NOVPUB
Chapter 1183. The Demon King of Sunset’s Castle (3)
[You have encountered the first boss of the Demon King of Sunset's Castle.]
[The Beast Tamer, Alps.]
This was wrong, and I would end up going crazy if I kept watching this.
‘Maybe not telling Kim Ye-Ri anything was the answer.’
The answer to the question of whether her original, charismatic appearance was better or not could be found by simply looking at Doom Hee-Young.
I was sure she went through the process of awakening as a demon, but Beast Tamer Alps definitely didn't look like that from the very beginning.
Director Kim Ye-Ri probably thought that the people of Rohen needed experience points to fight against the fake Kim Hyun-Sung, and the result we were seeing now was what Director Kim Ye-Ri came up with after thinking over the most efficient way to give us experience points.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Alps weren't wearing that hideous bikini armor. I knew I had to focus, but I obviously couldn’t do that. H-her appearance and every action bothered me.
Crack!
“Hmm~” Alps hummed.
Crack!
“I-If someone asked you how you arrived in hell, tell them that Beast Tamer Alps sent you!" Alps stuttered.
Once the audience noticed how embarrassed and awkward the actors were, they would want to run out as well.
‘I can’t believe she wasted such a good concept...’
I had no idea that Alps would appear as the first boss, but I definitely never imagined that she would appear as a beast tamer. Depending on the director, that title could be a hit or a miss, and Miss Kim Ye-Ri—the creator of the Dance of Enchantment—had successfully thrown that title into the trash.
‘Maybe she's not the only one behind this.’
This could be the work of the Park-Ki-Ri siblings. Battle Mage and Bloodthirsty Berserker were their creations. Had they ultimately brought Alps down to their level?
One good thing was that the expedition group didn’t seem to think that this situation was strange. They were focused more on the giant beasts before them rather than the girl who was talking awkwardly, so that was good.
“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
“Roooooooooooar!”
“Hold up your shields!”
“Krrrrrrgh!”
With a loud cry, the beasts charged at us.
Crack!
When the bear-like beast heard Alps' whip, it swung its large forepaw at us.
‘So that’s the signal.’
The giant bear either moved to the side or swung its forepaw, following Alps’s command, who was hitting the ground with her whip.
‘The first beast doesn’t seem that difficult.’
It looked like a typical vanguard-type beast.
The giant bear drew the focus away from the other beasts and blocked us with its thick hide and armor.
Several allied tanks were keeping the beast in place while mages unleashed their spells, but it wasn’t enough to pierce through the bear’s hide. The enhanced hide was probably designed so that only players specializing in offense could pierce it.
The second beast was a giant lizard.
Crack!
It kept spitting out poison from afar, so it was obviously a ranged-type damage dealer.
The strange part was that a green residue remained in the spots where the poison landed. The residue made a sizzling sound, and it was obviously harmful to ordinary humans. It looked like it was used to limit the allied troops' movements during the battle.
The priests' purification spells could purify it, but erasing them all wasn’t the answer.
‘They could use up all their holy power just trying to get rid of those.’
They had already consumed a ton of holy power and mana before we got here, so they could probably purify the ground two or three times.
The third beast was a dog with three heads. It was a typical melee damage dealer, but one head spat fire, the other spat ice, while the other spat lightning bolts. It was such a cliched beast that I didn’t even need to explain it.
The beasts were well designed. The bear emitted a foul, decaying odor, and the lizard had strange, abnormal bumps all over its body. They were subtly altered to the point that they looked like beasts that would exist in hell.
Features such as the size of their claws, fangs, eyes, and fur were subtly altered.
However, they had notable features like the bear, which had four eyes.
‘They made them better than I thought...’
The only thing that wasn’t great was the Beast Tamer herself.
Crack!
Kaboom!
“It’s coming! Shield! Shield!” someone shouted upon noticing the ball of poison that the lizard spat at them.
Right before the green ball could hit the troops, a transparent barrier enveloped them.
Just then, the bear swung its paw. With a clank, the shield cracked. The three-headed dog slipped through the gap using its petite figure and ruined our formation.
It barked furiously, and the screams of the troops accompanied its barking.
“Tanks, what are you doing?! Get aggro! Aggro!”
“Damn it! You stupid bear!”
Whoosh!
“Shield! Shiiield!”
“Damn it! Over here!”
‘These idiots can’t get it together.’
It seems like Alps was doing a good job figuring out their weakness, but... our setup was still good.
I thought their patterns were a bit complicated for Rohen.
The ground was already covered in green, making it hard for them to find places they could step on, and they needed to block ranged attacks with their shield, but the bear kept breaking their shields.
They couldn’t move forward because there was a tank holding its ground, and the dog broke our formation nonstop, wearing down our troops with its special powers.
“Hohohoho... Hohoho!” Alps laughed.
‘Stop laughing.’
“Hohohoho! Cough! M-My lovely beasts will be having a feast... today! Cough! Cough!” she shouted as she coughed.
