Chapter 188
Episode 188 Tempal (3)
Walking in a dark forest.
Follow the direction where the doppelganger disappeared from the Shadow Altar.
“…….”
I’m moving my feet in the stiff air.
For reference, I’m at the forefront and the others follow me a few meters behind.
It’s far from being a normal formation, but…
what can I do?
This is the life of a carry-type tanker.
“Prepare for battle!”
The moment I felt a presence from the front.
Dozens of doppelgangers appeared from beyond the darkness, where light sphere magic could not reach.
This is the change that occurs when you enter the fourth chapter.
After the seal of the doppelganger is released, the number of duplicates on the field increases exponentially.
And…
“Imperial Empire’s… enemy…!”
“Porridge… open!!”
No longer transforming into our image.
At least until he met the body in person.
I don’t know why.
When I was playing the game, it was just something I wanted to do.
Well, now that I look for it, I wonder if there must be some hidden background to this phenomenon, but…
that’s not what I’m thinking right now.
“The character has cast [Leap].”
Before the distance narrowed further, I jumped and landed right in the middle of them.
Kwaaaang-!
A special terrain effect [Recoil] that leads to the ground shaking as soon as you land. Dozens of doppelgangers float in the air all at once.
Kwajik-!
First of all, I hit one guy like swinging a baseball bat and cast [Wild Eruption].
“Behel—laaaaaaa!!”
Threat numbers tripled.
Doppelgangers in the form of soldiers rushed at me like blinded beasts.
As long as it’s a monster, provocations can’t be ignored.
“For the sake of the empire…!”
The doppelganger disguised as a soldier had no skills, but was a very tricky enemy nonetheless.
Because the gang stat is very high.
As you can see from the fact that the shield soldier can withstand my mace, if you look at the stats, each one is at least Einar.
In addition, the fact that it was made up of various classes such as bow, spear, sword, magic, crossbow, and shield also contributed to increasing the difficulty of battle.
But…
Kwajik! Kwajik!
It blocks what is blocked, but never avoids it.
There is no point in avoiding it in the first place.
Because there were already enemies everywhere.
I have no choice but to wait for the support of my comrades to continue while being beaten like a tanker.
「Arua Raven cast the 5th grade attack magic [Lightning].」
Soon, the long-awaited magic was completed.
A wide range of lightning strikes.
「Kailman Parteian cast the 5th grade auxiliary magic [Strengthen Spell].」 Perhaps
thanks to Parteian’s assistance, the power increased by about twice the usual.
Therefore, pause so as not to be swept away by magic.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-!
The lightning strike, like a natural disaster, lasted only about 5 seconds, but it was enough to knock the Doppelganger Corps into a half-wave state.
‘As expected, hunting is sheep hunting.’
The remaining remnants took time to eliminate with the distant colleagues.
One battle ended like that.
The blunt warrior murmured as he brushed off the blood on his weapon.
“…… Partheian-sama, Miss Sarman, will you be okay? I keep worrying.”
“Didn’t you see it too? There was no doppelganger near the altar. As long as you don’t go outside, you’ll be fine.”
“It wouldn’t have been better to bring him, though…”
The blunt warrior seemed to keep on liking the Indian woman he had left behind in the safe zone.
But for me, it was an inevitable choice.
Due to the nature of the doppelganger, it may not be that there is no way to use an Indian woman at all… but
this is a story when used as a throwaway card.
If you are together as an object to be protected, the loss far outweighs the gain.
“Stop it. Isn’t Sarman also agreed? If we fail anyway, we will all die.”
Parteian looked at me and ended the conversation at this point, and I just resumed my exploration without saying anything.
There’s nothing good about wasting time.
Hard-!
Afterwards, as they fought several more battles and advanced through the dark forest, a slight vibration was transmitted from under their feet.
It means that the sealing release rate has reached 20%.
Well, it went up by about 1% every 10 minutes, so it was about time for that.
“Mr. Yandel, can you go a little faster?”
“I will.”
I increased my movement speed as if I was being chased by time.
And…
“We’ve arrived.”
Finally reached the target point.
A sinkhole that I hadn’t seen before when I was wandering through the forest looking for the mid-boss.
Now go down here and the boss fight begins.
But before that, let’s start with this.
“I’ll search around here for a while and move on.”
Under Raven’s direction, we wandered around the sinkhole in search of something.
It didn’t take long.
“As expected, it’s just like the book says. They said there must be one hiding near the entrance.”
A white tombstone that emits a gloomy sound.
In the game, it was named as a proper noun called ‘Sealing Stone’.
However, this itself is a hidden peace.
In the fourth chapter, not only do they appear all over the forest…
“According to the contents of the book?”
Information on the Sealing Stone can be found naturally through the [Notes of the Sacrifice] created at the Shadow Altar at the end of the third chapter.
Well, anyway, it’s information that says to just find and activate it.
“There was nothing like that in that journal.”
“A book other than memoirs.”
Raven raised her hand on the sealing stone, not answering Partheian’s question in detail.
Shaaaaaa-!
Black light shooting up into the sky in the form of a pillar.
“The sealing stone has been activated.”
“The sealing release rate is 10%.”
As a result, the doppelganger’s sealing release rate has decreased by 10%.
Of course, according to our strategy, this number won’t be very meaningful, but it’s a passing road anyway, so there’s no reason to skip it.
“Then, the preparations that can be done here are over.”
Soon we were back towards the sinkhole.
“Is everyone ready?”
It’s time to fight the boss battle.
***
「The character has entered the extortioner’s lair.」
***
A boss fight that is like a crack flower.
However, the boss fight in ‘Doppelganger Forest’ is conducted in a slightly unusual format.
First of all, the expedition must be divided into two.
One team has a boss fight.
The other team finds the sealing stone in a forest full of doppelganger soldiers and manages the rate of unsealing.
This is the standard strategy described in [Memoirs of Sacrifices].
‘The concept is annoying.’
In this place, we can break only when we trust each other and play our part.
We probably selected two or three appropriate members from each team and divided them into two teams to have a boss fight.
If only the landmine hadn’t exploded.
[I can’t use that method now. Right now we only have seven people.]
The expedition was cut in half and things got tangled.
There is absolutely not enough people to divide the team.
If so, what should I do?
After checking the loot left by the Dwarf and Hans G teams, I gave an answer early and gave Raven a hint to lead me to the same answer.
All in.
Aiming for a short-term battle by concentrating all power on one place because it will not be like dividing a small number of people into two.
To put it simply, it’s a high-level strategy.
[It could be a bit risky, but will everyone be okay?]
[There’s no other option.]
That’s how the strategy was laid.
My guess is that the success rate is 90%.
Of course, probability is just a number, so you have no choice but to face it yourself to see if it works.
Where did life become only plan A?
coo-!
Like a barbarian, I jumped down the tunnel first to see if it was safe. Then, when the signal was sent up, the rest of the people descended one by one.
“The air is chilly.”
Cool temperature cave.
[Kiyaah Ahha Aaa Ah- !!] We
burst into bizarre Howling if we felt our popularity inside.
I chuckled.
This is one of the roles of the barbarian.
“What’s frozen? Let’s go to George.”
To inspire team members.
Without hesitation, I took the lead and went straight through the aisle, and the few who had been intimidated came to their senses and followed.
trudge trudge.
Did he walk about forty steps like that?
The fog that had been scattered throughout the cave lifted and the boss room was revealed.
A cavity with a huge magic circle drawn on it.
Stones of truth scattered on the floor like toys, and something in the form of a person squatting with his back turned in the center.
and sobbing.
“You guys… are you here to kill me…?”
Something turned its head and stared at us.
The face revealed was none of us.
He was just an ordinary kid.
If it wasn’t for the upside down eyes and nose.
“I didn’t do anything wrong…”
The kid glared at us as if he was unfair.
Soon, the emotion in his eyes turns to anger.
This is the intro to a common boss battle.
“I’m just like you—!”
So skip before you hit the next line.
“Behel—laaaaa!!”
It wasn’t a good environment to use ‘Leap’, so I just dashed and swung my mace.
Poo-!
A kid whose head was crushed just as he was sitting there.
But it doesn’t have the same taste as usual.
It felt like hitting a punching bag full of water.
[Ehee eh!]
The screams that don’t know where they come from filled the entire cave and the simultaneous kid turned into a black mucus.
Bubbly Bubbly!
Something black that repeatedly contracts and expands convexly like a sea urchin spine.
‘Is it me who started?’
When the process was over, another me was standing there.
Mimicry.
Doppelganger’s unique skill that cannot be obtained even if you take the essence.
However, it was a little different from the field.
“Kiyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
He no longer follows my words and actions.
And…
「The nameless usurper has cast [Swing].」
It doesn’t just end with mimicry, it becomes stronger than it was before.
It is easy to see that the stats and skills of the mimicry target are added to the stats of the 5th grade monster.
It’s not like it’s a monster that was judged to be 4th grade for nothing.
Whoa-!
As a test, I backed away and avoided it.
At the same time, the bastard’s mace slammed into the ground.
Aaaaaaaang-!
It vibrated the entire cave leaving a crater.
Power to the point where you wonder if you need to increase your strength by 200 more. When I think of it as my future image, I feel a little proud.
However…
‘This should be enough to stop it.’
It’s enough to cover the abilities that come along with temp.
Hold up a shield to stop the guy who randomly wields the mace from approaching his teammates.
Kwaaang-!
It didn’t have the clear sound I was expecting.
The weight felt on the shield was beyond my imagination.
That’s a 50% reduction in impact?
“Raven!!”
Like a sleepy explorer, I took a support ping.
The magic that flew right away.
As the opponent was a high-grade monster, it started with curse magic, not attack magic.
Quaang-!
His attack became easier to hold on to.
However, this only satisfied the first premise for the attack.
The first phase in earnest begins now.
“The nameless extortioner cast [Self-replicating].”
Black slime splashed indiscriminately from the doppelganger’s body, falling to the floor. The grains are so small that it is meaningless to count them.
“Iherno Heindar!”
Raven’s staff spewed out flames and melted the grains, but it was impossible to dispose of them all.
The grains that crawled firmly on the floor and began to mimic our appearance through a series of transformations.
“Four in total!”
Raven calmly relayed the information to me.
I was quick to judge.
Because they are clones, they do not have the same performance as the main body.
So, the plan went ahead.
“Never mind me, get rid of them first!”
It was the time when I decided to leave the clones to my colleagues and focus only on dealing with the main body.
“It’s all Hans Krissen!”
My body stiffened by itself at Raven’s briefing that followed.
‘what?’
He doubted his ears and checked his surroundings even during the battle. Of course, there was no such thing as Raven giving me wrong information.
‘……Nimiral.’
How can everything be floated by Hans G?
Wasn’t it the pattern of transforming into one of 15 people, dead or alive?
So what are the odds of it?
Not knowing my speed, Raven shouted.
“It’s a relief that Mr. Yandel isn’t among the clones! Hurry up and sort it out!”
A voice as if to convey good news.
It’s not that I can’t understand that feeling.
Hans G is relatively inferior in combat power among us, and if there are four summoners, the combination is bad.
It’s definitely worked out for us.
But…
heart pounding.
My heart started beating like crazy.