There were a total of six people who had been watching our raid from afar as voyeurs, and each of them was scattered around the statue in a separate place, boxing us in.
... So it has begun.
From now on, we only had one goal: to obtain evidence that they had tried to sabotage us. The icing on the cake would be any evidence that pointed to Count Alminus as the mastermind behind it all.
Shaaaaaa.
The moment Erwen warned me, white smoke filled the cave.
[You are within range of the Curtain of Betrayal.]
The way the Phase Three aura worked was simple.
[Your Spirit status continues to decline. Your special ability continues to decrease. Your Physique continues to decrease. The stat reduction rate increases by 50%. Dreadfear's Wrath increases in proportion to the decrease in your stats].
In addition to the debuffs applied during the second phase, a few more things have also been added.
[You have hidden.]
All characters within range of the aura are forced to «hide», unable to see each other.
[All communication has been cut off.]
Our ability to talk to each other was interrupted.
[All damage to non-monster targets has increased 1.5 times, regardless of any Stamina statistics].
Lastly, you were at even greater risk of accidentally injuring your own teammates.
«¡Kyaaaaaak!»
Due to this aura, standard team play was completely ruled out during the third phase. So how was it possible to overcome a boss raid without the ability to see or communicate? Any friendly fire would only make things worse.
Step.
Thus, the strategy for the third phase was simple.
«Behel-aaaaaah!» Although no one could hear me, I roared as I ran towards Dreadfear. Although the characters couldn't see each other, Dreadfear was still completely visible.
¡Claang!
Therefore, the standard strategy employed by the clans fighting Dreadfear was for the tanks to attack it and hold the fort while the priests launched continuous AOE healings until they managed to completely counteract the effects of the aura. However, we had no priests and I was the only tank.
But the best thing about being a shield barbarian is that even without a priest or tank mates, this is still possible.
In fact, as long as you had the willpower to achieve it, most things were possible. It was one of the best things about being a shield barbarian.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has released Indulgence. You have been moved to a random place on the map].
When he forcibly teleported me without warning, all I had to do was run towards him. Also, since there were no tank mates on the road, I was less likely to bump into someone.
The others are fine, right?
I decided to trust that my colleagues were doing their job. While I was dealing with Dreadfear, they were going to deal with those bastards who were trying to interfere. What would be the action plan for our uninvited guests in the third phase? It was impossible to see anyone in the fog, so there was a good chance they would target me, since the location of the tank was practically a given.
I haven't heard anything, so... they're probably doing it right. It is not true?
In any case, it was not the time to let our guard down. I could soon see for myself how they were, so I turned my attention back to Dreadfear.
¡Claang!
In theory, it only took determination to overcome this fight, but in reality it was not that simple. Although this boss was considered one of the weakest of his class, he was still a Soil Lord. Not only that, but it was a rare evolutionary type monster.
[Your Spirit status has reached its lower limit. The Fear status effect is now active].
Now that I had been within range of the aura for an extended period, I received my first real disadvantage.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
My heart raced. As if I had just come face to face with a natural predator in the wild, I felt a chill run down my spine as a surge of stress endorphins flooded my brain. Still, apart from Erwen, we all had quite high spirit levels, so I was confident that none of us would be scared and run away.
But... will Erwen be okay?
I was a little worried about her, but I had to put that worry aside. Right now, my biggest problem was the second debuff.
[Your special ability has reached its lower limit. The Lethargy state effect is now active].
Lethargy was one of thousands of possible state conditions in the game. When the weakening took effect, you could not regenerate PM and all abilities you were using were disabled, including those that were active.
[Gigantization has been disabled. Iron Fortress has been disabled].
Disabling active abilities wasn't the only problem: a cooldown was also imposed before they could be reactivated. Furthermore, the third disadvantage was a pain.
[Your Physique has reached its lower limit. The Exhaustion state effect is active].
Reduces all physical stats by 30% and causes your stamina to drop. Additionally, while active, you consumed PM instead of energy when performing any action.
