20demayo Chapter 174: Hollow Heart
Chapter 174: Hollow Heart
“There’ll be some monsters coming from the back, so deal with them. Under no circumstances are you to fire in this direction.” Zyrus’s voice echoed around the region.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the players replied in tandem and changed the weapons' directions. The entire battlefront shifted in no time.
*Rustle*
Zyrus stepped on the dry grass and walked towards the towering field boss. Neither did anything except stare at the other.
Because that’s the only thing they could do.
[Hollow Heart]
This was the authority of Pugalo. The system’s arrangement had nerfed it, but it was still extremely powerful; much more than any single of Zyrus’s abilities.
*Thrust*
Zyrus attacked Pugalo’s ankle and stumbled back while throwing up blood. Two damage values were still visible in his eyesight.
-4.5
-4500
‘Keuk-’
He swept his spear again and killed the bug that had just spawned. The whole action took no more than 3 seconds.
‘Huh...I didn’t expect to learn more about celestial vitality via this.’
He thought about the sensation he felt when he lost 90% of his HP and repeated the same action. With his celestial vitality and recovery rate…he needed no more than 5 seconds to heal back up.
He did the same thing, over and over again.
“…”
“…”
Every player was left speechless. Time passed by and their emotions changed from confusion to awe and deep respect. No one who survived thus far was stupid.
Just like in their fight against Nuckelavee, there were some monsters who had special skills. One had to fulfill certain conditions in order to deal damage. The one in front of them was one such example- and it was more vicious than anything they had faced so far.
Zyrus stabbed the scarecrow and kneeled over while spewing out blood. A bug spawned at that exact moment and attacked him. He stood back up, killed that bug with a single swipe, and repeated the same action.
10 times…50 times…100 times…
Every player could see the pattern. What would be the outcome if thousands of them attacked at once? They saw the damage numbers floating up, and they knew that none of them had enough HP to take the backlash– much less recover and deal with the various bugs that spawned.
This was something only Zyrus could do. Just like the field boss Pugalo, he too was being restricted by the system. The sanctuary maintained balance, but the prerequisite was that both sides had to be on the same league of existence.
There was no balance between an ant being stepped on by a giant.
“You…should use your summons.”
“Hahahaha….” Zyrus laughed with his bloody mouth as he heard Ria’s voice. Indeed, he could use his summons to deal with the annoying boss.
‘Hollow Heart’ gave Pugalo near immunity against the first 10,000 attacks. At the same time, the attackers would receive 1000 times the damage dealt. Only attacks that dealt damage to Pugalo counted. That was 1000 damage at minimum. How many among the players had that much HP?
And as if this wasn’t enough, it would also summon a random insect near the attacker’s location. 10,000 lives needed to be sacrificed before one could even begin the first phase of the fight.
‘I lost 1368 players that day.’
This content has been misappropriated from NovelBin; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He had made a pathetic retreat after losing his comrades. Back then, he was much more emotional and attached to his subordinates. The Zyrus Wymar of that time wasn’t a cold-blooded monarch. He was just a man who wanted to protect his kin in the harsh world.
-4.5
-4500
.
.
He kept on repeating the same moves hundreds and thousands of times. Just as Ria had said, he could use his summons in batches to fight in a less painful and efficient manner.
“Do you guys think what I’m doing is stupid?”
No one answered his question. The bloodlust emitted by Zyrus had far surpassed the suppression formed by Pugalo’s league of existence. Even breathing was difficult for the players; replying to him was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
Zyrus didn’t care about any of that. He was lost in his own world. He relished in the effect of the celestial vitality and went out all his built-up frustrations. After each attack the time it took to heal reduced by a great margin. His willpower was akin to a raging ocean which had lost all natural restrictions.
“Maybe what I’m doing is pointless.”
-4500
“...Stupid, and downright pathetic.”
-4500
“Nothing I do will change the past.”
