Chapter 178: If It's Not Broke
Seo-jin had questions, but no time to ask them. Summoning Butcher's Wrath as fast as he could, he raised his arm to meet the incoming axe.
'Shit!'
He wasn't going to make it. Luckily, Grimm wasn't just for show.
The ghost jerked sideways, dodging the strike as the massive blade tore past. The current from it yanked at their bodies. Seo-jin and Teal nearly slid off Grimm's skull as the axe dragged through the water.
A tight grip clamped onto Seo-jin's leg. He glanced down and immediately saw the fear in Teal's eyes.
'Put me back in!'
'Stay with Grimm.'
He jumped from the ghost's skull. The water pushed against his chest as he dropped. A command flashed through the broodlink. Grimm was to stay back. Every lesser, including the chosen, Tomb, and Sin, was to form a ring around Grimm and Teal.
Looking up at Gundant, Seo-jin's aura flared bright as the sun. The pressure rolled off him as he linked with the commanders.
His first command went to Hex.
'Start us out.'
A deep, heavy chord ripped from Hex's guitar. The vibration slammed through the water. Even with his eyes still wrapped, Hex faced the giant as he triggered his class skill.
[War Dirge // Activated]
[Listeners +5]
[+15% Attack Power // +15% Attack Speed]
'Synapse, snipe about thirty lessers.'
Synapse lifted the Manavore Coilrifle and lined up the shot. The weapon kicked as he fired a concussive round.
[Concussive Round]
[Damage Type // Impact + Shockwave]
[Effect // Deal 75% Attack damage in a 2m radius. Targets hit are knocked back 3m.]
With his damage, even at seventy-five percent being forty-two, it only took two well-placed shots. Lessers burst apart under the impact, bodies ripping open from the shockwave.
Beside him, Snare's eyes began to glow as the kills fed his resource pool.
Seo-jin charged the boss, kicking hard through the water. At the same time, he sent a command to Snare through the broodlink.
With his charges ready, Snare fired off two skills back to back, his staff bleeding darkness that swirled around his robes.
[-5 Charges]
[Shadow Relay // Activated]
[Allies within 20m gain +10% AGI and +10% hit chance when targeting the same enemy]
[-7 Charges]
[Mark of Dread // Activated]
[Target suffers -10% DEF and -5% AGI // Broodlings attacking the marked enemy gain +10% Crit Chance]
Seo-jin met another of Gundant's swings head-on. At the last second he twisted aside, the massive blade tearing past his body. The water dragged at him as the axe passed, pulling at his armor and limbs. As the current released him, Seo-jin caught sight of something that made him double take.
Panic.
The broodling shot through the water like a missile straight toward the giant's face. He rode the force of Hex's sound attack, the shockwave shoving him forward while Hex's scream rattled through the battlefield. Panic's ears bled slightly from the pressure.
He only grinned wider.
Seeing the incoming nuisance, Gundant lifted a hand the size of a house and moved to swat him. Before the palm could fall, a sickle and chain whipped past it and buried into the giant's ear.
Panic whooped like a lunatic and hauled himself closer, dagger raised.
Gundant moved to smash his own face, but suddenly his arm slowed.
His voice rolled through every mind present.
'What's this?'
[Ensnaring Web // Activated]
[Fires sticky web in a 6m cone // Targets hit are Rooted for 2.5s // Movement speed reduced by 60% after root ends for 3s // Webbed targets take +15% damage from Broodlings]
With nothing solid to anchor the web against, Gundant wasn't rooted. But the drag of the strands slowed his motion. That was enough.
[Echo Strike // Activated]
[A single stab with the Gnarled Fang triggers two additional phantom strikes that follow instantly. Each echo repeats the original damage at reduced strength (75% base per echo).]
Three strikes landed in quick succession. Panic drove the blade in, phantom echoes slamming the same wound again and again. Then he ripped the scythe back and swung for Gundant's temple.
