Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 526

KWA-A-A-ANG-! KWAANG-! KWAANG-!

Not only were black spheres raining down, but when I stuck to him, the guy lost his balance and fell forward.

KUWOOONG-!

Again, a cloud of dust billowed up.

[WOO-ER-ER-ER-ER-ER-!]

“BEHEL—RAAAAAAAA!!”

In the midst of that chaos, I hammered his head with a mallet, grabbed his ankle, lifted him up, and slammed him back down. I did my best to keep him from getting up.

“W-what kind of fight is this…”

“Armin, can we help?”

“Let’s watch for now…”

How much time had passed while we were fighting like that?

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia has cast [Concentrated Fire].」

Erwen’s arrows were imbued with fierce light.

It meant that he had summoned the Spirit King, his MP was depleted, [Chaos Circuit] had activated, and even after fully charging [Concentrated Fire], a minute had passed.

—–!

The arrows shot out, and the whole world turned white.

And…

[………!!]

The very center of the giant’s head.

Light pierced through the spot that would be the glabella [the smooth area of the forehead above and between the eyebrows] on a human, creating a large hole.

“…Did we get him?”

However, I didn’t share the same naive thoughts as the explorers watching from afar.

We still didn’t know his passive ability, did we?

Among monsters, there are tenacious ones that survive even after their heads are chopped off—.

“H-he’s moving…!”

Well, yeah, I kind of expected that.

[WOO-ER-ER-ER-ER-ER—!!]

Soon, the guy with a hole in his head let out a painful roar and crouched down on the ground.

The exact same posture he had when I first saw him sleeping.

Thanks to that, I was able to learn a new skill.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t information about his passive ability…

「Hipramatrant has cast [Crouch].」

I never thought he’d have this skill.

First, I quickly gave instructions.

“Cease fire!”

Simple reason.

In this state, we’d be at a disadvantage if we attacked.

「All resistance stats increase by 20 times for 3 minutes.」

「Natural regeneration increases by 20 times for 3 minutes.」

「While crouching, all stats are greatly increased until the end of the battle, proportional to the amount of damage absorbed.」

It was practically an invincible skill.

One of the active skills that ogres have, and the one that makes ogre raids the most difficult.

However, it has a fatal flaw for a tank to use.

[Crouch] is definitely an S-class survival skill, but…

When a tank falls asleep and wakes up, there’s no way their allies would still be around.

Of course, that was an exception for monsters.

1 minute, 2 minutes…

As time passed, new flesh filled the hole in his head.

And exactly 3 minutes later.

The guy slowly raised his crouched body.

All visible external wounds had already regenerated.

[Woo-er…!!]

Soon, the guy who had woken up showed signs of trying to run away again.

But…

‘No way.’

The shackles I put on his ankles while he was crouching.

The restraints of the ability user and the mage.

And when my active interference repeatedly blocked him, the guy also made up his mind.

KWA-A-A-ANG-!

Hipramatrant gave up on escaping and charged at us as if saying, ‘Let’s die together.’

Only then did it become similar to a normal raid.

During the battle, the ‘threat’ stat was properly applied, and the aggro [aggression or attention of the monster] was properly fixed on me.

“Attack!”

Dozens of explorers began to diligently deal damage from each formation, and the guy also counterattacked using various active skills.

「Hipramatrant has cast [Roar of the End].」

「Hipramatrant has cast [Gravity Field].」

The wide-area damage and CC [crowd control] skills written in the village chief’s book.

Since we had prepared countermeasures in advance, there was no damage from these skills.

WHIUUUUUNG-!

The meteorites falling from the sky were guarded by mages who put up barriers.

The aura [Gravity Field], which had a certain probability of pulling enemies within range, was minimized as all explorers prioritized rescuing each other whenever they were pulled.

「Muhl Armin has cast [Hypersensitive Skin].」

「The damage taken by the target is increased by 30%.」

「Jackson Janville has cast [Moving Target].」

「When attacking a moving target, the next attack deals 3 times the damage.」

「Nua Merbochi has cast [Precision Shot]…」

「…」

After more than 10 minutes of being beaten by dozens of people, the giant guy pulled out a new skill.

However, this time it wasn’t a passive ability either…

「Hipramatrant has cast [Body Compression].」

It was a transformation skill.

Unlike [Gigantification], his body shrank by half, and it was a 3rd-grade skill that added additional buffs proportional to its size.

‘He’s still bigger than me even after using that.’

