Chapter 252. Fighting the Natives
Unaware of the chain reaction he caused, the Wanderer in question woke up after a good seven hours of sleep and yawned in satisfaction.
Stretching his back, he grabbed a cup of water, gargled it, and spat it next to the wall. Then, he enjoyed a quick breakfast consisting of a sandwich and a glass of milk.
Finished with the morning routine, he gathered up his tent and re-equipped his items.
"Ready to roll! Hmm... the demons remained quiet 'overnight.' I guess it might not be easy to interfere with the Dungeon since the Sanctuary is also present, huh? Anyway, let's continue our exploration. The goal for today is to kill more natives! Ehh... that sounds a bit wrong..."
Scratching his head and pondering a better choice of words, the Necromancer mentally ordered his minions to begin scouting the way forward.
He didn't find a better choice of words since he had more severe problems to deal with.
Not even three kilometers into today's exploration, he found a small room chock-full of monsters—the same 'Naga' as before, yet much higher in quantity and quality.
Especially five of them.
[ Tainted Nangari Oracle (Minion) - Level 63
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%.
*Tainted: All attacks deal an extra 450 Curse damage and inflict 'Vulnerable' status for 5 seconds. ]
[ Bloodthirsty Longfang (Elite) - Level 63
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%.
*Vampiric: Each successful hit on an enemy heals you for 85% of the damage dealt. ]
[ Thundering Longfang (Elite) - Level 63
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%.
*Lightning Enchanted: Each attack creates a ball of lightning that moves randomly in a ten-meter radius, dealing 550 damage upon contact. ]
Two Tainted Oracles, two Thundering Longfangs, and another with the Vampiric modifier. It was a nightmarish combination indeed since the Longfangs acted as tanks while the Oracles attacked from the backlines.
To make matters worse, every fifth hit the minions inflicted on the tank bastards created one of those red lightning balls that exploded and sent them flying.
It was a total slaughter fest.
He didn't count, but all his subordinates must've died at least five times before they could clear the Minion-level Nangari. As for the Elites, before he could even start dealing with them, a Nightmare Portal appeared behind the Necromancer and his troops, effectively sandwiching him between a rock and a hard place.
Exasperated, Michael could only deploy his 'clear the board' trick, diminishing the battlefield by reducing the defensive lines created by his minions.
Once everything was in place, he blessed the enemies on both sides with enough Decrepify to deplete his Essence Pool, after which he restricted the Elite Nangari with Corpse Tendrils and focused solely on the demons and their Nightmare Portal.
After five minutes, he successfully destroyed the portal, but the Elite mobs attacking from behind wiped his minions multiple times, severely reducing the number of usable Corpses.
Only his Golem could withstand a more thorough beating, but even in his case, it would only extend for seven to eight hits instead of two to three like the Skeletons.
Fortunately, the external influence was gone, and he could now give the Naga-wannabe his full attention.
And he soon realized how big of a mistake it was not to use the Corpses to deal with the Elites instead of the crappy demons.
'Fuck me sideways! Why are their Life Points so damned high!? Also, what the fuck is that damage!? I got smacked by that motherfucker's tail and sent flying further than the damned Bosses of previous Dungeons sent me.'
Once the Oracle used his petrification skill, things got progressively worse. By the end of the fight, Michael was down to a single Healing Potion, two Reapers, three Cold Mages, and his undying Golem that could be resummoned for free every 30 seconds after its death.
He had no plans of dying yet, but he couldn't help but mentally prepare himself for a situation where he encountered a similar room and would eventually be smothered to death by the Nangari in combination with the demons backstabbing him.
After four more hours of exploration, he came across another room with three Elites. Two were Oracles with the Poison Enchanted and Plaguebearer modifiers, while the Longfang was probably the most disgusting creature he had to fight up to this point.
[ Sturdy Longfang (Elite) - Level 63
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%.
*Damage Resistance: Reduces all damage received by 35%. ]
Leaving aside its monstrous damage caused either through swipes and stabs from its spear or swings of its tail, this bastard was the perfect tank every Wanderer party yearned for.
Michael even asked the Sanctuary if he could somehow tame and use it as a pet, only to be thoroughly ignored by the latter.
Fortunately, after stacking Corpse Explosion five times and maintaining it at that point, he could crowd control the 'Sturdy' Longfang continuously using Decrepify and Corpse Tendrils.
Until its Life Points reached 15%, that is. Suddenly freed from the slow and cumbersome vines impeding its movement, the Longfang Elite charged with renewed ferocity and ignored all other obstacles in its path, making Michael its prime target.
Even Quarterback's taunt was ineffective, leaving the Necromancer with no other option than to play tank himself. He managed to avoid some hits through Evade, block some with his shield, which was already at 60% durability, and use Blood Mist to escape probable death whenever he couldn't do either.
Fortunately, even with its stupid modifiers, it only had 15% Life Points left when the Unstoppable triggered. So, while Michael tanked, the minions and the dark miasma kept stacking damage on it.
Sitting on the cold ground to catch his breath, he couldn't help but inwardly grumble at how difficult this damned Nightmare Dungeon was. The monsters were ridiculously overpowered, he only gained gold from their deaths, and the fucking demons would backstab him the first chance they got.
'This isn't something meant to be cleared solo, for fuck's sake! I need to make a mental note and let the girls know not to fuck around and try it on their own. The risk of death is too high, even without the devils playing tricks.'
