Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented-Chapter 164

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[Activate the Divine Mark in the southeast 0/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the southwest 0/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the north 1/1]

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"A defense dungeon?"

"Yeah, didn’t the activation progress of the Divine Marks reset in the areas we just left?"

"Hmm, you're right."

Chris's party had successfully cleared out the lamia and activated the Divine Mark.

However...

*Slither, slither.*

"Chris, more lamia incoming!"

"Damn it, they just keep coming!"

*Whoosh! Crash!*

Mage Beimerung cast *Aerial*, restricting the lamia's movements, while preparing an *Arcane Burst*. Meanwhile, Spirit Summoner Cherni skillfully used the earth spirit *Gnome* to bury half of the approaching lamia.

As the second wave of lamia ended, Chris made a decision.

"We need to split up."

"Split up?"

"Yes. Staying here won’t accomplish anything. Even if we fully activate the Divine Mark in this area, as soon as we leave, we won’t know what will happen. Judging by the dungeon’s progress conditions, all the Divine Marks must be fully activated to stop these endless lamia waves."

"Handling these waves alone is going to be tough. I’m a fighter, after all. I don't have the area-of-effect skills of a mage or a spirit summoner."

It was true that *Deathmaster*, a fighter class with limited area-of-effect abilities, would struggle with defending a Divine Mark alone.

"But there’s no other option, is there? There are three locations, and we have four people. *Deathmaster*, you stay here and guard the one we've already activated. I’ll stay with you."

Chris smirked as she patted Deathmaster on the back.

With Chris's orders, Beimerung and Cherni each headed toward the southeast and southwest Divine Marks.

"If we had more time, I might have been able to conquer the *Sword Graveyard*," Deathmaster mused. "Did Rain acquire any new skills from that dungeon?"

Chris smiled proudly.

"Hmph, of course. She cleared it on the first day."

"Impressive. I figured Rain might find a way through, but that was a tough fight. The *Azure Dragon Sword Technique* was difficult to counter, and the time limit was very tight. But... well, it’s Rain."

"Why so interested in my little Rain?" Chris’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Don’t tell me..."

Deathmaster broke into a cold sweat, hastily changing the subject. "Ahem, purely out of admiration. Don’t misunderstand."

*Boom, boom!*

Even as they bantered, Chris used her *Demon-Sealing Formation* to obliterate lamia before they could get close. Her skills, backed by legendary weapons, top-tier Echo Stones, and fully enhanced magic crystals, dealt tremendous damage. Despite being a *Yin-Yang Master* class specialized in party support, Chris's firepower rivaled that of a pure mage.

As she continued fending off the lamia wave with Deathmaster, Chris’s thoughts drifted to Rain.

"This dungeon can’t be soloed."

It was physically impossible.

No matter how strong Rain was, she couldn’t be in three places at once. There was no way for her to defend three separate areas by herself.

What was Rain planning to do?

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[Activate the Divine Mark in the southeast 1/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the southwest 1/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the north 1/1]

(All Divine Marks are active)

(First purification progress: 8%)

[???]

[Heavenly Basin Progress 0/1]

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Soon, the activation progress for the southeast and southwest Divine Marks updated. Beimerung and Cherni had successfully reactivated the marks. The purification gauge started to rise, indicating that once it hit 100%, the final boss would likely appear.

"Hmm?"

As Chris stood guard over the north Divine Mark, yawning during a brief lull, new messages appeared in the party chat.

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[Cherni: Special monster spotted in the southwest!]

[Cherni: A giant red lamia!]

[Cherni: It has a ridiculous amount of health!]

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"Cherni found a special monster?"

Seeing the messages, Chris quickly prepared to head toward the southwest.

"Can you hold this area alone, *Deathmaster*?"

"I’ll manage."

Leaving *Deathmaster* behind, Chris dashed toward the southwest.

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*Tap, tap, tap!*

*Beep.*

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[Party member Cherni has died]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the southeast 0/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the southwest 1/1]

[Activate the Divine Mark in the north 1/1]

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Before Chris could reach her destination, the death notification for Cherni appeared. He had been unable to withstand the special monster’s attack.

