Chapter 23: [F-Grade Dungeon: Quest Complete!]
[Binding [D-Grade Monster: Elite Goblin Elder!] as a target of the skill [Hunt!]]
-Slash! X ??
-Slash! X ??
-Slash! X ??
As soon as I used the skill, [Hunt!], all my physical stats increased by 50. Like a drug, an euphoric feeling covered my entire body as I took my first step towards those goblins before killing everything in sight with the first attack.
It felt easy. As if I was dealing with dummies or something.
My eyes widened as I wondered if I should use this to kill all the goblins present here before killing the boss. But perhaps because the skill could read my thoughts, my stats began decreasing as soon as I tried killing any other goblins.
Though…
The brief interval between that divided focus was enough for me to kill more than a dozen goblins at once. And while not as perfect as I planned, I was still able to sweep the goblins without much difficulty.
-Whoosh!
-Slash! X ???
-Slash! X ???
-Slash! X ???
Every second at least half a dozen goblins were dying, and step by step, I was getting closer to that boss monster.
I saw him still observing me, previously bored, now with an interested gaze.
And when I reached the center of the cavern, half the way from that goblin boss, he started laughing maniacally as he stood up before suddenly glaring at me with a maddening expression.
His eyes turned bright red, with his skin glowing with a deeper hue of red.
'He is using a skill-' as I was thinking…
-Whoosh!
He appeared right in front of me, his dagger almost reaching my neck.
-Clang!
[-10 HP!]
Barely able to save myself, I parried his attack, before he moved in for another attack. This time faster than the last one.
-Clang!
Taking out the second dagger from my inventory, I parried that as well, before moving for an attack. He was fast but with the increased stat and [Blood Gaze!], I was able to keep up with that ridiculous speed of his.
[-2 HP]
Jumping, dodging, I parried him. Looking at his attack pattern, I tried finding the gaps in between.
[-3 HP]
He was skilled. Unlike the other goblins, this one wasn't attacking just at random.
[-2 HP]
Enjoying the fight, he started attacking with a frantic gaze. There were more goblins coming at me, so I had to be extra careful. But I still couldn't afford to spare a glance away from the boss.
[-1 HP]
'I should end this fast. But… I need to find a gap,' I thought as I began wondering if I should let go of my defense and focus more on attack?
[-2 HP]
His attacks were getting through my poor defense, while mine barely touched him. He was fast, skilled, and pretty much brutal. Despite being in a frantic state, somehow his attacks were connecting more and more.
'Is he… playing with me?' I couldn't shake that thought as I tried attacking faster than before. I even let go of my defensive stance and gave it my all.
-Clang! X ???
-Clang! X ???
And he parried at least 70% of them, with the 30% of the attacks barely reaching his non-vital points.
'I have to be faster.'
[-8 HP!]
-Clang! X ???
[-5 HP]
If I don't end this here, the other goblins will get to me. And I will lose the few chances I have.
[-8 HP]
'Faster.'
[-4 HP]
My attacks were getting through but not enough to kill him.
[-12 HP]
"FASTER!!"
-Clang x ???
[-12 HP!]
[-15 HP!]
[-20 HP!]
And at the cost of my defense and health, I was able to connect my attacks more appropriately to his body. Even though he was still able to counter half of the attacks, I was able to attack some of his vital points.
The fact that he was underestimating me remained. And I need to exploit that before he gets cautious.
'Please connect,' my eyes concentrated, hoping to pour all in one attack. It was the best chance for me to defeat him…
[AURA!]
[157 MP has been consumed!]
[+628 Attack!]
Covering my dagger with mana, I then attacked finding my chance. A glint of a smile appeared on my lips, as I looked at that goblin. And realizing what I just about to do, his eyes changed from frantic to panic.
That dagger, which was barely able to cut his skin before, cut his stomach like butter, creating a green gush of blood that spread all around the area.
With his cut out stomach, he jumped back, bleeding profusely. His eyes looked at me with fear, as he shouted in a weird language before the rest of the goblins then began running towards me.
'Can you give me a break already,' I sighed before running towards that goblin. I was still tired from the previous exchange but…
-Slash! X ??
-Slash! X ??
Killing everyone in the way, I saw that goblin weakly walking away from me, his eyes shaking in fear as he kept looking back. But I cannot let him go… not even for a second…
I reached in front of him, all the other goblins dead, my eyes looking down at his weak state. And as he looked up to me, with his eyes now covered with fear and slight fury.
"KRIII!!"
A surprise attack. He tried his best, aiming at my neck with all his might.
-Slash!
It wasn't enough.
[You have killed the boss monster of the dungeon!]
[Points will be calculated at the end of the dungeon!]
[You have found a [Key to the Metal Cage!] ]
[Your Contractee(Adrian John Rodriguez) has killed a D-Grade Boss Monster!]
[You have received 10,000 GM Points!]
[HP: 123/330!]
[Time Remaining: 15 Minutes: 26 seconds!]
With half of my health down, I looked at the remaining time with a bit of an exhausted look. Even though I wanted to kill more Goblins, I decided to take a breather and end this quest.
I was too exhausted, plus I did need about 10 minutes to run back through the tunnel. I don't know how much time carrying an extra person with me would consume, but it sure is going to be more than the time it took to reach here.
[+30 HP!]
[+30 HP!]
Drinking two [HP Potions] that I saved from before, I then killed the incoming goblins and reached the lever of chains the cage was held by. Bringing the cage down, I moved near it.
[Would you like to unlock the cage? Notice: The Monsters will switch the primary target from the [Player (Adrian John Rodriguez)] to [Survivor (Lily)] ]
"Expected as much," I sighed.
If I had unlocked the cage before, the boss would have surely targeted her. Not sure if I would have been able to protect her at my current state.
"Well. That's a problem that I would never face," I mumbled before picking the girl up and looking at the horde of never ending goblins.
'Pity,' I sighed again. They were quite a good source of GM points.
[Time remaining: 13 minutes: 15 seconds!]
Holding the girl properly, I then looked on the path outside from here.
"All right. Let's get over this."
-Whoosh!
And then avoiding those goblins, I ran as fast as I could. Since I wasn't fighting, my stats were a bit reduced than before. Hence, I had to force myself to run even faster.
Though because the number of goblins was non-existent on my way out, I could accelerate without any disturbance. Hence, I ran through the tunnel pretty fast, before jumping up to the platform and then towards the first level.
[Time remaining: 4 minutes: 21 seconds!]
Reaching the first level, I soon reached the stairs up to the surface, before moving out of the dungeon.
It was finally over.
[Congratulations! You have completed the F-Grade Dungeon Quest on Nightmare Difficulty!]
[Calculating performance…!]
[Difficulty: Nightmare (Grade - SS)
Total Number of Monsters Killed: 379 (Grade- SS)
Boss Monster killed (Grade - S)
Condition of the Survivor: Healthy (Grade - A)
Extra Time Remaining: 4 minutes: 4 seconds (Grade - C )!]
[Final Performance Grade: S!]
[The following rewards will be given to the user: You can choose any 3 of the 6!]
[1. All Stats +20]
[2. [Skill Upgrade Coupon] x 2]
[3. [2,000,000 Points!]
[4. [Blessing of Gaia (S)!] ]
[5. [Skill: Absolute Nullification (A)!]
[6. [Item: Ring of Resurrection (S)!]
But before I could even read the description of the rewards, an irritating voice resounded in my ear as the view of Luke appeared in front of me.
"Adrian? You survived?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone