Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 460: Raid (5)

The Floor Lord.

A field boss that appears on each floor of the labyrinth when specific conditions are met.

It's usually considered a high-level raid, something you attempt only after you're strong enough to clear 7th-floor rifts.

At least, that's the case for the first five floors.

From the 6th floor onwards, the Floor Lord becomes a 'top-tier raid', practically end-game content.

'But this is our first real raid, and it's a Floor Lord...'

Considering that our previous highest-level raid was the 4th-floor 'Doppelganger Forest', this was an absurd situation.

And we only had four people who could fight.

We weren't even a full party, let alone a raid team.

'We have several 3rd-grade essences, so we should be able to land the final blow.'

I made my decision as soon as I saw Riakis in the distance.

It would be foolish not to try.

And besides...

'I made a promise.'

It might sound childish, but I had made a promise to myself.

That if I ever saw him again...

[Grooooaaaaaaaaar!]

...things would be different.

"Yandel, what are we going to do?"

"I'll tank the damage, you guys focus on attacking."

"That's... it?"

Amelia looked at me as if I was insane, but that was the only way to fight Riakis in his 4th phase.

There was no special strategy.

You just had to overpower him.

「The Chaos Lord, Riakis, senses the source of life.」

As soon as we entered his range, Riakis stopped running and turned to face us.

And...

[Grooooaaaaaaaaar!]

He charged at us, roaring.

His footsteps were different from his 1st phase.

Thud, thud, thud!

They were still heavy, but much faster and lighter.

His speed was also incomparable.

His 4th phase was all about agility.

"Everyone, move back."

I sent my teammates to the back and activated [Transcendence] and [Gigantification].

「Size increases proportionally to Strength.」

If it had been his 1st phase, when he was bloated and obese, it wouldn't have been enough... but now that he was lean and muscular, our sizes were similar.

That was one of the advantages of [Gigantification].

「The Chaos Lord, Riakis, senses a great threat from the character.」

It significantly increased my 'Threat' stat, making it easier to hold aggro during raids.

He must have been surprised.

He had probably never encountered an opponent his size before.

"Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!"

I activated [Wild Release], further increasing my Threat stat, and charged at him.

The Giant Shield Charge.

Kwaaang!

The giant barbarian and the giant monster collided, creating a deafening roar.

Screech.

I was pushed back.

It wasn't surprising.

The Floor Lords were notorious for their ridiculous stats.

Thud!

I swung my hammer, activating [Swing]... but he didn't even flinch.

He should have been stunned, at least.

He immediately retaliated with a swipe of his claw.

[Kyiieeeeeeek!]

His attack speed was incredible in his 4th phase, and I couldn't dodge it.

Well, I didn't have to.

Thud!

I was tough too.

My hammer didn't faze him, and his claw didn't hurt me—

'...Why am I getting dizzy?'

I quickly reassessed the situation.

My Resistance stats were high enough to prevent my head from being ripped off or my body from being shredded...

But...

'...I can't take another hit to the head.'

The impact was making me dizzy.

It was worse than getting slapped by my gym teacher in middle school.

"Bjorn!!"

I shook off the nostalgic memory and focused on the present.

Whoosh!

He was already swinging his claw again.

Kwaaang!

This time, I blocked it with my shield.

And my teammates had finally caught up.

「Amelia Rainwales has cast [Self-Replication].」

Amelia charged at Riakis from both sides, accompanied by her clone.

Slash-

She activated [Abyssal Strength] without hesitation, focusing her attacks on his lower body.

And at the same time...

「Ainar Frenelin has cast [Reaping Slash].」

Ainar leaped into the air and brought her greatsword down on Riakis's shoulder.

But there was no explosion.

This wasn't a mob hunt.

「Ainar Frenelin has cast [Wild Control].」

[Wild Control].

The essence I had recommended to Ainar when she was deciding on her reward.

The effect of this skill was simple.

「Converts all conditional activation effects of the next attack to Cleaving Power.」

[Explosive Scars], [Mandel Oil], [Residual Heat].

The damage from all three of her conditional skills was converted to Cleaving Power.

In other words...

Slash!

...she could freely switch between raid mode and hunting mode.

Of course, it wasn't a critical hit.

She had only managed to cut through his thick hide, drawing a few drops of black blood.

[Grooooaaaaaaaaar!]

Amelia's attacks were effective because she was an Aura user, but Ainar's damage was also surprisingly high.

Now all that was left was Erwen...

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

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia has cast [Elemental Fusion].」

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia has cast [Rupture].」

And she didn't disappoint.

"Mister, dodge!"

I knew her well, so I immediately moved to the side, giving her a clear shot.

And...

Flash.

A beam of light shot through the air.

Zwoong!

It was followed by a compressed sound of air being torn apart.

Kwaaang!

[Grooooaaaaaaaaar!!!]

I smiled as I saw Riakis roaring in pain.

Erwen's attack wasn't a critical hit...

'But she managed to crack his forehead.'