Since it was a skill I had experimented with in conjunction with [Gigantification], it wasn’t too difficult to deal with.

“Cease fire!”

We just had to ignore him.

Unlike [Gigantification], that skill has a set duration.

KWA-A-A-ANG-!

The giant guy’s fist was twice as strong and fast as before.

However, I pulled all the melee types who were relieving the burden from the side and faced the guy alone.

CRACK-!

Each time I got hit, my bones were crushed, but…

SWAAAAAAA-!

We have healers in our expedition now.

One priest and one healer.

With their focused care, and the healing buff effect due to the special stat ‘Restoration Power’, my body recovered quickly even if it was being destroyed in real time.

Well, the vivid pain was another matter.

“UAAAAAAA!!”

I just had to endure it with sheer grit.

「[Body Compression] is canceled.」

As time passed, [Body Compression], which could be seen as a kind of berserk pattern, ended, and the guy’s body returned to its original state.

Therefore, the melee dealers came forward again and diligently dealt damage.

KUWOONG-!

Soon, one of his ankles was completely destroyed, and the giant guy knelt down, and from then on, the melee dealers aimed for his vitals.

The giant was now battered and bruised.

“We’re almost there!”

“Don’t let your guard down until the end!”

As the victory clearly tilted in our favor, the explorers seemed to be confident of victory, but I was anxious.

It had already been 25 minutes.

‘[Crouch]’s cooldown was 30 minutes.’

In just 5 minutes, the guy would use [Crouch] again.

Then we’d have to repeat this again…

In fact, at that point, the raid should be considered a failure.

Since I didn’t save MP this time, it would take much longer to reduce his HP again.

‘I know that we can’t catch him if the damage is insufficient, so if we try next time, we’ll definitely catch him, but…’

Even so, it’s a shame to fail like this.

Should I take that out?

The deliberation was short, and the decision was even faster.

“Misha! Emily! Combine!”

Unfortunately, the two who were competing for the top 1 and 2 melee DPS [damage per second] in our team didn’t understand what I was saying.

“…Huh? C-combine?”

Misha was flustered while holding longswords in both hands, and Amelia looked at me from afar as if I was talking nonsense.

Come on, you should understand right away.

“Just come here!”

Still, when I called them, they stopped what they were doing and ran to me.

Therefore, I acted rather than explained.

Because you can’t grab anything new while holding something in your hand.

First, I threw away the hammer and shield I was holding.

“Huh?”

“What are you doing…!”

With my remaining hands, I grabbed Misha and Amelia’s waists.

And…

SWOOSH.

I grabbed Misha and Amelia as if I was holding swords in both hands and took a stance.

It was called the Barbarian Samurai Mode.

“Yandel… you don’t mean…!”

Amelia seemed to be realizing what I was trying to do.

“Just turn on your aura. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Stop it! What nonsense—!”

“Misha, you too, hold your sword well.”

“Huh? Ah, okay!”

Okay, then I got permission.

I began to wield the Misha Sword and Amelia Sword in earnest.

Why couldn’t they land critical hits?

It was because the giant guy was so big that they were just poking at his lower body.

But…

‘It’s different now.’

POOK-!

The Amelia Sword in my right hand deeply pierced the giant’s skin. The dagger itself was short, but it didn’t matter because the aura was elongated.

In the first place, it wasn’t just one sword.

SWISH-!

The Misha Sword in my left hand slashed across the giant’s neck.

Its cutting power was lower than the Amelia Sword, but the Misha Sword had another advantage.

Misha had the ice attribute.

ZZZZT—

A cold ice film grew along the wound.

When I hit the same area again, the ice film broke and the wound widened greatly.

He didn’t even flinch when I hit him with a hammer earlier.

‘Is this… a dealer’s sense…?’

Something hot rose from below my dantian [a point below the navel in traditional Chinese medicine].

“BEHEL—RAAAAAAAA!!”

I couldn’t help but shout and swung the swords in both hands.

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Wait a minute.

Misha is dual-wielding swords, and Amelia is dual-wielding daggers, so…

“Four-Sword Style…?”

As I muttered that, for some reason, the Amelia Sword showed killing intent towards me.

“…I’m going to kill you.”

Damn, was it a cursed sword?

I was worried about the aftermath, but Amelia faithfully turned on her aura to match the timing I was swinging, and even if I just held her close, she moved her left and right arms on her own and diligently swung her daggers.

Like that, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes…

[Woo-er…]

As time passed, the giant, who had been mainly slashed around his neck and heart, finally.

