◈ 242. [Free Exploration] Inner Checkpoint
Innumerable ‘something’ in human form is scattered in the air above the inner castle wall.
While curled up like a chrysalis awaiting metamorphosis with the shadow wrapped around her body like a cocoon.
I looked up stupidly at this bizarre scenery and suddenly came to my senses.
‘What are you doing Ash! What are you doing?
Would the kid who played this game 742 times be scared by this level of spectacle?
‘Yeah, in the game, this wall wasn’t projected in detail with the camera, but… … .’
You have to keep your composure though! I’m the party leader!
Patting myself on the cheek, I turned around and shouted loudly at the party members.
“Calm down, boys!”
“… !”
“We got through a hell worse than this! If you die just because you saw something like this, the hells ahead of you will laugh at you!”
I don’t know if it’s because of my words or because of my passive skill that blocks the mental state of my allies.
The frozen party members came to their senses one by one at the sound of my voice.
tight.
Click.
Why did everyone cling to me with a frightened face… … No chicks! What are you doing!
I took the lead and strode to the front of the castle wall.
Even if this was just a background scenery, I had to figure out why it was like this.
The party members rushed after me.
“Mmm.”
Bricks and humanoid objects floating in the air.
These were imprisoned in invisible magical barriers.
So really, this grotesque scene was just a background decoration, and the actual ‘inner wall’ was a transparent magic wall.
“Berdandy. Why is it like this?”
“I’m fine too… I don’t know.”
Belldandy looked up with a pale complexion and answered.
“It’s been like this since our party first came here.”
“… .”
“There is just something you need to know. These human form things are stacked in myriads within the tolerance zone. You’ll see until you get tired of it.”
At those words, the faces of the party members all became embarrassed.
Do you think you’re going to have to keep moving with this damn thing in the background?
“Adventurers who explore this place call them… It’s called ‘Shadow Cocoon’.”
“Shadow Cocoon… Called.”
“Basically harmless. It’s just sitting still. Only occasionally.”
Belldandy hesitated and said.
“… speak.”
“word… ?”
Are you alive?
“How to say something that is incomprehensible to me, like talking in my sleep… . Most of them tell the same story.”
Belldandi reluctantly spat out the following words.
“Kill me.”
“… .”
“Please kill me.”
Crack, square, smooth… … .
Everyone is frozen with the sound of darkness like insects gnawing,
“Wow!”
Belldandy suddenly shouted and jerked his arms upward.
“Mommy Yaaaah!”
“Wow!”
“Quack!”
Evangeline, Damian, and Quylan, who were closely behind me, screamed and jumped up.
No, Kuylan, don’t do that!
“Haha I’m sorry. Everyone is so stiff, so I want to help you relax a bit.”
“No, it won’t work! You’re going to have a heart attack!”
In fact, Quylan was lying behind with foam at the mouth. Someone please pay for this man’s size.
As usual, this dungeon is a scary place with no sunlight and monsters protruding from all sides, but with these things in the background, it became even more terrifying.
I scratched the goose bumps on my forearms.
“haha… But really! It’s embarrassing when you’re so nervous.”
Belldandi, who covered her mouth and laughed, added a little.
“More things await inside me.”
“… .”
“And there are plenty of real monsters out there looking for our lives.”
At those words, I came to my senses.
Because I realized what it was really scary.
“okay. Than a talking shadow, monsters taking over my city and people losing their lives… … scarier.”
No matter how grotesque and frightening these look, they should be the background.
Monsters are a real threat. Real monsters trying to kill humans on the ground.
What I have to fear is the damage that will happen if I don’t stop them. It’s not just a landscape.
At my words, the party members slowly nodded. okay. I hope we’ve been reminded of the enemy we need to wake up and block.
“Now, have you all woken up? off your shoulders! Let’s go straight to our destination!”
After consoling the party members, I gestured toward Quylan, who was still fainting on the floor.
“… And wake up that sunfish.”
