Chapter 205

Evan D. Sherden Discovering the Witch. (5)

Evan's strategy was as follows: first, they would recover the Fragment of the Sun stuck in the ceiling; in the game, this was a terrible aggro act, because the moment you touched it, all the monsters inside the space went ballistic and would lead everyone straight to death.

"So since everyone died, it was not possible to obtain the entire Fragment of the Sun. It was also not possible to flee once they recovered the Fragment of the Sun since any teleportation magic or artifact could not be used within this space, so it put everyone in a fickle."

"Then it won't work, will it?!"

"But, we have Raihan who can taunt every monster and attract all attacks to himself."

Raihan, who became lifeless as a mummy hearing this, asked Evan.

"Are you saying that I have to deal with all several hundreds of thousands of monsters...?"

"No, you just need to activate the Guardian's Blessing within the inner path. Then, all the monsters that were attracted to me will move towards you, and you will block the path and will need to just defend the front."

"As long as I'm just defending the front, I'll be confident in defending against even the most powerful monsters."

This was not possible in the game because it was not possible to taunt the monsters that were already taunted by the character who recovered the Fragment of the Sun.

"But for you, Raihan, it's possible, right?"

"Well, it's possible... But I won't be able to block them forever."

"It's okay. It won't take long to clear them out. I promise."

"If you say that, Master, I'll trust you and give it a try."

Raihan nodded, reluctantly convinced. This showed how much unreasonable faith he had in Evan.

"After all the enemies are attracted to Raihan, naturally, we'll be able to see the Grass of Innocence."

"Then, I will recover it, right?!"

Having three slimes that could move quickly, Serena, who had confidence in scouting and mobility, clenched her fists and showed her determination. But Evan put an end to it right there.

"No, if you retrieve the Grass of Innocence, the hidden dungeon boss is going to appear, so we shouldn't retrieve it right away."

This was truly a devil-like dungeon!

What kind of a terrible dungeon has several hundred thousands of monsters and a hidden boss?! So comparatively, it felt like a miracle for them to recover the Evil Origin so easily.

"So I would like us not to attack the Grass of Innocence and put a shield on top of it, one that can block out poison and magic. Belois, you can handle it, right?"

"Yes, of course. It will be easily handled if I use an ice property shield."

Belois, who instantly understood Evan's intentions, nodded with confidence. Good, step two was taken care of.

"Third, since we've worked out the details on recovering the Fragment of the Sun and protecting the Grass of Innocence, we have to hunt the monsters attracted to Raihan. For this purpose, I made this herbicide that everyone saw just now."

Evan laughed with confidence as he took out a bottle of black liquid.

Although he just called it a herbicide, it was actually an extremely devastating potion.

While it would do no damage to humans, it would act as an attacking potion that would debuff all monsters with grass property and deal huge damage to them. It was an extremely expensive potion that cost a lot to make, so it was not possible to use it in a casual manner.

"It's one of the things you prepared before coming to the West."

"Yes, I'm going to use this. One bottle is not going to do it. We'll need ten bottles. When I throw this, Arisha, use wind magic to disperse it throughout the entire place."

"...This really doesn't harm humans, right?"

"Don't worry."

He spent a lot of money to make it so. Evan smiled bitterly and continued to explain.

"I think ten bottles of herbicide are going to be enough, but there is a possibility that it will not completely wipe them out. Then we will fight them ourselves. Since the herbicide will have lowered their resistance levels, it would be easy to kill them."

No matter how many of them were there, killing them was simple if they were all lumped together. Especially with Evan's new step, it was very possible.

"After killing all of them, Raihan's going to level up so fast."

"Well, after tanking against several hundred thousands of monsters, I assume so."

Although Raihan trusted Evan, the nervousness he was feeling before the big battle was something that couldn't be avoided. Raihan took a deep breath and held on to his shield. It was very Raihan-like of him to use the Echo shield in this circumstance.

"After killing all the monsters, we'll take plenty of rest and then retrieve the Grass of Innocence. Then, the boss will appear. This dungeon's boss is a ground golem, simply put, this entire ground is itself a part of the golem."

"... Will we be able to defeat it?"

"Don't worry, you can beat a golem if you break the nucleus. Anyway, when the ground golem appears, the dungeon will collapse at the same moment. At this time, we escape through the exposed hole from the Fragment of the Sun. As soon as the dungeon begins to collapse, the restriction on teleportation magic will also be lifted, but I don't think it will be necessary to use it."

For reference, originally, the Fragment of the Sun will be shattered, and the player would be able only to retrieve a part of the Fragment.

Moreover, since if you miss the narrow window of time, it was impossible to retrieve; a lot of players who missed it ended up sucked up and reloaded to the point before they entered the dungeon. It was really fun when posting sarcastic replies to those disappointed postings...

"...Master Evan?"

He cleared his throat, "It's nothing."

Anyway, safely recovering the fragments and the player party who have successfully escaped to the outside of the dungeon, fighting fiercely with the field boss, ground golem, is one of the most epic scenes in Yo-Ma Great War Series 3's DLCs.

"So from here on, there's no way to cheat."