KUWOOOOONG-!

Collapsed on the ground with a roar.

It was about 40 seconds before [Crouch]’s cooldown was over.

SWOOSH.

Just as I was about to swing the Amelia Sword to finish him off quickly.

“…Why did you stop?”

When I stopped the hand I was extending, Amelia asked in confusion.

I didn’t answer.

“…”

Just when I thought I just had to catch him, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

There are two types of monsters on the first basement floor.

Normal monsters that give magic stones and essences.

And special monsters that leave corpses when killed.

Hipramatrant is a monster that belongs to the latter.

But…

‘If you cast distortion magic on monsters that give magic stones and essences, there’s a certain chance that they won’t leave a corpse.’

For reference, even mages can’t explain the principle of ‘distortion’ magic in detail.

Just like how fire was lit by hitting flint in ancient times.

They are just using the phenomenon without fully understanding it yet.

That’s why I suddenly became curious.

‘What would happen if I cast distortion magic on a guy who leaves a corpse?’

It was worth experimenting with.

After all, we’ve already obtained plenty of samples of the corpse, haven’t we?

“Bersil, use distortion magic!”

Soon, I gave a hasty order, and before long, a transparent film covered the giant’s body.

As soon as I confirmed this, I swung the Amelia Sword and Misha Sword at the same time.

POOK-!

The moment the four swords pierced at the same time, the giant’s body, which had been breathing heavily, slumped.

And…

SWAAAA-

The giant’s body turned into a flurry of light and scattered.

***

「You have defeated Hipramatrant.」

「No.9999 Beginner’s Luck has been activated.」

***

Immediately after Hipramatrant’s huge body disappeared into light.

The sensation of experience points coming in didn’t bloom.

But something fell from the empty air.

THUD.

A huge magic stone the size of a fist.

However, no one paid attention to it.

Why would that magic stone be important?

“…Essence, everyone.”

“It’s an essence…!”

An essence was dropped.

Was Beginner’s Luck activated?

I was just trying to see if the corpse would disappear, but I never thought an essence would come out.

“Everyone, step back!!!!!”

When I shouted sensitively, the melee warriors who were approaching as if they were possessed by the essence flinched and stepped back.

“N-no, I was just going to take a look…”

“Just step back!”

Thanks to my loud shout, the area around the essence was quickly cleared. Therefore, I calmed down a little and calmly organized my thoughts.

It was a good thing that the essence appeared, but there was a slightly disappointing part.

‘It’s not green…’

Since the [Gigantification] essence of the Orc Hero was green, it was highly likely that it wasn’t a [Gigantification] essence.

‘If it’s navy blue… it must be [Crouch].’

What should I do with this?

Should I put it in a test tube and think about it?

‘Well, it might be okay to feed it to Ainar… but I don’t know what the passive ability is, so I can’t feed it to him.’

I’m a little worried.

[Crouch] itself is very suitable for Ainar.

It can fill the survival power, which is a chronic problem for Barbarian warriors, with just this one skill, and…

‘If I feed it to Ainar, I can also experiment to some extent on what the passive ability is and how many basic stats are attached to the essence…’

If I reach the 9th stage of the Undead Engraving, it will also be possible to link it.

In that sense, if I’m going to feed it to Ainar, it’s better to feed it now to save on the cost of test tubes…

Ugh, what should I really do?

“Ainar!”

“Huh?”

“Do you want this essence?”

I checked his intentions first, but as expected, I got an immediate answer.

“…I, I want it!!!”

“We don’t know what the embodied ability is or how many basic stats there are yet?”

“B-but, it’s okay!!”

Well… if the passive ability and stats are bad, I can just erase them at the temple later.

In the first place, I have a rough idea of what the passive ability is.

“Okay, you can have this.”

“R-really!!”

“Everyone, no complaints, right?”

I asked, looking at the Armin Expedition, which had a 30% share of the spoils, but Muhl Armin didn’t express any complaints.

“The priority is with the Baron.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Even if that wasn’t the case, it would be the same.”

“Huh?”

“…We’re not that shameless.”

Why did his self-esteem suddenly drop like this?

I don’t know, but since the owner of the essence has been decided, there’s no reason to drag it out any longer.

“Bjorn… c-can I eat it now…?”

“Yeah, eat it.”

When I nodded, Ainar ran excitedly and absorbed the essence.

「[Hipramatrant’s Essence] seeps into Ainar Fnellin’s soul.」

Thus, Ainar Fnellin learned [Crouch].