With his stamina somewhat recovered, he stood up and began resummoning his missing Skeletons, after which he continued exploring.
To his utmost frustration, the path ahead had traps hidden in stupid places, almost costing his life multiple times.
That's why, to keep surviving, he had to slow down the pace at which he was advancing even more.
But everything went to shit in the next room. It was empty and vast, immediately ringing alarm bells in his mind.
Even a moron would figure out it was a trap room, but he had no choice other than to explore it.
Why? Because it was the only way forward.
'Fuck... I only have three Healing Potions. The Healing Orbs drop so infrequently that it's annoying. Actually... it might be because of the low number of monsters I'm facing. At least I managed to keep my minions to full HP by sacrificing Quarterback continuously on my way here.'
Without a better alternative, he rested for fifteen minutes until he was in his best shape and entered the trap room.
Surely enough, as soon as he reached halfway to the exit, monster-summoning circles filled the entire space.
"Five, six, seven... Motherfucker! That's more than 10 Elites! What the fuck!?"
Leaving the Elites aside, the number of Minion-level mobs wasn't low either. Furthermore, the summoning circles didn't disappear, and they couldn't be targeted. He tried!
Without a better alternative, he surrounded himself with his subordinates and began the fight. Using a Reap on the closest enemy, he used his Golem's taunt to distract the Nagari from making him a priority.
Then, the Decrepify + Corpse Tendrils combo appeared again. Not wanting to take any risks, he directly exploded every Corpse that appeared in his vision, trying to fight in a melee as little as possible.
Unfortunately, whenever the monsters' Life Points reached 15%, they became Unstoppable and charged directly at him.
He managed to avoid getting lynched the first two times they swarmed him by using Evade to distance himself from the 'most populated' area and then using Blood Mist to effectively become immune to any form of damage while he repositioned himself and his minions.
When the number of monsters kept increasing without any sign of stopping soon, he used Bone Storm on himself and Quarterback, pushing the defense lines further, as he joined his subordinates in a melee.
While the Minion-level Nagari were problematic at best, the Elites were life-threatening. Even after Heavens-know how long he fought in this shitty trap room, he barely managed to reduce their Life Points to half.
With the damage reduction they received from the Shadow Damage modifier the devils selected and their increased overall Resistance, Michael could deal between 750 - 1,000 damage per tick after stacking five Corpse Explosions.
But he couldn't just randomly use all the Corpses available. He had to calculate the number and location where he would use them since even with the Reapers working overtime and the poor Quarterback dying multiple times in this fight, the number was still insufficient to hold the enemies back, much less finish them off.
Parrying an incoming spear with his sword and smacking his shield in the face of a Spitter that decided to bite him, he tried repositioning himself again and again, but to no avail.
There were too many monsters, and he was slowly getting overwhelmed.
'At least the summoning circles are gone. After I finish clearing these fuckers, I'm going straight to sl... huh!?'
A brief moment of inattention, brought by the space cleared through the herculean effort of him and his minions, was enough for the enemy to catch on to his weakness.
The loud screech of an Oracle followed, and a strange glowing eye appeared behind the Necromancer. Stumped, he turned around with his shield covering his torso, only to be bathed in the same 'petrification ray' he had seen used on his minions multiple times.
His body slowly turned non-responsive, but his mind worked perfectly. Unfortunately, before he could give any orders to his minions to protect him, two Elite Longfangs lunged at him with their spears, transforming the Wanderer into a shish kebab.
The first one passed through his back and then exited through the ribcage without any impediment at all, while the other punched through his throat.
Pain couldn't even register in his mind as he felt large amounts of blood drowning him.
Confused by the sudden silence, he realized he couldn't hear or feel his heart beating anymore and looked down.
The first spear that stabbed through his back crushed his heart on its way out. With the reality setting in, his consciousness slowly crumbled.
Neither Elite Nagari gave him time to think as they savagely ripped out their spears from his body, leaving behind two holes in his chest and neck.
Sensing their master's impending death, the minions went berserk and hacked and punched at everything near them, but there was little effect.
Michael's vision slowly darkened, and just like that... he died.
-----------------------
Watching the Necromancer fall on the screen, X'Fall and the other devils sighed in relief upon seeing him finally die.
It wasn't a matter of hatred or anything like that. Their pride had been thoroughly trampled so far after the Wanderer utterly trashed their three 'interventions.'
Now, listening to the cheers of the demons, the devils were finally more relaxed.
[ Warning!
Detected interference with the trap room! ]
[Yes, yes! Stop making a fuss, would you? After that 'interference,' I'm out of resources to 'invest' in messing with your precious human. From now on, he can leisurely camp however he wants.](X'Fall)
Hearing their Boss's words, the demons in the stands cheered even louder, their laughter shaking the dome covering the Nightmare Dungeon's entrance.
The Sanctuary itself was also helpless in this matter. While the interference caused the Wanderer to suffer his first death, he still had five more revives.
As for the payment X'Fall 'deposited' for messing with the summoning circles and increasing the number of Nagari brought into the trap room, it was by no means a small amount.
After counting everything, the Sanctuary realized that it had already exceeded the quota it had set for this test run.
Thinking of something, it immediately invested half of its resources in the Dungeon, slightly altering the rules.
Obviously, X'Fall and the other devils noticed and immediately frowned upon seeing this.
However, they were soon gobsmacked when they realized what this crazy bastard had just done.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone