Chapter 208

It was caught in the inescapable grasp of the abyss.

Simultaneously, a status message appeared, confirming that Narisha could not resist.

Confident, Seonghyun swung his sword and activated a skill.

『Torrent of Blades』, a skill that could pump in a massive amount of damage in a short time.

It came with the drawback of being unable to move while using it, but with the opponent's movements sealed, it was the perfect time to use it.

Seonghyun's eyes glowed as his sword was about to unleash the torrent.

But just then, Berto, who had been impaled by the blade of darkness, moved swiftly and snatched Narisha away.

Fwoosh!

A moment too late, Seonghyun's 『Torrent of Blades』 furiously whipped through the empty space.

Kwagagagagagaga———!!!

Because he was unable to move, the 『Torrent of Blades』 couldn't be aimed at Berto, who had rescued Narisha.

It cut through nothing but empty air.

"......"

Seonghyun's brow furrowed slightly.

He looked at Berto and Narisha.

As the 『Torrent of Blades』 ended, the grasp of the abyss was released, and Narisha was free to move again.

The loss of such a perfect opportunity to attack was a bitter pill to swallow.

However, as Seonghyun watched the two, he thought.

‘Two of them.’

It was a mistake he made because this was the first time he'd faced two bosses at once.

No, to be precise, he hadn't expected Berto to recover from its damage in such a short time.

It was a shame, but on the other hand, he had gained valuable information.

With that thought, Seonghyun corrected his posture.

He held his sword in a short grip and glared at the two.

They, too, seemed to realize that Seonghyun was no ordinary opponent, as their atmosphere shifted slightly.

Berto was now afflicted with a death-mark debuff from the hit it took, while Narisha stood beside it, extending its long claws.

The two of them looked at Seonghyun and spoke.

"Now we're it."

"It's your turn to be caught."

The two charged, picking up speed.

Seonghyun's expression soured slightly as he watched them approach from different directions.

A disadvantageous 2-on-1 situation.

From one side, Berto rushed forward in a simple but incredibly fast charge, its two legs glowing.

From the other, Narisha approached stealthily, its movements eerie and blurred.

It was a difficult situation, with both of them moving so quickly.

Watching them, Seonghyun had a thought.

Is this how my opponents felt?

He had often used multiple familiars to swarm his enemies.

A faint smile touched Seonghyun's lips at the thought as he swung his sword.

With a fluid motion, he blocked Berto.

Then, towards Narisha, who had appeared behind him, he unleashed a 『Thousand Blood Swords』.

Pababababababa!!!

As hundreds of blood swords erupted from a single drop of his blood, Narisha, startled, instantly used a skill of its own.

Disappearing into the shadows as if diving under water, Narisha reappeared elsewhere in a flash, but the hundreds of blood swords pursued it.

It was a complete reversal of their earlier declaration that they were "it."

Meanwhile, Berto bared its sharp teeth at Seonghyun, backed away, and prepared to bite the empty air.

Seonghyun saw this and immediately moved.

Teeth made of darkness materialized in the space he had just occupied and snapped shut.

Chomp!

‘So they have a ranged attack, too.’

He hadn't expected that.

If his senses hadn't been sharp, he would have been hit for sure.

As its attack failed, Berto growled and let out a roar.

"Awooooooo!"

A roar like a wolf's howl spread out, attempting to overwhelm Seonghyun, but he fired several blood swords to block it.

Fwo-fwo-fwo-fwo-BOOM!!!

The blood swords that touched the howl exploded all at once, their number dropping by more than half.

Narisha, which was being surrounded by the remaining swords, had a strange light flash in its eyes.

It extended its claws and swung them in all directions.

Crescent-shaped blades of energy appeared, striking and destroying all the blood swords.

Fwo-fwo-fwo-fwo-fwo-BOOM!!!

All of the hundreds of blood swords were destroyed, but the two creatures didn't take much damage.

Ignoring this, Seonghyun snapped his fingers towards Narisha.

As if wondering what kind of attack was coming, Narisha tensed up.

At that moment, a clock hand appeared above its head, and Seonghyun made a declaration.

"Ten minutes."

It was unclear what he had declared, but feeling an ominous premonition, Narisha frowned and charged at him.

Seonghyun raised his sword to block Narisha.

Then, glancing at Berto, who was preparing to bite the air again, he clenched his fist, creating a teal spear and launching it.

Shuuuuu!!

As Berto saw the teal spear flying towards it and dodged, its reddish, glowing fangs returned to their normal state.

The skill had vanished. It wasn't canceled because Berto moved.

And that vanished skill manifested entirely on Seonghyun's own teeth.

As Seonghyun's now-red teeth bit the empty air, red fangs appeared on Narisha's neck and viciously bit down.

Chomp!

Skill Steal.

Narisha, feeling the damage, belatedly pulled away and used a skill on Seonghyun.

Just as an ominous black cat was about to unleash a cry towards him, a witch, who had suddenly appeared behind Narisha, cackled maniacally.

Kekekekekeke!!!

Along with the laughter, Narisha's mouth was suddenly stitched shut with teal thread.

In that instant, with the skill failing to activate, Seonghyun rushed towards Narisha.

He drew a drop of blood and transformed it into a raging, swirling torrent of blood.

The torrent sought to swallow and tear Narisha apart.

But Narisha's skills were sealed.

There was no way to escape it.

And just as Berto moved to save Narisha, a crimson sword qi shot out before its eyes.

『Crimson Demise』 flew towards Berto, carrying a horrifyingly potent blood poison.

