Chapter 165
As if judgment had descended from the heavens, the beam pierced the ground from above.
A massive crater was left in the floor.
The surrounding heat was so intense that the sound of cracking could be heard as rocks melted and hardened, like shattering glass.
From the center of it all, Talonpia, its hairs on end, leaped out of the crater with a violent shudder.
Was it about to show the might befitting a raid boss monster?
That thought barely had time to form before Talonpia cowered in fear again, backing away and trying to climb back to the ceiling.
-Was Talonpia always such a coward?
-nah nah, it's probably cuz it's taking critical damage from a light-attribute attack?
-So it's instinctively afraid?
-A raid boss?
The viewers couldn't hide their shock at the unbelievable sight.
The skill effect had been incredible, but Talonpia's reaction was even more surprising.
It had wounds that looked like burns, its body scorched.
And two of its eight legs were mangled and dangling, as if crushed and broken.
-Even for a vulnerable attribute, just how strong does an attack have to be to do that...
-Is a familiar even allowed to be that strong?
-No, but if that female familiar who kinda looks like a handmaiden is that strong, how much stronger is the red-haired one?
-Eh... no way that other woman is strong too, right?
-Maybe she's a healer or a supporter?
While the viewers chattered amongst themselves, Serphina didn't care one way or the other.
With a light gesture, Serphina summoned a blade wind and attacked Talonpia.
Countless blade winds, sharp as knives, poured down.
Talonpia tried to block the attacks by spewing venom and webs, but there were simply too many.
Eventually, venom and webs weren't enough, and numerous cuts appeared on its body.
Seogeok!
Seogeok! Seogeok!
Seogeok! Swiish—!
At first, it managed to block the blade winds somehow.
But soon it became overwhelming, and the number of new cuts increased even more rapidly.
Finding it impossible to block Serphina's assault, Talonpia coated its surroundings in webs, creating a giant shield.
The sticky webs were woven between the nearby stalactites to create an even stronger defense, but at that moment, the crimson moon rose again.
“Kweeeeeeeek!!!”
Remembering the previous attack, the creature abandoned its shield and fled the spot.
Immediately after Talonpia moved, the crimson moon, as expected, fired its beam.
However, the beam wasn't aimed at the spot Talonpia had fled, but at Talonpia itself.
As it scrambled along the wall to escape, the ferocious crimson beam entered Talonpia's field of vision.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa——!!!
As the crimson beam swept over Talonpia,
“Kweeeh...”
the creature tumbled weakly from the wall.
Kuuung! Kung!
Crushed by the overwhelming attack and piercing power, four of its legs were now mangled.
Seeing this, a few viewers commented.
-Phase 2 is coming!
-Already?
-The fight started less than 5 minutes ago, and he's beating it with just one familiar?
The news of Phase 2 came so quickly.
But since Talonpia's health gauge was represented by its number of remaining legs, the assessment was accurate.
Immediately, Talonpia's Phase 2 warning message appeared.
They had truly reached Phase 2 in just about five minutes.
Not by the Demon King at full power, but by a single one of his new familiars.
The viewers were so stunned by this fact that they didn't even know what to type in the chat.
How would Serphina handle the rest?
Just as their curiosity reached its peak, someone spoke.
“Serphina, I'll take care of what's left!”
A playful voice, yet one that held a noble dignity.
With that voice, the red-haired familiar, who had been quiet until now, began to move.
And the familiar called Serphina, who had just been attacking Talonpia with murderous intent, bowed her head and stepped back.
“Yes, I understand.”
As Serphina also retreated with a clear voice, the viewers looked on, puzzled.
If things had continued, Serphina could have finished it herself. A player swap now?
Just what kind of power would this red-haired familiar show?
In that moment filled with anticipation, Helena gave a slight smile and snapped her fingers.
With that, light spread across the ceiling, and something materialized.
Sasasasasasa.
The light shimmered, forming hundreds of noble and holy spears of light.
At Helena's gesture, the hundreds of spears of light rained down toward Talonpia.
Faced with the hundreds of spears, like a divine punishment wrought by a god, a terrified Talonpia tried to flee.
At that moment, Helena's eyes turned deep and black, and she snapped her fingers once more.
Ttak!
With that sound, the shadow on the floor beneath Talonpia darkened, spreading out wide like pitch-black ink.
From that blackened floor, giant demonic arms erupted, seizing Talonpia's body and its eight legs, refusing to let go.
The hundreds of spears falling from the ceiling, being made of light, descended like flashes of lightning.
Shyushyushyushyushyushyu!!!
Pububububububuk!!!
The hundreds of spears made of light pierced through Talonpia and drove deep into the ground.
“Kweeeeeeeeeeek!!!”
Letting out a scream drenched in agony, just as Talonpia was about to use a Phase 2 skill to escape, a rift in space opened in the ceiling, and something emerged.
Through the open rift, the sky was faintly visible.
And from that sky, a single sword descended.
It was no ordinary sword. It was made of light, wider than a building, and it fell toward Talonpia.
As the sword filled all eight of Talonpia's eyes,
Seoooooo-geok!
And then, as if executing a sinner, the sword plunged deep into Talonpia's neck.
