novelcrest Chapter 809: Hidden Story (1)
Chapter 809: Hidden Story (1)
[heastDay].
neoftheactiveskillsusedbythefirst-grademonster,Sniktura.
tseffectsarequitediverse.
BM—!!
Ameteorfallsfromthesky.
Flash—!!
Alightningboltslamsdown,carryingdamagecomparabletoathird-tierattackspell.
RUMB-RUMB-RUMB—!!!
hegroundquakes,cavinginandtemporarilyrenderingtheareaimpassable.
Asthenamesuggests,[heastDay]unleashesabarrageofterrifying,apocalypticeffects.
Withina10kmradius,for24hoursstraight.
“uh?Soundsgreattome!t’slikethemonstersgetwipedoutwithoutusliftingafinger!”
Ainard,wide-eyedandcheerful,gaveherinnocenttakeonthesituation,butdidn’tbothertoexplainfurther.
Barbarianslearnbestthroughexperience.
Flash—!!
“...!!”
Aslightningslammedstraightintoherhead,Ainardconvulsedsilently,unableeventoscream.
hiswasthemainproblemwith[heastDay].
BM—!!
Yes,themeteors,thelightning,thegeneralend-of-the-worldaestheticwasimpressiveanddestructive...
Buttherealissuewasthatithiteveryone.Allies,enemies—nodiscrimination.
“A-Areyouallright,Prnelin?!”
“U-Urgh...-’mfine...xcept-can’tmovemyjaw—!”
Flash—!!
“...!!”
“Ainardgothitagain...!A-Areyouokay?!”
“Urgh...mily...M-Makeitstop!hishurtslikehell...!!!”
avingtakentwolightningstrikesrightoutofthegate,Ainard’sluckcouldn’thavebeenworse.Shecriedoutindesperation,butallAmeliadidwasstareinflusteredsilence—somethingyoualmostneversawfromher.
Becausethatwasthesecondproblemwiththisskill.
nce[heastDay]isactivated,itcan’tbecanceled.
“mily!Can’tyouhearm—”
“Stop,Ainard.here’snowaytointerruptit.nceitstarts,itrunsforafull24hoursnomatterwhat.”
“What...?Don’tberidiculous!here’snosuchthingasanabilityyoucan’tturnoffmid-use!”
“Uh...”
Shesaiditlikeitwasthemostobviousthingintheworld—andhonestly,evenwasthrownoff.
Butjudgingbyeveryone’sreactions,wasn’ttheonemistaken.
“Raven?Don’tmostactivatedabilitiesnotletyoucancelthemmidway...?”
“Ah,yes...hat’strue,right?venAinard’sown[ndomitableSpirit]keepsgoingonceyouuseit,untilitssettimerunsout?”
WithRavenchimingin,Ainardwasleftspeechless.Meanwhile,thesourceofthechaos—Amelia—lookedaroundawkwardlyateveryone.
“Well...still,kindoffascinating,no?hatitrunsfor24hours?”
“t’snotfascinating—it’shorrific.”
“hisisbad.fPrnelinreactslikethis,normalpeoplecoulddie.”
“Soyou’resayingwehavetolivelikethisfor24hours?hat’saseriousproblem...”
“Ahem...”
Ameliaclearedherthroat—clearlyawareshe’dmessedup.
“So...”
hensuddenly,sheturnedtowardme.oicequiet.imid.
“...-echnically,it’snotentirelymyfault.”
“...What?”
Foramoment,thought’dmisheard.
Shewas...dodgingresponsibility?
'Amelia?'
gaveheralook,incredulous.Sheavertedhereyesandcontinued.
“W-Well...mean,accordingtoyourexplanation,itshouldn’thavebeenabletoactivateinthefirstplace...”
Ah.hat.
“Well,sure,butstill...”
“e’sright,Mr.Yandel!Whydiditactivate?”
Raven,joininginwithvisiblecuriosity,turnedthegroup’sattentiononme.
But...
“mm...notsure...”
ruthfully,didn’tknoweither.
n-game,[heastDay]hadoneveryspecificconditiontoactivate.
“otsure?sn’tthetriggercondition‘whenthelabyrinthisclosing’?”
xactly.
heskillcouldonlybeusedonthefinaldaybeforethelabyrinthclosed.
ikethe7thdayonFloor1,the10thonFloor2,etc.
Andthisplace,whiletechnicallyahiddenfield,wasstillpartofFloor6—meaningitshouldonlybeusableonDay60.