Berto sensed the danger and ducked down to avoid it.

And then it saw it: the Abyssal Sword Qi flying towards it.

Slaaaash—!!!

As Berto was slashed, leaving a long gash, Grasp of the Abyss, which had appeared out of nowhere, bound it.

Seonghyun, who had seemed to be targeting Narisha, immediately changed direction and swung his sword at Berto.

After the Abyssal Sword Qi was unleashed, the sword qi, now dyed in darkness, was swung towards Berto.

As the darkness that blocked all senses was swung at it, Berto, restrained by the Grasp of the Abyss, couldn't even resist as it was robbed of all its senses.

Just as the creature was being helplessly attacked while immobilized, Narisha, who had already taken significant damage from the swirling blood, burst out to attack Seonghyun.

At that moment, a giant grim reaper appeared behind Narisha. who had just taken countless hits from the swirling blood. and sliced its neck.

A thoroughly calculated move.

As long as the sense-deprived Berto was incapacitated, they were no longer difficult opponents.

Seonghyun left Berto alone and pursued Narisha, attacking it with various skills.

Without Berto, Narisha tried its best to dodge, but it was no match for Seonghyun on its own.

"Didn't you say you were it?"

"Kyahaaaaaak!"

At first, they had been a tricky opponent.

With both of them attacking, it hadn't been easy for Seonghyun.

But after Berto was tied down, the tide of the battle changed dramatically.

After a minute, Berto belatedly rejoined the fight, but with Narisha's health already low, their coordination was off, unlike at the beginning.

The result of persistently targeting Narisha, the one who showed an opening: after 10 minutes, the clock hand that had been moving above Narisha's head pointed to the top.

Then, the sound of an alarm clock was heard.

Deee—eeeng!

Deee—eeeng!

Deee—eeeng!

At the sound of the alarm, Narisha's eyes rolled back.

"Gurgle."

Narisha collapsed with a rattling sound in its throat.

Then.

Chains of the Abyssg[The Hidden Raid Boss 『Narisha and Berto』 is changing.]

[The Hidden Raid Boss 『Narisha and Berto』 is entering Phase 2.]

*Warning

-Upon entering Phase 2, the Raid Boss will become extremely powerful.

-Please be careful.

The second phase he had been waiting for.

A cutscene began, and Seonghyun's body froze.

As Berto cautiously approached the fallen Narisha, Narisha was absorbed into it like a shadow.

Berto's form shifted as if it had put on a cat mask, and its body swelled, growing to a height of about two meters.

The appearance alone was incredibly intimidating.

And perhaps because of the cat mask, it didn't look slow, either.

More power, but no loss of speed?

This was going to be a very tricky opponent.

‘Hmm.’

He had used quite a few skills to handle Phase 1 on his own.

He still had some left, but if things continued like this, he could be defeated.

Yet, no trace of tension or anxiety could be found on Seonghyun's face.

The cutscene ended, and Seonghyun was able to move again. He immediately snapped his fingers.

Click!

With the light sound, Seonghyun's skill activated.

An entrance to the Netherworld appeared in the air, and his familiars emerged.

-Kwahahaha!!! Did you call, Lord!

-Th-thank you for calling me!

-Ya called, I reckon.

"I have answered the Lord's call."

At the appearance of the four familiars, the eyes of the cat-masked Berto trembled violently.

Seonghyun looked at the shaken Berto and said, "Now it's my turn to be 'it'."

With those words, Phase 2 began.

5.

In the Chasm of Despair, an NPC's investigation had drawn the interest of a few users, but that was only for a day or two.

After several days of the NPC doing nothing but investigating, the users had reached the point of ignoring him completely.

Paying no mind to the users' waning interest, the NPC's face crumpled into a scowl as he muttered.

"...Not a single trace."

After days of searching, he could now be certain.

The NPC who spoke was none other than the Hero, Luke.

After Over Palace disappeared, Flingky had also left, saying he had business to attend to.

Only Hero Luke had remained, continuing to explore the area in search of any trace of Hindel, the previous Hero and his predecessor.

But no matter how hard he searched, he found nothing.

He looked up at the sky in slight despair.

It was about time to go back.

‘But to return with nothing to show for it… that doesn't feel right.’

He had struggled so much to find out what had happened to his predecessor, but the fact that he had learned nothing felt utterly hollow.

Even searching through the predecessor's diary hadn't been easy.

Now he was at a loss for where to go next.

Then, he suddenly recalled Flingky's words.

‘The Overlord.’

The records of his predecessor had been strangely erased.

The same was true for the records of the Overlord.

Hero Luke recalled this fact, his eyes narrowing as he muttered to himself.

The records of the previous Overlord and the previous Hero had been expunged.

And in the present day, there was only one place with the power to do such a thing.

‘Over Palace.’

An organization of overwhelming power, ruled by Black Star of the Nine Heroes, a figure even he wouldn't dare to challenge.

And the most important being in that organization was the Overlord.

Perhaps.

‘The current Overlord might know something about the previous generation.’

Normally, Over Palace might interfere as they had before, but he had recently heard that a Hero Council had been convened.

And the location for that meeting was none other than Over Palace itself.

If he used that chaos as a cover... couldn't he meet the current Overlord without interference?

If so, he needed to move quickly.

As Hero Luke prepared to move, a ghost following him let out a sigh.

-Haaaah. There he goes again. He should be training in all this time he's wasting...

The very Hindel that Hero Luke was so desperately searching for only wished that Luke would focus on his training.