Chapter 1419 The Setting Sun Part 4 Part 1

─── Amidst the chaos and confusion that ensued right after, I was unable to comprehend what was going on here anymore.

* * *

This new Goldunine whose name I did not even managed to get to know has died. That is the ultimate conclusion of the series of fast events that took place right after she had been hit with Bossdunine’s black poison. But from that point in time to the moment the unknown Goldunine died is mostly a blank…… Yes, a complete and utter blank spot in my mind that I couldn’t even comprehend……!

「Fufu!!! Fufufuf!! Fufufufufufu!!!]

The pool of black poison that spreads at the feet of the laughing Bossdunine then crawls up all over her legs and then spreads all throughout her body. Most of the black poison managed to sink into her skin and flesh, but some of it remained outside of her body, sinking into her clothes instead and dyeing them from pure white to jet black.

「I-Is that…… a m-mourning gown? Of all things?]

「……………]

Now, this thing is giving me some truly unpleasant vibes. Before, trying to start up a conversation with Bossdunine was more than enough to engage her verbally and buy yourself some much needed time in order to think and come up with a strategy. However, it seems that right about now this is no longer going to be effective, as Bossdunine did not respond to my words just now in the slightest. No, I am sure that even though she chose not to answer my provocation, her eyes were still focused on me, as if she was watching me closely…… Whoa there, that’s dangerous! The dragon-snake is rushing right at me, thinking I’m not paying attention!

「And there…… we go!]

For some unknown reason, it seems that those dragon-snakes also possess the ability to dive into the ground and swim through it as though it was water. Not to mention that once underground, they were moving about at high speed without actually colliding with things like roots and rocks that were sure to be there in huge quantities. Now then, having abilities like that makes them way more dangerous than I initially thought. Normally you would just focus on the boss itself and be done with it, but with those four lurking about, they are way too dangerous to just leave them alone. At this rate, we won’t be able to properly focus on the boss monster!

Not to mention that the need to be vary about the boss monster’s attacks is already hard as it is, so adding the possibility of getting surprise attacked from under the ground only increases the difficulty of this encounter……! However……!

「You think that as long as you won’t stop moving under the ground you are safe? Think again! I have fought against Mid Digger before, so I know how to handle monsters like you no problem……!]

Ahh, yes, that’s right. The nostalgic feeling of remembering that Mud Digging game of Whack-A-Mole from all the way back then when I first started playing the game! What did I do at that time to overcome that opponent, exactly? Ahh, yes, I think I remember now. I must have used the three-dimensional maneuver option, because I had some similar experiences from other games that had enemies similar to that one. It’s a shame that other problematic enemies weren’t so easy to take down that way. Yes, Toxic Eagle, looking at you.

However, right now there is one thing that actually prevents me from replicating some of my most trusted strategies in this battle. Namely: the Arcana of the “Fool” in Revered Position. But that being said, right now I also possess the Levin Trigger / Disaster Hand, and the Overflow state can give that much needed speed boost. As long as I have that, I don’t have to worry about wasting skills just so that I can gain some speed.

As for the approximate instant death range on the attacks of those dragon—snakes, they all depend on their actual size. And sure enough, a mere moment after I started running at increased speed, the ground started to shake and crack violently, and the dragon-snake’s jaws emerged from under the ground and enclosed over the space where I was standing a mere second ago. The dragon-snake then leapt of from under the ground before it dove under it once more. …… God damn it, it is already nice that I only have two snakes’ worth of attacks to worry about at the current moment, but what do I do about it? And what’s even more important, whatever am I supposed to with that pesky little Bossdunine right there?

「Now then…… Just how exactly am I going to tackle this thing?]

Actually, just getting away from this place right now and run as far from it as possible would have been extremely easy for me. Sure, leaving my fellow human Players behind would be a real dick move, but even if they do happen to die, the worst that is going to happen is that they are simply going to respawn in the last bed they happened to make a save at. Sure, getting defeated by Bossdunine here is bound to be connected to getting some sort of “Curse” or other “Penalty” being placed on you, but that could also technically be avoided. Yes, if they wish to die without any detriment, they just needed to bit their tongues as hard as possible and hope that they would “bleed out” to death.

But sadly, that is the way out of this mess of a battle that is only available to the Players. And sadly, all of the Players currently present here are not alone. We all have an NPC Goldunine and their contracted snake servants accompanying us as well. Getting out alone is easy enough. But having company is something that only adds up to the difficulty of this task quite considerably.

In my exact case, I’m still as good as ever. Sammy-chan-san’s stealth seems to be at its highest peak right now. At the very least she is capable of detecting various heat sources and smells, so it certainly must be the case that she’s currently lying in wait somewhere in here, looking for the opportunity to make a successful escape together with Wimp…… so at the very least it is highly unlikely that the two of them are going to be targeted by Bossdunine and her minions anytime soon.

Next point of concern, is the Goldunine also known as “Nine”, who was with August here. I can safely assume that she is not going to be of any use to us here at the current moment, mainly because she looks as though she was about to break down and cry on the spot any minute now. However, she has one advantage over all of us, and that is the sheer size of her snake companion…… Occasionally you could see a small-sized snake or two peeking from under the hem of her clothes, so I can only assume that they are a being that consists of multiple smaller entities.