[-3 Incision Points]
[Organ Spill // Activated]
[+150% weapon damage. Applies Massive Bleed (15% max HP over 10s). If target is already under a bleed effect, Organ Spill instead causes Hemorrhage (target takes additional 10% of total bleed damage instantly)]
Gundant flinched. His palm had been seconds from crushing Panic flat when the giant roared instead, his hand jerking away from the broodling and slamming toward his eye.
'Perfect!'
Widow cheered as her javelin snapped back into her grip. Beside her, Synapse slammed another round into the rifle. Both had aimed for the giant's eye in that single opening.
With the boss distracted, Seo-jin moved.
[-1SM]
[SM // 51/52]
[Hellfire // Active]
[+20% Melee Damage / +10% Attack Speed]
Black fire crawled out from his chest and ran down his arms, licking across the cleavers.
[-6SM]
[SM // 45/52]
[Fiend Skin // Active]
[Reduces all incoming physical damage by 15%]
Beneath his Blackfell Longcoat, his skin cracked and tightened, muscles pulling hard against the fabric.
[-6SM]
[SM // 39/52]
[Spider Step // Activated]
[Movement Speed increased by 25%]
Seo-jin surged through the water like a shark. The current split around him as he shot upward over Gundant's head, both blades rising high.
[-2SM]
[SM // 37/52]
[Rend // Activated]
[+15% Slicing Damage]
With every buff stacked, Seo-jin's arms swelled with power. The cleavers widened in his grip.
Before Gundant could react, two red arcs of bloodlight ripped through the water.
For a split second, it looked like the giant had been cut cleanly into thirds.
[+585 Damage Dealt]
[!! Critical !!]
[+900 Damage Dealt]
[Calculating Def—]
Blood and rage erupted.
The system's voice cut off, drowned by the impact.
[-172HP]
[HP // 2928/3100]
Struck by the flat of Gundant's axe as the giant clawed at his face, Seo-jin rocketed through the water. The current spun him hard before he forced his body straight and regained control.
'A hundred and seventy-two even with a fifty-five percent damage reduction. And that was basically a tap.'
[Just don't get hit then. Dude is slow anyway. His Agility is probably still in D Rank. Pure health and strength.]
Seo-jin glanced at the massive weapon in Gundant's grip and the thin smear of his own blood along the metal. He couldn't help but smile.
It was easier said than done.
But he loved a challenge.
'Brood! Keep him busy, create an—retreat!'
He felt it before the command finished.
Gundant's aura gathered, thick and heavy in the water. A skill was coming.
The giant's axe began to glow. Then he drove the base of it into the ocean floor.
The ground ruptured. Stone rolled outward like a rising tidal wave, Gundant's aura spreading through it. The rocks surged beneath everyone without striking, but the aura carried with it did the real damage.
Everyone froze.
[!! Warning !!]
[Status Effect Applied // Stun / 3sec]
No one could move.
All they could do was watch Gundant's enormous hand descend toward Panic.
All except Synapse.
[Concussive Round]
[Damage Type // Impact + Shockwave]
[Effect // Deal 75% Attack damage in a 2m radius. Targets hit are knocked back 3m.]
The shot detonated beside Panic. The shockwave blasted him sideways just before the giant's hand came down.
A moment later, the stun broke.
Panic hurled his scythe toward Bile. Bile caught the chain mid-water and yanked hard, dragging Panic clear of boss's range.
Still clutching his face, Gundant breathed heavy. Slowly he lowered his hand. Two massive slashes ran down his face, dark blood spilling into the water.
The giant smiled.
'It's been so long… I was starting to forget.'
Another surge in Gundant's aura made Seo-jin's skin prickle.
'Bile, cover Widow!'
The giant raised his axe high overhead. The blade began to glow, the water around it trembling and shuddering. Then he brought it down like a lightning strike.
The ocean split.
The ground shattered.
Notifications flooded Seo-jin's vision as he dragged Butcher's Wrath up to block. It barely held.