“Sowhywassheabletouseitnow?”
xactly.
wasthinkingthesamething.
Skillconfusionaside,thiswholesituationwasjustweird.
Whyhadaskillonlyusableonthelabyrinth’sfinaldaybeentriggerednow?
BM—!!!
...Wastheresomethingdidn’tknowgoingon?
***
onestly,thingshadbeengoingtoo◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)welllately.
SurvivingSnikturawithoutlosinganyone,scoringanssenceontopofthat—
Myluckhadbeenunreal.
Which,ironically,madeitworse.
'tjustmakesmemoreanxious...'
xperiencetoldme:thehighertheupswing,theharsherthefall.
Andsometimes,thereverse.
nanycase—
'here’salottothinkabout...'
heFloorordsummonedonthe6thFloor.[heastDay]activatingunexpectedly.
Whatitallmeant,andwhatshoulddonext—thereweretoomanyunknowns.
Butiffocusedjustonthenow...
'otbad.'
hatwasmyhonestconclusion.
Puttingasideoutsideconcernsandjustthinkingaboutclearingthehiddenfield“Memoryofthend,”[heastDay]wasamassivehelp.
speciallywhenitcametotakingdowntheisland’sboss—the“Beast.”
ikeso:
「ver10%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」
「heancientBeast’spowerweakens.」
「ver20%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」
「heancientBeast’spowerfurtherweakens...」
Allwe’ddonewascircletheisland’sedgewithAmeliaintow,andalreadythemonstersweregettingwipedoutatanincrediblepace.
otalannihilation.
「Defeated:Fanaticatekeeper+XP7」
「Defeated:auntingMemory+XP6」
「Defeated:nchantingBloom+XP6」
「Defeated:Mirroround+XP...」
「...」
SeeingourXPshootupatintervals,itwasobviousevenmonstersabove4thtierweregettingvaporizedbymeteors.
'Atthisrate,wecouldclearthewholeislandinaday.'
We’dinitiallyplannedtospendatleastaweekhere.hiswasinsaneprogress.
fcourse,nothing’sperfect.
Speedalwayscomeswithproblems.
“aaah!!hat’stentimesnow—’vebeenstruckbylightningtentimes!!”
“Kyaaaaah!Mr.Parab!Mr.Parabgotcrushedbyameteor...!!”
Settingasidethesideeffects—beingK’dbylightningornearlydyingfrommeteorstrikes—thebiggerissuewasthis:
“Um...thatmeanswe’veonlygotfivepeopleleft,right...?”
“Ms.Rainesdoesn’tneeditimmediately,soreally,it’sfour.”
“Ah...right...”
he“Memoryofthend”fieldrequiresyoutoconstantlyresetthe[Doomed]debuff.
Butbecauseof[heastDay],wecouldn’tdoitasusual.
Wehadtomeetthemonsterstocast[Distortion]—andeverythingwasgettingobliteratedbeforewecould.
“B-Butcanwestillmakeit?h-here’sonlytwohoursleft...”
“aha...t’llbefine,Ms.Marone!oneedtoworrytoomuch!”
Wewerecarryingourmagesaroundtohiteverythingwesawwith[Distortion],butthedropratewasslowerthanexpected—andeveryonewasgettingnervous.
speciallythosewhohadn’tresetyet.
“Yousay‘don’tworry’becauseyou’vealreadyreset,Mr.Parab!”
“h-hat’snotwhatmeant!”
“Sorry.hatwasunfair.hisisn’tyourfault.”
“o,no...understand.Youdon’tneedtoapologize...”
herewasabackupplan.
ntheworst-casescenario,wecouldsendtheun-resetmembersthroughtheportalbacktoSkullsland.
Atleastthatwouldliftthe[Doomed]effect.
'Problemis,withtheFloorordsummonedoutside,it’snotexactlysafeoutthereeither...'
Still,riskywasbetterthancertaindeath.
「imeremaininguntildeath:01:50:17.」
Withundertwohoursleftbefore[Doomed]hit,wepouredeverythingintogettingmoreriginalSins.
Andfinally—
「RirisMaronehasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
「BelegShusiadiersiahasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
womoreresets.Andthen—wegotanotherdrop.
Whichmeantonlyonepersonleft.
“h...!”
Forsomereason,assoonasthenextriginalSindropped,uildmasterliaAdnusvisiblybrightened.
hadnothingtosayaboutthatpart,butwhatcamenextwasaproblem.