As the head of the sub-party, show some dignity, you son of a bandit!
***
I was able to reach the target dungeon [Inner Checkpoint] without walking too long.
The walls around the checkpoint were not floating in the air, and there were no human-shaped shadows around.
It was a strong and solid wall.
The black iron door between them remained firmly closed and did not move.
As I got closer, a system window appeared in front of me.
[Area 6: Inner Checkpoint]
– The stage is in the form of a ‘Conquest War’.
– Find the center of the dungeon, occupy it, and maintain it for a certain period of time.
– Obtained Treasure Chest: 0/2
Conquest War.
This is a type of battle that you will often see while clearing dungeon areas in the future.
As explained, an occupation point is formed in the dungeon, and if you occupy that place for a certain period of time, you can clear it.
Usually, the place where the boss is guarding is the occupation point, and after the boss is dealt with, it can be said that it is a dungeon with a complex structure in which several gimmicks are combined with additional monster waves.
‘The deeper you go, the more complex and difficult the dungeon becomes… … .’
Among these dungeons in the form of occupation wars, the Inner Checkpoint here is unique.
This is because, as it seems, this place is a kind of castle.
Once you break through the castle gate or climb the castle wall, you can start attacking the dungeon in earnest only after completing a siege.
So, in the game, siege weapons had to be created.
It was possible to attack only after procurement of siege weights to penetrate the gates or ladders to climb the walls.
The battering ram is extremely expensive, there are not many places to use it, and climbing up a ladder is a painful choice either way because the damage is so great.
But I didn’t bring a siege weapon this time.
That’s because you don’t need a battering ram or a ladder.
“Damian.”
After preparing the other party members to rush in, I instructed Damian.
“Clap. at full power.”
“yes!”
Damian aimed his Black Queen forward and immediately activated ‘Nightmare Slayer’ mode.
clap clap clap!
The barrel of the long horse gun was deformed arbitrarily, and eventually formed two long rails.
Subsequently, the seven magic bullets condensed between the rails and merged into one large magic bullet.
Pachichi Pachichichi… … !
A magical electric current bounced between the rails, ready to fire, and finally.
Tuquaaang-!
It was shot.
A single magic bullet fired while shattering the entire barrel of the horse gun was stuck in the thick castle gate, and it
was wobbly!
After digging into the castle gate and crushing the steel,
Paaang-!
In the end, the castle gate was shattered and plunged inside.
The force was so strong that all the walls around the gate were ripped off and collapsed.
“Nice shot Damian.”
I grinned and patted Damian on the shoulder.
Damian smiled innocently at me as he took off his tattered heat resistant gloves.
I got burned on my arm after shooting in that mode last time, so this time I tried wearing the heat-resistant gloves used in blacksmiths.
It seems to have managed to block the damage.
‘We broke through the gate, which is the biggest obstacle, but it is also true that we have consumed the number of trumps we have.’
Staring at the gate that was wide open, I quickly counted my remaining means.
Clear quickly before other variables arise.
“Rush! The ‘flagpole’, which is the control point, can be found by going straight as described.”
I shouted at the party members.
“After breaking through at the shortest distance, capture the flagpole. let’s go!”
“I will be at the forefront!”
“Go!”
Lucas and Evangeline took the lead, followed by Belldandi and the penal unit.
Damian stayed where he was and drew another horse gun.
Patter!
The sentries standing on top of the wall poured out arrows all at once. It wasn’t the werewolves, the monsters of this season, but the monsters I had never seen before.
A monster with red skin, horns sprouting from its forehead, and skin-like wings on its back.
‘Demon species!’
It is the highest tier monster corps dispatched to each core dungeon of the gyoji. I’m finally meeting these guys.
The demons, dressed in uniforms and even armor, pulled a protest in an orderly manner.
A rain of arrows rained down on our heads. Shooting down arrows from the highlands was definitely threatening.