[-575HP]
[HP // 2353/3100]
The impact felt like both arms had shattered at once. It hadn't even been a direct hit from the blade. Just the arc of energy.
But not everyone was as lucky.
Seo-jin had been the focus, but the blast tore across the entire battlefield.
Synapse was almost gone. Most of his body had been blown away. Only his upper torso, head, and one arm remained. Luckily, that arm still held the rifle. Snare stood nearby, far enough back and with enough defense to survive. He was bleeding from several wounds but still upright.
Panic and Widow had fared better. Both were cut and bleeding, but they had stood behind Bile as he activated his class skill.
[Blood-Self Revelation]
They stared at the small chunk of bloodmask drifting in front of them.
It was the only piece of Bile left.
Their father's command, ordering the lessers to begin feeding, barely registered.
Fury drowned everything else.
Bloodlight began to spread from both of them. Their auras flared and twisted together. In that moment, Panic snapped his bloodshot eyes toward Seo-jin and started swimming toward him.
'Broodfather! The giant bunny! Gimme a rock then throw me!'
Seo-jin didn't understand at first, but the idea clicked a moment later. For a heartbeat he froze, impressed by Panic's thinking, before instinct kicked in and he tore one of his claws free.
[-2HP]
[HP // 2351/3100]
[-8SM]
[Rotmark // Activated]
[Anchor Marked // 1/3]
He shoved the claw into Panic's hand, then grabbed the broodling by the scruff. Lifting his arm, he searched for an opening. If he threw him wrong, Panic would only come back as paste.
He suddenly got an idea.
It had been a while since he'd used the skill. With the rank difference, success was only seventy-five percent. But it was the only option. Gundant's movements were slow, yet his attacks were anything but. Now fully enraged from Seo-jin's earlier strike, the giant's guard was tight as he pulled the axe back for another swing.
Seo-jin clenched his teeth and triggered the racial skill.
[-3SM]
[SM // 31/52]
[Bone Oath // Activated]
[Cooldown // 59min 59sec]
As Gundant began his attack, a wide arcing swing, Seo-jin focused on the giant's left leg.
[+236 Damage Dealt]
[-236HP]
[HP // 2115/3100]
[Left Femur // Fractured]
[Healing Disabled // 89sec]
Seo-jin's own leg snapped with a sharp crack, like a twig breaking, the sound completely drowned out by Gundant's. A hollow, massive crack.
Mid-swing, the giant's leg buckled. He roared, balance collapsing as the attack twisted off course and his massive body crashed to the seabed.
'Now!'
Seo-jin's arm flexed and Panic braced.
Boom!
With strength sitting at fifty-three, Seo-jin could lift hundreds of tons. The force of the throw nearly liquefied Panic. The broodling drove forward through the water like a fired bolt.
Seo-jin's aim was perfect.
Straight into the giant's ear.
Gundant roared again as Panic stabbed both dagger and sickle into the ear canal, slowing himself.
The plan was working. Seo-jin tore another claw free—
[-2HP]
[HP // 2113/3100]
Marked it—
[-8SM]
[SM // 23/52]
[Rotmark // Activated]
[Anchor Marked // 2/3]
Then tossed it toward Widow.
'Everyone stay clear and heal. Be right back.'
[-5SM]
[Rotmark // Mark 1 // Activated]
His body collapsed and vanished from the broodlings' sight.
One by one they turned toward the boss. Even Bile had reformed enough to lift his head. No one spoke. The water hung heavy around them.
They waited.
They didn't have to wait long.
Gundant dropped his axe. Both hands flew to his head, nails digging into his own scalp. His eyes rolled back as his chest heaved. No roar came, only ragged gasps as he clawed at himself.
Then every broodling tilted their heads at once, brows tightening. A voice tore out from inside the giant's skull, one they all recognized. Big Min.
It wasn't telepathic. It was raw sound, ripping through the water.
"DESTROY EVERYTHING!"