Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented-Chapter 192

Uriel's movements came to a halt.

The barrage of beams from the stone masks ceased.

Drip. Drip.

However, the edges of the battlefield began to fill with the creeping, sticky miasma. It oozed relentlessly, gradually consuming the Altar of Resurrection and signaling the final stage of this battle.

It engulfed everything—the vile remnants of this place, the lingering resentment of the countless souls who perished here, and a thousand years of accumulated malevolence.

"Rain! This... it’s like the Abyss Plains!" Chris exclaimed.

"Yes, it feels similar," I replied as Chris came to my side, scanning the area.

"Do you think safe zones will appear like before?"

"It’s possible... but there’s no guarantee."

"And if there’s no safe zone, how are we supposed to fight?"

[[Offer your sacrifices!]]

Uriel stood motionless at the center of the battlefield, endlessly repeating the same words like a broken record.

Woom!

Suddenly, a cluster of light coalesced in the arena. A white magic circle appeared large enough to accommodate a standard raid group of twelve. Its position was just in front of the entrance where we had entered this domed altar.

A likely safe zone.

Chris was right—there was still some mercy in this encounter.

Drip. Drip.

Meanwhile, the creeping miasma had already covered 20% of the battlefield. Any delay would make reaching the magic circle impossible.

Tatatat!

Chris and I instinctively sprinted toward the white circle. As I ran, my eyes swept across the area.

It was suspiciously straightforward for a safe zone.

Was there more?

Just before fully stepping into the light, I noticed another magic circle opposite the safe zone. This one was a deep violet hue, slightly different from the miasma’s dark color. Its size was far smaller, barely large enough for one person to stand inside.

What’s that?

There wasn’t enough time to investigate. We reached the white circle.

Tap!

[Magic Circle – Uriel’s Mercy]

Drip. Drip.

The moment we arrived, the miasma surged, flooding the entire battlefield except for the area protected by the circle. The dark liquid threatened to dissolve anyone caught within it, just as it had in the Abyss Plains—a mechanism to limit the battlefield.

Ten seconds passed. Then twenty.

But Uriel didn’t move. It remained stationary, continuing its mechanical chant.

[[Offer your sacrifices!]]

"Why? Why isn’t it coming?" Chris muttered anxiously.

"We can’t progress like this," I replied.

Drip. Drip.

Crack!

"Huh?!"

The sound of breaking protection filled the air. The shield around the magic circle was cracking, and the miasma began seeping through the fissures.

Chris’s face turned pale.

"Is this... a timed special phase?! What are we supposed to do in such a confined space?"

[[Offer your sacrifices!]]

My thoughts drifted back to the violet magic circle I had seen earlier, opposite this safe zone.

Could it be... we’re supposed to offer something to that?

Crunch. Crack.

Meanwhile, the cracks in "Uriel’s Mercy" grew wider, and the circle’s protection waned.

We couldn’t stay here. If we did, we would certainly be wiped out.

Clench.

I gripped the hilt of my sword and lowered my stance.

"Chris, we might have to retreat."

"But the exit’s blocked...!"

"Stay close to me."

Chris’s worried eyes darted toward my face.

She could afford to die in-game without penalties and retry, but I couldn’t. Death here would harm my body in the real world. My lives were limited, and I couldn’t waste one recklessly.

Still, I wondered—could the miasma be cut, even temporarily?

It was a gamble I had to take.

Crunch! Crack!

The sound of the circle breaking echoed as I activated my sword’s skill.

Flash!

With a burst of light, I slashed through the miasma, carving a path toward the entrance of the dome.

"That was too close," I sighed.

Chris, slightly out of breath, smirked. "But you weren’t really going to die, right?"

"Heh."

I gave her a faint smile, though I knew she understood the risks. Even if this was a game, I didn’t want to see Chris die. She likely felt the same about me, knowing that my death would cause real pain.

We made a cautious pair, overly attached to survival even in a game. How had we managed to defeat the first named boss together? Ah, right. There was that one time Chris had thrown herself into danger, and I’d nearly lost it.

Chris gently patted my head, breaking my train of thought. "Let’s review what we’ve learned about Archangel Uriel so far."

"Physical attack patterns followed by area-wide phases. At 95% health, the miasma phase begins, and the white magic circle, Uriel’s Mercy, appears," I summarized.

Chris nodded, pulling up a holographic notepad to jot everything down. She sighed. "This boss is no joke. Even the toughest raid groups will struggle with this."

"And we’re not done yet. There’s still one more named boss after this."

I chuckled softly. A true final challenge awaited beyond Uriel.

But there was still so much we didn’t know. While we confirmed that Uriel’s Mercy was a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ safe zone, it wasn’t enough to survive the special phase.

Chris furrowed her brow as she scrolled through her notes. "No clues for bypassing the special pattern. Nothing about that violet magic circle?"

"I noticed it at the twelve o’clock position relative to the white circle. It’s just big enough for one person."

Chris’s eyes widened. "Offer your sacrifices."

"It could be an altar for sacrifices," I suggested.

"But..." Chris hesitated. "Normally, sacrifices in these games..."

Resulted in death.

Astria Online had no revival mechanics during combat. Once dead, a player couldn’t rejoin the fight until it was over.

Chris shook her head vigorously. "There’s no way. This game isn’t designed to force party members to die to clear bosses."

Her logic wasn’t unfounded. Every raid encounter so far had been designed to ensure all players could survive with the right strategy. Forcing a player to die felt out of place.

Still, even if Chris was confident, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility. Testing the sacrificial mechanic was the only way to confirm its function.

If Chris were the leader of a larger raid group like the Scarlet-White Vanguard, she’d probably volunteer herself without hesitation to test it. But we weren’t in a large group.

We were just two people.

Sacrificing one would leave the other alone.

"For now, let’s keep experimenting and adapt to the patterns. We have time before the miasma fully floods the area during the special phase," I said.

Chris forced a smile and stood up. "All right. Let’s try again."

The following attempts yielded little progress.

I had fully adjusted to Uriel’s attack patterns, dodging the stone mask beams while smoothly dealing damage. But at 95%, when the special phase triggered, Uriel became invulnerable, just like the Bone Dragon.

Unlike the Bone Dragon, there was no object to break the barrier. The stone mask beams also stopped during the phase.

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I even tried interacting with the violet circle in different ways—attacking it, stepping into it—but nothing worked.

Time slipped away as we tried in vain to figure out the mechanics.

During a break, I sat on Chris’s lap and murmured, "It’s already night. How many more attempts can we manage?"

"We can always come back tomorrow. Besides, you haven’t completely mastered the spear’s attack radius yet. With a little more practice, you’ll be able to deal consistent damage even up close," she replied, brushing off my frustration.

Chris was deliberately avoiding the obvious solution. Testing the sacrificial mechanic would require one of us to step into the violet circle. But if I brought it up, Chris would undoubtedly volunteer herself.

And if Chris died, I’d be left alone. Sure, it wasn’t real death, but my trauma was far from resolved.

Archangel Uriel.

A boss that demanded sacrifices.

For two players like us, who valued each other’s lives too much—even in a game—Uriel was a cruel challenge.

I wasn’t sure if I could fight properly after seeing Chris die in front of me. She likely felt the same.

But I did have one solution, a way to proceed without reducing our numbers permanently.

My hand brushed the World Tree Belt around my waist.

[Unique Ability: Negates fatal damage once. HP is fixed at 1% until combat ends (Cooldown: 30 minutes).]

It wasn’t an ideal plan, and Chris wouldn’t like it.

But it was the only way forward.