Like a guillotine on an execution block, Talonpia's head rolled off.
That was the end.
[You have slain the Raid Boss, 『Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia』.]
[You have gained experience.]
The message signaled the end of the raid.
And yet, the viewers, in disbelief, could only stare blankly and type in the chat.
-??????????
-Huh??????
-Is... it dead??????
-??????????
-W-What was that?????
-A-A familiar is that strong?
A raid finished with just two familiars.
The Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia, wasn't a particularly strong raid boss, but a raid boss was still a raid boss.
The kind of boss that even talented rising stars struggled to solo raid.
And yet he beat it with just two familiars?
It was incomprehensible.
Seonghyun was already strong enough as it was.
So what in the world was this?
-Seriously, how much stronger is the Demon King going to get?
-If he were just reasonably strong, I could at least understand it...
-What is this?
Faced with a strength so far beyond their comprehension, no one knew what to say. They couldn't even begin to grasp it.
What could you even call this?
If Seonghyun had raided alone without summoning his familiars, they wouldn't have been this shocked.
They would have just shrugged and said, 'Well, the Demon King did his thing.'
But with just two familiars.
And it's not even like they attacked together.
Either one of them likely could have succeeded in the raid on her own.
Does this even make sense?
But the most surprising thing of all was their attributes.
-More importantly, are both those familiars using the light attribute?
-The red-haired one doesn't seem to be light attribute, more like celestial?
-Looks like she's using some kind of dark-type attribute too????
-How does that even make sense?
-He's a Necromancer...
A Black Mage having familiars that wield light and celestial attributes?
It was as good as having overcome half his weaknesses.
In other words.
-So to beat the Demon King, what attribute are you even supposed to use against him now?
-Light, holy, or celestial types would've been advantageous, but with these two, maybe only holy will work now?
-Even that might not be effective... I'm starting to think it'd be more efficient to just attack with the normal four elements.
It meant that countering Seonghyun had become even more difficult.
As the number of chats dwindled in the face of this absurd reality, Seonghyun spoke, just as he had before.
“That's all for today's broadcast. Thank you for watching.”
With a polite bow to the screen, he ended the live broadcast.
-?????
-lmfao he ended it like that again.
-Must be his gimmick lol.
-Wow, but today's broadcast was packed.
-The familiars' fandom is gonna be huge, right? Starting with me lolol.
-Honestly, the familiars might end up with more fans than the Demon King lol.
-Don't say mean things nn.
Once again, the flabbergasted viewers could only continue typing in the offline chat window.
Still, since he had done this before, the viewers who knew what to expect found it amusing.
Others chattered that the Demon King had a 'human side' to him.
Seonghyun, oblivious to such chats, looked at his two familiars and spoke.
“You both did well.”
“Hmph~ That was just a light warm-up.”
“It was so underwhelming it was almost disappointing.”
Hearing Serphina and Helena's words, Seonghyun had to agree.
He had only been testing out his new ranged units, but it seemed they would be much more effective when used with his other familiars.
Talonpia was a cowardly boss, so it was a stable fight.
But against an aggressive boss like Carmine, a front line was essential.
If he used them together with his other familiars,
‘Could I take on two raid bosses at once?’
No, maybe even three might be possible.
“Hmm, still, compared to my previous body, I do feel like I'm lacking.”
This was the same assessment they had discussed before the test—that she was weaker than in her previous body.
It was certainly true.
Compared to the body of the Helena of the past, this one was bound to be significantly inferior.
But what can you do?
“I don't think I could create a body on par with the old Helena right now, could I?”
“Right. That's probably true. In fact, this body came out much better than I expected.”
“That's right~”
Serphina also agreed.
To that extent, Helena's strength was still undeniable.
“But the abyss attribute is familiar, so I can handle it well. The celestial attribute feels a little awkward, though.”
“Really?”
“Yep, since it's the first time I'm using this attribute.”
Considering that, her timing and usage were excellent.
He had heard that for familiars, higher proficiency meant greater power.
Seonghyun tilted his head, thinking her power was already more than sufficient.
“Well, if I get more used to it, I think I'll get even stronger.”
“Hah.”
She's already on par with Drakhanos now, and she'll get even stronger once she adjusts?
Even for Helena, this was truly incredible.
It was enough to surprise even Seonghyun.
As expected, it seemed Helena would become Seonghyun's strongest familiar.
So Seonghyun didn't worry about it anymore.
Anyway, that's enough thought on that for now.
Time to think about what's next.
‘Now that I'm in the 130s, my options have definitely expanded.’
There was still Kahku's final warehouse.
And it was about time to visit other cities.
Seeing as he didn't level up even after just finishing that raid,
‘Right, I need to do quests.’
Clearing quests always made him level up quickly.
He debated whether to go to another city to clear quests, or to see if there was anything more to do here.
While Seonghyun was pondering this, Helena grinned and said,
“As it happens, there's a place I know.”
“A place you know?”
“Yep, the city where those cute cats from before live.”
“If you mean the cats...”
Seonghyun trailed off, and Helena smiled and said,
“Yep. The Labyrinth Troupe's main base.”
Perhaps Helena's truly fearsome aspect wasn't her power, but her knowledge?
