

‘I have to figure this out somehow.’

Eile dodged the monster’s attacks, searching for a solution.

But for now, he couldn’t think of anything.

There were no mages he could call on, and no environmental features to exploit for temporary damage.

‘Is there no choice but to brute force it…?’

Even with resistance, as long as it wasn’t immunity, damage would be dealt. He could just inflict more hits.

It wasn’t impossible if his skill and concentration held.

Thanks to the ‘Blade of Hatred’ passive, which amplified damage by 25 percent against heretics, the monster’s health bar wasn’t entirely unmoving.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Trying to brute force it would make the difficulty several times harder.

‘There’s no other way, so I can’t help it.’

Crunch.

Eile gripped his sword tighter.

* * *

Kwaang!

“Ugh…!”

Eile, grazed by the chain, was sent flying.

He suffered secondary damage by slamming into the wall, his health reduced to a sliver. It was fortunate Alisa healed him as soon as he was hit.

‘Only 30 percent left now.’

Eile checked the monster’s health and sighed.

He had been fighting for so long it was hard to believe he was only dealing with one enemy, but he’d only managed to take off a third of its health.

It was amazing he’d gotten this far against an enemy with physical resistance.

But no one would praise him for that. He needed results.

‘This is a big problem…’

Fighting a boss for so long, he could feel his concentration waning.

Alisa, who had prepared plenty of mana potions, signaled that she was running low, and the monster still had almost 70 percent of its health.

Sss sss!

Suddenly, black fog began to fill the room. The fog, rising to his knees, had a sinister aura.

“Is it the second phase…?”

Tzzzzzz!

The black stone in the center of the room pulsed.

Jet-black light shot out in all directions like snakes, and the ground cracked.

From the cracks, arms rose, and corpses crawled out.

The dead were being resurrected by the stone’s power.

There were dozens of them.

The boss’s health was already a problem, but with dozens of summoned monsters, the situation became even more dire.

This dungeon wasn’t designed to be easily cleared by two people.

Alisa realized this and shouted.

“Eile, it’s too much! We should give up on this dungeon…”

“No, this is a good thing.”

It was clearly a much more difficult situation.

But Eile smiled.

Variables in a hopeless situation could create new opportunities.

One of the monsters rushed towards Eile, and he turned and cut it down with a single blow.

The beheaded monster fell, and Eile’s experience bar filled.

Even though it was a monster summoned by the boss, it was treated as a proper monster, granting experience.

Then, the system message Eile had been waiting for flashed before his eyes.

[You have leveled up!]

‘It worked…!’

Eile, who was close to leveling up, did so by killing the monster.

Now he was level 15.

He could learn a new basic skill.

[You have surpassed level 15! One basic job skill is activated. Please select the skill to learn.]

[You have learned the Sacred Fire (Basic) skill!]

“Good.”

Eile smiled as he quickly learned the skill.

The skill that was practically the symbol of the Inquisitor, Sacred Fire.

It was time for its true value to be revealed.

Eile raised his sword and placed two fingers on the blade, gently stroking it.

Then, white flames blazed from his longsword.

The sight of white flames burning on the blade was mesmerizing, emitting a light brighter than ordinary flames, illuminating the dark surroundings.

But the corpses, mindless, continued to rush towards him.

Kwaaaa!

Eile swung his flame-covered sword, cleaving through the corpses.

As he severed the monsters’ bodies, white flames raged, burning even the surrounding monsters.

The attack, possessing both divine and fire attributes, was the natural enemy of all undead.

Powerful damage was dealt, and the corpses crumbled.

Even Gahhar paused at the sight of Eile engulfed in flames.

But Gahhar quickly regained his senses, swinging his greatsword, followed by a violent chain.

Clang!

The greatsword and chain shattered the floor where Eile stood, demonstrating their power.

But again, they missed.

His mana was replenished with potions, and he had closed the distance.

Flash!

Eile, using Mimic, instantly moved to the side and behind the monster.

He had gained enough momentum, and he swung the sword forward with all his might.

Kwaaaaaang!

“Kuaaa…!”

Gahhar cried out in pain for the first time.

White flames blazed in the area where the sword had struck, continuously inflicting burn and divine damage.

The monster was undead, and the damage from Sacred Fire was magic damage, unaffected by physical resistance.

The monster’s health bar, rapidly depleting with each attack, proved it.

It was time to end this long raid.