“...Ahem!Atlast...myturn...”
couldn’tignorethat.
“Yourturn?”
“...?”
“here’sstillonepersonwhohasn’tgottenone.”
“h,youmeanhim?”
AdnusglancedatAuyenbesideAmelia.
Still,hedidn’tlookparticularlyconcerned.
“aha,don’tjoke.t’snotlikewewerefeedingtheminstrictorder.Fromwhat’veseen,youprioritizedthefront-linefighters,thenmoveddowntheranks.You’repickingbasedonusefulnessintheexpedition,right?”
Wow.eactuallyfiguredthatout?
uessbeingacareerpoliticiansharpensthemind.
Still,ifhewasthatsharp,howcouldhenotrealizethis?
“Auyenisnext.”
Bypriority,you’relast,pal.
***
aturally,therewasalittledramaovertheorder.
uildmasterAdnusshotmeadisapprovinglook.
“What’swiththatface?”
“...didn’tmakeanyface...”
Yeah,right.ikehellyoudidn’t.
“Youthinkyou’remoreusefultotheexpeditionthanAuyen?”
ventually,decidedtojustaskhimoutright.eansweredlikehe’dbeenwaiting.
“Ahem...mayberetired,andnotmuchtolookathere,butmyskillsdon’tpalenexttoanyone’s...”
Fromthesoundofit,hewasannoyedthatanavigatorlikeAuyenhadbeengivenpriorityoverhim.
“-t’sfine.cangolast...”
“Whatdoyoumean,‘it’sfine’?”
“mean...ordAdnusisfarmorecapablethanam,and—”
hatannoyedme.
Washejusttryingtopreventconflict?rwasheactuallythathumble?
itherway,couldn’tletitslide.
Didn’tmatteriftheguyusedtobeauildmaster.
“Auyen,you’reamemberofourAnabadaClan.”
“...”
“Andheisn’t.stherereallyanythingelsetoconsider?”
“...”
“fnot,takeit.Adnuswillgetthenextone.”
ierarchyexistsforareason.
“hat’stheendofit.otimeforquestions.”
cutthediscussionofffast.Adnusdidn’targue.
eknew.
uthere,mywordwaslaw.
「AuyenRockrovehasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」
WithAuyen’sresetcomplete,wecouldfinallymovewithsomepeaceofmind.
“W-We’removingsoleisurelyallofasudden,don’tyouthink?”
“Justyourimagination.”
“B-Butwe’reslowingdownforreal...a-andmovingawayfromtheportal...weren’twesupposedtouseitinanemergency?”
“veryone’sexhausted.Don’twhine.”
“M-Myapologies.wasn’ttryingtoupsetyou...”
Youshould’vethoughtofthatsooner.
Whydoalwayshavetolaydownthelaw?
“et’spickupthepace.”
Fromthenon,wereturnedtoourusualfaststride,resumingthehunt.
ventually,wegotAdnusresettoo.
「liaAdnushasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」
Andsometimelater—
“Uptop!”
lookeduptoseeablackportalforming.
othingparticularlysurprising.
“Anotherone.”
twasoneof[heastDay]’slesser-knowneffects.
Asidefrommeteorsandlightning,itoccasionallyspawnedportalsthatspatoutrandommonsters.
“Wonderwhatwe’llgetthistime.”
“veryone,stayalert!Mr.Yandelsaidevensecond-tiermonsterscanappear!”
veryoneimmediatelyassumedformation.
hen...
“t’ssmall?”
“Somekindofsmall-type?”
“Doesn’tlooktoostrong...”
hemonsterfinallyemerged—
“...uh?”
—andscreamedasitslammedintotheground.
hud—!
[wwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!]
thitthefloorhardandlandedonitsbutt,nowrubbingitrepeatedlywhilebabblinginwhatsoundedlikeanancienttongue.
[Butdidit!reallymadeithere!Woohoo!Mymana-quantumconversionmatrixtrajectorycalculationswerecorrect!]
Wait...wasthisreallyamonster?
didn’tknow,butwhateveritwas,itsuddenlynoticedus—andjumpedinshock.
[eeeek!!!]
“......”
[W-Whoareallofyou...?]
hatwasmyquestion.
AndthefactitwasspeakinginAncientanguagemadeitworse.
[Whatevenareyou?]
[uh?-'m...'mArta...?]
[......Arta?]
hiswasahiddenpiecedidn’tknowexisted.