"Ummm... So you mean there's no easy way to defeat him?"

"Yes, Raihan will need to defend against him directly in the front."

In a way, this boss battle might be the fiercest battle in the entire expedition to the West. It was a battle that could fulfill Evan's intentions to train the first squad, the senior squad, and in many ways, was the ultimate goal of this expedition.

"I've written down the attack pattern here, so everyone, including Raihan, make sure you memorize it in advance. Among the attacks, be extra cautious of Earthquake and Absorption. These two affect the entire party, so even if Raihan is the target, everyone else is also impacted by it."

Until now, Evan and others have fought against various enemies, but most of the enemy's attacks were blocked by Raihan's shield. Since even in the case of area attacks, it was all absorbed by Raihan.

But this time, it was different. Event bosses and field bosses used a field attack. And by field attack, it meant everyone in the field was subjected to the attack!

Unless you understood it thoroughly and prepared against it accordingly, you were bound to receive damage. Even with an infallible shield tanking the attacks, you couldn't be entirely safe.

"Then... doesn't it mean that Master Evan would be in danger too?"

"I know."

Evan had been able to enter the dungeon freely because Raihan was with him. Raihan was an absolute shield that did not tolerate even the slightest chance!

"But there's nothing much we can do about it. Moreover, if I cannot evade ground golem's attack, which is considered one of the slowest attacks by the bosses that use a field attack, I won't be able to work past dungeon level 80."

In the worst case, he had enough defense to endure an attack. He had in place his potions and also alchemy tools that could build a one-time-use shield.

Even after doing all that, if Evan dies from the attack, it would mean Evan's training so far meant nothing. It would be better for him to kill himself right now.

"You don't have to worry because I trained myself enough to survive the worst circumstances. You just need to think about taking the ground golem's attack."

"...Okay."

It wasn't entirely clear how Raihan took Evan's words, but Raihan nodded along with making a determined expression.

Evan nodded and spoke after looking at Belois, Serena, and Arisha, who were all carefully reading and memorizing the manual to defeat the ground golem.

"Alright, I want to say let's go... but let's just prepare one more thing, just in case."

"Just in case?"

"I learned that reality is different from a game through experience, so..."

Evan put on a mysterious grin and talked more about the possible situation. Everyone agreed to it, and Raihan and Arisha received additional instructions and materials to be used in such a situation.

"Alright, then let's go on with our plans!"

Raihan ran straight forward to the path's entrance and put his defensive stance on with his shield. As soon as Evan signals him, he will attract all the monsters in the huge field to him by activating Guardian's Blessing full power.

From the entire Yo-Ma Great War Series, only Raihan would be able to attract so many monsters at the same time!

"We should go up."

"Okay."

"Yes."

Arisha cast wind magic and levitated Evan, Serena, then herself up in the air.

Belois floated herself in the air with her own levitation magic.

If one went through the witch's ritual, they would receive a broom, a flying artifact. Evan, who hasn't seen a witch on a broom in the game, hoped that day would come soon.

"Ugh, the closer you get to this, the more blinding it is...!"

"Please hold on. It will disappear soon."

The artifact installed on the ceiling, the Fragment of the Sun, as an artifact that sheds light on the absolutely huge garden, it was enormous.

Moreover, the magical power inside it was denser than any other artifact that Evan had ever experienced, making him want it more than ever.

"Who made this?"

"Everything in this dungeon was formed naturally. You can tell by seeing that the boss is a ground golem, right? If humans and other intelligent beings were involved, there would be no chance to leave that golem that only has a ridiculous amount of magical power as the guardian when there would be many other efficient defensive mechanisms."

"... The power of foresight is truly amazing. If we didn't come here, God knows how long it would have taken for humans to find this dungeon."

"Even though everything was formed naturally, it's so evil. People say nature is the cruelest. I find it true..."

"Well, don't blurt out meaningful statements that are hard to comment on."

The sensation of floating in the air was truly mesmerizing. It was a warm sensation as if your body became a pluck of feather floating around the sky. Evan enjoyed that sensation for a second and came back to his senses.

In front of him was the artifact, the Fragment of the Sun, in the form of a huge rock. As soon as he touches it, the battle will begin.

"Everyone ready?"

"Yessir!"

"Okay!"

"Anytime."

When Evan heard Belois' calm voice, Evan gulped and touched the Fragment of the Sun.

At that moment, the entire earth trembled.

[Youuuuuuu recklesssssssss humanssssss!]

"Ah."

Evan pulled out the entire Fragment of the Sun with his strength and put it inside his inventory pocket, and saw below. (The sight of the enormous rock squeezing inside the little pocket was truly amazing)

Endless monsters with grass property woke themselves up, and at the same time, the earth that supported them became a golem and started moving!

[Beeeeee foregivennnnnnn byyyyyyy dyingggggg!]

"Master Evan!"

"[shriek] The dungeon is coming apart!"

Unlike in the game, the retrieving of the Fragment of the Sun also awoke the ground golem.

The Dungeon was starting to fall! Evan soared into the hole in the ceiling from the Fragment of the Sun and shouted!

"Everyone, Plan B!"