‘Stop coughing.’
It was an unexpected battle, and since things were so disorganized, I thought it was natural for them to be confused for a second, but they were more unstable than I expected.
‘But it shouldn’t be to the point that they're getting beaten up like this...’
Since she was the first boss, she was designed to be an easy opponent.
Crack! Crack!
The sound of the whip hitting the ground was the signal, and if they figured out the pattern, they could easily figure out the enemy’s movements and timing.
It was a simple mechanic, but sadly, no one here thought about focusing on the sound of the whip. They seemed more focused on blocking and dodging the enemy’s attack; they weren't thinking about defeating the boss at all.
“Weak! You’re too weak! I-I can’t believe... you came all the way to the Demon King of Sunset’s Castle when you’re so weak! You’re so foolishly brave that you can’t tell the difference between courage and recklessness! Hohohoho... heh... Y-You dumb... pigs!” Alps yelled.
Crack!
“I-I can’t wait to see... how you’ll get through this!” Alps added.
Crack!
“Mr. Lee Ki-Young... this is...” William said.
'Yeah, I won’t help them with this.'
“Haa... haa...”
“Mr. Lee Ki-Young?” William said.
“I-I’m sorry, Mr. William... M-My head... suddenly feels... strange. It suddenly...” I paused.
“Damn it...” William mumbled.
“I feel like my head is going to split open,” I continued.
“It’s fine. I’m sure it’ll get better. Please wait here,” William said.
'Yeah, I feel like I shouldn’t help out with this, and it wasn’t because I didn’t want to join them on stage.'
‘If I help, you guys won't level up.’
Naturally, this was all to make the people of Rohen grow even stronger. The reason Alps was immersed in her role, despite blushing in humiliation, was all for the sake of Rohen’s growth.
If I were to tell them what to do, it’d be easy to defeat the boss, but that would be meaningless. The mechanics of the named Beast Tamer, Alps, was structured in a way that once one realized that the sound of the whip hitting the ground was a hint, one would naturally figure out the fight...
‘They just need to learn the hard way.’
Moreover, there was more than one way to clear this dungeon. The bear with the tough hide wasn't stepping on the poison puddles created by the lizard, and even the dog was careful not to spit fire on the contaminated ground.
‘They can take down the bear using the poison and burn the contaminated ground using fire.’
It was obviously impossible to burn them all, as it could turn this place into a sea of flames. If the troops moved to one side and got back into formation after burning the poison away, they would have more room to work with.
They could create a separate unit to take care of the dog and keep it under control. If they burned the poison using fire, used ice to create a bridge for the players, and paralyzed the bear, they would be able to finish this battle.
It seemed like the three beasts were working closely together, but they were each other’s weaknesses. Of course, knowing how to defeat them and executing the plan was a completely different issue, but...
‘You guys need to figure this out on your own.’
Cramming information into them was bad as well. They had to know how to think for themselves. If they couldn't figure it out, then they had to learn the hard way.
It definitely wasn't because I didn’t want to join them on stage.
“Damn it! Stop shaking! We’re going to fall!”
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
“Stop the dog first! The dog!”
“Mmm~” Alps hummed.
“Shield! Shield!”
Crack!
‘She’s even giving you guys hints. That dog was the problem in the first place.’
In order for the troops to maintain formation, they had to take care of the dog before anything else. Once they had taken care of the dog, they would naturally figure out how to take care of the other two.
“Emilia,” William said.
“Yes?”
“The Flower and Fertility Familia will take care of the dog,” William instructed.
“Understood,” Emilia said.
‘That’s it.’
“The most important thing right now is for our troops to reorganize their formation,” William added.
“Got it.”
I saw the Flower and Fertility Familia charging at the three-headed dog. With a boom! the familia’s mages and archers unleashed long-ranged attacks on it, and the other troops made a path at the news that the familia was making their move.
I saw William cornering the dog.
Crack!
“Stop the bear from coming closer! Stop it!!!”
“Keep your shields up! Create as much space as possible so the Flower and Fertility Familia can move easily!”
‘They’ve got great instincts.’
It looked like they still had no idea what they were doing... but it seemed like they were finally figuring out the puzzle.
“The contaminated area seems to be reacting to the dog’s fire, William.”
“Okay, let’s corner it,” William ordered.
Around a hundred people were already incapacitated, so I'd say they were pretty slow, but they had the potential...
I nodded to myself.
Just then, a voice came through the receiver.
— Party Two has encountered Belier, the Gladiator of the Underground Arena!
And.
— Reporting in! Party Three has encountered Smith, the Black Butler.
“...”
“...”
‘Colonel Smith is the newest member, but he’s an experienced veteran...’
— Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements! Ack!
‘Why would you place him at the beginning of the dungeon? Have you guys forgotten his experience?’
“...”
“...”
‘And what kind of butler is holed up in an underground passageway?’
The design was clearly flawed.