¡Bum!
As the debilitations accumulated, the difficulty of combat also increased.
Scream.
I sighed. He was no longer able to match him in strength, and that wasn't even the icing on the cake.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has entered a state of maximum rage].
Dreadfear's Wrath level, which had been steadily increasing since the first phase, finally reached its peak.
[All damage dealt by the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, is doubled].
Facing their attacks was difficult enough, but now they were at another level. I felt my bones crack with each blow, although somehow I was able to withstand them. Despite the fear I felt about my decreased mood, the effect did not prevent me from moving. Additionally, once the cooldown of my abilities was over, I was able to activate them again. I was even able to recharge my PM, which should have been impossible.
[You have launched Soul Immersion. Your Soul Power will regenerate at a rate proportional to the amount of Soul Power you have consumed].
Yes, with these specs, I'm more than sure I'll be able to hold on.
«Kyaaaaaak!» dreadfear screeched, seemingly frustrated by my tenacity. I did what I could to keep him at bay.
Step.
Suddenly, I sensed movement behind me. I would never have noticed it if I hadn't already been on high alert.
Step.
As always, my body moved faster than my brain could process it as I quickly dodged to the side.
Stab.
A warm tingling sensation spread down my back. Thanks to the countless injuries I had received during my tank days, I recognized the sensation instantly.
Luckily, my organs weren't enough.
In fact, it was difficult to call it a wound per se.
[You have been poisoned by Goblin Paralysis Poison. Your Physique is above 1000. Your poison resistance is greater than 100. The effects of the poison have been reduced by 99%].
However, even if the damage they caused was minor, there was no reason not to punish them for it.
¡Whoosh!
I immediately threw my hammer into the air. I couldn't hear any screams or cries of pain due to the aura, of course, but...
Destruction!
I could still feel my hammer making contact with something on the other end.
[The Light of Faith has expelled inner terror. The Curtain of Betrayal has been temporarily lifted].
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the dark cave.
«…Ugh.»
It was time to check what kind of fish had swum in my net.
***
The basic strategy to deal with the third phase was based on tanks and priests. As long as the people in those roles resisted, the Curtain of Betrayal would eventually rise and an opportunity would come to attack. This was our opportunity.
[Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, has launched Defense Mechanism.]
The moment the Curtain of Betrayal was lifted, Dreadfear surrounded himself with a thick shell. Normally, you tried to inflict as much damage as you could on him while he was in this state. Instead, the moment he launched Defense Mechanism, I turned to look at my comrades.
Erwen, Amelia, Versyl, Ainar... They all seem fine, and... three, and two...
There were three mutilated bodies near Erwen. Next to Amelia, there was a captive and a corpse. Shit, I thought the plan was to capture as many alive as possible.
...Erwen killed everyone near her.
Judging by their injuries, it didn't seem like I had made any attempt to capture them alive, but I decided to hold back. This was not the time to scold her, and even at first glance, I realized that she was not the same as always. His gaze was lost, as if he had lost all sense of rationality.
...Probably it's because of Fear.
At least everyone else seemed to be doing relatively well.
«Barbarian, how could you miss one of them?» Amelia, who had also taken stock of the situation, quickly scolded Ainar.
«...I'm sorry! I tried to hold him back as long as I could, but...» Ainar had been tasked with guarding one of the three passageways, but had not fulfilled her mission, which had earned her a sincere apology and a regretful tone.
However, Amelia seemed to have no intention of forgiving her. «It must be nice to be barbaric», she snapped, refusing to give in. «Just ask for forgiveness and everything is forgiven, eh?».
«...Eh?» Ainar, who had lived like a barbarian all her life and was used to having her apologies accepted, was taken aback, and I was equally stunned. I had no idea Amelia got so angry over a slip.
«Barbarian, because of your mistake, Yandel could have been seriously injured. You should have known and...»
«Enough!» I intervened quickly to calm Amelia down. «She knows she screwed up, so leave it».