‘The monsters attacking the Crossroads must always see this kind of scenery.’
Watching the rain of arrows approaching right in front of you, you calmly think about that, and at the same time,
“Shall we go!”
Evangeline squatted in place on her short legs and jumped up.
Rising like a flying squirrel, Evangeline raised her shield in the air and blocked the first wave of arrows with her body.
Do-do-do-do-!
There was a sound like rain hitting the window, and Evangeline’s shield turned white.
Then the white light moved to Evangeline’s lance.
Accurate-!
Evangeline swung the spear horizontally and scattered the light gathered in it in all directions.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew the arrows away.
The damage collected with the [Damage Save] of the shield was poured out with the [Damage Payback] of the cavalry lance to cleanly block the barrage of arrows.
“you hoo!”
Evangeline landed next to me with her platinum blonde hair fluttering, blinking her big green eyes.
“Now, please praise me too!”
“Nice cover Evangeline!”
“Hee hee hee.”
Evangeline showed her teeth and laughed. There’s nothing wrong with that… … .
It had to pass under the gate before the second wave of arrows arrived.
After activating [Step of Tenacity], Lucas rushed at the forefront.
thud! thud! thud!
At that time, the demon soldiers, heavily armed with thick armor, stood at the empty gates with shields the size of their bodies. Are you trying to block it with your body instead of the castle gate?
“Huh-!”
Lucas’ longsword, which rushed right in front of him without hesitation, cast a dazzling halo of light.
Flash!
[Strike of Will] was activated and the demon soldiers were sliced horizontally along with the shield.
Lucas’s first skill, which he had steadily built up, had tremendous destructive power with one blow.
Having shattered the enemy’s defenses, Lucas immediately turned to me. I noticeably jerked my thumb up.
“Nice Charge Lucas!”
Then Lucas became elated like a big dog receiving a barrage of compliments. Conversely, Evangeline frowned.
No, did these guys get hungry for compliments like this? Or have I been stingy?
Taang! Taang-!
While Demian, who was positioned outside, knocked down the archers on the wall one by one with sniping, our main force safely dug into the gate.
“Berdandi! Join the clearing on the wall. Are you okay alone?”
“My name is Assassin. Do not worry.”
Belldandi immediately took the stairs and climbed up the castle wall.
With Verdandy and Damian’s sniper support, the upper part could be sorted out in no time.
The demon soldiers blocking our main unit’s path were cleared at once by Lucas’ cutting and Evangeline’s striking.
It didn’t take long before we reached the ‘flagpole’, the control point.
And beneath the empty flagpoles where no flags were hung.
《… .》
The boss monster was waiting.
It was a large demon with four large horns sprouting from its forehead.
Tring!
At the same time, the system window was updated.
[Immunity Checkpoint – Reach the occupation point!]
– Defeat the boss and maintain occupation for 5 minutes!
– Lv. 40 Demon Gatekeeper < Checkpoint Supervisor Baltimore >
《The inside of this gate is a place for the people of the Lake Kingdom.》 A
tired voice came out from the boss monster’s mouth.
《Unqualified non-citizens cannot enter.》
Kung!
The monster growled, drawing its weapon—a large club.
《Submit your ID and documents. I will review whether I am qualified to enter the Chosen Land.”
Like any other dungeon boss monster, this guy was talking lines in a bizarre context, as if he knew or didn’t know.
“I knew this would happen, so I brought my passport.”
I smirked as I took out the black jade helmet exclusive to the imperial family from my bosom and waved it.
“Will I be allowed to enter with this, Mr. Supervisor?”
thud!
Instead of answering, the boss monster hit the ground with the club in its hand.
Annoyed, I put the shield back and took out my magic wand instead.
“You bastard said he would review it!”
《No entry! Go back!》
“No, we’re not trying to do anything bad, we’re just going back after picking off your king’s head?!”
As soon as I swung my cane, the party members rushed out in unison.
Against us, the boss monster also ran forward.