Her damage was enough.

Therefore...

「The Chaos Lord, Riakis, has cast [Tainted Horn].」

The raid had officially begun.

_______________________

The Chaos Lord, Riakis.

His 1st phase was simple.

He would inflict continuous damage with his passive aura, [Rain of Despair], and the Chaos Spirits would corrupt the terrain, causing additional damage. Corrupted tiles would spawn orbs that healed Riakis.

There was only one thing to be wary of.

[Crack of Evil].

His instant-kill skill, activated after he consumed a certain number of orbs.

The solution was simple.

You just had to escape the area of effect.

The problem was that the designated 'prey' would be immobilized if they left the area.

Riakis would then focus his attacks on the 'prey', and if the 'prey' was slain, his stats would increase, making the next phase more difficult.

'Well, at least his 1st phase is mostly about tanking.'

The real raid started in his 2nd phase.

Once his HP dropped below a certain threshold, Riakis would feel threatened and open the [Gate of Chaos], dragging everyone inside.

All tiles would be permanently corrupted.

Mental corruption would be severe.

And the players would have to track down Riakis in that hellish environment and fight him with his enhanced stats.

It was the most difficult phase of the raid.

But there was a way to make it easier.

The 'Purification Torch'.

You just had to activate it and wait.

After two days in game time, the [Gate of Chaos] would reopen, and you would return to the original field.

'It's easier to just get enough Purification Torches for everyone, even if it's a bit of a hassle.'

Of course, there was a drawback to this strategy.

If you skipped the 3rd phase, Riakis would recover all his HP and be even stronger.

Well, it was still more efficient to use the torches, so I had always used them in the past.

Anyway.

In his 3rd phase, the Chaos Spirits would stop spawning.

But [Rain of Despair] would be enhanced.

The rain would quickly corrupt the terrain, disabling all equipment.

Numbered Items would lose their effects until the labyrinth closed, and Adamantium armor would become as weak as ordinary steel.

'That's probably where the Sawtooth Clan started to fall apart.'

You couldn't use the Purification Torch to resist the mental corruption anymore.

And you had to fight a stronger Riakis in that state.

I guessed that the Sawtooth Clan had used a rotation strategy. They would have taken turns tanking the damage and slowly whittled down his HP.

'That's the only way he could have survived for six hours in his 3rd phase.'

But I wasn't interested in how they had failed the raid.

Something must have gone wrong.

That's how [Dungeon and Stone] worked.

One small mistake could lead to disastrous consequences.

'But they managed to reach his 4th phase, so they must have been prepared.'

It had worked out for us in the end.

The most difficult part of his 4th phase was that equipment bonuses were nullified, and we didn't have that penalty.

'I can't just let this opportunity pass.'

It was like they were handing us the victory on a silver platter.

Kwaaang!

After over 30 minutes of fighting, Erwen's arrow pierced Riakis's left eye.

「The Chaos Lord, Riakis, has cast [Tainted Left Eye].」

Okay, so both his eyes were gone now.

Whoosh!

Black smoke poured from his empty eye sockets.

And a chilling glow emanated from within.

[...]

He didn't even groan anymore, even when his flesh was pierced or his eyes were destroyed.

He was becoming less and less human.

'His claws regenerated... and he's already used seven Tainted Body Parts...'

His 4th phase was simple.

You just had to keep attacking him, and he would use his Tainted Body Parts to heal and become stronger.

And...

'Eleven down.'

One more to go.

He could use twelve of his 36 body parts.

"Everyone, move back!"

I sent my teammates to a safe distance, and Riakis unleashed his final attack.

「The Tainted Power is going berserk.」

His berserk pattern, a staple of boss monsters.

It was a race against time.

「Blessing of the Pilgrim.」

「The unknown power hidden within the chaos begins to purify the Tainted Power.」

It would take about five minutes for Riakis to cleanse his Tainted Body Parts and return to his normal state.

We had to corrupt one more body part before that—

"M-Mister!"

Erwen called out to me.

What was wrong? There shouldn't be any problems in the backline at this point...

"T-There are people coming this way! Dozens of them! And they're fast!"

"What?"

Dozens of people? Who?

Were the barbarians from the shelter worried about me and coming to help?

That was my first thought.

But...

"...I think it's the Sawtooth Clan!"

The world wasn't that kind.

"What?! But I thought they failed the raid!"

Ainar exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.

I was also confused.

'What's going on?'

Dozens of people?

If they had that many, why was Riakis roaming the floor alone? Had they actually succeeded in the raid?

I couldn't understand.

But one thing was certain.

'They're coming this way...'

It wasn't good news.

'They're here just as we're about to land the final blow...'

They wouldn't let us take the kill.

'...But that doesn't change anything.'

「Purification rate: 1%.」

About 10 minutes until Riakis fully recovered.

Let's just shorten that time.

Like a true barbarian.

"Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!"

"M-Mister?"

"What are you waiting for?! Kill him!!"

We'll worry about the aftermath later.