-4500
The players heard him muttering as he stood up again and again, until the damage stopped working altogether. This was the result caused by the celestial vitality and his unending will. They didn’t understand what he was talking about, but they could feel it. Even Zyrus didn’t know that the sheer rage and madness were conveyed through his willpower, along with the visions from his memories. Afterall, that was the only place where that timeline existed.
“But even so.”
-4500
“Even if it’s pointless and stupid.”
-4500
“I, will walk on this path till the end.”
[Hollow heart has been lifted]
These weren’t some motivational or wise words the players were expecting. These were just the ravings of a man who had lost everything. Maybe it was for this reason that the words struck the heart of every creature.
The scarecrow lifted its sickle and cackled at the orange skies above.
[Caution! Pugalo is calling every monster within a 100km area]
The fight had just begun.
*Slaash*
Zyrus retreated a dozen steps to avoid Pugalo’s sickle. He wasn’t worried about it summoning every monster and fish from the surrounding area; his fleet was more than enough to handle small fries like that.
*Hissss*
*Tritter*
Countless bugs crawled out from the earth and charged at him. While none of them were above lv 35, such things didn’t matter when they numbered in thousands.
“You’re not the only one who has a summoning skill.”
[Come Forth]
Zyrus banged his spear on the ground and summoned his abyssal legion along with 400 amargs. A total of 900 of his troops were walked out from the numerous portals.
He ignored the scarecrow’s mumbling and channeled his mana into the twilight crusher. Rather than killing it, he wanted to use his flag’s authority on Pugalo.
Which meant that he couldn’t use his void skills that attacked one’s source of existence. How else would he deal with a field boss who had 1 million HP? The answer was clear. Twilight was a phase after the dawn and before dusk. Dawn was when the first ray of light reached the earth, and dusk was when the last ray of light disappeared below the horizon; such rules were common in all dimensions.
Naturally, he had taken the time into account before starting off this fight.
[Sweet Nightmares]
It was as if time had accelerated as the sun suddenly dipped below the horizon. The farm right now could truly be said to be the incarnation of nightmare.
“Elsid, Zirnitra, merge with the ground and take care of the bugs. Amargs, guard the border.”
*Splatter*
The legion of abyss self-exploded upon his command and instantaneously killed more than 2/3rd of the insects. At the same time, his named subordinates nodded and melded with the tar-like ground. They hadn’t grown since earth was off reach, so this was the only way they could participate in this level of fight.
*Slicccce*
Pugalo slashed down at the growing abyssal power, only to be blocked by the twilight crusher.
*Clang*
“Your opponent is me.”
The two globes of crimson fire blazed as Pugalo activated another of his authority.
[Frenzy]
A blood red aura spread across the entire battlefield. The bugs that were struggling on the ground and even the ones that were attacking his fleet went berserk. The same crimson fire lit up in their eyes, increasing their strength by 50%.
“Focus on defense; they’re burning their life essence.”
“Roger that.”
Zyrus once again attacked Pugalo after advising Ria. His attacks that dealt no more than a thousand damage were nothing to the field boss. What he wanted now was to buy enough time.
‘Erebus’ was already stacking up to five digits. It created halo spears for every enemy he had attacked- the same applied to the ones summoned from the Balaur summoner class.
The spears could attack at random with 1-5% of their power. And most importantly, they were invulnerable as long as the skill remained active.
*Clang*
The two clashed again and again. Pugalo didn’t have any weapon skill in the first phase. It jumped around wielding its gigantic sickle and attacked everything in sight. Even the bugs summoned by it weren’t spared.
Zyrus guessed that the effects of sweet nightmare would last at most for an hour. He had to finish the fight before then.
‘Even if I don’t, I can use dawn since there will be actual dusk in the sanctuary. That should activate the unique effect of Twilight.’
But was there a need to wait for that when he had so many abilities? Even when nerfed, they were enough to handle the one in front of him.
[Noxious Shrine]
A dilapidated shrine manifested behind Zyrus, its tattered red roof and decaying pillars syncing in harmony with the ghastly environment.