Early in the morning, I entered the building restroom and took off my clothes.
Today, I need to go all out since we’re tackling the boss.
“Polymorph.”
Scales began growing from my skin.
They soon transformed into the shape of armor.
It has become quite impressive thanks to Laura’s training over the period.
Right now, my appearance resembles that of a knight wearing ‘Full Plate Armor’ that covers my entire body.
The only difference is that the armor is a bit pointy, giving it the feel of a勇 knight from some game.
This flashy look isn’t really my style.
But Laura insisted that it had to be this way, so I learned to adapt.
I haven’t checked my stats in a while, so let’s do that now.
“Status Window.”
————<Status Window>————
◈ Name
n̶̡̡̛̟̠͈͎̟̍͜͝͡͠ų̢̰̭̲̋͒̓͊̀̒́͘͡l̴̳͙͓̞̻̝͇̥͆̋͂̉̕͡͠͠l̨̛̫̖̝͓̮̳͓͆̃̈̈́̈́͆̈̕
◈ Stats
[Strength 122 A] (+800)
[Agility 771 B] (+800)
[Intelligence 169 C] (+800)
[Luck 220 F] (+800)
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Succession 897 A]
[Dragon Heart — A]
[Telekinesis 682 C]
[Magic Engraving — B]
[Polymorph — S]
———————————–
The stat increase from ‘Polymorph’ is +800 each.
Without any additional items, my Strength and Agility have reached A-rank.
Considering the defensive power of the scales, it’s nearly impossible for the dungeon’s regular mobs to harm me.
I went outside the building and headed to the barricade.
Clank. Clank.
Each step made a noise as the scales clinked together.
“Enemy!”
Sang-hyun saw me and drew his sword.
With my faceplate covering everything except my eyes, he seemed unable to recognize me.
As his shout echoed, Hayeon and Isiah arrived one after another. Isiah was together with CM-29.
The gun on CM-29 was pointed at me.
I quickly attempted to explain.
“It’s me, Shinnoda.”
“What?”
“Hello. You know me. I have the skill to create scales; this isn’t armor but scales, if you look closely.”
Sang-hyun cautiously approached, sword still out, and carefully inspected my body. He soon exhaled in relief.
“You scared me. If you’re going to use something like this, you should warn us ahead of time.”
“Haha, it was a surprise. So, how do I look? Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Laura watched me with a content nod, like she was critiquing her own creation.
‘She’s not wrong.’
It was Laura who touched my soul and trained me to create this form and design the armor.
We prepared to leave, and I decided to make some tactical adjustments.
“Most likely, the boss will appear in this city. I think we should adjust our fighting style.”
“How so?”
Hyeon poked at my scales with her finger as she asked.
“Hyeon and Senior Isiah should be the vanguard, and the others will serve as damage dealers. Senior Isiah, since you’re a bit more fragile, please transform into a cat and tank alongside the robot.”
“Meow!”
Isiah showed me her tablet with a written message.
<I'll transform somewhere else and join you.>
Since her transformation tears her clothes, she was going to change elsewhere.
I nodded and continued my explanation.
“As before, you all should draw and hold off the minor mobs while I’ll take on the boss.”
“Are you sure? Even for you, taking on the boss monster alone…”
Sang-hyun’s voice was filled with concern.
“Don’t worry. To be honest, I’ve never unleashed my full power since entering this dungeon. If I run into trouble, I’ll rejoin the group. Just keep that in mind.”
“Hmm… alright.”
Now, all there’s left to do is reach the final stage.
I recalled the original story.
The dungeon’s boss is the demon ‘Astaroth.’
She will appear like a fallen angel carrying a spear, commanding ‘Hell Ants.’
Though she is normally an S-Class Monster, here she is in a weakened state.
Encountering her is simple:
Retrieve the ‘Resurrection Relic’ located at the top of a giant building.
The ants may be inconsequential, but Astaroth, as a B-Rank entity, is quite powerful and must be approached cautiously.
While I may be fine, the rest of the party is concerning. When the battle begins, I plan to unleash a relentless attack on Astaroth so she cannot touch the others.
‘Lady Laura, are you familiar with the demon Astaroth?’
[Yes.]
‘Can you use Dispel on her? Even in her weakened state down to B-Rank.’
[Impossible. Astaroth is among the divine ranks, an immortal whose karma cannot be erased even by me.]
So, even in her weakened state, her karma remains intact.
Ultimately, there’s no choice but to overpower her with brute force.
I’m currently at a power level akin to A-Rank. This should not be a problem.
“Meowww!”
A giant cat appeared.
Just a scaled-up version of a regular cat.
I expected it to resemble more a tiger, but it was not.
‘What breed is it? Norwegian Forest Cat?’
Her fluffed-up coat made her look appealing to the touch.
Senior Isiah, sitting and grooming herself, looked up at me.
“Meow.”
I smiled awkwardly and said,
“For now, let’s explore the building.”
“Okay.”
I spoke to the giant cat.
“Senior Isiah, please guard the entrance with the robot. We wouldn’t want our escape route cut off.”
She nodded.
Inside the building.
Surprisingly, the elevator was still operational.
We called the elevator.
Ding.
When the doors opened, a gruesome sight lay before us.
The interior was drenched in blood.
“Groaaaaah.”
It was full of zombies.
We eliminated them and boarded the elevator, despite the overwhelming stench of blood and decaying corpses.
“To the top floor.”
“Any particular reason?”
Reason… because the ‘Resurrection Relic’ is there.
I gave a vague explanation. Hyun didn’t press further, perhaps trusting that I had a plan since there had been no trouble from following my lead.
Ding.
The elevator stopped, and we exited on the top floor. The roof was entirely made of glass, with various military equipment scattered around.
Thump.
My Dragon Heart was pounding rapidly.
An immense magical presence could be felt nearby.
‘Hmm…’
[Ho, can you feel it? You’ve grown quite a bit.]
Laura sounded impressed.
Following the source of the magic, I was able to determine where it was coming from.
On the way, I easily dispersed some zombies that appeared.
Soon, I reached a certain room. This was where the magical presence was emanating from.
Upon opening the door, there were numerous computers and precision machines inside.
In the center of it all was a golden egg adorned with jewels – the Resurrection Relic.
It seemed to be supplying some form of energy to this complex machine.
“Wow…”
I unintentionally gasped at its ethereal form.
‘Such a precious item. Though I don’t have any use for it, I want it.’
A strong urge for possession took over my mind.
In a daze, I picked up the ‘Resurrection Relic.’
A semi-transparent window appeared in front of my eyes.
———— <Final Battle>————
[Astaroth is a demon originally possessing a divine nature.
She came to destroy the world at the Demon King’s command.
Her efforts were successful, until she suffered a grievous injury in the final battle.
Seizing the opportunity, the wizards succeeded in sealing away her divine essence.
They used it to create the ‘Resurrection Relic’ and installed it in the final city to establish a barrier that prevented Astaroth’s minions, the ‘Hell Ants,’ from entering.
Weakened to the level of a low-tier demon, Astaroth was suppressed by her own divine essence and could no longer invade the city.
For an alternative strategy, she utilized zombies to attack the city.
With a global population of 16 billion, there are 16 billion zombies.
The unrelenting assault caused the city to collapse, leading to the extinction of all life.
The barrier is maintained by the Resurrection Relic and consumes immense power.
The problem is, the city’s power plant can sustain itself for centuries without maintenance.
Thus, she patiently waits for the power to be cut off.
Time is on the immortal’s side.
Your mission is to annihilate her before Astaroth regains her strength.
Remaining time: 4478 days, 11 hours, and 36 minutes.]
—————————————
This was the dungeon’s backstory, which I already knew.
I disconnected the relic from the machine and slipped it into my pocket.
Beep. Clang.
Red warning lights flashed, and alarms went off loudly. The once-glowing machine powered down.
Disrupting this barrier is what Astaroth desires, but we had no other choice to initiate the boss fight. There was no alternative in the game either.
‘An immortal and one with divine essence; yet at B-Rank now, this shouldn’t be tough.’
We descended back to the first floor.
“Meow!”
The ground trembled as if from an earthquake. From afar, a black tsunami was engulfing the city. It was grotesque.
Astaroth was coming to reclaim her power.
“Prepare for battle!”
We braced ourselves for combat within the barricade.
“■■■■, ■■. ■■ ■■ ■.”
A blue energy shield appeared on CM-29’s body.
“Haark.”
Isiah, yawning, took the lead. Hyeon followed closely behind.
They waited in their designated positions for the ‘Hell Ants’ to arrive.
From a nearby small building rooftop, I scanned the distant approaching Astaroth while holding my spear.
*
“The barrier is finally gone!”
Astaroth, with devilish horns protruding from her head and darkened wings spanning from her back, was a fallen angel.
Upon confirming the barrier’s dissolution, she led her entire force toward the city. There was no need to use zombies for skirmishes anymore.
Upon entering the city, she immediately spotted the party (?) of adventurers responsible for dismantling the barrier.
The first thing that caught her eye was a fully armored knight in shining armor.
The armor clung tightly to his body, creating an agile impression. From him, immense power radiated.
‘A sword expert-class, perhaps?’
In the past, she could have wiped him out with a mere wave of her hand.
But now, having lost her divine essence, he became a formidable opponent.
Then there was the red-haired girl.
Astaroth sensed something familiar.
“Dragontite? To meet a cursed dragon hybrid here is unexpected. At least a 5-Class Mage, I’d say.”
Stronger than anticipated.
She bit her lip.
“Pointless worrying, though.”
The rest were merely nuisances, not worth pondering over.
