Chapter 1499 December 15th: When in Trouble, Ask God For Advice

Fighting against the “Burning Great Red Wing”, all members of the first assault team were annihilated. That information did not cause all that big of a tremor across Thirdrema………

「Oh, go figure?」

「You were expecting that to happen, Katsu-kun?」

「Well, kind of. But I was thinking that the Players who have challenged the Burning Great Red Wing other than me were almost expected to try their luck now.」

Although the Raid Monster “Burning Great Red Wing” is classified as an assault raid, it is a Raid Monster that you could fight even before the Raid Battle would begin, which has been confirmed slightly in the New Continent some time ago, but now it was finally an established fact.

The information that a certain Player leaked to their acquaintance that “the Raid Monster at the bottom of the dead crater lake raises the strengthening stage of the Hero Weapons with a powerful flame, although I do not know the exact conditions”, while obtaining the Hero Weapon so far was nothing more but a mere gossip…… for the Players who had unspecified Heroic Weapons that had no change even if they were exposed to the breath of the dragon, with conditions such as “exposing to the great fire”, it was something that couldn’t simply be omitted.

With the progress of the World Quest, the water of the crater lake has disappeared, so it was no longer necessary to dive there, although it takes some time to descend, and it is also difficult to reach the source of the Burning Great Red Wing.

However, what was waiting for the Players who wanted to challenge the triumphant Burning Great Red Wing was a hit of the laser that penetrated the body alongside the equipment, and as a matter of course, spread the range attack and would never disappear, no matter how much water it was exposed to. It was that kind of a monster.

But still, if it could be challenged by the Players, then the Players would try to challenge and defeat it. Even if they don’t win, they could analyze its behavior, which is the true nature of any true gamer.

「I have fought with the Burning Great Red Wing when it was still inactive several times, and the battle pattern was quite broken. It was uncertain how much it would change when it became a full-scale battle, but…… It seems that it hasn’t changed much except for that instant death beam. I got a call from a person who was in the first assault team as well.」

It was none other than Katsu who heard the information from the first discoverer, Sanraku, and then disseminated it.

Naturally, in terms of the number of challenges against the Burning Great Red Wing, his count is the highest among the other Players, and the frontline information shared among the challengers is only the little percentage of the information for the Raid Monster “Burning Great Red Wing” that was actually revealed.

「To make a long story short, that butterfly is an installation technique. It’s a type that can be destroyed with some effort.」

「Huh?」

「I’m sorry, is it still too early for this level of talk for you, Pencilgton ……?」

「Does that mean that if I chug down a drink or two I’ll be able to understand it better?」

「Well, in short, this thing is kind of like a living damage judgment? I wonder if that’s the correct way of putting it? Or maybe that it’s like a fireball ghost? It feels like its HP is set for a mass of attack judgments that will cause you to be damaged the moment you touch it.」

Whatever its essence might be, the Burning Great Red Wing is a “big mass of heat” as a monster. Then, it is only possible for a Player who dies and revives over and over again to test how much they can withstand its heat by making full use of heat-resistant equipment, items, accessories, magic and skills.

And what Katsu found out as a result of this trial and error process……

「That butterfly has no solid substance to itself…… Trying to chop it will just result in you slabing your hand on its body.」

However, the stabbed hand melts in an instant and the Player who attacked it is also going to be melted away from the inside in an instant.

After such a terrible event taking place, Katsu had some speculations as to what the essence of the Raid Monster “Burning Great Red Wing” really is.

「I don’t think it’s a monster that hits normally…… Probably.」

「……… What about it being a Raid Monster?」

「Can you say the same thing for an actual Unique Monster?」

At this moment Pencilgton wanted to scream at Katsu to get to the point already. As far as they were all aware, it was as follows:

A living corpse with broken skills that requires you to overcome the endurance battle and deal with the rush of instant death attacks from the front in the state of being forced to have your level brought down to fifty. A giant octopus that requires you to overcome status changes different from various existing status abnormalities. The golden dragon, who has to be defeated by the outstanding performance while surviving the great melee attacks of other monsters. And the Unique Monsters that mimics the previous bosses that the Player has fought. All those monsters have a gimmick that makes you want to say “What does “unique” even mean anymore?

But, still……

「Even if Unique Monsters all have their gimmicks, there are no complete gimmick bosses when it comes to Raid Monsters, right?」

「Hmm, maybe, but I think I’m still not so sure. I mean, in that case anyone could challenge them at any time. Something like that.」

In short, it becomes a battle that is possible to be won only when some conditions are achieved. That was the conclusion that Katsu managed to arrive at.

「It’s like trying to hit or jump right into a burning bonfire. So I think it’s time to do something to weaken this thing considerably……」

It is sometimes ridiculed as a “skipping rope” to capture a large number of Players with disciplined actions so that they do not deviate from the prescribed actions, but it is not all that wrong of a strategy as far as the game is concerned. There is no specification even if only one person dances in the direction of the day after tomorrow when facing an enemy that can never be otherwise overcome, so when fighting with a boss where multiple participants are recommended, there are often “conditions to be achieved before swinging your weapon”. And it’s not all that strage of an assumption.

And this game is Shangri-La Frontier. Narrowing your horizons by looking only at the enemy in front of you is the recipe for a swift defeat. A game that requires you to solve an elaborate mystery of a music player in order to defeat a copy of yourself, That is the very first thing that you need to consider..

「By the way, do you have any idea on how to do this?」

「Make a prayer to God and hope that he’ll listen?」

Did you know, Pencilgton? With a provocative smile, Katsu talks about a deadly measure to capture the Raid Monster “Burning Great Red Wing”.

「You can’t make a bonfire on a rainy day, can you?」