«...We will discuss this again later». Amelia, aware that now was not the time, stopped being stubborn and abandoned the topic.
Now, it was time to check what we had caught in our web.
«Versyl, por favor, cuida de Erwen».
«¡Ah, wrong...!»
First I had Versyl take care of Erwen while I took stock of things. We ended up capturing two people alive. The first was the one Amelia had captured. Honestly, he had no idea how he had been able to subdue him so perfectly despite not being able to see what was in front of him.
A moan came from our second capture. It was the one Ainar had missed, allowing them to sneak out and attack me. The lower half of her mask was broken into pieces as if she had endured the blow of a hammer, and blood flowed from beneath her.
That's why I felt such a satisfying crunch.
«Ugh...» As soon as he made eye contact with me, he fell backwards like an insect. Was he trying to run away or something?
Step, step, step.
In three big steps, I closed the distance with the terrified man and then hit my hammer exactly four times. You didn't need his limbs to have a friendly conversation, did you?
Crack, crack, crack, crack.
Alright, that should be enough. I'll pass the interrogation on to Amelia now...
As for the other one, it seemed like he was already completely subdued, so I figured I didn't need to break his bones. By now, all necessary measures had been taken.
«Emily, take those two and take them somewhere else».
«...Are you really going to keep fighting that thing?»
«What other option do we have?»
It was impossible to escape from the Lord of Terror. Furthermore, if those two were here with us when we defeated him, the special condition would not activate. This was the best option.
Still... the probability that we would succeed was low.
I'd say about 5%, give or take. Well, something like that. Not only did the boss receive four upgrades during the second phase, but we still hadn't done any damage to him during this phase.
We had practically already failed.
Anyway, our survival was guaranteed, so I wasn't particularly worried. If we were able to carry out the raid, it would be great. But even if we couldn't, as long as Amelia's interrogation went well, we would achieve our main goal.
«Yandel, be careful.»
«Yes, see you later.»
Before the Curtain of Betrayal fell again, Amelia left the battlefield. Soon after, the bright light filling the cave disappeared.
[The inner terror has expelled the light. The Curtain of Betrayal has been reactivated].
It was time to continue the raid.
***
Along a path a short distance from the monument, where the raid began, Amelia lit a torch and hung it on the wall, ready to begin her interrogation in earnest. He slowly put on the white gloves and organized the tools he had prepared beforehand. He then searched through his prisoners' belongings to see if they kept anything that might be useful for interrogation.
Once upon a time, I had hated performing those tasks. However, today he felt different for some reason.
...It's better this way.
Bjorn Yandel was surprisingly soft on things like this. And in life, you always needed at least one person to do these jobs.
«No... you will get nothing... from me», hissed the incapacitated man, his eyes burning with determination. Amelia didn't bother to respond. There was no point in having a conversation with someone like him.
...He must be terrified.
He knew from experience that people like him used to be the first to scream.
Sure enough, the other guy didn't even let out a moan during his interrogation, while he screamed as loud as he could. However, despite questioning them for as long as he went, he did not ask them any questions.
«...M-Mátame».
Finally he spoke those words, a sign that he had reached his breaking point and wanted to be released. Amelia took that as her cue to finally throw out her questions.
You're married? Has children? What was the last thing you ate before entering the maze?
All questions were minor and unrelated to his identity. The man slowly lowered his guard as he responded one by one. In any case, he was not being tortured as long as he responded. Then, Amelia slowly and patiently increased the level of difficulty of the questions. Finally he asked her name.
«Tell me... what's your name?».
However, upon hearing the answer, he unconsciously shuddered.
«Delvein... Hans Delvein... »
¿Hans?
Wait, that's the name...
It was the same name that Yandel feared so much.
The name he treated like the plague.
The name of the people who always had to be killed on the spot.
She had never believed in his superstitions. In fact, he always thought that side of him was pretty cute, but still.
...Will things be really good?
For reasons he couldn't explain, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.