"Damn it...!"

Chris gritted her teeth.

A named lamia had appeared.

The lamia waves weren’t just regular monsters. An elite, named lamia was now on the field—likely too much for one person to handle.

She needed to reactivate the Divine Mark in the southwest immediately.

*Clack.*

Chris halted her sprint and paused to think. While she was furious and ready to charge straight into battle, she knew better. If the giant red lamia was a named monster, she wouldn’t be able to handle it alone. She could end up like Cherni, taken down in an instant.

"It’s best to wait for Cherni to rejoin first."

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A few minutes later, Chris saw Cherni rushing back through the rocks, having resurrected at the dungeon entrance.

Chris shot him a sharp look.

"You’re late! Move faster next time!"

"Sorry! I’m really sorry!"

"What happened? Tell me everything."

"After clearing the lamia and activating the Divine Mark, I was dealing with the additional waves when suddenly, a massive red-scaled lamia burst through the rock floor. It had a ton of health—70 million HP!"

"Seventy million... That’s a lot for a named monster."

Though they had faced bosses with billions of HP in previous raid dungeons, 70 million was still a daunting number, even for players geared with legendary equipment. The named lamia would also have much higher defense than the regular ones.

"And it has a red miasma barrier that reflects attacks. I tried using a big skill on it, but the attack got reflected back at me."

"A reflection shield?"

A troublesome mechanic. There must be a way to dispel the barrier.

"Can the two of us handle it?"

"It won’t be easy. But we can’t afford to leave the other marks unguarded."

Beimerung was holding the southeast, and *Deathmaster* the north. While bringing everyone to deal with the giant red lamia was an option, it would mean abandoning the other two locations, forcing them to reactivate the marks from scratch.

"Let’s try with just the two of us first. If we both die, we’ll regroup and take it down together before reactivating the marks. Since it’s a named monster, it should be a one-time spawn. It won’t keep coming like the regular lamia."

As they discussed their plan, Chris and Cherni arrived at the southwest clearing.

The pile of rocks where the Divine Mark had been buried was now scattered, the mark itself thrown aside, its light extinguished.

And around it?

Only regular lamia.

Both Chris and Cherni wore dumbfounded expressions.

"Where’s the giant lamia!?"

"Huh? It was here, I swear."

Chris gave Cherni a suspicious look, while Cherni began sweating nervously.

"Did you get overwhelmed by regular lamia and die?"

"No, no! I swear! Look over there! That hole—it’s where the giant lamia came from!"

"...Hmm. Okay, fine. I was just teasing."

Chris laughed and patted Cherni on the back, not giving him a chance to protest. Then, her face turned serious again.

"If the giant lamia is gone, do you know what that means?"

"Hmm? Maybe it just left?"

"No! It means the danger isn’t confined to this area! You re-activate this mark. I need to go somewhere else."

Chris’s instincts were sharp. And fast.

But the giant lamia was faster.

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Before Chris could leave the southwest, new messages appeared in the party chat from Beimerung.

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[Beimerung: Chris, help! The giant red lamia’s back!]

[Beimerung: It’s in the southeast!]

[Chris: It reflects damage! Don’t use big attacks! Just hang on until I get there!]

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Beimerung was a skilled mage. She could probably kite the lamia around for a while, even if she couldn’t defeat it alone.

As Chris moved swiftly, she began analyzing the dungeon’s mechanics.

The *Heavenly Basin* was a defense dungeon.

There were three defense points.

And they had four party members.

The special monster, the giant red lamia, appeared randomly.

Chris started to piece together the role of the fourth party member.

"Three defend the marks, and the fourth has to run around dealing with the giant lamia."

However, Chris's analysis was shattered by the next message.

The special monsters weren’t limited to the red lamia.

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[Deathmaster: A giant blue lamia has appeared in the north.]

[Deathmaster: Immediate assistance needed.]